Chapter 75 - An Eternal Second

The dragon’s roar skill was building, the flames around its mouth gathered slowly into a pure red fire that singed the grass around me.

The red dragon stretched its wings forward, Arga was closest to getting hit and without her equipment, she wouldn’t have survived an attack like that. She was as good as dead at such a close range.

I clenched my teeth at the thought, I didn’t want to see something like that happen but I also couldn't tear my eyes away. I begged for the skill to launch before that could happen but it wasn’t ready yet.

It must have been the damage I received before but for whatever reason my skill was taking much longer to charge up. I knew my mana wasn’t filled but I didn’t think it was that bad!

Its scaly red wings thrashed through the air towards her but were obstructed by a solid block—Veldor’s shield. At the moment of impact, the cracks that surged across his shield split open even further. It wasn’t going to hold for very long, I’m sure he knew that better than anyone.

The longer he held that monster back the faster his shield broke apart.

I never regretted anything more than at that moment for what I did to his shield. All I could do was pray to the goddess that his shield would hold. Only a little longer, they only needed to hold it back for a few more seconds.

My eyes jolted open as the warm sensation raced up my arm.

I could feel it was ready, the flames that filled the dragon's head in front of me were at their limit. The skill was ready to fire and I had no reason to wait.

With a swift flick of the wrist, I released the flames from the dragon’s mouth. It opened its jaw as far as it could go and it erupted like an active volcano. Powerful red flames burst forth, coursing through the air like red-hot lightning.

The red dragon facing off against Veldor must have been sick of playing games, it quickly put all its strength behind its wings and forced everyone around it out of the way. Arga and Veldor weighed next to nothing against such a powerful beast, they were easily forced back and went tumbling across the ground.

The crimson dragon raised its body into the sky, puffing out its chest in a proud manner. It seemed almost like it was trying to intimidate us all.

The Dragons Roar skill hit dead on and exploded against the dragon's chest, which sent it back to the ground with a violent explosion of flames and dust. It was something I didn’t think much about before but I realised it then.

“There’s no health bar…” I uttered.

Even after hitting it head-on like that, nothing appeared around its head or body. I considered that maybe it was Uriel who was missing and not the health bar, but he seemed to respond as usual when I asked him.

“Uriel, where’s it’s health? I can’t see anything about these things, just how strong are they?!”

I raced to get the words out of my mouth, time was of the essence. Hearing my panicked words, Uriel offered his thoughts.

{Appraisal cannot actively measure targets skill at this time}

“What about the health bar?! I need something here, how can I know if it’s weak without one?”

{No enemies found}

“…”

I didn’t understand. I wasn’t sure if Uriel was messing around or something but either way, he wasn’t going to help me. I needed to do it myself, if I couldn't rely on a health bar I needed to do it the old-fashioned way. I just had to judge it myself!

The cloud of dirt lifted and the crimson scales exited under its veil almost completely unscathed, with barely a scratch to be seen. It looked like even the dragon skill I gained wasn't enough to hurt one of its own kind.

I felt powerless.

My eyes sharpened as a figure walked towards it. The wind brushed across the Hollow at what seemed like a sea of pink hair that flowed with it. Her lavish pink curls brushed past her shoulders as they followed the direction of the breeze.

Alice walked towards the crimson nightmare without a worry, she still looked curious about something—about the dragon. I didn’t get it, we were working so hard to protect her and there she was just walking towards it like nothing was happening. Had she lost it, she didn’t seem to care?!

“Alice no—stay away from it!”

If one of them really was the dragon that Mister Ed heard about, Alice was in trouble. Something about them seemed off though, something about the whole situation.

They had a chance to kill her before, both dragons did. If they blasted down over us together with their flames then there was no way we could have shielded her from that, not just the three of us anyway. So why didn’t they?

Mister Ed and his forces weren't having much luck, the dragon they faced wouldn’t stop attacking. Blast after blast, it let out powerful waves of flames until—

“Attack while it’s empty!”

The dragon's breath ran dry and no more fire would escape its mouth. It let out a dry puff of smoke and breathed in heavily. The entire force of Heaven’s gate pushed the blue dragon back, with every member pushing towards it there was barely a struggle.

Lights flashed throughout their ranks as mages let off massive aerial attacks, enough to shake the ground and heat up the sky. Even with the dragon's gigantic demeanour and fierce attacks, they seemed to be doing a lot better than we were.

Their dragon looked pinned, it was forced against the mountain wall—held into a corner with more and more of their forces closing in on it. Their mages made sure to pile on the heavy fire while the tanks like Mister Ed held it back.

The blue dragon let out a monstrous roar—we all felt it—the ground shook and my bones rattled. I’m sure Arga and Veldor felt it too, the powerful tremor beneath our feet. It was more than just an irritated shout, the dragon pinned to that wall had something else in mind.

It was an intense cry that affected everyone, it seemed to affect the crimson dragon most of all. After hearing its bellow of rage, the dragon in front of us opened its wings and let out a cry of its own.

Two equally monstrous sounds collided with one another over the Hollow and shook my brain. It was a deafening sound that blocked out all my thoughts.

It sounded familiar—it wasn't just a cry but something else—almost like the one Alice had used before!

The Queens roar that she used against Ilinore, gave just as a monstrous effect on her as it did on us at that moment. It didn’t make sense to me though, how were they able to use such a skill if there was only one queen? Perhaps it wasn’t the same after all and just something similar?

At that very second my eyes grew wider as I realised what came after that dreadful noise.

“If it’s something similar, then this is going to be bad…they won’t be able to defend against both!”

It was no use, my voice was drowned out by the ear-splitting sound both dragons produced.

Veldor and Arga were both down still, they didn’t look like they were getting up any time soon either. Mister Ed and his guild were focused on the blue dragon, if they stopped their advances even for a second then the dragon would have broken free.

I was the only option left, the only one able to do anything. And yet…I felt like I couldn't do a single thing.

“I can’t reach them in time, I won’t be able to warn them.” I muttered to myself.

Even if I were to shout, the intense build-up of the crimson dragon's roar was so loud that it drained out every other sound in the area. I was having trouble hearing myself think and grew dizzy.

It was too late!

The crimson dragon’s fire burned bright, a brilliant glow of red and yellow focused inside of its jaws and was ready to break free.

Its claws dug into the ground and held itself in place for support. For such a massive attack it was necessary, trust me. That one instance dragged out for far too long, an agonising second where I felt powerless.

I held out my hand, ready to scream when someone beat me to it.

Alice ran ahead, right up to the crimson dragon's feet—or rather its claws—and screamed from the bottom of her lungs.

Her tears flowed out from both ends of her eyes as her voice filled the Hollow.

“PLEASE DON’T DO THIS—BROTHERS!!!!”