Chapter 62

Thinking about it, it was obvious.

The reason Mari’s party received the request in the first place was the abnormal behavior of the monsters.

And the fact that the monsters, which had no issues when the Black Ink Wolf ruled the top of the ecosystem, were now acting strangely meant that a predator far beyond the Black Ink Wolf had taken its place.

That A-Dragon was the cause of the strange occurrences in this area.

“It’s a ridiculously huge Kurt!”

“Calm down! Miss Marisia! That’s not Kurt, it’s an A-Dragon!”

“An A-Dragon?! Why is that thing here?!”

It was a pure coincidence that even the Empire’s knights couldn’t have predicted.

*Roar!*

*Growl!*

At the sudden appearance of the A-Dragon, the two Hell Hounds immediately shifted their target from Mari’s party to the A-Dragon.

The two Hell Hounds split to the left and right at incredible speed, charging at the A-Dragon from both sides to make it difficult for it to counter.

It was a coordinated move, like that of lovers who had been together for years, and it was a perfect strategy—if the A-Dragon focused on one, it would inevitably leave itself open to the other.

However, what the Hell Hounds didn’t anticipate was the insurmountable gap between them and the A-Dragon.

*Roar!*

The A-Dragon ignored the Hell Hound charging from its left and instead opened its massive jaws to bite down on the one charging from the right.

*Yelp!*

The Hell Hound, seemingly unaware that the A-Dragon would ignore its counterpart and bite it directly, let out a pitiful scream as it was effortlessly snatched up.

Enraged by its partner’s capture, the remaining Hell Hound let out a fierce howl and charged.

As the Hell Hound’s emotions intensified, the flames surrounding its body grew fiercer.

The color of the flames deepened until they matched the Hell Hound’s fur, taking on a sinister black hue.

But the A-Dragon paid no mind to the Hell Hound’s charge. It simply raised its foot and casually stomped on the charging monster.

*Crunch!*

Ignoring the Hell Hound struggling beneath its foot, the A-Dragon began circulating mana toward the Hell Hound it held in its mouth.

The Hell Hound in its mouth desperately amplified its flames, but no matter how high it raised the temperature, the A-Dragon showed no signs of being burned.

Of course, it was obvious.

Though it was unpleasant for a true dragon, the A-Dragon could be called a pseudo-dragon species because of the “A” (sub) in its name.

Soon, the mana circulating through the A-Dragon’s body began to gather in its internal flame sac. Once enough mana had condensed, the flame sac converted it into high-temperature energy, causing it to glow red.

When the red light inside the A-Dragon’s mouth reached its peak, the flame sac opened, releasing an ultra-high-temperature flame.

*Whoosh!*

*Yelp! Yelp…*

The flames were so intense that even the Hell Hound, with its flames at maximum, couldn’t withstand the heat.

From the beginning, the fact that the A-Dragon didn’t even get burned despite the Hell Hound struggling in its mouth showed the gap between the two monsters.

The Hell Hound, hit point-blank by the breath attack while still in the A-Dragon’s mouth, struggled for a while before finally going limp without even a scream.

After releasing its breath and realizing the Hell Hound in its mouth was no longer resisting, the A-Dragon roughly shook its neck and flung the Hell Hound away. Then, it shifted its weight onto the foot crushing the other Hell Hound.

*Crunch*

*Yelp…!*

And that was the end.

The Hell Hound, crushed under the A-Dragon’s foot and spewing flames in resistance, let out a pitiful scream as its bones shattered before finally collapsing.

Confirming that the two Hell Hounds were no longer resisting, the A-Dragon let out a roar that shook the forest, declaring itself the ruler of the area.

*Roar!*

Despite the considerable distance from the A-Dragon…

“The Hell Hounds were taken out in an instant…”

“I heard the A-Dragon is only half a dragon compared to a real one, lacking intelligence and wings… But even it has this much power?”

“Why is something that should only exist in the territories of Dwarves and Fairies here?!”

The three were each shocked by the A-Dragon’s combat prowess and tightened their defensive stances.

The Hell Hounds, the Black Ink Wolf, and the A-Dragon were all Silver-rank monsters, but their levels of danger weren’t the same.

Unlike the other two monsters, which were mid-to-low-tier Silver-rank, the A-Dragon was clearly a top-tier Silver-rank monster, as evidenced by its combat.

For Mari’s party, composed of two Silver-rank and one Iron-rank adventurers, facing it head-on would be difficult.

It would have been nice if the A-Dragon, having defeated the Hell Hounds, simply left. But after letting out a victory roar that shook the forest, the A-Dragon soon noticed the three obstacles in its sight and stopped roaring.

“I wish it would just ignore us… But of course, it won’t.”

“Prepare for combat.”

“Ugh… Meeting an A-Dragon in a place like this, far from home… What terrible luck.”

The A-Dragon, still not fully calmed, glared at the three with its vertically slit eyes, and the battle between the three adventurers and the monster began.

*Slash!*

Despite putting all her strength into the battle axe, Karina’s strike only shallowly cut the A-Dragon’s skin and flesh, failing to deliver a fatal blow.

Instead, the half-hearted attack only seemed to irritate the A-Dragon, making it thrash even more violently.

“Hey! You’re just making it angrier!”

“Ugh! It’s not like I wanted to do that…!”

But Karina couldn’t finish her sentence as she had to brace herself to block the A-Dragon’s suddenly swung tail with her battle axe.

Even though she blocked the attack with the side of her battle axe, Karina was sent flying, unable to fully absorb the impact.

“Are you okay?!”

“Ugh. I blocked it with my weapon, so I’m not seriously hurt. But how are we supposed to take this thing down…?”

Karina’s aura couldn’t inflict deep wounds, and Serena’s fire magic, which could unleash maximum firepower, was halved in effectiveness against the A-Dragon due to its natural resistance to flames.

The only one who could deal damage was Mari, targeting vital spots like the eyes with her arrows. But even that was difficult, as the A-Dragon, having nearly been hit in the eye once, was now extremely wary of Mari’s arrows.

The A-Dragon’s ability was simple—it could breathe fire. But what made it truly threatening wasn’t its ability, but its massive 4-meter-tall frame and the strength and durability that came with it.

Ordinary attacks couldn’t deliver a fatal blow, while a single direct hit from the A-Dragon could be devastating. It was an unfair level of difficulty.

The only reason they were still fighting was that the A-Dragon’s forelimbs had degenerated to the point where it could only perform simple attacks.

This meant it could only deliver heavy blows, and by recognizing the attack’s tell, they could dodge the direct hits.

But as time passed, the situation turned against Mari’s party.

Karina was still fighting with her battle axe, but Serena’s mana was running low from continuous spellcasting, and Mari was running out of arrows, forcing her to carefully choose her shots.

Annoyed by the three’s persistence, the A-Dragon took a deep breath, seemingly preparing to finish them off in one strike.

At the same time, the mana inside the monster’s body began to move, heating up its flame sac.

It was the precursor to the breath attack it had used earlier against the Hell Hounds.

“It’s a breath attack! Dodge!”

*Whoosh!*

The three immediately threw themselves behind trees, but the A-Dragon’s breath didn’t stop after burning through the trees.

The flames, threatening to engulf them along with the trees, forced Karina to shield the other two, raising her battle axe and radiating her aura to its maximum.

“I’ll block it!”

“Karina! It’s too dangerous!”

“You idiot! I’ll help too! Rise, Water Barrier!”

A transparent wall of water rose in front of Karina, shielding the other two.

The A-Dragon’s breath easily burned through the trees they hid behind, but it hesitated against the two barriers—Karina’s aura and Serena’s magic.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

“Just hold on a little longer!”

“Karina…! Serena…!”

*Whoosh!*

The tug-of-war between the A-Dragon’s breath and the two barriers continued.

The endless wave of flames met the water barrier, instantly turning the water into steam and rapidly depleting it. Soon, Karina, clad in aura not just around her battle axe but her entire body, became a human shield for the other two.

By the time the A-Dragon’s breath subsided, only the figures of the three remained.

“Are you two okay?!”

At Mari’s worried words, Karina, nearly exhausted, smiled at her.

“Ah, ah… I’m fine… Marisia…”

*Thud*

“Ka, Karina!? Serena! Karina collapsed!?”

Mari turned to Serena and shouted urgently, but Serena, too, had collapsed, her strength completely drained.

“Se, Serena!”

“Ugh, hoo… Sorry. I’m out of mana. I can’t move anymore.”

“Both of you…!”

With those words, Serena also lost consciousness, unable to withstand the exhaustion.

*Growl…*

Mari, panicked, looked at the two unconscious figures, then turned her head at the A-Dragon’s low growl.

The monster, clearly tired from using its breath attack twice, was panting slightly, but its eyes gleamed with the thrill of victory as it stared at the three.

.

.

.

Suddenly, I looked outside the Adventurer Guild and muttered at the unusual weather.

“Hmm… It looks like it’s going to rain…”

I should bring in the meat and mushrooms drying in the Adventurer Guild’s backyard.

If they get soaked now, it’ll be a disaster.

*Boom!*

At that moment, lightning flashed, and the rain began to pour in earnest.

Oh no, I need to hurry.

Feeling uneasy in this oppressive weather, I quickly started moving the ingredients I had left outside.

The sky, clear until morning, had turned cloudy, signaling the coming rain.

.

.

.

.

.

.