Saint and Dragon Chapter 25 (Patreon)

Before the Storm

After she returned to human form, Princess Felicia was taken to the guest room, where Chris and several priests took care of her, and Prince Alberto attended her closely, which helped her to wake up the next morning and feel better.

In the afternoon, another meeting was held in the Prime Minister's office.

"First, let me thank the Holy Lady and the Divine Kingdom. I cannot thank you enough for treating my sister's undead condition."

His Highness bowed his head politely. His attitude was befitting of a prince of a great nation, and there was not the slightest hint of a throwaway attitude.

"Well, Your Highness. I would like to ask you a number of questions, if that is all right."

"Yes. As far as I know, I will tell you without falsehood."

The question-and-answer session between the Prime Minister and His Highness Alberto began, and a significant fact came to light. First, the palace of the kingdom is ruled by Demon King Buel.

"Buel controls the kingdom from the shadows by transforming some of the royalty and chief vassals into undead. Some of them, like me, are not undead, but they are hostages and cannot resist. However, very few people in the castle know of this fact."

He also revealed details of the skeleton attack.

"Many vampires have infiltrated the Divine Kingdom and have buried skeletons inside and outside the Misery citadel. The purpose of the raids is to destroy the Divine Kingdom and find the Tyrant Dragon."

"You think the dragon is sealed up inside the Divine Kingdom?"

"Buel thought so. That's one of the reasons I was sent to investigate.

"I understand most of what is going on. Finally, what are your plans for the future?

"I will return the delegation to my home country. My sister and I would like to go into exile in the divine kingdom."

I understand. We will definitely accept your exile. Until then, you are welcome to stay as our guest of honor.

"Thank you, Prime Minister."

◇＊◇＊◇

In November, Mari accelerated preparations for the defeat of the dragon. The necessary equipment was gathered by Glenn.

"I wish I could get a fireproof fire lizard cloak Salamander Cloak."

She knows from her gaming experience that the key to defeating the Tyrant Dragon is fire breath protection.

"It's best to use evasive defense and Salamander Cloak to reduce damage, while using the grace of the saint to heal the damage taken."

This would take care of the defense, but the problem was the attack. Offensive magic doesn't work on the Violent Dragon.

"We'll have to rely on Harill-kun, but if we hit the stone with the shockwave we create with our bursting magic, we can do a lot of damage evens with indirect attacks. I'll cut his strength in half, and then we'll settle the rest with the grace of the saint."

Preparations are steadily underway. It looks like they will be able to greet the day of the decisive battle with plenty of time to spare.

◇＊◇＊◇

One day, as the day of the scheduled defeat approached, Mari and Sarah were at the plaza in front of the balcony.

"By the way, this is where we first saw your sister. We were upstairs on the balcony, fighting skeletons. Then your sister came running into the square."

Sarah was deeply moved.

"It feels like a long time ago, but it's only been two and a half months. I feel like I've been with your sister for many years now."

"Yes, it does. I feel like I've been with Sarah for a long time, too."

"You saved us from the skeleton that time," she said. And now..."

Mari understood what Sarah was trying to say. She had made him tell her about last night's defeat of the dragon.

"Sarah, it's true that the dragon is a much stronger enemy than the skeleton, but don't worry. But don't worry. There is no undead in this world that can defeat a saint."

"Are you certain?"

"I would never lie to Sarah."

Still, Sarah, probably anxious, clung to him and began to cry. All Mari could do was to hold on to her.

◇＊◇＊◇

And then came the day of destiny!

Early in the morning of November 30---If all goes as expected, tomorrow, the Tyrant Dragon will be resurrected.

The people involved in the defeat gathered in the plaza. Everything is ready. On offense are Mari, Sophie, and Harill. As backup, Sarah and five trusted knights will accompany them.

The red Salamander Cloak for fire resistance had arrived just in time. With this, we could withstand a few shots from the fire breath of the dragon.

The food would only last for three days in the short term. If the dragon did not appear after a few days, we would have to rethink our plan. Perhaps that will not happen.

We do not want Demon King Buel to interfere, so the defeat will be done with confidence. We wired all the members of the team with a sign-breaking ward, and departed from Misery without anyone noticing.

As Mari and her team started to drive toward the Temple of the Saints, they came across the snow-covered peak of Mount Aldena.

Mari had a feeling that she would find out why she had been reborn in this world if she confronted the dragon beneath that mountain.