Suddenly, the h.e.l.lfire Drake shrieked in pain and snapped its head back, retreating from me. Stunned by the unexpected development, I could only stare at the dragon, but to my amazement I saw a stream of crimson blood dripping from a couple of long gashes across its face where I had caught it with Gan Jiang and Mo Ye earlier. I glanced at both of my swords and saw the same crimson blood dripping from the lengths of their gleaming blades.

"Since when did you get yourself a real sword?! And two of them at that?!" Troy hollered from behind me as he struggled to his feet.

"A gift from the Stuart family," I replied, even as I was unable to conceal my awe. Both of my swords throbbed wildly in my hands, their gleaming blades displaying their terrifying sharpness and latent power. I felt a smile spread across my face as I savored the powerful sensations that poured into me from their hilts. "There is no foe worthier than a dragon for their first battle."

The h.e.l.lfire Drake reared back as its spikes once again exploded with crimson flames, its jaws opening to unleash another torrent of flames.

"Oh no you don't!" I snapped as I sheathed both my swords and raised my now empty hands to gather mana into them. "Chains of Andromeda!"

The long, heavy chains materialized in my hands instantly, and I immediately threw them over the dragon's jaws, snapping them shut. The h.e.l.lfire Drake tried to screech, but only a m.u.f.fled roar emerged. I swung the entire length of my chain up and around the rest of the dragon's body, tying up its wings, claws and tail.

The dragon struggled desperately against its restraints, almost hurling me off my feet. I stood firm, however, clutching the chains and tightening them over the h.e.l.lfire Drake's ma.s.sive bulk. I could feel my stance slowly crumbling as my feet were slowly dragged off the ground.

"Hang on, bro."

Troy joined in, grabbing my chains to ground me while restraining the h.e.l.lfire Drake as well. Between the both of us, we succeeded in forcing the dragon down with a tremendous burst of strength, driving its whole body down to the ground. Troy was also muttering an incantation under his breath and I could see the air around the h.e.l.lfire Drake distort and twist as gravity increased several times in its vicinity, using its own crus.h.i.+ng weight against it.

However, the dragon's constant flailing still almost managed to throw the both of us off our feet several times, despite Troy's immense strength. I had to grit my teeth and dig in hard to keep it chained down, and without Troy's a.s.sistance, I would have failed long ago.

Unfortunately, I could feel the grip of my chains weakening before long. To my horror, I discovered that the crimson flames that were blazing through the h.e.l.lfire Drake's spikes were melting my Chains of Andromeda. I didn't have much time left before the dragon broke free of its chains.

"Troy, can you hold the h.e.l.lfire Drake down for ten more seconds?"

"I can hold it down for thirty if you need me to," Troy replied with a snort.

"I'm not sure my Chains of Andromeda will last that long, but I appreciate it. Ten seconds are enough." I was already summoning Sagittarius while channeling mana into a flaming arrow. Even as I slowly coaxed the arrow to materialization, I pulled the bowstring back and took aim. Not that I needed to, given how big my target was. Taking a deep breath, I fired off Alnasl, which exploded upon impact.

"Holy s.h.i.+t!" Troy whistled as he watched the colossal conflagration consume the dragon. "You think that finished it off?"

"I wish," I muttered, rolling my eyes. Amidst the giant inferno, I could see the dark shape of the h.e.l.lfire Drake rising to its feet. Troy stared, blinking, as my molten chains drooped down at his hands, the rest of it melted to slag by the superheated inferno that resulted from the combination of Sagittarius's and the dragon's flames.

Now free of any restraints, the h.e.l.lfire Drake opened its jaws and unleashed its crimson flames in our direction. Fortunately, by now, my Black Tortoise had recovered and returned to my side. A barrier of water appeared, turning to steam as it withstood the torrent of superheated flames. Even as my vision was obscured by a boiling fog and I felt uncomfortably warm, I found myself still alive.

"That thing just refuses to die, huh?" Troy remarked. I nodded, but before I could offer a remark of my own, a familiar voice cut in.

"Franklin Sword Style: Royal Meteor Bombardment!"

Descending from the air, Kureha Franklin crashed onto the back of the dragon, her silver sword flas.h.i.+ng elegantly. Thousands of blades materialized in the air and slammed into the h.e.l.lfire Drake with the force of meteorites, crus.h.i.+ng it onto the ground. Blood spurted from the shrieking dragon, but Kureha refused to relent.

"She's got it!"

Smelling blood, Troy also left the protection of Black Tortoise's bubble to pummel the h.e.l.lfire Drake, and between the two of them, the dragon was succ.u.mbing to their combined a.s.sault.

Unfortunately, it was far from done. Its spikes exploded and a fiery shockwave erupted from its body. Having seen the attack before, both Troy and Kureha were prepared for it, jumping back to safety, but even so, they were still struck by the blast and sent flying.

However, it was now my turn.

"Lyra." Even as the golden harp materialized in my hand, I was already sending out hundreds of near invisible garrote wires to slice the wounded dragon into pieces. Unfortunately, the armored scales of the dragon protected it against the incredibly sharp wires. Even so, I managed to restrain it in similar fas.h.i.+on to my Chains of Andromeda earlier.

Twisting its head to face me, the h.e.l.lfire Drake glared at me with its blazing red eyes. I recognized that as a sign that it was going to start spewing flames again. True enough, the spikes began bursting into flames and melting my sharp but thin wires.

"Where are you looking at?!"

"I'm your opponent!"

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From the sides, both Troy and Kureha attacked, fists and blade cras.h.i.+ng lethally into the h.e.l.lfire Drake's flanks and causing it to shudder violently. Even as it lashed out with its tail and claws, forcing my friends to fall back, I used the time they bought me to transform Lyra from a golden harp into a bow. Incredible amounts of golden mana began flowing into my recently summoned arrow, obliterating the ground around me.

The dragon shook my party members off and turned to face me, instinctively aware that the huge amount of mana around me currently posed the greatest threat. Its jaws yawned wide and a torrent of crimson flames erupted.

I released my arrow at the same time.

Vega blasted through the superheated stream of flames, carving a ruthless route through the h.e.l.lfire before slamming into the dragon's mouth. The h.e.l.lfire Drake teetered back as Vega exploded inside its jaws, screeching in agony and flailing about as destructive golden mana blew up all around it. Blood dripped from its jaws as it fell back on all fours, glaring at me in hatred. It raised its head weakly to glare at me in hatred.

"Yo," I said, already preparing to release a second Vega.

The second golden arrow hurtled toward the h.e.l.lfire Drake, singing a beautiful melody as its sleek, s.h.i.+ny shaft homed in onto the dragon. A lovely melodious hum suffused the mountaintop before it collided with the h.e.l.lfire Drake, disappearing in an explosion that seemed to play out a musical chorus rather than roar thunderously in destruction.

"What the h.e.l.l was that?" Troy was gaping at me. "A singing arrow? Now I've heard everything."

"Lyra is originally a harp," I reminded him, but since he was a genius he should already possess that knowledge. "So Vega is the manifestation of the song that Orpheus played, which moved Hades to allow him to bring his wife Eurydice back to the living world. It does bonus damage against undead creatures, but…oh well. Pity the h.e.l.lfire Drake is not an undead or the battle would long be over."

As if in reply to my lecture, a crimson tail whipped out of the inferno and struck me from my right. I was sent flying across the air once again before smas.h.i.+ng into the ground and creating a tiny crater. Groaning in pain, I tried to roll to my feet, but the dragon swatted at me with its claws.

"Richie!" Troy hollered as he leaped forward, punching the dragon in the face. Kureha joined him, her sword flas.h.i.+ng down in a silver blur as she cut a swathe of blood through its flank. As the dragon swiped at them, forcing them to retreat, my Black Tortoise tackled it in the gut, pus.h.i.+ng it further away from me.

"Thanks," I told all three of them as I stood up unsteadily.

The dragon was presently quite a horrifying sight to behold. Under the combined attacks from me, Troy and Kureha, it had been hurt grievously. Rivers of blood were streaming from everywhere on its body and several of the crimson scales had been slashed open to reveal the raw muscle beneath. Troy's fists, Kureha's sword and my double Vega attack had succeeded in dealing terrible, terrible damage to the poor h.e.l.lfire Drake. With my friends now engaging it in combat, I dismissed Lyra, not wanting to get them caught up in its explosive area of effect.

"Time for a change in strategy," I muttered tiredly. I was a summoner, after all, and I had finally gotten all the time I needed to summon a bunch of soul beasts. "Leo Minor!"

Dozens of lions materialized in thin air and pounced on the wounded dragon. The h.e.l.lfire Drake thrashed about in rage, dislodging a few of the lions before stomping on them. However, its attention had been distracted away from Troy and Kureha, who continued to deal devastating attacks from the side while the dragon struggled with the bigger threats.

But that wasn't the biggest threat.

"White Tiger!" I hollered. The gigantic Celestial Guardian descended from the heavens, with lightning brewing around him. Thunderous bolts struck the shrieking h.e.l.lfire Drake, electrocuting and burning it with gratifying effect. Realizing the danger, both Troy and Kureha quickly leaped back, avoiding the deadly web of electricity that now surrounded and wrapped around the screeching h.e.l.lfire Drake.

They didn't have to. Troy's earth magic would allow him to ground the electricity, rendering him immune to it. As for Kureha, her sword acted as a lightning rod, conducting the electricity away from her, and her insulated hilt protecting her from the intense currents.

Whatever the case, they could take care of themselves. I was already summoning yet another Constellation spirit, the leader of the pack of Leo Minor that were tearing away at the h.e.l.lfire Drake's crimson scales.

"Leo, Regulus!"

Leo materialized next to me and unleashed the golden zenith of starlight right into the ma.s.sive underbelly of the dragon. At the same instant, White Tiger released another colossal bolt of lightning at the same spot. The double combo blew the dragon off the mountaintop and literally sent it soaring into the sky.

"Cetus!" I yelled, knowing that the h.e.l.lfire Drake wouldn't die from that combo attack.

The ma.s.sive azure whale materialized in the heavens, soaring through them as he would through the sea. He left a trail of ice behind him as he charged at the helpless h.e.l.lfire Drake, slamming into it and freezing it completely. The ma.s.sive block of ice encasing the h.e.l.lfire Drake crashed back down to earth before shattering.

The dragon burst out of the broken ice and crater, bellowing as it sent deadly ice shards raining across the mountaintop. One of the icicles embedded itself in the ground just centimeters away from my foot, causing me to jump.

"Hey!" Troy complained as he faced a similar ordeal. "Watch it!"

In contrast, Kureha was calmly slas.h.i.+ng the icicles out of the air with graceful arcs of her sword. Following her example, I drew both Gan Jiang and Mo Ye.

"All right, guys! Last stretch! Let's finish the dragon off!"

"I'm with you on that!" Troy grinned and dashed toward the h.e.l.lfire Drake, with Kureha hot on his heels. I was last, as usual. Unlike these warrior-mages who specialized in close physical combat, I wasn't as fast, fit or strong. I was a summoner, after all.

And as a summoner, my soul beasts were my weapons.

"Monoceros!"

A white unicorn appeared beside me, his hooves already pounding the ground as he galloped toward the crimson enemy. Impaling the dragon with his pristine, silver horn, Monoceros twisted it deeper and incited an intense screech of agony from the h.e.l.lfire Drake. It brought its claws up to slash the unicorn, but Troy punched it in the solar plexus, knocking it back. White Tiger pounced on it, tearing into its back with his lightning claws and slightly paralyzing it with the intense electricity that wreathed his attacks. The pack of Leo Minor continued to hara.s.s the dragon, biting and hanging onto its arms and hindering its movements. Cetus descended and trapped the h.e.l.lfire Drake's wings in ice, preventing it from taking flight.

Kureha slashed into the dragon beside White Tiger, her blade alternating with his lightning claws. Not to be outdone, I also sprang in and swung both of my swords. While Troy pummeled the dragon from below, I attacked from above, hopping from limb to limb, up onto the body, while leaving a trail of b.l.o.o.d.y gashes in my wake. Flipping and cartwheeling up, I twisted around and used one of its swiping claws as a platform to launch myself toward its writhing neck before it could swat me away. I narrowly avoided the spikes and instead stabbed its flesh with my two swords while hoisting myself up to its head. I danced along its spine in a deadly whirlwind of double slas.h.i.+ng blades, spinning and twirling my way upward. Once I reached its head, I stabbed both swords into its skull.

"Where did you learn that swordsmans.h.i.+p from?" Kureha demanded, somewhere nearby as she too left a series of b.l.o.o.d.y scars in her path.

"My dad," I replied shortly as I struggled to hang onto the h.e.l.lfire Drake's swinging head. Despite striking through the thick bone and into its brain, I was still unable to kill it. Just what was this b.a.s.t.a.r.d made of?!

"OI!" Troy hollered from below. "Watch out! It's gonna blow!"

I reacted a moment too late, even as Kureha and Troy were already withdrawing. The dragon's body glowed crimson for a moment before it unleashed its deadly shockwave. I was taken by surprise and thrown off the head before cras.h.i.+ng heavily onto the ground. I felt the wind knocked out of me as blood spurted from my mouth. My Constellation spirits were similarly too slow and they were all blasted away and sent sprawling in all directions before disappearing. Even my two venerable Celestial Guardians. The ice on the dragon's wings were completely shattered to pieces. Groaning, I tried to crawl to my feet, but a ma.s.sive claw stomped on me, pinning me to the ground.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Troy and Kureha sprinting forward to a.s.sist, but I knew they wouldn't make it in time. I fought with my dual swords, slas.h.i.+ng the heavy, scaly feet, but to no avail.

The dragon snarled at me, bringing its ugly face down to glower. Crimson flames ignited along its spikes and its eyes glowed crimson once more as its jaws open to spit fire at pointblank range. I could only watch helplessly as the crimson flames spark to life within its maw.

"f.u.c.k you," I spat at the h.e.l.lfire Drake. However, my spit vaporized immediately just from the sheer heat alone.

The superheated crimson flames washed over me, engulfing me in a world of pain that ended in darkness.