NOVEL NEXT Book 6: Chapter 203
Malvina glared at the metal lug barreling through the insects in front of her. Thanks to his armor, Volearden could ignore the attacks of the Oebu Sin and travel through them unharmed. When the bugs tried holding onto him to prevent him from moving, the dragon’s armor heated up, cooking all the parts of the insects that were too close to him. Malvina was doing something similar, her body surrounded by a layer of phoenix flames that kept the Oebu Sin at bay. “Hey!” the phoenix shouted, unafraid of being heard by anyone else thanks to the droning of the insects. “Let’s make things more interesting, you metal barbarian. Do you want to wager anything?”
Volearden paused midflight and flapped his wings hard once to whirl his body around to face Malvina. He flapped his wings to hover in place, the movements smacking away and burning the insects approaching him. “Not interested.”
Malvina blinked. “If you’re not interested, why’d you turn around?” the queen of the phoenixes asked. “Deep underneath that ugly, metal, cold exterior, I know there’s a hot-blooded dragon hidden within. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of competing against me.”
“My risk tolerance is very low,” Volearden said. “I don’t like gambling.”
“You left everything in the paws of a great-grandson you barely even know,” Malvina said and snorted. “We both know handing off your responsibility to someone else is the riskiest thing you can do.”
“He beat both of us,” Volearden said.
Malvina rolled her eyes. “We were drunk.”
“It doesn’t matter if I was drunk.” Volearden wings slapped away a few more bugs. “You can’t beat me when I’m drunk.”
“Now that’s just plain false,” Malvina said, placing her wings against her hips. Since her body was mostly made of fire to keep the bugs away, she remained floating in place. “Get drunk and fight me to prove it.”
“I’m busy,” Volearden said, slapping away a few bugs getting too close to his face. He scanned the region, but all he could see were clouds and swarms of bugs; it was impossible to figure out the scenery of the region beyond the portal even though he had stepped foot into it. He had to concentrate to find the princess bug.
“How about the winner gets to keep Vur and Tafel in their tower?” Malvina asked.
“You want to keep them?” Volearden asked as his head swiveled from side to side. He occasionally reached out and slapped aside a few bugs that were obscuring his senses. Whichever tower Vur and Tafel decided to end up staying in, the phoenixes’ or the dragons’, that tower would establish a direct connection with Erde. “Vur’s group already created a portal back to Erde.”
“That’s not true,” Malvina said and shook her head. “I asked Geimeo.”
Volearden ignored the phoenix and charged to the side, slapping insects with his paws and slamming them with his shoulders. “Of course, you did,” the armored dragon said and shook its head. A frown appeared on his face underneath his helmet, causing the sheen on his armor to turn blue. He had sensed something strange in this direction, and since it was the only incongruity, he thought the princess bug would be here.
“How about it?” Malvina asked. She frowned before spreading her wings, causing phoenix flames to erupt in a sphere around her, baking and charring all the bugs caught within the flaming radius. When the area was clear, she flew towards Volearden. “Whoever catches the princess bug gets to open the portal back to Erde, making their tower the official one of Erde.”
“Nope,” Volearden said. “Vur and Tafel are already inclined towards my tower. Why would I gamble for something that’s already in my paws?”
“If you don’t agree to the gamble, then I’ll leave and open the portal back to Erde right now,” Malvina said. “Don’t think I won’t. I’ll spin it to make myself look good. I’ll tell Vur I knew he was missing his parents, so I opened the way back just for him.”
Volearden turned his head towards Malvina, pausing midflight. “Fine,” he said. “I know you’re not going to uphold your end of the bargain once you lose, but I’ll amuse you.”
“I won’t lose,” Malvina said. A wide grin split her beak as she dashed off into another direction. “After all, I already found the bug!”
Volearden looked around before flapping his wings hard to chase after the phoenix. There was no way he was going to lose to a stupid bird.
***
Hyeonnam Tokki glanced up at Lindyss. Maybe because he was a cute animal skeleton, he was given the option of sitting on the armrest of the cursed elf’s rocking chair. “You’re here for the tower’s rewards for defeating the severed hand?”
“No,” Lindyss said. “But if I happen to get it, I wouldn’t mind. I’m here to make sure the tower doesn’t fall to the Oebu Sin. We just discovered this place, and if it were to be destroyed before we could explore it fully, that’d be a shame.”
Kim Hajun’s expression darkened as he walked alongside the skeletons carrying the elf’s rocking chair on their shoulders. Under the effects of peer pressure and the coaxing of his crush, Gaegukja Yeol, Kim Hajun had sold his soul to an evil person for the greater good. Now, he was regretting it. The only ways he’d escape with his soul intact were if he could defeat the severed hand with just the lords and the underlings under their command, or if Lindyss fought the severed hand and perished. “How is it?” Kim Hajun asked, turning his head towards Ouyang Feng, who rejoined the group after having been slapped away by the hand. “Do you think you can tank it?”
“Absolutely,” Ouyang Feng said. “I’m not sure who that severed hand belonged to, but it must’ve been attached to an easily frustrated individual. I can feel my strength surging with every passing second, which can’t be too healthy for the owner of that hand. It keeps getting angrier and angrier.”
“What if it’s just looking for its body?” Erin asked. When everyone turned to look at her, the fairy queen blinked. “I mean, what else could a severed hand want?”
“Who cares?” Ouyang Feng asked and punched his fists together before running towards the hand. “Let’s smash it.”