Twenty-Six: Fierce Battle

In the scene unfolding in his mind, the Snow Dragon didn't flee. Instead, it quietly landed not far behind the figure.

The beast was actually preparing to launch a sneak attack. Snow Dragons really were clever monsters, there was no denying it. The figure seemed unaware that one was lurking behind him and continued looking around.

Seeing this, Solam decided not to wait any longer. Otherwise, that man would be in danger.

In the blink of an eye, Solam leaped out of the snow and hurled Thor's Hammer at the Snow Dragon's head with all his might. Without even checking the result, he immediately cast Wind Agility on himself at the fastest speed he could manage, grabbed his battle-axe, and charged at the Snow Dragon.

The instant Solam threw Thor's Hammer, lightning began to flicker around it. With the force of a thunderclap, it hurtled toward the Snow Dragon's head. The noise naturally caught the creature's attention, but its focus had been entirely on the figure in front of it. Its reaction was bound to be slow.

Sure enough, when it spotted Thor's Hammer flying toward it at incredible speed, it didn't have time to dodge effectively. The hammer slammed into its head—and whether it was Solam's usual good luck at work or not, it also burst one of the Snow Dragon's eyes.

"ROOOAAAR!" The creature let out a piercing roar. At the very moment Thor's Hammer struck, Arando had raised the Blade Greatspear in his hands and lunged forward at full speed. The blade, shaped much like a one-handed sword, plunged deep into the Snow Dragon's chest.

Arando had noticed the Snow Dragon's movements long ago. He hadn't used any spells, but he was an experienced Arcane Knight. His senses might not have been exceptional, but his experience made it easy to judge what the monster was planning. He'd been waiting for it to get closer, ready to thrust his blade into its open mouth the instant it opened its jaws to attack, delivering a fatal blow.

No matter what kind of monster it was, its mouth and throat were among its least protected areas, second only to its rear end. If you had a keen eye and a steady hand, you could thrust a weapon into its mouth the instant it opened its jaws and get a pleasant surprise. With enough skill, you could even drive a blade through its palate and into its brain, killing it with one strike. Arando was confident in his own skill. Even if he couldn't pierce the Snow Dragon's brain and kill it outright, he was sure he could severely injure the beast.

But Thor's Hammer, flying in from behind and to the side, ruined Arando's original plan. He wasn't particularly annoyed, though. Whoever had thrown it had clearly acted first to keep him from being ambushed by the Snow Dragon. At least the newcomer meant him no harm; otherwise, he wouldn't have been in such a hurry to save him.

In any case, now that the newcomer had struck the monster in the head, Arando couldn't pass up such a good opportunity. He lunged forward, aiming to pierce its heart. But the blow to the Snow Dragon's head made its body jerk uncontrollably backward. The movement threw off Arando's aim, and his blade missed its heart, sparing it from a fatal wound. Still, he pierced its lung. Suffering two severe injuries, the Snow Dragon could no longer sustain its spell, and the dense blizzard vanished in an instant.

With Wind Agility cast on him, Solam was incredibly fast, almost like the light-footed heroes in the martial arts novels of his past life, able to tread on snow without leaving a trace. He raced across the snow toward the Snow Dragon. Before it could recover from the two blows, he raised his battle-axe and leaped into a powerful strike aimed at its wing.

Neither man was a novice. Arando didn't just stand by watching; he decisively let go of the Blade Greatspear. Large monsters had powerful muscles, and his weapon was long. It had gone in all the way, and the muscles around it had clamped down in response to the pain. Pulling it out would waste both time and strength.

Arando performed a backward roll to put some distance between himself and the Snow Dragon, then quickly chanted a spell. He sent an Explosive Fireball hurtling toward the Snow Dragon's other wing. (Explosive Fireball: a 5th-level spell that explodes when it hits its target.)

Arando was a seasoned pro. Even in the heat of the moment, he chose his target well. The Explosive Fireball struck the wing on the opposite side of the Snow Dragon's body. This would injure one of its wings, and Arando clearly knew it would be a serious problem if the monster got into the air again. It would be incredibly fast.

The Snow Dragon's enormous body would also block the blast's shock wave, preventing it from hitting their allies. Among adventurers, there was a shared understanding: never team up with novice mages. Mages were powerful, and even low-level ones could deal devastating damage. But those greenhorns might suddenly fling a destructive spell and take out their melee companions along with the monster.

Who would want a teammate like that? Besides, those high-and-mighty mages were usually spoiled and fussy. They couldn't stand the outdoors, hated getting dirty, lacked stamina, and so on. That was why adventurers rarely teamed up with novice mages. As for experienced mage veterans, they usually looked down on the meager earnings adventuring offered. Even if you wanted to form a party with them, they wouldn't be interested. Those veterans were usually high-level spellcasters. They could do plenty of things more worthwhile than adventuring.

Solam paid no attention to Arando's actions. (In truth, Solam didn't recognize Explosive Fireball. Otherwise, he wouldn't have foolishly run over there.) He brought his axe down on the Snow Dragon's wing. With a crack, his battle-axe not only left a gash in the wing but also smashed one of its bones. That was the nasty thing about heavy weapons like axes: if you were strong enough, even if you couldn't cut through someone's hide, you could still beat them until they coughed up blood.

As Solam was chopping the Snow Dragon into a cripple, Arando's Explosive Fireball arrived. There was a deafening boom, and the Snow Dragon's massive body was almost flipped over by the blast. Solam was close by. The Snow Dragon took most of the force, but some of the shock wave still smacked Solam in the face.

Then, just as expected, Solam was blasted away. He had Wind Agility cast on him, and his body was practically weightless, floating along. He was flung five or six meters away. The blast and flames didn't do much to his sturdy body—at most, they singed some of his hair—but being thrown that far and then slammed into the ground left him a little dazed.

Damn! What a freaking useless teammate! The Snow Dragon hadn't even done anything to me, and you nearly made me eat dirt with your spell.

Whatever Solam was cursing about in his head, Arando knew the Explosive Fireball had done little harm to him. Still, seeing a huge man like Solam hurled five or six meters by the blast's shock wave made Arando feel a little apologetic. But it wasn't his fault. The blizzard had kept him from seeing Solam cast a spell, so he hadn't known Solam had a spell similar to Feather Fall cast on himself. (Even if he had seen it, he might not have recognized it. Shamans and mages used entirely different kinds of magic.)

Arando didn't give the "friendly fire" much thought. The immediate threat was the monster in front of him. The Snow Dragon was in a sorry state. One wing had a huge gash from Solam's axe, and one of its bones had been smashed as well.

That axe strike had hurt. Solam's battle-axe had been reforged by Blackhand with many rare metals, and its blade had been enhanced with Adamantine. Its sharpness had already surpassed the limits of the ordinary world, and its weight alone was enough to give the Snow Dragon a hard time. Snow Dragons weren't true dragons; they were more like birds. Their bones were hard, but many of them were hollow. Otherwise, how could such a huge creature fly so fast?

The other wing had also taken a direct hit from the Explosive Fireball. The Snow Dragon had excellent magical resistance, but even so, the wing was badly burned. It hadn't snapped like the other one, but all its feathers had burned away. There was no way it could fly now. With a greatspear stuck in its chest and its head smashed open, it couldn't have looked more wretched. But thinking that these injuries alone would kill the Snow Dragon was wishful thinking.

Arando was the one who thought so. He assumed the Snow Dragon was already at the end of its tether, so he prepared to cast an 8th-level spell—Black Blade of Disaster—to slice off its head and end the battle. (Black Blade of Disaster: creates a three-foot-long, black, blade-shaped dimensional rift that attacks objects within range at the caster's command. It is extremely powerful. In addition to dealing ordinary damage, it also inflicts an effect similar to Disintegrate.)

Just as Arando finished casting, the Snow Dragon glared at him with bloodshot eyes and fired off a spell-like ability: Howling Sonic Wave. The spell was similar to the sonic cannons of his past life, and its power was formidable. Amid the Snow Dragon's unusually shrill roar, Arando was struck as if by a giant hammer and sent flying.

After getting up from his fall, Solam had immediately cast Giant Strength on himself, followed by Rock Guardian and Elemental Guardian. (Shamans had one advantage over mages: they cast incredibly quickly. They needed no gestures or material components; they only had to chant, even silently in their minds. That was why Silence was useless against shamans.)

Only then did he look up at Arando. The man was standing right in front of the Snow Dragon, waving his hands around. (Solam had never seen a mage cast a spell.) Solam immediately realized that the idiot must have thought the Snow Dragon was about to die and was now waving his hands around without a care. He rushed over, ready to warn the man, but before he could say a word, he heard the Snow Dragon let out a shrill, furious roar. The man went flying.

Damn!!! What a freaking useless teammate! Hurry up and finish it off! Why are you standing there showing off? Don't you know the villain always dies because he talks too much? Seriously, quit showing off before you bring down a lightning strike on yourself!