Chapter 396: Bane of Dragonkins: Dragonslayers. [Release Version] (Patreon)

Edits: Syntax. Some corrections and clarification.

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<[Terror (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

“Woah!” Vifi’Yok’s kick pushed me right onto the floor, a testament she was still strong as ever. However, just as I braced myself for the landing, my [Foresight] activated just as an arrow flew past where I had been standing, far too late for me to dodge it if the demonkin hadn’t intervened.

“Ha! The true dragonkin dodged your shot, Namul!” The leonid female somehow misunderstood the situation, looking more excited than before. “We got a real challenge here, boys! That thing’s skull will make a fine hammer!”

S-skull?! Shit! Get a grip of yourself, Hestia! This isn’t the time to feel scared! Stand up! Stand up! Wuraaaaagh! HYDRA!

I smacked my hand on the ground, conjuring a brown magic circle to summon a large glob of purple slime, morphing it with mana into an elephant-sized creature with three heads. The corrosive slime corroded the ground, causing it to slightly sizzle as the creature towered over the dragonslayers.

Survival! This is a survival match! I need to fle—Fuck, wait!

I couldn’t run now. Saori’s students just got the wrong opinion of me, thinking I was actually an enemy. Did Vifi’Yok assume a new identity to trick them? This Valeria persona? But, if she had bad intentions, then why did she just save me from that arrow? How was I supposed to convince the students I was not their enemy but Vifi’Yok was if I couldn’t speak with them through [Telepathy]?

Regardless, these high-speed thoughts of mine were quickly interrupted as the armored spearman shouted “Taunt!” drawing my attention with one of the most annoying abilities in this world. I couldn’t flee, my body was forced to target the man. Still, at least I could choose how I would fight and that was to spam spells.

Buffs! Music! Clouds of Thunder!

<[Various Spell Buffs] [Music Resonation (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

[Lightning Magic Lv. 5] spell [Clouds of Thunder] was another huge, continuous spell similar to [Cyclone Madness] and [Levin Core]. In other words, a fantastic spell to create chaos on a battlefield, helping me control the situation better.

With a black cloud forming at the ceiling, thunder began to rain down on the three dragonslayers, avoiding the students as best as I could. I also readied [Bedrock Blades], [Levin Core], and [Cyclone Madness] to further escalate everything to create a “smokescreen” for me; however, [Taunt]’s job wasn’t just to pull my attention towards the tank, it was to keep me in place.

‘Dodge!’ my parallel minds shouted in unison just as [Foresight] and [Danger Perception] activated, a second too late as the dual blade hunter rushed at me, appearing before me as if he had used [Flash Fire]. His weapons clashed against my halberd. My reflexes saved me.

However, as I was just on the ground a moment ago, my balance and posture was terrible. The man pushed me back, causing me to stumble. As I saw him swing his weapons, I shot my scales out, trying to block his attacks, but to my bafflement, he sliced through them as if they were butter.

“Huh?!” Our weapons clashed again, this time the impact pushed me onto the ground.

Auracoil! Pavise!

My [Crimson Dragon Princess Exoarmor] finally had its maiden voyage with this dungeon dive, and now, it would have its first use as I activated two runes on it. Two barriers of mana surrounded me instantaneously. The yellow Auracoil, sadly, broke upon impact but the blue Pavise withstood it. Auracoil for magic, Pavise for physical; I forgot!

A chill ran down my spine, the same fear I felt before reappeared as I glared at the dual wielder’s psychotic smile. His brown eyes were wide open, showing all the red veins, as his focus was completely on me. His constant “hunting time, hunting time” mumble sounded like a mantra, irritating my ears. Thankfully, this narrowmindedness helped as my [Hydra] smacked him into the floor with its—No, it missed!

The shock and adrenaline brought me back to my feet as I saw the man once again do that [Flash Fire] trick—superspeed movement. However, with the panic subsiding and my fighting instincts activating, I noticed his two green, monster-material made scimitars were glowing red. A visible aura was surrounding his weapons, arms, and legs, which I confirmed was made from his mana and linked to his heart with [Mana Eyes].

Before my parallel minds could finish the next set of spells, I snapped my head up as I saw a blue magic circle appear in the air, materializing a giant water tentacle. [Kraken’s Destruction]! The mage amongst this party was using water magic!

Transform!

Five-versus-one. This was beyond unfair! I couldn’t afford to attack, I had to dodge and humanize back into a dragon. With my rocket boosters, I flew out of the trajectory of the spell as blue mana was released from my body. I swung my wings out, roaring as I showed everybody my true form.

“It’s the crimson dragon!” One of the students shouted. “The church is right! That lizard is an enemy! Everybody get ready!”

It was that “Hero” Takuma Akanishi; his brilliant, flashy armor and the fact he was wielding a sword and shield made him look like a stereotypical hero. However, just as Tatsuya once described him to me, he had this annoying, confident, arrogant attitude. And it showed as his blade shone white just as his appearance transformed into that of an armored angel.

With a hood covering his face, making him look less angelic and more intimidating, he swung his feathered wings and took flight. At the same time, the other students went into action, along with the knight—the Hand of Heaven.

“Yuuko-chan, barrier around our frontliners!” That transformed Takuma shouted as his blade grew to the size of a greatsword, ready to swing at me. “Everybody support the dragonslayers and rescue Valeria!”

“Hai!” (Yes!)

[“I’m not your enemy! Saori Segawa sent me to help you!”] I shouted, hoping dearly my message would reach them, but once again, I couldn’t form the telepathic link. That damn Yuuko, or whoever, was still blocking my mana from reaching them!

Identify!

_________________________________________________________________

Name: Takuma Akanishi   Level: 89

_________________________________________________________________

Name: Galg    Level: 141

_________________________________________________________________

Name: Lautrex von Cashim  Level: 120

_________________________________________________________________

Verdammt!

I managed to appraise the people before me, but once again, information was getting blocked here and there. I got a general gist of their skills—since most were stock standard—and stats, though. The summary was that I had to flee, right now. I was vastly underpowered even in my dragon form to handle all of them.

Takuma was the strongest, being higher leveled than any of the students I have met, with an annoying unique skill called [Savior]. Not only a higher boost in stats but also this transformation where he was near immune to any holy and dark elemental attacks. On the other hand, his student allies had a myriad of unique skills which allowed them to support him as a competent team. Even if I could defeat all ten of them if we fought alone, they were a medium threat if they support the stronger fighters.

The next was Galg and his team of level 110 and up dragonslayers. Galg was almost as strong as Larent Antonodius, the ex-Hand of Heaven I met in Elyonda. While not the strongest person I’ve fought before, this guy was decked out in equipment made from true and lesser dragonkins, including blades drenched in anti-draconic blood and the venom “Winter’s Gift.” Largest threat.

The Hand of Heaven knight was, on his own, probably a huge problem considering he was an imperial knight of the Empire of Folschreck. Larent was once part of this organization, so I naturally couldn’t underestimate him. The thing was, his weapons and armor were all focused on holy and sacred attacks. In other words, no threat unless he pulls out his normal sword.

Mid-way through my thoughts, I set my tails on fire using [Hellblade Dragon] and channeled some solar energy there, using [Drakonian Sunlight Edge] to fully boost its damage. As Takuma came flying at me, I held back my strength, not wanting to kill him, and smacked him out of the air with my tail.

Strangely, though, one of his party members appeared before him, taking the blow aimed at Takuma. Both fell onto the floor, but while the person I wanted to hit was alright and engaged me again, his friend was being healed by the priest-looking Aiko.

This is a problem!

Back to my thoughts, how the hell do I escape?! The hallways were far too small for my dragon form to fit through, but I needed this form to fight and run right now. That was the dilemma here. I had to speak with the students, but at this point my survival was more important and I had to cut my losses. If I got away, I could always deal with them another time.

Which brought me back to the original point: how do I escape?! The obvious answer was to call for support. Subspace emergency reinforcement was an option—I could call Yorshka, Master, and Neill over—but I had to have the subspace open. In the meantime, could I defend the runes from the dragonslayers? In the worst case, they could destroy the [Room] runes

Meaning, the game plan was this: create chaos -> open subspace -> reinforcement -> defeat or escape.

Let’s go! Parallel minds, engage!

“In my purgatory, I make the devil cry ♫

In Hellfire ♫

All you hear are his screams, begging to be released ♫

It’s Music ♫”

Set students as allies. Set dragonslayers and … only them as enemies! Hand of Heaven as an ally to not agitate the students! Levin Core, Cyclone Madness, Ruinous Rockfall. Go, go, go! Purple Flash, Symphonie des Feuergottes!

“Music?!” The students on the ground noted, before the Hand of Heaven knight told all of them to back off at the sight of the huge red magic circle in the air.

Takuma, noticing this, retreated, too, while the dragonslayer just didn’t call. In fact, all of them outside the armor guy kept targeting me. The mage shot water spells, the archer was trying to shoot my wings, the leonid hammerer was supporting the duel wielder, while the latter swung his blades around as mana chains kept them chained to his arms.

Banging his shield on the ground, the shielded spearmen then raised it up in the air. “Martyrdom!”

“Swamp Monster!” the mage shouted as a chocolate brown magic circle appeared next to the dragonslayer tank, creating a giant mud golem to shield him.

As my strongest fire spell was almost ready to activate, fire meteors in the shape of dragons bombarded the area, thunderclouds and a lightning orb rained electrical shocks, a brown magical circle showered everybody with a hail of rocks, while a tornado began to suck everybody in. However, these dragonslayers didn’t look back. They activated their [Auracoil]s and continued fighting as aggressively as ever.

And just as the duel wielder almost reached me, the flame waterfall erupted.

<[Symphonie des Feuergottes Movement (Allegro)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

My vision was clouded in a veil of flames, but my instincts told me that an annoying dragonslayer would still hit me at this distance. I swung my tail, defending myself and sending the guy flying down.

A moment of silence fell onto the battlefield as the flames dissipated, causing me to grimace as I saw my five targets still standing. Four of them were unharmed, aside from some trivial burns. How did they survive my spells? The answer was the golem hidden inside that mud monster.

As the golem slowly broke apart from all the damage, the shielded spearman revealed himself, falling onto the ground with a loud metallic thud. His giant tower shield was burned to a crisp, looking carbonized, while the man himself was covered in ash. Why was he the only one damaged? What did “Martyrdom” do?

“… I see. That armor is laminated in cockatrice resin. A dwarf-made armor for a dragon? Survival before pride …” Galg noted, finally noticing my exoarmor’s true form.

As promised by Grimnir, my chestplate had a “dormant” and “unleashed” form. While as a dragonewt, it was “dormant,” but the moment I transformed into a dragon, the armor expanded, covering up not only my chest and solar core, but also the upper parts of my limbs and tail. I was no longer relying on just [Panzer] or my scales for protection, I now had Grimnir’s sweat and effort shielding me from danger.

“She burned down Meik’s armor and shield?! They were made from that fire drake we killed!” the leonid expressed in horror. “Strongest fire elemental dragonkin ever, I see. This might be a problem!”

Galg didn’t react to this, instead, he dashed towards his fallen comrade. “Cover me!”

That shielder isn’t dead! They are planning something. Hydra, attack!

The chaotic battlefield was still filled with tons of spells, still keeping things in my favor. However, just as I ordered my still intact [Hydra] to attack Galg, a giant water sword—[Azure Blade]—split my spell in half, forcing my golem to regenerate itself before it could continue attacking. In fact, the mage in the back seemed to be fully focused on disrupting my spells with his own.

Meanwhile, the leonid hammerer and the katzune archer covered their boss by attacking me. Using her hammer, the former was slugging the rocks from [Ruinous Rockfall] at me like a baseball player, while the blindfolded archer was far more accurate than I thought he would be. Two shots hit my wings, piercing through my membrane.

Are you kidding me?! Pradreo and Skardrvo were right, these dragonslayers have weapons that ignore my [Draconic Barrier]!

Thankfully, those arrows didn’t do any substantial damage, but the showed me staying still to breath fire would be a problem. I had to constantly fly around, keeping the archer and hammerer in check with [Dragon Fire] and corrosive fire. At the same time, my parallel minds covered me in a new set of [Panzer] while conjuring [Halo of Consecration] to heal my wounded wings.

I can’t escape with Galg alive or conscious! Take him down! I need to take him down, then I can call for reinforcement!

As I shot out more and more spells, while using [Symphonie des Feuergottes Movement (Allegro)] to the best I could to dodge everything, I managed to inflict several injuries onto the three people trying to stop me. This allowed me the space to aim at Galg. For some reason, he wasn't using his superspeed to rush to his comrade; instead, he was just running normally. Why was this? I couldn’t appraise this part of his Profile and that just made me nervous.

… A fact that was proven correct the moment I breathed [Hellflame Breath] at him, only for my eyes to look up, seeing the guy appear from the shadow cast from the light of my flames. He was a dark mage!

This is why I hate [Identify] now! I hate you! Give me back the ability to look at Profiles!

And from his shadow, his superspeed showed again, appearing right next to my eyes with a new set of dual blades. White, beautiful, and elegant; two longswords with an edge made from scales. I could feel an icy chill around them.

Don’t risk it! Just dodge! Kriffiek kllk gaaung!

<[Battle Frenzy (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

Flash Fire!

As white tinted my crimson scales, my stats increased and I used a god ability to teleport over to a portion of fire in the sky, completely avoiding the dragonslayer. I gnashed my fangs before spewing purple flames at the guy in midair. I was sure I got him this time.

Unfortunately, my moment of elation vanished as my [Detection Sensor] noticed somebody was actually right next to me, hidden underneath a pile of mud, rubble, and smoke. The armored spearman from before appeared, suited up in a new set of armor and weapon. Two empty potions dangled from his mouth like cigars—which should be completely useless since [Dread Burn] caused by my fire attack nullified all sources of healing—before he aimed his spear at me. Two runes lit up—one cyan and the other blue—but it blasted a freezing ice blast at me.

Hydra!

[Hydra] sprang before me, taking the attack in my stead, but the liquid slime froze up, turning into some kind of non-obsidian solid. I had to thaw it, but without a moment to act, the other dragonslayers re-engaged me. All of them were drinking potions like crazy, ranging from stamina, fire resistance, and even stat boosters. They came here extremely prepared! Thankfully, with [Dread Burn], they couldn’t heal themselves, so an attrition battle was still possible.

I had to shut my mouth, forced to dodge with my rocket boosters as I saw Galg hanging on the ceiling with a burned arm. Casually, he drank antidote to combat the toxin from [Corrosive Fire]. All while his teammates kept me busy.

“Taunt!” Once again, the tank managed to shout that annoying ability, but unlike the first time, it only lasted for a couple of seconds. Still, a second of delay was enough for the hammerer to smack my left front leg and the archer to land an arrow into one of my wings.

‘Venom! Winter’s gift, confirmed! Not enough to cripple us, but it’s spreading!’ Manager Mind warned me, pushing [White Flames] to heal.

Shit! Why do they have good teamwork?! Enough, Territory time! Dreadflame Aura into Magmakam—

A portal appeared right in front of me, and from it, the girl called Yuuko came out.

“Beast of Yore! I call upon thee, Magic Breaker!” The veins on her face bulged up as her hand grew blue. After everything that happened, I wasn’t in the position to dodge this point blank shot … but I could prevent it since [Dragon Fire] still counted her as an ally.

Meaning, she couldn’t be damaged by my fire attacks!

Burn!

“Krrriiiiiaaaaaaahh!” The intense heat wasn’t meant to hurt her, only blow her away, while damaging the dragonslayers. It all worked out just as I wanted, with Yuuko being blown back through the portal—meaning one of the students had learned [Warp Point].

<[Magic Breaker] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

But … my eyes widened as I felt something inside me disconnect. My mana stopped streaming out of my body, instead, it was locked up in my body as if chains held it all back. I could only stare in horror as the countless spells I had inside this room slowly dissipated as their magic circles vanished.

<Effects: [Battle Frenzy (Minor)] [Terror (Minor)] [Magic Breaker] >

This trepidation grew as I looked at my Profile, noticing how all my buffs were gone, including [Symphonie des Feuergottes], replaced by a new one called [Magic Breaker]. My music stopped, I couldn’t use [Aerokinesis] and keep [Dragon Fire] playing, meaning all the fire meteors stopped … and also the fire protection on Yuuko.

“Kayyyyyaaaaaaaaahkkkk!” A shriek, a chilling shriek colder than the icy blast from the spearman’s attack.

What? How did she stop my—

“Yuuko-chan!”

Another cry, but this time, it confirmed the reality I was hearing.

I could not appraise people correctly. I couldn’t not fully look into their Profile as I wanted to, meaning I lacked intel. Yuuko’s [Magic Breaker] somehow managed to affect me without touching me, explaining why it felt like my mana couldn't escape from my body. However, it didn’t seem to affect draconic abilities, since [Hellblade Edge], [Drakonian Sunlight Edge], and, most importantly, [Dreadflame Aura] were all still active.

I had just burned Yuuko.

Wait, no! No! No! No! I didn’t mean to! Turn it off! Turn it off!

“YOU LIZARD!” Takuma, in his angelic form, rushed out of the portal as I deactivated [Dreadflame Aura], his blade ready on hand with four other students. All of them cried out how I had burned their friend.

Krk! Shit!

“Kriiiiiiiiiiaaaaah!” I roared, fighting through my guilt, to blow all of them back into the portal. I then gouged out the ground where the portal was, destroying the magic circle hidden there.

Get out! Get the [Room] runes out! We’re forcing the portal open now!

I opened my [Storage Magic], pulling out two runes and op—

“Hunt!”

Swoosh!

The sound of wind being cut resounded in the chamber, followed by the sound of bones cracking. The world slowed down in my head as [Foresight] and [Danger Perception] rattled my head with warnings. I looked down as I noticed a spray of red droplets from underneath me, only to see it all come from my right leg. The limb itself flew off my body, landing with a loud thud a bit farther away.

<[Poisoned (Winter’s Gift) (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

I could feel the pain, but I also couldn’t. My nerves hadn't sent the damage to my brain yet, but at the same time, I perceived my body getting hurt. My heart drummed louder as I stared at the person responsible for this—Galg. He had successfully cut a limb off and was now aiming for my stomach. Once again, how was he so fast? Why was he surrounded in an aura of red?

Why does my [Identify] not work? Why has it not worked properly on any of my strong opponents ever since I first fought the demonkins? Why is this once-useful skill so useless now?

But, that was a question for later. For now, I had to think of a way to save myself.

Rune ac—cold!

My mind. Why was I seeing double? Why did I feel … so drowsy? I needed to … activate … activate—

“Hestia-san! Taunt!” A voice I couldn’t recognize.

Why was I losing balance? Why was the world turning around me?

“Oof!” Somebody’s groan entered my ears, but I couldn’t tell who it belonged to. I couldn’t concentrate on anything, I felt so tired. I wanted to sleep. What was I doing here>

“Hestia! Hestia!” Somebody called for me, but I couldn’t recognize anything as I felt something land on my face and body … or was it more apt to say that I landed on the ground? I wasn’t sure, I wasn’t sure.

I couldn’t think.

‘Original Mind! Snap out of it! Give us [Telepathy]—Shit, we can’t use it! Our mana is still blocked! Parallel minds, we need to get rid of it! Tatsuya, please understand!’

Voices in my head. Who was speaking? I didn’t know. I couldn’t see properly. Everything was duplicating in front of me—the wall, the floors, the colors, even the people.

“What—”

“She’s poisoned!”

But I could still hear. I could still hear properly, but I just couldn’t recognize any of them.

“You?! You bitc—”

“Yer gonna lose Hestia if you keep complaining! Winter’s Gift! Do you have an antidote for her?”

“What?! W-we d—”

“FEED IT TO HER! I’ll keep these bastards off her and your friend! Cat, fight!”

Who? What? What is going on?

“Uurgh! Shit! Hestia-san, open your mouth, please! Dammit, I need to All-In this!”

[“Master! Please, stay awake! Master, Rajah is here for you!”]

Rajah? Rajah? Are you here? Mouth? Mouth, right, I’m hungry.

I couldn’t feel anything. Everything felt numb. I didn’t know if I was moving my jaw down or not but I tried my best to do it. I felt cold and hungry. I wanted to e—

Uuurghp?! Urrrrgk, wh-what is this nasty taste?!

“Rajah, close her mouth! She’s about to puke it up!”

[“Yes!”]

I wanted to puke, I wanted to puke, I wanted to puke! But I couldn’t! Something was stopping me and I couldn’t control it at all … somehow, though I could taste. My tongue didn’t feel numb anymore. I felt … warmth. A comforting and soothing liquid; it was rancid but I had to drink it. I couldn’t puke it out!

“Raaaargh!”

“Kyouya! Drink a potion! Hey, bitch, how are you—Woah!”

“Snuff it, I know what I’m doing. Keep that dragon safe, otherwise I can’t repay my debt to her!”

“Fuck off yourself! Potions! Here! Drink them! Health, mana, stamina! I’ll cover you! All-In!”

… Tatsuya? Kyouya? Rajah? That last one … Vifi’Yok?

“Stop it!” However, this time, I really couldn’t recognize that voice … but, for some reason. Something in my soul told me I should. “That dragon isn’t an enemy! Saintess Fleindia!”

“Huh?! Bastard!”

I could see! The world wasn’t turning any longer, but it still felt like I was trapped inside a blizzard without the strength to move my body. However, with my mind intact, I could do something even if I myself was incapable of it.

Parallel minds, I grant you permission to control my body! Save me!

‘You got it, girlfriend!’ Ten voices cheered inside my head as my body suddenly jerked up.

An injured Kyouya, Rajah with his new armor busted, Tatsuya fighting but being unable to hold back Galg, and, surprisingly, an injured Vifi’Yok fighting back four dragonslayers all by herself. What exactly—my limb! The dual blades! Winter’s Gift, right!

So this is how it feels to be poisoned by that venom? Urgh, the ‘fire dragon killer’ is a fitting name for it.

At the same time, the [Magic Breaker] from Yuuko was still active. I still felt the limiting factor inside me, meaning I couldn’t use my spells. That limited my options as it included [Aerokinesis], however, it couldn’t block draconic abilities. From what I could see, [Draconic Roar] couldn’t be stopped either, as it worked on pushing Takuma and his friends back through the portal.

‘Permission to use prestige points to buy [Musical Renaissance Diva]! We need to bust through and that is only possible with Vifi’Yok’s or Tatsuya’s help! We need to increase their stats!’

… Granted!

<[Star Idol] Prestige spent. Benefit slot, [Musical Renaissance Diva Lv. 1] gained. [Giocoso Dreamer] now unavailable>

Goodbye, [Giocoso Dreamer].

<[Humanize (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

I had to sing, and that was not possible in my dragon or minor form. I had to assume my moderate body even if I halved my stats. I had to rely on my allies.

“In the midst of the desert ♫

A bright ray of light shines ♫

Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫

She was the ideal for me ♫

The bringer of children’s smiles ♫

Alas, the world seemed bleaker without her ♫

In my purgatory, I make the devil cry ♫

In Hellfire ♫

All you hear are his screams, begging to be released ♫

It’s Music ♫

I descend on Earth with Wings of Death! ♫

A Storm of Fury ♫

Creating Ash and Dust ♫

I am the Incarnation of the Sun ♫

I shine so brightly, I bring your death ♫

My lineage belongs to the God of Dragons! ♫”

<[Music Resonation (Moderate)] [Stage Fever (Minor)] [Shield of [The Light]] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

It was a butchery of songs, far too rough to call singing. However, [Musical Renaissance Diva] allowed me to have two spell songs active as long as I could sing and perform them correctly. Even if I had to ruin my beautiful songs and rap them, singing so quickly you really couldn’t call this proper music, it was still working.

Our gambit was correct. [Magic Breaker] did what it said, break magic. Not spell songs nor draconic abilities, fortunately. It was the right gambit.

“Everybody on me!”

Rajah swooped me up, with Tatsuya and Kyouya getting on. Vifi’Yok hesitated, but changed her mind when she had to block an arrow for me. She went and mounted Rajah with the boys, and with everybody now on, I kept blasting my vocal chords before activating [Magmakammer].

<Mana Release activated. Aura used as control unit: [Draconic Aura Lv. 4]. Territory [Magmakammer] has been established>

The plan was to utitlize two of my strongest spell songs in unison. The 10% stat boost and barrier from [The Heir of Hope] and then the fire immunity and dragon meteor from [Dragon Fire]. Both used in conjunction would act as our smokescreen, but in order to use [Bardic Cadenza] and [Musical Crescendo] from my unique Job to further enhance my spellsongs, I was required to fully focus on nothing else but on singing.

<Bardic Cadenza: A skill focusing on the bard’s musical abilities. Activates once a spell song is used, increasing the effects of the song’s effect as long as the bard only uses songs as a means of attack, defense, or support>

<Musical Crescendo: A skill that applies additional effects the longer the bard continues playing any kind of spell songs. Escalation depended on [Music Resonation] and the length being played. Minor: Increases bard’s stats by 5%. Moderate: Shares the full effects of all buffs on the bard without reaching Major. Major: Songs travel through mana, bypassing any silence fields or sound protection areas>

Vifi’Yok on shooting duty, Kyouya on blocking duty, Rajah on running duty, and Tatsuya on steering duty. We had to escape!

“Down the stairs!” Tatsuya shouted, pointing at the entrance to the 15th floor. “Hey, use that lighting—”

“Can ya see my face, you blind asshole?! Purple! Purple! I already had [Arcane Fever] long before you came, asshole! The more mana I spend, the more unstable my heart will become. I can use my voltaic lightning if ya want, but I'd also turn into a bomb with no way to tell when I’d explode! Move it, cat!”

“Mreow!”

“Stop arguing! Defend Hestia!”

Everybody was shouting ‘cause I had to sing. I had to blast their ear drums out otherwise I wasn’t sure if [Musical Renaissance Diva] could work. If I had [Aerokinesis] active, I could have definitely toned it down, but I didn't.

I turned my head around as Rajah started to run, only to notice only the archer and dual wielder were continuing their pursuit. The others looked like they’d given up as they looked injured and tired from all the fighting.

Using [Shield of [The Light]] as best as he could, Kyouya was abusing it with his shadow armor to block everything. If he needed healing, he would chug a health potion to heal himself. Vifi’Yok, on the other hand, had to keep shooting bolts at Galg, but the veteran dragonslayers could just use his superspeed to close into us.

Tatsuya turned around and used his spear to block the attack, but that nearly caused Rajah to fall over. Vifi’Yok shoved him back to the front, telling him to focus on guiding Rajah forward, while she defended us from the guy.

“Dammit, if only you hadn’t broken my rapier, dra—What?!” My glaive flew into her hands, guided by my parallel minds.

“… I’ll trust you with it,” I mumbled quickly before continuing my song.

“… Just watch a Warbringer work.”

I couldn’t control the lava inside [Magmakammer] with [Obsidian Blaze] due to [Magic Breaker], but the unstable footing and intolerable heat was clearly slowing Galg down. Despite being heavily weakened, Vifi’Yok managed to block any of his attacks with my glaive, fending him off as we quickly made it to the staircase, nearly reaching the entrance to floor 15.

However, at the same time, Galg used [Shadow Dash] to spring up in front of us, forcing Tatsuya to redirect Rajah, narrowly dodging the dragonslayer. His pursuit, however, continued.

“Hunting time! Hunting time! Hunting time!” the psychopath continued shouting.

Things were going well enough, but with all the stress and everything going on, the boys and I somehow had forgotten the dungeon’s gimmick—an exploding tile on the floor to the guardian boss.

The shield from [The Heir of Hope] protected us completely from the damage, but it still sent us flying up, leaving a window of opportunity for Galg to use [Dark Tendrils] to pull himself towards us. His bloodthirsty eyes stared at me as he formed a grin, ready to slice my head off with his weapons. But—

Clank!

An arrow hit his blade moments before they hit me, ruining the slashing angle. As he missed, he tried to attack once again, but Vifi’Yok reacted in time, parrying his duel blades as he slowly flew over us with his [Dark Tendrils]. As he stared at us in shock, Rajah twisted his body, kicking him in the face to accelerate our trip down into the hole created by the explosion.

“Daisy?” Tatsuya mumbled.

“Tatsuya! Kyouya!” A man’s voice entered my ears but I couldn’t see who it belonged to. However, once again, it felt like my soul had the answer for this.

I just couldn’t think of it as we fell into the abyss. I deactivated [Magmakammer] and my songs, taking deep breaths afterwards to fill up my empty lungs. As we kept on flying down, I told everybody to hang on tightly before I flapped my wings and activated my rocket booster, softening our landing.

Sadly, there was no time for rest.

<You have triggered a monster house. Prepare yourself for waves of monster spawns! Survive and you will be rewarded>

The five of us stared at knight status gaining sentience, moving with loud cracks as their eyes gained a blue color. They looked at us and moved forward like soldiers, turning this large room smaller and smaller with their numbers. It looked like an army had surrounded us.

Like a terracotta army.

<The challenge chamber will begin>

***

“You missed?” Rikara, the leonid woman twirled an arrow, displeased as she looked at the young man who just barely reached her chest.

“Yes, I thought I could kill the dragon for the experience. I apologize, I was greedy,” Light answered the giant woman, trying to lie his way through his actions. The leonid hammerer, however, wasn’t so easily fooled, baring her fangs as he ruined a perfect hunt.

However, people quickly came to his rescue in the form of his allies, his party members and Saintess Fleindia. They supported his excuse, which prompted the katzune archer dragonslayer to laugh. “Humans are lousy archers, anyways,” he exclaimed, insulting Light and throwing some shade at Lautrex.

“Quit it, Rikara,” in the end, though, the leader of the dragonslayers interjected. “We have a dragon to hunt. Meik, pick up that dragon arm.”

“Yes, boss.”

Galg, without saying anything to the students and their allies, walked ahead, following Hestia's escape path. However, he didn’t jump down the hole. The single-minded dragonslayer had no need to hurry. His party needed rest and every dragonslayer knew the importance of patience and proper preparations. One couldn’t survive long in this profession without a healthy dose of caution coupled with insanity.

As such, his team went down to floor 15 the normal way. After all, the only way for the dragon to escape was through the normal path—through all the stairs. There was nowhere the dragon could hide from this cantankerous hunter.

Meanwhile, back at students, Lautrex sighed, “I apologize … I should have been there to protect her.”

Everybody stared at Yuuko, the [Magic Breaker]. Her armor was burned to cinders, sticking to her skin like glue while large blisters formed underneath her skin, ready to burst open. Black spots could be seen, evidence of the searing pain she had to endure.

Now unconscious and sleeping, Saintess Fleindia was trying to heal the damage, hoping she arrived in time to stop the scars. However, similar to Saintess Eshe—Hestia’s blessed mentor—Fleindia had gained a buffing blessing from Aurena instead of one for healing. She could heal well, but it couldn’t be compared to Hestia’s [Miraculous Grace]. There was a low chance Yuuko would look the same after this incident.

“… That dragon must die!” Yuuko’s party members shouted, calling for Hestia’s head, further agitating the already exhausted students. Nobody rejected the idea.

Light, unwilling to participate in this, walk away, trying to inspect everything only to find two interesting-looking rocks. He picked them up, noticing they had grey-colored runes on them. He wasn’t sure what they were, but he was sure the dragon had dropped and forgotten about them when she escaped. He placed his [Identify Ring] over them.

[Room]? These are runes made from [Room]? What are they supposed to do?

He packed them up, safely, hiding it from all his classmates.

We will meet soon, ‘Hestia.’