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–––Karin’s viewpoint

Whether the dragon saw us as an enemy or as new prey, it took a fighting stance while roaring loudly. We instinctively readied our weapons and ran to the best location for us. It was impossible to run from this now. If we tried to hide in the forest, it could burn us down together with the trees, and if we tried to escape with Ciel’s Flight Magic it would catch up to us soon enough. The only way we came out alive was to kill it. Luckily for us, it was still a young dragon, which gave us better chances than fighting an adult.

“Let’s do this!”
“Yeah!”
“Ahh, why does this always happen!”

We had to be swift, if we lingered in one place for too long we would get charred. If it began spitting fire while turning in circles, it would be impossible to avoid for any of us. Before that could happen, I imbued my body with magic and jumped straight towards it

“Grahh!”

His claws were far more fearsome than the fire lizard’s. I barely managed to dodge them and I slid under the dragon and swung against its arm.

“Kuh?!”

I felt a harder resistance than I expected, almost making me drop my sword. I reaffirmed my grip and finished the swing, a spray of blood spurting from its arm. Even a magic imbued steel sword had such a hard time cutting through it, this dragon had a ridiculously strong defense. But those hard scales were one of the big reasons why dragons were considered the strongest monsters.

“Gahhrhgh?!”

The dragon looked pissed at being harmed like that, baring its fangs towards me in an attempt to chomp me off, but Diaria’s arrow hit its right eye faster. It raised a thunderous cry and fell on its side. At least it seemed that any creature is weak when attacked on the eyes.

“Here’s an extra large one just for you! Ice Lance!”

Ciel had been chanting in the meanwhile, reaching the end of it as she manifested a giant spear of ice, sharper and more than twice as large as the one she used to kill the fire lizard. Two more appeared, and as Ciel lowered her staff they were sent flying straight at the writhing dragon.

“Grahhhghaaa!!”

One hit it on a hind leg, another one on its left shoulder, and the last pierced through its wings. The dragon was pinned on the ground, shaking the ground as it tried to move. We could not let this chance go, so I charged in to deal the finishing blow while Diaria and Ciel also prepared the last attack. We had won against a dragon, the strongest monster – that thought made us bring our guard down for an instant, and as if it had waited for it, something sent us flying in the blink of an eye.

“Ghuh?!”
“Gyah!”
“Kyaah!”

Trees stopped us from flying too far. I could hardly breathe from the strong hit on my back, and to my sides I could see Ciel and Diaria in pain, both having let go of their staff and bow respectively. I turned to look at the dragon trying to understand what happened, and I saw its tail moving back to its side. Had it hit us with that?! From the way the dragon had fallen to the ground, I assumed it was under its body, but it had hit me straight from behind. That was a dragon’s tail, as thick as a tree log and a couple of meters long, definitely not something to take lightly. The strong pain I felt was proof enough.

“Grrr…”
“Ugh…”

The dragon glared at us with eyes full of bloodlust. Its body had many deep wounds, blood constantly trickling down into a puddle under it. We had cornered it quite a lot, but we did not have a strong defense like it, so that single tail attack had left us in sharp pain. But that was not enough to stop me. I picked up my sword and silently stood up, Ciel and Diaria also bit their tongues enduring the pain and stood back up.

“Gaahh!!”

The dragon opened its mouth wide, it wanted to burn us down. A red light was lit deep inside his throat, and when the fire was about to be shot towards us, we heard Diaria’s shrill shout.

“Spirits of the wind! Shred that body!”

The nearby trees shook as a strong sudden gust attacked the dragon. Thin blades of wind cut through the dragon’s body, while the gale blew the flames against its face. Feeling its own fire against it, the dragon stopped spitting it and shook its head from side to side. That was my chance.

“Yahhh!”

It was time to end this. Without thinking of what would happen later, I used the last bits of magic left in my body to run at high speed. The strong wind stopped the dragon from moving as it wished, but it still opened its mouth to try biting me as I approached it.

“Ice Arrow!”

The ice arrows caught up to me from behind and flew past. They hit the dragon into its left eye, finally robbing it of all vision. I climbed up its head and held my sword high, but the dragon tried to shake me off. I clung to its neck with all I had. My body ached, there was blood escaping my body all over the place, and my bruises were getting a weird color. I was already past my physical and mental limits, but everything would end if I let go. We were too hurt to have another chance, so I had to do this if we wanted to survive.

“Just die alreadyy!”

I knew it was a terrible position, but I still clung to the dragon with one hand while I began striking its neck with my sword with the other hand. The dragon’s scales were chipped away and blood began flowing.

“Gyaaahhhh!”

The dragon shook more violently trying to get rid of me, while I used whatever strength my arms had left to continue striking. By this point, this was a bout of willpower. The blood pouring out soaked my body and equipment turning it red, but I did not care anymore. My vision began blacking out and turning blurry, but that reminded me of my strict training with Lapis.

(Yeah, this is nothing compared to that training! I’ll come back alive and surprise her after this!)

I could not let her protect me all the time. We were friends, and friends do not stay behind each other, we walk and fight together at the front!

“Wahhh!”

I screamed as I thrust my sword again, this time piercing further into the dragon’s head. At the same time, another ice spear came flying and dug itself on its body. Having suffered fatal wounds on its head and body, the dragon finally gave out and fell lifelessly, shaking the ground.