Although they had already dealt with quite a few mythical creatures and even gods, this was the first time the two Campiones had ever faced a dragon.
This was not a common dragon species. Terrifying netherfire coiled around its horns, a dark violet flame capable of crushing the will of even the strongest and burning away sacred souls.
Its eyes were protected by three layers of eyelids, and within those sockets, Erica and the King of Swords saw the reptilian diamond-shaped pupils unique to such creatures.
Then, a dazzling green light surged from the black dragon's back.
Marquis Voban reverted once more to his human form, standing arrogantly atop the nearly seven-meter-tall dragon, looking down upon the two Godslayers before him.
The massive black dragon then leapt high into the air and began to fly in a manner that defied all common sense.
Watching the dragon grow more distant, the King of Swords frowned. For a knight skilled in close-range combat, a kiting tactic like this would be extremely troublesome.
"Is there any magic that works on a dragon?"
"No!"
Erica's eyes remained fixed warily on the dragon as it ascended.
Dragons were among the highest-ranked mythical creatures. Their very existence transcended the framework of modern magecraft, and dragonkind possessed an innate resistance to spell effects.
To put it simply and accurately—for magi and witches of this era,
—Dragons were invincible.
Roarrrrrrrrrr!
The black dragon circled in the sky several times, roaring as it did so. Then it adjusted its position and dove downward. Accompanied by the shrieking howl of the wind, this monster of myth arrived in an instant.
What came first was an overwhelming sense of pressure.
It was as though the vault of heaven had collapsed above their heads, as if tens of thousands of tons of earth and stone were crashing down with thunderous force. There was no escape in any direction—forward, backward, left, or right. This was the innate ability of true dragons—Dragon's Might.
In that instant, even the two Godslayers felt their bodies go numb, unable to move.
It was as if death stood right before them.
Suddenly, a faint ripple of azure energy stirred within their minds. In an instant, the fear brought on by Dragon's Might vanished without a trace.
Coming back to her senses, Erica raised her fist toward the dragon's snout, now only a breath away, and activated the authority of the Boar incarnation.
"Go raise some havoc~"
Amid the black dragon's furious roar, Erica was blasted backward by a violent recoil in the next moment, flung dozens of meters away before crashing heavily onto the ground.
Rooooooooooooar!
Ahead, the gigantic Boar incarnation struggled to withstand the black dragon's diving impact. Though it was the embodiment of the war god's charge—an authority capable of crushing most subordinate gods and divine beasts head-on—true dragons were clearly an exception.
In her haste, Erica was unable to complete the full incantation to provide sufficient curse power support.
As a result, the Boar incarnation that had just declared it would cause chaos was driven back again and again by the dragon's charge. One of its two massive tusks was snapped clean off by the overwhelming impact, and a sharp dragon claw pierced straight through its skull.
Gyaaaaaaaaah!
A howl of agony erupted from the boar. It went completely berserk, its eyes turning blood-red. Despite suffering grievous wounds, this equally black divine beast displayed a fearless resolve in the face of death. Its four hooves dug deep into the earth, the bristles along its back standing erect. Forcing its way forward with its head still impaled by the dragon's claw, it drove its remaining tusk toward the dragon's neck.
Although the boar's tremendous force finally halted the dragon's advance, the mythical creature was equally formidable in close combat. With its other claw, it slammed down on the boar's head, lifting its upper body to avoid the thrust of the tusk. At the same time, its abdomen and maw began to glow with dark violet light.
Then it opened its abyss-like jaws toward the massive boar.
In the blink of an eye, dark violet netherfire engulfed everything.
At that very moment, however, a wall of wind rose from the ground before the boar. Though the abyssal netherfire was terrifyingly powerful, it was swept upward by the wind, forming a towering pillar of flame that pierced the sky.
Behind it, the mark of the Gale authority flickered briefly across Erica's body.
Aside from its snout being scorched black and its fur slightly singed by the intense heat, the boar itself suffered no fatal damage.
Regaining its momentum, the boar exerted force once more. Its razor-sharp tusk pierced through the violet netherfire and thrust fiercely toward the dragon's neck.
Unfortunately, the black dragon's dynamic vision was simply too sharp. At the critical moment, its head shifted slightly to the left. The boar's massive tusk scraped across the dragon's hardened scales.
Sparks flew brilliantly, but the strike ultimately failed to pierce through.
In the next instant, the boar was completely swallowed by the netherfire that had broken through the wind wall, ending its brief appearance.
Yet the sacrifice of the boar incarnation was far from meaningless.
Roarrrrrrrrr!
After releasing its netherfire breath, the black dragon suddenly let out a pained howl. Netherfire ignited across its body as its enormous form staggered backward.
A golden sword scar stretching dozens of meters had appeared along its massive left wing. Had it not reacted swiftly just now, that single slash would have nearly severed half the wing outright.
"With a body that huge and reflexes that fast—how unreasonable," the King of Swords remarked, emerging from the opposite side, carrying the faint scent of roasted meat.
After the same external energy had dispelled Dragon's Might's suppression upon him, he had immediately seized the moment when the boar and dragon were locked in struggle to strike from the flank.
But the dragon's reactions were too quick. It had instantly summoned netherfire to drive the King of Swords back.
Even so, the golden blade imbued with the authority of Ripping Silver Arm had still inflicted heavy damage upon the creature.
Before he could react further, however,
Erica suddenly glanced behind him. "Watch out."
Behind the King of Swords, Marquis Voban appeared soundlessly. Thunder coiled around his wrist as he thrust viciously toward the King of Swords' left chest.
He had been hiding underground all along.
That split-second ambush was difficult to react to even for Erica.
And at that very moment, from within the darkness, something suddenly shot out and tightly coiled around Marquis Voban, forcibly halting his thrust. No matter how he struggled, he was unable to break free for the moment.
"Die!"
Marquis Voban immediately activated his Sodom's Gaze toward the creature within the shadows. Yet at the head of the pitch-black being coiled around him, two red lights lit up simultaneously.
In an instant, two malevolent beams of differing power collided in midair. Their forces were evenly matched, bursting into a brilliant flare of divine light.
"A petrifying evil eye? Gorgon?"
A look of astonishment appeared on Marquis Voban's face as he finally saw clearly—the creature entwined around him was a gigantic winged serpent.
At the very moment Marquis Voban was restrained, the King of Swords immediately dashed forward to widen the distance, then glanced toward Erica.
"I'll handle the black dragon!" she responded.
But how?
The colossal creature, enraged by the King of Swords' ambush, was now charging straight at them.
Erica stood directly in its path without flinching. Another authority sigil emerged upon her body.
It was the Bull.
"I am the strongest, the one who holds all victories in hand. Whether man or dragon—before any foe, I shall crush their hostility! O bull with gleaming golden horns, grant me your aid!"
This incarnation granted Erica overwhelming superhuman strength during battle, reinforcing her body beyond human limits.
Its activation condition required the opponent to be large and heavy. The greater the opponent's size, the more her brute strength would increase.
The condition was that the enemy possessed abnormal physical power.
A dragon undoubtedly met that requirement.
A golden radiance rivaling the sun erupted from her body. For a brief moment, she resembled a miniature blazing sun.
Though her size did not change, her strength instantly reached a realm beyond humanity.
Yet even with such a surge of power, facing the frontal charge of a thirty-meter-long black dragon was still far from enough.
It was common knowledge that a dragon's charge was a simple yet brutally effective killing move. Before a charging dragon, attempting to block it head-on was futile. Leaving aside the horns and jagged spikes covering its body, its sheer mass and force were enough to crush everything in its path.
To counter such an attack, matching force with force was not an option.
Erica stomped down fiercely. Tremendous power transmitted into the ground. Spiderweb-like cracks spread outward from beneath her feet, racing forward until they reached beneath the dragon.
Though agile, the charging dragon had to pay the price for its excessive size. Under such immense inertia, it could not possibly adjust its balance in time. One of its massive claws stepped directly into the fractured ground.
Boom!
Erica's strength had already shattered the foundation below. When the dragon's enormous claw struck the cracked surface, the ground—unable to withstand its weight—collapsed instantly. Nearly a quarter of the area caved in, forming a massive pit.
According to her calculations, that collapse would be enough to neutralize the dragon's charge.
And within that pit were enormous golden swords specially prepared for this very dragon.
If it fell into that cavity, even with dragon scales protecting it, it would not escape unscathed.
A smug smile flashed across Erica's face.
But in the next instant, her expression froze.
"...What?"
The enormous black dragon did not plunge headfirst into the pit as she had expected.
Just before the ground gave way, a magical glow flashed across its body. Then, with unimaginable force, the dragon leapt high into the air—vaulting directly over Erica's head.
Its movements were nothing like those of a clumsy reptile. Instead, it was as nimble as a great feline, effortlessly clearing the massive chasm.
"How is that possible? There was no foothold left for it to push off from."
Elsewhere, having shaken off the Winged Serpent and resumed pursuit of the King of Swords, Marquis Voban laughed arrogantly.
"Ignorant brats. Do you think a dragon is merely some ordinary beast?"
"It cast a spell on itself?!"
Realization dawned upon Erica.
Dragons, as mythical creatures, were indeed resistant to modern spell systems—but that did not apply to draconic magic.
A dragon's superiority lay not only in its formidable body, but also in its intelligence—far surpassing that of humans, who fancied themselves the spirit of all things. Nearly every adult dragon could wield spells suited to its own nature.
The wound left earlier on its wing by the golden sword was already regenerating at a visible speed.
Though the authority of Ripping Silver Arm made injuries difficult to heal, it clearly held little effect against a dragon's innate magic.
In the blink of an eye, the agile black dragon completed a wide arc in the sky and dove once more.
As it swept low over the nearby streets with wings fully extended, countless streetlamps and roadside signs were torn from their foundations and flung skyward by the hurricane-force winds trailing behind it.
The dragon drew closer and closer. Beneath its throat, the scales once again glowed with a deep, eerie violet light, as if a blazing inferno burned within.
"Watch out!"
Before Erica could finish the warning, the dragon opened its jaws. With an earth-shaking roar, it unleashed a second breath toward the ground.
"Soar—boots of Hermes!"
At the critical moment, Erica leapt upward. A crimson magic circle unfolded beneath her feet, allowing her to step on air itself. She ascended almost vertically into the sky, narrowly evading the netherfire breath.
Erica had a means of escape.
But the King of Swords, who knew nothing of magecraft, suddenly found himself in a dire predicament.
Only then did he realize—the black dragon was coordinating with Marquis Voban.
His current position was directly beneath the dragon's breath.
It was Voban who had deliberately forced him into that spot.
At the crucial instant, Erica chanted rapidly midair:
"O demonic sword of the lion, cast aside your blade and become binding chains!"
Clack, clack...
The Lion's Heart abruptly transformed into lengths of chain. Erica swung them downward sharply.
"Grab it!"
Below, the King of Swords reacted instantly, catching the chain that tore through the air. In that same moment, he released the weight-reducing effect of his Steel Body.
Just before the netherfire—tinged with the dragon's sulfurous breath—engulfed the area, he shot upward, narrowly escaping the overwhelming inferno.
However, evading a single breath did not end the threat.
From above, lightning woven by Marquis Voban's authority descended simultaneously. In an instant, bolts of electricity crashed down from the sky. The intense heat of the thunder evaporated the falling rain before striking straight toward Erica midair.
This time, she had nowhere to dodge—nor any time to chant.
And at the very moment the lightning was about to strike her—
Bang—
A golden barrier manifested around her body.
Though the violet lightning surged with ferocious force, before that golden barrier it could do nothing and was repelled harmlessly.
"This is—?!"
Erica was stunned.
She had seen this golden barrier before—when she had once subjugated the Boar incarnation and the Heretic God Athena.
It was an absolute protection that only a god could bestow upon a target.
Divine Protection.
"What?!"
Marquis Voban was equally taken aback. He had believed that strike certain to succeed, never imagining that she possessed such a layer of defense.
Seizing the opportunity, Erica leapt through the air and at last found a remote corner to land upon. She managed to pull both herself and the King of Swords out of immediate danger before looking back toward the battlefield.
The plaza, which had moments ago been drenched in torrential rain, was now engulfed in thick smoke and flickering flames.
The rampaging netherfire dragon breath had set the entire district ablaze, transforming it into a sea of deep violet fire.