The Master of the Tower cautiously hid behind the maze wall.

    There were discarded experimental beast-subjects here, so he had to move carefully.

    It had already been days since he entered the maze surrounding the High Temple, but he still hadn’t made it inside.

    “The closer to the center, the more troublesome it gets.”

    He let out a low groan as he activated an invisibility scroll.

    It was one of many scrolls he had crafted himself—never commercialized. Without it, he wouldn’t have made it this far.

    “Aran, my daughter... she must be in there.”

    His gaze darkened as he thought of his daughter.

    But just as much as his daughter, his granddaughter also weighed heavily on his mind.

    “I couldn’t even tell her I’m her grandfather. Couldn’t spoil her the way I wanted... and I’ve always been obsessive when it comes to blood ties...”

    His fated granddaughter, Namia.

    He hadn’t even lifted her up in his arms or put her on his shoulders and carried her around.

    If only Aran had dropped one hint that he had a granddaughter...

    He would’ve brought her to the Tower immediately, raised her without even letting her touch the ground.

    “And the best I could do for my granddaughter... was get her assigned as a useless department’s minister.”

    The Master of the Tower let out a deep, regretful sigh.

    “Will I get to see you again before I die, Namia...”

    He wanted to reunite her with the father she longed for. To do that, he had to go inside.

    And that meant risking his life as well.

    “I’ll bring your father to you, no matter what.”

    He looked up at the sky and exhaled slowly.

    “And I’ll keep your identity hidden for the rest of your life. You’ll live without ever knowing the truth—happily, proudly, comfortably.”

    With that, he started moving again on weary steps.

    ***

    It was almost disappointingly easy to breach the inner temple.

    Where I stood was a massive labyrinth.

    A giant maze designed to keep out intruders deemed unworthy. Ancient script was etched thickly along the walls.

    And I was very good with ancient script.

    “I could’ve become Minister thanks to my fluency in ancient script alone.”

    I stared blankly at the words in front of me.

    Prove your worthiness before the gods. If you desire the thread of Auroudeuke, go right. If you desire the cloth of Arastine, go left.

    I had no idea what the thread of Auroudeuke or the cloth of Arastine was supposed to be.

    So I...

    Used a firework scroll.

    I tossed it over the maze wall and activated it. With a loud boom, three or four walls crumbled instantly.

    Whether I knew ancient script or not, the result was the same. Just blow things up.

    “The goal is the temple anyway. I’ll smash my way through the center.”

    The strongest didn’t need to solve a maze. She just destroyed it.

    As the walls collapsed around me, I felt a little guilty.

    “This place holds the long breath of ancient time... Ancestors, I’m sorry.”

    But hey, the Emperor was going to come and smash it all anyway.

    I’d seen Jaden manifest his special ability at the banquet. In the original story, it had been Dragonblood Healing.

    That’s how he survived, healing himself when trapped in a cave by the High Priest’s trap.

    “So the Emperor must’ve been healed by Jaden.”

    Even if Kiaros was in his blackout period, if the Emperor was back in action, the Reformists wouldn’t be able to do as they pleased like in the original.

    “No, not the original—it’s just the future I would’ve faced if I hadn’t changed things. The book was just a tool for recognizing that future.”

    The High Priest had been captured.

    So the Emperor would soon manifest as a dragon and start tearing down the Temple.

    I remembered how, fifteen years ago, the Emperor had razed the southern beast region in an instant.

    The villagers said he’d wiped out an entire mountain.

    “Then the Temple will be first. The Master of the Tower, sneaking in, and my dad—trapped as a test subject—will be killed too.”

    So I had to at least see them, rescue them if I could, before that happened.

    While I was carefully crossing the collapsed maze rubble—

    “Grrrrrrr...”

    “Kyaaak! Screee!”

    I swallowed hard.

    Huge beasts were slowly advancing toward me.

    “What the—these Reformist bastards... Did they seriously unleash monsters in this sacred maze?”

    It was my first time seeing beasts this massive and grotesque up close.

    If they were southern monsters, the Emperor should’ve wiped them out years ago...

    Then these had to be experimental subjects the Reformists had secured.

    “I-I’m scared!”

    I was terrified. Genuinely, deeply afraid. It was a fear my soft soul was not equipped to handle.

    I was a desk worker, not a combatant!

    My hands were trembling as I shouted weakly:

    “Acti...vate!”

    The strongest could afford to have a fragile mind.

    Because when things were scary, she could just destroy them.

    The attack scroll I activated floated up into the air.

    “Kyaaaaaa! I’m scared!”

    As I screamed, the monsters began to fall.

    The moment the magic circle triggered, the beasts didn’t even have time to shriek—they ? NоvеⅠight ? (Read more on our source) dropped where they stood.

    “Whoa...”

    Was this what being a Dragonblood felt like?

    Like the world was easy, like you could destroy anything?

    A feeling no ordinary human could ever know.

    “Wow.”

    I looked over the massive pile of monster corpses and thought,

    “If the real Dragonbloods saw this, they’d probably kill me immediately.”

    If I were a villain, this world would’ve been doomed.

    “Anyway, I should find the Master of the Tower first. Dad’s probably deep in the back.”

    If I kept blasting my way through, I was bound to run into someone.

    This was probably the first time in my life I’d operated with zero plan. But that was okay.

    “I’ll just break the walls and kill the monsters...”

    Out of habit, I began inspecting the corpses.

    My body might’ve been the strongest, but my mind was still that of a civil servant. Reviewing the details before signing off was instinct.

    While I was checking the monster bodies thoroughly—

    “Hm?”

    Something seemed off.

    “...Huh?”

    Among the piled-up corpses, something didn’t belong.

    Lying quietly in my blind spot was a massive, furry figure...

    It looked like an ordinary dog, except it was the size of a hippo.

    “Wait... That familiar vibe of using your brain when your body’s too weak...”

    I frowned and approached it.

    Its long lashes trembled slightly as it lay with its eyes closed among the bodies.

    “Oh my god. That cowardly survival tactic—just breathing quietly, pretending to be dead...”

    I found myself walking toward the big white dog as if in a trance.

    “It’s just like the old Namia Roafi.”

    Even as I approached, the dog was still desperately playing dead. sea??h thё N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    If I hadn’t inspected the corpses, I never would’ve noticed.

    I examined it closely. No monster scales, no fangs or claws.

    “It’s not a monster. It’s just... a really big dog?”

    But it was large enough for me to ride on.

    Not a monster, smart enough to fake death, and somehow inside this place...

    “You... you’re an experimental subject, aren’t you.”

    They experimented on people and monsters—of course they experimented on dogs too.

    When I muttered, the dog’s nose twitched slightly.

    “Hey.”

    I stood in front of it and said,

    “You’ve been caught. Get up.”

    At my kind tone, the dog’s eyelids twitched.

    “...Whine...”

    Finally, the big white dog slowly got up. Its gentle eyes and cute face contrasted with its ridiculous size.

    “If you want to live, serve me from now on. Got it?”

    “...Whine.”

    “Listen to me from now on. And if you can help it, don’t talk back.”

    “Woof, woof.”

    “If you’re feeling sulky, hide it. And even if it seems impossible, at least try.”

    “Woof, woof.”

    “Alright. Let’s get to work.”

    I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a handful of scrolls—all from the Master of the Tower.

    “Take these.”

    Dogs were said to have incredible noses.

    The Master of the Tower was likely somewhere in this maze.

    I shoved the pile of scrolls at the white dog’s nose.

    “And find him.”