Dragons are covered in scales of unbelievable toughness.
Even a normal sword cannot leave a scratch on these scales.
The scales are not only tough but also highly resistant to magic.
There are still ways to wound a dragon, despite such strong scales.
One can either attack with enough force to penetrate the scales or target areas without them.
“Huff...!”
I struck the dragon's nose.
Even in armor, there are gaps to exploit.
The dragon, though covered in scales, did not have them over its nose.
“Gurgh...!”
Blood spurted from the dragon's nose as it screamed, its eyes widening in shock.
I immediately shouted, seeing its reaction.
“Rie!”
At my call, wind enveloped the dragon.
The wind, like threads, began to entwine around the dragon's body.
“Krr...?”
The dragon struggled in confusion.
“Burn fiercely.”
As Rie murmured, the wind caught fire.
The wind, wrapping around the dragon, fueled the flames.
The fire on the dragon's body blazed intensely.
It was a technique Rie had prepared and honed.
This was a spell to enhance an elemental.
But it wasn't just about strengthening the elemental's power.
The wind created by the elemental could only manipulate and sharpen the air.
It was limited by the nature of the wind.
This magic broke that limitation.
It allowed partial weakening or strengthening of the elemental, giving free control over the form of the wind.
Moreover, it could alter the wind's nature, maintaining its form but changing its essence.
Like now, sending fire through the wind.
“Kr... Kra...!!!”
The dragon panicked as it caught fire.
Even with scales, there were gaps.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})The flames crept into these gaps, tormenting the dragon.
The dragon thrashed in agony.
“Humans!!!!!”
Its thrashing caused sparks to fly, dimming the flames.
“Stick to the plan.”
“Yes!”
“Got it.”
Hearing Rie and Luna's response, I turned around.
We needed to reach our positions before the dragon regained its senses.
Rie used Sylph to move elsewhere, while Luna and I started running towards the back.
“Damn it!!!!”
The dragon raged at the sight of us.
But it couldn't follow.
If we hid ourselves towards the forest, the trees would conceal us from the dragon's view.
I quickly moved and looked at Luna.
"Luna, are you ready?"
"Yes!"
We walked a bit and then looked ahead.
It was a pit we had prepared earlier.
We jumped into that pit.
As soon as Luna entered the pit, she opened her magic book.
"Huff..."
Luna took a deep breath and moved her mana.
A strong light leaked from the magic book.
A large magic circle appeared in front of Luna.
Not just that.
Besides the large magic circle in front, smaller magic circles appeared around Luna.
"Think you can escape me!!!"
The dragon's roar was heard.
It was as expected.
It's coming now.
Since we were out of its sight, it would try to burn the entire direction we ran to.
Breath.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Depending on the dragon's type, the breath varied, but knowing what type of dragon this was, I knew the nature of its breath.
Being a Red Dragon, it spewed fire.
Luna's magic circles were prepared for this attack.
Magic circles with maximum fire resistance.
Magic circles that Luna had created day and night.
I trusted Luna and waited quietly.
"Activate!"
A small hemisphere appeared and enveloped Luna's body.
An enormous sound roared around us.
As the sound echoed, we saw red flames in front of us.
The flames covered the protective shield around us.
Gooong─
The shield vibrated intensely.
But it did not break.
It was withstanding the impact of the breath.
Seeing this, I immediately shouted.
"Locke!!!!"
During its breath attack, the dragon cannot move its body.
To spew such intense flames from its mouth, it needs a solid base.
The dragon presses its body to the ground to withstand the recoil of the breath.
That was our moment.
Our magic couldn't bind the dragon's body.
We might be able to tie its legs, but we couldn't control its wings.
So, we needed to create a situation where it couldn't move on its own.
Locke appeared behind the dragon.
He had been atop the cave before we lured the dragon out.
Locke fell onto the dragon's back, holding his sword forward.
"Northern swordsmanship..."
Blue sword aura enveloped Locke.
The sword aura gathered in the extended sword.
"Blue Bird."
Locke, falling from above the dragon, precisely aimed for its wings and pierced through them.
"Kr...!"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})The dragon almost screamed, but it swallowed the sound as it was using its breath.
"Ugh...!"
Luna seemed to struggle to counter the breath, her expression contorted.
"Luna, just hold on a little longer!"
"Just a bit more...!"
A few seconds later, the flames subsided.
At the same time, the protective shield disappeared.
“Haa… Haa…,”
Luna, breathing heavily, collapsed to the ground.
Looking around, I could see how much stronger Luna had become.
The trees behind us had vanished as if a highway had been plowed through them.
The end was out of sight.
“Luna, great job.”
I reached out to help Luna stand.
Luna, getting up with my assistance, quietly said,
“Did I… do it?”
I smiled at Luna's words.
This entire operation was possible because of Luna.
It was her confident assertion that she could block the dragon's breath that allowed us to plan this.
“You did really well. Truly.”
“Hehehe…”
“Luna, senior!!”
Then, from a distance, Emily came running.
I handed Luna, whom I was supporting, over to Emily.
“I'll go and finish this. Take a break a little away from here. Emily, please take care of her.”
“Okay. We'll go to a safe place.”
“Rudy… be careful.”
After passing Luna to Emily, I walked towards the dragon.
The aftermath of the breath made it seem like a great battle had already taken place, but it was just the beginning.
Until now, it was just a strategy to prevent the dragon from escaping.
We hadn't defeated the dragon yet.
Walking a bit further, I saw the dragon glaring with wide eyes.
“Human… how dare you…”
The dragon spoke to me in a voice filled with rage.
It seemed a bit weakened from using its breath.
“What’s so daring about it? What’s so different between you and us?”
“Do you think the status of humans and dragons is the same? Pitiful humans.”
The dragon stepped forward.
“Deceitful and petty, fragile enough to break upon the slightest touch, humans and dragons are as different as heaven and earth.”
I snorted at the dragon’s words.
“Yeah, different. How can a lizard-headed creature like you be the same as humans?”
“What?”
“Dragons, barely surviving to the point of near-extinction, and humans, ruling the entire landmass. There’s no comparison.”
The dragon gritted its teeth at my words.
A murderous intent pierced my body.
“No use talking.”
I thought the same.
“Rudy.”
Then, I heard Rie's voice.
Yuni, Locke, Riku, Ena, Kuhn – all were ready for battle.
What seemed like many at first felt insufficient in front of the dragon’s massive body.
But I was confident.
I trusted my comrades, and they trusted me.
We could catch this little lizard ourselves.
I extended my hand.
“Priscilla, Behemoth.”
In front of me appeared a small elephant and a wolf with an enormous body.
“Pwoooh!!”
As Behemoth roared, the ground gripped the dragon's legs, swallowing them like quicksand.
“Grrr...”
The dragon struggled to escape the muddy ground.
“Electric Shock!!”
In the meantime, Yuni used her magic.
“Activate.”
Kuhn also activated his magical device, which contained telekinetic magic.
This device, created with the advice of Astina and Luna, pressed the dragon further into the mire.
The dragon sank deeper into the mud due to the telekinetic magic.
“Cough...”
The dragon, assaulted by Yuni's magic, continued to sink into the mud.
Having been grounded by Locke who had previously made a large hole in its wings, the dragon could not fly away.
Its efforts to escape with its legs were futile as it had sunk too deep.
At that moment, Riku received a large barrel from Ena, dipped her hand in it, and shouted,
“Cloud!!”
Upon Riku's command, the liquid transformed into smoke, which rose above the dragon's head.
The smoke gathered, forming a cloud-like structure that began to rain down a strange liquid.
“You curs...!”
The dragon, sensing the suspicious liquid raining down, struggled to escape its position.
Its flailing sent mud flying towards Kuhn and Yuni nearby.
“Get away from there!”
Yuni and Kuhn quickly moved out of the way.
As their attacks stopped and the dragon's thrashing intensified, it began to break free from the mud.
“Sylph, bind it.”
Rie responded swiftly.
She enchanted Sylph to create wind, which tangled around the dragon, restraining it.
However, it wasn't enough to bind the entire body.
While its legs and body were restrained, the dragon still had its tail free.
Just as the dragon's tail was about to sweep the area, Locke, with blue sword aura enveloping his blade, lunged forward.
The blue aura pierced deeply through the scales of the tail.
“Graaah!!”
The dragon screamed in pain, thrashing violently.
Rie did her best to keep the dragon bound, shouting,
“Rudy! We can’t hold it much longer!”
“Got it.”
I gathered mana in my hand and looked at Priscilla.
“Priscilla, freeze it.”
“Understood.”
Priscilla's cold aura enveloped the dragon.
Crack…!
The liquid Riku had sprayed on the dragon gradually froze.
The dragon tried to break the ice encasing it.
“Grr...?”
Despite its struggles, the ice did not shatter.
The liquid Riku had used was no ordinary substance; it had the strength to withstand the dragon's thrashing without breaking when frozen.
“Phew…”
I gazed at the dragon as it continued to freeze over.
The jewel in my fist glowed brightly, emitting a strong vibration.
“Hu...mans.”
The dragon, seeing its body increasingly freeze, had an expression of disbelief.
Yet, it did not give up.
The dragon started to gather flames in its mouth, intending to fire one last breath attack.
“No way.”
I stomped on the ground, facing the dragon.
“Whoosh...!”
Just as the dragon was about to release the flames from its mouth, I, with mana filled in my fist, struck the dragon's jaw.
“Crash!”
The impact on the dragon's jaw forced its head to tilt upwards.
Whoosh! The breath it was holding spewed out into the sky.
I fell towards the ground, watching this unfold.
“Rudy!”
Rie ran towards where I was falling.
Sylph, beside her, blew wind in my direction.
Whoosh─
The wind acted like a cushion, softening my fall.
“Thanks, Rie.”
“Why did you have to jump like that...!”
“Ahaha…”
It was a relief that we managed to block the dragon's breath.
We looked at the dragon.
The dragon tried to thrash as much as it could, but it was futile.
“These humans, so powerless on their own…!”
The dragon shouted at us, but it was just a cry.
Its body continued to freeze, leaving only its mouth able to move.
I looked at the dragon.
“Dragons became extinct because they couldn’t do that.”
Unlike the dragon, living in its self-proclaimed superiority, acknowledging one's shortcomings and supporting each other was the survival method for those lacking individually.
I lifted the corners of my mouth.
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