All of them turned back to see the gigantic head emerge in the palace. It had snow white scales and fangs, and glared at them with cruel sapphire eyes. The head alone was almost two meters in length, appearing as if it could swallow them easily, like mere snacks.
All of them got chills, after being glared at by the apex predator. They didn"t even have the strength to move a single toe! They now finally understood what they were facing.
White Dragon Frost emerged from the depths of the cave, exposing its enormous body entirely before them. The body, which was over ten meters tall, looked like a looming castle before them.
Standing at Frost"s feet, it was difficult to even see his head. The fluid lines of his body conveyed not only his size, but also his tremendous speed and power. It was evident that his silvery scales could defend against any ordinary sword attack.
Before such a fearsome creature, even Verthandi"s confidence waned, as she felt helpless before the monster. As for Allen, Ibu, and Tiridan, the three of them couldn"t even muster the courage to run away. All of their pipe dreams had scattered upon their seeing Frost.
"As I thought, it"s just more fools sent by the orcs. I will eat every single one of you."
Roaring its taunt, the White Dragon then lifted its head and pointed its snout at the four of them. Ibu, who had witnessed the fury of Frost before, yelled out immediately. "Run, Dragon Breath!"
With a deafening roar, rolling hot flames shot out of the White Dragon"s mouth, lighting up the entire Ice Palace. The temperature of the entire scene shot up instantly. The dragon then spread its wings to launch out into the air.
Soaring within the huge palace, the dragon chased down the four people, who were scurrying for their lives. The dragon then moved to block the exit, trapping them.
Verthandi looked at a crevice that was located deeper in the ice cave. "We"re heading there."
Ibu howled. "Where? That place is so tiny! Is that just another way to seek death?"
Verthandi had already headed towards the crevice, which went straight down for tens of meters, and leapt in. The four of them followed. Once they leapt, they fell straight into a little mountain of treasure. The entire floor of this new s.p.a.ce was covered by gold and silver, dazzling the eyes. From above, Frost peeped his head in.
"You dare to enter there? You must want to die! There is nowhere for you to run!"
Roaring its threat, the dragon stepped lithely down. Then, just like a cat chasing mice, it steadily approached, flapping its wings. In the air, water vapor and ice were gathering, forming lances of ice, which began shooting towards them.
However, they were no match for the dragon. No matter what they did, they were doomed to struggle against the more powerful dragon"s attacks.
The Minotaur, Tiridan, found a chance to leap onto the dragon, as he tried to look for its weakness. Yet, he was knocked off by its wings, after receiving a heavy blow that swept him into the mountain of treasure and out of sight.
"Tiridan!"
The rest of the team yelled out after him, but the dragon continued its steady approach. They sensed that they were doomed.
At this time, from an icy cell on the right side, a voice echoed out. "Did Father send you all to save me? It"s useless. This is a dragon, so mortals are helpless before him."
They turned and saw a young girl in dirty clothes, who was trapped within the icy jail cell, which was sealed behind a thick pillar of ice. The cell seemed to be a natural cave.
Verthandi dove over and hacked at the cell with the Sword of the King, then started to crawl inside it. The cave looked rather deep, so the group of four crawled over immediately, as the White Dragon"s attacks continued to land from outside. The sinister head of the dragon peeped in, glaring at them and laughing cruelly.
"Die together!"
The four of them were running as fast as they could toward the cave, hoping to escape the onslaught, when the dragon let out another fiery breath. Fireb.a.l.l.s were whistling through the air towards their backs, drowning them in their fierce heat.
Allen let out a terrified scream. "We"re dead!"
Ibu dropped his sword, an odd sense of relief and peaceful surrender filling his heart. "Maybe it"s time for me to pay for my sins."
The crimson flames carried searing heat, and though they were still somewhat far away, they gave a feeling like they would burn everything in their path into ashes, and cause the whole crevice to melt into steam.
"Sheen..."
Verthandi raised the Sword of the King. Instantly, a silvery white light shone, as the light from the inscribed sigils gleamed throughout the cave. The unseen force from the sword completely blocked the evil dragon"s breath.
Verthandi gripped the sword with both hands and gritted her teeth. Her golden blond hair flew up, as she let out a roar. A ray of white light radiated from the sword, reflecting the dragon"s breath. As Verthandi rushed forward, she slashed the dragon"s eyes with the holy light.
Everyone was completely shocked, both by the entire scene and by the silvery white, holy sword in Verthandi"s hands. The sword shone radiantly, lighting up the entire cave.
This was Verthandi"s first time using the Sword, and she could have never imagined that it held such power. She felt as if it was a part of her, like she was born to wield its power.
"What is that?"
"Ha?"
"Roar!"
As the dragon had taken a lot of hits, it let out an agonized howl of fury. Its giant body staggered backwards, hitting a wall as icicles, causing them to fall from the ceiling. It then let out heavy breaths, as its roars resounded throughout its lair.
"My eye, my eye!"
Verthandi wielded the Sword of Light, as she stepped out of the jail cell, her eyes glued on the evil dragon. Frost had slowly begun to recover. Now single-eyed, it glowered at Verthandi with anger and utter loathing, as its entire body trembled. Even its scales were rippling like the surface of water.
Frost let out a bitter laugh, as he extended his neck, his eyes locked onto Verthandi. "Hahahaha, haha, it actually blinded me? I...I will swallow you alive!"
Verthandi looked at the dragon evenly with narrowed eyes, positioned for battle. Due to the Sword of Light, she was enveloped in a light glow, as if she was embodied by a divine power. "Try and see, if you can!"
The howl of the furious dragon had made the entire cave tremble, as countless gold coins on the ground started shaking. The dragon leaped towards Verthandi. Unlike before, the injured Frost had begun to be wary of Verthandi.
Now, he was pulling out all of the stops in order to kill her in his rage. The dragon raised its four rough claws into the air, readying to stomp her to death.
The face-off between a monster that is tens of meters in height against a tiny knight that is barely 160 centimeters tall seemed almost laughable, like a rabbit charging a lion. Yet, Verthandi had merged completely with the Sword of the King, and thus transformed into the state of a half-mythical being. So, in a sense, she was the lion of this scenario!
The Sword of the King danced in the air, as a huge white light emerged at Verthandi"s will. The light headed towards the claw of the dragon. In a flash, the white light entirely severed the front claw of the dragon with ease, as if cutting through soft tofu.
The two figures clashed, yet the tiny figure ultimately walked away victorious, as a huge claw fell to the ground like a stone pillar, shaking the ground with a deafening thud. Dragon blood pooled all over the ground.
"How is this possible? What is that power? What is that sword?" The evil dragon wailed in agony, as it backed up continuously. "I"ll kill you, I"ll kill you. I am the White Dragon, Frost! I will eat you alive!"
The evil dragon continued its mad howling, yet its eyes let out immense terror and fear, as it saw Verthandi had lifted the Sword again. Das.h.i.+ng over with incredible speed and power, she leapt over thirty meters into the air towards the dragon.
The dragon was casting dragon witchcraft to create ice lances to hurdle at Verthandi. As it prepared to do so, it released its breath. The two clashed again and again, as light fought with ice and fire. The pair"s special abilities lit up the entire ice cave.
The others were dumbfounded, as they had never expected such explosive power to come from the tiny knight that traveled with them. It was already beyond that of the mortal realm. They were witnessing the knight fighting toe-to-toe with a gigantic dragon, and even pressuring the beast!
At this time, the imprisoned young girl recognized the holy sword that Verthandi was wielding. She lifted her head and let out a gasp of awe, as her wine red hair and wolf ears fell out of her hood.
"The Sword of the King!"