The Wretched Elf Maiden?

"Was she another adventurer who had accepted the commission? Was she planning to slay this Poisonous Demon Dragon?"

The Elf Maiden wore a leather battle dress dominated by black and yellow. Even in this New World, where handsome men and beautiful women were everywhere, she possessed looks worthy of being called breathtaking.

Yoru Machi had originally planned to leave. It was not that he lacked the courage to challenge the Poisonous Demon Dragon; he simply did not want to be taken for a sucker.

He had intended to find the local village, explain the situation, and negotiate a suitable increase in the reward. In short, if they did not pay more, he definitely would not work for free.

Yet he had never expected a competitor to show up.

The Poisonous Demon Dragon's location was far more distant than the previous underground labyrinth. Just getting here had taken Yoru Machi two full days, and locating the Poisonous Demon Dragon with the map had taken nearly another half day.

He had spent less than half a day clearing the underground labyrinth for his first commission.

After wasting so much time, Yoru Machi naturally did not want to return empty-handed. But before he had even negotiated with the village that had issued the commission, the Elf Maiden had already gone to confront the Poisonous Demon Dragon. If she really killed it, would he not be going home with nothing?

At that thought, Yoru Machi stopped being so eager to leave. On one hand, he was worried that someone would steal his prey; on the other, he wanted to see what the truly powerful people of this New World were capable of.

Naturally, Yoru Machi did not consider someone like Rex to be a powerhouse of this New World. As for this orange-haired Elf Maiden... he could not yet judge her exact level.

But seeing the Poisonous Demon Dragon's massive body and sensing the powerful aura it gave off, she still dared to challenge it alone. Clearly, she had considerable confidence in her own strength.

"Roar—!"

The furious Dragon Roar interrupted Yoru Machi's wandering thoughts. The Elf Maiden on the battlefield had already gripped her longsword and launched her challenge against the Poisonous Demon Dragon.

As a member of the Elf Race, the girl naturally knew magic, and she was quite skilled at it. She had even mastered several abilities that seemed to be secret techniques of the Elf Race.

Even her swordsmanship was commendable in Yoru Machi's eyes. In terms of combat ability, the Elf Maiden before him could probably take on ten or twenty Rexes without any pressure.

Just as Yoru Machi had initially guessed, the Poisonous Demon Dragon was not a pure dragon species, but merely a subspecies.

Much like demi-humans such as Half-beastmen, this Poisonous Demon Dragon appeared to be the product of a dragon breeding with some other race.

Yet even so, any magical beast connected to dragons or carrying dragon blood was almost never something to be underestimated.

The Elf Maiden was quite formidable. Taking advantage of her agility, she nimbly evaded the Poisonous Demon Dragon's attacks and used her longsword to leave wound after wound across its body.

However, since it was called the Poisonous Demon Dragon, its defining traits naturally went beyond the powerful physique and sturdy scales of dragonkind.

After being thoroughly enraged by the Elf Maiden's provocations, the Poisonous Demon Dragon finally began to use its ultimate move.

A vast amount of corrosive purple poisonous mist spewed from the Poisonous Demon Dragon's mouth, instantly blanketing an area several kilometers in every direction.

This had originally been grassland, but the moment the Poisonous Demon Dragon released its corrosive poisonous mist, the surrounding grass and trees withered away almost instantly.

The endless grassland became a barren wasteland in the blink of an eye!

As the one directly in its path, the Elf Maiden reacted immediately when the Poisonous Demon Dragon expelled the mist. She used magic power to form a protective barrier around herself.

But what she had never expected was that the corrosive poisonous mist was potent enough to erode even a magic power barrier!

To fight the Poisonous Demon Dragon, the Elf Maiden had already consumed a great deal of magic power, including for her flight magic. Now that she was trapped within the poisonous mist, her magic power was quickly becoming insufficient.

The Poisonous Demon Dragon's mist was highly corrosive. The surrounding plants had been corroded and withered in an instant, so the result of exposing flesh to such an environment was obvious.

Moreover, the poisonous mist lingered in the surrounding area. Just to keep herself from being affected by it, the Elf Maiden had to constantly maintain her magic power barrier. As one side waned and the other gained, the longer the battle dragged on, the more unfavorable it became for her.

In contrast, although the Poisonous Demon Dragon was only a subspecies dragon, its enormous body was not merely large. The amount of Magic Power it possessed was also astonishing.

Clearly, this Poisonous Demon Dragon possessed a certain level of intelligence. The reason it had not used its killing move from the start was to first wear down the Elf Maiden's Magic Power, ensuring that she no longer had the strength to escape its grasp.

Given the current situation, the Elf Maiden's defeat was nearly inevitable. The poisonous mist covered several kilometers around them; simply escaping that distance was already extremely difficult for her, not to mention that she had to constantly guard against the Poisonous Demon Dragon's sneak attacks.

The Elf Maiden's magic power was gradually running out. The magic power barrier protecting her body grew weaker and weaker from the constant drain, and the corrosion had even begun eating away at her clothes, exposing large patches of fair skin.

What was worse, the corrosive effects of the Poisonous Demon Dragon's mist upon direct contact with the body could be blocked by the magic power barrier, but all living creatures needed to breathe. Humans and elves alike were no exception.

Because of the intense battle, the Elf Maiden had already inhaled a large amount of poisonous gas from the surrounding area. Her mind was now beginning to grow hazy and unfocused.

"Was challenging the Poisonous Demon Dragon alone still too reckless? It seems this is as far as I go."

Surrounded by intensely corrosive poisonous mist, with her magic power nearly exhausted and even her consciousness beginning to blur, Cui Luchiraze Garunerrurea Agranzerga Elga could not imagine any possibility of turning the situation around. Unwillingly, she began waiting for death to arrive.

"Honestly, if you are not strong enough, do not come out here and steal my prey. This thing is my quarry, okay?

I wonder if those villages will still be willing to pay more after I kill this big guy and drag its corpse over there."

Although the Poisonous Demon Dragon possessed intelligence far beyond that of ordinary magical beasts, it lacked the ability to speak. Therefore, the voice that had appeared beside her could only belong to a third person, aside from herself and the Poisonous Demon Dragon.

When Cui Luchiraze Garunerrurea Agranzerga Elga opened her eyes, she saw a white-haired man standing before her.