Freed from that nightmare-like illusion, Noa collapsed to her knees in the dark-gold water channel, gasping for air.

She knew perfectly well that the tragic scenes she had just witnessed were fake—but having lived through them once, they felt like real blades stabbing into her heart.

The sound of water being stepped through came from behind her. The white-haired beauty walked over slowly, then crouched beside her and steadied her by the shoulder.

“The other party’s illusion magic really is strong. But she can’t target two souls at the same time. So it’s over now, kid.”

Noa closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down.

“…Right. Thank you.”

The white-haired woman gave her shoulder a light pat.

“Don’t celebrate too early. Wake up properly and think of a way to recover the relic.”

Noa opened her eyes. For a brief moment, there was a lingering heaviness—but she adjusted quickly.

Looking around, she saw that everyone was down.

The group Tucker had charged in with, as well as the teammates who had stayed near her, were all lying on the ground, groaning in pain.

“So everyone’s trapped in nightmare illusions…”

Noa had no experience in this area and had never learned how to help others break illusion magic. She could only turn her attention back to the man and woman from before.

But when she looked toward the campfire again, they were already gone.

Her heart sank.

“No!”

She immediately chased after them.

She scanned her surroundings. There were too many exits nearby. In her urgency, she couldn’t carefully distinguish between them and could only choose one at random to pursue.

After several minutes of running, there was still no sign of the pair.

Noa clenched her fist in frustration.

“Damn it… they got away.”

Realizing she couldn’t catch them, she turned back and returned to the clearing.

The Adult Dragon Division members still hadn’t woken up.

Noa frowned deeply, at a loss for what to do next.

Just then, a familiar voice sounded beside her.

“Noa… where did you just go?”

She spun around immediately.

Helena stood there, holding the deep-blue slime in her arms. She looked exhausted and shaken—clearly she hadn’t escaped the illusion unscathed either.

But Noa couldn’t understand it.

In terms of raw strength, Helena was weaker than the other Adult Dragon Division members.

In terms of circumstances, Helena couldn’t possibly have had the same kind of hidden assistance that Noa did.

So...

“How did you break free of the illusion?” Noa asked.

Helena looked equally confused and shook her head.

“I don’t really know… When I was trapped in it, it was horrible. Everything I saw was what I feared most. But it was like a dream—I fell into it without warning, and then woke up just as suddenly.”

“Mmm… mmm…”

The little slime wriggled softly in her arms, as if agreeing with her.

Noa glanced down at it briefly but didn’t dwell on it. She turned back to Helena.

“Let’s check on everyone together.”

“Okay!”

The two of them moved the fallen teammates together one by one.

The temperature in Cold Mist Forest was extremely low, and pressing bodies together helped conserve heat.

Noa then lit another campfire with dragonfire to keep everyone warm.

They tried calling out to wake the others.

To avoid overstimulating people trapped in illusion aftereffects, they kept their voices gentle.

It worked.

Noa’s eyes lit up.

“It looks like this illusion doesn’t last nearly as long as the one affecting the Sea Dragon guards.”

Helena let out a relieved breath.

“Probably because Tucker got attacked by his enemy mid-dream, and that woman didn’t have time to deploy a more complete illusion.”

“I think so too,” Noa replied softly.

After another ten minutes or so, everyone gradually woke up.

“What just happened…? It felt like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.”

“I dreamed my entire clan was destroyed…”

“Same here. It was like the end of the world. Terrifying.”

“Damn… I dreamed my parents got divorced, my mom married a bad-tempered duke, and then that duke beat me every day.”

…

Tucker finally came to as well.

Rubbing his aching temples, he stood up. Even now, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“It was just a disgusting nightmare. What’s everyone making such a fuss about? Hey—where’s that woman? I haven’t even fought her yet!”

Before he could finish, a panicked voice cut in nearby.

“Hey, Noa, what are you doing?!”

“Noa, calm down!!”

“Captain, talk it out—don’t hit him!”

Noa strode through the crowd and stopped directly in front of Tucker, lifting her head to stare into his eyes.

Her blue pupils burned with barely contained fury.

Tucker’s face showed a flash of mockery mixed with fear, but he forced himself to speak.

“W-What are you doing? Starting internal conflict? The priority right now is reorganizing the team, and then...”

He /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ never finished the sentence.

Noa’s punch slammed hard into his abdomen, driving the air from his lungs and swallowing his words.

As Tucker doubled over clutching his stomach, Noa followed up with a second punch straight to the bridge of his nose.

His vision went black. He staggered backward and collapsed onto the ground, ears ringing, blood pouring from his nose, his mouth filled with the taste of iron.

Noa looked down at him coldly.

“You almost got everyone killed, you bastard.”

“W-What do you mean I almost got everyone killed? I didn’t know her illusion magic was that strong, and—and...”

“I said shut up!”

Noa stepped forward and drove a kick into the side of Tucker’s face.

He was sent skidding several meters across the ground, teeth rattling loose.

That kick vented the greatest rage Noa had ever unleashed in her life.

So much so that even someone as arrogant as Tucker looked thoroughly beaten—and not a single teammate stepped in to stop her.

“I only wanted to finish the mission and bring Helena and everyone back to the academy safely,” Noa said, pointing at Tucker as he lay sprawled on the ground.

“And you...”

Her dragon eyes blazed with cold authority as she enunciated every word.

“If you pull another reckless stunt, I promise you, next time it won’t be blood you lose—it’ll be the mush inside your skull. Do you understand, idiot?”

Tucker lay there, listening to her fury, then glanced at the others.

They shook their heads and sighed.

Even the few who had stood with him earlier now said nothing, standing silently behind the rest.

A massively self-important fool, versus a captain who genuinely wanted to protect everyone.

After that illusion, everyone knew who was worth trusting.

Seeing that Noa had fully cemented her authority, Tucker finally lowered his head and muttered:

“You win, Noa. Fine. You win.”

Noa felt no pity whatsoever.

She answered his concession with a flat question.

“Win what?”

She turned away, then half-looked back and said quietly:

“Do you really think you’re worthy of being my opponent?”

…

Leon and Rosvisser discovered traces ahead.

“It’s a campfire used for resting.”

The couple crouched down. Leon dipped his fingers into the ashes, rubbed them lightly, and said:

“There’s still residual warmth. Given the temperature in Cold Mist Forest, whoever lit this fire can’t have gone far.”

“Then let’s keep moving forward,” Rosvisser said.

“Alright.”

They advanced deeper and soon found more extinguished campfires.

“Looks like those people also got lost in Cold Mist Forest,” Leon said, “and to avoid being found, they kept changing locations and letting their fires go out.”

He smiled faintly.

“And that also means we’re getting closer. Keep it up, wife!”

Rosvisser smiled back, then teased him:

“So much for this being a relaxing trip. We ran into trouble again.”

Leon raised an eyebrow.

“What, wife—did you really want a proper vacation?”

“Mm. Taking a break doesn’t really matter to me,” Rosvisser said, casually brushing a strand of hair aside.

“I just want to do more relaxing things when I’m with you.”

Now and then, she let the little girl in her heart come out for some air. Beneath the queen’s bearing was still a soft heart longing for affection and care.

Leon was quiet for a moment. Then he stepped closer, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and said gently:

“Once we recover Mevis’s bracelet, let’s really rest for a while.”

The situation wasn’t as dire as before, and the two of them truly deserved a break.

Rosvisser nodded.

“Sure. I was just thinking of going to...”

She didn’t finish.

A faint rustling sound came from the bushes beside them.

The couple tensed instantly.

The next moment, two figures burst out.

At close range, Leon saw them clearly—a man and a woman.

The man’s hands and feet were bound in chains. The woman moved swiftly, clearly dragging him along.

“Damn it… can’t escape after all…” the woman muttered.

Leon and Rosvisser exchanged a glance. Leon stepped forward. He had no intention of attacking—he only wanted to understand what was going on.

But instead, the woman raised her hand and flung out several magic circles, instantly surrounding the couple.