Ch.93Chapter 93 – A Wild Dragon Appears. (1)

No one could say a word, only staring at the enormous dragon.

The surroundings became so quiet that one might suspect time itself had stopped.

Then, fortunately proving that time hadn’t frozen, Haven opened his mouth.

“It’s a dragon.”

He spoke in a tone as casual as if he’d spotted a deer while passing by.

Beatrice also nodded and said:

“It’s a dragon.”

Yes, it’s a dragon.

Something I’d only heard about in stories, never expecting to actually see one.

A wild dragon had appeared.

Everyone lost their words, just staring blankly at the dragon.

All of them spending time in denial of reality.

For what felt like about 30 seconds, our minds were completely blank.

Then Beatrice shouted loudly:

“Holy shit, drop everything and run!”

Everyone snapped back to attention at Beatrice’s scream-like voice.

No, we hadn’t really come to our senses.

Still caught in confusion, we were simply moving our bodies as instructed.

I could hear the sound of everyone throwing away all the loot they had just collected, and then everyone turned away from the dragon and started running.

“Wait, why did a dragon appear?!”

“How should I know!”

Ravi and Haven each threw out a comment as everyone began running frantically.

Looking back, I could see flames gathering at the dragon’s mouth.

“It’s a breath attack! Run sideways!”

Whether they heard my voice or not, everyone started running diagonally.

Immediately, flames passed through where we had just been and began burning everything ahead.

The range was so wide that we could feel the heat despite having put some distance between us.

Soon the smell of burning trees filled the air, and flames began consuming the surroundings.

“Um, Mr. Kay, is there any way to deal with this?”

“Just keep running no matter what!”

I quickly answered Eina’s question and looked back at the dragon again.

It seemed to have no intention of shooting another breath attack for now, just watching us.

‘No, that’s even more problematic.’

If it had lost interest in us, it would be looking elsewhere.

That would actually be better.

If it didn’t care about us, retreating would be relatively easy.

However, the beast was definitely looking in our direction.

What that meant was that it was aware of us.

-Flap-

Hearing the sound of wind being cut, I saw it spreading its wings.

After one wing beat, strong winds swept around us, and its body began to rise into the sky.

“How does something that size even fly, Sera?”

“Mr. Kay, stop asking useless questions and run!”

Sera, who was slightly behind me, shouted as she ran with all her might.

And behind her, I could see Christina, whose speed was gradually decreasing as her stamina seemed to be running out.

I slowed down to run alongside Christina and quickly grabbed her waist.

“Huh? Savior? Wait, don’t carry me like that!”

I swiftly hoisted her onto my shoulder.

Like at the cemetery before, Christina was carried with her lower body facing forward over my shoulder.

She cried out in an almost tearful voice:

“Savior, I’m telling you I won’t be able to get married if I’m carried like this!”

“Doesn’t matter, just keep your eyes on the dragon!”

Someone needed to watch the dragon’s movements and warn us anyway.

It made sense for the person with less stamina who was slowing down to take on that role.

‘Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve done this before.’

I had a slight feeling I’d done this to Christina before.

She kept moving her legs, seemingly embarrassed by this position, but soon gave up and became still.

Her voice rang out:

“Lightning at its mouth, run to the left!”

I quickly jumped to the left, and everyone followed.

To the right, lightning passed by, burning the air.

Fire and lightning, seriously?

“Wasn’t its breath supposed to be just fire?”

“Why are you questioning what a creature that can breathe fire can do! It probably shoots whatever it wants!”

Now that I think about it, that makes sense.

Beatrice, who had answered, frowned and shouted:

“In the first place, magic is just like fuel! Theoretically, if you can handle magical power, you can use any kind of magic…”

“Is this really the time for a lecture?!”

At Sera’s cry, Beatrice stopped her explanation.

After that, lightning struck once more, followed by another blast of fire.

“Christina, its movements?”

“It’s hovering in place, just shooting things at us! To the right!”

I ran again according to Christina’s directions.

Suddenly, I felt dizzy.

Could it be because of the smoke rising everywhere from the fire and lightning the dragon had been shooting?

I felt my body stagger slightly.

“The air is getting murky…”

I heard Sera’s voice.

She also seemed a bit dizzy, clutching her head.

At that moment, I felt Christina tightly gripping the stone tablet she was holding.

“‘Blessing of the clear sky.'”

A golden light spread around us, emanating from Christina.

The smell of burning disappeared, and my head felt clearer.

“It’s a purification spell!”

“Thanks, but don’t take your eyes off it!”

Christina raised her right foot as if to acknowledge, which was unnecessary.

And then she immediately shouted in a panicked voice:

“The, the beast is flying toward us!”

“Which direction?”

“Left!!”

I quickly ran to the left.

It seemed her direction was accurate again, as a black mass passed by on the right.

I felt a strong gust of wind and dirt, and was hit by flying pebbles.

It was a natural phenomenon considering a dragon-sized body had just flown past.

‘If it hit us directly, there wouldn’t even be dust left of our bones.’

Soon my throat started to feel itchy.

Had dirt gotten into my nose and throat?

“Cough!”

After coughing once, I noticed several others in the group were coughing as well.

Of course, thanks to Christina’s purification spell earlier, the coughing didn’t last long.

The spell seemed to have the effect of clearing the air, as the dirt-clouded vision quickly returned to normal.

And right in front of us, the dragon was looking down at us.

During the brief standoff, Haven quietly said:

“This looks like it’s saying it won’t let us go.”

It was a fact everyone had already sensed without needing to be told.

After persistently shooting breath attacks at us and finding that ineffective, it had decided to come down directly.

I put Christina, who had been clinging quietly to me, down and looked at the beast.

“Beatrice, I have a question.”

“Even if we tear a scroll, I’m not sure we’d have time to escape.”

It was an answer as if she’d read my thoughts before I even asked.

“If that thing shoots a breath attack at the warp gate, the passage will collapse. Then we’ll be stranded.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant exactly, but I understood what she was trying to say.

We couldn’t just run away.

“So we need to secure a place safe from that beast first?”

Beatrice nodded at my words.

Soon she opened her mouth as if lamenting:

“Tsk, I’m going to be accused of breaking a taboo.”

“That one? Don’t provoke dragons.”

When I mentioned the taboo I’d heard from Lucian, Beatrice nodded.

She was looking at the dragon with somewhat resigned eyes.

“You’re not saying we shouldn’t fight, are you?”

“If we want to live, we have to break it, what else can we do?”

It would have been troublesome if she had insisted on not fighting.

Fortunately, she seemed to have made up her mind and was preparing to fight.

Just as our conversation ended, the beast raised its front paw and brought it down toward us.

Everyone was on alert, so we quickly moved to avoid it.

-Boom!

The ground shattered and rocks flew up.

With that size came matching monstrous strength.

Was it determined to kill us all for sure?

For a moment, I thought about ways to escape.

And immediately rejected that plan.

Running away wouldn’t solve anything.

There was no guarantee we’d find a safe place.

If it kept breathing fire and lightning, eventually we would be caught.

There was also the possibility that Christina might give wrong directions, and ultimately, group members would die one by one as they reached their physical limits while running.

In the end, we had to fight to survive.

‘This is probably better anyway.’

Better now than being helplessly bombarded with breath attacks from the air.

I drew my halberd.

“Let’s do this.”

Following my action, everyone began drawing their weapons.

Although none of them looked particularly happy about it, they seemed to have reached the conclusion that fighting was necessary for survival.

-Grrrr…

Was it finding us laughable?

The dragon was looking down at us with a slightly mocking expression.

Soon it examined each of our faces as if appraising us, and let out a loud roar.

-KRAAAAAAA!!

Just hearing it felt like it could break one’s spirit.

No, it felt like it was forcibly crushing our spirits.

I shook it off and charged in, swinging my halberd.

-Clang!

It felt nothing like striking a living creature’s skin.

There was a sound like steel hitting steel, and the impact traveled through my hands.

‘So this doesn’t work either.’

Feeling somewhat bitter, I retreated.

The dragon immediately swung its claws at me.

I rolled to avoid one, then rolled again to avoid another.

Just as I was about to stand up, the dragon thrust its teeth at me.

“‘Protect the young lambs.'”

With Christina’s incantation, a golden shield appeared in the air.

Though it looked thin, the shield was made of holy power.

-Clang!

The shield of light achieved the feat of blocking the dragon’s face, if only for a moment.

It broke quickly when the dragon applied more force, but that brief moment was enough for me to distance myself from the dragon.

“‘Grant us sturdy bodies.'”

Christina’s second incantation followed.

I felt golden energy entering my body, strengthening me.

Looking around, I saw it wasn’t just me.

The golden energy was flowing into everyone except Christina herself.

And when the dragon tried to bite me again, someone flew in.

“Helmet, don’t space out!”

Beatrice kicked the dragon.

She must have used her chain to swing in quickly.

The dragon’s face trajectory was altered by the impact of her kick.

The dragon immediately tried to bite Beatrice, but she had already retracted her chain and moved out of range.

Sera shot a magic missile at the dragon’s eye as it bit at empty air.

An explosion occurred, but it didn’t seem to have much impact as the dragon rolled its eyes to look at Sera.

“Then how about this!”

As if she had anticipated this, Sera shouted while pulling something out of her pocket and throwing it.

A flask containing something black suddenly burst in the air, and black smoke spread out.

The black smoke began to stick to the dragon’s face.

-Kruk?

Slightly confused, the dragon pulled its head back.

The smoke seemed to be a tool specifically designed to block vision, as it wasn’t leaving the dragon’s face.

I looked at Sera briefly, and she nodded.

Soon Sera and Christina began to move positions.

“Um, what should we do?”

“Aim for the blind spots! You guys approach carefully too!”

Haven and Eina’s voices could be heard, as if they weren’t going to just stand and watch.

They were moving to positions behind the dragon, where it couldn’t see them, with weapons drawn.

It wouldn’t be completely safe due to the tail, but it would be somewhat better than standing in front.

Meanwhile, the dragon did something that caused a brief flash of light around its face, and the smoke disappeared.

Just as it started growling in an angry voice:

“Looking for someone?”

Taking advantage of the dragon’s blocked vision from Sera’s smoke, I had climbed onto its body and swung my halberd at its face.

The jaw area seemed to have slightly weaker skin, as my halberd penetrated.

The dragon, now slightly bleeding, immediately looked at me and growled.

As it tried to bite me, a chain wrapped around my waist.

“Hey, hit and get out!”

Beatrice pulled me away with a complaining voice, and the dragon bit at empty air again.

Then the dragon’s gaze turned toward me and Beatrice.

-Grrrr.

It seemed clearly annoyed by me and Beatrice.

While under that gaze, Beatrice spoke:

“Hey, Helmet. Are you ready?”

“What about you?”

We exchanged brief words.

Perhaps because of the situation, she felt strangely reliable.

The dragon immediately swung its claws, and Beatrice and I jumped simultaneously.

In opposite directions.

“Huh? Hey?”

Beatrice made a confused sound, and we both fell to the ground awkwardly, as if caught on a line in mid-air.

I quickly curled up as the dragon’s claws passed dangerously close above my head.

If my head had been even slightly higher, it would have been smashed.

I quickly rolled on the ground and got up, and Beatrice was doing the same.

Then she pointed at me accusingly.

“You idiot, you should have jumped in my direction!”

“Shut up, you should have matched me!”

Beatrice seemed to have blood rushing to her head, perhaps because we had nearly died.

She was approaching me with a huff when:

“You two, stop fighting and dodge!”

At Sera’s voice, Beatrice and I simultaneously looked at the dragon.

As if it had no intention of giving us a break for our foolishness, it was swinging its claws again.

“Damn it!”

“Dodge!”

I quickly rolled toward the dragon’s body.

This time, since we both moved toward the dragon’s body, we didn’t stop awkwardly like before and were able to cling to the inside of the dragon’s body without resistance.

Beatrice immediately got up and flew at the dragon using her chain, while I raised my halberd.

Beatrice threw a punch, and I swung my halberd.

-KYAAAK!!

Even so, our attacks seemed to cause at least some pain.

As it tried to bite Beatrice in irritation, I quickly pulled my left hand, using the recoil to help Beatrice make a rapid descent.

Beatrice, landing on the ground, looked at me with a fierce smile.

“Help me like that more often!”

“Got it, now keep hitting!”

At my words, Beatrice turned her gaze back to the dragon.

I also glared at the dragon once more.

And the dragon roared again.

-KROOOOO!!!

Using that roar as a signal, we charged at the dragon again.