Chapter 173: Encounter with the Demon Queen (P3)

Ryan brought a hand to his face, covering his eyes as he let out a long, heavy sigh at Helen’s childish attitude.

He had just given her a lecture about the consequences of her actions and the difference in power, and it hadn’t even taken her five minutes to throw the Demon Queen’s robe into the void outside the dungeon.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?!" Mirian yelled at the top of her lungs, approaching the blonde with her fists clenched in absolute indignation.

Irina, the beautiful elf, upon seeing the incredibly tense atmosphere that was forming, slowly retreated backward, walking on her tiptoes to avoid getting caught in the crossfire if a physical fight broke out between the heroines.

Helen began to look at everyone with an expression of feigned doubt, blinking innocently.

"Hey, it wasn’t my intention to let go of it," Helen excused herself, hiding her hands behind her back.

"I just wanted to joke around a little by making it flutter in the outside wind and it slipped right out of my fingers. It was an accident."

"Don’t lie so shamelessly!" Mirian yelled at her, pointing her index finger right at her.

"Mirian," Ryan pronounced with a cold tone of voice.

Ryan looked her directly in the eyes. It wasn’t necessary to issue a complete verbal command or raise his voice; Mirian understood her leader’s intention at once just by him calling her name like that.

It was an authorization for discipline. Just like the first time they left the sky dungeon and fell into the elven forest.

Most likely, Ryan’s current expression made Mirian remember that situation, where as a punishment, Helen had to smack her on the buttocks.

And this was a perfect opportunity to get her revenge for that occasion.

Although unlike Mirian, who was able to learn from that occasion and not commit such reckless acts, it seemed that Helen would need more than just one hit for her attitude to change.

And without waiting a single second longer, Mirian raised her arm and forcefully struck Helen on the head with the edge of her hand.

"Ouch!" Helen complained, bringing both hands to her head from the pain of the impact, forming a pout. "But Ryan! It really wasn’t my intention to throw it that far away."

Ryan turned around, giving her his back completely, and ignored her.

’And here I thought for a moment that she was actually reflecting on her own limits.’ Ryan thought with total resignation.

But then, Irina’s sweet voice resonated timidly in the wide corridor.

"Hey... sorry for the interruption, but..." she murmured, playing with the edge of her skirt. "What exactly do you mean by Ryan being SS rank?"

Upon hearing that simple question, it was as if a switch clicked in the minds of Mirian and Helen. Both of them were suddenly startled, completely forgetting the tantrum and the lost robe.

"It’s true! You said that a moment ago." Mirian said, running over to plant herself right in front of Ryan, her eyes wide open with surprise.

"Because I was paying attention to this idiot’s nonsense I completely missed it. Did you really rise to the SS rank? But how is that possible in such a short amount of time?"

Helen didn’t get too close, still rubbing the area where she was hit, but she did question the logic of the statement from her spot, as if she still had serious doubts.

"But... if you haven’t leveled up, how come you are saying that?" Helen pointed out, furrowing her brow.

’It’s true, I haven’t told them anything yet.’

Ryan calmly turned toward the three of them, adopting his usual analytical posture.

"It is exactly as Ophelia explained it." Ryan began to recount, using a didactic tone.

"This world’s system is made and designed to accustom mortal bodies to magical power in a progressive manner. So the numerical level that the interface displays is not the truly important factor on the scale of strength."

Ryan raised a hand to illustrate his point.

"What matters is the adaptation process that your body and your spirit acquire in the face of a massive accumulation of power. And that is exactly what happened with me."

’Of course, skipping the system’s rules to accumulate absurd stats is not something you can achieve so easily. At least not without exploiting a system bug like my debt skill.’

"What? You are saying overly complicated and boring things again..." Helen grumbled, crossing her arms and refusing to process the magical theory.

"Oh, you truly are a hopeless idiot. I will explain it to you." Mirian said, letting out a long sigh of exasperation.

But before Mirian could say a single word more, the atmosphere of the place changed drastically.

A dense and heavy clash of energy pierced through the rift’s portal with brutal power, distorting the air and generating an expansive shockwave that made the dungeon’s stone walls tremble.

The wind blew inwards with an overwhelming force.

An enormous body, with thick white scales underneath in the belly area and an intense emerald green color all across the upper part, landed heavily right in front of them.

The heavy claws of the beast echoed against the ground. Pair of extremely long and muscular green wings extended to the sides of the corridor, completely blocking out the light entering from the outside.

’Could this be...?’ Ryan thought, instantaneously evaluating the gigantic amount of mana the creature was giving off.

"Dragon!" Helen shouted, casting aside any relaxed attitude. She unsheathed her sword in a fraction of a second, adopting a defensive combat stance to protect Ryan.

In turn, Mirian took a step back and gripped her bow, drawing an energy-charged arrow and aiming it directly at the beast.

Irina, terrified by the overwhelming predatory pressure, retreated as far back as possible, pressing her back against the wall to seek refuge.

The immense green dragon lowered its monstrous head and let out a deafening roar that made the foundations of the fortress vibrate. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Could I know what the hell you damn humans are playing at?!" The creature’s furious voice resonated, echoing throughout the entire dungeon.