Thor charged toward the dragon at incredible speed, taking advantage of the opening Heimdall had created with his arrows.
His objective was clear.
He did not want to attack the dragon from a distance.
He wanted to get close and engage him in direct combat.
He intended to attack him at close range using lightning, preventing him from focusing on the five arrows pursuing him and exploiting that moment to his advantage.
At the same time, Sol and Ran immediately began using their powers.
Ran was beneath the ocean.
The moment she realized that the opportunity had arrived, she unleashed her power.
Suddenly...
Dozens of enormous pillars of water rose from the depths of the ocean.
They were so massive that each one was nearly the size of dozens of ships.
They surged upward from the ocean with tremendous force, heading toward the dragon from below.
Meanwhile, Sol...
Was flying high in the sky.
He raised his hand and began concentrating his fiery energy within it.
The flames became increasingly concentrated until his hand was surrounded by an enormous amount of fiery power.
Then...
He unleashed it.
A concentrated beam of fire shot toward the dragon, resembling a devastating red beam of light as it tore through the sky at tremendous speed.
At the same time, Thor did not stop.
He covered his body with lightning and thunderbolts.
Electrical energy spread violently around him as he moved even closer to the dragon.
Then he raised both hands.
Suddenly...
He unleashed devastating bolts of lightning from his hands, sending them directly toward the dragon.
At that moment, the dragon was still desperately evading the five golden arrows pursuing him.
But...
He was no longer dealing with the arrows alone.
Thor's attacks, Sol's fiery beam, and Ran's enormous water pillars were now heading toward him as well.
The dragon looked at the incoming attacks.
His anger intensified.
He had to evade the five arrows while simultaneously dealing with the attacks of the three Rulers.
The situation was becoming extremely troublesome for him.
Suddenly...
The dragon stopped in the sky.
He opened his mouth wide.
Then began concentrating an enormous amount of fire within it.
The flames rapidly intensified inside his mouth until they became an intensely bright mass of fire.
Then...
The dragon unleashed a gigantic beam of fire toward the arrows and attacks approaching him.
The massive beam surged forward with devastating force.
Its primary objective was to stop the attacks coming toward him.
But...
Something happened that the dragon had not expected.
The five golden arrows pierced through the fiery beam with ease.
The flames could not stop them.
The arrows tore straight through the beam and continued toward the dragon as though the massive attack had never existed.
As for the attacks of the three Rulers...
They were not all affected in the same way.
The attack directly confronted by the dragon's beam was primarily Thor's lightning.
Meanwhile, Sol's attack was coming from the sky, while Ran's water pillars were rising from the ocean.
Therefore, the dragon's beam could not stop all of them.
Within seconds...
The attacks collided.
Sol's fiery beam struck the dragon from above.
Ran's enormous water pillars surged upward from the ocean toward him.
And the five golden arrows reached him from the front.
They rapidly surrounded the dragon and struck him in different areas.
The dragon tried to evade them, but...
It was too late.
All five arrows struck his body in multiple locations.
At the same time, the attacks from Thor, Sol, and Ran struck his body as well.
The dragon screamed in pain.
Then...
A massive explosion erupted.
BOOOOM!
The force of the explosion was so devastating that it forcibly sent Thor flying away from the dragon.
Thor was hurled backward over a great distance, while the sky shook violently from the sheer force of the blast.
Then...
The dragon's scream filled the battlefield.
His roar of pain shook the entire area.
Long moments passed.
Then dozens more...
Until the explosion gradually began to subside.
The smoke, dust, and scattered energy throughout the sky slowly faded away.
And when the explosion finally settled...
The dragon appeared.
He was still standing in the sky.
But this time...
His body was covered in severe injuries.
Five clear puncture marks could be seen across his body, caused by the five golden arrows.
There was also a large burn mark across his back, along with numerous other injuries and traces of damage caused by Ran and Sol's attacks.
The situation was clear.
Ran, Sol, and Heimdall's arrows had actually managed to injure him.
The dragon looked at the five wounds across his body.
Blood flowed from his mouth.
He calmly wiped it away before focusing on the puncture marks left by the five arrows.
Then he said in a voice carrying a hint of admiration despite the pain,
"These arrows... are truly incredible."
He looked at the places where the arrows had pierced his body.
Then continued,
"The moment they entered my body, they destroyed me from within... and then disappeared."
He examined his other injuries for a few moments.
Then sighed.
Afterward...
He slowly spread his wings.
He looked at Thor, Ran, and Sol.
Then said,
"Good fight."
Silence fell for a few moments.
Then the dragon continued,
"We'll meet again."
"And when we do... the outcome will be different."
Then the dragon began flying away.
Neither Thor nor Ran nor Sol attempted to stop him.
There were two clear reasons for that.
The first...
He was the son of the Dragon King.
The second...
The three of them knew very well that continuing the battle at that moment could lead to an uncertain outcome.
Even after all those attacks and injuries...
The dragon still possessed a terrifying amount of power.
If the battle continued, there was no guarantee that Thor, Ran, and Sol would emerge victorious.
Thor calmly watched the dragon leave.
Then he took a deep breath.
The lightning surrounding his body gradually began to fade.
He had realized something important.
If they continued fighting at that moment...
They might have lost.
Therefore, he did not move.
He simply watched the dragon until he disappeared into the distance.
Afterward...
Ran emerged from the ocean.
The water rose around her before she appeared and moved toward Thor.
At the same time, Sol descended from the sky.
The two looked at Thor.
Then they looked toward the direction in which the dragon had departed.
They said,
"He finally left."
Thor remained silent for a few moments.
Then he looked toward the direction where the dragon had disappeared.
He knew that this battle was not the end.
It was merely the beginning.
The dragon had left injured...
But he was not dead.
And the next time they met...
The outcome could be completely different.
Thor knew that all too well.
(Author's Note):
Hello everyone! Thank you for your continuous support of this novel; your comments and interactions mean the world to me.
Stepping away from our story here for a moment, I wanted to share another project I've been working on with great passion. I have started publishing a webtoon (comic) on the Webtoon platform titled "Me and the Wolf."
It is a [Comedy / Fantasy] story about a miserable young man and a cunning wolf who is constantly getting him into trouble! If you enjoy my writing style and the way I build scenarios, I promise you're going to love this comic.
I would be so grateful if you could go check it out, subscribe to the series, and let me know what you think in the comments there!
🔍 Search on the Webtoon app for: [Me and the Wolf]