"Kuh!"

Skidding across the ground, I managed to somehow flip myself back to my feet and halt my momentum while leaving a trail in the dirt. Huffing, I straightened up, only to receive an immense stream of fire in the face.

Swinging Aquarius, I managed to counter the fire with a geyser of water that vaporized instantly again upon contact.

"Oh, the flames aren't as powerful as I thought they would be," I remarked in surprise. "Even the Crastrate's flames were much more powerful."

As if it understood me, the dragon roared furiously in response. The spikes lining its back exploded with red-hot fire. Its eyes glowing crimson, the h.e.l.lfire Drake's maw yawned and superheated flames forcefully erupted from within. The ground melted as the superheated blaze washed through the entire area like an unstoppable river.

"Me and my big mouth," I grumbled to myself, swinging Aquarius and launching the biggest tidal wave I could muster. In seconds, the tsunami was completely vaporized into steam, leaving no trace of the intimidating wall of water I had just summoned. My eyes widened in disbelief, even though I was already aware of what had just transpired. "f.u.c.k! I knew it! Of course a rank A h.e.l.lfire Drake's flames will be more powerful than a rank B Crastrate!"

There was no way I could evade the flames in time, having wasted precious seconds conjuring that tsunami that was now boiling steam. Before the flames could reach me, however, Troy bowled right into the dragon, rocking it and slightly altering the trajectory by a few meters.

"Get the f.u.c.k out of there!" Troy roared.

I snapped out of my stupor and dove out of the way. The dragon swatted Troy away, but he managed to roll to his feet and dodge the superheated flames. Undeterred, the h.e.l.lfire Drake twisted its serpentine neck and directed its unrelenting torrent of fire at us, pursuing us mercilessly as it baked the entire mountain peak.

Exchanging a glance with Troy, I nodded and the both of us split off in different directions. That maneuver was supposed to delay the dragon for just a few seconds as it struggled to decide which one of us to incinerate. However, far from being indecisive as I hoped it would be, the h.e.l.lfire Drake didn't hesitate and chose to roast me, its head instantly turning in my direction and continuing to deliver the terrifying torrent of superheated fire after me.

"Are you ignoring me, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?!"

Furious, Kureha thrust her sword at the dragon while its attention was still focused upon me, silver mana gathering around her blade.

"Meteor Strike!"

The powerful Franklin Sword Style allowed Kureha to pierce through its armored scales and draw some blood, but the h.e.l.lfire Drake was more irritated than hurt. Its tail whipped out in retaliation, forcing Kureha to withdraw.

Even though they didn't directly brush against her, the blazing spikes that tipped the entire length of the tail were so hot that blisters began to appear on Kureha's face and arms, red patches of burns that erupted upon her snow-white skin.

"Kuh!"

Credit to the young Sword Saint, Kureha didn't falter and continued to retreat in a disciplined fas.h.i.+on before readying another attack. The dragon continued to wash the entire mountaintop with its red flames, turning the place into a h.e.l.lish inferno and melting the earth beneath us. I could feel my feet gradually grow hot to the point where it turned painful.

"Ouch! Ugh!"

Glancing down, despite myself, I realized the reason why my feet were hurting even though I was wearing shoes.

The earth had been transformed into boiling, red-hot and black magma.

"Aw, jeez!" I moaned as I jumped around in pain. I must have struck a comical sight, but poor Troy and Kureha were suffering from the same problem. Fortunately, Troy had managed to conjure a wall of earth on which he was standing upon while Kureha was literally levitating in the air by brewing a gust of wind.

Unfortunately, unlike the two of them, I didn't have such spells to save myself. I couldn't walk on air like Kureha, nor could I erect a wall of earth to jump on (though I had no idea how Troy was keeping his corner cool).

Fortunately, the magma had yet to burn its way through my shoes. However, the burning agony was making it difficult for me to run and I had to halt. Focusing my mana, I summoned Scutum Sobiescianum to s.h.i.+eld myself from the incoming flames.

The superheated torrent of fire washed over my Constellation s.h.i.+eld and immediately melted it into molten slag.

"What the h.e.l.l?!"

My jaw dropped in disbelief as Scutum Sobiescianum dripped into liquid metal before dissipating, and I could only watch helplessly as the flames rushed toward me. Just the searing heat alone made me sweat buckets and scaled my skin, and that was even before it reached me.

"You ain't roasting my bro!" Troy bellowed as he leaped from his raised earth and barreled into the dragon. Raising his fist, he hammered the side of the h.e.l.lfire Drake, causing it to stagger to the side. Snarling, the h.e.l.lfire Drake whipped its head toward him and bathed him in flames, but Troy was already running to the side and continued to pummel the dragon. It struck out with its claws, trying to swat him away, but Troy was too swift, darting between its ma.s.sive paws and landing several powerful punches that rocked it to the side.

"Heh! Not so tough for something of your size, eh?"

And like me before him, Troy just had to go and tempt fate.

The rage building up inside the h.e.l.lfire Drake had reached boiling point and it erupted in the form of a ma.s.sive inferno that rippled from its entire body. The first signs were the blazing spikes, which seemed to flicker at first before igniting even more furiously than before. Troy was literally blasted from his feet and sent hurtling several meters to the side, his body smoldering from the sheer heat. Even as he continued to skid across the scorched earth, leaving a deep furrow in the ground, the dragon stomped and let loose a triumphant roar.

"f.u.c.k you…" Troy managed, and he raised a defiant middle finger at it. The h.e.l.lfire Drake's eyes narrowed and it unleashed another superheated volley of fire in his direction.

"Oh no, you don't!"

It was my turn to save Troy. Jumping in front of him, I finally managed to complete my casting. A gigantic shape materialized in front of me, firmly putting himself between us humans and the incensed dragon.

Black Tortoise had finally arrived.

An immense barrier of water encased us within a transparent bubble over ten meters in diameter. As usual, the water boiled immediately the moment the superheated flames made contact, but there was so much water it didn't matter. Nonetheless, I could feel the scalding heat even deep within the core of the protective bubble.

Not that it mattered. With the help of Black Tortoise, both Troy and I managed to survive the onslaught of the superheated blaze.

"Thanks," I told Black Tortoise as I placed a hand on his sh.e.l.l. The Celestial Guardian nodded and prepared for his counterattack. A highly pressurized jet of water erupted from the serpent that served as his tail and sliced through the h.e.l.lfire Drake's torrent of fire to wash into its mouth. The stunned dragon was actually knocked backward from the geyser, blood fountaining from its jaw.

"Hah!" Troy was getting back up to his feet. "That should have taught the b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

"No, I think I only managed to make it angrier," I remarked as the dragon rose back to its feet with an irritated shake of its head. Growling furiously, it lumbered toward us, both of its wings spreading outward to cast an ominous shadow upon us. Even Black Tortoise cowered under the intimidating sight. However, I was more concerned about something else. Glancing at my injured friend, I asked, "Are you all right? You sure you should be getting up?"

"I'll live." Troy winced as he dusted himself off, only to accidentally brush against his third degree burns. "It'll take more than this to kill me. And I don't want to be lying around and waiting for that f.u.c.ker to roast me."

Troy was really a tough guy. Not for the first time, I found myself impressed by his tenacity. He was so stubborn that even the grim reaper himself would have trouble convincing him to stay in his grave.

Stomping his feet, Black Tortoise unleashed a tsunami of water at the h.e.l.lfire Drake, but the immense dragon merely sliced the huge wave apart with a flick of its tail. All three of us watched dumbly as the h.e.l.lfire Drake shook itself dry, and then continued its inexorable advance.

"Tell me your giant tortoise has some other spell up his sleeve," Troy muttered. I shook my head.

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"Black Tortoise is known more for his defensive magic than offensive," I admitted with both my hands up. "That was his most powerful spell."

Troy glanced at the bubble around us. "So we're safe as long as we stay inside here?"

"…well…against a rank A dragon…uh, the h.e.l.lfire Drake will break through it in five minutes." I brightened up. "But that's more than enough time for me to summon something else."

"Hey!" Kureha shouted as she attacked the h.e.l.lfire Drake, now that it had stopped roasting the mountaintop in flames. "You don't seriously intend to wait inside there for five minutes, are you?!"

With a single slash of her sword, she cut through the dragon's paw. Blood sprouted like a geyser from its armored paw, and the h.e.l.lfire Drake roared in fury and pain. However, it swatted poor Kureha away, knocking her against an outcrop of rock that crumbled and fell over her in rubble. Kureha lay, stunned on the ground, as the h.e.l.lfire Drake lumbered toward her.

"d.a.m.n it." I had no way of extending the protective bubble or moving it. Even so, at my mental command, Black Tortoise managed to cast a second water barrier over the immobile Kureha. The dragon's claw struck the smaller bubble and managed to put a dent in it, but because Black Tortoise's mana was split between the two spells, it was relatively weaker.

It wasn't going to last a minute.

"The lady's got a point," Troy remarked as he walked out of the bubble, rubbing his arms. "I ain't gonna hide in here for five minutes. Not my style."

With that, he charged at the dragon. The h.e.l.lfire Drake noticed his approach, and spun around to swat him away. Troy dodged under the huge claws and punched its forearm with such force I could actually feel the shockwave from a distance. Bellowing, the h.e.l.lfire Drake's tail whipped out in retaliation. Troy tried to dodge it, but it was too fast and it caught him in the chest, throwing him to the side. Even though it was just a graze, he was momentarily stunned.

The dragon turned toward him, getting ready to stomp him flat with its claws. Now, I was sure that Troy would somehow survive that, but it wasn't going to be pretty. Regardless, he was my friend and I sure as h.e.l.l wasn't going to risk his life on intuition.

Cartwheeling through the air, I descended in a graceful arc onto the dragon's head. Aquarius glowed blue as I infused the broadsword with my mana before I stabbed the h.e.l.lfire Drake's crown.

The azure blade shattered immediately. Grunting in annoyance, the dragon flicked me away with a forceful jerk of its head. I was sent cras.h.i.+ng onto the molten ground several meters away, the searing heat burning through my uniform.

"Argh!"

Even as I thrashed about, the h.e.l.lfire Drake mercilessly turned toward me with a snarl and an upraised claw. It evidently intended to stomp me into oblivion.

"Black Tortoise!" I yelled. "Take Down attack!"

My Celestial Guardian slammed into the h.e.l.lfire Drake, knocking it off its feet before it could crush me under its paw. Bellowing, the h.e.l.lfire Drake grappled with the colossal tortoise, its claws grazing the side of his armored sh.e.l.l. Despite the minimal damage he had sustained, I was under no illusion that my Black Tortoise would be any match for the h.e.l.lfire Drake.

Its tail lashed out and struck Black Tortoise. Even though the Celestial Guardian had withdrawn into his sh.e.l.l, the impact from the attack was enough to send him spinning across the clearing. All four legs emerged from the holes and clamped down tightly on the ground, trying to arrest its momentum.

Aware that it would take a tedious amount of time to wear down Black Tortoise's defenses, the h.e.l.lfire Drake turned back toward me. After all, if it eliminated the summoner, then my soul beasts would also disappear along with my demise.

Turning toward me, the h.e.l.lfire Drake lunged at me with its jaws wide open, ready to swallow me up.

"…why do I feel as if this has already happened before?" I grumbled as I watched my inevitable demise rush toward me, along with a sensation of déjà vu.