Chapter 43: Slaying the Dragon
While the dragon was distracted by Serie, Rhodes seized the opportunity. He unleashed his plant magic, and countless thick vines burst from the earth, shooting into the sky and coiling around the dragon like giant pythons, dragging it down to the ground. This gave Norne and Somme the chance to attack.
The dragon began to struggle, and in a matter of moments, the vines binding it started to snap.
"Somme! Now!"
The dwarven warrior seized the moment, leaping into the air and bringing his battle-axe down on the dragon's side.
CLANG!
The axe met the dragon's skin with a sound like steel striking steel. Upon closer inspection, Somme's blow had only left a white mark on the dragon's scales.
"Damn it, these scales are too tough!" Somme retreated, frustrated. No wonder dragon scales were the best material for armor; even in their raw state, they could block most attacks.
Norne followed up, aiming for the dragon's wings. He managed to land a blow, leaving a shallow gash. The dragon's wings were not covered in scales and were much more vulnerable.
Rhodes immediately noticed this. "Attack its wings!" he shouted to Serie.
Hearing him, a spear of light immediately condensed in her hand and shot towards the dragon's wing. Her attack was far more powerful than Norne's. The dragon was caught off guard, and the spear pierced straight through its wing. The intense pain made it let out an even louder, more deafening roar.
But a single spear was not enough to completely ground the dragon. Still, now that they knew its weakness, the fight became much easier. Norne and Somme worked together to keep it occupied, while Rhodes and Serie led the main assault, a relentless barrage of light spears and arrow rain aimed at its wings.
Even the dragon's desperate blasts of fire were of no use. Its wings were soon riddled with wounds, and with blood raining down to the earth, its massive body crashed to the ground. But it wasn't dead yet. The fight was not over.
The fallen dragon let out a mighty roar. It had never imagined it would ever be so grievously wounded. It had slaughtered countless weaker creatures and destroyed who-knows-how-many villages and tribes, and had fought many battles. But it had never been pushed this far.
And it was all because of these two despicable mages. Their magic was too strange. The overwhelming rain of light arrows, the magical barrier that could withstand its own dragon breath... it had never seen anything like them.
The dragon's eyes, full of a palpable killing intent, were fixed on Rhodes and Serie. But Serie showed no fear. If she was afraid of a mere dragon, how could she ever hope to kill a god?
The dragon began to move its mountain of a body, a searing, crimson aura radiating from it as it charged.
So it's coming at us with a dragon-charge, is it? Rhodes cursed inwardly and threw up a magic barrier, hoping for a repeat of the 'stop-the-dragon-charge' maneuver. But the barrier, which had withstood its dragon breath, was now as fragile as paper. The moment it made contact with the dragon's body, it shattered.
Seeing this, Rhodes's eyes widened in shock. He scooped up Serie and started to run. Norne and Somme also scrambled to get out of the way, but they were still thrown to the ground by the searing shockwave of the dragon's charge. Eirik, who had just arrived, skidded to a halt.
"It's in its mana-release state!"
Serie immediately recognized the dragon's condition. She had done something similar when she had killed the demon and its minions: she had completely unleashed her own mana. It seemed the dragon was now pouring all of its mana into strengthening its own body.
"It's going all-in," Rhodes said, looking at the dragon, its pupils now contracted into thin slits. The entire valley trembled with its charge, and rocks began to fall from the surrounding cliffs. Even the air temperature had risen significantly.
Alright, then! If it's going all-in, so are we!
Rhodes set Serie down. "Buy me some time."
Serie knew instantly what he was planning. "Your power isn't enough. We'll do it together."
With their long-standing tacit understanding, they acted as one. A modified defensive magic barrier rose from the ground, and with their combined power, they created a massive wall in front of them, a wall that, like the great steel walls of history, managed to halt the dragon's charge.
But the dragon wouldn't just give up. It gathered its mana once more in its maw, and unleashed a torrent of fire, a torrent that was no longer just fire, but a terrifying stream of crimson magma. Even their magic barrier began to show small cracks under the assault.
And Rhodes and Serie's spell was still charging.
The space around them was slowly being consumed by darkness, not in an instant, but in a gradual, ever-expanding void.
"We're running out of time!" Rhodes said, his heart pounding as he watched the cracks spread across their barrier. To ensure a one-hit kill, they had to maximize the spell's power, which meant they needed more time. But time was something they were short on.
But they were a team. They still had their companions.
Somme and Norne attacked from the side, forcing the dragon to stop its breath attack and turn its attention to them. But in doing so, it left an opening for Eirik. He charged forward with a longsword identical to Norne's, leaped into the air, and brought the sword down on the dragon's neck.
With a full-force blow, and the fact that the dragon's neck was not completely covered in scales, he actually managed to land a significant wound. The price was his own longsword, which shattered on impact. His and Norne's swords were just ordinary weapons, a far cry from Somme's specially enchanted dwarven-made axe.
Scalding dragon blood gushed from the wound in the dragon's neck. In its pain, it violently shook its head, sending Eirik flying. Norne rushed forward and caught him, and the two of them rolled across the ground.
And at that exact moment, Rhodes and Serie's spell was complete.
The space around them had been completely consumed by darkness, their figures hidden from view. The dragon seemed to sense a mortal threat, but before it could escape, a beam of light shot out from the darkness and pierced straight through its scale-covered chest.
Time seemed to stand still.
The dragon froze, its movements suspended. It felt no pain; the flesh and nerves around the wound in its chest, along with its very life force, had been completely incinerated.
And then...
BOOM!!!
The delayed explosion of the light-pillar spell kicked in. The dragon's body exploded from the inside out, sending burning fragments scattering in all directions.
And so, the dragon, a creature of some renown even in the Age of Myth, was dead.
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yo guys trying something new for Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter