Chapter 72: Continued

Anna shrugged and replied, "Teacher, haven't you ever ridden a roller coaster? Even if you're not really scared, it's really disruptive if everyone else is screaming and you're the only one looking indifferent."

"... This isn't a roller coaster, is it?"

Well, to be honest, it's kind of like a roller coaster, and my assistant Keweite really likes it.

I placed my hand on the top of the dragon boat. Luckily, I hadn't broken my spellcasting focus, otherwise their roller coaster ride would have lasted two more seconds. Array patterns appeared with my palm as the center. I mobilized the fire element around me and quickly drew Anti-Gravity Magic Array on the top of the dragon boat. The wind blew my hairstyle haphazardly, and I saw my hair swaying in front of my eyes, but I simply didn't have the energy to fix it.

Suddenly, a thrust came from the bottom of the dragon boat. Although it couldn't lift the massive dragon boat up directly, it slowed the descent considerably.

... Was that the person who was talking to me just now pushing the dragon boat?

I listened carefully, and the howling wind wasn't entirely the sound of the wind itself. I heard a muffled crackling sound, like... a dragon flapping its wings?

--He's a dragon knight!

I haven't seen him appear in my sight. He must be under the dragon boat right now, or maybe he was there from the beginning, ready to catch the falling boat at any moment...

Even with dragons joining forces, this power is still astonishing!

His voice sounded very young, and a very pleasant youthful voice, no less than those "male gods" that Moli liked. It was calm and unhurried—such a clear voice... Could his owner be a burly man? I imagined a warrior with muscles as thick as if carved by a knife and axe, whose voice was as clear and melodious as an elf's...

I jerked and almost drew the wrong magic circle.

"Actually, you can let go," I said.

"... You don't need to chant?" The voice from below sounded surprised, but he still didn't give up lifting the dragon boat.

The dragon boat, which had just been plummeting, stabilized, which did make me draw the magic circle faster—but actually, it didn't matter if he let go, because I didn't need to chant, and the dragon boat was flying high enough. I calculated that I could finish drawing the magic circle before it fell, and that was a conservative estimate; actually, I could finish when it was halfway down.

But because I was drawing a magic circle, the tornadoes and lightning in the air became easier to avoid, and the magic fighters that weren't seriously damaged quickly escaped this abnormal weather zone.

So I simply withdrew my Magic Power that controlled the weather and channeled it into the magic circle I had created. I didn't know much about dragon crystals, because dragons kept many things related to their safety tightly under wraps, and even we mages couldn't know the details.

The last line converged, Magic Power flowed, light shone, and Anti-Gravity Magic created a domain.

"Be careful, mage!"

I turned my head, and a beam of light from a magic cannon slowly became clear in my vision. At the same time, a white shadow appeared. The shadow was incredibly fast; even with my focused Mage Eye, I could only see a blur. So, I didn't focus on defense and turned back to maintain the dragon boat's stable descent. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dazzling holy light... holy light?

Paladin?

A paladin with such muscular, chiseled muscles? Won't that make the people despair of the God of Light?

I turned my head back, and it was indeed holy light. The clear power of light formed a barrier in the air, and every line drawn on the barrier was sacred and beautiful. The cannonball hit the shield of holy light, but the holy light did not budge. The only drawback was that it was a bit blinding. But there was nothing I could do. It was made by the Temple and had its own strong light. The effect was better than the highest wattage support glow sticks.

Paladins are indeed known for their defensive prowess, but... paladins generally... don't ride dragons, right?

Oh, correction, the dragon wasn't a mount, so the paladin was kneeling on one knee on the dragon's back. I saw him holding the fleshy spikes on the back of the dragon's neck with one hand, and with his other hand, his fingers spread wide, holy light emanating from his palm, forming a semi-transparent shield shimmering with brilliant golden patterns, supported by his Dou Qi.

Even I was amazed; this level of Holy Light Dou Qi Shield is probably more durable than my Absolute Protection!

After the echoes of the magic cannon subsided, the paladin swung his hand back, sending the Dou Qi flying. A magic fighter jet that was disengaging from the battlefield was hit head-on, its engine belching black smoke as it spiraled downwards.

Mel even cheered for him in the Mental Link.

The pilot parachuted out, but the paladin's battle Dou Qi hadn't dissipated. I saw him reach out and grab—I thought he was using Mage Hand, but actually he was controlling the battle Dou Qi that had detached from his body to forcibly condense it again, turning it into a chain that hooked the pilot back.

--I am completely convinced; this paladin's strength is truly formidable!

We should arrange a flight to try it out sometime!

I saw Mel take out his notebook and write "duel with the paladin" down, below "weather above the solidified tower".

The screaming driver was grabbed by the paladin's dragon claw, and then... the dragon hung the driver on the barbs of its tail. The driver had already fainted from fright... or perhaps he fainted from being so close to the dragon's might. Dragons naturally carry the pressure of the dragon race, and if they don't deliberately restrain themselves, ordinary people can indeed be frightened into unconsciousness.

The paladin stroked the dragon's scales and said helplessly, "Don't mistreat prisoners."

The dragon let out a deep roar, and the paladin increased his strength, slapping the dragon's back. The dragon then grunted and used its claws to grab the driver and hold him in its paws.

At that moment, I raised my hand, Anti-Gravity Magic Array rose into the air. The entire dragon ship began to slow its descent. I stood up with all my might and raised my hand high. I have to say, the dragon ship was indeed a bit too heavy. I felt my shoulders protesting a little... The anti-gravity was pushed to its maximum limit, and the dragon ship made a heavy sound, slowly stopped falling, and even began to rise.

Oops, I overdid it again...

The descent wasn't difficult. Mel shared her Magic Power and mental energy with me through Mental Link. Although I didn't expend too much energy, I still accepted Mel's sharing.

I quickly adjusted my Magic Power, and the surrounding fighters stopped attacking. Perhaps it was because there was a powerful paladin present. They realized that they would not succeed in attacking the dragon ship or me, so they began to flee in all directions. This allowed me to temporarily release my focus and control the dragon ship to descend slowly.

The dragon and the paladin hovered around me. The holy light had dissipated, so I could see their figures clearly. His dragon was a rare white dragon, pure white all over, with huge golden eyes watching the sky warily. Its flying posture was elegant and proud, worthy of being the overlord of the sky.

The paladin straightened his tall body and stood firmly on the dragon's back. His posture was nothing like that of a dragon "knight," but more like that of a dragon "warrior." Moreover, I noticed that this knight didn't look very knightly at all. I was referring to his appearance. In my general impression, knights are like Lusien, stern and upright, with a muscular physique... but their muscles should be smaller than those of other warriors. Any bigger and they would be berserkers. A knight with biceps as big as his head is quite an eyesore.

This knight was dressed in the white knight's uniform of the Temple of Light, with gold thread outlining the patterns— the Temple of Light's attire has always been at the forefront of aesthetics; clergy from any era are always handsome or beautiful. Moli had previously told me about online gossip, with some people suspecting that the Temple of Light selects its members based on their looks. As a result, a well-known cosmetic surgery institution even has a special plastic surgery package called "Paladin Face Standard Plastic Surgery Service."

But this paladin wasn't wearing any armor, not even light armor; he only had a brace on his left hand, which made him look far too frail for a knight!

Perhaps noticing that I was looking at him, the knight generously looked back at me and smiled.

He had long, black hair, which wasn't tied up—that wasn't typical of a knight. Lusien's hair was always shiny and neatly tied up, making it seem like a single tuft of hair was on his head, without a single stray hair. But this knight's black hair was flowing smoothly down his back, slightly ruffled by the wind at high altitude, but still very handsome... Hmm, he looked a bit like one of our mages.