Published at 19th of February 2022 02:54:25 PM

519 The Advantage of Numerical Superiority (side: treant)

Alexio flies past the other dragon riders and closes in on us in one breath. I must not let that man pass. The fact that hes a class above the other dragon riders is even more apparent than in the initial clash with Volk-dono.

As though thinking the same thing, atlach-nachdono directs a fist glowing with black light towards Alexio. It looks like she is planning to shoot him down with a [Dark Sphere].

In that case, I shall follow up on her attack. I face Alexio and take aim with [Clay Sphere]. The other dragon riders are also closing in, but taking him down first should take priority. Even if they manage to enter close combat, the only one who should be able to give trouble to Aro-dono or to atlach-nachdono would be Alexio.

I wait until atlach-nachdono has released her [Dark Sphere], and then one beat later, shoot my [Clay Sphere] towards Alexio. A mass of black light and a lump of earth speed towards him.

Alexio dives to dip below the [Dark Sphere], then flings his sword sheath at the [Clay Sphere] just as its about to hit the tip of his dragons nose, knocking it off course.

[Gale]!

At the same time as Alexio blocks, Aro-dono casts [Gale]. A tornado barrels forth, heading to encompass the new course that his dragon has taken. Up in the air where he cant make sudden turns, he shouldnt be able to easily cope with the areof-effect of [Gale].

Alexio tries to evade by drastically dropping his altitude. However, he vanishes inside the tornado. The dragons dying wail echoes.

Alexio-sama!

A shaky voice comes from the dragon riders.

As expected of Aro-dono!

The strength of Aro-donos magic is leaps and bounds above mine or atlach-nachdonos. Even for Alexio, the damage definitely isnt something he can laugh off. It wouldnt be strange either for him to be defeated just from that.

The dragon Alexio was riding smacks into the ground. Sharp wounds blanket its body, and its covered in blood. Its eyes are open, but theres no life in them. Its breathing has completely stopped.

However, the main target, Alexio, is nowhere to be found. The instant I think that, Alexio springs out from the shadow of the dragons corpse and closes in on us.

Rather than relying on the dragon, Im faster on foot!

As he declared, Alexios speed as he charges towards us is far faster than that of his dead dragon. With that speed, long range attacks wont hit at all. His face is wounded, but its shallow. Protected by his armour, his body doesnt seem to have suffered any injury at all. He probably used the dragon he was riding as a shield the moment Aro-donos [Gale] hit.

The only one that can take on that quickness is me.

Atlach-nachdono steps forward. Truly, atlach-nachdono is strong at close combat, has high magic power, and is quick as well. Compared to the magic-specialised Aro-dono, or myself, who only has half-baked endurance, she undoubtedly has the most balanced strength out of the three of us. However Even with that, her speed doesnt come close to Alexios. Aro-dono and myself must make up for the difference by supporting her somehow.

Atlach-nachdono holds out both arms in front of her. Strings flow from her ten fingers and weave together to produce a lookalike of herself. Its the [Doppel Cocoon] she used during the reconnaissance earlier. This skill has the potential to make up for the difference in strength.

Still At that size, isnt it consuming too much MP?

It cant be helped. It doesnt look like I can afford to hold back.

Alexio holds his sword high.

[Lucent Luna]!

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Sunlight gleams from the sword. I feel an unpleasant premonition, and quickly use [Clay Wall] to raise a wall of earth in front of atlach-nachdono.

Countless shards of light shoot from Alexios sword blade. My freshly-raised [Clay Wall] easily crumbles to pieces. S-such speed and quantity, what an incredible power!

Atlach-nachdono points her fingertips towards Alexio. The fragments of the [Clay Wall] fling towards him, likely controlled by threads from her fingers. Alexio covers his head with one arm, while he repels the larger chunks with his other.

Aro-dono looks though shes about to launch an attack towards Alexio as well, but then glances up and quickly turns her attention away from Alexio. The other dragon riders have closed in considerably.

[Gale]!

Aro-dono releases a [Gale] at the sky. The three dragon riders within its firing range quickly escape upwards.

However, two more dragon riders coming from another direction quickly close in.

In any case, I create a shield with [Clay Wall] to slow them down. During that time Aro-dono clads her left arm in earth, enlarging it. Aiming for the moment one of the dragons tramples through the clay wall, Aro-dono uses her enlarged arm to punch it, sending both rider and dragon flying.

[Clay]!

Aro-dono turns towards the second dragon thats gotten even closer, and uses [Clay] to form sharp needles from my wall of earth, running them through the dragons abdomen. She snatches the Holy Knight out of the air as he leaps down with his sword in hand, and syphons away his MP with [Mana Drain] before slamming him into the ground.

However We dont have any leeway. The damage to the dragon rider that Aro-dono punched away seems to be light, and hes healing his dragon with white magic just beyond our reach while waiting for a chance to attack. Still more are descending from the sky. Letting atlach-nachdono battle Alexio on her own is harsh, but Aro-dono and myself will have our hands full just dealing with the dragon riders coming from above.

If Volk-dono could have drawn the attention of Alexio, or reduced the number of dragon riders to some degree, we would surely have a lot more leeway, but No, hes already left, so it cant be helped. Just by ourselves, we have to somehow persevere and break through against Alexio and the dragon riders.

From then on, additional dragon riders close in in quick succession. I desperately defend with [Clay Wall], and launch [Clay Spheres] inbetween their attacks. Aro-dono steadily repels them with magic and close combat.

During that time, atlach-nachdono is somehow battling with Alexio. By surrounding him with her body double, attacking with the highly-wounding [Severing Thread], and raking him with her claws if he gets too close, it seems shes able to put up a fight. However, its clear that shes at a disadvantage.

Unlike Alexio, whos fighting with nothing but a sword, atlach-nachdono is relying on a diverse set of skills to create advantages wherever she can, but Alexio is significantly faster than she is. But, even though Aro-dono and I are taking every chance we can to lend support via magic attacks, Alexio is calmly dealing with everything atlach-nachdono is throwing at him.