Where is your draconic pride?
At any rate, she couldn't see a shred of it in this creature. Its transition from fighting to fleeing was seamless, a single fluid motion that never sought a direct confrontation.
The Ghostflame Dragon's wings were wreathed in blazing, grayish-white flames, propelling its body to accelerate further. With a single flap, it began to glide, hurtling southward at full speed, no longer concerned about attacks from behind. It couldn't be bothered with potential dangers; escaping was all that mattered.
Frieren, left standing in its wake, was speechless. Her mind raced, searching for any long-range sniping sorcery. While she had Loretta's Greatbow, there didn't seem to be enough time to cast it.
Sunlight Spear or Lightning Spear? That seemed like overkill, and it would make far too much noise...
If only Latenna were here.
As she pondered, the rapid sound of hooves echoed as Melina raced over at full speed on her Spirit Steed. Without slowing, she simply extended a hand.
Understanding the gesture perfectly, Frieren grabbed hold and swung herself onto the steed, letting Melina take the reins.
Torrent let out a spirited neigh as his speed increased, actually giving chase to a large flying dragon.
"ROAR!"
Noticing the pursuit, the Ghostflame Dragon roared a warning over its shoulder, but it did nothing to deter them. It could only flap its wings faster.
The terrain was not in its favor. Below was an endless plain of graves, perfect for a galloping steed.
In its current situation, it couldn't create any distance and would eventually be caught and threatened by ranged magic. It had to change direction and head for the cliffside area to the side.
It banked sharply, tilting its body as if to pick up speed.
Gripping the reins, Melina said, "That's the direction of Lookdown Town. It's been abandoned for years and is filled with bloodfiends. The complex terrain will definitely limit Torrent's speed."
"Leave it to me—"
Frieren formed a bow-drawing posture with her hands. Glintstone formed a beautiful arc between her arms, and her magic materialized into a long arrow. She drew the bow to its fullest extent, like a full moon, charging the most powerful arrow possible.
The glintstone clearly formed a spear, its sharp point glinting with a light that sent a chill down one's spine.
The targeted Ghostflame Dragon naturally sensed it and hurriedly began to bank and flap, just barely allowing the arrow to graze past its belly.
A crack appeared on its ribs with an audible snap, a testament to the power of the glintstone arrow. A direct hit would have been the end of it.
A wave of fear washing over it, the Ghostflame Dragon flew with all its might, glancing back from time to time with wary eyes. Its heart leaped in terror; the silver-haired girl was already forming another arrow, its tip gleaming menacingly.
Holding her breath, Frieren's bow-drawing hands were perfectly still, her gaze sharp, having already calculated the trajectory.
"Thwip!"
Another high-angle shot sent the glintstone arrow soaring through the sky, flying higher and faster than its target before diving straight into the dragon's back. It struck the ribs squarely, causing the massive dragon's body to tremble as it let out a pained cry. Yet its speed didn't decrease; it had merely transitioned from effortless flight to pained flight.
"Besides Holy and Soul-based attacks, other attributes are a bit lacking in effect after all."
Lowering her bow, Frieren murmured to herself. She was never skilled at mounted combat, let alone mounted archery. Most of her focus just now had been on balancing her waist and legs with the horse's movements; otherwise, who knows how far off her shot would have been.
Melina suggested, "Just maintaining the current threat should be enough. I feel the Ghostflame Dragon is lowering its altitude. Its target is likely Lookdown Town."
"Then let's chase it down."
"I'll go faster. It'll be less stable, but you just continuing to aim will be enough to scare it."
With that, she tugged hard on the reins. Torrent excitedly entered a full sprint, becoming like a fierce gust of wind that rustled the grass on the plains, kicking up sand as he charged forward. Galloping freely, not even a large flying dragon could hope to escape his pursuit.
"Hiss!"
At the same time, several more glintstone arrows flew past the Ghostflame Dragon, either grazing it or missing entirely. The faster they went, the worse Frieren's aim became, yet the dragon grew ever more frightened. It had no choice but to continuously accelerate and lower its altitude, otherwise it would have to worry about an arrow suddenly piercing its back.
Seeing this, the silver-haired girl put away her longbow.
She was certain Melina's riding skill was no less than a Tree Sentinel's, and with Torrent's unique abilities, it was more than enough. She might as well just wait.
Forcing herself to shoot arrows was too difficult; it was better to switch targets.
Her spiritual perception made a new discovery. In the distant Lookdown Town, countless bloodfiends were baring their teeth at the monster in the sky.
"Rock Sling!"
With a wave of Frieren's staff, massive boulders rose from the ground. Propelled by Gravity Magic, they carved an arc through the air, flying towards Lookdown Town like a volley from a catapult. They filled a section of the sky, casting looming shadows as they fell, then crashed down with a series of thunderous booms.
How could the gathered bloodfiends have anticipated such a calamity? They hurriedly dragged their corpulent bodies, slowly moving while not forgetting to issue warning hisses at the Ghostflame Dragon. Their simple minds identified the dragon as the enemy; it must have done this.
The Ghostflame Dragon felt deeply wronged but had no way to explain itself.
However, it couldn't dwell on that, because those rock slings were likely aimed at it. Flying was no longer safe; it had to land to fight properly.
"Hwoosh!"
For convenience, it breathed a swath of ghostflame, scorching the ruins of Lookdown Town.
The grayish-white flames washed over the broken walls.
The residing bloodfiends were eroded by this deathly aura and couldn't withstand it, perishing on the spot. They were no match at all, becoming victims of the ghostflame in a single pass.
Despite their heavy losses, the ferocious bloodfiends still charged, targeting the gaps between the enemy's bones and biting down. One would have been manageable, but a whole pack of bloodfiends surrounded the Ghostflame Dragon, biting viciously at its bones.
"Awooo—"
In its desperation, it began to roll on the ground, crashing through ruined walls with a rumble and crushing several bloodfiends in the process. However, this only roused the ferocity of the locals, who charged forward one after another, ignoring the searing flames, driven only by the instinct to fight.
Already injured, the Ghostflame Dragon took several more hits, fighting as it retreated, not daring to use its full strength.
What terrible luck.
Who knew they would all become enemies.
It had originally thought they could all trouble its pursuer together, but now they were attacking each other. Still, it had to eliminate the immediate danger first; there was no room for mercy.
The enraged Ghostflame Dragon roared, unleashing a wave of flames that swept across the upper levels of Lookdown Town, causing the bloodfiends to shriek and howl.
Both sides were now blood-crazed.
The dragon, feeling its long-held resentment provoked, was determined to teach the offenders a lesson. The bloodfiends, whose territory had been invaded, were not to be outdone, swarming the enemy that was temporarily unable to fly and tearing at it madly, ripping away even rotten flesh.
The two sides fought each other, neither giving an inch, unleashing their pent-up hatred on their foe in a relentless struggle.
At the town's entrance, a panting Torrent gradually slowed to a halt. They had finally caught up. Even the noble Spirit Steed felt fatigued, having crossed nearly half the plain at a pace that would have taken a normal army several days to march.
Astride the horse, Frieren and Melina looked at each other in astonishment. They clearly saw that the two groups of enemies had started fighting each other first.
The sheer brutality of it left them no opportunity to intervene.
"Let's finish them all at once."
Her mind made up, Frieren flung several Great Chaos Fireballs.
The bloodfiends and the Ghostflame Dragon, caught in the heat of battle, caught a glimpse of red flames from the corner of their eyes as the projectiles, guided by the caster's will, smashed with perfect accuracy into the center of the battlefield.
In an instant, flames swept across a vast area. Any creature of flesh and blood began to melt and wither upon contact, disintegrating in moments.
The power of the Chaos Flame inflicted devastating losses on the bloodfiends.
In the nick of time, the Ghostflame Dragon flapped its wings and leaped into the sky, narrowly dodging the blast.
Having been hit once, it had learned its lesson. It knew not to face this special flame head-on, or it wouldn't have enough lives to spare.
It beat a hasty retreat.
"Fwoom!"
As the Ghostflame Dragon took to the air and landed on the other side, the area scorched by the Chaos Flame melted and caved in. The ground collapsed, creating a large pit out of thin air as it melted from top to bottom.
It let out a low growl, its heart still pounding with fear.
The bloodfiends scattered even more, realizing their enemy was not to be trifled with, and began to instinctively group together to fight.
The next moment, however, comets precisely sniped several of the bloodfiends—all of them powerful, leading individuals—preventing them from forming a unified command. As expected, the rabble of monsters began to scatter in disarray.
Frieren dismounted her Spirit Steed and walked up the steps, surveying her surroundings.
Lookdown Town was also a typical ruin. It was impossible to know how many years it had been abandoned, only to be occupied by a group of monsters and fall into complete desolation. It was even more thoroughly destroyed than Blighttown.
It made sense. Geographically, it was likely far from the center of human civilization, and so it suffered more severe devastation.
Putting aside her stray thoughts, Frieren began to actively hunt down her foes. Both the scattered bloodfiends and the terrified Ghostflame Dragon were within her attack range. For a time, magic flew, a dazzling display of light and color, and the thunderous explosions brought them endless misery.
"Hiss-hiss!"
The continuous bombardment of fire, dust, and blood gave even Melina, who was catching up, a slight pause.
It seemed Frieren was dead set on clearing out the threat in Lookdown Town.
The plains were a land of great potential; aside from the monsters, there was no severe corruption. In the future, it could be farmed, used for production, or even as a ground for warhorses to gallop.
Evidently, Frieren also saw this potential and had decided to wipe out the threats in this area, which was why she was so motivated.
"A keen eye."
Melina didn't need to say a word; her partner had already realized it.
Ordinary bloodfiends were obliterated by the absolute firepower, but as time went on, some powerful individuals emerged. The living dead hiding in the corners also began to stir, joining the Ghostflame Dragon on the highest point, assuming a commanding position.
Then, a grayish-white breath attack arrived as expected.
Frieren moved away as if she had foreseen it, while simultaneously sweeping aside several falling rocks with her Dark Moon Greatsword—the bloodfiends were using throwing attacks.
She faintly sensed that monsters from a wide area were gathering, all of them showing hostility.
Perhaps because the commotion was too great, it had drawn aggro from a larger radius, making the entire vicinity restless.
As she was thinking, several large, infected rats also scurried out, along with a familiar Cursed Swordsman...
"Goats?"
A large goat with a coat of pure gold fur charged up from the slope below. And they were in a herd, both large and small.
They didn't seem to have any mutated features, so why were they so aggressive?
Nevertheless, Frieren fired a test shot with a comet.
The lead goat leaped nimbly aside.
At the same time, golden dewdrops fell from its body, crossing a hundred meters in an instant to touch the silver-haired girl. A numbing sensation immediately spread through her.
She quickly dodged to avoid being fully electrocuted.
Once her offensive ceased, the battlefield lost the suppressive power of a mage, which was equivalent to unleashing a large number of enemy combatants.
Sure enough, the Ghostflame Dragon unleashed its breath with all its might, the Cursed Swordsman threw his circular blade, and the bloodfiends hurled rocks, the goats discharged lightning...
All of it was unleashed at once.
Colorful explosions blossomed over Lookdown Town, eliciting fierce howls of celebration from the monsters. They were quite satisfied with this combined attack, considering it perfect, surely enough to kill the intruder on the spot.
But then they watched, wide-eyed, as Frieren walked out of the smoke and dust completely unharmed.
"Some coordination, but the power is pathetic."
Whether in terms of armor, poise, health, or sheer presence, her Astrologer build was incredibly resilient, having reached the level of a divine being; she could not be easily shaken.
Of course, that didn't mean she was completely unaffected. At this very moment, golden lightning still crackled around her body, creating a tingling, numbing sensation.
She hadn't expected the goats of the Land of Shadow to have such a unique skill: Discharging electricity?
It also had a lightning-attracting quality. In any case, it was far from simple.
A warrior with insufficient resistance might have been briefly stunned, creating an opening, but it didn't matter to her.
She could just endure the slight numbness and use ranged attacks. With a thought, a sky-blotting swarm of Rancorcall appeared.
The vast army of skulls charged towards the high ground of Lookdown Town, targeting the Cursed Swordsman first.
He was helpless and took off running.
Why, out of so many targets, were they all bombarding him? What kind of grudge was this?
Little did he know, for Frieren, the priority of exterminating the Horned Folk was very high.
She reached out and rummaged on her body, and under everyone's watchful eyes, she actually condensed a golden thread of lightning, as if drawing out and聚合 the energy from within her.
"This works too?"
Immediately after, a Lightning Spear was thrown—
In an instant, it pierced through the Cursed Swordsman and simultaneously erupted with a burst of thunder, which unexpectedly resonated with the nearby golden goats, creating a large thunderstorm zone that scoured the land.
The central figure was instantly turned to charcoal, and the other monsters fared no better.
The largest of them, the Ghostflame Dragon, grew even more sluggish, its accumulated injuries making it difficult to take flight.
Frieren hadn't expected the astonishing effect of her spontaneous attack. It was perfect; using the goats' attack with a lightning-parry technique, combined with a Lightning Spear, both dispelled the paralysis and succeeded in a counterattack.
The Lightning Spear cleared a path.
The other end led straight to the Ghostflame Dragon's position. The dragon was terrified; psychologically scarred from the previous beatings, it immediately retreated.
It was certain that attack was aimed at it, so it fled at once.
Its purpose in coming to Lookdown Town was to let the bloodfiends create a distraction. That goal had been achieved.
Time to run.
But in Frieren's eyes, the enemy with the highest damage output was second only to a character with a built-in taunt; it had to be dealt with next.
"Nebula!"
The scattered dust of gravity created a chaotic force field, sending the monsters tumbling. Of course, this also affected the hastily fleeing Ghostflame Dragon. It fell with a thud, making a fatal mistake under the influence of gravity and chaos.
Turning its head, it saw the silver-haired girl arriving with her Dark Moon Greatsword in both hands. A chilling sword aura descended from above—
"A valiant Lion's Claw."
The first part of the attack struck the Ghostflame Dragon's forehead, shattering both its horns and crushing its skull. The terrifying force scattered its last shred of consciousness.
The second part sent the destructive power down its neck and through its entire body. The great lizard went rigid, convulsed once, and sank to the bottom of the deep pit.
The successive, enhanced Lion's Claws had ended its life.
Pleased with its first major success, Frieren satisfyingly weighed the Dark Moon Greatsword in her hand. It was a perfect fit.
The Ghostflame Dragon was not the only one slain; it was now snowing over Lookdown Town.
A chilling air enveloped everything, and icicles sprouted forth.
This glacial prison would allow no enemy to escape.
_____
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