"I'm coming!!"
Facing the ice dragon before him, Duanmu Huai roared. With his shout, several dolls appeared out of thin air and rushed toward the ice dragon!
"Roooaaarrrr!!"
Naturally, the tiny dolls were nothing in the eyes of the ice dragon. With a single furious swing of its tail, the next moment, all the dolls Duanmu Huai had summoned were shattered into pieces.
But this was within Duanmu Huai's expectations. Summoning the dolls wasn't for killing the enemy, but to trigger a special effect!
Instant summon [Mobile Armor]!
In the next moment, a radiant mechanical heavy armor shining with rainbow light appeared on Duanmu Huai's body. He gripped his warhammer tightly and charged toward the ice dragon. At the same time, several knives appeared behind him, flying straight at the dragon.
Cast spell [Trick Blade Technique (1): Deal 1 damage to an enemy unit]!
For the gigantic ice dragon, such knives posed no threat at all. It didn't even bother dodging, letting the blades strike its body. Then the dragon raised its massive claw and swung fiercely at Duanmu Huai. But right then, Duanmu Huai raised his right hand.
Activate — Gravity Gauntlet!
"———!!"
The next moment, the ice dragon's descending right claw suddenly shifted direction, lifting high into the air as if bound by invisible chains. Even the ice dragon itself was surprised, staring at its claw in confusion, unable to understand why it wouldn't obey.
In truth, Duanmu Huai had simply altered the direction of gravity on the dragon's claw. While the dragon's massive body was too large for the gauntlet to affect fully, restricting a single part was still effective.
Using this unexpected move to deflect the ice dragon's strike, Duanmu Huai leapt high into the air, gripping his Thunder Warhammer, and smashed it down hard onto the dragon's head!
"Boom!!"
Lightning flashed as his heavy hammer slammed down, cracking the dragon's sturdy skull. Yet the ice dragon had no intention of yielding. With another furious roar, it whipped its tail, striking Duanmu Huai and sending him flying. Then it raised its head, taking a deep breath aimed at him.
"———————!!!"
A torrent of azure, bone-chilling breath surged forth, swallowing Duanmu Huai in midair.
"Sir Knight!!"
Seeing this, Lorena clenched her hands tightly and screamed. The others also stared tensely at the battlefield. But at that moment, a flash of purple light cut through the icy breath, striking the ice dragon's body. The dragon staggered, halting its attack.
As the breath faded, the group saw Duanmu Huai standing unharmed, faint purple light scattering around him as if the dragon's breath had done nothing to him at all.
[Counterspell (2): Randomly deal 3 damage to an enemy unit. The next damage received by the targeted unit becomes 0]
"Knight sir is actually pretty amazing."
Anne nodded in admiration. Though a rookie adventurer, she was nonetheless the strongest mage of the Kingdom of Manaria. Her knowledge of magic was unmatched, so she quickly saw through Duanmu Huai's combat style.
Ordinary mages were mostly just stationary cannons, but Duanmu Huai was different. His focus was melee combat, with magic as support. Thus, he only cast spells in the gaps when he couldn't strike, and his magic wasn't meant to kill outright, but rather to disrupt enemy actions. After all, a close-combat fighter like him was clearly disadvantaged if kept at range. By interfering with spells and attacks, he closed the distance and fought on his terms.
He doesn't need to cause big damage — just stall, disrupt, and prevent being kited. Once he closes in, it's over.
His fluid execution impressed Anne greatly. Though she wasn't a melee fighter, seeing him maximize magic's utility gave her a sense of awe. Even at Manaria Academy, few students could achieve this level.
But still…
"Sir Knight casting without chanting is truly surprising."
Guleya muttered in amazement. She herself had a natural dragon-born ability to do similar, but even Anne usually needed to chant. Manaria taught orthodox artillery-style magic, relying on protection while chanting. A monster like Duanmu Huai… there was likely only one.
"He seems to store his spells in advance, then releases them at the right moment."
As expected of Manaria's number one genius mage, Anne had already grasped his method within moments. Her eyes shone with excitement.
"This technique is incredible. I want to try it too…!"
While the two whispered, Duanmu Huai had already rallied and charged once more. The ice dragon also learned from before — icy winds howled, countless spikes of ice rising from the ground. But at that moment, Duanmu Huai thrust out his hand.
"Boom!!!"
Explosions of blazing fire erupted from the dragon's body, halting its move.
[Blazing Explosion (2): Deal 3 damage to an enemy]
But that wasn't all!!
Bursting through the shattered ice walls, Duanmu Huai raised his hammer high. Fiery red magical light radiated from his body!
[Inferno Burst (5—5): Deal 6 damage to an enemy follower]
"Break!!"
With a thunderous shout, Duanmu Huai brought his warhammer down. At the same moment, the prepared spell erupted.
[Inferno Burst] was one of his most powerful attack spells, originally requiring 500 Psionic Energy — as much as maintaining both Olgis and Lorena at once. But under the effect of [Mana Amplification], thanks to his earlier low-level spells, he had reduced the cost to zero!
That was the terror of [Mana Amplification] — stack up high-level spells, then unleash them all in one burst!!
"Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!"
Explosions engulfed the entire tower, shattering even the floor beneath. The colossal ice-forged dragon, under Duanmu Huai's merciless barrage, finally crumbled. Its massive body was torn apart by the blasts, exploding into fragments.
But within the mist, Duanmu Huai once again saw Filene, gripping her battle axe and charging at him!
Naturally, he wasn't polite. He endured her strike head-on and closed the distance.
"Bang!!"
Her axe shattered his [Mobile Armor], but Duanmu Huai didn't care. That was its purpose — with [Guardian], it was like an extra life. He could tank her blow and strike back directly!
With his armor gone, Duanmu Huai, clad in Power Armor, charged like a bull, slamming into Filene and knocking her away. Then he raised his warhammer high and leapt, bringing it down with full force!
The lightning-charged hammer carved an arc through the air and… smashed into the ground right beside Filene's head.
"Alright, the match is decided, Miss Filene."
Duanmu Huai panted, looking down at the dragonkin girl lying before him.
"That's enough."
"..."
But at his words, Filene only stared blankly at him, then slowly spoke.
"Why… didn't you kill me?"
"…Why should I kill you?"
Duanmu Huai frowned. True, Filene had lost her fighting spirit and stopped resisting, but there was no reason to finish her off. Unless the seal required her death to be undone? That would be troublesome…
"Then… what am I supposed to live for?"
Filene looked at him, lost and uncertain.
"I wanted to fulfill my mission. But if I lose it, what should I do? I don't understand… I'm just afraid… afraid that once I'm free, I won't know where to go…"
"Then think about it later."
Duanmu Huai snorted, then grabbed her by the neck and hauled her up.
"Listen, girl. Stop worrying about nonsense. The future is for later. Look at me!"
He removed his helmet, staring into her eyes. Filene's expression stiffened at the sight of his face.
"See? I turned out like this, and I'm still living just fine. A cute, pretty girl like you, thinking of dying already? That's way too early! If you don't know what to do, then after we kill the demon dragon, come with us and slay the Evil Dragon! If you're still lost, then just travel with us — someday you'll figure it out! Got it?"
"..."
Whether from his face or his tone, Filene froze for a long while before finally nodding slowly.
"…I understand…"
(End of Chapter)