~BOOOOMMM!!!~
The purple beam of destruction swallowed the students whole, completely shrouding them from sight.
It was too late for Adonis, whose hand simply stretched out as he rushed over, to stop the inevitable outcome of the blast.
Death was certain.
"Hahaha!"
A loud laugh echoed from right behind Adonis, as the Dragon's disgusting voice echoed in his ears.
At that moment, he realized he messed up.
By allowing himself to be distracted by his friends, he turned away from the Dragon, who was already sending another attack at him.
~SQUELCH!~
Adonis felt his entire stomach tear open as a blast from the Dragon's Spatial energy ripped a hole through it.
"Puack!" Blood spurted from his lips as he collapsed on her ground, a small puddle of crimson forming underneath him.
As Adonis collapsed, his vision blurred and he felt the power he had amassed dissipate.
The pain he had been ignoring crashed into him with full impact, and he felt sheer, paralyzing agony.
His entire stomach had been torn open, and every part of his body ached considerably.
There was no worse state to currently be in.
"A-ahh… haaaa…"
As his paralyzed form remained on the cold, hard ground, a shadow appeared above him.
It belonged to none other than the Dragon—its arm and tail already healed up.
"You… I never thought a human could ever push me this far."
His horns were restored nearly instantly.
"A worthless worm like you actually landed a few blows…"
His wings spread out as they too were now fully healed.
"… That is unforgivable!" Stretching out his hand as he glared at Adonis, a purple glow began appearing on his palm.
He was preparing to launch an attack—one that would bypass Adonis' defense and kill him for good.
"As a reward for your impudence, I will grant you a quick death. Be grateful."
The purple light shone brighter, and just as it was time to strike…
"Wind Pull!"
A loud feminine voice echoed in the vast space.
~BOOOOOMMM!~
The blast was fired, causing the ground to shatter apart upon impact.
However, Adonis was nowhere to be found.
"Tch! What now…?!" The Dragon Commander groaned in frustration as he clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.
As he raised his face to look in the direction of the voice, two bright red beams of light sizzled on his skin.
'What's this?'
Before he could recover from his confusion, a sharp gust of wind caused him to be pushed back slightly, causing his balance to grow unstable.
As he tried to recover, he felt countless strings cover his body and pull him towards the ground.
'W-what's going on…?!'
He could also feel a lot of reactions in his body—signs that he was resisting a bunch of low-Tier attacks from an invisible enemy.
However, before he could say anything, a massive explosion, mixed with high-pitch noises disrupted his thoughts and senses.
~BOOOOOOMM!!~
He could feel his body descend to the ground, crashing with unstoppable fervor.
The ray of light didn't stop, and the pressure of the wind from atop him forced him to remain on the ground.
As he struggled to rise, a blast of lightning descended from above and completely shrouded his body.
~ZTTTZZZZZ!!!~
Cackles remained on his skin as smoke rose from all over his clothes and scorched body.
Still, as he tried to stand, a heavy weight caused by the wind forced him to remain on the ground.
'The hell is this?! What's going on?!'
The Dragon couldn't take anymore, so he vanished from his position.
~WHOOSH!~
His wings flapped very loudly as he appeared above the influence of the shackles that held him down and the annoying barrage of attacks that kept annoying him without end.
Once he recovered from his confusion—now perfectly composed—he looked in the only direction where the attacks were coming from.
That was when he saw them…
"How are you still alive?"
… The five that he thought were already dead.
They were currently shrouded by a Magic Barrier—one that had runic symbols on the surface of its invisible layers.
The Dragon Commander didn't need to ask his question again, though.
His eyes darted to the only one that could have done it.
'That woman…!'
His eyes shifted to a certain young lady who had flowing white hair and crimson eyes.
She was currently attending to Adonis, chugging a potion down the boy's throat which healed his injuries at a quick rate.
'Hold on. If she's there, then—!'
The Dragon's eyes widened as he saw that the human prisoner he had kept as bait for them was no longer in his previous position.
He was currently laid on the ground right next to the stubborn five teenagers who were preparing to shoot a volley of attacks at him.
'How was she able to free him so easily? Is she that skilled too?'
His gaze narrowed as he glared at the trembling little ones that still dared to defy him
'These annoying humans…'
The Dragon Commander never expected that he would be pushed this far.
In all of his relatively long life, he had never seen humans like these before.
He didn't think anyone had.
'I hate to admit it, but they're a threat.' He remembered the ongoing 'war' that the Dragons had started with the other Kingdoms.
It was nothing more than a farce for their entertainment.
The Dragons dumped the weaklings to the battlefield and forced them to become more powerful or simply die.
Their race had no use for weaklings.
For the humans and the other races, this was a serious war—
one with everything on the line.
But the Dragons honestly couldn't care less.
They already had the Northern Continent as their territory, and it was more than large enough to house them.
Everything else was either due to a conscious effort to raise strong members of their society, or to enjoy watching the weaklings suffer.
But now… now this Dragon Commander thought slightly differently.
'If there are humans like this in this world, then we should be taking things a little more seriously.'
It was a stain on the pride of Dragons to go all-out on weaklings. He knew that fully well.
That was why he didn't transform to his Dragon Form despite how hard he was pushed.
As a prideful Dragon, he probably wouldn't be able to live with the shame associated with the act.
'But now, I recognize their strength.'
If not for his obvious advantage in the fight and his higher Level, he would not have lasted a single second against the human who fought him.
The Dragon Commander had to silently admit it.
'They're strong.'
But what of it? Compared to the upper echelons of the Draconic Empire, these ones were nothing.
He was a mere Dragon Commander.
There still existed Dragon Generals, who reported directly to the Dragon Lords.
And, the being who stood at the precipice of the Dragon Lords was the invincible one.
The Dragon Emperor.
Compared to those powerful entities, he was just another weakling.
'Maybe I shouldn't overestimate them too much.'
Sure, they had pushed him this far, but it wasn't like they were winning.
No. It was inconceivable to think they would win.
"I think I've had enough of this. There's no need to devour you all any longer."
He was getting tired already.
"I'll just kill all of you and get this over with."
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Thanks for reading!
