[Noble Vampire Vilmore's POV]
A few days ago, I detected the Hero's mana in this city during the attack on the Temple. This confirms my suspicion that he is residing somewhere in this vicinity.
Unfortunately, I was in another region when that attack occurred and could not personally verify the Hero's identity. However, if another incident were to break out in this city, the Hero would undoubtedly reveal himself here once again.
I will wait and confirm his identity. After that, I will formulate a plan to assassinate him.
"Nuna, wait here. I am going to resurrect that dragon using the artifact Lord Regulus gave me," I commanded the True Vampire.
"My Lord, will the resurrected Dragon possess the same power it had before it died?" Nuna asked me.
"Judging by that skeleton, this Dragon has lost both its wings," I replied. "It seems that when it rises, it will only be able to exert about 20 to 30 percent of its former strength. However, that is more than enough to plunge this city into chaos and draw the Hero out."
I drew a dagger and entered the museum. Before me stood the massive skeletal remains of a dragon.
Leaping onto the Dragon's skull, I plunged the dagger provided by Lord Regulus deep into the bone. Moments later, a rune appeared on the blade and spread across the entire skeleton. Flesh and blood began to manifest; it was only a matter of time before the dragon once fought by the First Hero returned to this world.
Once the preparations were complete, Nuna and I left the area and hid nearby, scanning the surroundings for the Hero.
— Groaarrrrrr!
The roar of a savage beast echoed from the museum we had just departed. A plume of fire erupted into the sky, tearing through the museum's roof.
"Even at only 30 percent power, this Dragon will certainly give these humans a difficult time!"
***
[Brian's POV]
Civilians were sprinting away from the museum area. Looking up at the sky, I saw burning debris falling like meteors, crashing down upon several citizens.
"Run! Save yourselves!"
"Call the Knights and Inquisitors! A monster is on a rampage!"
Screams rang out everywhere as buildings began to ignite. Inquisitor Elvira and I immediately rushed toward the museum to investigate the source of the chaos. When we arrived, we saw a massive black dragon rampaging, breathing fire from its maw onto the surrounding structures.
"A wingless dragon..." the Inquisitor muttered.
"Could it be... is that Syrax, the one whose skeleton was in the museum!?" This was unbelievable. "But how is it possible for that creature to rise again after being a skeleton for hundreds of years!?"
"We'll worry about that later, Brian! Right now, we must call for reinforcements to evacuate the citizens and clear this area!"
Inquisitor Elvira mounted a horse and sped away to find help. For now, all I could do was assist the citizens in fleeing the vicinity of the terrifying dragon.
— Groaaarrr!
The dragon roared so loudly that I had to cover my ears with my palms. The windows of nearby buildings shattered from the sound waves generated by the beast. Looking toward the dragon, I saw it open its mouth and aim its head toward a crowd of fleeing people.
"Mama! Mama! Mama!"
I saw a small child fall, knocked over by people panicking in their flight.
"Get out of there! Quick, the dragon is about to breathe fire!"
But the child didn't hear my warning. Activating my Acceleration magic, I dashed forward to save the child. Only a few meters left—I had to reach them. The child saw me and reached out their hands.
— Wosssshhh!
But I was too late. A massive inferno engulfed the child and several others who were unfortunately too slow to escape. Their bodies turned to ash, which scattered in the wind as the flames subsided.
My body trembled. I clenched my fists tightly and bit my lip to keep from screaming out in rage over my failure to save that child. Turning my gaze to the dragon, I stared at it with pure fury.
I picked up a sword lying on the ground and activated Justice Spirit. My body was instantly enveloped in a golden light.
"Enough! I won't stand by any longer and let you destroy the city and kill the people here!"
Using Acceleration, I lunged toward the dragon. I leaped into the air, preparing the strongest strike in my arsenal.
"Raging Blade!"
My sword struck its neck with immense force. However, my attack didn't leave so much as a scratch on its hide. Looking to the side, I saw the dragon's tail swinging toward me.
— Bam!
The impact of the dragon's tail sent me flying, crashing through the wall of a building.
"Worthless... Human..."
I heard the dragon speak. My entire body felt numb. It felt as though several of my bones were broken. Attacking recklessly like that had been foolish...
Attempting to rise, I saw the dragon staring at me like a predator about to hunt its prey. Its mouth opened, and a ball of fire grew larger and larger within its throat.
Damn it! The dragon is going to blast me with its fire breath! I have to move!
However, despite my efforts to move, I kept collapsing. My leg seemed to be injured from the tail strike. Damn it, damn it, damn it! I'm going to die if I don't get away.
But just as the dragon was about to incinerate me, its head was suddenly struck by a massive chunk of earth, causing the fire breath to miss me.
"Brian! Are you alright!?" Inquisitor Elvira appeared suddenly and helped me to my feet. "Reinforcements have arrived. I managed to gather several Inquisitors who were in the city, but the others are still on their way from the fortress."
"Thank you, Inquisitor," I said. "We must focus on evacuating the citizens first. That dragon is incredibly strong; ordinary attacks won't work on it."
The Inquisitor nodded and helped me walk toward a Priest to heal my wounds.
The city had transformed into a war zone. Mages continuously fired magic projectiles at the Dragon, visibly irritating it. The beast charged toward the soldiers who were shielding the mages.
"It's useless! None of our attacks are hurting it!"
"Fall back! Fall back! Save yourselves!"
I watched the dragon tear through the soldiers' formations, trampling and swatting away those who crossed its path.
"Human... Scum!"
Several Inquisitors tried to move forward to stop the dragon, but their efforts were futile. The beast was far too powerful and repelled them with ease.
"Priest, how much longer? I need to get back to the front line to help them," I asked the Priest treating me.
"Wait a few more minutes. I am still healing your fractured bones."
Unlike Ariel's magic, which could heal in an instant, these ordinary Priests required time to mend wounds.
"Watch out! The dragon is heading this way!" someone shouted.
I saw the giant creature walking toward the area where the Priests were treating the wounded. The dragon seemed to sneer, opening its mouth wide. Was it going to breathe fire here?
"Everyone! Get out of here! The dragon is going to breathe fire!" I yelled to warn the others.
Struggling to my feet, I rushed away. My body hadn't fully recovered because the Priest hadn't finished the treatment.
— Woooshhhh!
A wave of flame surged toward us. My whole body felt like it was burning even though I was a distance away from the flames. Looking back, a horrifying scene unfolded before my eyes.
"Aaaah! It's hot! It's hot!"
"Take cover behind the walls!"
Everything was chaos. Screams were everywhere, and the dragon was drawing closer. If this continued, it wouldn't take long for the monster to reach the citizen evacuation point. What could we do? No attack from the mages or knights present could stop it.
I approached Inquisitor Elvira, who was with several other Inquisitors.
"Brian, what is your condition?" the woman, who was five years my senior, asked.
"I'm ready to fight again, Inquisitor," I replied. "What is the plan to stop that Dragon? We can't let it get near the citizens, can we?"
Hearing my question, Inquisitor Elvira shook her head. "Even with all our strength combined, we cannot stop that Dragon. Our only hope is to wait for a Grand Espada, an Archwizard, or a Holy Knight to arrive and defeat it together."
Wait for a Grand Espada or an Archwizard? How long will that take? If I remembered correctly, the nearest Grand Espada was in the Duchy of Viscaya, 140 km away, while an Archwizard was at the Castille Magic Tower, nearly 200 km to the west.
"According to reports, Holy Knight Fernando de Verdaluna is on his way," Elvira revealed. "He is expected to arrive in half an hour. We must hold the Dragon back until he gets here."
Half an hour? Could we really stop this Dragon from slaughtering the city's inhabitants before a Holy Knight arrived?
"Elvira! Help the others, quickly! That bastard monster is getting closer to the evacuated citizens!" another Inquisitor called out.
"Come on, Brian. Let's do what we can."
Magic projectiles were fired incessantly at the dragon—fire, earth, water, air, and even lightning—but none left a mark on the terrifying beast. The Inquisitors and I leaped onto the Dragon's body, attacking with everything we had. The dragon shook its body violently to throw us off, but we managed to hang on by gripping its hard scales.
— Groooarrr!
The dragon roared and leaped high into the air, making it difficult for us to stay mounted on its massive frame. When it slammed back into the ground, the force of the impact caused several Inquisitors to fall. The dragon repeated this over and over until only three of us remained on its body.
However, it seemed the beast grew bored of jumping. It turned its head and glared at us with its horrific eyes.
"Damn it! Get off the dragon, quickly!" Elvira shouted as she saw the beast opening its mouth.
The rest of us scrambled down. Our bodies felt a painful heat as the dragon breathed fire from its maw. Fortunately, we managed to dodge just in time. Having cleared the Inquisitors from its body, the dragon resumed its march toward the citizens.
"Inquisitors! I'm going to use a large-scale spell! Please distract the dragon for one minute!" I shouted to them.
"Fine! Your attack better stop that thing!"
They moved in to harass the dragon once more. Meanwhile, I climbed onto a building and began gathering as much mana as possible into the sword I held.
More...
I had to gather even more to ensure it was enough to stop that dragon! If I failed, everyone would die. Everyone would perish because I had failed to save them once again. My body and the sword were shrouded in a golden light. It was difficult even to lift the blade because of the sheer volume of mana concentrated within it.
"Brian, are you ready!?" one of the Inquisitors asked.
"I'm ready!"
At my signal, the Inquisitors around the dragon retreated. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. My hands were trembling as I struggled to hold the sword high. The dragon turned its attention toward me, seemingly sensing the massive mana I was about to unleash. However, the dragon simply sneered, as if it were issuing a challenge.
"I'm going to wipe that arrogant look off your face, you bastard!" I screamed, ready to launch my ultimate attack. "Roar, Incursioooo!"
I swung my sword, and the gathered mana shot toward the Dragon in a gargantuan wave of magical energy. The dragon did not dodge; it simply stood its ground.
— Bommbbb!
A massive explosion occurred as my attack struck the dragon. The resulting shockwave and wind shattered every window in the area. Smoke filled the impact zone. I didn't yet know if my strike had been enough to wound the beast.
However, as the smoke cleared, the Dragon was revealed, still standing firm without a single wound on its body.
"How is this possible? Even my strongest attack didn't leave a scratch on its skin," I whispered, despair beginning to take hold.
The dragon let out a powerful roar and resumed its rampage, slaughtering the soldiers who stood in its way.
"How? How can none of our attacks affect it? How do we stop this monster?"
Forget holding it off for half an hour—in less than ten minutes, if we didn't stop this monster, tens of thousands of lives would be lost to the Dragon's brutality.
As I was agonizing over how to stop the beast, I suddenly heard footsteps behind me.
"Do you want to stop that Dragon?"
Turning around, I saw a man wearing the black mask that was the signature of a Performer from The Masquerade.
He... was a member of the group that had killed Inquisitor Marcus—my mentor.