Chapter 497: A Frail Witch Bites when Cornered
Shattering the ground on impact, Eric went unconscious.
His body lay crumpled in a shallow crater, the remnants of his legendary blade scattered around him like fallen leaves.
Blood trickled from his mouth, and his chest rose and fell in shallow, irregular breaths. The golden light that had once blazed from his sword had faded entirely, leaving only the dull gleam of broken metal.
"I’ll keep it busy! Help Eric!" The katana-wielding lady urged the mages, as the battle was left with her, the Amazon and the Dwarf.
Her voice carried a desperate edge, the kind that came from knowing the odds were stacked against them.
She positioned herself between the fallen Elf and the dragon, her blade held ready, her stance low and defensive.
Luckily, the dragon had received a great wound on its side, and it made victory seem more plausible.
The gash was deep, visible even from a distance, and dark red blood oozed from the wound in steady pulses.
The battle began anew.
The Amazon woman would dive mindlessly towards the dragon, pulling attention to herself.
She moved with reckless abandon, her wooden shield held high, her voice raised in a battle cry that echoed across the plain.
The dragon’s golden eyes tracked her approach, and it lunged forward to meet her charge.
When the dragon attack her, she would use the worn-out, but unnaturally sturdy, shield to defend, just enough for the Dwarf to attack it with her axe, and the katana-wielding lady to also slash weaker points.
The Amazon’s shield absorbed the brunt of the dragon’s blows, cracking further with each impact, but she held firm.
The Dwarf would step in from the side, her massive axe carving deep gouges into the dragon’s already wounded flank.
The katana-wielder would dart in from the opposite direction, her blade finding the joints and weak spots that her companions had exposed.
They used the strategy to create a stalemate... but they didn’t account for a scenario where the dragon learned.
The beast was intelligent, far more intelligent than they had given it credit for. It watched their movements, studied their patterns, and apparently adapted.
In the middle of the fight, a glowing blue ball appeared and rushed violently at the Dwarf, but the Amazon found out just in time to make a call.
Her eyes widened as she spotted the attack, and she reacted on pure instinct. She kicked the ground heavily, shattering the earth beneath her feet, and with a supernatural speed reached and grabbed the dwarf, then shielded them both with her shield.
The movement was so fast and precise, that it seemed definitely inhuman.
The result was, the blue ball was a feint the dragon had just learned with magic.
It was meant to distract the attackers just so it could deliver the real blow.
The dragon’s tail had been winding back during the feint, building momentum, and it struck with devastating accuracy.
Its tail connected freely to the shield that it shattered completely, the waves strong enough to push the mages down, when they were several meters away.
The shield exploded into fragments, showering the area with splinters of wood and scraps of metal.
After destroying the shield, the tail hit the Amazon’s rib cage, as she spurt out blood from her mouth, with a sickening crunch resounding.
The sound was awful, horrific—the sound of bone giving way under immense force. The Amazon’s body arched backward, her mouth opening in a silent scream as blood sprayed from her lips.
She and the Dwarf were sent flying, and even when they landed, the dragon was ready to take their lives.
The beast moved with terrible speed, closing the distance between them in an instant, its jaws opened wide.
Fortunately, a veil of ice barricaded the scratches and powerful force of the dragon.
The ice witch began to handle the dragon alone while the katana-wielding lady took the hurt duo of Amazon and dwarf away from the enraged predator.
The ice barrier had rose just in time, a wall of frost that absorbed the dragon’s attack and held firm. The witch stood far behind it, her hands extended, her face set in grim determination.
Sharp lances of ice formed from nothing and began to restlessly dart at the dragon.
They flew through the air like arrows, each one aimed with deadly precision at the beast’s eyes and soft underbelly.
The dragon was forced to move back, while snapping and clawing at the icy projectiles that rained down upon it.
It slithered and zigzagged across the field, very meaning to end the icy annoyance that had plagued it since the beginning of the war.
The beast moved in a serpentine manner, weaving between the ice lances, closing the distance between itself and the witch with each passing moment.
In reaching her once more, the witch surprisingly moved in as well and quickly connected her small fist to its jaw, the area around them freezing cold with the powerful impact.
The punch was enhanced with magic, a concentrated burst of frost that exploded against the dragon’s face.
Ice crystals bloomed across its scales, and the beast recoiled in shock.
"I’m not letting you eat my friends today!" She scowled.
Her voice was fierce, defiant, the voice of someone who had been pushed to their absolute limit and had decided to push back.
The dragon persisted, its tail swung to hit her side, but ice formed like raised water and held the tail.
The frozen tendrils wrapped around the appendage, anchoring it in place. The beast struggled against the ice, but the witch’s magic held firm.
Eventually breaking its tail off the ice, it swung its claws at the witch and met a frosty resistance in a block of ice.
The claws scraped against the frozen barrier, sending shards flying, but the ice held. The witch stood behind it, her face pale with exhaustion, but her eyes blazing with determination.
She kicked the wall of ice and it smashed into the dragon’s powerful body, slamming it several feet away, giving her a moment to breathe.
She immediately ran towards it and hopped on the beast’s back, forcing a belly-out pose from it, her ice beginning to anchor the beast to the ground, with its softer belly out in the open.
The frost spread from her hands, encasing the dragon’s limbs and pinning it to the earth. The beast thrashed and roared, but the ice held firm, slowly freezing the monster in place.
"Someone, wake Eric immediately! I don’t have much magic left!" She yelled, partially buried in the ice prison that restrained the violently thrashing beast.
Her voice was strained, desperate, and one could see the tremble in her arms as she fought to maintain the spell.
The mages nodded, already doing their best for the Elf, and seconds later, he was up.