Emery's whole body froze. The beating of his heart was now reaching behind his ear. Seeing that monster stare at him as it chewed Fatty made his breathing become tight. It was just that horrifying for Emery to see the giant monster that only appeared in stories his family's scholar told him to be actually real in this world. Even more so when he saw their institute's magus was powerless bleeding on the side. This world and its creatures were outlandish beyond his imagination.
He hadn't noticed it but when he had somehow gotten a clearer view, all he had initially seen so far was its dragon-shaped head. The hulking monster had two large horns protruding from its head and spikes starting from the top of its head up to its back. Its two wings were retracted at the moment as it simply enjoyed its meal.
On its head, there was a figure of a man with long, golden hair wearing bulky scarlet armor. The red dragon didn't mind the man as it continued chomping on the last bit of Fatty, which was the arm peeking out of its mouth. When Emery's eyes met the man's, he could feel a tremendous pressure that was making him look down. The man's presence was so overwhelming that a simple glance from him made Emery want to throw himself on the ground.
Emery tried to resist the urge even though he felt like an ant facing a god of death and continued watching as the man raised a hand toward Emery's direction and Magus Erica suddenly flew as if the air had pulled her.
Emery could hear his deep, cold voice, filled with intent to kill and said, "Pretentious human, die."
The man in red armor grabbed Magus Erica by the throat. Her legs were kicking in the air as she struggled to break free from the man's clasp.
Emery watched helplessly. He wanted to run away from here as far as possible, but his feet were stuck to the ground, even his arms and head. He couldn't move. His eyes were glued to Magus Erica's weakening struggle when suddenly a lightning from the sky struck the man's arm and a thunderous boom soon followed.
A halo of light opened on top of Emery and several figures wearing magus robes burst out including a fireball hitting the dragon's head. The fireball exploded on the dragon's head, making it fall down and issued a powerful shockwave that threw Emery back to a tree. Topper and Silva had actually followed him not far behind and were also caught in the wind and sent back.
Emery's head was buzzing once again and coughed out blood. He dazedly got up, his vision, and barely made out the figure of a large thing that was no less smaller than the dragon fighting. The thing pounded the dragon's head downward, issuing another blast. The ground beneath Emery's shook as if an earthquake had occurred, making him lose his balance once more.
The initial shockwave had thrown him and Silva and Topper not far but even though there was still a gap between them and the magi fighting against the man and the dragon, the succeeding explosions from the battle reverberated inside his whole being. This was terrifying but this was also the first time Emery had experienced the pinnacle of a magus' power. It was an eye-opening experience.
After Emery's vision had cleared, he saw the thing fighting that smacked the dragon down was a giant version of the stone monster he had seen in the institute of stone. At that moment, he heard a familiar friendly voice.
"You guys, get away from this place immediately and run!" Darius said to Emery, Silva and Topper, who were still half-shocked. "Get going!"
Emery hadn't had the time to reply when Darius' palm glowed yellow as the nearby rocks darted to his body, making an armor made of sparkling stone. After covering his whole body from head to toe, he jetted over to the hovering man wearing red armor, still clasping Magus Erica while fighting the other magi, and enlarged his fist with the rocks from the forest before punching the man.
Emery, Silva and Topper turned back and ran toward the general direction of Elder's Respite but when Emery took another look, the man in red armor knocked Darius and destroyed sparkling stone armor. He noticed though that the man was no longer holding Magus Erica but still fending off the other magi.
His eyes then fell to the dragon. The dragon had the stone monster beneath its feet and when Emery and the dragon's bloodshot eyes met, it opened its jaw and light was converging inside. A sharp sound was ringing out as the light was turning brighter and redder. Emery's instinct then went haywire as he could feel his life was knocking at death's door. He shouted at the top of his lungs. "Jump!"
The dragon's wings opened before flapping back as a blazing ray of flames gushed from the dragon's mouth toward Emery, Silva and Topper's direction. Emery jumped, pushing Silva on his side as the dragon's breath hurled just behind them. It barely missed them but the searing heat from the flame prickled Emery's skin. Two seconds hadn't even passed yet but Emery was sweating everywhere.
Smoke rose to the sky and when he got back to his feet, Emery searched for Topper. He found him, however, what he saw once again shocked him to his core. "Topper!"
Topper hadn't jumped in time and got caught in the blast. His lower half had melted like a pile of goo, bones sticking out, the smell of burnt meat filled the air as his face was becoming charred. Topper was still somewhat alive and had his hand reaching out to Emery.
Emery stared at Topper with wide eyes opened. Five seconds had just passed but within that time, all that Emery could see of Topper was the white eyes and mouth that was making the words 'Help me'.
He unconsciously moved forward, wanting to help the Topper who had helped free him and Silva earlier, but Silva grabbed his arm. She said, "It's too late for him! Don't be stupid!"
Emery's mind was blank.
Silva took it upon herself and didn't let go of Emery's arm as she dragged him away. The look on Topper's face kept on running in Emery's mind as they ran deeper into the forest leaving the battlefield that kept on issuing thundering blasts behind.