Taming The Villainesses novel Chapter 434

They said this was the third time the wyvern that ruled over the city had been defeated.

The first was by a young man who displayed remarkable ingenuity.

The second was by a beautiful and powerful fairy who came and struck it down. And each time, after a few days had passed, the wyvern resurrected.

Hearing the story, Elga shook her head as if it were absurd.

“Resurrection after death? Where the hell does a creature like that exist? I don't buy it.”

At her words, the image of a monstrous beast flying over the city, burning everything in its path, surfaced in my mind.

Even if people brought it down with wisdom and strategy, if it kept resurrecting and rampaging again for some unknown reason, it would be nothing short of a calamity.

Mirna spoke.

“The curse of undeath... I've never heard of something like that before. But if it really exists, there must be a restriction. The greater the restriction, the more powerful the effect, so it must come with a heavy condition.”

A restriction.

Perhaps the guide couldn’t ignore those words either, for he chuckled lightly — a fluttering, unsettling laugh. I would never get used to the sight of a ghost laughing, but what he said was helpful.

━That’s right, young lady. Wyvern Siss is bound to this city. It cannot live outside of it. The same goes for us.

He said the spirits and the wyvern were bound to this city. That the city itself served as a massive cage and leash, trapping their bodies within.

However—

The resurrection of the wyvern and the existence of the spirits were not my primary concern. So I turned the topic back to the point.

“So, about the ones who defeated the wyvern — you said they headed toward that shattered sky. Do you know why?”

━I do not. All I know is that they all wanted to go there. And I merely guided them. Don’t you wish to go there as well?

That was true.

━Then why do you wish to go there?

“Well...”

I fell into brief thought. Why did I wish to go there? Because I believed that the answers I had so desperately sought awaited me beyond that place.

And if the Demon King Solomon was still alive, the chances were high he was lurking there.

If I thought of a monster like him sharpening his claws somewhere in this world, threatening the safety of my wives and the child yet to be born, I could not find peace.

If I didn't confirm and defeat that existence now, someday it would surely grab my ankle with terrible force. I didn’t want to be filled with regret when that day came.

***

It was a city twisted into an intricate maze.

But with a local guide, we managed to escape the endless loops of the labyrinthine streets and arrive at a staircase that led toward the sky.

━My guidance ends here. I hope you find what you seek.

After parting ways with the guide, we began climbing the stairs one step at a time.

Step, step.

The path upward was so high that when you looked down, everything below looked like mere dust or tiny dots.

“Sis, it’s so high. My legs are shaking!”

“Don’t look down, Narmee.”

Even for someone without a fear of heights, standing hundreds of meters above ground instilled terror. It seemed the noble ladies felt the same, carefully avoiding looking down as much as they could.

If anyone tripped here, not even their corpse would be found. Would I become one of the city's spirits too if I fell? No, that mustn’t happen. To come all this way and die by falling—how disgraceful that would be.

With that feeling, I firmly planted strength into each and every step. Fortunately, we encountered no unexpected variables — no fierce winds on the high elevation, no crumbling steps beneath our feet.

How long did we walk like that?

At last, we arrived at the mouth of the rift.

Is this what it felt like to stand before the mouth of a black hole? Standing before that swirling entrance where everything seemed to spin in a vortex made the hairs on my body stand on end.

Ssk.

I picked up a pebble lying nearby and tossed it into the rift. The fragment disappeared without a trace, as if swallowed into another dimension.

Anyone would have sensed it intuitively.

If we crossed this place, it truly felt like we would enter another world.

Even diving or bungee jumping required serious resolve; stepping into another world required an even greater courage. Because of that, we stood there at the entrance, glancing at each other.

“......”

“......”

No one spoke, but their faces were resolute. Amid that serious silence, the first to burst out laughing was — predictably — the ever-cheerful Narmee.

“We’re hilarious right now. It's just like, you know, 'We may have been born on different days, but we'll die together on the same day and time!' Like sworn brothers or something!”

A cheerful laugh during a tense moment injected an unexpected vitality. Maybe thanks to Narmee’s carefree smile, the stiffness on everyone’s faces eased a little.

Elga said,

“I’m not planning on dying with you lot, thanks. I’m going to live peacefully surrounded by my grandchildren, just like all the Leoneses before me.”

At her words, I imagined Elga surrounded by a bunch of tiny quarter-nymphs. Honestly, it was hard to picture an old grandma version of Elga.

I mean, I couldn’t even be sure what I’d be doing tomorrow, let alone imagine such a distant future. It felt almost like dreaming.

Besides, to me, Elga was like a goddess of youth — always vibrant, always fresh, forever standing there unchanged.

Elga continued,

“With all of us combined, we’ll probably have to have around thirty kids, so there’ll be about a hundred grandchildren. Just think about it. A hundred quarter-nymphs running around.”

A hundred quarter-nymphs — even if each one only said a single word, that would be a hundred words at once. It would be insanely noisy and chaotic.

It was hard to imagine... but I kind of wanted to see it.

“So let’s hurry up and finish this ridiculous business, go back, finish the wedding properly, wrap up everything we haven’t gotten around to, and get back to the good old fighting and bickering.”

It seemed Elga had already made up her mind. Bottling things up and agonizing over them didn’t suit her nature. Thanks to her resolve, strength returned to everyone’s expressions.

Ayra said,

“Getting here was fun. If I had just sat on the throne, I never would have experienced any of this. Though dealing with Elga’s temper, the twins’ grumbling, and Stella’s complaints wasn’t much fun.”