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Amidst a fiery landscape of red and white, Lucella found herself immersed up to her shoulders.

Her skin and mouth were parched, while an intense heat engulfed her entire body, as if it sought to crush her.

“Ugh…”

A faint groan escaped her lips.

With each breath, it felt as though she expelled tongues of fire.

Lucella focused her attention on the surging power coursing through her veins, willing it to circulate to the very tips of her limbs.

Naturally, the human body was ill-equipped to withstand the searing embrace of molten lava.

Lucella’s physical form possessed an extraordinary resilience to heat and flames. However, within this pool of lava, she couldn’t afford to let her guard down for even a moment, as the slightest lapse in concentration threatened to reduce her to ashes.

—The density is in a different league compared to simple flames… And it’s not only heat, but something else too…

There were moments when Lucella felt a sudden dizziness, experiencing a peculiar illusion as if the world was expanding infinitely.

Within the nightmare where only swirling flames existed, she felt as if she was being consumed by fire, hurtling down into the depths of hell.

The lava present in this scene seemed to be nothing more than a mere fragment, the tip of a nail, of the tremendous power that the world held. Lucella sensed a connection between the searing heat tormenting her and the entirety of the world, as if everything around her sought to engulf her.

It was a fundamental fear that living beings harbored towards something colossal.

“You’re putting up quite a fight,” Shurei remarked, hovering gently above the pool of lava, his demeanor cool as he smiled.

As Lucella raised her arm from the molten depths, her skin appeared charred and blistered, emitting a wisp of smoky remnants before promptly regenerating.

Her body had reached a state best described as “existing out of necessity.” Physically, it underwent a perpetual cycle of destruction and regeneration, while internally circulating magic—or perhaps it should be referred to as ‘dragon aura’— in order to deflect and absorb the damage, preserving the essence of her existence.

It was an excruciating agony, akin to continually being whittled away.

“What can I do… to put an end to this…?” Lucella asked wearily.
“I wonder about that too.”
“Huuh?”

Forgetting her pain for a moment, Lucella yelped in disarray at Shurei’s pensive look feigning ignorance.

“I have heard that dragons honor their contracts. But are those outside of contracts given no concern at all?”
“Do you seek equality with us? I believe it is already a big compromise from us that you were given a chance like this.”
“I came here without knowing what I had to do and then this sta–agh!…started,” She took a momentary breather and continued. “It is a bit late to bring this up, but could you decide the rules…?”

Proceeding with work while the tasks and corresponding rewards remained vague would inevitably result in unfavorable outcomes.

Lucella attributed her predicament of leaping into the lava without clear conditions to her own oversight.

Shurei and Lucella were never on equal footing. However, despite this, Lucella understood that unless she asserted herself, she would forever remain as a “lesser entity.”

“Then, if you manage to hold out until the sun rises tomorrow, I shall accept and reward you.”
“Father, you can’t be serious!” Kafal, who had been observing the situation, exclaimed in sorrow at Shurei’s merciless words.

At this rate, Lucella would need to hold out for nearly one full day.

“Do you intend to kill me…?” Lucella asked.
“What, are you whining already?”
“I believe I know… the extent of my strength… a little…”

Since this was her first time subjecting herself to the raging flames, there were parts she didn’t know exactly where her limits lay, but she could speculate.

At the current pace, she wondered if her body would hold out until sundown.

Even if she were to push beyond those limits, grit her teeth and endure with sheer determination and resilience… she had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to witness the morning sun.

And then…

“Surely, you…” Lucella started.

“Oh?”

“You should also be aware of how unreasonable a demand that is. There must be another intention behind it.”

Looking up at Shurei, Lucella voiced her thoughts.

She believed it would be unwise to underestimate this elderly person. In every possible way.

Lucella had a feeling that Shurei could easily gauge the extent of her powers at a glance. Considering that it had been at least an hour since this ‘trial’ had commenced, and Shurei had been observing her unwaveringly, he must have been assessing the level of her exhaustion as well.

Given these circumstances, there had to be some underlying intention behind presenting Lucella with an impossible task that even she could recognize.

“No need… for consideration…I understand… dragon’s words. Are you… hiding… something?” Lucella pressed Shurei for an answer with awkward wording.

She pondered whether Shurei had started speaking in the human language out of consideration, as she wasn’t in a state to speak Dragonian without Giselle’s ring. However, what if it had been intentional all along?

Dragon’s words were ill-suited for concealing or masking the truth.

“…What a cheeky brat. What will you do then?”

Lucella felt that Shurei’s words carried a certain weight.

He was observing her, trying to see ascertain something. This conversation… was part of the ‘trial.’

“I cannot do anything. I’m doing this to be accepted, after all,” She answered. “However, if this is but a way to torment me to death under the pretext of a ‘trial,’ then I would need to change my attitude. I would like you to tell me if that is not the case.”
“Supposing that was the case and I was trying to kill you, do you think you could stop me?” Shurei asked.
“I don’t,” Lucella answered conclusively. That would be a once-in-a-ten-thousand, no, a once-in-a-hundred-million miracle. She understood that much. “I don’t, but I would still fight. In such a case, ‘making you cooperate using all my strength’ would be relatively the biggest hope in it, regardless of how small a possibility that is.”
“I can only see that you are passively searching for a path to conveniently survive.”
“Yes, that is the case. That’s why I will not hesitate to throw myself into any battle if it means that I can survive. I have already abandoned thinking like a show-off who is ready to give up her life. I already learned that only tragedy awaits people who can’t treasure their own lives…”

Lucella felt irritated that she couldn’t convey all that using Dragonian.

She had an unshakable conviction, one she was willing to bet her soul on.

Once, ■■■■■—that is, Lucella herself—had committed the recklessness of entering Mount Kuguse without any fighting abilities, all for the sake of Giselle. Despite encountering numerous miraculous coincidences as a result, it would be hard to judge her actions as correct solely based on the outcome.

It was at a moment that should have been too late for everything when Lucella finally understood the profound guilt of sacrificing oneself.

Therefore, she vowed to never repeat such a mistake again. And she would ensure Kafal wouldn’t either.

“I will…live on…with Mom. That is…my resolve.”
“Lucella…!” Kafal, who had been observing them with a held breath, spoke up emotively.

Shurei seemed unfazed, but a moment later, a smile that almost reached up to his ears appeared on his face.

“Fascinating! I was considering bringing you to the brink of death to ‘ascertain’ it, but I have changed my mind.”

Before Lucella could feel shocked at Shurei’s turnaround, the sea of Lava surrounding her pulsed and surged.

“Uwaah!”

The lava whirled in the air, creating a swirling vortex, and the scorching heat almost made Lucella lose her balance.

The pool of lava had vanished completely.

The searing heat that had tormented her body subsided, replaced by a refreshing summer breeze that felt cool compared to the lava, almost reminiscent of a blizzard, gently caressing Lucella.

The lava that rose up while defying gravity gradually converged into two streams, descending toward the ground.

A vast amount of lava compressed into smaller forms right before Shurei and Lucella, and as the fiery glow faded, what remained were large, jagged masses of stone protruding from the ground.

“A sword?” Lucella questioned.

Still standing, shielding her naked body while sensations other than pain remained hazy, Lucella observed the object in front of her.

It had a slender handle-like part, a wide guard-like section, and a sharply pointed blade-like portion.

It was a crude formation of lava rock that vaguely resembled the shape of a sword.

“Use that and try landing a hit on me. If you do, I shall recognize that your XXXX is not mere words, but one stemming from true resolve.”

Taking up a sword similar to Lucella’s, the Red Dragon King disguised as a human smiled and bared his fangs.