102. Battle with the Guard Dragon (2)At almost the same time as Dion"s declaration, Arti rushes straight in.
She was as fast as an arrow.
「G……」
The dragon flinched a little.
It must have thought of us as mere children.
Arti swings her sword.
A perfect surprise attack. Arti"s movement was fast and sharp enough to unleash a slash.
However, as expected of the dragon which serves as the leader of the guards.
Its reaction was fast and the response was appropriate.
「GRRRR!」
The dragon immediately leapt back and took distance.
Arti"s sharp slash cuts the empty s.p.a.ce.
But Rosetta, who had read the dragon"s movement, shoots an arrow to the spot where the dragon leapt back.
The arrow flew right towards the dragon"s forehead.
「GRAAAU」
But the dragon flings off the arrow with its right arm and then opens its mouth wide.
ーThe breath is coming!
The moment I tried to deploy a magic barrier to prevent the breath.
The dragon"s body was enveloped in flames. It was Tina"s magic attack.
「GAAAAAAA」
The dragon still shoots its breath while screaming.
It"s a storm breath.
The storm breath blew off Tina"s fire magic that enveloped the dragon.
Of course, that alone doesn"t stop the dragon"s breath.
The storm is also trying to blow us away.
There are magic blades fused in the wind.
Taking it head on will surely shred us to pieces.
「It"s my job to prevent that from happening」
I immediately deployed a magic barrier and protected everyone from the storm breath.
What the dragon saw when it stopped the storm breath was, Arti jumping out right before its eyes.
Within the storm breath, Arti entrusted her defence to my magic barrier and closed the distance between the dragon and her.
「HAAAAAAAAA!」
「GU!」
The dragon swings its left arm to match Arti"s slash.
The claws on the dragon"s left arm are extremely sharp and can"t be easily broken.
The dragon stops Arti"s sword with its claws.
Arti"s sword is handmade by me.
Even I thought it was a fine creation.
With my sword, Arti could even cut through steel.
However,
「Hmmm, it still isn"t good enough」
My sword still can"t break through a dragon"s claw.
And it isn"t even the claws of a top-ranking dragon.
Although it isn"t a low-cla.s.s dragon either, it is a leader-cla.s.s dragon that still can"t speak human language.
It was definitely not due to Arti"s lack of skill that the claws didn"t break.
Arti"s slash is at a high level.
Therefore, the reason definitely falls upon my sword.
My sword can cut through steel but can"t break the claws of a dragon.
「I really want to create a sword that can cut through a dragon"s claws and fangs…」
While I"m reconsidering my own weapons production, Arti is unleashing sharp slashes.
The dragon now uses both hands and continues to defend against the slashes with its claws.
And Rosetta keeps shooting arrows precisely.
Rosetta"s arrows are less likely to be fatal against dragon opponents covered with hard scales.
Nevertheless, the dragon couldn"t afford to ward off Rosetta"s arrows as it had its hands full with blocking Arti"s slashes.
It was also using magic defences to prevent Arti"s slashes.
「TAAAAA!」
Therefore, Rosetta"s arrow was finally able to injure the dragon.
About half of the arrowhead penetrated through, just enough to penetrate the scales.
Probably the tip of the arrow reached the dragon flesh. It wasn"t great damage.
「GAAAAAA」
Yet, it was undoubtedly painful for the dragon.
Rosetta is shooting at a pace of one arrow every two seconds.
Rosetta is skilled after all.
Perhaps the dragon was irritated by Rosetta"s stinging attack. As it changed its line of sight towards Rosetta.
「Do you really have the time to look away!?」
Tina"s magic attack swoops down on the dragon.
She used fire last time, but this time it was ice.
The dragon"s whole body was enveloped in ice.
「GUAA!」
The dragon roars and swings its body.
At the same time, magic gushes out from the dragon"s body and the ice is blasted away.
Then the dragon took in a deep breath. It is getting ready to unleash its storm breath.
At the same time, a fireball appears above the dragon.
It was not Tina who made that fireball, it was the dragon.
It must be planning to shoot the fireball together with its breath.
「Everyone, watch out for the fireball!」
「「YES!」」
Rosetta and Tina energetically replied, while Arti silently nodded.
Arti a.s.sumes a low stance and slashed as the dragon.
Rosetta circles to the dragon"s rear while shooting arrows.
And Tina creates a ma.s.s of ice, which gets larger every second.
This is probably to counter the dragon"s fireball.
「GUAAAAAAAAA!」
The storm breath blows furiously. I immediately put up a magic barrier.
I protect Arti, Tina and Rosetta by deploying individual barriers for each of them.
The breath should also be blowing furiously where Regina and Dion were.
But, Regina and Dion should be able to handle the breath on their own.
They will surely protect the G.o.d-beasts too.
While shooting the breath, the dragon shifts its line of sight from Rosetta to me.
And then, shoots the fireball at me.