Standing face to face with the dragon, I know what I have to do.
Actually...
Can I even beat this thing?
Should I just run?
Memories of Aengus flood my mind once again.
What am I even saying? If I run now, the elven woman's death is inevitable.
It doesn't matter whether or not I can beat this thing.
I have to protect her.
I fire off a spell at the dragon's large, tough body.
Zephyra.
This spell kills anything in its way with an extremely condensed gust of wind.
The attack connects to the dragon, and it didn't even bother to dodge the spell. It didn't so much as leave a scratch.
Hey. Hey. Hey.
What the fuck is this?
The dragon lets out a ferocious roar, sending the surrounding blazing trees into ruins.
No way... From just its roar?
It lets out another one, imbuing mana into it that gives similar weakening effects as the Gravenmaw.
I snicker at its attempt.
I've learnt my lesson from last time. I coated my body with mana to defend from its attack, but it didn't let up.
The dragon looks up at the sky and lets out an even louder scream, one that left my hearing distraught for a bit, as dark clouds began to gather in the area.
**CRACK**
**BOOM**
**CRACK**
As if the god of lightning had come down to this world, many strikes of lightning zoomed from the dark clouds that formed, covering large amounts of area as so much as fifty rained from above. More trees started to become ablaze as lightning struck.
This fucking bastard...
What kind of monster is this?...
I activate Brontyx once more and dodge the lightning that was headed straight towards me. It was being flown everywhere and randomly as well. It was hard to predict where it would appear next, as the speed of lightning is one that I could not compete with, but I used Warden's Gaze to analyze and predict where the next strikes of lightning would appear.
With this speed, I make haste towards the dragon, dodging the lightning strikes as I make my way. As I near its large body, I notice something peculiar.
No way...
How...
HOW IS THAT FUCKING POSSIBLE?...
It's following my movements with its eyes, locking straight onto me.
This is my top speed. How can this even be?
Fuck, I need to retreat-
As I was finishing that thought, the dragon swats at my body with his foot, hitting me with an immense amount of force, that it sends me flying deeper into the forest, hitting multiple trees on my back as each one slows my speed.
My body drops to the floor, and I look up at the path of destruction that the dragon had constructed for me. The multiple trees that slowed me down numbered twenty-two.
I extended my leg forward, trying to get up, but stumbled back down onto the floor as I hadn't realized that I was badly hurt. I grab at the right part of my body where the dragon had hit me, putting my hand over my ribs. They were broken. Along with my back, which was in extremely bad shape as well.
I slowly flipped my body in pain, with my face facing the sky.
Need to heal...
Healin-
**ROAR**
The dragon suddenly appeared from the cloudy skies and dove down to my body, legs falling first with its talon out, as if appearing like a hawk sweeping up its prey.
SHIT. I NEED TO MOVE.
I lift my left hand and face it to the right side of my body.
Gale.
A gust of wind comes out of my left hand, as the wind propels my body away.
**CRASH**
The dragon shatters the ground with the force of its impact, as I barely dodged the attack.
I stand up, grunting through the immense pain and put out my right hand at the dragon.
Gaeathorn.
Large spikes appear from the ground from under the dragon, but as if having lightning-quick reflexes, it immediately extended its wings and started rapidly flapping them, taking to the skies.
Shit, I almost had it.
I can't let up.
In an instant, while still ascending into the sky, I made my next move. I need to create an even stronger spell that can penetrate its tough skin.
I envision Zephyra, and to strengthen it, something needs to be added. Just wind isn't good enough to get the job done. Wait... Can I?... Is it even possible?...
No. There's no time to think about whether it could be done or not, I just had to try it.
I combined Zephyra and formulated an earth spell at the same time, shaping it into an extremely sharp bullet, its size being as big as a tree branch.
I've never seen or heard of anyone combine two elements together into one spell, but it's better to try than to give up here.
I create multiple of them, combining the dexterity of the earth spell with the speed and strength of Zephyra, and release them in the dragon's direction.
Zephyrite.
This is it. This spell was leagues stronger than Zephyra.
The dragon is still ascending in the sky, and predicting its trajectory, Zephyrite strikes the dragon perfectly, hitting its body and leaving a cloud of dust.
YES.
But it was no use. The dragon cleared the dust cloud by flapping its wings, and I stared at its body to analyze the damage that my spell had done.
You're fucking kidding...
I looked in complete shock at the dragon...
Unharmed...
*TSK*
I click my tongue.
This thing is basically unkillable with that much defense. How should I even approach this monster?
Without giving me time to think of what to do next, the dragon unleashes a fury of flames from the sky, randomly spewing fire everywhere, engulfing the forest in a fiery hell. The distance of its flames stretched farther than I could see.
Smoke starts to rise from the burning trees, blocking everything as it begins to cloud the air. I put my arm up to my nose to prevent myself from inhaling the smoke.
Shit. I can't see anything. I can't even see the-
**CRASH**
The dragon appears out of the cloud of smoke and stands on top of me, with me under its heavy claws, slamming me into the ground with its momentum.
I cough up blood.
FUCK.
In desperation, I attempt to punch the dragon's foot with Brontyx still activated, hoping it would release me. The dragon just stood there... Unfazed by my attacks. However, I still continue my punches, but the dragon's tough scales don't dent at all. Blood drips out of my knuckles as I rip punch after punch.
Nothing.
This bastard is mocking me.
Me? Are you fucking kidding me?
The dragon then goes on the offensive, drawing fire in its closed mouth as it pulls its neck back.
SHIT.
SHIT.
SHIT.
SHIT.
I NEED TO DO SOMETHING.
In another desperate attempt, I raise my right hand and fire off another spell.
Zephyrite.
I aim directly at its eye, and it releases with terrifying force and speed. The attack connects, and the dragon closes its bleeding eye as it screeches in pain.
YES. NOW I CAN-
**FWOOSH**
The dragon quickly takes flight, still grabbing me with its sharp talons, not giving me a chance to follow up on my previous attack.
As if not learning my lesson, I again punched the dragon's foot, not budging at all. It tightens its grip on me, crushing more bones as I let out a bloodcurdling scream. In one quick motion, it throws me with such extreme force back onto the ground.
Right before the impact, I focused all of my mana into my back, coating it and softening the slam. However, it's not like it didn't do anything to me. It still hurt like hell.
I quickly recover and try not to take my gaze off the dragon, now diving once again from the air with one eye open. It attempts to grab me, leg-first, with its talons out, appearing like a hawk hunting its prey.
I take a stance, standing my ground, and focusing my center of gravity towards my legs. As soon as the dragon is close enough for contact, it attempts to swing at me with its legs, but I dodge it and quickly grab onto its legs, its wings still flapping as it takes us higher into the sky.
Thinking quickly, I fire out a spell, attempting to use the dragon's leg as a catalyst.
Zephyra.
But nothing happened.
*TCH* It must be because the dragon's mana flow exceeded mine by a large margin.
I climb my way up its leg, up to its talons.
If none of my attacks work, then his should.
I pry at the talon, using all of my might to try to rip it off with one hand. It comes off, and I grip tightly onto it. The dragon screeches in pain and shakes its body violently, leading me to lose my grip and fall off it.
I react swiftly and cast a spell to propel myself upwards back onto its body before it was too far. I put my hand down to my side as if taking a superhero pose.
Gale.
My body shoots up as a large gust of wind fires from my palm, and I land on its back, near its tail. I stab the dragon with its talon, using them like climbing gear, and successfully pry the talon deep through its tough skin.
Just as I thought, its own body is strong enough to pry through its defenses.
The dragon, attempting to shake me off, starts to ascend and descend in the sky at rapid speeds, but with the talon locked in place, is futile.
I climb my way up its back, using the talon to help me and end up directly on top of its head. Gripping the dragon's head with one arm so I don't fall, I pry the talon free from its scales and stare at the dragon's one good eye, savagely stabbing it with the talon as it begins to toss and turn in pain. Each thrust was filled with immense force as I put my entire body behind it.
This was it.
The dragon wobbles in the air as its wings gradually stop flapping, leading to us free-falling in the air, getting closer and closer to the ground. I refused to let go of the dragon's head and continued to stab its eye, not letting up while coating my entire body with mana.
**CRASH**
The dragon's massive body hit the forest ground, forming a massive crater. The impact caused me to lose my grip, and I fell just a few meters away from its body.
It's not done... Not yet.
Healing.
Fully recovered, I run with intense speed towards its body and use the talon to cut deep into its stomach and run across its entire body, causing it to be slashed in one cut, as it lets out one last dying screech. The dragon's guts seeped from its stomach as blood gushed out, painting the grass a dark red.
With the job finally finished, my body collapses in relief, lying on the floor, staring at what I had just done.
I did it...