The difference between running around a corner into a dragon unprepared and doing so with foreknowledge of the specific dragon involved was huge. For example, we could protect against getting our faces eaten and also do something about her breath.

Of course, Faceeater was still big and strong and there was only so much Stoneskin could do, so everyone would be trying not to get stinky acid breath on them, and they would avoid teeth and claws as much as possible. Everyone being myself, Midnight, Swiss Arms, Sorority, and Zeb- Squirrel Swarm and all her buddies. Not all of which were squirrels.

"You two watch our backs," she instructed her larger companions. "I think a dragon is better against big targets."

She was right, there. And neither of them had any sort of particular advantage against a dragon. Fluffy's ability to chew metal probably didn't extend to dragon scale, because it was a completely different material. Either way, he didn't have the agility to avoid the attacks, and Miss Flutter didn't either.

Speaking of agility… how could Faceeater avoid us? I didn't think she could. We could use powerful spells… that didn't bring down the tunnels on us. So no Meteor Swarm, sadly.

I consulted with Midnight. "Blizzard?"

"Not with the squirrels," Midnight commented.

"Chain Lightning?"

"Maybe if we can hit her multiple times with it?"

She was certainly a big enough target for that.

"Sonic Lance is pretty good I suppose," I suggested. "But I think we hit her with that before and it wasn't strong enough even with the upgrades. I don't want to use all my mana before we get to our actual destination. The magic resistance dragons have is a bit of a pain."

"How does 'magic resistance' work?" Sorority asked.

"Anything affecting the target is just… worse." That was the quick and easy explanation, and I honestly didn't have the experience to be more detailed. I had dreamed about fighting dragons, but I hadn't actually thought I'd have the opportunity so my actual knowledge was spotty.

Swiss Arms had a question. "How does that apply to lasers?"

"Super tech is probably worse. Maybe," I shrugged. "You'd have to go with previous battle records for that."

We had a short time to prepare, but we couldn't stand around talking strategy all day. Once we had something solid, we began to approach the actual tunnel in question. Sorority ran out front, planning to bait out Faceeater's breath.

I didn't see what happened, but the sound was clear enough. At least, for someone with Translation active. I still always had it because Midnight needed to be able to talk. His suit could do it, but magic was surprisingly easier.

"I smell other foes! I will not be fooled by simple illusions!" Faceeater roared. I did hear the sounds of stomping feet, swinging claws, and thrashing tail so clearly she intended to disperse the illusions with force.

"Plan B," Sorority said from next to us.

Eh, could have been worse. At least we didn't have to jump to plan C.

I rounded the corner with mana already gathered. A good handful, several times what Grease normally took. I looked Faceeater dead in the eye… and threw the spell half behind her. Relatedly, Sorority was there- a couple of her. They immediately lunged for the tail.

It was a shame that Faceeater hadn't shoved herself into a tunnel but instead a larger room with several entrances. She had some room to maneuver… but it was a bit difficult for her to handle so many attacks all at once.

Midnight threw an inverted Energy Ward onto Faceeater, to prevent her breath weapon. He also blasted her with a laser. He actually managed to snag her in the eye, and it wasn't super tech but good old fashioned advanced technology from a developed planet. In short, it wasn't magic. It was designed for anti personnel capabilities, though, not dragon fighting. Faceater roared and shook her head, but she probably wasn't blind.

Swiss Arms slapped her arms together and they coiled around each other into one thing. A much more powerful laser shot out, along with a few dozen tiny missiles. The sustained beam of the laser created a black trail along the dragon's neck, but the damage was probably mostly cosmetic. I wasn't sure about the missiles, but nobody expected them to be sufficient.

Then there were the squirrels. Some of them had actually fought Faceeater before, in the forest. Some of the flying ones… and some that just jumped. Was it dangerous for them to fight a dragon? Of course it was. Did they seem extremely eager to try? Absolutely.

What was the dragon doing as they swarmed into the room? Not breathing her horrible acid breath. That wasn't because of the spell, either, but because she was busy with other stuff. Like flailing her tail around and probably trying to spin and bite Sorority.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I said probably, because whatever she was attempting she didn't successfully manage it. The Grease- a quite large patch which I had thrown beneath her rear legs- really messed her up as she fell onto her side and only scrambled to her feet with the help of her front claws.

Then she roared, the sound echoing through the tunnels. It hurt my ears. People within the same zip code for sure knew something was happening here, if she was placed as a guard. It was also quite scary- I could tell because of Midnight's reaction. It was unfortunate that he responded negatively as I snatched him up. It wasn't his fault he was turning to flee. Relatedly, the squirrels also ran and even Swiss Arms locked up- but her laser was still on and pointed at the dragon's center of mass. That was a lot of people afraid, but it was magic after all.

Dragons were expensive to fight. One Multicasting of Mental Freedom later, I covered all of us. Including Sorority who appeared to be doing fine already. Sadly, we did miss the optimal moment for Squirrel Swarm to maul the dragon, and she followed up the roar with her breath weapon. It was clear part of a second in that the Energy Ward wouldn't hold… but Midnight made a brilliant move. He was highly focused on the spell so he didn't manage to make any more laser attacks, but he did manage to cast Summon Minor Elemental into Faceeater's open maw.

"Just don't let the acid out!" Midnight commanded. The words weren't meant for the dragon to understand, so she probably didn't. She kept spraying acid. She had already broken through the Energy Ward… but the acid had an impediment in the form of a little flame guy and a pot. Ignis braced himself inside the teeth and mostly blocked the assault. Then he poured acid down the dragon's throat, the pot showing its capacity to still be far greater than its size.

I wouldn't have thought of that. What was the point, when a dragon was immune to their own energy? Except, of course, all of that acid was still a liquid. Faceeater coughed and nearly dislodged Ignis, but the worse thing was how she slammed Sorority into the wall with her tail. Her attempts at a follow-up attack caused even more damage to the tunnel, but she only took out a chunk above Sorority.

It appeared that was Sorority's real body that had gotten hit, as she had to make more copies and they staggered out of her. Stoneskin had helped, at least, along with her own physical enhancements. Otherwise she might not be standing.

"Rrrraeennough!" the dragon growled.

That wasn't an attempt to surrender. That was her more or less announcing she was going to eat me. She slammed her head against the wall, dislodging Ignis from her mouth, then lunged towards me. She had mostly gotten off of the patch of Grease, so she was actually able to extend her neck pretty far.

Sometimes, fear was the correct response. I wasn't very good at that, though, so I defaulted to throwing magic at the problem. I did know that magic resistance was making things much harder, so I had prepared a nice spell that wouldn't directly affect Faceeater. Midnight and Ignis had inspired me.

Huge jaws tried to close around me, but how could they close when they were full of a giant block of ice?

There was a crack sound… and that squeaky sound of ice being compressed. Fortunately, the crack was just one small corner of the ice. I threw the last of the mana I had ready into the spell, continuing to expand the ice block, while at the same time getting knocked back by that very block. But as I was tossed away, Swiss Arms was already clambering onto the dragon's back, along with so many squirrels. And maybe a mouse.

"Rrrwwwrrrgggmmmn!"

Translation couldn't translate things that wouldn't have been words to begin with, so Faceeater's rage-filled screams couldn't be interpreted. What we did get was her flapping her wings as she tried to fling climbers off of her. She dashed towards the nearest tunnel where she could scrape them off, and most of them were smart enough to let go. Except a couple squirrels holding onto the tip of her tail.

"Let go!" Zeb commanded. There were loud squeaks. "I don't care if it's fun!"

We weren't going to kill a dragon here, today. She wasn't even bleeding. However, she did understand she was at a disadvantage… and collapsing the tunnel behind her by clawing it as she passed and slapping it with her tail afterwards certainly indicated she didn't want to be chased.

Sorority had broken ribs- I knew that movement- and both Swiss Arms and I had been clipped by some attacks. We might be able to slip over the rubble and give chase, but we had other goals.

Two squirrels were fighting each other next to the rubble.

"I don't know which of you got the bigger scale," Zeb said. "They both look pretty big to me! Just be happy you got souvenirs."

The other squirrels swarmed around them, taking looks at their prizes. It wasn't really significant damage, but it would be a huge hit to the dragon's dignity nonetheless.

There was also one more thing lying around that I wouldn't have noticed except for the lack of sensory feedback. Now, one might think that was a strange way to find something- but anyone could spot a starkly black object in the middle of the room. This was the same except… magic. Or specifically not magic.

"Power signature suppressor," I commented as I picked it up. "... Isn't this the Neon Void's kind?"

"Do you think she's working with them?" Midnight asked.

Swiss Arms shook her head. "They sell those, so it's hard to say."

"It would help explain how she disappeared in the forest though," Zeb said. "Maybe they have scent blockers too."

It was a common enough superpower, so I wouldn't put it past them.

Ignis waved goodbye as he ran out of time. He had been very effective during his early moments- especially for his low powered version. The fact that he got tossed away for the latter half didn't mean much. I gave him a wave.

"That wasn't the tunnel we needed, right?" Sorority pointed towards the half collapsed one. We could squeeze through, but it wasn't safe for a quick retreat.

"Nope," Swiss Arms said. "It should still be this way. We should be running into some of Rodentia's traps at any moment."

She was right. Or at least, as right as she could have been as we headed further into the tunnels. Technically, the traps weren't there because many of them had already exploded. But maybe broken traps were still traps.

"I'm reconsidering my previous assessment," Swiss Arms commented. "Especially if we find the Neon Void up ahead. She was clearly guarding that tunnel for someone."

Dead robo rats were strewn around along with the exploded traps. We would have to assess the complete situation further inside the lair. If we completed our objective, then other intruders would actually be to our benefit. Hopefully, we could get what we came for.

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