Giselle let out a hollow laugh as she watched Louise calmly block the dragon.

No matter what, the punishment they would receive would be the same. Knowing what kind of punishment she would receive, yet she was so calm…

Meanwhile, Louise turned her gaze back to Gelevan.

Gelevan, seemingly startled by the force that blocked him, moved away again to a high altitude.

The sky was a mix of Breath’s heat and cold snowstorms, creating an unreal weather.

The sky turned from red to white. In the airflow mixed with high and low temperatures, thick clouds swirled, and lightning flashed and crackled.

If the end were to come, wouldn’t it be just like this scene?

Those who were engaged in the battle thought as they saw the terrible weather.

But it was only for a moment.

“It, it’s coming again!”

Once again, a giant being grew in the high sky and descended as if it were crashing.

The time was too short to completely regenerate the melted barrier.

“Everyone to the underground!”

Carlyle, realizing that they could not face the dragon in this state, moved the soldiers to the underground shelter.

But it was impossible for humans to surpass the speed of a dragon.

The giant silver wingbeats struck mercilessly from the sky.

Bang, at the same time, a dark force once again blocked the dragon’s attack.

Everyone lowered their bodies and held their breath at the shockwave.

Dilapidated houses collapsed in the gale, and trees fell over on the vibrating ground.

Gelevan’s attack was so strong that it made the flesh tremble.

But Louise was the same.

The knights could only watch the battle without being able to approach.

They thought it was unreal even during Dietrich’s time.

But the fight with the dragon, boasting a size large enough to swallow the castle, was on a different level than then.

A battle that seemed to split the sky and earth with just one collision.

The overwhelming presence that made it seem understandable why the greedy ones coveted the power of black magic.

The knight Hedrick, who was watching the scene, thought for a very brief moment.

How insignificant did I look swinging my sword in front of that woman?

The image of himself walking proudly in front of her as a knight flashed through his mind.

But at the same time, he felt something strange.

“Why isn’t she attacking Gelevan?”

Louise was only defending against Gelevan’s attacks, not attacking.

“Wasn’t black magic specialized in attacking?”

Black magic was a power useful for taking lives.

With that power, she could have dealt a strong attack that would bring Gelevan down.

Giselle, who was watching him, frowned and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips.

‘She’s afraid.’

Louise was afraid of her own power.

Because she knew better than anyone how strong her power was.

‘But she did well with Dietrich, so why now…’

Giselle was puzzled by the change in Louise’s attitude.

And her question was reasonable.

Louise tightly gripped her right wrist.

‘Control is…’

The power she wielded like a limb was no longer easily controlled.

The manifestation of the twisted power within her body was more rough and violent than before.

So Louise could not freely unleash her power.

What if she tried to attack the dragon and her power, which had lost control, got others involved?

If someone got hurt or died again because of this power…

Louise bit her lip hard.

The curse left by Dietrich seemed to burn through her veins and engulf her entire body.

The nightmare of the past vividly came to mind.

She couldn’t bear the sins that would accumulate the moment she lost control of her power.

So she couldn’t stab the dragon with an attack, couldn’t behead it, couldn’t break its wings, and couldn’t engrave a curse on it.

“Sir Carlyle, the response…!”

While Louise held Gelevan in place, the knights once again prepared the ballistae and catapults.

However, it was difficult to accurately throw crossbows and rocks in a gale strong enough to uproot trees.

As several attacks missed, Louise alone blocked the dragon’s attacks again and again.

And the dragon, a highly intelligent creature, seemed to have realized who it should bite and tear apart to the end, fixing its red eyes on Louise.

Soon, giant claws reached out towards Louise.

Boom-!

“Ugh…!”

Louise blocked the claws that were precisely aiming at her, but she couldn’t be completely free from the impact.

Her body was pushed back greatly, staggering, and her whole body ached as if it had been struck by a large club.

But before that pain could completely fade away, red flames were reflected in Gelevan’s mouth once more.

Louise’s eyes met the dragon’s, its mouth filled with fire.

In its large, red eyes, a clear intention could be seen.

This time, the Breath would pour out only towards her.

Louise checked those around her and distanced herself far away.

Gelevan’s eyes followed her movements.

At the same time, the red ball of flames that had been gathering shot out towards her.

Louise gripped her burning right wrist and unleashed the power of heresy.

Almost simultaneously, the two forces that burst out like an explosion collided in the sky above Paradel.

Bright red flames and black magic intertwined in a vortex and scattered in all directions.

Fragments of shattered earth and collapsed castle walls flew, and frozen tree branches caught fire.

‘Paradel is…!’

Louise saw the sight of Paradel collapsing as she blocked the Breath.

The hometown that had been painstakingly rebuilt was collapsing once again due to the shockwave from the collision.

‘I have to stop it.’

I have to protect Paradel from the shockwave created by the collision of the two forces.

She tried to protect Paradel by spreading the black curtain even wider.

At that moment.

Whoosh!

As if punishing her for her excessive greed, scorching flames pierced through the black curtain.

In an instant, flames that shone blindingly red could be seen.

In the heat that seemed to melt her body, Louise briefly thought.

Even if I get entangled in those flames, even if my body burns to ashes, I will terribly survive.

While I regenerate like a monster and come back to life, Paradel will become a ruin again like then, and death will…

“Louise!”

At that moment, a large cloak embraced her as if scooping her up.

At the same time, a piercingly blue light flew towards the scorching flames.

The sharp strike became a huge wind, blocking the flames, splitting through the center, and reaching the dragon.

The dragon, which had been spewing Breath, retracted its Breath and twisted its body, flying upward in the face of the sword strike that had reached right in front of it.

Louise smelled a strong, metallic scent of blood from the arms that held her. She also sensed a familiar musk scent resembling a forest.

She looked up, forgetting the fact that she had been facing the dragon.

At the end of that gaze were the violet eyes she had dreamed of for several nights.

“Sched…”

“Sorry I’m late.”

The arms embracing Louise tightened firmly.

The voice she had longed to hear so much rang in her ears.

Her eyes stung with the warmth enveloping her.

She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to meet him until she left.

She had hoped that the memory of the day she had to reject his wish would not be the end.

She wanted to spend just one more day with him before being imprisoned for eternal punishment.

Louise wiped away the overflowing tears with the back of her hand.

And she turned her eyes to the distant place where Sched’s gaze was directed.

It was not the time to be at leisure.

Gelevan, who had flown up to avoid Sched’s attack, was flying towards them again.

“Louise, can you briefly bind Gelevan?”

Sched asked without taking his eyes off the flying Gelevan.

His tone was no different from that of any other soldier.

But it was a voice that was terribly reassuring.

“Yes.”

Louise also nodded with a tense voice in response to his serious question.

Attacking was scary, but it seemed possible to tie Gelevan up for a while.

A smile spread across Sched’s lips at the unwavering affirmation.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Sched gently released her and raised his sword, directly facing Gelevan.

Louise also nodded.

The two were together.

Louise read a short signal from his glance.

She gathered her strength and reached out to the dragon’s two wings and legs.

A power like black chains flew towards the stormy sky and precisely bound Gelevan.

However, it was impossible to completely bring him down to the ground with the fierce resistance and wingbeats.

At most, she could only bind him in the air for a few seconds.

But Sched nodded his head once as if that was enough.

And in the blink of an eye, he climbed the castle wall.

A blue light even more intense than before wrapped around the sharp sword.

“Carlyle!”

He leaped into the windy sky, calling out to the knight who was waiting below.

Then, a glint flashed in the eyes of all the knights and soldiers.

He had only called Carlyle without a single long command, but all the soldiers moved in unison as if they had become one body.

At the same time, Sched swung the blue sword towards Gelevan, who was bound by Louise.

A sharp and giant blue light, as if it could cut an entire mountain range, flew towards the dragon.

“Kuweeeek-!”

The blue sword strike dug into the dragon’s hard scales and tore off its massive body.

Blood splattered like rain.

The dragon, writhing in pain, struggled to fly higher into the sky.

But the body bound by black chains could only thrash about, restrained in the air.

The waiting soldiers promptly fired the loaded ballistae and catapults.

The target was fixed in the air.

The fired arrows and rocks pierced the wounded dragon’s wings.

Intense impact sounds poured out.

“Kuweeeek!”

Finally, the giant body crashed into the ground outside Paradel Castle.

The sound that shook the earth echoed through the stormy plain.

Sched ran to where the dragon had fallen in a single breath.

Gelevan was struggling with his wings stuck in the ground, trying to fly up.

Whenever the castle-sized body moved violently, the earth rumbled, and the ground froze where the body touched.

Sched raised his sword towards him again.

But for a moment, his body stiffened as if his heart was twisting in pain.

‘Damn it, my breath…’

He clutched his chest.

He couldn’t breathe properly. Even the air his lungs tried to inhale felt like a blade.

Huff, cold sweat poured down like rain.

‘Was coming here too much…’

He recalled Felix’s prayer room.

The curse hung on the stone door of the prayer room.

The small stone door gnawed at his vitality before revealing its interior.

And the aftereffects of that caught his ankle.

The fallen dragon saw the human who had stopped in front of it.

A dangerous enemy who had inflicted deep wounds on its body.

The dragon swung its solid and huge tail towards that enemy.