The Black Dragon Kruikeker crashed to the ground, staggering to his feet.
[Graaaa…. Aaaaaargh!!! Dammit… I won’t forgive this…!!!]
His body was riddled with numerous wounds, filled with fury.
These weren’t just scorch marks from a Gold Dragon’s lightning. If they were, there would be clear signs of being charred, but the wounds adorning his body were all sharp cuts from bladed weapons.
[You filthy human… how dare you…!!]
The cuts stung.
Scales had been sliced away, and muscles were torn.
His right arm was propped up with makeshift patches where it had been severed before, rendering it nearly useless.
Black Dragon’s dark crimson blood, laced with venom, streamed from his entire body.
Anger, pain, and humiliation tortured Kruikeker in a whirlwind of emotions.
‘I have to run… I don’t know what kind of human this is, but I can’t win right now. I must be more prepared…’
Though he pondered multiple times on the shame of fleeing from a mere human, he ultimately reached an unavoidable conclusion.
The one who had appeared alongside that rookie Gold Dragon claiming to be the Dragon Lord’s daughter… Initially, he hadn’t given them a second thought, only focusing on the Dragon Lord’s child, but that was a mistake.
The real threat was the human standing beside her.
As soon as the battle began, that human had pulled out a sword taller than himself and effortlessly cut into Kruikeker’s body.
Around dragons, a blessed race able to use magic as if breathing, there were always defensive spells in place.
Even if those spells were pierced, the very essence of the Dragon Scale alone was enough to be considered the strongest armor, making dragons practically living fortresses.
Yet, that human cut through Kruikeker’s defenses as if they were nothing but paper.
Both the unconscious defensive magic and the deliberately cast spells were sliced away like they were nothing, along with the sturdy Dragon Scales, with just a casual flick of his sword.
Then, Kruikeker chose to rise into the sky.
Humans lack the ability to fly.
They might use magic like Fly, but such spells could barely match a dragon’s flight speed, and fighting while maintaining those spells would divide their concentration.
While there were some mages capable of making that possible, Kruikeker sensed that this human didn’t have that level of magical talent, so he thought of increasing the distance and unleashing one-sided violence.
But that too didn’t go well.
Whatever methods he used, the human repeatedly caught up to Kruikeker as he desperately fled, inflicting more cuts.
As Kruikeker resolved to escape, he noticed the presence of more humans ahead.
“What’s a Black Dragon doing in Blade Mountain!!”
A booming voice, perhaps laced with mana, clearly reached Kruikeker’s ears.
Under normal circumstances, he would have responded, but in his wounded state, it felt like nothing more than the buzzing of annoying bugs.
[You pest, all of you…!!!]
As Kruikeker unleashed his mana, poisonous clouds erupted all around.
The noxious mist, capable of withering plants on contact, surged forth with such force it threatened to engulf the manor itself.
“Ugh…!!”
The two humans before Kruikeker wielded their glowing Aura Blades, creating gusts of wind to dispel the poison, but their efforts were crude.
Seeing the poison clouds nearing the manor, one of them clicked his tongue and swung his sword upward, clearing the poison momentarily.
But it was only for a moment.
“This just… won’t end…!!”
“Is this some kind of technique or just a greeting? The Black Dragon does emit poison, but was it this dense?”
No matter how it looked, the Black Dragon simply seemed to be releasing an aura of poisonous mana.
It wasn’t a grand feat for him; it was as simple as breathing yet struck with ferocity.
Partro, who had faced an Adult Black Dragon before, was taken aback.
If this was just his breath, he wondered if they could survive if he unleashed his magical breath.
But they had to repel it, somehow.
Partro was not alone.
Behind him stood his daughter and niece.
If he fell, he wouldn’t be the only one defeated.
He’d lose all those he was meant to protect.
“Can you clear the poison clouds again?”
“Are you going to charge in?”
“At this rate, we’ll just be consumed, we must move forward!”
After hearing the suggestion, Carlos used his sword to blast away the poison clouds entirely.
Though the Black Dragon would fill the area with poison again almost instantly, a brief moment was enough.
Partro, an expert-class knight, leaped off the ground and swung his sword with all his might toward the Black Dragon.
The sword of Nemea, a swift blade contrary to the greatsword, sliced through the clearing poison clouds and shot toward the Black Dragon in a flash.
-Clang!!
But it was blocked by the barriers set up by Kruikeker.
[Yes, this is normal.]
“Ugh…?!”
Kruikeker laughed at the humans who couldn’t break through his barriers.
Partro’s strike was far from weak.
He smashed through all of Kruikeker’s automatic barriers and shattered the intensifying ones behind them down to two layers.
If Kruikeker had been in his usual state, he would’ve had only a single layer, and that strike would have struck the Dragon Scale directly.
However, by unfortunate coincidence, Kruikeker had been contesting with a monster capable of slicing through ten layers moments ago, so he had been on high alert, reinforcing his barriers substantially.
The reason he hadn’t attacked effectively was also because of this.
[I wonder how much poison you can endure.]
“Ugh?!!”
As soon as the attack ended, Kruikeker unleashed another poisonous cloud.
Being so close, Partro couldn’t evade and was engulfed in the toxic mist.
He didn’t take a deep breath, but just touching it made the plants wither away.
As the poison contacted his skin, red blisters began to form.
He’d only brushed against it thanks to his aura, and it was still this severe.
He couldn’t bear to imagine what it would be like if he were completely consumed.
“Get back!”
As Partro was covered in the poisonous cloud, Carlos shouted.
Upon hearing his voice, Partro quickly retreated, just as an unseen massive slash struck the body of the Black Dragon.
Carlos’ rapid counterattack shattered all remaining barriers in an instant but failed to cleave the remaining Dragon Scales.
Kruikeker felt as if he had been hit in the chest, his body jolted backward but that was all.
“Partro..! Are you alright?”
“I’m… fine…”
While he said that, his complexion turned pale in an instant.
Partro had faced Evil Dragons before; usually, the first strike he landed would result in a severed head.
But the dragon before him was no ordinary opponent even among dragons.
Not only was he an annoying dragon that used poison, but now it had become an inconvenience.
He needed to calm his state and fight again, but the poison clouds were making it difficult to even approach.
As he pondered how to deal with it, there was a booming shout from the sky once more.
[You…!! Get lost from this land!!]
At that moment, a golden bolt of lightning struck down from above.
“Ugh..??”
A Gold Dragon, smaller than Kruikeker but still much larger than a human, landed on the ground.
She stood between Kruikeker and the two humans, her golden magical aura acting as a barrier against the spreading poisonous mist.
“An ally..?”
“That should be… your ally.”
Though Partro’s complexion worsened, he recognized the Gold Dragon that had just landed.
She was undoubtedly the Gold Dragon that Atlas had ridden.
[Tch…!! You’ve become so weak, it’s bothersome…!!]
[And you dare to say that while running away?]
[You’re not running from me! Is it not shameful to rely on mere humans for protection?!]
The Black Dragon and the Gold Dragon exchanged words that the humans couldn’t comprehend.
The Gold Dragon being protected by humans?
Partro’s mind instantly conjured up an image of his niece, but he dismissed it, hoping it wasn’t true.
“What? Are you embarrassed to be fleeing from a human?”
Right then, an unwanted voice that Kruikeker never wanted to hear echoed in his ear.
“To think you flaunted such confidence just to flee after sustaining such mere wounds?”
[Huhhhh???]
Kruikeker, startled, swung his left hand to swat the source of the voice, but felt nothing.
Atlas had already climbed back onto Kruikeker’s arm.
Yes, this was it.
No matter what, that human avoided Kruikeker’s attacks effortlessly.
[Dammit, you filthy human….!!!!]
In the end, he was still human.
If they were to receive his strikes, they would be nothing but pitiful mortals who would dissolve away in an instant.
Though it seemed like he was doing something to evade the attacks… then doesn’t that mean just making sure they can’t dodge would work?
[Then…!!]
Kruikeker twisted his body wildly and once more soared into the sky.
He pulled the curse and deadly poison from his poison pouch.
The Black Dragon’s breath.
[This place seems quite valuable…!! I’ll unleash this poisonous cloud and obliterate this manor!!]
With no defenses possible against the Black Dragon’s breath, he expelled a torrent of viscous black liquid.
What looked like tar was filled with an intense curse and deadly poison.
If Kruikeker’s breath had the power to turn the surroundings into barren land for a hundred years, just by releasing this poisonous cloud, it would indeed turn the area black and uninhabitable.
If Atlas were to avoid this attack, the manor in the line of fire would face its doom.
“Haah….”
But Atlas remained unfazed at Kruikeker’s breath.
As Atlas steadied his breath, the already brilliant Aura Blade began to shrink, emitting a sharper, more ominous sound.
[Perish!!!]
From Kruikeker’s mouth, a torrent of black, tar-like liquid surged forth.
If blocked, it would stick and poison; the Black Dragon’s signature move was now being unleashed just to kill a single human.
A scream erupted from the manor.
Those observing from afar fell into despair as they witnessed the crimson, toxic curse surging toward them.
Some even closed their eyes, anticipating death.
Then suddenly, Atlas moved.
“If that’s the case, I’ll obliterate everything.”
With an intensity that made it hard to contain the concentrated Aura Blade, he swung down with all his might, creating a white flash that enveloped the sky.
Kruikeker’s tar-like breath, and Kruikeker himself, were consumed in the blinding light.
