Anyone who’d faced a dragon in-game would know immediately what attack he was preparing.
A moment later, the dragon opened his mouth wide, swung his head down, and let out a massive roar as he shot a glowing energy ball at me.
“Ngruuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”
The air vibrated as the energy beam rushed toward me, obliterating the few remaining trees in its path and tearing a trench in the earth. I dodged to the side, but the shockwave still flung me helplessly through the air. I felt like a skipping stone as I bounced along the ground, my vision rapidly flipping between earth, sky, and earth again.
I hit something with a solid smack. Staggering to my feet, I tried to survey my surroundings, but the world was completely black.
“No… Did the dragon’s breath somehow inflict a Darkness status effect on me?”
My heart raced as I reached up to touch my face.
Then I realized what had happened.
“Oh, my helmet just got turned backward.”
After readjusting my helmet, I shook my head to make sure it was on properly, then looked around.
The Dragon Lord’s attack had carved a massive crater in the earth—a straight line through the plains that filled the air with dust. It had blown me far away from the torii, toward the mountain. The area was littered with uprooted trees. If the attack hit me directly, I probably wouldn’t even have been there.
The title “Dragon Lord” clearly wasn’t just for show.
“I probably shouldn’t try to take this guy on alone. Heal!”
I wasn’t sure how much of my skeleton was damaged, so I used my Bishop-class healing spell. A warm, shimmering glow wrapped my body, then faded away, taking the pain with it and leaving me refreshed.
Well, well, well. Not only did you manage to survive my first attack, you even survived a glancing blow from the second. That’s no small feat. Perhaps you are a worthy opponent.
A stiff breeze whipped away the dust in the air, revealing the Dragon Lord in the distance. This far off, he looked small, but his ominous voice was no less clear in my head. He spread his four massive wings and took to the air, letting loose another thunderous roar.
Even if I tried to explain myself, I figured there was no way he could hear me from that distance. He was already coming in for an attack, so I didn’t see any way out.
I could have used Transport Gate to teleport away, but that would have meant leaving Ariane and Chiyome behind. Given the poor visibility afforded by the surrounding forest, my only option with Dimensional Step was the open plain, which wouldn’t help me escape the Dragon Lord.
I could use short-distance teleportation to evade his attacks, at least. Getting a flying dragon off my tail seemed like it would be challenging, though, if not flat-out impossible.
I resigned myself to my fate, looking at the Dragon Lord and summoning my sword skill.
“Holy Thunder Sword of Caladbolg!”
A surge of purple electricity ran up the blade as it doubled in size. There was no way I could hold back—not against an enemy like this.
The Dragon Lord floated lazily in the sky, wings flapping to keep himself steady, stirring dirt across the plain. In the game, he’d probably be classified as a wind-elemental dragon.
Compared to his massive wings, his body appeared rather small, his long tail curling underneath him. Still, this was a thirty-meter dragon. Even his limbs, which appeared tiny at this distance, could easily rip a human in two.
And then, of course, there was me. My sword might seem large when facing off against fellow humans, but it was little more than a toothpick to a dragon. The sword skill upgraded it to a skewer, at best.
In the game, the most effective attacks against wind-elemental enemies were earth-based. However, with the dragon flying around, I’d be hard-pressed to hit him with earth magic.
I recalled the time I tried to use my Rock Shot attack on a swarm of wyverns, and how easily they dodged. Although the Dragon Lord was a lot bigger than the wyverns, I had a hard time believing Rock Shot would do anything to him. The Meteor spell, from the Sorcerer class—one of the highest classes in its tier—might work. Unfortunately, I’d never used it before. Still, that kind of attack would certainly be useful against an airborne enemy.
Of course, this was all theoretical. I had no way of knowing if the Dragon Lord followed the same rules of elemental affinity and weakness as he would have in the game.
Here I come, runt!
The Dragon Lord howled and rushed at me, tearing up the forest below with a massive whirlwind.
Hmm—another wind-based attack. I held the Holy Thunder Sword of Caladbolg close. “Dimensional Step!”
The attack destroyed the spot I’d stood in just moments before.
Wha—?!
I’d teleported directly beneath the Dragon Lord. He looked around frantically, trying to get a bead on me.
The force of the wind beneath him was incredibly strong, but I managed to keep my balance by hunching and lowering my center of gravity. I looked up, my eyes tracing the Dragon Lord’s long tail to his massive body. Trying to attack him with my sword was out of the question. Even if I could somehow teleport into the air, the powerful wind would likely blow me away.
While I contemplated my next move, the dragon spotted me.
When did you get there, runt?!
His tail immediately lashed out at me, as if it had a mind of its own. It slammed into my sword with a hard, metallic clang—a sound I wouldn’t have expected from dragon scales—and a spray of blood that covered my gleaming armor.
Evidently, even a dragon was no match for a mythical-class weapon.
Nnngruuuuuuuuu!
The Dragon Lord’s roar was somewhere between pain and rage. He flapped his wings, buffeting me with even more powerful winds. I lost my balance, and his long tail swung toward me once again.
“Dimensional Step!”
The world around me changed in a flash, and I was behind the Dragon Lord, in his blind spot. After swinging through the location where I’d just stood, his tail immediately flicked back toward me, although there was no way he could have seen where I was.
“Whaugh?!”
Making a split-second decision, I teleported a third time, moving farther from the Dragon Lord to give myself a better chance to observe him.
So, you play the same tricks as Hanzo, little runt! I guess there are no more games with you, then!
The Dragon Lord darted into the sky, flying high over the forest, then dove straight toward me, hind legs outstretched and large, sharp claws extended. There was no way I’d be able to defend with only my sword against that speed—and such strength.
I teleported behind the Dragon Lord again. At the same time, I used earth-elemental magic in the spot where I’d stood.
“Rock Fang!”
The Dragon Lord slammed straight into the rocks that suddenly jutted from the earth. They shattered with a thunderous crash, sending a plume of dirt into the air. Pebbles rained everywhere. He flew through the dust cloud, spinning in midair as he climbed. Unfurling his wings, he sent out a powerful shockwave that instantly cleared the air. The ground below was a colossal hole.
“He really is the most powerful of the dragons.”
If I’d met him head-on, he’d have smashed me to smithereens.
So, you plan to keep running, huh?! Next time you won’t be so lucky!
My only chance to incapacitate the Dragon Lord was to use my most powerful Paladin-class attack. However, it would take time to invoke. I’d need to build up to it.
I watched the Dragon Lord loop around above, waving my hands over the destroyed earth.
“Sutekh, god of storms, I summon you to subdue this infidel who lords over your skies!”
A large rune circle appeared in the dirt in front of me. I poured all my energy into it. It slowly transformed; wind whipped through the complex runes along its perimeter, growing into a massive tornado that threatened to uproot the surrounding trees.
The demons available to the Summoner class tended to be overpowered against humans and monsters, but I didn’t imagine that would be the case with the Dragon Lord.
He rocketed toward me, sparing only a passing glance for the tornado, and not slowing in the slightest. As he closed in, his body began to glow. It seemed as though he was about to use his breath attack again—the magical equivalent of carpet bombing. A moment later, a bright flash burst from his mouth and sped toward the earth. The ground trembled beneath my feet.
The flash collided with the tornado, dissipating as if it hit an invisible wall.
I’d pulled it off just in time.