Chapter 1154: Raydoss's Strength

All the rocks we scattered around got blown up by arrows one after another, which was fine by us.

Even if the rubble breaks into smaller pieces, they still maintained enough momentum to serve their purpose in harassing the enemy.

My only fear was if they had a powerful area attack capable of vaporizing the rubble. In that case, our rubble drop strategy wouldn’t result in much aside from making them exhaust some mana.

However, it seems the red arrows didn’t pack enough power to completely obliterate such huge rocks. All the archer could do was rapid fire explosive arrows to blow them into smaller bits.

Meanwhile, the Blood Maiden may be perfect for slaughtering people, but it apparently lacks destructive power. It had even less effect than the arrows.

The red spears were only capable of blowing the small chunks into smaller bits. A fine debris rained down on the fort’s wards, stressing it out just as we planned.

After seeing how well our strategy worked, we used land magic to create additional boulders.

Land magic becomes less effective when we are so high in the air, but we can still create 5 meter diameter boulders with ease.

The red arrows occasionally targeted Fran personally, but I’d never let such a half-assed attack reach us!

Fran kept up the offensive as I repelled the arrows with telekinesis.

Kranzel’s front line continued retreating in the meanwhile. Raydoss’s soldiers weren’t enough to stop them after losing support from the two Red Knight Captains.

I didn’t see any Red Knights on the battlefield either, so perhaps only their captains were in the fort.

『Fran, let’s pull back temporarily.』

（Okay.）

The Red Knight Captains almost certainly have a fearsome trump card in store for us if we push them into a corner. Fran understood this, so she agreed with the retreat.

If we get targeted by something like Roaneth’s Divine Flame Excitation again, I can’t say for sure that we will survive.

Better to stay on the safe side and retreat before they use it.

Jean supported the retreat by summoning undead to block the enemy from chasing. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time until the front lines make it…

「GRAAAAAAAAAAH!」

「!」

『Above us!』

A huge roar suddenly echoed across the battlefield.

We reflexively glanced up to see something falling from the heavens with absurd speed.

This something was long and thin, colored in a dull golden hue. It appeared to be a string from this distance, but we quickly realized that this was something infinitely worse.

（A snake?）

『No, a dragon! A heavenly dragon!』

The mane, beard, horns, and long body were the splitting image of an oriental dragon. Sometimes called “wyrms”, this type of dragon is often depicted in Japanese-style ceiling paintings or folding screens.

Fran, however, pointed out a difference.

（But it’s not shiny.）

The heavenly dragon we once saw at a distance definitely had a golden gleam. In comparison, the heavenly dragon in front of us lacked much luster.

But I knew this dull gold color as well. This is exactly the same as the heavenly dragon materials we saw in the Magic Academy’s storeroom. Heavenly dragon scales lose their luster when they die.

We continued observing the heavenly dragon as we headed back to the fort. Instead of falling all the way down, it twisted its body and began soaring through the sky.

Like I thought, this dragon must be the source of the roar from earlier.

（Look…）

『It’s undead!』

I sensed its mana when it got closer, so there’s no doubt about it. The dragon was cloaked in necromantic mana, like all other undead.

『Is can’t be Jean’s, right…?』

（It’s staring at us.）

The undead dragon was clearly hostile, ready to attack us at any moment. Raydoss got some powerful reinforcements out of nowhere.

Seriously though, where did they find the dragon? That floating island in Belioth should be their only habitat in the world. And more importantly, where was it hiding all this time…?

No, I get it now. The heavenly dragon could easily hide above the clouds, since that’s where they live to begin with. Perhaps they are even capable of creating clouds to cover themselves.

I have no clue how much of its powers it managed to retain as an undead, but the aura of mana I sensed was extraordinary.

This undead dragon was clearly a bigger threat than anything else at the moment. I’m sure it’s capable of magic, and just swinging around the huge body is enough to kill someone.

「GRAAAAAH!」

（Master, what now?）

『Maleficent is bringing some reinforcements to help! We should continue suppressing the arrows!』

（Okay.）

Fort Elent is full of adventurers who outrank us, so they should be able to handle themselves. They’ve been kept on standby for an emergency like this to begin with.

We continued dealing with the arrows while watching the dragon with caution.

A pulse of mana came from the dragon in the skies above us, followed by a torrent of light blasted at the land.

That’s flash magic, the upgraded version of light magic!

It was already too late by the time we realized it. Even we, with our accelerated time from space-time magic, could not react fast enough to save them.

However, the light never managed to reach the soldiers, since a barrier popped up to block the spell.

「Maleficent!」

『That guy is really amazing. He predicted the dragon’s spell based on its tiny cast time and responded with a barrier.』

The frightening thing about the dragon’s spell was that we never even saw it coming. I’m sure we’d be able to react if it attempts the same spell again, but not on our first try.

The speed of spell invocation and concealment of mana were practically perfect. It seems the dragon’s skill at manipulating mana remained even after turning undead.

According to the rumors I’ve heard, wyrms have a terrifying amount of skill in magic. You apparently require sorcerers of Rank A or higher to stand a chance.

Since Maleficent completely blocked the spell, he’s clearly one of the best sorcerers in the world.

『Seems like they’re okay without us.』

（Nn.）

After all, Maleficent isn’t alone. Jean and the others are right behind him.

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