The order was given. Battle cries filled the air as everyone closed in on the legendary dragon. But as mythical as it seemed, it was still a creature that would die if its heart were pierced or its head cut off. Everybody knew this. It was common sense. And yet, attacking its weak points had not been the first plan of action.
Observers with no experience in the field spoke as if they were true experts, offering criticism such as “If we know how to kill dragons, why do we not make their weakest targets our priority? Sending brave warriors to attack tails and wings is a fool’s errand that will result in needless sacrifice.”
In truth, however, a dragon’s head often hovered at a height of more than ten meters. How were humans—capable of only reaching around two meters with a jump—supposed to reach such heights? And how was one to reach the heart when it was protected by armored scales and tough muscle and sinew, and buried so deep that a long spear couldn’t reach it?
It was because these targets could not be immediately reached that strategy demanded the dragon’s other weapons and hindrances be dealt with first. Eliminating the wings stopped the dragon from flying away. Removing its tail took its huge whiplike weapon out of the game. Hacking at the legs stopped it from easily treading on and crushing people. When these problems were dealt with, only then could a dragon’s weak points be targeted.
Naturally, of course, the dragon would take none of this lying down. But this was the nature of the task at hand—it was a battle in which even a single act of resistance could be fatal. The dragon of the lake had put up a fierce resistance, chipping away at the forces that looked to fight it. And yet it was not simply lashing out—through battle, it learned, and with this knowledge, it sought to take away the tools the humans wielded. By unleashing bursts of magic that forced the human mages to concentrate on defense, the dragon removed their ability to maintain its binds.
The dragon was now free, and with the heavy stomping of its legs, it kept the humans at a distance, sweeping its neck over the adventurers who stood strong and, without giving them so much as a chance to run, showering them in flame.
But all the same, even in the face of such danger, the humans were driven by the will to see their foe defeated. They drank painkillers, they magically boosted their physical abilities, and they downed magical recovery potions. Every time they were sent reeling, they came back.
“Hold the line!” shouted Zack. “When you go in for your attacks, circle from the back!”
“Mages!” ordered Nadia. “Leave defense to the support team and focus on keeping the dragon still while you hit it with your spells! Support mages, keep the barriers up!”
Under the pressure of the dragon, the adventurers came together in formation. Little by little, they were taking back the advantage. The dragon roared, intent on ensuring the humans did not turn the tables on it, and called forth a flock of carnivorous hraesvelgrs. Spurred on by the king of the beasts, the flock of birds let out shrill cries before diving upon the gathered humans.
The hraesvelgrs were so large one might have thought they were griffins at a glance, and their appearance struck fear in the hearts of the adventurers—they already had their hands full with a dragon, and now they had to watch the skies too? It felt like far too much to bear.
But at that very moment, a powerful roar—that of a magical wolf—pierced the skies. It was so loud it felt like it pierced the heavens, and it echoed into the far reaches of the forest. The roar was enough to allow the birds to shake off the fear that the dragon had instilled in them, and they took once more to the skies, where they circled once before disappearing back into the forest.
“Great work, Vio!” said Alec.
The snow wolf replied with a short but pleased bark, then pounced back into the battlefield.
“All right! Give us a hand, Ludger!” said Alec.
“On it!”
The two swordsmen used their earth magic to open a pitfall at the dragon’s feet. It wasn’t going to keep the monster still for long, but it would at least halt its forward momentum. The weakness of the magical swordsman was that the class did not have the magical power of a mage, nor the expertise of a dedicated swordsman—they landed somewhere between the two. It was therefore a magical swordsman’s efforts that determined whether they were a versatile jack-of-all-trades or lacking in both of their fields.
“Earth magic is a subtle art, but it sure comes in handy when you need it!” cried Ludger, summoning a path to run up.
“You got that right!”
The dragon’s own earth lances turned Ludger’s creation to lumps of earth while Alec swung his fiery sword. Scales were sent flying through the air, and others were waiting to plunge their weapons into the softer flesh that lay beneath.
“Ain’t nothing like the strength of youth!” said Zack, whistling as he watched them work. “You can’t beat the clock, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it! My hands are going numb!”
But in his actions, Zack showed not a hint of his age.
“Try to keep up with the young and you’ll only pay for it later!” said Daniel, who was in fact older still. “Perhaps there’s no better time, or age, to start changing up the way you do battle!”
Once a powerful A-rank mage, Daniel was now transitioning to a support role. While in the past his preference had been for offensive spells, his style was different now—as a born obsessive, he’d since mastered a variety of support and defense spells, making him just as active on the battlefield as he had been in the past.
“In any case, I have a feeling we’ll both be bedridden for a few days after this!” said Daniel. He readied himself and bellowed, “God’s Hammer, God Hammare!”
“Damn straight!” replied Zack. “Now eat this!”
Daniel slammed the dragon in the back of the knee with a huge chunk of earth. As the monster crumpled, Zack was waiting, and he thrust his greatsword into the seam where the legs had been attached to the body. The small area, which lacked the same scale coverage as the rest of the dragon, was just as weak as Nils had suspected—Zack’s blade plunged in deep.
The dragon immediately roared with rage, opening its mouth to snap at the two nuisances by its leg.
“Archers! Fire!”