Chapter 492: Is that an Amazon?
Maybe Benjamin will allow me to join the fight against the Mature dragon.
The idea was appealing, a chance to stretch my muscles and remind myself that I was still a warrior, still capable of great feats of strength and skill.
It had been too long since I had truly fought, too long since I had felt the rush of combat.
"According to recorded history, Renard’s idea of the adventurers was inspired by a story told to him a very long time ago by a god-touched," I answered Benjamin’s question, my voice carrying the weight of historical fact.
"God-touched? Was he referring to Violette?" Benjamin asked again, his brow furrowing with curiosity as he turned to face me.
His blue eyes searched my face for some confirmation, some hint that his guess was correct. "She probably would have known about adventurer when she was Maria."
"Hm...? You speak as if Lady Violette is a god-touched..." I asked for clarity, my voice carrying a note of genuine confusion that I made no effort to hide.
The idea was strange, almost absurd, and I found myself wondering where Benjamin had gotten such an impression.
Violette was powerful, certainly, but she was a monster, a creature of this world with a long and storied history.
There was nothing about her that suggested she came from another world... Then again, it may have some truths.
As far as I know, my grandmother picked her up when she was just a hatchling, and they were incredibly surprised by her intelligence and awareness.
She had been a curious creature, a serpent of unusual intellect and potential that had caught my grandmother’s attention.
And she had grown and thrived under my grandmother’s care, becoming the formidable woman she was today.
"Ah, you’re right!" Benjamin laughed nervously, his beautiful blue eyes darting all over as if searching for an escape from his own words.
His cheeks flushed slightly, a telltale sign of embarrassment that spread from his cheeks to the tips of his ears.
"V... Violette is NOT a god-touched, how could I even make such a mistake?! I must have been thinking of someone else. Ahem. So it was probably some reincarnator who told Renard about adventurers, but not Violette, okay?! Now, let’s shift the focus to the battle!" He gestured broadly toward the ongoing fight, clearly eager to change the subject and move on from his embarrassing slip.
He was acting alarmingly suspicious, but I let it slide...
Because if one considered that he sometimes talked to himself, always greeted an imaginary person called Sys whenever he wakes up, and can usually wander off staring at a distance for hours, Benjamin Mark is as suspicious as a suspicious person gets.
His behavior was odd, his habits strange, and his explanations often left more questions than answers.
But he was also kind, and brave, and had a way of making people feel safe and valued. Those qualities outweighed his eccentricities, and I found myself willing to overlook his strangeness in exchange for his attention.
The battle was supposed to be one-sided, with multiple people facing off just one massive dragon; but considering that said dragon could swallow three of them in an instant, and it was hard as diamond, it WAS a one-sided fight with the people on the losing end.
The adventurers were skilled, well-equipped, and coordinated, but the dragon was simply too powerful, resilient, and relentless.
Every attack they launched seemed to bounce off its scales, every strategy they attempted was countered with brutal efficiency.
The dragon moved with a grace that belied its size, its massive body twisting and turning with deadly precision.
The major attacker was a slender elven... man(?) with light green hair and eyes, dressed as a normal, but fairly wealthy adventurer.
His movements were graceful, fluid, the motions of someone who had trained for decades in the art of combat.
He wielded quite an impressive sword that seemed about legendary grade, the blade wide as an open palm and had a round but slightly opening near the handle on the blade.
The person close to him providing attack but more supportive was a human girl with dark hair and eyes, holding what I assume is a katana: a long, curved sword found mostly in Palstrait... the continent where the beast Kingdom is located.
Her movements were quick, precise, her blade flashing through the air as she darted in and out of range, striking at the dragon’s joints and perceived weak points with surgical accuracy. She was fast, agile, and clearly knew her craft well.
They were five other people giving support, but it was at the rear when the dragon moved to their end.
One of which was...
"Hey, Heka..." Benjamin called out as he watched the woman shield herself with a strong wooden shield against the dragon’s tail, holding her ground against the massive beast. "Is that woman not an Amazon?"
"That, she is, Benjamin," I nodded, watching the dark-skinned woman evade another swing of the dragon’s tail.
Her movements were unfamiliar, but the stance and footwork that all Amazons learned from childhood was visible.
She moved with the skill and power that came from years of training, her shield raised high as she deflected another blow. "And it is a delight to see she is not shaming our heritage. She fights with honor and skill, even against impossible odds. Any Amazon would be proud to call her sister... I think."
"Yeah, I doubt even strong humans can tank a mature dragon’s tail like that. Then again, that Mature dragon seem abnormal, like it’s holding foreign powers in its body," Benjamin observed, with a slight and cute blush across his cheek. His eyes lingered on the Amazon woman, tracing the lines of her form as she moved, "But she doesn’t have any tattoos?"
Indeed.
The mature dragon was abnormal.
Despite it being smaller than the conventional mature dragon—staying entirely on four legs like a lizard, but still as looming as eight feet tall, and plus its tail, about 50 feet long... It was thick enough to gulp three or four people at once without resistance.
Its body was compact, dense, packed with muscle and power that made it far more dangerous than its size suggested.
Its scales were a deep blue, almost black in the shadows, glistening with an unnatural sheen.
Unlike other mature dragons which are bigger, this one was actually stronger.
The adventurers had managed to land several hits, but the damage was minimal, superficial at best.
Not to mention, real blue dragons are not of this habitat, so this dragon changed because of something unnatural.
Something had altered it, twisted it, made it into something that should not exist in this place.