After Zich finished off Byner who had been hanging around him like a mosquito, he chased after Glen. Meanwhile, Glen was struggling to fend off Hans and Snoc’s attacks even though they were far weaker than him. Rather than counterattacking, all Glen did was try to find all means to escape; even then, it seemed like he was struggling to succeed. His mental fortitude was so poor, comparable to that of a small bug. No amount of power or skills could make up for it.
‘No, that’s too insulting for bugs. At least the bugs are good at running away,’ Zich thought. As Glen continued to display that he was no better than a bug in front of him, Zich’s heart swelled with pleasure and warmth. Anyone could see that Zich’s party had a clear advantage, but Zich didn’t lower his guard.
‘What was that earthquake just now? Was it just a normal one?’ If it was simply a natural disaster, it didn’t matter, but Zich felt the earthquake was a harbinger of something more. Thus, Zich widened the periphery of his senses as wide as possible and continued to observe his surroundings. It was then that Zich caught onto something, and he stopped running toward Glen. His face stiffened as he stared where he sensed the new presence.
Beyond the green pasture, past the flowing river from afar, there stood a mountain range with peaks with pointy tops. Mana flew out from the area, and because it came from a considerable distance, it felt quite faint. Yet, Zich knew that though it flew breezily from where he was, the mana must have been like a tremendous whirlwind at the point where it began.
‘What is that? Does it have something to do with the earthquake just now?’ There was no clear evidence, but the recent earthquake had been bothering Zich.
Boom! A short while afterward, a wave of mana swept the battlefield. “Huh?”
“W-What’s that?”
Only Zich had felt the faint remnants of mana just before, so this sudden wave of mana came as a surprise for the others. They hadn’t taken the precautions that Zich took nor did they possess his outstanding talent. But now, everyone on this battlefield, or at least those who could handle mana, could feel it. Zich narrowed his eyes and stared at the mountain range. The wave of mana had also come from there like before, but unlike the previous one, it felt much stronger.
‘Is it…magic?’ The mana spread in an orderly fashion across the battlefield, and this form of mana was mostly seen in magic.
‘It seems like someone is searching for something.’
More people began to look toward the mountain range at the tide of mana. They also felt that there was something unusual and formidable about the mana they had just felt. No one sensed it as delicately as Zich, but they all sensed the enormous scale the mana must have been at its origin point. Hans and Snoc also glanced toward the point while guarding against Glen. Zich focused his senses on the mountain range.
‘We have to finish this war first,’ he thought. Then, he would go and search that mountain range. Although the landscape was huge, Zich thought he might be able to find the being who amassed such a large amount of mana easily.
However, there was no need for Zich to go all the way to the mountain range. He saw a black dot flying above the mountains, and even though he focused his mana into his eyes, it was too far for him to grasp what it exactly was.
‘Is that…?!’ Zich was rarely surprised, but this time, his face stiffened from the unexpected turn of events. Even from far away, he saw the creature’s large body and wings covered in scales. Large horns were stretched out from its faces and from behind, a snake-like tail wiggled. Its general appearance resembled a lizard, but it couldn’t be compared to such a being. Zich thought he wasn’t mistaken since he saw one recently.
“A dragon,” Zich murmured as the dragon’s large mass came into clearer view.
“Uh, Hey! What’s that?!”
“Ah, what…!”
A soldier who turned around in annoyance in response to his companion kept tapping his shoulder and froze in place. The battle began to stop. The fiercely clashing swords, the magic that exploded in a spectacle, and the holy magic that healed injuries disappeared one by one. Everyone stopped to look up at the sky.
“Sir Zich.” Hans approached Zich, but Zich’s eyes were still fixed on the dragon. Glen was left on his own now, but Zich didn’t say anything about it. The dragon was close enough that it could now be clearly seen by ordinary people who couldn’t control mana.
“…A dragon?” somebody murmured. Besides Zich, no one else had seen a dragon in real life, but they could easily see what this creature was. Dragons from legends were well-known after all.
“I-is it really a dragon?”
“The ones from legends?” People were stunned. Many thoughts swept the battlefield, such as whether or not this was really a dragon or why a legendary creature had just popped out from nowhere. But they couldn’t stand thinking for long. The dragon’s mouth opened wide open.
Whooosh! Mana began to fluctuate around them. A red air current formed, and as the color deepened, it seemed like the sun had risen inside the dragon’s mouth.
‘Its breath!’ In every legend that a dragon appeared in, a dragon let out a breath filled with its mana.
Hwaaaaa! The dragon’s breath poured out and congested the flames into a single light. The red, flaming hot light imbued with mana flew in a straight line. The sky was dyed red as if the sun was setting.
Bammmm! The dragon’s breath gave off a tremendous sound and crashed into the ground. Scattered debris followed the explosion because the breath burned and melted everything it touched. Instead of debris, hot air spread all over the place. Then, the ensuing breath abruptly stopped. A long, deep ditch formed next to the battlefield, and the ditch was still red and emitted hot heat. The vegetation around the ditch, which had been full of vitality, was burnt to a crisp and crumbled under the following waves of hot wind.
“Ugh…”
“Uh…”
The soldiers were paralyzed at the sight of the breath’s power. Even though they had experienced the abilities of many superhumans like mages, priests, and knights, the dragon’s breath looked like an attack on a completely different level.
“Agh, ahhhhhhhhhhh!”
“It’s a dragon. A real dragoooonnnn!”
The soldiers naturally fell into a panic, and it happened more frequently among the allied forces’ soldiers since they had received less training. On the other hand, this didn’t mean that the Steelwall soldiers were calm either. The Steelwall soldiers also looked up at the dragon flying in the sky with confusion and were horrified by the traces of destruction that it left. Their horror was a result of the devastation that the dragon showed and their fear towards the unknown. No one knew how exactly strong dragons were. The only basis for their judgment was the breath they saw and legends that had been passed down from generation to generation. However, that alone was enough to terrorize people; no—it was because of their lack of information that scared people even more.
“Calm down!”
“Don’t panic and keep your formation!” The lieutenants shouted and tried to desperately calm down their soldiers. However, the wide-spread agitation and panic did not subside easily. Rather, some of the lieutenants, who should be calming their soldiers, began to also run away.
While the battlefield fell into confusion, Zich only stared at the dragon. ‘It’s that dragon—the one from the Clowon ruin.’
It looked similar to the one in the Clowon ruin, and besides, where else could another legendary dragon suddenly appear from? ‘The earthquake earlier was suspicious. If it was caused by that dragon’s awakening, then it all makes sense.’
Zich was assessing the situation and an individual came to mind. ‘You’ve played a funny trick, Clowon’s princess.’
Zich wanted to punch her pretty face at least once when he returned to the ruin.
Ziing. He began to feel a giant surge of mana from the dragon’s mouth; it was trying to let out another breath again.
Baaaaaam! A red ray of light poured out of the dragon’s mouth again. The destructive power was the same as last time and left a huge crater on the ground. However, just like last time, it didn’t cause any damage on the Steelwall or allied forces’ armies. The breath’s power was formidable, but both of the breaths landed at areas a short distance away from the battlefield.
‘Is it a warning?’ This was Zich’s first thought, but Zich soon erased that thought because he felt a strong sense of murderous intent coming from the dragon. It was not something a being who wanted to just give a warning would let out. ‘It’s something you only let out if you have someone you want to kill by using any possible means.’
Zich carefully observed the dragon. ‘It looks like it’s having a hard time flying?’
Upon closer inspection, Zich saw that whenever the dragon flapped its wings, its body slightly shook from side to side, and it looked the same as a person faltering due to a lack of energy. Of course, considering its giant size, Zich thought it was already unbelievable that it could fly with just two wings attached to its sides. But it was the legendary dragon after all, so Zich ditched that thought.
‘Then is it feeling unwell?’ This was highly likely. This dragon had been trapped in the crystal for countless years. To be honest, Zich thought it was foul play that it could still be alive. The fact that an enemy’s condition was poor should have been welcoming news, but Zich didn’t put much hope on this.
‘It’s quickly stabilizing its condition at a rapid pace.’ The accuracy of the second breath was noticeably closer to the battlefield than the first. Moreover, it was shaking significantly less than when it first appeared.
‘I guess I can’t hope to face a weak, sick dragon.’ Zich fiddled with the handle on his sword. ‘Then what should I do? It would be great if I know why that guy’s so angry.’
There could be a clear reason, or it might just be a hot-tempered dragon. Or it could be venting its anger by destroying its surroundings after being locked up for so many years.
‘If it’s angry for a specific reason, is there a way I can turn its anger towards the allied forces?’ However, Zich’s hopes fell apart because as soon as he made eye contact with the dragon, he felt the dragon’s murderous intent grow stronger. It was then that Zich became certain. ‘Ah, there’s no way I can get out of fighting this guy.’
If he couldn’t escape it, there was only one option left.
‘Well, who cares if it’s a dragon? Let’s fight.’ If it was possible, he wanted to knock it down as quickly as possible. ‘I’m also worried about Lyla. She might have fallen for Serpina’s tricks.’
Zich’s sword began to overflow with mana.