"I hope that did something to him... it doesn't seem like it."
Ashley's hands began to tremble. None of her previous attacks had managed to hurt the Silver Drake at all.
He remained standing intact even after passing through the sphere of raging flames. He simply shook his head in disgust, his metallic scales heating up until they glowed red-hot.
(He closed his eyes when he received my attack, thus avoiding any possible damage.) (Mr. Bell)
The enormous Silver Drake lunged at Mr Bell. Ashley waved her arm towards her father and pulled him towards her, avoiding the Drake's attack. Its scales would take a while to cool down again.
"We can't run away forever" (Ashley)
"Without a decent vanguard, there's little we can do" (Mr Bell)
"Do you need some help?"
The sudden voice of a man surprised the father and daughter duo. A handsome, elegant young man dressed in a black shirt, black trousers and a white tie, with delicate silver accessories decorating his fingers and wrist, stood just inside the cave entrance.
"Who are you? Identify yourself."
Mr Bell's tone was neither authoritative nor friendly; it was more like watching over a stranger.
(Wow, he's really attractive. I wouldn't mind giving him a chance, even though he looks a little young.) (Ashley)
"Just a passer-by offering his help if you want it." (William)
(It wouldn't be nice if they decided to attack me from behind if I interfered without warning.) (William)
"All right, we accept your help." (Ashley)
William shot off in the direction of the Drake in his enormous Grimm form. The bonus from the Red Hat Goblin Medal was an argument in favour of physical strength, speed, and endurance.
(Shapeshifter, No, Skin changer, interesting.) (Ashley)
William, in his Grimm form, was now faster, stronger, and more resilient. He climbed up Drake's front legs and jumped onto his head.
He changed back to his human form and deployed Titan. Before the Silver Drake could react, William plunged his precious spear deep into his right eye.
Blood spurted from the Drake's eye socket, splattering William's bare arms. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and the warm blood stung William's skin a little.
"Gruuuuuoooo"
For the first time in battle, the Silver Drake growled in pain, blinded in one eye. The pain was intense.
"Snap!"
William barely had time to react to the object approaching him at high speed. He pulled Titan out of the Drake's eye and covered his body with the spear.
The impact was so strong that it threw his body flying across the room. William braced himself for the impact, but just before he hit the wall, his body stopped in mid-air.
(The girl must have used her power to stop my fall.) (William)
Ashley had rushed towards William and raised both arms to stop his fall with her psychic strength.
"Thank you." (William)
"It's nothing, but what the hell did it throw at you?" (Ashley)
"It was its tail, thick and strong at the beginning and thin and resistant at the end, a perfect whip." (William)
The Silver Drake turned its attention towards them, or at least that is what they both believed, from a blind spot for William and Ashley, the Drake's long tail, holding Mr Bell's body, both Ashley and William were too far away to avoid it.
Mr Bell, aware of his situation, summoned several fireballs and threw them at the Drake in an attempt to free himself, but none had the power or intensity of the first one he summoned; they simply bounced off its scales.
"Father!!!!"
Ashley screamed in pain, the Silver Drake threw Mr Bell into its mouth and closed its jaws with a thud.
(I'm sorry, daughter, for bringing you to this futile attempt to save your old father).
These were Mr Bell's last thoughts. He was suffering from an incurable disease and had only a few months left to live, which is why he decided to embark on this quest.
(I love you... I offer my life as a sacrifice of fire and blood!!!!)
This was his last move, an attempt to end the threat of the Silver Drake and save his daughter, an ancient technique that demanded the life of its reciter in exchange for devastating power, or perhaps it was a prayer to someone or something unknown, an offering or an exchange. It was not necessary to know why it worked.
"BOOOOOM"
It was the third or fourth explosion of the day. The cave creaked louder this time, and cracks began to cover sections of the walls.
Ashley clenched her fists so tightly that her nails cut into her skin. She didn't shed a tear; she just watched the Drake in silence.
The Silver Drake emerged from the cloud of dust, half of its jaw gone from top to bottom, pieces of flesh hanging from the remaining half of its snout. It was grotesque to look inside its burnt mouth, its remaining fangs exposed and a large piece of its tongue gone.
The top of its head was still intact, and it would still put up a fight. Some blood dripped from its wounds, although most of them had been cauterised by the fire.
"Snap" "Click"
A familiar snap sounded in the air. It was the Drake's tail attacking them both. William deflected the impact with Titan's spear, but each time he did so, the great force of the tail left his hands trembling. He couldn't reflect the attack twice in a row.
"Snap" "Broken glass"
William prepared to dodge, Ashley did not dodge, raising both hands in the air and deploying a barrier that covered them both. The barrier stopped the Silver Drake's whip tail, resisting a single blow before shattering like crystals of light.
"Your turn" (Ashley)
"Okay" (William)
They took turns stopping the Silver Drake's attacks.
*Gunshots*
The sudden shots came from the side of the cave. A mercenary had managed to survive until now. He came out of his hiding place behind a large rock, took his assault rifle, and fired at the Drake's wounds. Whether it was confidence or stupidity, the bullets barely made a dent in the Drake's exposed flesh. Without the protection of its scales, it was easier to hurt it.
"Stupid, you didn't have to come out."
Ashley closed his eyes, and after a loud crack, the lucky mercenary was split in half at the waist, his insides scattered all over the floor.
"It finally worked."
William breathed a sigh of relief and began to walk forward. He was somewhat nervous; even he would lose a limb if he took a direct hit from the Silver Drake, perhaps an arm or a leg.
William stretched his arms and shook Titan. They were numb after several attacks from the Silver Drake's tail.
"Hey, what are you doing?! Wait, did it work?"
Ashley watched William walk towards the Drake in disbelief. She wanted to stop him; she would die if they didn't share the burden of protecting each other.
"The poison."
"What poison?" Ashley moved forward with William dragging his feet. She was exhausted after all this. Unlike William, who healed from any wound he had, her muscles ached, and now that she had calmed down, she could no longer use her psychic abilities. Before, the adrenaline and being in a life-and-death situation had allowed her to push her limits to stay alive.
"Curare poison, paralysing. This dragon resisted for so long after I injected it so close to the brain." (William)
"Your first attack was at that moment?" Ashley's eyes widened in surprise.
"Exactly, I bathed the tip of my spear in a whole bottle before attacking. It took a while, but it finally took effect."
"Didn't you think it was strange that it didn't come close to attack?" (William)
"It couldn't?!!" (Ashley)
"The poison was starting to take effect. It couldn't wait to finish us off before becoming completely paralysed." (William)
William reached the Silver Drake, landing on top of its head with a single leap. The Drake had backed itself up against one of the stone walls, its tail still swishing from side to side, trying to reach William, but it no longer had the overwhelming strength it had at the beginning.
(Poison? He waited all this time for this? With his abilities, it shouldn't have been difficult to wait until the Drake fell on its own. He didn't have to take any risks) (Ashley)
"Who the hell are you, and what do you want from us?"
Multiple questions filled Ashley's mind. She didn't know him or his name.
"We won, but you're an incredible dragon."
"It took a first-class psychic, a powerful battle-hardened pyromancer with a Runic Object that amplified his powers, and a skin-changer... genius... cough... Novice, to be defeated."
That was the last thing the Silver Drake heard before Titan dug into his eye socket, reached his brain, and expanded in the shape of a cross inside it. His skull was too hard to try to pierce.
Multiple blue screens flashed in front of William, but he ignored them and walked towards the girl limping towards him.
(They're big enough to bounce.) William noticed an irrelevant detail.