The name of the skill was “One Covered in Dragon’s Blood,” and its effect was the highest level of immortality.
However, the method to obtain it was somewhat strange.
Shinnoda informed Isiah of what needed to be done to acquire the skill.
Her face turned bright red.
‘Am I supposed to enter this pit naked and bathe in the blood?!’
A large cat inwardly gasped in shock. If it hadn’t been Shinnoda, the “Dark Knight,” who had spoken, it might have bitten him by now.
Thinking of doing something awkward in front of the “Dark Knight” made its tail tremble.
“Meow…”
Shinnoda was surprised to see such a varied expression on the golden-furred creature’s face. The bundle of golden fur opened its mouth wide in surprise and embarrassment.
‘I didn’t mean for it to be this way.’
The original event to obtain “One Covered in Dragon’s Blood” was more of a fan service scene for the player. In the original story, such a situation was described as flavor text, and the player was given a choice: to do it themselves or pass the task to the heroine. If the option was chosen to let the heroine take on the task, the player could then watch her bathe.
“Don’t worry. I’ll step outside the cave. I won’t peek.”
“Whaaat?”
Isiah hissed at Shinnoda. She understood he wouldn’t peek, but she wondered why she had to be in her human form to do this. In cat form, she would technically be naked too.
She thought Shinnoda’s personal preference was influencing the decision.
“Ah, I understand your concern. I don’t know exactly why this condition exists; it was just a guess from previous examples. This is the most reliable method. You can’t gamble with something like this when acquiring a skill like this.”
He’d pondered this extensively. The game had not provided clear conditions, merely implying them through the skill name.
However, he couldn’t gamble on it just because Isiah would feel embarrassed. In the game, the protagonist or heroine had bathed in blood in their naked form. If she were to attempt it in cat form and fail, she’d lose the chance at immortality, which would be disastrous.
Isiah nodded.
“Anyway, I’ll go outside.”
Shinnoda turned around and walked out. He had no intention of doing anything like the original protagonist in the game.
But then, something shuffled behind him.
“Meow.”
“Ah!”
Isiah had leaped toward Shinnoda in her human form, completely bare.
“What the—”
“Meow, Nya. Hm?”
Shinnoda tried to push her away, but Isiah stubbornly clung to him and pulled.
“Could it be…you’re afraid to be alone?”
Shinnoda asked without turning around. He thought this was the only plausible reason.
“Nya. Nya.”
Nodding her head in agreement, Isiah confirmed his suspicion.
“That makes sense too. I’ll stay turned away while you finish quickly.”
Shinnoda thought about the situation. In the game, events like these were scripted so that nothing untoward happened, but this was now reality. There was a chance she could be attacked mid-process.
Plop.
Isiah jumped into the pool of blood. Though it felt dirty, she trusted Shinnoda’s words absolutely.
“Meowww!”
The reddish liquid seemed to have a will of its own, seeping into every part of her body. She splashed around, feeling a strange pleasure.
“Hmm.”
Shinnoda coughed quietly without turning around. Normally, there would be a scene where tentacles (?) harassed the heroine, but as he wasn’t the game’s protagonist, he couldn’t do such a thing.
Meanwhile, Isiah, bathing in the dragon’s blood, kept glancing sideways at Shinnoda. Not out of worry that he’d peek, but because she secretly wanted him to.
She thought, ‘Although Dark Knight definitely suits him better, this knight-in-shining-armor vibe isn’t half bad either.’
Come to think of it, Shinnoda’s armor was made of scales, so once the skill effects wore off, he would technically be as naked as her.
“Nyaah…”
Embarrassed by her inappropriate thoughts, Isiah wriggled uncomfortably in the water.
This peculiar moment didn’t last long.
Before her eyes appeared a translucent window.
<<Skill Acquired>>
——————-<Skill>——————-
● Name
One Covered in Dragon’s Blood
● Rank
— SS
● Description
The owner cannot die from any means except for death by aging.
———————————–
Isiah blinked.
‘Was what I saw just now real?’
She hadn’t even known there was an SS rank. There had been no official record of humans reaching the SS rank; Isiah had assumed the S rank was the highest possible.
“Nyaa…”
Isiah shed tears of joy. She had been regretting that she didn’t feel like she was doing enough to help “Dark Knight.” She hadn’t counted information-gathering as a contribution and believed she should be physically fighting alongside him.
“Like the Kamen Riders!”
In the tokusatsu shows Isiah loved, the heroes always united for a grand team-up at the end.
“Meow!”
At the same time the system window appeared, the pool of blood began swirling violently and was absorbed into her body. Thus, Isiah gained “Immortality.”
The “Gareas” suit operates using the wearer’s innate essence as fuel, a fundamental life force with great power. However, once this essence is depleted, the user dies. Thanks to her newly acquired skill, Isiah needn’t worry about dying from using up her innate essence and would now be able to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with the “Dark Knight.”
Isiah transformed back into a cat and approached Shinnoda.
“Your reaction indicates success.”
Shinnoda said, leaning his rifle over his shoulder. Isiah nodded vigorously.
“Let’s go.”
“Meow!”
While Isiah was bathing in the blood, Shinnoda discussed Laura and the Dragon Bone.
The conclusion was to leave it for now and retrieve them later. Carrying them away would require many hands, making confidentiality impossible. If the world learned about such a valuable item, Shinnoda would attract much attention and unwanted danger.
“I’ll head there tomorrow and place a concealment barrier. No one will discover it.”
‘But isn’t the goblin village’s location known now? Won’t investigation teams come?’
“Hmph. Did the investigation team that reported no proper monsters nearby even recognize the barrier the goblins had set?”
‘…Right.’
‘By the way, your voice sounds lively. Did you successfully rescue Alpha?’
“Yes. The guy’s name is Oh Chan-seok; he’s quite overconfident from some skill. I’m cooking him right now. Are you planning to ‘Succeed’ his abilities?”
‘What’s his skill?’
“Hmm… It allows you to check and alter someone’s settings. Essentially, to make ‘Shinnoda absolutely obeys Lady Laura’.”
Shinnoda pondered briefly. If he could alter abilities, such as turning someone into a swordsmanship prodigy, this could be highly useful.
‘Can it also alter someone’s talents, like saying Alpha is actually a prodigy in magic?’
“Probably, though in your terms, I imagine you’d need to reach Intellect SSS rank. But at that point, you would already be a demigod; skills like this would be redundant anyway…”
‘Then it’s unnecessary. Handle it yourself. Maybe you can use it to improve Lady Laura’s mood.’
Shinnoda no longer felt the need to squabble over stat inheritance from any one villain. Lifting Laura’s spirit was more important.
“Understood.”
While he wasn’t a character suited to intellectual skills nor trusted to give them to someone else, it was a skill that didn’t really fit anywhere.
‘After all, it’s not my style to manipulate people. Besides, anyone I’d fight alongside would need to be at least S-ranked, so brainwashing wouldn’t even take hold.’
Shinnoda emerged from the cave with Isiah.
As he watched the giant cat trailing cautiously next to him, a thought came to him.
‘Could I ride on it?’
Being the size of a house, the cat seemed big enough to carry him while still being mobile.
“Siya-senpai. Can I ride on you?”
“Nyaa?”
Isiah was perplexed. The implication of riding a lady—even if in cat form—felt strange to her.
‘Could he secretly have inspected my body while I wasn’t paying attention?’
She hardened her resolve and nodded, preparing to transform back but Shinnoda leaped up and landed on her back.
“Nyah!”
Instinctively, she began shaking her body to dislodge the intruder. But Shinnoda held on tightly.
“You said it was fine. Let’s go. So soft and comfy.”
The enormous cat stopped struggling. Shinnoda leaned forward, gently scratching the back of her neck.
‘Cats love this.’
Having owned a cat before his reincarnation, he was fairly knowledgeable about them.
“Meow. Meow.”
Isiah moaned softly, experiencing ten times the pleasure humans do when being scratched.
“Stop… stop…”
“Meowww…”
Her tail wildly wagged as she felt an intense sensation.
