"Human, why are you so obsessed with reproduction? What's the point of it? I don't like it at all!"Marei Lein shot Kurose Akira an openly displeased look as she voiced her accusation.
Akira rolled his eyes, deciding there was no point in explaining anything to a dragon.
Marei Lein went on, "That guy is always fantasizing about this kind of thing too. It's beyond annoying."
"Who?" Akira asked, curiosity piqued.
"The blue one!" When Marei Lein mentioned the Dragon of Life, unmistakable anger surfaced on her face. "Mira—that brain full of trash! Always daydreaming about being bullied by someone. Absolutely ridiculous! We are the most powerful dragons in existence. How could we possibly be bullied by humans? It's only ever us bullying others!"
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Akira suddenly became very interested in that dragon named Mira.
He found her far more intriguing than the Destruction Dragon right in front of him.
Was this what people meant by the grass is always greener on the other side?
"Hey! Human! What kind of look is that?"Marei Lein noticed something strange in Akira's gaze and immediately grew irritated.
"Nothing."
"Hmph."
Since it was still early, Akira logged out of the game, washed up, and took care of a few basic needs. After that, he logged back in, planning to spend the night inside the game world.
When he returned to the room, he found that Marei Lein was already asleep.
However, her current state made Akira frown.
He had thought that a bed large enough to fit five people would be more than enough to handle Marei Lein's atrocious sleeping habits.
Instead, once the bed became spacious, she had directly reverted to her dragon form.
Fortunately, her size was only three to four meters tall—clearly an immature dragon—rather than the hundreds-of-meters-long behemoth of a true adult dragon.
"At least the bed didn't break…"
Akira let out a sigh of relief and prepared to sleep.
But the moment he lay down, a crimson dragon tail draped itself over him. The heavy pressure pressed against his chest, making it hard to breathe.
Worse still, Marei Lein's entire body was covered in hard dragon scales—absolutely awful to rua. Not comfortable at all!
Get lost!
Akira forcefully shoved her tail away.
But the moment he pushed it aside, the tail came right back.
It was as if Akira's body had some kind of magnetic pull, drawing her tail back until it stuck firmly against his chest.
After struggling for quite some time, Akira finally gave up. Exhaustion overtook him, and he drifted into sleep.
The instant he entered his dreams, he was pulled into the illusion created by the World Tree.
Akira walked briskly toward the wooden cabin, pushed the door open, and saw the Dark Elf Queen standing inside, clad in a black formal gown, staring at him intently.
Faint anger glimmered in her dark-golden eyes.
This sight gave Akira a headache. The Dark Elf Queen was always the hardest one to deal with. The White Elf Queen was so much easier by comparison!
Before Akira could even speak, the Dark Elf Queen's icy voice rang out.
"You actually dared to think about training this queen together with her? How audacious!"
She shouted furiously, and in an instant, dazzling elemental magic swirled behind her.
Akira's gaze sharpened slightly.
At the end of the last dream, a single sentence from the White Elf Queen had left the Dark Elf Queen harboring resentment all the way until now.
But this was a dream, after all. Ever since defeating the Dark Elf Queen last time, Akira already knew how to deal with her.
"Kneel."
He gave the command.
"How dare y—!"
The Dark Elf Queen was about to resist, but her [Corruption] value had already reached 95%. Her body betrayed her, and she dropped to her knees before Akira.
"You're no match for me here, Your Majesty,"Akira said with a faint smile. After all, the Dark Elf Queen's wicked thoughts were still just that—wicked thoughts. Trying to oppose someone protected by the World Tree inside a realm blessed by the World Tree was nothing short of a fantasy.
"I was born alongside the soul of the Elf Queen, accompanying her for a thousand years," the Dark Elf Queen gritted her teeth and slowly rose to her feet. "Any method meant to erase me can be overcome. Why would I fear a wretch like you?"
As she spoke, she straightened her posture, and brilliant, multicolored light bloomed behind her.
This left Akira slightly confused.
She was actually resisting 95% [Corruption] through sheer force of will?
As expected—so long as [Corruption] had not evolved into [Fallen], its numerical value alone still wasn't enough to make the Dark Elf Queen fully submit to his commands.
But…
Akira frowned slightly. Ever since [Corruption] reached 95%, he had felt it becoming increasingly difficult to raise it further.
It was as if it had hit a bottleneck. Relying solely on [Corruption] commands was no longer enough to increase the value—he would need to find other methods.
While he was thinking, the Dark Elf Queen's magic had already struck.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, the wooden cabin was destroyed once again. Thanks to the dream's reset effect, Akira emerged unscathed from the terrifying blast, brushing the flames off his shoulder.
When he looked up at the sky, he saw the Dark Elf Queen floating in midair, hundreds of magic circles already deployed behind her.
Akira's eyes widened slightly.
This time, she was serious.
"Last time, I lost to you due to my carelessness—and was even subjected to your filthy methods," the Dark Elf Queen said coldly. "But this time! You won't get the chance!"
"You intend to—"
Akira was just about to issue another [Corruption] command when raging flames instantly swallowed him whole.
Relying on the dream's reset, Akira once again walked out of the inferno.
At the same time, he issued the command.
"Disable magic!"
When the corruption command reached the Dark Elf Queen, her body trembled slightly in midair—but not in the way Akira had expected.
Her spellcasting did not stop.
After less than half a second, she regained her composure. She bit her red lips lightly, and a faint glimmer flickered in her dark-golden eyes.
Then, a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Akira felt puzzled. Why had the corruption effect suddenly weakened so much?
The Dark Elf Queen spoke, "Your ability—I've already seen through it. As long as I create pain, I can reduce that bizarre sensation! Today! You will pay a heavy price!"
As her words fell—
Hundreds of magic circles in the sky burst into dazzling light, as if ready to blast Akira into pieces.
Akira frowned deeply. He noticed fresh blood flowing from the Dark Elf Queen's fingertips. Though he didn't know what she had done to her own body, one thing was clear:
The [Corruption] trait could be weakened through external forces.
For example—pain.
Just as Akira was about to endure the Dark Elf Queen's magic, a white figure appeared soundlessly behind him.
In the opposite sky, an equal number of magic circles began to form.
A gentle, melodious voice reached Akira's ears.
"Little one~ Today, let's properly train this wicked thought~ Let her understand, in this world… who the true master really is."