The castle ground had entirely disappeared, and the ceiling of the underground space had vanished as well. Raimira had been worried that the ceiling would cave in, but this was worse than anything she had imagined. It wasn’t at all more comforting to see the whole ceiling disappear, and Raimira continued to scream with panic.

Raimira's panicked cries were suddenly cut off when she spotted Eugene hovering high above her in the air. For a moment, she just stood there, clutching her chest while trying to catch her breath. She had no idea what was happening or how it was possible, but she knew one thing for certain — this was the most dire crisis she had ever faced in her two hundred years of life. Her lips moved soundlessly as she struggled to make sense of the situation and figure out what to do next.

Eugene stole a glance down at the now exposed core of the Dragon Demon Castle. He had been thinking that Raimira would be safe underground, but it seemed he had underestimated the raw power that Jagon possessed.

“H-Have you come to rescue this lady?” asked Raimira after a moment.

Seeing that Raimira was about to fly out of the hole, Eugene extended his palm instead of answering her question.

“Stay there,” said Eugene.

“What…?”

“It will be much safer there than here,” responded Eugene.

‘Or so he says.’ Raimira lowered her posture once more without arguing.

“Wait… isn’t it better for you to destroy the core right now? Then this lady will be able to get away from the Dragon Demon Castle, and we won’t have to worry about me getting caught up…”

Raimira’s words were very valid, but Eugene didn’t even bother hearing them through.

‘There’s no way a dragon would die that easily.’

The worst outcome that Eugene could imagine was Raimira getting caught up in the battle and ultimately dying. However, as a dragon, Raimira was very sturdy, and she even knew how to utilize a little bit of Draconic. She was capable enough to keep herself safe.

Eugene couldn’t afford to think about Raimira anymore, at least not when was Jagon approaching him from afar now. With malice and an aura of destruction surrounding him, Jagon finally broke away from...