S-Rank Harem: I Became My Character with Extra Control Skill

Chapter 176: Demon Queen Ophelia’s Castle

Ryan grabbed Ivis’s wrist, applying a firm and sudden pressure with his fingers, stopping her movement.

"What do you think you are doing? We are leaving." Ivis demanded, furrowing her brow at the interruption.

"Hey, wait a second, that won’t work without first..."

But before Ryan could finish his sentence, the runic portal crystal in the dragoness’s hand began to glow with an unstable intensity.

Tling.

The sound of shattering crystal echoed through the dungeon corridor. The teleportation stone broke into a thousand luminous pieces that rapidly dissipated into the air as simple magic dust.

"I told you to wait." Ryan pronounced with his usual cold and calculating tone.

"I have to unequip my relic first, which prevents my body from being transported forcefully. Do you know how annoying that was when I faced demons?"

Ivis watched the remains of the magic dust fall from her fingers and clicked her tongue in evident frustration.

"Damn it... I only brought one portal stone with me for this round trip."

Mirian, who had been observing the interaction from a few steps away, approached upon seeing Ivis’s evident failure.

"And what are you going to do now?" Mirian asked, alternating her gaze between her leader and the sentinel.

"My lady is waiting, we cannot afford the luxury of wasting any more time here. We must fly to her domains." Ivis dictated, crossing her arms.

Ryan analyzed his options immediately.

’If Karol isn’t here, then I could use the last flight scroll I have left. But, considering the distance, I don’t think the scroll’s power will last the entire journey. So... there is only one viable option left.’

"Alright, we can go on the village’s wyvern." Ryan proposed, gesturing with his head toward the interior of the dungeon.

Faced with Ryan’s purely functional proposal, Ivis began to laugh loudly, letting out an arrogant guffaw that echoed off the stone walls.

"Ha, ha, ha! Wyverns? Those pathetic creatures are excessively slow. It would take us entire days to reach my lady Ophelia."

She turned around and walked with heavy steps toward the edge of the dungeon’s outer rift, where the wind blew with force.

"It is outrageous... but there is no other way to do this anymore. I will take you myself."

"Are you going to let me ride on top of you?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow at the unexpected offer from the proud dragoness.

"Yes, that was exactly what I said, there are no more options if we want to arrive on time." She responded with a markedly annoyed and exasperated tone.

"Besides, my lady Ophelia had given the explicit order to bring you with your entire escort group. That portal from before should have transported all of us. But I do not intend to carry an entire squad on my back. I will carry a maximum of two people, so choose right now who you will go with."

’Then, it is a true relief that the portal didn’t work. Otherwise, all of them would have been dragged to another territory and the entrance to our dungeon would be left completely unprotected against any invaders.’

Ryan looked around him. Mirian was staring at him, with a clear expectation shining in her eyes, waiting to be the one chosen to accompany him.

Helen and Irina, who had stayed on the sidelines after the conflict, finally approached them.

However, Helen said absolutely nothing. She kept her head down, averting her gaze. An extremely docile and silent attitude, something that was not at all usual for the loud and energetic heroine.

’Perhaps she is still too ashamed and frustrated from losing a second time against Ivis with such ease.’ Ryan deduced, reading his companion’s body language.

And since he took a few seconds to analyze his group and didn’t respond immediately, Ivis lost her patience.

Her body glowed intensely and transformed into the enormous green dragon with thick scales and colossal wings, occupying more than the entire width of the entrance.

"But decide quickly, human, I do not want to waste any more time here!" The immense dragon growled, expelling a gust of hot air from its nostrils.

’If I were to choose one of them as an escort, the others would feel excluded and useless. And, above all else, I do not want this place and the village to be left unprotected, either.’

"No, don’t worry, for this time I will go alone." Ryan responded with a firm voice.

’After all, that was what I had planned from the very beginning.’

Taking a precise leap, he landed cleanly upon Ivis’s broad back, finding a stable grip among the enormous green scales on her neck.

"Ryan! You should let me accompany you." Mirian shouted, taking a step forward with her brow furrowed in worry.

"No, don’t worry." Ryan stopped her from above. "It is more important that both of you stay behind guarding this place."

Mirian pressed her lips together, but she ended up nodding slowly, complying with the order.

Helen also nodded, though she quickly averted her gaze to the stone floor afterward, maintaining her tense silence.

"I hope you return soon. And please, take good care of yourself." Irina said, taking a step forward and bidding him farewell with her sweet tone of voice.

Ryan nodded, fixing his gaze upon the three women.

"Keep this place and the village completely safe while I am gone."

Without waiting a single second longer, the enormous green dragon flapped its wings with brutal force, generating a gale in the corridor, and shot out through the portal of the rift, ascending straight into the outer sky.

The wind battered against Ryan’s face. As they flew at high speed over the dark waters of the ocean, Ryan pointed to a specific spot in the distance.

"There is a portal connecting directly to the lands of Demon King Rigal hidden beneath that area." Ryan pointed out.

"I know." She said with total naturalness.

"I can perfectly see the mana density anomaly under the water from here."

’So she can accurately detect an underground magical flow from this distance? A dragon’s sensory perception range is impressive.’

Ivis began to fly at top speed, slightly folding her immense wings and plummeting into a dive toward the ocean.

She broke through the water barrier and the submerged portal in a single fluid movement, without even slowing down.

The next instant, they emerged into the frigid environment of Demon King Rigal’s snowy lands.

To avoid demon patrols, Ivis climbed vertically until surpassing the cloud layer, flying at a supersonic speed that left a trail across the grayish sky.

The journey was uninterrupted and efficient. After exactly one hour of sustained flight, the landscape began to change drastically.

Ivis reduced her speed and began to descend, breaking through the dense layer of winter clouds.

"We have arrived at the capital of Morrisen." Ivis said.

Ryan sharpened his gaze against the wind. In the distance, rising imposingly over the architecture of the demonic city, an enormous fortified castle could be seen.

"Is the Demon Queen in that place?"

"That is correct, that is the main castle, my lady Ophelia’s home and our destination." Ivis said with pride, adjusting her flight path to descend in a straight line toward the castle structure.