Awooo!
The Red Dragon roared, swooped down, and began attacking everyone in the party indiscriminately.
With just one casual charge, it easily tore apart the formation the seven-person team had struggled to establish, sending the carriage behind them and a large quantity of goods tumbling in every direction.
People began screaming and fleeing in all directions.
Soldat, the captain, quickly organized a defensive line and began covering the others' retreat.
"Aaaaaaah!"
First, Soldat, who was closest, slashed his sword at the Red Dragon.
However, in just a single exchange...
Soldat, the strongest swordsman there, grunted as the Red Dragon swatted him away with one claw, sending him crashing heavily into the nearby snow with a thud.
One-shot...
The Red Dragon's strength was simply terrifying.
Everyone involuntarily sucked in a breath. No one had expected Soldat, an Advanced Swordsman of the Sword God Style, to fall so easily.
No!
It wasn't that he was too weak.
The Red Dragon was too strong.
Fortunately, the adventurers in the party were a team. They didn't immediately fall into disarray, and their coordination was seamless.
As soon as they saw the Red Dragon take Soldat down in one hit, someone immediately filled his position, while the magician at the very back began casting healing magic on him.
Before long, Soldat could finally struggle to his feet.
He practically roared at everyone, "Run! Don't stay and fight... This Red Dragon is beyond anything we can handle."
"Retreat!"
"Everyone, retreat!"
The injured Soldat began directing the team and organizing everyone's retreat. Just as he was about to flee with the others...
Only then did he suddenly notice Luo Ge standing blankly beside him.
This F-rank rookie adventurer... seemed oblivious to his surroundings, as though he had been scared completely witless.
Sigh, what a headache.
He really is a rookie who needs looking after. Looks like his first sight of a Red Dragon scared him stupid.
"Hey!"
"What are you standing there for? Retreat!"
Soldat still made sure to rush over and warn him, grabbing Luo Ge's arm to take him along as he fled.
However...
Before Soldat could act, Luo Ge charged toward the Red Dragon alone, without looking back... decisively running into the swirling wind and snow.
"What?"
"Wait!"
"What are you doing?"
Soldat whipped his head around, his eyes widening. "Hey, hey, hey!!! Kid, you're running the wrong way! That's where the Red Dragon is!"
"What the hell are you trying to do?!"
"Get back here right now!"
"Damn it!!"
Luo Ge ignored Soldat's bellows behind him.
Instead, he kept his gaze fixed on the stray Red Dragon opposite him, which had begun attacking everyone there indiscriminately.
Then, under everyone's astonished gazes...
Luo Ge, the youngest child among them, not only didn't run away...
He drew the iron sword at his waist and charged straight at the swooping Red Dragon!
"What?"
"Seriously?!"
"He's charging in as a rookie adventurer? Does he want to die?"
"Are you crazy?! That's a Red Dragon! Get back here!" Soldat shouted at his retreating back.
Everyone around them was stunned as well.
Though the ordinary people were focused solely on escaping, not a single adventurer present wasn't shocked by Luo Ge's insane behavior.
How was a magician's fighting style more aggressive than theirs as warriors?
And a magician was drawing a sword and charging in to fight a Red Dragon at point-blank range?
Was that... right?
Only Soldat seemed to think of something, his eyes instantly reddening.
In an instant... realization dawned.
So this guy never intended to run from the start. Was he planning to sacrifice his own life to draw the Red Dragon's attention... and give everyone a chance to escape?
"Damn it-"
Soldat clenched his fists, his teeth grinding audibly.
He wanted to rush back and help, but his teammates behind him held him back with all their strength.
"Captain! Forget about him! Let's go!"
"While he's distracting the Red Dragon, we still have time if we split up and run..."
"Stop hesitating! Run!"
He watched the boy's figure, so tiny before the enormous Red Dragon, yet advancing with firm steps and not a trace of hesitation.
Something inexplicably stirred in Soldat's heart.
He seemed to have thought of something, then was instantly deeply moved by his own thoughts.
Though his teammates dragged him back in retreat, his gaze remained fixed on that ever-shrinking figure.
It felt as if something had seized his heart in a crushing grip. This was the bond of kindred spirits.
For the first time, he felt that he, a so-called A-rank adventurer, was so powerless that he couldn't even match a child's resolve.
"Aaaaaaah!!"
"Is this what it means to share a bond as adventurers?"
"Don't stop me! I'm going to fight alongside him! I can't abandon that kid and run away alone!"
Overcome by his own sentiment, Soldat made a move that left his teammates' jaws on the floor.
His blood boiling, Soldat followed Luo Ge and charged in to fight the Red Dragon. Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to actually take on the Red Dragon; he wanted to save Luo Ge's life if he could.
Huh?
Wait, what?
What was wrong with these two?
Those fleeing in all directions were dumbfounded when they saw that these people not only weren't running away, but were instead leading a charge in the opposite direction.
Seriously...
That was a Red Dragon.
These two had actually turned around and charged at it. Did they have a death wish?
The scene froze on Luo Ge.
He charged straight toward the Red Dragon through the swirling wind and snow, his feet moving as if riding a gale.
One hundred meters...
Fifty meters...
When only thirty meters remained between them, Luo Ge abruptly stopped, raised his hand to gather power, and unleashed a compressed Intermediate Rank fire spell at the Red Dragon.
Great Fireball!!!
It howled through the air, wreathed in blazing magical power, hurtling straight toward the dragon's head.
Everyone had thought he was preparing something big, only to be dumbfounded when they saw that it was merely Intermediate Rank magic.
Intermediate Rank magic certainly wasn't weak by adventurers' standards, and Luo Ge's casting speed without an incantation in particular could only be called genius.
But... his opponent was a Red Dragon!
An S-rank monster, the most dangerous on the Central Continent, an existence at the very top of the food chain.
An Intermediate Rank spell looked like nothing but a deliberate attempt to get himself killed.
"No!"
One magician in the team suddenly cried out.
Before the words had faded, the Great Fireball exploded against the Red Dragon.
A thunderous boom rang out.
The explosion's power far exceeded everyone's expectations.
This Great Fireball was clearly only the size of a fist, an Intermediate Rank spell Luo Ge had carefully developed and repeatedly compressed.
Yet its power was countless times greater than an ordinary Great Fireball. Flames shot skyward and thick smoke billowed, almost forming a small mushroom cloud.
A single Great Fireball?
That... that was ridiculous.
The shock wave rippled outward, making even the distant onlookers' clothes snap in the wind and leaving them unable to open their eyes.
"???"
Everyone was instantly stupefied.
This was Intermediate Rank magic?
Wasn't this power Advanced Rank... no, even more outrageous than Saint Rank magic?
"Is this guy really... a rookie adventurer? F-rank?" Soldat froze where he stood as well, still poised to charge, his expression shifting from his initial shock to disbelief.
After the flames gradually dispersed...
Everyone wore expressions of breathless amazement.
"Dead? Is the Red Dragon dead?"
"No! Look!"
"The Red Dragon... is still alive!"
Amid the smoke, the enormous dragon's outline emerged again.
Once the smoke cleared, the Red Dragon was not only alive, but thoroughly enraged by the attack.
Before anyone could recover from their disappointment, the Red Dragon let out an angry roar that shook the entire forest.
It no longer paid any attention to the other people there and whipped its head around.
Its scarlet eyes locked firmly onto Luo Ge.
Its wings beat!
Its enormous body swooped at astonishing speed toward the tiny human who had dared provoke it.
"Oh no!"
Soldat's expression changed drastically. He was about to charge forward to cover Luo Ge's retreat, but Luo Ge moved a step faster.
He didn't retreat.
Instead, he faced the Red Dragon head-on, sword drawn for battle.
Luo Ge sprinted swiftly across the snow, constantly using wind magic to put distance between them.
His nimble figure dodged the Red Dragon's bite, then, with the aid of wind magic, he leaped into the air.
He successfully landed on the Red Dragon's spine.
He began leaping and weaving across its back.
The Red Dragon twisted its body wildly, lashing its tail, lunging, rolling over...
Yet Luo Ge moved as nimbly as a warrior tempered through countless trials.
Every time the Red Dragon's attack was about to reach him, he anticipated its trajectory a step ahead, easily avoiding it with a perfectly timed dodge, without the slightest error.
Like a master dragon tamer, he kept hopping around on the Red Dragon, dodging again and again...
As at ease as if he were dancing on a blade's edge.
From everyone else's perspective... Luo Ge's actions looked less like he was avoiding the Red Dragon's attacks and more like he was toying with it.
On the Red Dragon's back, the corners of Luo Ge's mouth suddenly lifted slightly.
"You're... too slow."