(Written while listening to: "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC on YouTube)
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'RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN!'
Laito ran.
He couldn't see where he was running to.
Because he was surrounded by raging inferno. His vision was completely obscured by stone-melting dragon fire that enveloped everything around poor 10 years old.
The dragon smelled Laito's presence the moment he suddenly popped out in the Depths.
It moved instantly to devour the intruder. It was fast. It was agile. It was powerful.
It was also huge. To the point that basically the smallest of its deadly teeth was twice as big as an adult man.
Though it was huge enough that it had problems navigating in between colossal columns that filled the vast underground halls.
Laito was really lucky, as he managed to dive behind one of these columns just as Mark of Invulnerability had ended.
'Now what?'
Dragon has slammed its jaw shut cutting off the river of hellfire that it released.
It moved its massive dark-red scaled body to reposition itself for easier access to Laito killing.
Reincarnator had just a few seconds tops to come up with a plan.
He summoned Bona. Laito's only echo materialized from… bluish?... sparks.
Just as the dragon was about to reach behind the column, Laito gave command to the skeleton to attract the dragon's attention as he ran in the opposite direction.
Bona has launched herself at the dragon.
It was quite a comical sight.
Though it managed to surprise the colossal lizard as it swiped its claws at the clanking skeleton.
Obviously Bona shattered into a myriad of bones that were sent flying in almost all the directions.
But in its hurry the dragon didn't notice certain details about the tiny(from its perspective), bony figure.
It was covered in a thin film of static.
The moment Laito called for Bona, he also started to chant the first Spell he has fully learned from the Tome of Warding:
[Static Shield]
Previously, it could barely shock a "mere" Corrupted Beast for a fraction of a single second.
Now it was powered by Mana, like it was supposed to.
The moment gigantic dragon claws made contact with Bona a laud
Defying the laws of the world itself, a Spell casted by a lowly Aspirant had an actual effect on a mighty dragon.
The titanic muscles of the indeed awesome dragon has spasmed and loosened causing its entire body to collapse.
Right on top of Laito's head as he ran.
'Aw hell naw!' He complained internally and sped up even more, barely avoiding being crushed by the lower part of the dragon's jaw(its tongue stuck out from paralysis) that had fallen on the ground with impact just a few meters behind Laito.
The gust of wind that it created propelled Laito a few meters forward, but he managed to not lose his footing and continued to run.
Just as the reincarnator boy passed the fourth column away from where the stunned dragon had fallen, he noticed that the blueish light which came out from his now slightly swollen blood vessels was glowing a bit stronger in a certain direction marginally to his right.
He decided to follow it as it was also pointing away from the dragon.
Speaking of which...-
A condensed ball of explosive dragonfire hurled towards Laito's backside.
Very fast.
Thanks to the distance he managed to gain, Laito just made it behind the next column to duck away from the impact.
'Completely ridiculous. "There is always a way to pass a trial" my ass. HOW IS ANYONE SUPPOSED TO NORMALLY PASS THAT!'
There was a tremor as dragon started closing the distance between again, and just as it lunged with its maw to execute Laito by transporting him into its stomach:
'He he. No thanks! Im definitely NOT into that vore stuff. That's more of a "Minoru thing"... another reason why probably he would like Mount Lady that much once she debuted.' Laito ran again after he used Bona, who just reassembled herself to latch onto the dragon's tail... and casually slandering his best friend.
The giant beast spasmed again, and again it fell.
From that moment on, it became a game of cat and mouse.
Laito ran.
The dragon tried to burn/catch him.
Bona zapped the dragon with Laito casting Static Shield.
Laito used that time to follow the light of mana in his blood.
At some point the dragon tried to burn Bona into ash as it finally noticed through its growing rage that bashing her doesn't work.
Unfortunately for the dragon: the moment it started to prepare its fiery breath while aiming at a grabby skeleton...
Laito un-summoned Bona.
Another few precious seconds gained to escape, while the dragon kept angrily spewings its infernal torrent at completely empty space.
"Get kited you stupid!" Laito stupidly provoked the dragon with a thrill as his keen eyes noticed a massive wall of stone reviling itself from the darkness. It marked the ending of the grand underground chamber he found himself in.
What's more important there also was an open doorway in that wall, about the same size as the door of the Prayer Room inside the Incandescent Cathedral.
A cohort(seven people) of men could pass it standing shoulder to shoulder.
But a ginormous dragon certainly couldn't.
Coincidentally Laito's light also directed him towards that door.
So the reincarnator made a last ditch effort to reach that door, while inwardly thanking the dead gods(and his ROB) for his seemingly endless stamina.
The dragon completely lost itself to boundless rage at the humiliation that befallen it.
The mighty infernal red dragon started...-
Throwing insults at Laito.
"YOU VILE ANT! STOP RUNNING YOU COWARDLY SCUM! I SHALL RIP YOU APART INTO PIECES, BURN THESE PIECES INTO AN ASH AND THROW THEM INTO DARKEST ABYSS! ONLY FITTING END FOR SUCH PATHETIC LITTLE WRETCH! COME OVER HERE!!!"
Obviously, taunts were utterly ineffective against Laito, as he felt absolutely shameless in that scenario.
And also it seemed that the dragon was a "he"... judging from his tyrannical masculine voice.
'Thankfully he's not Kai...- or Shinso... and his voice apparently can't command others' minds, or I would actually listen to him!' Laito thought as he passed the door safely.
"Don't worry bro! Although I don't wanna die here, at least you were awesome!... kinda." Laito genuinely tried to comfort the angry dragon.
"ARE YOU PITYING ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!?! YOU DARE PITY ME!?! THE GREAT OBBADOTH!"
Obbadoth completely lost his marbles in his draconic fury while launching himself into the stone wall trying to fit his clawed hand into a small hole in an attempt to reach the audacious pest.
"No! I am serious! You are really cool! And scary, that I almost shat myself! Honestly!" Laito objected while he retreated deeper into the wall.
But Obbadoth wasn't listening to Laito, as he repositioned himself so that his maw faced directly the opening in the wall.
Raging crucible lighted up again behind dragon's teeth as he gathered his dragonflame to finally erase Laito who was restricted by the long tunnel he found himself inside.
Obbadoth closed his mouth to condense and shape flames within his throat into a single disintegrating beam that would perfectly fit into the tunnel.
Dragon opened his maw again to release flames into tight tunnel...
Obbadoth started to choke on his own fire breath as he lost control over his muscles one more time.
"Buahahaha! Why stop doing that if it works? Alright Bona, that's enough. Thanks!" Laito said out loud and dismissed his faithful Echo for the moment.
And dived deeper into the lightless depths. Effectively escaping from dragon's reach.
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[3,5 years left until MHA plot beginning]
[Chapter End] The story is not over yet
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