Chapter 43: Killing the Dragon
Meanwhile, Kurtz seized the opportunity while the dragon was preoccupied with Serie, casting plant-type magic.
Countless thick vines burst from the ground and flew into the sky, coiling around the dragon like giant pythons seeking prey.
He managed to pull the beast down, allowing Norn and Somo to launch their attack. The dragon's massive form crashed toward earth with a sound like thunder, its wings beating frantically against the constraining greenery.
The dragon began to break free from the vines. In just a short time, the vines around its body started to snap, layer by layer. Each breaking strand released the sharp scent of crushed vegetation and dragon musk.
"Somo! Now!"
"Here I come, AHH!!"
The dwarf warrior seized the moment, leaping directly into the air and swinging his battle-axe at the dragon's flank. His war cry echoed off the valley walls as he committed everything to the strike.
Clang!
The moment the battle-axe struck the dragon's skin, it produced a clang like steel meeting steel.
Upon closer inspection, one would find that Somo's attack had only left a white mark on the dragon's body, barely a scratch on those ancient scales.
"Damn it, these scales are too hard!"
Somo retreated helplessly, his hands stinging from the impact's reverberation through his weapon.
No wonder dragon scales are the best material for armor; even unprocessed scales are enough to withstand most attacks. The dwarf's finest craftsmanship had met its match.
Norn followed closely, but he aimed for the dragon's wings, which it relied on for flight. A single sword slash managed to carve out a shallow wound, dark blood welling from the cut.
This dragon's wings weren't covered in scales, which made their defense much weaker. The membrane stretched between bone and sinew was vulnerable if someone could reach it.
Kurtz immediately noticed this and said to Serie, "Attack its wings!"
Upon hearing this, Serie immediately conjured a spear of light in her palm. The weapon materialized with a sound like crystalline chimes, humming with deadly energy.
The spear struck the dragon's wing directly.
Serie's attack was much stronger than Norn's. The dragon, caught off guard, had both its wings pierced by the light spear.
The intense pain made it let out an even more deafening roar that shattered loose stones from the cliff faces.
However, one light spear did not completely incapacitate the dragon's flight. But now that its weakness was known, things became much simpler.
Norn and Somo coordinated to stall, while Kurtz and Serie were responsible for the main attack. Countless light spears and Arrow Rain all flew towards the dragon's wings like a golden storm of death.
Even if the dragon desperately spewed flames, it was futile.
Numerous wounds appeared on its wings, blood splattered onto the ground in steaming pools, and its body plummeted to the earth with a crash that shook the entire valley.
But this did not fully kill the beast, and the battle raged on.
The fallen dragon roared to the sky, its voice now tinged with something that hadn't been there before—desperation.
It never would have imagined that it would one day suffer such severe injuries, not from god or other dragons but from such weak little creatures who were just children.
His pride, ancient and absolute, warred with the growing reality of its mortality.
It had slaughtered countless weak creatures and destroyed innumerable villages and tribes, fighting many creatures in the process. Victory had been as natural as breathing for so long.
But being forced to such an extent was a first for it.
It was all caused by these two despicable mages.
Their magic was too unique; whether it was the overwhelming Light Arrow or the magic barrier strong enough to withstand the dragon's breath, he had never seen anything like them.
These weren't the crude spells it had crushed before; these burned with something far more dangerous.
The dragon stared intently at Kurtz and Serie. The intense killing intent, even from a distance, was felt by both of them, a psychic weight that pressed against their minds like a physical force.
But Serie showed no fear at all.
If she were to be afraid of a mere dragon, how could she ever kill a god? Her smile remained fixed, predatory, almost amused by the creature's rage.
The dragon moved its mountain-like body, emitting a scorching red aura around it, and charged towards the group. The very air around it began to shimmer and warp with unleashed magical energy.
"You're trying to pull a 'Dragon Charge' on me, huh?"
Kurtz cursed under his breath and cast a magic barrier, wondering if he could pull off a 'Dragon Charge Stop' maneuver. The reference felt absurd even as he made it, but desperate times called for desperate analogies.
However, the barrier, which could easily withstand dragon flames, was now as fragile as paper.
It shattered the moment it came into contact with the dragon's body, magical energy dispersing like mist before hurricane winds.
Kurtz's eyes widened in shock at the sight. He grabbed Serie again and ran, her weight insignificant compared to the looming mountain of death behind them.
Norn and Somo also quickly dodged, but they were still knocked to the ground by the scorching shockwave emanating from the dragon.
Eric, who arrived late from not far away, also immediately stopped in his tracks at the sight, his mouth falling open in pure terror.
"It's in a Magic Release state!"
Serie immediately recognized the dragon's current special condition. She had done something similar before, fully releasing her magic when killing that demon and its demonic subordinates.
And now it seemed this dragon was also using all its magic to enhance its physical strength.
Looking at the dragon whose pupils had narrowed into thin slits, Kurtz said, "It's going all out."
The entire valley began to tremble with the dragon's movements, causing rocks to fall. Ancient stone, weathered by millennia, cracked and tumbled like the valley itself was coming apart.
Even the surrounding temperature rose significantly. The air itself became an enemy, each breath burning their lungs.
'Good, good, good!'
'If it's going all out, I'll go all out too!'
Kurtz put Serie down and said, "Get me some time."
Serie immediately understood what Kurtz was preparing to do and said, "Your damage isn't enough. Let's do it together."
Their short but long-standing tacit understanding led them to act instantly, no words needed, just the perfect synchronization of two minds working toward the same lethal goal.
An improved defensive magic rose out of thin air. With their combined efforts, a wall of barriers rose in front of them.
This barrier wall, like a Great Wall of steel, forcibly stopped the dragon's charge. The impact sent shockwaves through the ground that could be felt in their bones.
But the dragon couldn't just sit there and wait. It gathered magic into its mouth once more, and flames poured out, no, not just flames, but even more terrifying crimson magma that turned the very air into liquid fire.
Even this magic barrier began to show tiny cracks under this breath attack.
And Kurtz and Serie's magic was still charging.
The space around them was gradually being eroded by darkness, not instantly, but slowly extending, a more prolonged engulfment. Reality itself seemed to bend away from their gathering power.
"There's no time!"
Staring at the cracks on the barrier, Kurtz was a little anxious. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the intense heat, or perhaps because of it.
To achieve a one-hit kill, he and Serie had to maximize the damage of this move, which required more time.
However, they now didn't have much time left.
Fortunately, they were a team.
He still had his companions!
Somo and Norn charged from the side, forcing the dragon to stop its breath attack and instead deal with the two of them. Their courage in the face of certain death struck admiration and pride in Kurtz's heart for both of them.
'These are my friends.'
But this, in turn, gave Eric an opportunity.
Wielding a longsword identical to Norn's, he leaped high and slashed at the dragon's neck. His earlier terror had crystallized into something more challenging, a determination born of desperation and wounded pride.
A full-power strike, combined with the fact that scales did not fully cover the dragon's neck, actually allowed him to carve out a rather deep wound.
The price was that the longsword in his hand was utterly ruined, the blade shattering against dragon bone after delivering its final service.
After all, both his and Norn's longswords were ordinary weapons, far inferior to Somo's specially enchanted dwarf-made items.
Hot dragon blood spurted from the dragon's neck, steaming where it hit the ground. In pain, it violently shook its head, sending Eric flying with a fierce impact that would have killed a lesser man.
Norn rushed forward to catch him, and the two rolled on the ground in a tangle of limbs and desperate momentum.
And just in time, Kurtz and Serie's magic was complete.
The space around them was entirely engulfed by darkness. From the outside, their figures were completely invisible, as if reality had decided to forget they existed.
The dragon seemed to sense a fatal threat, but before it could escape, a beam of light shot out from the darkness.
It directly pierced the dragon's scale-protected chest.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
The dragon's movements froze. It didn't even feel any pain because the flesh and nerves around its chest had been completely burned away, along with its life force. There was something almost peaceful in that eternal instant before the end.
Then.
Boom!!!
The explosion effect of the light beam began to appear. The dragon's body exploded from within, and countless burning fragments scattered like deadly fireworks, painting the sky in crimson and gold.
Thus, this dragon, quite famous even in the age of myths, was completely dead.
The silence that followed was absolute. Kurtz and his companions absorbed the sight in silence; the battle they just fought was almost surreal.
The silence that followed was heavy, as if the valley itself held its breath in respect for what had just passed, but there was something light, something warm and anticipatory.
A feeling as if the world itself was lively with excitement, as the wind howled in earthly silence. The death of the ancient dragon heralded the coming of a new era of Dawn.
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