Chapter 42: Fighting the Dragon
A series of roars echoed through the empty valley, each one reverberating off the stone walls like thunder trapped in a bottle.
A giant, fiery red dragon flew low to the ground, spewing dragon flames from its mouth, targeting a figure frantically fleeing ahead. Its massive wings cast shifting shadows across the rocky terrain as it pursued its prey with predatory focus.
The dragon spat out another burst of dragon fire, and the figure barely managed to dodge it, shouting towards the nearby mountaintop, "Help me! Why are you just watching?!"
This figure was Eric.
When everyone had finalized the materials for the magic book, Eric had boasted that he would personally slay a dragon to prove his strength.
The words had tumbled out before he'd really thought them through, a young man's pride overriding common sense.
This displeased Serie.
After all, even she wasn't confident she could kill a dragon, so how could a magic apprentice like him have such confidence?
The audacity of it had rankled her pride more than she cared to admit.
Thus, Serie brought a group of people to the territory of this rather famous dragon. She'd presented it as a learning opportunity, but everyone could see the gleam of anticipation in her eyes.
It was an excellent opportunity for Eric to show off his skills.
However, it now seemed he had made a fool of himself. His grand declarations had withered under the reality of dragon fire and crushing terror.
"Is this really okay?" Norn asked with some doubt, his knuckles white as he gripped his sword hilt.
Having spent the most time with Eric among them, he naturally worried about his friend's safety. The protective instinct clashed with his trust in their more experienced companions.
After all, the giant dragon before them, resembling a small mountain, was terrifying just from its aura, and the dragon flames it spat out could even melt hard rock. Heat waves rolled off its scales in visible distortions.
He highly doubted whether his friend's small body could withstand it.
"Don't worry," Serie glanced over, saying nonchalantly, "Kurtz is here; this guy won't die."
It turned out that Kurtz was holding a small magic circle at this moment. If Eric had observed carefully, he would have noticed a nearly transparent magic barrier covering his body, shimmering like heat haze.
This was Kurtz's improved version of the Elven defensive magic.
He had fixed the bug that only allowed defense from the front, added the function to cast it on others, and enhanced its defensive capabilities. The spell work had taken him weeks to perfect, each failure teaching him something new about magical theory.
The cost was double the mana consumption, but watching Eric stumble through his terror-fueled dance with death, it seemed worth every drop of magical energy.
After hearing Kurtz's explanation, Norn's tense mood calmed down, and he even had the leisure to start giving Eric pointers.
"Hey! Eric, the dragon fire is coming again! Don't get burned!"
Seeing the dragon about to spew dragon fire again, Norn shouted to him; their distance was just right for the other party to hear.
There was something almost cheerful in his voice now, relief mixed with barely suppressed amusement.
"You bastard! If you're so capable, come do it yourself!"
Eric again instinctively dodged a stream of dragon fire, not forgetting to turn his head and curse at Norn. His face was streaked with soot and sweat; dignity had long since been abandoned in favor of survival.
"He can still talk, so it seems he hasn't reached his limit yet."
Seeing Norn's gloating expression, Kurtz silently mourned for the strong-willed Eric. The young man's pride would take longer to recover than his body.
"By the way, why is that dragon only chasing Eric?" Somo raised his question, hefting his battle-axe with practiced ease.
The few of them were not far away, and the dragon could also sense their presence. He had even prepared for battle, but for some reason, the dragon didn't even look their way.
"Because dragons are creatures very sensitive to aura," Serie began to explain, invisible magic power condensing around her like gathering storm clouds.
"One is an unremarkable weak creature, and the other is a presence that can bring mortal danger to itself. It will naturally choose the former."
Her voice carried that familiar note of superiority, but underneath it was something sharper, anticipation.
'You are clearly enjoying this.' Somo thought in his heart, then asked an obvious question.
"Then whose aura is this dragon fearing?"
After all, among those present, Serie's strength was the most powerful. The air around her practically vibrated with barely contained magical energy.
Even now, she was unreservedly releasing her magic power, so it was clear who the dragon was wary of.
However, before Kurtz could answer, Eric's cry for help came again from not far away.
"Mr. Kurtz! Please help me! I am going to die."
Since the person had called him by name for help, Kurtz naturally prepared to act, but Serie stopped him.
"Why didn't he ask me for help?"
'Good heavens, you can get jealous over this?'
Kurtz thought, though he was careful not to let it show on his face.
Kurtz was a bit stunned by the petulant note in her voice.
Serie didn't intend for Kurtz to stand by, but was preparing to act herself. Her pride demanded she be the one to end this, after all, it had been her idea to bring Eric here in the first place.
The magic power around her began to solidify, and the powerful magic fluctuations made the surrounding few people subconsciously take a few steps back. Even the air seemed to thicken as her gathering power intensified.
She instantly unleashed a powerful spell.
A pillar of light began to condense in the air. It wasn't Kurtz's magic that could even swallow light, as that move required charging.
Serie usually preferred magic that didn't require such a long charging time, efficiency over spectacle, though the result was spectacular nonetheless.
The crimson dragon, which had been chasing Eric, suddenly stopped in its tracks. Its massive head turned towards the mountaintop where everyone was, sensing a dangerous aura from within.
His ancient instincts screamed warnings it couldn't ignore.
"Roar!!!"
The dragon let out a low roar, abandoning its pursuit of Eric and instead spread its wings, soaring into the sky.
Its yellow dragon eyes stared intently at Serie, pupils contracting to slits as it recognized the threat she represented.
"Look," Serie smiled, and there was something predatory in that expression, "This isn't a rational choice."
Seeing the dragon finally stop chasing him, Eric collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. His legs trembled from exhaustion and terror, pride utterly forgotten in the face of simple relief.
He would never dare to brag so carelessly again.
Meanwhile, seeing the dragon charge towards them, Kurtz quickly told everyone to retreat, leaving only himself and Serie to face the dragon.
His voice conveyed calm authority and confidence that left no room for disagreement.
Mainly, this guy's dragon fire was too terrifying. Among their group, only he and Serie knew defensive magic and could withstand the opponent's attacks head-on.
"It's coming!"
Serie whispered as the crimson dragon above them spread its wings, covering the sky.
Dragon breath churned in its throat, visible as a growing glow between its jaws, and in the blink of an eye, a stream of dragon breath spewed forth.
Facing Serie's magical attack, which was capable of harming it, the dragon chose to strike first. Survival instincts overrode territorial pride.
After all, this was its territory. No matter what race trespassed, it would not let them go.
The reason it had initially chased Eric was purely instinctive, starting with the weaker creatures. Now, faced with a real threat, it showed why dragons were feared across the realm.
The dragon fire collided with the pillar of light released by Serie, emitting a dazzling blaze. The next second, the pillar of light directly pierced through the entire stream of dragon fire and shot towards the dragon, leaving a trail of superheated air in its wake.
The dragon flapped its wings, narrowly dodging the attack, and then unleashed another blast of dragon fire.
Its movements were fluid despite its size, centuries of aerial combat evident in every wingbeat.
As a fire-attribute dragon, dragon fire was its magic. Not only could it be released multiple times, but its power was also astonishingly great.
Even its release speed was faster than Serie's ultimate spell.
However, it overlooked one thing: Serie was not fighting alone.
Kurtz quickly cast magic, and a triple-layered defensive magic barrier rose in front of the two of them.
The barriers shimmered like overlapping soap bubbles, each one designed to absorb and dissipate the dragon's fiery assault.
Somo swung his battle-axe, and Norn also drew his longsword.
His magic was not yet proficient enough to cast spells instantly like Kurtz and Serie, but he could fight as a warrior. Steel sang as it cleared leather, a sound that promised violence.
The triple defensive magic withstood several breaths from the dragon, and seizing this opportunity, Serie unleashed the maximum number of Light Arrows.
Hundreds of golden arrows, with a flick of her fingertips, shot towards the dragon like a torrential rain.
Each arrow hummed with deadly intent, their collective light turning the sky into a constellation of death.
The dragon roared again, spewing dragon fire. This time, it wasn't a simple single breath, but a continuous one, forming a crimson pillar of fire directly in mid-air.
The sustained flame turned the air itself into a weapon.
The pillar of fire and the golden Arrow Rain collided in mid-air, erupting in a blinding light that forced everyone to shield their eyes.
The dragon fire knocked down by the Arrow Rain fell to the ground, melting all the surrounding rocks into liquid.
Eric scrambled away from the center of the battle, the heat singeing his eyebrows even at this distance.
"This is too exaggerated!" He wiped the ash from his face, his clothes soaked with cold sweat.
However, he still stood up and hurried over, legs still shaking but determination overriding fear.
In such a lively scene, he had to help out. His pride might be bruised, but his courage remained intact.
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