Silin dropped the white quartz necklace as she was crushed beneath the pillar.

As she desperately stretched out her hand to pick up the necklace—

Pat─!

I kicked the necklace away with a crisp sound.

Then I shrugged my shoulder.

“Well, what can you do? The necklace is completely out of the arena now.”

“You...!”

A murderous look filled Silin’s eyes.

I smiled cheerfully at her, just as she had done to me, and said,

“Will you surrender now?”

The once-prized white quartz necklace was now unusable.

Everyone knew Silin couldn’t lift the pillar by herself, so she couldn’t get help from the referee either.

She was completely trapped.

Silin clenched her teeth.

I raised one eyebrow and said,

“You can’t even use your precious blessing now, can you?”

“......”

“You know there’s no choice but to surrender, right?”

Silin glared at me with venomous eyes.

The spectators wore excited expressions.

They often spoke about the public combat training between the Wonhwa armies before nobles, but the fact was the Central Army had always won.

The Central Army was composed of the most skilled among the five Wonhwa armies.

And the Central Wonhwa was the best among the Wonhwa.

There was no way the Central Army—gathering the strongest Wonhwa—could lose to another army.

‘But if I win here, Silin will be recorded in history, disgraced even in death.’

So for Silin, admitting defeat was impossible.

“Get this thing off me! Are you trying to kill me?!”

“During war, is there anyone who helps their enemy so they don’t die?”

“You...!”

“Then surrender. I’ll get it off you.”

But Silin was only buying time.

‘What a fool.’

If it were me, the moment the white quartz necklace dropped outside the arena, I would have immediately accepted defeat.

If I was going to lose anyway, I might as well be praised for ‘quickly grasping the situation and minimizing losses at defeat.’

‘But she won’t do that.’

She’s “dirty blood” to me.

She’d rather die than admit defeat to a dirty blood far inferior to her noble self.

And surrendering in front of all these people—

She’d be horrified at the thought of becoming a laughingstock for the whole world.

‘I don’t care what she thinks, but I wish this ends quickly.’

My head was already starting to ache.

My blessing consumes an enormous amount of magic.

Moreover, it was originally not even my blessing, but a level 2 power granted through story assistance, so I was drained.

‘Looking at her state, she’ll probably pass out as soon as she leaves the arena...’

That’s why I rarely use my blessing.

My legs were already trembling.

But just as I was barely keeping up a sly smile—

Thup─!

Silin grabbed my ankle.

Though she could do nothing, it felt strange.

‘How can she do anything after being crushed under such a huge pillar...?’

Silin curled her lips into a sly smile.

“Did you think this would end like this?”

“What?”

“What’s at stake in this match... I will never be discarded. Nothing can throw me away. Never, never...”

Silin kept mumbling.

Bad feeling.

I hurriedly shook her hand off.

And then—

Paaa─!

A golden light, like fireflies, gathered between Silin and me, eventually forming a single line.

A golden thread linking Silin and me.

Duke Chateaubriand flinched, looking at Silin.

“Replication...!”

She was replicating Erilot’s blessing.

The blessing had three conditions:

The replicator must be in contact with the blessing’s original owner.

The owner’s blessing level must be equal to or lower than the replicator’s.

The owner’s body must not be protected by defense barriers (barriers or magical shields).

Silin’s mouth twisted arrogantly.

Her father had said,

“If you lose the match, I will abandon Silin.”

That was probably the Emperor’s will.

‘Who would be abandoned so easily?’

If defeated in the match, you create conditions to prevent yourself from being discarded.

By stealing the dragon from Erilot Astra—

‘That dirty blood sticks to Astra because of the dragon.’

But imagine if a far superior self like Silin got a dragon?

Neither the Emperor nor her father could abandon her.

Instead, they would praise her.

Because she had taken immense power from that wicked Astra.

Even if Astra protested that the dragon was taken from Erilot,

‘That would already be after I tamed the dragon.’

That dirty blood was just an ordinary girl without the dragon.

So if she took the dragon and dealt with it herself, that would be enough.

Then even Astra would fear her own power and discard that useless dirty blood without regret.

“Silin Chateaubriand!”

Erilot grabbed her chest and took a step back.

Anyone caught by the golden “Replication Thread” would lose even their magic to the opponent.

Silin was probably losing magic at a frantic pace and suffering terribly.

But the replication thread could not be avoided.

Silin curled her lips.

“Let’s see you lose that fancy power!”

She had now discarded even the facade she had shown to the outside.

Once the dragon was in her hand, everyone would bow their heads.

No more need to care about image.

The crowd began to chatter loudly.

“What, what is this?”

“What are those two suddenly doing?”

“The Replication Thread... The Replication Thread─!”

“Replication? Are they really replicating blessings? Does that mean she’s replicating the blessing?!”

Duke Astra’s expression stiffened. His nobles also turned pale.

‘If she really loses her dragon...’

But the nobles of the Chateaubriand faction brightened.

‘If they get the dragon, this empire will be ours.’

One of the Chateaubriand nobles shouted.

“You must stop the match! What on earth are you doing in a match that’s already over? Pull the Central Wonhwa out─!”

Another noble shouted back loudly.

“It’s still a match!”

“Defeat is already certain! Since they’re going to lose, they plan to steal blessings─!”

“We don’t know what tricks the Central Wonhwa have! The rules say no interference during the match!”

Duke Chateaubriand clenched his fist tightly.

‘Yes!’

If they could steal the dragon like this, it was a lifeline.

Erilot couldn’t stop the draining power and eventually collapsed to the ground.

“Ugh...”

“Erilot!”

Diamond called her daughter’s name with a pale face.

Silin wore a rapt expression.

‘Dirty blood, but indeed half of Diamond Astra’s bloodline.’

The magic pouring in was tremendous.

She must have already used a lot of power in the match, yet still had so much magic.

‘I feel like I’m getting drunk on magic.’

Just as life force can be converted to magic, magic can also be converted to other power.

No wonder many soldiers had tremendous strength.

Silin pushed some of the stolen magic into her muscles.

The pillar crushing her was as light as a feather.

Shaking off the pillar, Silin stood and walked gracefully toward Erilot kneeling.

“If you’re going to lose anyway, you should at least give the audience a ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) good show.”

It was better to be disqualified for breaking rules than to surrender outright.

Silin stroked her hair and said,

“Hmmm, what was that ‘child’s’ name again?”

“You... stop, ugh... stop...”

“Oh, I remember now.”

“This is really for your own good... Stop here─!”

“Yes, that’s right. That was the name.”

Silin chuckled and shouted.

The name of the first dragon ever tamed by a human.

“Lagon─!!”

Now that the tamer called it, the huge wings would soon split the sky.

‘Ah, my dragon...’

“My dragon.”

Just thinking about it was intoxicating.

But then—

“Uh...?”

Silin suddenly stopped and blinked toward the empty air.

Duke Chateaubriand half rose from his seat, watching his daughter.

“Why did Silin suddenly stop?”

The nobles of the Chateaubriand faction, excited, laughed.

“Maybe it’s the strain of such tremendous power on her body.”

“It could be a phenomenon caused when a dragon answers its summoner.”

“But is it okay to call a dragon to the palace? What if His Majesty gets angry...?”

Someone voiced their worry, and another noble chuckled.

“What can he do if he’s angry? The Emperor himself must see it with his own eyes. ...The world is now in our hands.”

Besides, there was no reason they could object.

They had been trying to intimidate the Western Wonhwa into surrendering, and made a mistake replicating for the first time... or so they claimed.

The crowd tensed.

“What if the dragon really comes to the palace?”

“No way they’d summon a dragon to the Emperor’s palace. That’s just bluff...”

Regardless, Erilot Astra’s careless attitude had cost her a fight she was winning.

‘How could she face a child with the replication blessing and not use a barrier?’

But it grew stranger.

Silin’s mouth, which had been twitching like a goldfish, suddenly opened wide.

“W-what, what, what... what on earth is...?”

Huh?

As the crowd focused curiously on Silin,

“Mo-monster... monster... monsters... kyahaaaaaak─!!!”

Silin screamed and started backing away.

Erilot clutched her chest, gasping.

‘I told you not to replicate, you idiot.’

Erilot had no blessing like .

It was all a lie!

She had just gotten lucky and received a dragon thanks to the story’s power.

‘My real blessing is ...!’

Moreover, thanks to luck and the story’s power, the blessing reached level 2 when she obtained Lagon.

Since higher-level blessings couldn’t be replicated, she thought there would be no problem.

‘But seeing the replication thread, something’s wrong.’

Because it was a force forcibly twisted and raised by the story’s power rather than naturally grown, something had gone wrong.

And since Silin used it without knowing its true power...

Erilot barely looked at Silin with a pale face.

Silin’s expression was like seeing a true monster.

Because she really saw a monster!

‘What the hell happened? I used but why...!’

At first, a thick black smoke gathered around Erilot.

As people watched, the smoke clumped together.

Then monstrous shapes formed, and those monsters began approaching her.

[Gr-r... grr... grrr...]

“Don’t come! Don’t come... don’t come...!”

[Gr-gr-grr... grrr...]

“Erilot Astra, it’s your doing! You dirty blood! You broke the rules and brought monsters! Didn’t you?!”

[Graaaarrrr...]

“Don’t come, don’t come. Erilot Astra! Dirty blood, release the monsters... release the monsters...!”

They weren’t monsters she could control.

Even when facing the Crimson Ghoul or ancient monsters, her body had stayed steady, but now she trembled like a leaf.

As Silin was pushed toward the arena edge, the monsters suddenly swarmed her.

“Kyaaaaak─!!!”

Silin’s scream echoed sharply.