Focus Fire the Backline First

Samantha's roar echoed through the Iron Fir Hills, shaking dust loose from the rock walls.

Including the joint in its right wing that had been injured first, its body was riddled with poisoned crossbow bolts. Blue venom spread across its scales, and combined with the Necromancer's curses, it continuously brought weakness, numbness, and sluggishness.

The Alchemy Workshop had long since become a ruin.

Boiling Black Oil had splashed across the ground, melting sand and gravel into scorched, glasslike crusts. The trunks of the Iron Fir trees were covered in claw marks, their bark blackened by the lingering flames of Dragon Breath.

Samantha's tail swept across a rocky ledge, sending shattered stones flying like buckshot and clattering against the warriors' armor.

The Necromancer's Skeleton Ghostfire struck again, this time aimed at Samantha's eyes.

Samantha tilted its head to evade it, but the Blonde Warrior seized the chance to charge forward. His door-sized greatsword hacked viciously into the old wound on its forelimb. Dragon blood sprayed out, gleaming a vivid red beneath the moonlight.

"You lowly vermin!"

Samantha roared.

The intense pain instead stirred the savagery within its Red Dragon Bloodline. Samantha suddenly reared upright, its hind legs kicking off the ground and launching its body several meters into the air as it crashed toward the Blonde Warrior with its full weight.

Unfortunately, its movements were neither precise nor swift enough.

Its imposing force was not even a tenth of Garos's.

The Blonde Warrior rolled aside, easily evading Samantha's charge.

That mistake cost Samantha dearly.

The caster's Binding Spell descended at that moment, imprinting itself across Samantha's back.

It felt as if a mountain had suddenly been placed upon its back. Its claws sank deep into the rock, and for a moment, it could barely support its own body.

A Grappling Hook tore through the air, its tip wedging between Samantha's scales while the other end was wrapped around the thick trunk of an Iron Fir tree by the Rogue.

Divine Retribution!

The white-robed priest raised a hand, then brought it down. A bolt of sacred energy like lightning descended from midair and struck Samantha, tearing open its flesh and sending up blue smoke that smelled of burning.

Attacks with sacred attributes dealt double damage to Evil Dragons.

Samantha bared its fangs in agony, its entire body trembling violently.

The adventurers' attacks came like a raging storm, wave after wave, leaving the Red Dragonet unable to defend itself.

The Blonde Warrior raised his greatsword high. The runes along its blade shone with blinding brilliance as he swung it toward Samantha's hind leg.

This ferocious blow was not aimed at Samantha's neck or any other vital point. The adventurers' previous attacks had also rarely targeted lethal areas. The reason was simple: they wanted to capture the Red Dragonet alive.

A living Hatchling Dragon.

It was worth several times more than a dead one.

Thinking of the enormous fortune awaiting them, all five men could not help but smile.

However.

Just as the sword was about to fall, the sky above suddenly darkened.

It was not a cloud covering the moon. Some creature had blocked out the starlight and moonlight, casting a shadow over the ground and enveloping both dragon and humans in battle.

The tension on Samantha's draconic face immediately vanished, and it began to smile.

"You despicable insects, now all of you will die."

It said.

The tension shifted onto the adventurers' faces, while their smiles froze and vanished at the same time.

Everyone heard that sound.

—Like a thunderstorm rolling along the ground, or steel being forcibly torn apart.

It was the explosive roar of dragon wings tearing through the air. As Garos dove at extreme speed, the airflow was ripped apart by the featherlike scales on his wing membranes, forming an oppressive proclamation of death.

"Dragon—there's another dragon! Everyone, be careful! Havyn, use the Anti-Air Spell now!"

The Blonde Warrior shouted, looking up into the Red Iron Dragonet's draconic eyes, darker than the night itself. A fierce gust struck his face, whipping his hair into disarray.

The caster swiftly constructed the Anti-Air Spell.

This spell locked directly onto its target and could not miss. A Hatchling Dragon's magic resistance could not exempt it from the effect. Once the magic energy in its wings was dispelled, its flight would be severely affected and it would lose its balance.

Just like what had happened to Samantha earlier.

The complex spell pattern appeared directly upon Garos's wings.

Yet to the adventurers' surprise, this Hatchling Dragon, whose body was incomparably powerful, seemed entirely unaffected. His enormous, disproportionately huge wings beat through the air, and he continued speeding toward them with astonishing agility.

The instant the black-and-red dragon shadow swept over the treetops, dense branches snapped off at their roots, and countless leaves whirled wildly through the air.

There was no time to think about why.

Facing the dragon plunging toward him like a meteor, the Blonde Warrior did as he had before. He hurriedly rolled away from his original position, evading the attack descending from the sky.

At the same time, the black-and-red dragon shadow tilted its right wing, displaying incomparably nimble control.

He changed direction. Rather than pursuing the Blonde Warrior, he abruptly appeared above the caster's head.

A shadow enveloped his body.

The caster's heart tightened, and under that overwhelming pressure, he nearly forgot how to breathe.

At the critical moment, the necklace around his neck suddenly lit up, activating a protective spell.

Shield Spell!

A translucent yellow shield wrapped around the caster, protecting him within it.

Crash! With a dull, thunderous boom, the shield shattered like an eggshell beneath Garos's claws. Despair filled the caster's eyes as his vision was completely blocked by the dragon claw.

The ground immediately shook violently. Dust surged outward in a swelling blast wave, while chunks of broken stone shot in every direction.

When the dust was driven away by the dragon wings, a sunken crater was revealed.

Garos shook his body, scattering dust and stones from his scales before leaping out of the pit.

The body embedded in the cracks at the bottom of the crater had been mangled beyond recognition. Its gender and race could no longer be identified, as it had melded into the soil.

Only then.

Staring at the Red Iron Dragonet, whose scales seemed forged from steel, the few surviving adventurers finally came fully to their senses, their nerves stretched taut.

This Hatchling Dragon's attack had come too swiftly and violently, completely exceeding their expectations. In an instant, he had eliminated the caster from their party.

And now that they thought about it.

His first attack on the warrior had actually been a feint. His target had been clear from the start: the caster, the core of the party. Catching him off guard, he had killed him in a single strike.

The caster was inferior to the Blonde Warrior in direct combat.

But he had been more important and more crucial. Samantha's frustrating predicament had also been largely caused by him.

On the other side, the Blonde Warrior, whose roll had accomplished nothing, rose to his feet with an extremely grim expression.

He slightly raised his head and took a deep breath. The Magic Energy Stone embedded in the chest of his armor began to shine, and all the surrounding runes lit up as well.

The Blonde Warrior gained greater strength, speed, reflexes, and defense.

The price was the consumption of a precious Magic Energy Stone.

"Evil Dragon, die!"

The Blonde Warrior roared, gripping his door-sized greatsword as he charged at Garos.

Garos tensed all four limbs and grinned at the Blonde Warrior. Then he smashed the ground beneath him, dodging an alchemical crossbow bolt as he pounced toward the white-robed priest.

In a group fight.

Kill the Mage first, then the healer.

This brave warrior could live a little longer. He could be saved for last.