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Chapter 37
As Crimson Dragons were True Dragon which belonged to the fire sub-type, they were immune against fire. On the other hand, the effects and damage inflicted by frost attacks were increased, which was why the female warrior decisively casted a spell which belonged to the cold element. In fact, cold elemental magic was one of her fortes.
Claudius instantly released Achilles from his jaws despite almost being able to puncture his internal organs. After dumping Achilles, Claudius displayed his extraordinary agility by performing phantom-like movements. He zigzagged left and right as if dribbling while pulling back, changing his centre of ma.s.s constantly. With a swift turn, Claudius picked up the Bronze Dragon who was lying on the ground as a meat shield.
Despite performing astounding stunts while dodging, Claudius was still hit by a handful of icicles — the spell relied on line of sight of the caster to home in on the target. One third of the barrage of icicles landed on Claudius" body, easily breaking his scales apart. Unlike previous wounds, blood did not spurt out; the areas which were struck by the icicles began to freeze and form a white layer, reducing his mobility.
"Holy s.h.i.t! There"s a hidden boss?!" Claudius swore. He did not have the time to reflect on his carelessness as the attacker was a real threat.
"Three freaking dragons! s.h.i.t, I got tricked real bad!"
Claudius immediately recognized the aura of the female warrior after getting hit by her icicles. It was the most distinctive, as well as the most hated dragon aura for Crimson Dragons — the dragon aura of a Silver Dragon. Even Achilles himself did not know that a Silver Dragoness was on his side; the young Silver Dragoness, Elialaz, was in her human form when she overheard Achilles" "righteous plans". Elialaz lived in human towns and led a casual life, forming parties with adventurers from time to time. After learning of the plans to purge a Crimson Dragon, Elialaz joined the forces of justice along with her party members. The reason was simple — Crimson Dragons were the archenemies of Silver Dragons. This alone was more than enough for the two species to fight as soon as they meet.
Concealing her dragon aura, Elialaz joined the battle in the form of a tall female warrior with golden hair and porcelain skin. Silver Dragons loved to mingle around in human societies in their human forms, and Elialaz had been living among mankind for a while already, thus she could acquire news and information much quicker and easier than Achilles. Just not long ago, she thought about joining the adventurer squads to the Fire Dragon Bay, which was a bit north from where she was, but did not do so in the end. Before Elialaz could join the war between the elves and the Jade Dragoness, she received intel regarding "The Crimson Disaster", the Crimson Dragon which indiscriminately attacked both sides from the messenger elves and druids.
The Silver Dragoness learnt of Claudius" unorthodox appearance and overwhelming power, yet she did not inform Achilles. Perhaps due to arrogance and carelessness, Elialaz thought that the descriptions of the Crimson Dragon were rumours which were exaggerated, thus she did not pay heed much heed to the information. Indeed, the enemy in front of her right now undoubtedly had unparalleled battle prowess of dragons among his age, but everything was still under control. Perhaps Claudius was invincible in close quarter combat and had exceptional flames, but he was lacking in terms of mana and magic. Noticing his weakness, Elialaz was rather confident that she could suppress Claudius with her commonly used spells. In gaming terms, this would be a world dominated by spellcasters and magic. Those who could not use spells and magic were weak despite having superior physique or whatnot.
As Silver Dragons belonged to the cold subtype, they were the natural nemesis of Crimson Dragons. Furthermore, it could be said that Elialaz one-sidedly trampled the pathetic Claudius in terms of magic ability. It was not Claudius" fault; even Crimson Dragons that had reached the stage of great wyrm did not have convenient spells or spell-like abilities which could be casted all the time. Although Elialaz was stunned by Claudius" barbaric fighting style, she still managed to save Achilles by launching the icicles just in time. As a matter of fact, the blessings on the weapons and Fire Immunity granted to the Udaerus and Dehrii were all Elialaz"s deeds.
"A juvenile dragon, huh&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;" the Silver Dragoness muttered, "It already has the body size of an adult dragon, not to mention the Ring of Blaze which even some adult Crimson Dragons fail to obtain&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;. It"s hard to imagine it being one stage younger than myself; a dangerous foe indeed."
After getting hit by the icicles, Elialaz determined that Claudius was no longer a threat. As long as she continued to infest the Crimson Dragon with her spell, it was only a matter of time before Claudius would die from the frost. Having earned a bit of time, Elialaz proceeded to chant a healing spell for Achilles before morphing back into her natural form. The Silver Dragoness had an elegant body which was by no means inferior to Claudius in terms of size, but she was not as tall after landing on the ground. Her scales were matte silver in colour and did not reflect light like mirrors.
The party members along with Sleipnir and Achilles dropped their jaws to the ground in shock after Elialaz transformed into her dragon form. There were extremely surprised by the fact that their companion and ally was actually a Silver Dragoness. Revealing her ident.i.ty also served another purpose; the morale of the warriors which belonged to the good alignment was boosted to levels which were off the charts — the tables were now turned.
Claudius also knew he was screwed. Fighting against three True Dragons was simply impossible, even if the Copper Dragon was just a weakling who could do nothing but mock him on the sidelines. He could not even win against the "small fries" in his current condition. After Claudius reflexively spewed fire at his own body to melt the frost on his body, he took in a large, deep breath.
Agility served its purpose right now; Claudius dashed here and there among the Udaeus, making sharp and unpredictable turns. The Udaeus could only repeatedly dodge as they would be killed if they got hit by the ma.s.sive body which was five times their own. In a sense, the Udaeus became a temporary shield for Claudius. Elialaz could not cast large area spells right now, and she had to spend a portion of her attention on protecting her allies with spells. This reduced the suppression effect of her spell on Claudius, giving Claudius a chance to retaliate.
An explosion occurred the next moment. Claudius split his breath attack into two portions, the first one scattering milky vapour throughout the air with the help of his wings, while the second one was a fan-shaped flame breath which ignited the fluid and caused the explosion.
The Derhii all shrieked in pain as the sticky fluid burned on their skins. Even the tough apes could not bear the pain of having their lungs and trachea scorched, and the Fire Immunity spell was destroyed in an instant. Six of the Derhii dropped dead on the ground immediately. The Udaeus also faced a similar fate; their armour was being burnt along with the exposed areas. If not for Elialaz"s wide area healing spell, severe casualties would have occurred among the righteous forces. But casualties could not be avoided — the human companions of the Silver Dragoness did not have high stats when compared to the others, thus the rogue and archer were roasted dead by the hot air before the healing spell could be cast.
The smoke and debris blocked the vision of the area, throwing everyone into chaos. Claudius flapped his wings rapidly with his best effort, managing to lift off before the Silver Dragoness could come to her senses. There was only one option right now — get the h.e.l.l out immediately.