Even If I'm Reborn as a Cute Dragon Girl, I Will Still Make a Harem-Chapter 18Book 6: : Strange

Three was starting to panic.

Ciel didn’t actually need to transcend the remaining tribulations to kill her.

As long as Ciel managed to transcend the relatively easiest of the three, the Flesh Tribulation, she could gain enough strength to crush Three before the last two tribulation thunderbolts killed her.

Yet, due to Three’s unique circumstances, she couldn’t intervene or bypass Ciel entirely to attack Lilith directly.

After all, taking over someone else’s physical body was already a grave transgression of the heavenly order, one that would undoubtedly guarantee Three’s destruction!

“Something’s strange…” Three’s gaze lingered on the swirling clouds of tribulation, unease creeping into her mind. “Speaking of the heavenly order… why haven’t I felt its presence yet?”

As someone who had experienced Divine Tribulation before, Three was familiar with the entire process. During the final three stages, a strand of the heavenly order’s consciousness was supposed to manifest.

To put it plainly, the last three tribulation thunderbolts were tests directly issued by the heavenly order to determine whether the transcender was qualified to bear the weight of Complete Authority.

This was the first time Ciel was experiencing the Divine Tribulation.

For any individual, there was only one chance to face the Divine Tribulation. If they failed, they would be reduced to ashes. Three, however, had the immense privilege of accessing the legacy knowledge left behind by a prestigious family in the Great World.

Forebears had risked their lives to document every detail of the tribulations they transcended, resulting in hundreds of thousands of meticulously recorded words. The level of detail was almost absurd—even the color of the dress one should wear during the trial had been analyzed by individuals with too much time on their hands.

Generations of data had allowed these people to transcend their tribulations with the help of their forebears. Of course, this had caused the tribulations to become progressively harder over time as the tribulation thunderbolts became stronger with each passing year.

Still, for the transcenders, there was a significant difference between facing the known and the unknown.

Ciel, however, had no such luxury in this world. She couldn’t rely on the experience of any predecessors. Every preparation she made was based on her own predictions or fragments of information gathered from texts of questionable sources.

For her, this tribulation was far harder.

“This should be the last two or three stages,” Ciel murmured softly, her gaze calm as she studied the swirling storm clouds above.

The closer she came to the end, the less she could afford to let her guard down!

Ciel tightened her grip on the golden sword, her entire body and mind reaching an unprecedented state of focus.

Rumble!

A thunderclap suddenly roared across the heavens.

“Here it comes.” Ciel gripped the golden sword tightly, solemnly positioning it defensively in front of her.

Crack…

After the deafening thunderclap, an eerie silence fell over the sky. In the stillness, faint rumbles still could be heard. A not-so-dazzling thunderbolt began descending slowly from the clouds of tribulation.

“This is…”

“How could…”

Ciel and Three both murmured in disbelief almost simultaneously. What descended was a lightning bolt… a human-shaped one.

“A heavenly tribulation in human form? No, no, no… This isn’t a Flesh Tribulation at all,” Three concluded confidently.

Before she faced her own heavenly tribulation, she had scoured every record she could find about them. Not a single one mentioned anything about a heavenly tribulation in human form.

Moreover, the Flesh Tribulation was supposed to test the physical body of the transcender. How could a tribulation in human form test physical resilience? What was it supposed to do? Test whether you could withstand being punched?

“Why does that figure look so… familiar?”

Below the roiling clouds of tribulation, Ciel stood frozen, her eyes fixed on the human-shaped lightning as it descended slowly, step by step. For a moment, she was completely at a loss.

No matter how many predictions she had made, she had never imagined the heavenly tribulation would take human form.

As the human-shaped lightning drew closer, a chilling realization began to bloom in the depths of her heart.

The human-shaped lightning bore the appearance of someone she knew all too well—someone who had tormented her countless times in the past, someone she hated to the very core of her being.

Yet, it was also the person she had to face if she wanted to save Lilith. It was the Queen of Dragons.

“This stage… is a test of the heart?”

It was the only conclusion Ciel could draw. The Queen of Dragons had left scars on her—not just physical ones but deep-rooted, instinctual fear. The Queen of Dragons, it seemed, had become her heart demon.

Yet… Something still felt off.

“Whatever it is, I have to face it.” After only a brief hesitation, Ciel’s gaze hardened with resolve. “If I can’t even overcome a heart demon, then defeating the real Queen of Dragons to save Lilith would be nothing more than a laughable dream.”

The golden sword buzzed in her grip.

With a burst of movement, Ciel transformed into an ethereal figure, her body flickering like a mirage as she charged toward the heavenly tribulation with the appearance of the Queen of Dragons.

The trials of the earlier tribulation thunderbolts had tempered her golden sword to an unimaginable level of quality.

The small golden swords had once been just a step short of becoming flawless divine artifacts. Now, after being forged in the crucible of tribulation thunderbolts, they might achieve their breakthroughs earlier than Ciel herself.

Ciel stood confidently, ready to battle the heavenly tribulation.

Yet… As the figure faced the terrifying aura of the golden sword that could cut through anything, she simply… lifted a finger.

Light began gathering at the tip of her white jade-like finger. When it met the sharp edge of Ciel’s golden sword, a clear metallic clang echoed in the air. And then… the sword stopped. It couldn’t budge an inch.

“What?” Ciel’s eyes widened, a surreal feeling washing over her.

Her all-out attack had been stopped effortlessly by a single finger. Even if heavenly tribulations were designed to be slightly stronger than the transcender, this… this single-finger defense was absurd.

It was so ridiculous that, for a moment, Ciel almost believed she was no longer facing a heavenly tribulation but the Queen of Dragons herself.

“No! This is the Heart Demon Tribulation!” Ciel reminded herself. “It’s all an illusion meant to sway me!”

She quickly scanned the area, searching for any sign of a break in the illusion. But this was no ordinary illusion—it was created by the Divine Tribulation.

Everything was perfect, down to the smallest detail, including the confused expression on Three’s face that seemed to say, “What is that girl even talking about?”

Regardless, it was still a Heart Demon Tribulation. As long as her heart remained strong, the illusion would eventually break! With that thought, Ciel turned her gaze back to the heavenly tribulation, a sneer curling at the corner of her lips.

“Let’s see what other tricks you’ve got,” she taunted.

At that moment, she swore she saw something in the figure’s expression—was that a teasing smile?

Before Ciel could process it, the figure swung her fist.

Even though Ciel was certain it was an illusion, the sheer intimidating power of that punch caused her to raise her sword to parry it reflexively. It was then…

Craaaaaack…

“WAAAAH!”

“It hurts!”

“Master… it hurts…!”