“Nhnn…” A soft sound slipped from the nun’s lips as she slowly came to. Her eyes fluttered open, still unfocused from exhaustion. “It looks like you’re awake,” Rhys said with a small smile. He had deliberately taken a seat across the fire, keeping a safe distance. The purple flames crackled between them, making it clear she couldn’t approach him carelessly without risking getting burned. The nun blinked a few times, tilting her head as she tried to understand where she was. When her gaze settled on Rhys, she pushed herself up in confusion. “Ah…?” “You collapsed earlier,” Rhys explained calmly. Instead of responding right away, she looked around first. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, then dropped to her own body. After a brief check, she confirmed that nothing had been done to her beyond basic care. She took a slow breath and steadied herself before speaking again. “Did you help me?” “Yeah.” “Thank you… I thought I was going to die out there.” “No problem,” Rhys replied,

Rhys lay flat against the warm sand at the top of a dune, peering down at the bandits’ base below. From a distance, it didn’t look like the dangerous stronghold Laura had described. It looked… ordinary. “So that’s the stronghold. Honestly, it looks more like a village to me,” he said under his breath. Laura, crouched beside him, nodded. “Yes. That’s the place.” Rhys narrowed his eyes and studied it carefully. “There aren’t that many structures. Fewer than twenty buildings, and that large one in the middle stands out. No water source either, which is strange for a settlement like this.” “Exactly.” Laura pointed toward the central building. “If we move now, we can get close before anyone notices. I’m certain the leader and the others stay in there. If we want to separate them, we’ll have to come up with something clever.” Rhys didn’t answer immediately. He kept scanning the area, following the movement of the guards, the spacing between buildings, the gaps where someone could slip

The faint clinking of metal echoed through the room. Laura let out a weak groan. “Kh…” Her body felt heavy, like it didn’t belong to her. When she tried to move her arms, they barely shifted before something pulled them back. Her head throbbed, and the rough ground beneath her sent a dull ache through her hips. “Huh…?” She forced her eyes open, blinking through the blur. It took a moment before things started to make sense. Iron shackles. Her feet were bound. Her hands too. “What—!” She jerked instinctively, but the movement was cut short by the harsh sound of chains tightening above her. The force dragged her arms upward, making her shoulders strain. Her breath caught. Slowly, she lifted her head and saw it clearly. The chains were fixed to the ceiling. No matter how much strength she used, she couldn’t move more than a few inches. Her heart began to race. ‘What happened…?’ Fragments of memory surfaced. The meal. The conversation. Sitting with Rhys. Then nothing. Her

Before they moved, Rhys called out softly, and a familiar presence filled the room. Nidhogg appeared. Until now, Rhys had kept him hidden, saving him as a trump card. Even in a situation like this, he had held back. He lifted one of the broken chains still hanging from his wrist and showed it to the dragon. “Can you deal with this? Melt it or break it, just don’t burn my hand.” Nidhogg gave a short nod. Without hesitation, he leaned forward and bit into the shackle. A faint glow built inside his throat, carefully controlled. Heat gathered but didn’t burst outward. Instead, it stayed contained between his jaws. The metal began to glow red. For a brief moment, the heat spread through the entire chain, but before it could reach Rhys, Nidhogg snapped his jaws shut. Crack. The shackle broke cleanly. He spat the ruined metal aside and moved on to the rest, dismantling each restraint with the same precision. Laura stood frozen. A wolf and a jackal were already unusual enough. But

Rhys didn’t hesitate. The moment he stepped out of the building, he called out, “Nidhogg. Save your strength for the real fight. We take down the vice leader fast.” Gaelion gave a short nod, and Nidhogg did the same. Without wasting another second, the dragon spread his wings and launched into the sky. The reaction was immediate. “What is that?” “Something’s flying!” “A lizard? No… that’s a dragon!” Panic rippled through the stronghold as Nidhogg soared overhead. He didn’t attack right away. Instead, he circled once, scanning the area from above. Then he tilted his head and pointed toward one of the buildings. Rhys understood instantly. “There.” He and Gaelion moved at once, sprinting toward the target while Nidhogg folded his wings and dove straight down. Inside, the vice leader barely had time to react. “What?!” he shouted, stunned by the sudden assault. Two figures stood beside him. One was a tiefling with curved horns and a long tail, his skin flushed with heat. The ot