The battle, which had begun with the dragons’ aerial assault, spread into a fierce ground war. To protect the portal, the lifeline of the punitive army,
the soldiers fought with all their might.
But the stone golem legion, which included iron and bronze golems, was by no means an easy foe,
and the situation was growing darker by the moment. The squad leader, who had glanced up at the sky without thinking, grimaced.
“A-a dragon’s joined in. Another one. And an enormous one at that……”
At those words, several soldiers cast their gazes skyward. Before their eyes appeared a dragon far larger
than the dragons they had been fighting until now. Its entire body glowed red.
It was a red dragon.
Now fully revealed, Verkis smiled in satisfaction and rearranged his mana.
“You bastard. I’ll finish you off completely this time.”
The bone dragon that had been charging in turned tail in utter panic, but Verkis paid it no mind.
His opponent had already been caught completely in Verkis’s detection magic.
“Not like you. It seems you never imagined I would appear.”
Whoooosh.
A massive fireball formed in midair. It was Verkis’s trademark, Fireball. The spell
itself was a basic spell, but after undergoing an enormous process of rearrangement, it boasted destructive power far greater than Hellfire—
a Fireball unique to Verkis alone.
This magic of annihilation continued to suck in mana, swelling in size. As Verkis concentrated mana again and again,
he saw the bone dragon floundering, its path blocked by Ryusike and Renius.
They were effectively cutting off the bone dragon’s route and moving to intercept it. The mage and death knights riding the bone
dragon were too busy fending off the two dragons’ successive magical attacks to gather their wits.
Ryusike and Renius had already heard from Verkis that their opponent’s specialty was disrupting magic.
For that reason, they were continuously pouring low-level spells capable of rapid fire at the enemy, giving him no chance
to recover his composure. Confirming that the Fireball was complete, Verkis smiled in triumph.
“You bastard! I’ll finish you off completely.”
The furiously rotating Fireball shot forward at terrifying speed. It flew straight toward the bone dragon,
which was still putting up a desperate fight. As Verkis’s attack began, Ryusike and Renius, who had been locked in fierce combat,
quickly withdrew to a safe distance.
If they were caught in the explosion of the Fireball, even they would not come away unharmed.
The fabricated magic of annihilation pierced through the gap between them.
“Gah!”
The mage who saw the Fireball panicked and urged the bone dragon to greater speed.
Kwaaaaah.
Zikrate, the bone dragon, began dodging, changing direction again and again to shake off the Fireball pursuing it.
But because it had already been caught by Verkis’s detection magic, there was no way to escape.
The Fireball continued chasing Zikrate as though it had eyes.
No matter how hard it tried, it could not shake it off.
Whoosh.
As the situation turned desperate, one of the death knights riding the bone dragon gripped his sword
and threw himself forward. Judging by his movements, he seemed to intend to stop the Fireball with his own body. Seeing this,
a sneer flashed through Verkis’s eyes.
“Fool. Does my Fireball look that easy to handle?”
The sword swung by the death knight who had thrown himself forward struck the Fireball head-on. It seemed he had meant to swing
his longsword and cleave the Fireball apart, but unfortunately, the sword melted before it could even split the Fireball.
Fwoooosh.
The moment he made contact with the Fireball, the death knight’s body vanished with a faint sound. Unfortunately,
his fighting spirit did little to weaken the Fireball’s momentum. As if completely unaffected,
the Fireball continued pursuing the bone dragon.
Unable to escape the crisis, the remaining death knights stepped forward as well. Without the slightest hesitation,
they hurled themselves toward the Fireball. Death Blades surged in streams along their longswords, as if they intended
to cut the Fireball in two……
Fwoooosh.
Another death knight vanished. This time, the impact had not been insignificant, for the Fireball’s speed
dropped dramatically. Seeing that, the death knights once again prepared a bodily charge
toward the Fireball. Perhaps the struggles of the vanished death knights had not been in vain, for the Fireball’s momentum was gradually dying.
It seemed to have been affected by the dark magic power released when the death knights were annihilated. Watching
this, Verkis snorted.
“Your courage is commendable. But even if you destroy the Fireball, it will not be enough. Once you lose all your death knights,
you’ll be no different from a man stripped of his hands and feet. So long as Renius and Ryusike are here,
you will never escape my grasp.”
As Verkis had predicted, the Fireball failed to finish off the bone dragon and lost its power. But
before vanishing, it did not forget to swallow one more death knight. Only after devouring three
of the four death knights did the flames of destruction finally subside.
The mage who had barely escaped the Fireball’s pursuit drove the bone dragon at full speed, trying
to leave the battlefield. Behind him, only one death knight remained pitifully, covering his rear.
“You cannot flee.”
Verkis roared and plunged down from the air at terrifying speed. The bone dragon and the mage
desperately swerved, as though determined to break free no matter what. But Renius and Ryusike had
already approached close to the bone dragon and were blocking its path. In the eyes of the mage riding
the bone dragon, the shadow of death slowly began to fall.
Around that time, Katroi and Musius were repeating a chase and pursuit battle. Katroi, who had been
fleeing, was already gasping for breath.
“Hah, hah, that bastard’s filthy fast.”
The blue dragon’s reputation for mastery of flight was indeed not undeserved. Using the advantage
of his relatively light weight, Katroi had fled again and again, but the distance between them was steadily narrowing.
His opponent’s rough breathing could be heard from right behind him.
“And persistent, too……”
Having no strength left to flap his wings any longer, Katroi finally decided to end his flight.
By luring the blue dragon this far, he had already fulfilled the duty entrusted to him.
“Heh heh heh. This should be enough to flatten that fellow Damon’s nose.”
Since he had lured him far away from where the portal was, there was no need to waste any more strength
unnecessarily. His carelessness toward his opponent played a large role in that.
“Judging by his size, he must be about the same age as me. I’ll talk to him first, then look for an opening to slip away.”
Katroi let out a long sigh, then turned around.
“Hey. Let’s stop this pointless pursuit.”
But the blue dragon did not slow down and continued closing in.
Seeing this, Katroi frowned.
“Well. I doubt the fellow is deaf……”
Katroi stared intently at the blue dragon rushing toward him. He planned
to wait until the other drew close, dodge lightly, then change direction and flee again. Regardless of Katroi’s
response, his opponent continued approaching at high speed.
“Now!”
When the blue dragon came within a hair’s breadth, Katroi quickly folded his wings and cast a gravity-enhancement spell.
His plan was to let the opponent pass over his head, then slip away depending on the situation. Unfortunately,
Katroi’s shallow trick did not work. As Katroi’s body dropped sharply, the blue
dragon passing above him hurriedly lowered his head.
By chance, their gazes met, and when Katroi saw dense sparks crackling
from the horn on the blue dragon’s forehead, he was startled.
“Gah. Breath……”
All dragons exhale breath through their mouths. But there was one sole exception,
and that was the blue dragon. Uniquely, the blue dragon released lightning
breath not from its mouth but from the horn on its forehead. The dense sparks crackling between
the three horns on his opponent’s forehead were proof of that very fact.
Pazzzzzzt.
Before he could react, the breath was unleashed. A powerful electric current pierced straight through
Katroi’s body, and a terrible scream burst out.
“Kueeek!”
The powerful electric shock drained all strength from Katroi’s body. Unable to move
his wings any longer, Katroi’s body began to plummet helplessly. The blue dragon followed closely
behind him. The blue dragon had already completed his turn and caught up to Katroi.
“Uuuugh.”
As he fell at terrifying speed, Katroi suddenly came to his senses. He instinctively realized
that if he slammed into the ground in this state, he would not survive intact. Katroi hurriedly rearranged his mana.
First, he had to reduce his falling speed.
“Feather Fall.”
But because the blue dragon following close behind cast Dispel, Katroi’s spell
was futilely undone. Growing frantic, Katroi cast spell after spell, but each time, the blue
dragon’s interference caused them to fail. Enraged, Katroi roared.
“Are you trying to kill me?”
A thick smile was etched across the lips of Musius, the blue dragon.
“You’re quick to understand, fool.”
Katroi’s eyes widened.
“K-kill me?”
Into the ears of the startled Katroi seeped a chilling voice.
“Just by interfering with Lord Verkis’s undertaking, you have already committed a crime worthy of death. I
came here after receiving Lord Verkis’s personal request to make certain I finish you off.”
“You’re insane. Trying to kill a fellow dragon……”
Even in the midst of his fall, Katroi shuddered. Something that had never happened before, and
must never happen, was about to occur. A dragon, a being who regulated the races,
was trying to kill one of his own kind……
Feeling a chill run down his spine, Katroi spread his wings wide, as though refusing to be done in like this.
The shock from the lightning breath had faded somewhat, and since he could not use magic,
he had to rely on his wings to escape the crisis.
But Musius had already anticipated Katroi’s actions.
“Kyaaaaak!”
Katroi’s mouth opened, and a scream burst out. Astonishingly, his wings had been torn to shreds
and were hanging in tatters. Musius, who had been following close behind, had stretched out his hind legs
and slashed Katroi’s wings with his claws.
There was no way wings made of thin membranes could remain intact against the sharp claws of a dragon.
As he drifted in and out from the extreme pain, Katroi’s body gained speed and fell even faster.
But that was not the end of it……
“You bastard! Do you think I’ll go down so easily?”
A roar suddenly burst out. Katroi, who had somehow regained his senses, had flames of rage
flickering in his eyes. His enormous mouth opened wide, and a pure white current burst forth.
Fwoooosh.
It was the ice breath unique to white dragons. But the blue dragon was not particularly surprised
and easily dodged the breath. Because it had been fired in haste, the breath flew in a straight line,
leaving ample room to avoid it.
“The foolish whelp knows how to resist, does he?”
Having dodged the breath, the blue dragon did not hesitate and tried to catch up to Katroi.