Crossing over the frozen water, the air was slightly chilly.

The crimson sky illuminated over us, covering us in red.

Visible through the thick sheet of ice, the serpent of the moat was weakly swimming around.

Entering the palace of the inner sanctum, Incus suddenly bent down on into a fighting stance.

I couldn’t see the window screen in the sky since it was covered by a large sphere of water, the only thing I could see is the vague color of white.

There wasn’t a draft written as well, so we’ll have to dive into battle without any knowledge aside from the hope that Incus somehow wins.

"This bloodlust." Incus straightened her back and scrapped her blade on the ground as she continued to enter deeper into the palace, "An arch demon is only a little weaker than a demon general but this aura is too strong."

’Ring, this battle is going to be deadly... you must feed me your rage if you want to survive.’ The force armor spoke to me, ’You are weak. The dragon scales armor has left you and your skills are subpar compared to the hero, there is no escape from death unless you surrender to me.’

Damn it, is there really no other way. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Everyone, I want you to run for your life once you encounter a danger that you cannot handle." I gritted my teeth, "I will not blame you for prioritizing your life if you do."

"We’ve been companions for a very long time, there’s no way I would do that partner." Alleus smacked my back before walking past me towards Incus.

"Even though you’re a rotten bastard, I wouldn’t choose anyone else to leave my life to." Vertere smacked my back as well.

"Even if we haven’t spent much time together, I can tell that you’re a good man... sir." Ulna did the same, her respect towards me had come back.

Lieur tightened her fist and bit her lip, looking down to the side, hiding her face.

"This time, I will be of use." Lieur brushed past me.

Widening my strides, I followed them.

"Make sure to draw your weapons... just focus on defending yourself."

Climbing up a long set of intricately beautiful stairs made of white stones, we soon stood in front of large gates that had carvings of the same woman that was embroidered on commander Cage’s armor.

As Incus pushed open the door, Alleus raised her Cusped Falchion, Ulna and Vertere were prepared to cast spells.

Lieur drew her bow.

The doors then opened, and suddenly I felt the dense killing aura that Incus was talking about.

"Urgh... it’s difficult to breath." Vertere narrowed his eyes.

Forcing our way through, we entered a hall.

In the middle was a demon with the same clothes as Tigbone and Gratius.

But there was a clear distinction that made this demon different from the rest... it had wings, resembling that of a dragon’s.

"So you’ve arrived." The demon turned towards Incus, "I’ve heard that you’ve killed my younger brother, it’s such a shame that he had to die in such a gruesome way... but he was always arrogant, relying on his dragon form when thing’s got nasty."

"There’s no way, Dragonborn has a brother?" Alleus paled, "But what does he mean younger brother, does that make him weaker than Dragonborn despite being the older one?"

"Uh, who exactly is Dragonborn?" Ulna asked.

"He was a demon general of the demon king... Incus nearly lost that battle if it wasn’t with the assistance of Steinen." Vertere replied.

"Okay but who’s Steinen—?" Ulna asked, but was interrupted.

"So Dragonborn had a brother, how surprising." Incus scoffed, "It seems that your lineage will end here."

"Haha, don’t be mistaken. I am not weaker than my brother, he simply spent more time toiling with toys instead of devouring." The dragon demon then ripped off the steel blindfold, "Unlike him, I don’t need weapons... I am more than enough."

"Check status."

╔═══〔Status Window〕═══╗

𓆩༺「Information」༻𓆪

[Name: Draan]

[Class: Tank]

[※ Equipment]

✦ Star crimson cloak of the arch demoness

[※ Weapons]

✦ N/A

𓆩༺「Stat points」༻𓆪

[Strength: 92]

[Agility: 84]

[Vitality: 94/94]

[Mana: 48/48]

[Intelligence: 67]

𓆩༺「Skills」༻𓆪

[True Absolute Strength] [Mastered Damage absorption] [Advanced Mana sense] [True Grounded Martial arts] [Mastered Perception] [Advanced Pain Tolerance]

╚══════"✧"══════╝

Incus suddenly took a step back.

"You’re just a point stronger than your brother... I can sense that your mana pool is far inferior—"

Interupting Incus, the dragon demon Draan suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Incus by the mouth before slamming her down.

"I am not inferior." Draan continued to dig Incus into the ground, " If you dare continue on insulting me then I shall make your death come sooner."

Incus suddenly pushed Draan back, seemingly gaining newfound strength.

It was the same as Earlier when she fought against the demon Tigbone, it must be that skill ’Limit surge’ again.

Incus then cloaked herself in a cloak of lightning, before lunging forward.

"My death isn’t of your concern!" Incus slashed at Draan, but was blocked.

Swatting the lightning hero’s sword away, Draan pulled Incus towards her with the index of his finger before doing a back fist, sending Incus flying towards a pillar.

"No one has ever bested me in battle except for my liege and the demon king." Draan slowly walked towards Incus nonchalantly, "But I should commend you for defeating Tigbone and Gratius... our weakest amongst the commanders."

"Impossible!" Incus stood back up, pointing her sword, "Tigbone told me he was the strongest—!"

With an unseen punch, Incus was sent flying once more but towards the stairs that lead to another doorway.

"Tigbone? What a joke, he’s nothing but a mere foot soldier who got stronger by reaping on the weak." Draan’s expression grew colder as he turned towards us.

"Shit—!" I prepared to swing the fire hero’s sword.

But then, Draan smiled at us before turning towards Incus.

"That almost gave me a heart attack..!" Ulna grasped her chest, "I thought we were going to have to engage in combat against that monster."