Page 204 of The Villainess Chose Naps Over Death Flags

"She looks half-dead already," Missy added.

Carol took a sip of her soda. "This is why I chose the Lazy Lady path."

On screen, a massive corrupted dragon—not as large as the ones Caspian had fought, but still formidable—swooped down from the ash-choked sky.

The expedition forces scattered. Mages threw up barriers. Knights braced for impact.

Percival shouted orders—his voice clear through the surround sound system—rallying the troops, and charged at the dragon with a group of elite fighters.

The battle was brutal.

The dragon's tail whipped around, sending five knights flying. Its claws raked across a barrier, shattering it and forcing the mages to stumble back. Its breath weapon—a stream of corrupted black fire—burned across the battlefield.

Percival managed to get close enough to drive his holy sword into the dragon's leg. The creature shrieked—the sound echoing through the surround system, making Carol wince—and thrashed violently.

"Ouch," Carol said, watching a knight get flung twenty feet into a twisted tree. "That's going to leave a mark."

"I think his arm is broken," Missy observed clinically.

"Definitely broken," Lumi confirmed.

Rosalie was being protected by a wall of paladins, but Carol could see her swaying on her feet. She cast another purification spell, and this time her knees buckled. Two paladins caught her before she fell.

"They need to let her rest," Lumi said.

"They can't," Carol said, gesturing to the screen with a nacho. "The miasma is too thick. If she stops purifying, it'll close in and corrupt the fighters. She has to keep going."

"That seems inefficient," Missy said.

"That's heroic quests for you," Carol replied. "Lots of suffering and dramatic struggle. Very photogenic, but not actually fun."

The dragon was finally brought down by a combined effort of holy magic and massed attacks. It crashed to the corrupted earth with a thunderous impact that Carol could almost feel through the screen.

But there were more Blightspawn coming.

Always more.

Corrupted wolves. Twisted bears. Malformed creatures that might have once been deer or boars but were now unrecognizable nightmares. Smaller corrupted dragons circling overhead.

The expedition forces rallied and fought on.

Percival was bleeding from a cut above his eye. Rosalie was being held upright by two paladins while she cast. Knights were rotating to the back lines to rest and have their wounds treated, then returning to fight.

It was organized. Professional. Effective.

And absolutely exhausting to watch.

"How long have they been fighting?" Lumi asked.

Carol checked the information panel that appeared when she focused on it. "This is day twenty-one of the expedition. They've been fighting almost nonstop."

"Twenty-one days?" Missy's eyes widened. "Of this?"

"Of this," Carol confirmed. "And according to the summary, they're only about halfway to the core of the Wasteland where the main corruption source is."

All three of them sat in silence for a moment, watching the brutal battle continue.

Then Carol took another handful of popcorn. "See, this is why I married the guy who guards the border. He fights the monsters before they can get organized into massive corrupted armies. Much more efficient."