Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss-Chapter 322: That Wyrm Ain’t Blind

Thorn yawned as he walked out of his tent, stretching as he took in the chilly morning air and the rocky landscape around him.

The sun was just rising over the mountain, casting soft golden lights everywhere.

He walked forward at the fire in the middle of the camp, scratching at his belly. There’d been a stone under his bed that had dug into his stomach throughout the night and had made his sleep less satisfying than it could’ve been.

"Morning." He yawned, taking a seat before the fire.

"Morning." Ren greeted as he stirred the pot of soup that he was cooking.

Lilith said nothing, already busy with her arms wrapped around Ren’s torso and her body stuck to his as if they were both sharing warmth.

Thorn leaned back, placing his hands on the ground beside him and staring up at the morning sky.

Minutes later, they had breakfast, a delicious affair of bread and soup.

When they were done eating and the fire was out, they packed up their tents, stuffing them back in Ren’s spatial pouch.

They stood in a huddle, eyes on the opened map in Ren’s hand.

"We’re here." Lilith pointed. "So, we’re not too far from where we need to be."

"So what’s the strategy?" Thorn asked, tightening his new, and ordinary, cloak around himself. "This thing senses heat and movement. I’m not exactly quiet and we can all agree that I’m smoking hot."

"We don’t need to be invisible." Ren said. "We just need to be smart. There’s no need for us to fight the wyrm. All we need is the Bloom of Ashes."

"What’s so special about the flower anyways?" Thorn asked.

"Don’t know, don’t care." Ren answered. "If we want the flower, we just need to wait until the wyrm goes to hunt, then we steal it. As long as we’re in and out before it returns, we don’t need to get into a fight to get what we want."

"If it were that easy, Luna wouldn’t need us." Lilith finally spoke.

"True." Ren nodded. "If the wyrm doesn’t really need to leave its nest, then we’ll have to be smarter."

"First, we’ll approach from the north, where the wind comes off the ridge. It might help mask our scent. The wyrm’s blind but still has its sense of smell."

"We go during the day when everything is hotter. All we need to do is regulate our body heat and bring it down to match that of the environment."

"As long as there’s no sudden moves, and we just use slow, careful steps, we’ll be able to get in close and kill it before it’s aware of us."

Lilith’s eyes glimmered. "Or I go in alone. I’m better at cloaking myself than either of you."

Ren shook his head. "We go together. If something goes wrong, I want to be there."

Thorn gave a short laugh. "You mean when something goes wrong."

"Pessimist." Lilith scoffed.

And with that settled, they began their trek up the ridge that led toward the Hollow Crown.

The trail was treacherous, little more than narrow ledges and broken paths. At one point, they had to cross a narrow ice bridge, with Thorn almost slipping into the ravine below.

Lightning struck in the far distance, a slow rumble echoing through the peaks. freēwēbnovel.com

"That’s the Crown." Ren said quietly.

When they finally reached the plateau, the Hollow Crown stretched before them.

It was exactly as it had been described. A ring of black stone, jagged and massive, as if the mountain had erupted from the inside out.

The ground was scorched. The air vibrated with static. Strange, blue-tinged plants grew in the crevices, humming faintly.

In the center of the ring, nestled in a patch of scorched earth, was the Bloom of Ashes.

It was ethereal, its petals flickering between colors, glowing faintly with inner heat.

And curled beside it, like a mountain in repose, was the Thunderwyrm.

Its scales were black as night, streaked with white lightning scars. Its body shimmered with quiet power.

Though blind, its head shifted slightly at their approach. It was already aware of them.

Ren raised a hand. They froze.

"Retreat." He whispered urgently. "No sudden movements. Just retreat. Slowly."

They slowly moved backwards, keeping their eyes on the wyrm as they did.

The Thunderwyrm kept its head tilted in their direction as if telling them it was watching and letting them go on purpose.

They knew exactly what was happening. The monster was exactly as powerful as they’d imagined. But the worst part, they couldn’t sneak up on it.

When they were finally out of sight, they scrambled as far away as they could in the safest yet fastest way they had.

When they were far enough, they stood, staring at each other.

"Fuck." Thorn whispered. "What the hell was that?"

"It can see us." Lilith said, voice cold. "We can’t hide from it even if we wanted to. We’d have to face it head on."

"Wait. There’s still something else we have to try." Ren spoke. "We can wait for it to go hunting then steal the flower."

"Well," Thorn nodded, "it’s worth a try."

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Ren let out a breath, low and controlled. "Okay, I may have miscalculated. That monster hasn’t moved an inch since we got here."

"We’ve been waiting for three days." Lilith murmured, her eyes narrowed as she stared up the ridge at the Hollow Crown. "Nothing. Not a twitch."

"It’s not hunting." Thorn added. "Don’t these things need to eat?"

Ren’s brow furrowed. "Maybe it is. Just not in the way we expected."

Lilith turned her head. "What are you thinking?"

Ren kept his eyes on the wyrm. "The Bloom. Maybe it’s not just guarding it. Maybe it’s feeding off it. Drawing heat or energy from the flower itself."

"That’s messed up." Thorn muttered. "So... what, we try to steal the wyrm’s food?"

No one said anything.

"If we’re going through all this hassle for a food source, why not just take it for ourselves? We all know it’s more than just food. It has to be giving the wyrm power too "

"We can’t." Ren said simply. "We need the guide. Luna was clear. The flower is her price."

Thorn ran a hand down his face. "So what? We take on a giant sized wyrm that can shatter stone with its voice?"

Ren nodded once. "We hit it head on. No tricks. Just force."

Lilith grinned widely. "Finally. Something simple."

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