Chapter 505: The Tragedy of a Dragon’s Jaw
Eric’s face went pale, and his hand tightened on his sword. He had seen many things in his long life, had fought many battles, but this was something else entirely.
The beast was about 60 feet long and 100 feet from the ground up, slightly shorter than the largest creature on Earth, and towered over all the trees at that area that it could be seen from miles away.
Its shadow fell across the landscape like a dark cloud, blocking out the sun and casting everything beneath it into gloom. It was a monster out of legend, a creature that should not exist, and it was standing adjacent to the city they were trying to protect.
Mature dragons are the only ones that can grow that big. However, this beast was acting like a Common Dragon that operates in terms of herds and numbers. Unlike a Mature dragon that lives and functions in solitude.
Mature dragons were solitary creatures, powerful beyond measure, but they operated alone, relying on their own strength rather than the support of others.
This one was a ground-bound leviathan: practically, a very big serpent with powerful arms. Its eyes burned with a malevolent intelligence that spoke of centuries of life.
Eric and the group almost lost heart seeing such a monster. Their faces went pale, their hands trembled, and for a moment, they seemed frozen in place.
For it to have still been fighting the adventurers there, it must mean the best of the best were fortunately in town when all this happened.
Because a normal nation’s army was no match for that leviathan. Though, the realization was both comforting and terrifying.
Comforting because it meant there was hope, that some people were fighting back against the monster.
Terrifying because it meant that even the best of the best were struggling, were barely holding their own against this impossible foe.
"EEEEEPPPP! HELP ME!"
The shriek was coming from a fleeing female adventurer.
Her voice was high and piercing, cutting through the chaos of the battlefield like a knife.
Her face was fear-stricken, her eyes wide as tears poured out, and saliva dripping off her mouth as she ran away from the city.
She was in full flight, her legs pumping desperately, her arms flailing as she tried to maintain her balance.
Behind was a wyvern chasing her with its slithering body and forearms.
The beast moved in a serpentine manner, its body undulating across the ground as it pursued its prey. Its jaws were open, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, and its eyes were fixed on the fleeing woman with predatory focus.
She wasn’t doing much to escape, and the dragon was successfully scraping off flesh from her skull as she stumbled and rose again, determined to live.
Blood streamed down her face, mixing with her tears and saliva, but she did not stop. She could not stop. To stop was to die, and she was apparently not ready to die.
It immediately lunged for her the moment she fell down once more, its jaws snapping on her lower half, and trying to swallow her whole.
The beast’s teeth sank into her flesh, and she screamed, a sound of pure agony that seemed to echo across the area.
"AAAHHH! No! Stop, please! Someone, help!" She thrashed, trying to remove herself from its mouth.
Her hands beat against the dragon’s snout, her legs kicked uselessly, but she could not free herself.
The jaws were too strong, the teeth too sharp, and she was being dragged inexorably toward the beast’s gullet.
Due to struggling so much, she was getting more hurt, the strong jaws sinking deeper into her spine and pelvis with her own blood splattering over her terrified face.
The pain was unbearable, a white-hot agony that consumed all her thoughts. She could feel her bones grinding together, could feel the pressure building as the dragon tightened its grip.
CRRRRACK!
A quick sudden burst of movement carried someone to the upper jaw of the beast, and with the force of movement, they grabbed the jaw and tore it off violently.
The sound was sickening, a wet tearing noise that seemed to hang in the air for an eternity.
The dragon’s jaw came away in a spray of blood and gore, and the beast collapsed, its body going limp as the life drained out of it.
"Th-Th-Thank-k-k-k you f-f-f-f-f—" The woman was nearly convulsing, still trembling with wide eyes, but she saw her savior.
Her voice was barely a whisper, choked with shock and relief, and her body was shaking uncontrollably. But she could see the face of the person who had saved her.
Light brown hair, slender feature, and bright cheerful blue eyes.
"B-Benjamin?! How did she reach there so fast?!" Katana announced, visibly shocked.
Her voice was high with disbelief, her eyes wide as she tried to process what she had just witnessed.
One moment Benjamin had been beside them, and the next he was on the other side of the battlefield, having just ripped a dragon’s jaw off with his bare hand.
"We can’t say she teleported," Sapphire added on the Horse-beast matching the group’s slower strides, his voice shaken, "because the inertia of the force that dismembered the dragon was definitely present from movement."
Her words were analytical, but there was a tremor in her voice that betrayed her fear.
She had seen many things in her life, had studied magic and its applications, but she had never seen anything like this. Benjamin had moved with impossible speed, had displayed strength that defied all known limits.
"Huh? But doesn’t that make her more terrifying?" Sophia asked, looking at where Heka was running beside her, to ask, "H-Heka?! How did she get there that fast?!"
Her voice ranged with a pitch of confusion, and a hint of fear. She was trying to understand what was happening, trying to make sense of the chaos around her.
While they were all wondering what manner of speed Benjamin had displayed, they could clearly spot Heka frowning at the dead beast close to Benjamin, already on set as well.
Her expression was one of concentration, her brow furrowed as she approached the fallen wyvern.
The adventurers soon ignored the two anomalies and just ran faster to meet them. There was no time for questions, no time for explanations.
There was a battle to fight, a city to save, and they could not afford to be distracted by mysteries that would have to wait for another time.
"Heka, please heal this girl," Benjamin said, as he increased his perception to monitor the city of Thaad.
His voice was calm, focused, his eyes glowing with an otherworldly light. He was scanning the city from where he stood, mapping its streets and buildings, cataloging the threats that lurked within.
When the woman looked up to explain some matters to Benjamin, she realized that all her grotesque injuries were gone in an instant.
The wounds that had been bleeding moments before were now sealed, the bones that had been broken were now whole, and the pain that had been consuming her had vanished as if it had never been.
As she appreciated them profusely, Benjamin smiled at Heka;
"I can’t believe you healed her so fast," he said, his blue eyes glowing as they metaphysically scanned the entirety of the city.
There was a hint of surprise in his voice, as if he had not expected her to be so efficient.
"Surely not, Benjamin," Heka shrugged his compliment with a smile, her voice warm and affectionate. "humans are easy to hurt, and likewise easy to fix."
Her words were simple and matter-of-fact, but there were some depth of wisdom behind them.
"Huh? But Amazons are easy to fix as well," Benjamin tilted his head, his brow furrowing with confusion.