NOVEL NEXT Chapter 91
The dragon spread its wings and soared into the sky. Its length from head to tail was 50 meters, and the wingspan when fully extended was an astounding size—double that.
Unlike the numerous monster tribes that gain strength at night, dragons fly most brilliantly under the sun. Their scales reflect sunlight, showcasing exceptional radiance rather than moonlight, and this shimmering light spreads out in multiple rays like a rainbow, enough to terrify ordinary hearts.
However, today the White Dragon Etrias is not facing ordinary hearts.
“A white dragon? The color resembles mine. But, it seems a bit too shiny.”
In the desolate plains, Walter Hellhound watched the dragon slowly approaching alongside his beloved, Rose Caprice. Rose shrugged her shoulders.
“It’s unnecessary to compete in odd ways if your hair is shinier than that.”
“What? You mean to say mine shines more? Do you observe well around you?”
Walter exclaimed, surprised, while ruffling his own hair. Rose chuckled at the sight of the foolish-looking hero.
“Of course, it was a joke. So, how do you plan to deal with it? As you said, our legion has been stationed in the completed fortress, but if we get broken through, there’s no guarantee that the half-finished fortress can withstand a dragon’s breath.”
“Naturally, we must stop it at our end.”
Walter drew the Holy Sword from his waist. The sacred white light, shining from the unicorn horn powder, pierced the sky, aiming towards the dragon.
Rose’s mention of ‘hair shinier than dragon scales’ must refer to this sword. Even today, despite not bringing out her warhorse, Rose had unsheathed her practice sword and taken her stance.
Rose is strongest while on horseback, but the moment she rides, she becomes vulnerable in ways not seen in her usual self.
Compared to Rose, dubbed the Iron Wall, the living creature known as a horse is frail and weak. Her equestrian skills are unmatched across the continent, but she cannot share the blessings of the Iron Wall with the horse she rides.
While it wouldn’t be a problem against ordinary foes, if the opponent is the Gargoyle Queen, it would be better to leave the horse behind. After all, no one wants to witness the terrible sight of a horse’s head being smashed like a watermelon by a diamond fist.
“Hellhound. I’m ready on my side.”
Before long, Margaret, mounted on a white horse and aiming at the dragon, approached the two. Unlike Rose, who faced the enemy directly, Margaret, an archer, had no intention of taking a frontal hit from the enemy’s attacks, making it sensible to be on horseback.
That said, it also meant that Margaret was not particularly keen on showing off her four-blade spectacle against the dragon; there was little point in flaunting swordplay in front of such a beast.
“Got it. Let’s hit them hard right away. Once we get a little closer, we’ll be the first to enter the range of their breath…”
Walter Hellhound swung his Holy Sword, casting an enhancement spell on Margaret’s arrow. The Elven Princess’s arrow tip began to shine white, and in that moment, Margaret naturally let loose her arrow towards Etrias.
The arrow shot up like an aerial missile, leaving a long trail, and struck the dragon’s mana shield directly.
At that moment, a strange scene unfolded where the arrow hesitated briefly in mid-air. From below, it appeared to be just a white arrow heading towards the tail, but in reality, it was blocked by the mana shield surrounding the dragon’s body and was engaged in a power struggle to penetrate through.
Margaret’s arrow had pierced the transparent mana barrier like a sharp skewer lightly touching ice, but it had not yet gained enough force to completely break through the opponent’s defenses.
Judging that a single blow was still needed to securely drive the nail into the wall, Margaret extended a hand towards Walter.
“Could I borrow that for a moment?”
“Ah, yes, of course. Is there a matter regarding it?”
Walter hurriedly took off his glasses and handed them to Margaret. She gratefully took Harriet’s glasses, placed them on her face, and then drew another arrow, aiming it at the dragon—or rather, the arrow she had just shot.
With a whoosh, the arrow flew, striking precisely at the part of the white light that was hovering in mid-air. As if hammering a loosely embedded nail, the barrier began to crack.
With Walter’s magic empowering it, Margaret’s two arrows pierced through the White Dragon’s barrier and lodged into the dragon’s neck.
Etrias let out a painful scream, thrashing in the sky. A weak flame barely erupted from the White Dragon’s mouth.
“You attacked first, brave heroes.”
Shaking off the arrows from its neck, Etrias spoke with an elegant voice. Walter pointed his finger towards the sky, replying.
“No, strictly speaking, you threatened us first. We came forward to showcase our power—”
“No, Walter, to put it simply, this battle indeed began when we pushed northwards.”
Rose interrupted. Walter tilted his head slightly in confusion.
“Is that so? That does seem like it, but if we think back to the root of it…it goes back several years to when the Demon King’s Army…”
At that moment, the White Dragon, unwilling to be caught in a stubborn debate, lowered its head, flames swarming in its mouth. Walter shouted, eyes wide.
“We don’t have time for nonsense, Rose!”
“Alright, Crown Princess is coming out!”
Just as Etrias breathed fire, Rose leaped into the air to confront the flames head-on.
With one hand clutching her sword, Rose crossed her arms in an ‘X’ to shield her face, empowered by the blessing of the Iron Wall, forming a robust defense. The princess swung her arms wide to clear the flames that blocked her path and landed on the ground, unscathed.
“I knew it. As long as you’re here, I don’t need to worry about the dragon.”
Just when Walter was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Rose sensed a murderous intent from behind and quickly turned, swinging her sword to counter the ambush.
Thanks to Rose’s swift response, the stealth magic cast by the Gargoyle Queen was dispelled. The Gargoyle Queen, whose fist was halted by Rose’s blade, grinned fiendishly.
“This won’t do, Crown Princess. You have to play with me a bit.”
“Gargoyle…!”
“This isn’t good.”
Walter muttered, putting on the glasses he received from Margaret. The dragon still hovered in the sky, while Rose continued to engage in a tense power struggle against the Gargoyle Queen.
When it comes to which is more threatening, it’s obviously the White Dragon floating above. While the Gargoyle does have wings, it’s only capable of low-altitude flying, so there’s a way to evade them and stop their advance.
However, the dragon possesses the ability to continuously assault and, if not stopped, can freely fly into the rear fortress. The destructive power it wields when let loose surpasses that of the Gargoyle Queen.
Walter frowned, worrying about the potential hiding spots for the enemy army, scanning the surroundings closely. But, through his glasses, there didn’t appear to be any further large-scale stealth magic set up in the vicinity.
The enemy’s thoughts likely mirrored his own. Those that gathered here were superhuman beings far beyond the level of ordinary soldiers, or rather, otherworldly species. Sending regular soldiers into such a situation would only serve as fodder.
In another sense, it means that whoever gains the upper hand in small-scale skirmishes between commanders can completely shift the tide of the standoff.
“Rose, I’ll entrust it to you.”
Walter declared, gazing at the dragon over his glasses. Walter Hellhound couldn’t even guarantee perfect victory in this expedition.
To be honest, the situation of confronting the dragon this swiftly had far exceeded his expectations. For Walter, who had planned to uplift the morale of his soldiers by repeatedly smashing down the stranded orc legions, the meticulous choice of the Demon King’s Army to shift to defense, having withdrawn all forces to construct the rear fortress and even mobilizing the dragon, came as a fresh shock.
The Demon King had displayed a level of cold judgment that surpassed Walter’s expectations. Walter, deep down, wished for the Demon King to overlook the reality that their offensive capacity had reached a dead end and to repeatedly engage in reckless deployment.
However, the Demon King, unlike Walter’s foolish subordinates, clearly realized that the flow of the Demon King’s army had entirely halted due to their defeats during the non-member battles and that they would no longer have the capability to advance beyond the border.
Simultaneously, the Demon King, just at the moment of realization, understood that the northern crusade of the Audrich Empire was imminent.
Thus, this was a thoroughly prepared encounter with defenders. No matter how invincible a hero may be, if the Demon King’s Army unites for defense, there’s no guaranteed path to victory.
In the harsh reality of battle, not all things can be resolved by pulling wins out of a hat. Ultimately, there are fixed formations and determined flows to contend with. A genius isn’t necessarily someone who can pull out new tricks from nowhere; rather, they are individuals who know how to best utilize the established formations.
Actions against a prepared enemy in an unfavorable situation are limited.
Even Walter Hellhound couldn’t assert triumph during this expedition.
“Ah, leave that stone-headed fool to me!”
Rose pushed the Gargoyle Queen back with all her strength, then struck her fist against the opponent’s face. The Gargoyle Queen retaliated with a punch aimed at Rose, but Rose barely raised her guard in time, blocking the attack with her forearm.
The Gargoyle Queen is one of the few opponents against whom Rose must raise her guard. Even for Rose, taking a direct hit from her fist would result in injury.
Rose even put her sword back in its sheath to showcase her dazzling boxing skills.
Even a Crown Princess’s sword is ultimately made of steel. Steel cannot defeat diamond—except for that one sword, blessed with the ‘Iron Wall.’
While Rose and the Gargoyle Queen engaged in an epic battle, Margaret loaded another arrow aimed at the White Dragon.
“We need to bring that down to the ground first.”
“Can you do it?”
“Are you looking for an easy solution, Walter Hellhound?”
“I can guess without hearing it. You mean to say to bring back Jeongjae?”
Margaret sighed and nodded.
“Well, that’s true, but we need the assistance of the wizards first. How many battle mages do we have in our legion?”
“Twenty capable mages. It was hard to bring anyone more than that.”
“Then let half of them remain to assist with the fortress construction, and at the very least, I hope the other half will stick with us.”
“I have already arranged something similar. Bernard!”
At that moment, a large-scale stealth magic was dispelled from Walter’s rear, revealing seven battle mages donning colorful robes.
They were wizards brought in, concealed, to prepare for an ambush when the enemy lurked. Though they couldn’t compare to Jeongjae, who had the highest talent of all time, each of these mages was competent enough to hold their own as spellcasters.
The blonde-haired hunter, who had also been hiding with the wizards, walked forward.
“So, we need to bring that down to the ground?”
“If there’s a way to capture it while it’s still in the air, that would be ideal.”
“Did all you rainbow friends hear? No matter what, we need to bring that dragon down.”
Bernard turned to the mages. At his command, the wizards, dressed in battle robes, reached towards the sky and began to deploy a binding spell magic circle.
The White Dragon circled cautiously in the air as if wary of the mages below, slowly beginning to chant a spell.
The preliminary skirmish had commenced. This earlier confrontation could be a crucial turning point in deciding which side would grasp the flow of the northern war.