Chapter 175: Encounter with the Demon Queen (P5)

Ivis’s question hung in the air, still thick with the fine dust and suffocating smoke from the recent impact.

The enormous crater that had formed beneath their feet was irrefutable proof of the magnitude of the fall.

Small fragments of rock continued to detach from the dungeon’s cracked walls, falling to the ground with a sound that only accentuated the dense silence and the palpable tension of the moment.

The smell of ozone and burnt stone flooded the place.

Ryan walked toward Helen with slow steps, crunching the rubble beneath his boots, not bothering to answer the dragoness for the moment.

His eyes rapidly scanned the destroyed surroundings, evaluating the material damage and verifying the status of the rest of his party out of the corner of his eye.

"I cannot ignore the fact that you intended to harm my lady. Did you perhaps believe she would die if she fell from that height?" Ivis intervened, breaking the silence.

Her voice resonated with annoyance. She began to shake the rubble and dust off her clothes with abrupt movements, evidencing an irritation that was rapidly increasing.

"Since I see that you are so strong, I intend to fight with all my might," Ivis added, raising her chin with unshakeable pride and fixing her reptilian eyes on Ryan.

Even though she remained standing and in apparent calm, without bothering to draw a visible weapon, the aura that she began to emanate would be extremely overwhelming for any intermediate-rank human.

The pressure in the air became dense, almost as if they were submerged in water, and the silhouette of her body seemed to distort the space around her due to the immense amount of mana she was releasing.

It was the pure, primal, and oppressive power of an SS-level existence, something that instinctively made any living being of a lower rank tremble regardless of their race.

Faced with that monstrous demonstration of strength, Ryan stopped. Behind him was Helen, covered in a thick layer of dust, rubble, and her own blood.

The warrior tried to support herself on the handle of her weapon so as not to fall to the ground, still dazed and disoriented by the heavy attack she had received.

She looked up at the dragon woman with evident difficulty, breathing raggedly, with every exhalation accompanied by a grimace of pain.

"Ry... an... let me take care of that lizard..." Helen grunted with great difficulty.

Despite her almost pitiful physical state, her eyes burned with a competitive fury.

She was clinging to her warrior’s pride tooth and nail, flatly refusing to show weakness or back down in front of a superior enemy.

"That foolish pride of yours will only end up getting you killed," Ryan pronounced with cutting coldness, a direct warning designed to curb any suicidal impulse the girl might have in that instant.

Without taking his eyes off Ivis for a single second, he extended his hand backward, aiming his open palm in the direction where Helen was staggering.

"Recovery."

A complex magic circle deployed instantly beneath Helen’s feet, emitting a warm, green glow that contrasted with the darkness of the dungeon.

The healing light enveloped her body completely. In a matter of brief seconds, the deep injuries on her skin visibly began to close.

Upon catching her breath and feeling the vitality suddenly returning to her fatigued muscles, she stood up firmly, clenching her fists, ready to say something else.

"Stay in a corner with Irina, do not cause any more problems," Ryan ordered, using a deep and authoritative tone that made it clear he would not accept any sort of backtalk or tantrums.

Helen opened her mouth to protest immediately, her brow deeply furrowed and an expression of dissatisfaction drawn across her face.

However, upon noticing the seriousness in the atmosphere, added to the rigid and defensive posture of her leader, she clamped her lips shut.

She gritted her teeth in frustration, nodded reluctantly while swallowing her words, and retreated in a tense silence to where Irina was.

Ryan let out a light, almost imperceptible sigh and returned his complete attention to the main threat standing in front of him, who still radiated murderous intent.

"Listen Ivis, you might not believe it, but what happened was an accident. We did not intend to harm you, much less start a fight to the death right here."

"Do you expect me to believe that?" the dragoness responded immediately, narrowing her eyes with profound suspicion. Her murderous aura didn’t diminish a single iota at the explanation.

Ryan deliberately closed the distance, walking toward her until he planted himself face to face just a few meters away.

"I have no intention of fighting against you, and I am not looking for a conflict with Ophelia either. Do you perhaps think we are naive enough to believe that you would die from falling from this height? A Demon Queen at the peak of her power and an SS-level dragon?"

While pronouncing those words, Ryan looked around out of the corner of his eye.

’But, is Ophelia not planning to come?’ 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Ivis stood there for a good while staring fixedly at Ryan, completely unfazed. Her vertical reptilian pupils dilated slightly as she meticulously evaluated the sincerity and the lack of deception in the human’s words.

"If that is truly the truth of the matter, you shouldn’t have drawn your weapons so hostilely when I entered the dungeon..." she finally said, letting out a long, loud sigh laden with annoyance and resignation.

She relaxed the tension in her shoulders and let her arms drop to her sides, completely abandoning her initial combat posture.

’So that is why she attacked us like that? From the beginning I saw her approach with clear murderous intentions, but maybe she just wanted to intimidate us.’

"Believe me, I have no intention of making an enemy of your lady Ophelia and creating a bigger problem. Can we speak calmly now and clear this up?" Ryan asked, adopting a notably more relaxed posture.

Ivis did not respond immediately, seeming to debate internally for long seconds whether she should trust this man’s words or not.

She diverted her sharp gaze toward the rubble on her right for a brief instant before refocusing on him with a neutral expression.

"Perhaps I overreacted a bit by jumping to hasty conclusions. I don’t believe you would be naive or stupid enough to lay such a foolish and obvious trap, either..." the dragon woman admitted with a much calmer tone.

She paused briefly, visibly swallowing a bit of her innate pride as a superior being, before very slightly bowing her head by way of apology.

"I apologize for my impulsive behavior."

"Don’t worry about it, let’s forget what happened and chalk this up as a misunderstanding." Ryan waved his hand in front of him, downplaying the matter with a casual gesture.

He looked around again, this time turning his head completely and no longer bothering to hide his curiosity.

"But... changing the subject, is Ophelia not planning to come?"

"No. She ordered me to take you to a specific location. She said that she simply didn’t want to come and get dirty in a place like this," Ivis replied with total naturalness.

"Then, where do you plan on dragging me to now?" Ryan said with a markedly sarcastic tone.

’And after what just happened, I can’t really refuse her request either. After all, we were largely to blame for this.’

Mirian, who had been observing everything from a safe and prudent distance, approached them with quick, light, and silent steps.

"Do you really intend to go with her alone, Ryan? Honestly, I don’t think that is prudent."

Ryan turned his head toward Mirian, taking his eyes off the dragoness for a second, and showed her a soft smile.

"Yes, I will go. Do not worry about me, I will be fine."

"Alright..." Mirian responded in a whisper, still doubtful and biting her lower lip with anxiety.

"Very well, then it is decided," Ivis intervened suddenly with a firm voice.

She stepped closer to Ryan as she pulled out a teleportation portal, and placed a hand right on his shoulder.

"We are leaving."