Translator: AnubisTL
Empowered by the rune battle armor, the blonde warrior's attributes surged, but he still couldn't match Garos's speed. His eyes widened as he watched the young dragon lunge toward the white-robed priestess.
She was the object of his affection.
Though his previous confession had been ruthlessly rejected, the blonde warrior's admiration for her remained undiminished.
"Cowardly dragonkind! Are you afraid of my blade?" he roared at the young dragon, his voice ringing with desperation. "This lord will strip your hide and break your bones to make a specimen for my display case!"
Dragons, especially evil dragons, were notoriously arrogant and quick-tempered, unable to tolerate insults. Direct taunts and belittling remarks were the most effective way to provoke their wrath.
Yet.
Garos acted as if he hadn't heard a word, completely ignoring the blonde warrior's provocations.
With a gale-force wind trailing behind him, he closed the distance to the white-robed priestess in an instant.
Priests come in many forms. Some are towering figures clad in armor, wielding flails or warhammers, their ferocity in battle surpassing even that of warriors. Others, like the white-robed priestess before Garos, excel in support skills such as enhancing allies or healing wounds, lacking proficiency in close combat.
Faced with Garos's ferocious lunge, the priestess stumbled backward in panic, tripping over a stone.
Retribution!
She extended her palm, aimed it at Garos, and unleashed her sole offensive skill.
Boom! A blindingly pure, divine light struck Garos's back like lightning, shattering his hardened dragon scales into a web of cracks. The holy radiance seeped into these fissures, burning him with excruciating pain.
This searing agony wasn't from heat.
Garos was virtually immune to ordinary fire-type damage. The pain stemmed from the retribution's sacred attribute, which inflicted extra damage on the 'evil' Garos.
Sss! That hurts! Does this skill classify me as evil?
Even skills discriminate these days? I, Garos, am no evil dragon!
Enraged, Garos swept his guillotine-like dragon wings.
Under the moonlight, a severed head, its face frozen in terror, shot skyward.
"Ah! Hetti!"
The blonde warrior roared, "Damn you, evil dragon! I'll kill you!"
He hefted his door-sized greatsword and charged toward Garos with thunderous strides.
Now, only the dragon and the warrior remained on the battlefield.
Garos, who had dominated the entire scene with his overwhelming power, the blonde warrior, his hair practically standing on end with fury, and the necromancer, lurking in the shadow of an iron fir.
As for the female rogue...
The wily rogue had sensed danger the moment it arose and vanished without a trace. Samantha, unwilling to let the little thief who had attacked her escape, gave chase.
"Now it's the necromancer's turn."
Garos ignored the blonde warrior and turned his gaze, locking onto the necromancer.
A chill ran down the necromancer's spine as tension gripped him. But when he caught a glimpse of the two corpses out of the corner of his eye, a flicker of confidence returned.
With corpses nearby—especially those of extraordinary beings—the necromancer could unleash skills far more potent than usual.
I'll turn the tide, he thought, extending a finger toward the fallen priest's body.
The corpse exploded!
Boom!
The priest's body detonated violently, leaving not a trace behind. All its flesh and blood essence coalesced into a swift, blood-poisoned mist that enveloped Garos.
Life Extraction!
Boom! The spellcaster's corpse exploded in the distance, forming a crimson thread that struck the blonde warrior. His body immediately began to swell, veins bulging across his face as muscles beneath his skin bulged like they were stuffed with tar and oil. The warrior's entire physique underwent a dramatic enhancement.
"Captain, this is our chance!"
"You've been enhanced! Take down that evil dragon!"
The necromancer shouted.
Under the cold moonlight, the blonde warrior's eyes were vacant as he stiffly turned his head to look at the necromancer.
Hetti, the white-robed priestess—the object of his admiration.
Havin, the spellcaster—his brother in arms.
As for the necromancer before him, he barely knew him, having only worked together on a few missions. Impressed by his skills, he had temporarily recruited him for this wilderness expedition.
"Why are you staring at me? Don't just stand there! Attack! Hetti and Havin are with you!"
The necromancer, bewildered by the blonde warrior's reaction, urged him on.
In his view, making practical use of his companions' corpses was the greatest respect he could show them. But the blonde warrior saw things differently.
"You bastard! I'll kill you first!"
The blonde warrior turned, his eyes blazing with fury, and charged at the necromancer.
"It's over!" the necromancer thought in alarm. "The captain has been cursed by the evil dragon and lost his mind!"
With a wave of his hand, ghostfire erupted from the priest's head, burning away flesh and skin until only a skull remained. The skull floated forward to intercept the "mindless" blonde warrior, who only grew more enraged and frenzied.
"I'll kill you!"
He smashed the skull with a single sword strike, ignoring the ghostfire that slammed into his body, and lunged at the necromancer, slashing his sword down.
The necromancer couldn't evade the blow. His body was cleaved in two diagonally.
Aaaah! The blonde warrior roared, hacking again to sever the necromancer's head.
Meanwhile, Garos, his wings ablaze with fire, had long since dispelled the blood mist. Yet he remained motionless, watching the scene unfold with curiosity and astonishment.
The sudden infighting among his opponents caught him completely off guard, adding an unexpected layer of drama to the fierce battle.
Still, it saved him some trouble.
"Evil dragon!"
The blonde warrior who had slain the necromancer turned toward Garos and charged forward.
"Die!"
He leaped into the air, raised his greatsword, and recklessly swung it down at Garos's head, heedless of the consequences.
The warrior's sword never landed.
Garos spun around, his tail sweeping out in a devastating arc. The warrior and his sword were hurled into the rocky cliff twenty meters away. Amidst the flying debris, the body embedded in the crevice twisted into a grotesque pose, its life force extinguished.
The battle was over. Silence descended upon the battlefield.
The red iron young dragon paced slowly, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings.
When his eyes landed on a particular spot, Garos suddenly opened his maw and unleashed a torrent of flaming dragon breath. The inferno engulfed the necromancer's mangled remains, and screams echoed through the flames before fading as the corpse was reduced to ashes.
So he wasn't quite dead after all, Garos thought.
He wasn't entirely sure about the necromancer's true condition, but he suspected that a practitioner of death magic would possess more survival tricks than most. Adopting a "better safe than sorry" approach, he unleashed dragon breath upon the corpse, inadvertently hitting the mark.
Never underestimate adventurers, Garos thought. Their cunning and treachery would have caused endless trouble had I let him escape alive.
To ensure the blonde warrior wasn't feigning death or possessed resurrection or survival methods, Garos unleashed another blast of dragon breath, reducing the corpse in the rocky crevice to charred remains.
The surging flames illuminated the night sky, marking the end of the battle.
Shortly after, Samantha returned, clutching a struggling figure who seemed to have resigned herself to her fate.
Thud!
Samantha tossed the female rogue before Garos, her voice brimming with excitement. "My dear brother, I want her as my slave! I captured her—she's my spoils of war!"
Garos shook his head.
"You're mistaken," Garos said. "If I hadn't intervened, these people would have captured you alive, or worse—skinned and dismembered you for a gruesome death. You wouldn't have even had the chance to capture this human."
Samantha gazed at Garos's bloodstained scales and formidable physique, realizing the truth in his words. She offered no rebuttal.
"So, what do you intend to do with her?" Samantha asked.
"Kill her outright," Garos replied calmly. "There's no reason to keep her alive."
Rogues were cunning and resourceful, skilled in ambushes and escapes. Garos doubted this rogue's loyalty and couldn't guarantee keeping her contained. He had no time for games of wits and strategy. If she escaped, she might return with reinforcements to hunt him down.
Killing her outright was the simplest solution.
"Wait, wait!" the female rogue cried out frantically, shedding her treasures and equipment. She pulled a map from her cloak and presented it to Garos. "Noble dragon, I offer all my wealth and this map—which leads to a legendary alchemy item—in exchange for my life!"
(End of the Chapter)