Several hours later…

"…Is it really here?" Gloria asked, her golden eyes narrowing as she looked down at the pond, quiet, still, and far too ordinary to hide anything special.

"Yeah," Gray replied, folding his arms.

"We have to dive into it."

"Alright then."

Without hesitation, Gloria began unbuttoning her uniform jacket, setting it aside piece by piece until she was left wearing only a black bra and matching panties.

Her movements were calm and unbothered, as if this were the most natural thing in the world.

Gray blinked, briefly frozen by her casualness. He exhaled through his nose and said nothing, removing his shirt and shoes, keeping only his shorts.

"I'll follow your lead," Gloria said, glancing at him.

Gray gave a light nod, turned toward the pond, and dived in with a clean motion.

Splash!

The cold water swallowed him whole.

He kicked downward, scanning the dim blue depths before glancing back.

Gloria's figure followed gracefully behind him, her golden hair streaming like sunlight under the water.

After a few seconds, Gray spotted that familiar blue glow ahead.

He swam toward it quickly, weaving between a cluster of rocks until he found the narrow passage hidden beneath them.

"Haaagh…" He surfaced with a short breath.

Brushing his wet hair back, he looked around.

The faintly glowing walls of the cave confirmed that this was the same place as before.

Moments later, Gloria emerged beside him. She snapped her fingers, and a faint golden light wrapped around their bodies, instantly drying their skin and hair.

Gray blinked, then frowned.

"Couldn't you just have dried our clothes too?"

Gloria turned her head slowly.

"...Lead the way," she promptly ignored his question.

Gray stared at her for a second, his lips twitching.

'...Actually, what the fuck is wrong with her?!'

He sighed deeply.

'Forget it.'

Shaking his head, he walked deeper into the cave.

The air grew colder, and before long, the straight corridor he remembered came into view.

Gray crouched down, picked up a small rock from the ground, and threw it forward, past the faint outlines of the traps ahead.

"[✧Swap✧]"

In a blink, his body flickered, switching places with the rock as it clattered onto the stone floor.

Then, he glanced back at Gloria.

"There are arrow traps ahead... just a small warning."

Gloria gave a calm nod and began walking toward him.

Fwip, fwip, fwip!

The traps were triggered as multiple arrows started shooting towards her, but each one stopped midair and fell harmlessly to the ground before even reaching her.

As if annulled by some kind of magic.

Soon she was standing beside him, completely untouched.

"What's next?" she asked casually.

Gray led her into the next chamber, where the familiar pedestal stood, and on it, the Rubik's Cube he'd already solved once.

Except now, it was scrambled again.

"A puzzle?" Gloria raised an eyebrow, picking up the small cube before briefly reading what was in the stone pedestal.

"Yeah. Hand it over, I'll solve it," Gray said, extending his hand.

"There's no need." She turned the cube in her fingers, studying it briefly before her hands began to move.

Clack, clack...

The pieces started shifting rapidly, faster and faster.

Gray watched silently as her fingers blurred, twisting and snapping the cube into place at an almost mechanical pace.

One minute later...

Clack!

The final turn clicked into place.

Creaackk...

The wall at the far end of the room trembled before sliding open, revealing a hidden passage.

"That was easy," Gloria murmured, brushing her hair back as she stepped forward.

...Gray was a little speechless about how easy she had solved it, but followed her nonetheless.

The tunnel beyond led into a massive chamber lit by a strange blue light.

And there, bound by colossal chains that glimmered faintly under layers of dust and mana, lay a sleeping dragon.

Its scales were milky white, its enormous wings folded tight against its body. The sheer pressure radiating from it was enough to make the air feel heavy.

"It's indeed a true dragon," Gloria whispered, taking a few cautious steps closer. "And judging by these chains, it's been sealed for… three or four millennia at least."

Of course, Gray made sure to stay as far away from it as possible.

"Mhm… and it seems to be a Dark-type," she added with a rare spark of excitement in her voice.

"What a rare find you've brought me, Gray."

She didn't expect to find such a rare species of dragon here!

'Dark-species...? He's clearly white...'

Gray was a little confused at her words, but then replied.

"Um... As long as it's enough for us to fulfill our deal."

"Mhm!"

Gloria nodded with satisfaction.

Swish...!

The red mark on their body dissipated into wisps as the Soul Oath was officially completed, making Gray sigh in relief.

He was about to turn around and leave, but seeing Gloria still approaching the dragon, he couldn't help but ask curiously.

"What are you going to do with it?" he asked, curiosity breaking through his calm tone.

Gloria paused mid-step, looking over her shoulder with a playful smile.

"Challenge it~."

"I see..."

Gray blinked twice, then nodded and started walking faster toward the exit. He didn't want any part of that.

But before he could even reach the corridor...

Bang...!

CRACK!

He turned around in disbelief...

Gloria had just shattered the ancient chains holding the dragon down.

"Fuck..."

He instantly tried to run away, but then, he noticed a strange seven-colored barrier hovering around the whole place.

"Don't fucking tell me..."

He touched it lightly and instantly felt its immense hardness.

"Gosh... fortunately, I made sure to mark a rock in case something like this happened," he sighed in relief.

"[✧Swap✧]"

"..."

Nothing happened.

"Does this damn thing block spatial techniques too!? This skill doesn't even use mana!"

He slammed his fist against the barrier again.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" he muttered through his teeth, before forcing himself to calm down.

"Thankfully, the dragon still didn't wake up yet..."

"ROAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

SWOOOOOOOOP!

THUD!

"Agh!"

The dragon appeared to wake up and roared, its power making Gray's fragile body slam against the seven-colored barrier hard.

"Ughh..."

He blinked his eyes open, then saw a golden figure, holding a giant poliaxe as a giant... DARK colored figure whapped its wings, causing small whirlwinds.

But that wasn't the only thing... as around them, multiple space cracks could be seen.

"INTERESTING HUMAN! YOU ARE AT LEAST POWERFUL ENOUGH TO HOLD AGAINST ONE OF MY WEAKER ATTACKS!"

The dragon... talked?!

"You're not so bad yourself," Gloria casually replied with a faint smile, brushing off the imaginary dust of herself.

"HAHAHAHA! THEN LET'S SEE WHO'S STRONGER!"

The dragon's mouth widened as its chest bulged, and suddenly, Gray felt a strange heat reaching his body, causing him to freeze slighly.

"…Oh, fuck."

Snap!

He incubated himself on his strings, putting everything to defense, and making them as visible as possible.

FWOOOOOOOOOP!

The dragon unleashed a pillar of black fire that tore through the air. The flames devoured everything in their path, but Gloria didn't seem to bother avoiding them.

She simply raised one hand, palm forward.

And then, a faint, transparent shield formed, yet it bent the entire stream of hellfire away from her, sliding it harmlessly to the side.

"My turn down, little lizard!" Gloria snapped.

CRACK!

The ground beneath Gloria's feet shattered as she launched herself forward.

A trail of thin black cracks tore through the air behind her, like the fabric of space itself was ripping apart under her speed.

In a blink, she was already in front of the dragon's face.

BAAAM!!

Her poleaxe smashed directly into the dragon's snout, snapping its nose with a loud crunch.

Blood burst out as the massive beast's head slammed down into the ground, shaking the entire cavern.

"ROAAAAAAARRRRR!!!"

Dust and wind blew everywhere as the dragon's roar echoed through the cave.

Gloria landed gracefully atop its head, her boots pressing against the creature's scales. She looked down into its slit, golden eyes, and smiled faintly.

"You're kind of weak, aren't you?" she taunted him.

"HUUUMAAAAAANNNN!"

Fwip!

The dragon's tail swung with terrifying force, cutting through the air like a whip.

And to this move, Gloria barely moved, lazily waving her right hand to the side.

CLANG!

The tail bounced off something invisible and ricocheted back, slamming against the rocky wall.

"Y-YOU... THAT POWER?!"

The dragon's eyes widened in shock, but before it could say anything else, Gloria was already in the air, spinning her body before bringing her poleaxe down in a clean vertical arc..

FWOOP!

The dragon quickly avoided it before opening its mouth and letting out another surge of flames, to which Gloria, this time, swung her poleaxe against it.

The weapon sliced through the flames cleanly, splitting the torrent in two. The fire bent around her and smashed into the walls instead, scorching everything but her.

A crescent wave of golden energy burst forward from the swing, streaking toward the dragon.

THUUUUM!!

It hit the dragon square on the shoulder, slicing through scales and drawing a deep gash.

Black blood spilled out like oil.

"ROAARRR!"

FLAP!

Then, with a powerful flap of its wings, the dragon launched itself upward, shaking the air and dust off its body.

Its red eyes glowed with fury as it glared down at her.

"YOU'RE THE DESCENDANT OF THAT BITCH, AREN'T YOU?"

Gloria simply tilted his head with a wry smile on her face.

"I don't know who you're talking about," she replied 'sweetly'.

"HAHAHA! DON'T LIE! YOU CARRY HER STENCH, HER DAMNED POWER! BUT IF THAT'S TRUE…"

The dragon's eyes flared with madness.

"…I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOUR WEAKNESS IS!"

SWIP!

The formation hovering around them that Gray had called a barrier suddenly dissipated away, before its energy gathered at a single point.

The seven-colored formation that Gray had called a barrier began to distort, its light trembling, then fading away completely.

The energy didn't vanish, though.

It started condensing into a single point above the dragon, swirling and pulsing like a storm ready to explode.

Gloria's eyes widened for the first time.

Her confident smile faded slightly.

"T-that… that's impossible…" she whispered.

"An Ancient Demons and Gods Sacred Killing Formation…?"

"THAT'S RIGHT!"

FWOOOOOOOM!!

The air spiraled violently.

The ground cracked.

Space itself began tearing apart as the glowing energy spun faster and faster, forming a dark vortex that swallowed all light around it.

"NOW DIE, WOMAN!!!"

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