While the dragon prepared its breath and mana simultaneously, Zich analyzed the situation calmly.
‘Is it really only planning to use its breath and magic at the same time?’ It was clearly a terrifying attack. Magic by itself was incredibly powerful and would only be more so if the dragon combined its breath with it. However, it wasn’t an attack that threatened their lives. Zich and his companions could defend against an attack like that without great difficulty, and Zich didn’t think the dragon’s attack would end there.
Booom! Mana whirled and magic formed around the dragon. Zich approached Walwiss’ side and asked, “Do you know what that is?”
“It’s clear that it’s not going to be a simple magic attack.”
“Is that all you can guess right now?”
“It’s also clear that the magic has different elements…” Walwiss narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the dragon.
“Let me try piercing it.” Since the dragon was so high up, they had very limited ways of attacking it. Walwiss poured out spells while Leona shot her arrows. Yet, before their attacks could reach the dragon, it activated its magic first.
Wiing! Multiple magic circles decorated the area in front of the dragon. They didn’t fall down—instead, they rushed toward the other magic circles next to them. Did its magic fail? Seeing this sight, Walwiss hardened his expression.
“The magic circles are amplifying the power of the other magic circles next to them.” Utilizing the natural elemental properties, the magic circles synergized with each other, elevating the power of the magic altogether. Like that, the five different elements continued to amplify each other. The dragon’s breath mana also reached its peak. All it needed to do was to spew it out. It was then that Walwiss realized the dragon’s intentions.
“That bastard! It’s planning to strengthen its breath with magic!” As soon as Walwiss finished his sentence, the dragon’s magic sucked in its breath.
Whoooosh! The light that the breath emitted grew more intense, and the heat and mana that came off it were indescribable. The dragon spat its breath out.
Shaaaa! A giant red light sliced through the air, and when Walwiss’ spell and Leona’s arrow finally reached it, they dissipated without a trace. Thus, the breath continued to plummet down. It seemed as if the sun was falling to the ground with a long tail hanging behind it.
“Gather to one placeeee!” Zich yelled. People immediately gathered to Zich’s side. There was nowhere to escape now. The breath reached a wider area than previous ones, and even if they tried to escape it, the dragon would try to immediately change the breath’s direction. For an ordinary breath, as long as one didn’t get directly hit by it, they wouldn’t receive a big injury. However, considering the mana behind its breath, it seemed they would die even if this breath grazed them. The fact that all of Zich’s companions were standing close by thanks to Zich blocking the dragon’s attacks for them was working in their favor now. Zich stood in front and infused a great amount of mana into Estellade and Tornium.
“Anything is fine! Everyone shoot your strongest attack at the same time when I give a signal!” Under Zich’s command, people began to prepare their skills simultaneously. The dragon’s breath was close to them now.
“Now!” Zich yelled and swung Estellade and Tornium. Light and dark mana rushed forward wildly, and the rest of the party’s individual attacks followed suit. They were all experienced in battle, but none of them launched an attack that could interfere with one another.
Baaaaaam! The dragon’s breath collided with the party’s attacks. Estellade’s and Tornium’s mana fiercely resisted the breath, but they weren’t strong enough to block the magic-intensified breath. Yet, other powers soon supported the two swords. A gigantic mana shockwave soared between the two campsites.
Baaaam! A huge explosion rose. Zich quickly crossed Estellade and Tornium and called forth his mana. In front of him, Lubella made a wall with holy magic. Soon, the explosion soon swept them and high-temperature mana blanketed their surroundings. It overturned the surface and charred it black. Nearby vegetation turned into ashes in an instant, and the area looked like hell itself.
People gulped. A powerful blow that was incomparable to all the previous attacks had struck Zich’s party. It didn’t appear as if they would survive. Cold shivers went down people’s backs as they wondered who the dragon’s next target would be if Zich’s companions died. Thus, when they saw Zich’s party still standing after the flames and explosions died down, everyone cheered whether they were the Steelwalls still holding their ground or the allied forces scattered everywhere. Even the Karuwimans who came as reinforcements for the Steelwalls cheered in unison. The humans’ fear of the dragon that suddenly came to ravage them was so great that it made everyone group together in support.
Although they survived the dragon’s breath, Zich’s party had received significant damage. Lubella’s barrier was the first to break, and even when Zich and the others tried to block the attack as much as possible, they failed to break the full impact of the breath. Fortunately, no one died. If Lubella healed them, they could fight again. However, Lubella sustained serious injuries; even though her whole body was burnt, she stretched out her hand to check Zich’s condition. Although she should have healed herself first as the healer in a normal situation, all the party members couldn’t move properly due to their injuries. Thus, she planned to heal the strongest and most vital fighter, Zich, to keep the dragon in check. However, that naturally slowed down the whole healing process since she wouldn’t be able to heal people as quickly in an injured state. Moreover, they might be in great danger if the dragon attacked them while Lubella was unable to heal as fast as before. Thus, Lubella was conflicted. She needed to finish healing Zich as fast as possible and heal herself. Then, another person intervened.
“Heal your own injuries first!” Lubella heard a painfully strained voice and turned in that direction.
“Windne?”
It was Glen’s former comrade, Chelsea. She was also severely injured from the dragon’s breath. However, she endured the seething pain and pointed her staff toward Zich.
Wiiing! Light sprouted out from Chelsea’s staff, and Zich’s injuries began to heal. Lubella stared at Chelsea in surprise for only a moment and quickly withdrew her staff from Zich to heal herself. Zich glanced at his injuries and turned his gaze away from Chelsea. He knew that after she was abandoned by Glen and witnessed Byner’s death, Chelsea and Pina were at a loss of what to do next and were caught in the middle of their battle with the dragon.
‘She must have given up on running away after seeing the dragon attack Glen.’
When the dragon let out its breath just now, Chelsea and Pina also ran toward Zich and his companions; they also felt that the dragon’s breath this time was different from all the previous breaths.
Chelsea asked Zich, “Are you all right?”
Chelsea was also a great beauty. Moreover, even while her body was covered in injuries, she decided to heal the others first. The average man would have been extremely touched by her actions, but Zich just smirked as if he thought her question was funny.
He said, “Your future is in tatters anyway. Do you think that you can use this opportunity to make a comeback if you help us and catch the dragon?”
Chelsea’s cheeks slightly trembled. “Of course not. Even though we used to be enemies, we need to gather our strengths together in times like this.”
“There’s no need to pretend. I’ve heard from the Saintess and seen things for myself. Do you think your pretense will work now? Our dear Saintess is looking at you as if she’s watching something terrible.”
“Ah, geez. As expected, it doesn’t work.” Chelsea immediately threw her mask away. “You’re exactly right. I don’t intend to fall like this, so I’ll do everything I can.”
Chelsea moved her staff away from Zich. “I finished healing you.” Then, she also began healing herself.
Zich checked his body and looked up. The dragon was still floating in the sky. Then he said, “If you two risk your lives, you’ll probably get a chance to recover your position at least once. However, you should seriously give up on the Saintess position.”
“I’m confident that I can do a better job than Lubella!”
Zich pointed his finger at Glen, who was fidgeting as if he couldn’t decide what to do. “You really don’t have an eye for men.”
“Damn it!” Even though this had nothing to do with being a Saintess, Chelsea didn’t refute Zich’s words and only swore because what Glen did behind the scenes for this war was truly astounding on multiple levels. Zich lifted his two swords again and cut the magic attacks aimed at his companions. Those healed by Chelsea and Lubella also began moving.
“Your schemes are pathetic as usual.”
“Shut up.”
Chelsea grumbled at Lubella’s insult, and Lubella didn’t say anything more. Even though she personally disliked Chelsea, her skills were definitely among the best in the Karuwimans. Since there was one more person who could heal, the battle would also become more advantageous for them. So, Lubella welcomed Chelsea’s addition to the team. Chelsea wasn’t the only one who joined the fight. Pina also interfered with the dragon’s magic next to Elena’s side.
She thought, ‘I need to do everything I can here to build my merits to rebuild our school’s reputation!’
Pina saw how formidable the dragon was, and she knew that if they lost, they would all die. However, Chelsea and Pina were both willing to risk their lives for their goals, considering that their current situation was already at its lowest point. Like this, the two joined Zich’s group to fight against the dragon, and Zich’s group acknowledged their participation and efforts.
Lara landed where Lubella and Chelsea were. Bright red flames swirled her arm. Lara frowned at the intense pain of being burned alive. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t extinguish the fire.
“It’s a magical flame that won’t go out.” Pina was next to Lubella and Chelsea, and she put her staff on Lara’s arm.
Crunch! Ice grew on Lara’s body and extinguished the flame. Then the ice covering her arm also soon fell off. The charred arm soon returned to normal with Chelsea’s holy magic.
“Thanks!” With just this word, Lara jumped into battle again. She ran toward the dragon with her sword raised, and Pina saw her join Hans and attack the dragon together.
Bamm! Fire and earth magic mixed together and targeted the dragon; Elena and Snoc had combined their powers to attack the dragon. Even though most of the attacks missed the dragon, they were successful in damaging the dragon. Compared to their joint attack, Pina shot ice magic toward the dragon by herself.
Chelsea watched this sight and furtively glanced toward Glen’s location. She saw him shivering in fear and rolling on the ground at another magic attack from the dragon.
‘Damn it!’
Zich’s words about how she had no eye for men hit too close to home for comfort.