Chapter 97 Chapter 98 I Can Swim
Jima’s decision to escape was well thought out. She had long since prepared a detailed plan in her personal system, analyzing various situations she might encounter and considering the best solutions. This was to ensure she was ready for unexpected events; after all, plans may not always keep up with changes, but not having a plan was out of the question.
In Jima’s plan, she calculated the future benefits of increasing George’s favorability, the risks involved, and so on, ultimately concluding that as soon as she discovered that teaming up with George would not kill the green dragon, it would be optimal to run away immediately. Life is the most precious thing for a person and must not be gambled lightly.
Winning a bet would merely yield the extraordinary materials needed to advance to the next level—materials she would still need to refine herself. She had her personal system and the soul of the Demon King; as long as she collected materials and advanced steadily, she could level up.
If she lost the bet, she would lose her life.
As for the lives of the people in the castle, what concern is that of Jima? Gambling with one’s life only yields mere praise from a group of people if successful. Praise cannot be eaten, exchanged for gold coins, or converted into extraordinary items. Just look at St. John’s fate; he was relatively lucky to encounter grateful villagers.
In the end, he still lived in poverty for most of his life, having nothing but the villagers’ gratitude and bags of potatoes. Oh, and he had a few hand-crafted stools from the villagers. Unfortunately, the potatoes, gratitude, and stools could not resolve his son’s education problems.
George’s life? That was not a concern; he was the chosen one, his life tougher than a stone in a cesspit.
What about Jenna? Jima still somewhat missed the feeling of having her head comforted by Jenna’s ten fingers during treatment. But she knew all too well that she must not lose her life because of beauty.
In her previous life, she had learned this lesson the hard way.
If it weren’t for her daily infatuation with beauty, would she have developed the bad habit of not wearing armor?
There was still a possibility of slaying dragons.
The green dragon Tylis had a fatal weakness. Back when she was nearly three meters tall, with an impressive eight-pack and a fierce demeanor, she had pierced the chin of the green dragon Tylis with a single sword thrust, the tip only 0.01 centimeters from her brain.
Afterward, there was a negotiation that lasted an hour; the green dragon Tylis refused to become a dragon maid, constantly riding beneath the Demon King by night and day. She only agreed to maintain the labyrinth’s operation as “security” until she could become part of the Demon King’s treasury.
The Demon King Jima agreed and used her extraordinary abilities to turn this wound into a fatal weakness. As long as a long object was accurately thrust into it, Tylis would either die on the spot or suffer serious injuries, crying out in agony.
Afterward, Demon King Jima deeply regretted it because Tylis was far too beautiful when transformed into human form.
Demon King Jima introduced the corporate culture to Tylis for three days and nights, trying to get her to apply for the position of “personal secretary,” promising enticing benefits such as flexible working hours, full benefits, and zero commuting time.
Unfortunately, Tylis had her heart set on the “security” position and repeatedly turned down Demon King Jima’s generous offers.
But let’s get back on track.
What difference does it make whether Jima tells George about the green dragon’s fatal weakness or sneaks into George’s bed at midnight to whisper “I am Demon King Jima” in his ear?
The only difference is that the latter is much safer; he might only get stabbed by the holy sword for an hour.
George is smart, and the green dragon knows that only Demon King Jima is aware of her fatal weakness.
George would never condone evil; since his life is at stake, he could only say sorry.
Jima thought to herself as she opened the teleportation scroll with her finger, softly reciting the activation spell, the powerful words lighting up one by one.
“I give you a choice: save the succubus or save the saint.”
It was the voice of the green dragon Tylis.
Jima became curious and leaned forward to take a look.
The originally narrow second-floor window had become a large opening that could accommodate a horse-drawn carriage, eroded by the dragon’s breath.
She witnessed the entire event unfold, and as expected, the green dragon Tylis had done something to Jenna.
“Who do you choose? You only have three breaths.”
With that, the green dragon Tylis charged towards the castle.
Jenna’s golden hair was disheveled, floating into the sky, her palms nurturing a terrible radiance aimed at the terrified crowd, who had never expected that Saint Jenna would strike against mortals, standing frozen in place.
George was still hesitating, and Jima saw a rare panic on George’s normally calm and decisive face. At that moment, he shed the halo of genius, looking more like an ordinary person.
Jima was very curious about how George would choose between saving his mother or saving his wife.
But…
I’m not the weak one, why should it be his choice? Does he look down on me?
Jima suddenly flung the teleportation scroll away; losing its guidance, the scroll spontaneously ignited in the air, turning into a blue fireball. She stepped out of the opening, shouting, “Jenna, I’m coming to save you!”
As she spoke, Jima used all her power of lies and whispered to the distant Jenna, “Every doctor knows that as long as all enemies are killed, no treatment is needed; Saint Jenna knows this well.”
Jenna, floating in the air, trembled, murmuring, “Kill all enemies, and no one will be injured…”
With that, she raised her arm, and a scorching golden ray directly struck a giant orc that had just climbed up the castle wall. Its upper body visibly transformed into charred remains, smoke billowing as it fell.
The green dragon Tylis kicked off with her hind legs, extending her mouth towards Jima. Jima took a running leap forward, elegantly dodging Tylis’s bite, and unfurled a pair of bat wings in the air to slow her descent.
She shouted, “Your mother is here!”
With that, she landed steadily next to George, who was holding onto the green dragon’s tail, looking disheveled and surprised at Jima.
Jima blew a strand of hair from her forehead, crossed her arms, and said, “Didn’t expect your mother could swim. Let’s perform a carp jump and get Jenna out of here.”
George had multiple questions at once but only had time to ask, “Aren’t you escaping?”
“Escape?” Jima said. “Today, I’m feeling merciful and will help you slay this dragon.”
The injured tail of the green dragon Tylis swung violently; George let go and stepped back with Jima.
“What about Jenna?”
“Let’s go save her first.”
As soon as Jima finished speaking, a gasp erupted from the castle wall.
The two turned to see Jenna’s disheveled golden hair moving automatically in the wind, bending forward to face the war chief. With one axe, the war chief struck Jenna’s translucent shield. Jenna yelled and jumped up, delivering a heavy “Sun Fist” to the war chief’s face, causing its nose to cave in, its eyebrows and hair singed.
The war chief’s face turned, a charred tooth flying from its mouth; its massive body was knocked down to the ground. It had underestimated Jenna’s strength and overestimated its own injuries.
Jenna’s face turned cold, seizing the opportunity, and when the war chief fell, she elbowed its half-cooked head fiercely, erupting with a burst of strong light as her elbow sank into the war chief’s ugly face. The war chief’s head blazed yellow, its stilt-like legs kicked, and it died on the spot.
She stood on the war chief’s chest, her oval face stained with orc blood, coldly sweeping her gaze over the mass of green-skinned troops below the castle wall, saying, “As long as we kill them all, no one will be injured.”
With that, Jenna leaped off the castle wall, and several orc screams followed.
Jima swallowed hard, relieved that the surprise attack that night didn’t get her head twisted off by Jenna. She asked, “Is this what Jenna looks like when she goes berserk?”
George replied, “It’s my first time seeing it too, but she’s always had a lot of strength.”
“Wow.” A distinct dragon sound echoed from above, shaking their eardrums, with her dragon eyes reflecting the figures of the two: “Do you choose to stay? I originally thought more highly of you; after all, you’ve survived like a reptile for so long, thinking your intelligence was normal. Do you really think you can survive? Heh, I just love to see mortals being so self-righteous. Do you think you’re one of the few lucky dragon-slaying heroes? How naïve.”
The two turned their heads; Jima seemed not to hear the green dragon’s ridicule, pointing to a piece of seemingly inconspicuous dragon scale that was no different from the surrounding scales on Tylis’s chin, saying, “George, that’s her fatal weakness. As long as the weapon is thrust into it, she will either die or be seriously injured!”
George immediately focused on that piece of dragon scale, a red light shooting from his fingertip, landing on the green dragon’s chin, asking, “This piece?”
“To the right, to the right, that’s it!” Jima added, “It’s mentioned in the memories I have related to the Demon King.”
The green dragon Tylis recoiled in horror, quickly kicking off with her legs, spreading her wings and flapping with all her might.
A gust of wind pressure rushed toward the two; Jima used her cloak to shield them from the flying debris and yellow sand. Seeing the green dragon Tylis soar into the sky, circling like an eagle in the precarious sky, thunderous sounds issued from her mouth:
“The green skins will destroy this city, the ruins will become your husband’s grave, and your crushed body will produce extraordinary materials in my mouth!”
Jima angrily retorted, “Nonsense! I will use your skull as a bathtub.”
The green dragon dove towards the city gate, opening her mouth to spray; gray-green dragon breath engulfed the entire castle tower, and a gate corroded into a large hole collapsed, followed by a large group of green skins cheering as they rushed in.
George said, “By the dawn god, she wants the green skins to drag us to death!”
Jima pretended to shake her head seriously, saying, “If it weren’t for your mother, you wouldn’t know what to do. Call me ‘Mom’, and I’ll handle the green dragon.”
“Jima, stop messing around.”
“Hurry up and call.”
George took a deep breath, very reluctantly shouting, “Mom.”
“Good son!” Jima laughed, fingers interlaced as she began to incant, “I curse your wings so they shall not fly.”
The curse was her new ability, allowing her to curse an opponent through a medium, enhanced by the effect of poison. Earlier, Jima had already tossed a vial of poison into the green dragon’s mouth.
As Jima finished her curse, the figure of the green dragon Tylis above seemed to suddenly sink, plummeting towards the ground. She flailed her wings, scrambling to stabilize herself, crashing behind the castle wall, where several unfortunate goblins were smashed against it.
Jima shouted, “Quick! Cut off her wings!”
George had already made a leap, vaulting over, crushing a large orc head underfoot as he jumped over the castle wall.
Jima quickly followed; she couldn’t truly fly yet, only able to glide or fly at low altitude.
She reached the castle wall and saw George strike Tylis’s head sideways with his sword, several bloodied dragon teeth falling away.
