Shin Sooa’s eyes shimmered with green light.

The wooden vines she had grown coiled around Gangcheol’s hind legs and tail, binding him like ropes.

-Geureureuk?!

Whenever Gangcheol thrashed and broke free, new trees immediately sprouted in their place.

He could have burned them all away with flames, but he had no oil left to spare.

As he struggled against his bindings, someone leapt forward in front of Gangcheol.

“Haha, this turned out more fun than expected!”

Dokgo Jun was swinging his sword, pressing Gangcheol hard.

Gangcheol tried to crush Dokgo Jun under his front paws, but his movements were too agile.

With Shin Sooa holding him from behind and Dokgo Jun gripping his ankles from the front—

‘They’re planning to wear him down before going for the kill.’

Princess felt satisfied knowing that everyone subduing Gangcheol was from Zone 2.

However, he hadn’t forgotten about punishing Seo Kangrim either.

As he watched the subjugation site, Ahn Nabi rushed over to him urgently.

“Team Leader, Team Leader.”

“Yes. Did you confirm it?”

“Well… the Royal Heirloom Saber was there.”

“What?”

Princess stared at Ahn Nabi as if asking what she meant.

Ahn Nabi spoke in a soft but clear voice.

“The weapons Seo Kangrim brought out were only a sniper rifle and a great bow—just two items.”

The unexpected report left Princess visibly flustered.

‘He didn’t take the Royal Heirloom Saber? Does he not know it’s a dragon-slaying sword?’

Princess had naturally assumed he would take the Royal Heirloom Saber.

But if he knew nothing about the sword called Royal Heirloom Saber, there was nothing strange about him passing it over.

‘Perhaps I overestimated Seo Kangrim.’

He had thought someone like him would know about the Royal Heirloom Saber.

At the very least, he assumed the god assisting him would have told him.

‘But even if he doesn’t know the Royal Heirloom Saber’s true worth, why didn’t he take his own weapon?’

The sniper rifle and great bow were powerful weapons, but he hadn’t used them himself.

Why had he handed such precious weapons to others?

Princess couldn’t make sense of it.

-Keuooooo!

Gangcheol’s cries now carried pain instead of rage.

Dokgo Jun darted about like the wind, slicing away at Gangcheol’s front legs to seal his movements.

Princess sensed something off about their actions.

‘Why haven’t they killed Gangcheol? This has been going on for a while.’

Starting with Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul, everyone was only making threats or playing defense.

Even Dokgo Jun was deliberately avoiding vital points, inflicting only shallow wounds.

Not a single one of them showed any intention of killing Gangcheol.

“U-um! Someone’s up there!”

At a Death Messenger’s shout, Princess looked up at the sky.

High above Gangcheol.

Shin Sooa and Seo Kangrim were there.

While Dokgo Jun distracted Gangcheol and restricted his movements, the two had moved above him.

Rather than approaching from the front or below, they planned to make contact from above.

Thanks to their roundabout approach, Gangcheol hadn’t noticed their presence yet.

Shin Sooa held onto Seo Kangrim as she positioned herself directly above Gangcheol’s head.

Ten meters below, Gangcheol’s head came into view.

She turned to Seo Kangrim and spoke.

“Seo Kangrim. Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

The venom-laced wind whipped their hair and clothes about.

Shin Sooa seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then gave a nod.

“Take a look below.”

As Shin Sooa slowly released her grip, Seo Kangrim plummeted straight down.

His falling body landed squarely on top of Gangcheol.

-Kkwung!

The moment he fell near the nape of its neck, Gangcheol twisted its body in alarm.

Seo Kangrim gripped the scales tightly to keep from falling, but a groan escaped his lips involuntarily.

“Ugh…!”

The moment he grabbed Gangcheol’s scales, his hands began to burn, causing searing pain.

It was due to the venomous aura and heat radiating from Gangcheol’s entire body.

Just being near it made his lungs sting; touching it directly caused burns and blisters to form on his hands in an instant.

‘I have both Poison Resistance and Flame Resistance, yet it’s this bad…’

It felt like being thrown onto a red-hot iron plate.

His entire body seared and burned, and the agony of venom pouring over his burns transcended imagination.

It was the pain of being flayed alive and thrown into saltwater.

Meanwhile, sensing danger, Gangcheol began to thrash violently.

Seo Kangrim clutched the scales desperately to keep from falling off, but his hands began to burn as if doused in sulfuric acid.

[Flame damage has exceeded Flame Resistance!]

[Poison damage has exceeded Poison Resistance!]

‘I need to end this quickly.’

Seo Kangrim gritted his teeth and began crawling toward Gangcheol’s head.

Every time he moved, the sound of sizzling accompanied the burning of his flesh.

Before he knew it, his hands were covered in red and black blotches.

“What on earth is he doing?”

From below, Princess stared up at him, utterly bewildered.

He had assumed they were launching an aerial attack to kill the dragon, but Seo Kangrim was climbing bare-handed onto Gangcheol’s head.

Just then, Seo Kangrim pulled something from his pocket.

Princess furrowed his brow.

“What in the world is that…?”

When Seo Kangrim finally managed to climb atop Gangcheol’s head, the dragon rolled back its red eyes and glared at him.

Seo Kangrim opened his mouth to speak, meeting those eyes brimming with murderous intent—as if it would kill him the instant it regained enough strength.

“Calm down. I have no intention of killing you.”

With those words, Seo Kangrim showed him what he held in his hand.

The moment Gangcheol’s eyes filled with suspicion—

-Kkwareureung!

The sound of thunder crackled from somewhere.

Simultaneously, one of Gangcheol’s hind legs disintegrated into ash in an instant.

The stench of burning flesh filled the air as Gangcheol’s scream echoed far and wide.

“Huuu…”

Seomun Yongnyeo let out a long breath and stepped forward.

Lightning flickered in her hand.

Princess, standing behind her, urgently blocked her path.

“Team Leader Seomun, what do you think you’re doing!”

“I’m trying to save a life. Don’t you think the cadet is in danger?”

Seomun Yongnyeo’s calm response made Princess flinch.

As she claimed, Seo Kangrim’s entire body was in tatters.

He was somehow still clinging to Gangcheol’s neck, but he looked ready to collapse at any moment.

Seomun Yongnyeo turned to the Death Messenger of her team and spoke.

“Record this in the report.”

“Understood. What should I write?”

“Team 1 Leader, Seomun Yongnyeo. Having determined that the cadets had no possibility of slaying Gangcheol, subdued it in their stead.”

Even as she spoke, the lightning surrounding Seomun Yongnyeo crackled and arced more sharply.

Lightning reflected in her eyes as well.

Princess hurriedly stepped in front of her.

“This zone is under the jurisdiction of Team Leader Yang Ibaek and myself! The authority to decide lies with us!”

“The Bureau Director didn’t include any such clause, did she? I have no desire to watch Cadet Seo Kangrim die.”

With those words, Seomun Yongnyeo summoned lightning once more.

Her entire body blazed with a light fierce enough to burn.

Princess gritted his teeth and sent a telepathic message to Seo Kangrim.

[Seo Kangrim! You need to kill Gangcheol before Seomun Yongnyeo does! If she subdues Gangcheol, your mission fails!]

While he wasn’t pleased with Seomun Yongnyeo’s sudden intervention, her previous strike had dealt considerable damage to Gangcheol.

If Seo Kangrim could exploit this opening and finish Gangcheol off, the mission could still be completed.

Hearing that telepathic message, Seo Kangrim stirred and forced himself upright.

Gripping the Seven-Blade Sword he had drawn from the Storage Pouch.

Thinking he was finally going to kill Gangcheol, Princess’s expression brightened slightly.

But the moment Seomun Yongnyeo saw this, she urgently extended her hand and activated her Special Ability.

[Special Ability ‘Lightning Strike’ activates!]

Lightning dropped from a clear sky, tearing through heaven and earth as it struck Gangcheol.

It was incomparable to the blow that had obliterated the leg moments ago.

Princess seized Seomun Yongnyeo by the collar in horror.

“Have you lost your mind?! Seo Kangrim is still right there, and you used Lightning Strike?!”

“My, how violent. I know how to control it to that degree. He was right next to it, so he wouldn’t have died.”

She slapped Princess’s hand off her collar and smiled thinly.

“Well, he might be a little singed, but that’s nothing treatment can’t fix. Now that Gangcheol has been dealt with, let’s get Cadet Seo Kangrim…”

Mid-sentence, Seomun Yongnyeo looked toward Gangcheol.

Through the thick smoke generated by the lightning strike, Gangcheol came into view.

It had taken damage, but it wasn’t dead.

And standing before Gangcheol was Seo Kangrim.

With the Seven-Blade Sword plunged into the ground.

The lightning-charged Seven-Blade Sword crackled with electricity.

Seomun Yongnyeo raised an eyebrow slightly and spoke.

“He used the Seven-Blade Sword as a lightning rod?”

Having been struck by lightning once before, the Seven-Blade Sword had developed an affinity for attracting lightning and a resistance to it.

Some of the lightning that had been hurtling toward Gangcheol was drawn to the Seven-Blade Sword’s energy, dispersing the attack’s force.

Seo Kangrim glared at Seomun Yongnyeo and Princess and spoke.

“No one is going to kill Gangcheol.”

With those words, he revealed what he had been holding in his hand all along.

“Because this is my dragon.”

What Seo Kangrim held was the Token of Friendship.

Limping, he approached Gangcheol, who lay collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

Both Gangcheol and Seo Kangrim were in terrible shape.

Gangcheol watched Seo Kangrim with confused eyes.

He forced his unresponsive hand to move and tied the Token of Friendship to Gangcheol’s horn.

Blood dripping from Seo Kangrim’s hand fell drop by drop onto the name inscribed on the token.

At that moment, a notification window appeared before his eyes.

[‘Token of Friendship’ has been equipped!]

[The target’s hostility subsides!]

Along with the notification, the killing intent in Gangcheol’s eyes gradually faded.

It blinked slowly as it gazed at Seo Kangrim, as if recognizing him.

With Gangcheol now calm, the onlookers stood dumbfounded.

“W-what just happened?”

“Did he subdue Gangcheol?”

“To actually calm Gangcheol down…”

As everyone stared in a daze, Princess stepped forward and bellowed.

“Seo Kangrim! That’s enough! Gangcheol has calmed down, now kill it!”

At Princess’s shout, Seo Kangrim slowly turned his head and looked down.

The Death Messengers had already gathered close to Gangcheol.

“Gangcheol has been pacified. There’s no need to kill it.”

“Don’t be fooled into thinking Gangcheol has gone docile! The venomous aura and heat radiating from its body will cause the Demon Realm to collapse!”

As Princess said, Gangcheol’s aggression had diminished, but heat continued to radiate from its body.

Unable to suppress the fire welling up within its own body, everywhere Gangcheol passed turned to ruin.

Even if docile, it was still a Demon Beast.

Seo Kangrim knew this fact well himself, so he spoke in a voice devoid of anger.

“Understood. I’ll deal with Gangcheol. But I’ll do it my way.”

At those words, Princess looked at him as if to ask what he meant.

Seo Kangrim turned his gaze to Rini, who was standing alongside Yoon Gyeoul.

“Rini, I’m counting on you.”

“Uung!”

As if to say “leave it to me,” Rini trotted over to Gangcheol.

When it pressed its horn against Gangcheol’s head, white light began to seep out.

[Special Ability ‘Purification’ activates!]