The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

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Chapter 623: Finally, I Meet You Again. (2)

Kuuuuoooooo……

A blue light began to burst forth from the inside of Arterion’s mouth.

At first, the light was faint, but it gradually grew more intense, pulsating along the dragon’s throat.

Like ice crystals growing, the blue glow became clearer and larger.

Paaaah……

The temperature in the surroundings began to drop sharply. In an instant, frost collected on the ground. Every time people exhaled, white breaths billowed up.

“Oh my.”

Ghislaine wore an awkward smile. The dragon’s breath could not be blocked by magical seals.

Of course, such a breath couldn’t be used frequently, so if they could somehow avoid it and withstand it, that would be fine. But Arterion didn’t seem to have any intention of using a normal breath.

“It seems he’s going all out to kill.”

Kwaaaaaaah!

Even though he could already unleash his breath, he continued to gather energy. It was a strong will to definitely kill Yulien.

Dodging wasn’t easy either. Arterion would certainly follow Yulien with his head.

It would be even more dangerous to charge in now. According to the plan, they needed to withstand this one time.

Ggggggg……

The moisture in the air suddenly froze and transformed into sparkling ice particles. A silver mist began to rise around Arterion.

At that moment, waves of blue light flowed from the dragon’s neck along his back. Like electricity flowing, the light danced along his scales.

The amassed power finally reached its peak. Arterion’s eyes gleamed as he emitted a powerful light.

Kwaaaaaaaaaah!

A dazzling blue-white breath exploded forth. A huge ice storm rained down, tearing through the sky.

It aimed at Yulien, but the range was so vast that others couldn’t escape it either.

Ghislaine exploded her mana and shouted.

“Block it!”

Paaaah!

Standing at the front, Parniel unleashed his divine power with all his might. Piote, who was behind him, also transferred all his divine power to Parniel.

But that wasn’t enough. The dragon’s breath was an attack that mere humans couldn’t block.

Jerome, observing the situation from inside the fortress, emitted a golden light from his eyes.

“Absolute Barrier.”

Ziiing―!

The 9-circle absolute defense spell, fueled by all the mages’ mana, unfolded.

Tremendous mana was sucked into the spell Jerome cast.

It was exceedingly heavy. It was extremely difficult for Jerome to control all that mana by himself.

Vanessa helped Jerome to use that mana fully. She focused solely on maintaining the gathered mana within control.

Through their collaboration, the 9-circle spell was successfully manifested.

Paaaaaaah!

The barrier enveloping the allies clashed against Arterion’s breath.

True to its name, the barrier withstood the breath.

But the problem was that Jerome was not a 9-circle mage. Though he knew the spell, his realm and realization didn’t measure up.

Thus, the barrier could only be a half-baked 9-circle spell full of haphazard mana.

Dddddddr crack!

Cracks began to form in the barrier. Blood trickled down from Jerome’s nose.

Even at a similar level of mana, the density was different.

Moreover, the breath was the dragon’s inherent power. As it could be used without any interference, Jerome had no choice but to be overpowered.

Drrrr crack!

Kwaaaang!

The constantly trembling barrier ultimately couldn’t withstand the breath and shattered.

“Cough!”

As Jerome stumbled and spat blood, Vanessa swiftly cast another spell.

“Great Shield.”

Papapapapack!

The shield overlapped and spread out to the allies. They shattered one after another, but the dragon’s breath was weaker than before.

And the breath, which had broken through all the shields, finally met Parniel’s divine power.

Kwaaaaaaang!

“Guh!”

Parniel’s body shuddered greatly. For a moment, he nearly vomited blood. But in the end, he held it back.

The aftermath of the breath spread outwards. The ground where they stood froze, and frost instantly covered everyone’s bodies.

Kaor chattered his teeth and said.

“Ugh…… damn…… it’s cold……”

It was such a powerful breath that even superhumans felt the chill. Yet they somehow managed to block it.

A deeper killing intent gathered in Arterion’s eyes.

“These pests…….”

It was a breath exerted with all its strength. At this level, Arterion was confident he could kill a rival in one go.

But he had failed. The humans’ preparations were more thorough than he had anticipated.

And the counterattack was swift.

Paaaah!

Hundreds of shining daggers appeared in mid-air. They were arranged zigzag like silver stairs cutting through the sky.

Ghislaine quickly leaped onto those daggers and swung a gigantic aura blade.

Karagaag!

“Guh!”

Surprised, Arterion flapped his wings as his chest was slashed. He retreated a bit to get some distance.

Skaak!

But before he knew it, Yulien’s sword gleamed and sliced one of Arterion’s wings.

Belinda’s daggers spread widely from the center of Arterion. They constantly moved like living beings, becoming platforms for the superhumans.

There was no need to worry about falling. Belinda’s daggers appeared to support them underfoot.

They moved freely in the air as if dancing while attacking the dragon’s body.

Arterion roared with a mix of confusion and rage at their tactics.

“You damn little bugs!”

“Let’s see if you can die to a bug today.”

With a fierce grin, Ghislaine swung her aura blade without hesitation.

The dragon’s breath consumed a lot of energy, and Arterion had gathered too much power. Until he regained a certain amount of energy, he could only be helplessly beaten.

That was why Ghislaine had planned to endure the first breath herself. She could start the battle only after draining the opponent’s energy.

Indeed, Arterion was flustered by the storm of superhumans attacking.

“T-these pests……”

No matter how weak humans were, the aura blades they wielded could not be dismissed.

That’s because they could also cut through dragon scales.

Arterion, retreating, hastily cast a spell out of habit.

Pasusssss……

Even when he tried to use magic, it still didn’t manifest properly. The magic scattered as soon as it appeared.

Grrrrr……

In the frustrating situation, Arterion let out a low growl.

He tried to shoot another breath, but it wasn’t easy. He was already in a state of considerable energy depletion after unleashing his full-strength breath.

With such powerful energy that could not be used frequently, he had to be more cautious. He needed to eliminate his rival right here.

Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!

In the end, Arterion had no choice but to fight with his body as a weapon. He ruthlessly swung his massive tail.

Kwaaang!

Tenant, who was attacking Arterion’s side, was struck head-on by that attack. But contrary to Arterion’s expectations, Tenant survived.

Right before the tail could hit, a powerful divine shield had blocked him. Moreover, a divine blessing was wrapping around his body.

The shield shattered, but Tenant still managed to hold on, pouring out his mana.

Creeeak!

Though his bones and organs were all smashed, it was fine. The powerful divine power that poured in instantly healed his body.

Kaaaaaa!

Seeing that, Arterion roared in fury, shaking the sky. The air around resonated with his cry.

Kwaaaang!

His gigantic claws sliced through the air. The superhumans evaded gracefully like the wind. If evasion became difficult, they simply exploded their mana and jumped down.

And whenever there was a gap, Ghislaine’s aura blade appeared like lightning, grazing Arterion’s body.

Each time, dragon blood was splattered into the air. The amount was steadily increasing.

“These pesky flies!”

Arterion continuously whipped his tail and claws. But Belinda’s daggers quickly repositioned, forming new platforms for the superhumans.

They moved freely as if dancing in the air. Keeping their distance, they would approach and deliver attacks whenever there was an opening.

Yulien’s attack was particularly outstanding.

Skaak!

Yulien didn’t need to force her approach. She kept her distance, gradually slicing at Arterion’s wings.

“Guh……”

Arterion groaned in pain as his wings were continuously torn.

But as a dragon with numerous battle experiences, he quickly regained his composure.

His strikes became more precise as the battle progressed. The superhumans pushing the dragon back gradually had to widen the distance, searching for openings.

Despite continuously suffering wounds, Arterion carefully gauged the movements of his enemies.

And he never missed an opportunity that came.

Kwaaaaaaang!

As the dragon’s tail suddenly curved and flew toward him, Gillian raised his arms and unleashed mana. At the same time, a divine shield appeared before him.

Ududud!

His arms were shattered and he fell, but he hadn’t lost his life. Because the others immediately launched counterattacks, there was no follow-up assault.

Dddddrr!

Gillian’s body, with his arms broken, was quickly healed. Thanks to the tremendous divine power from Parniel and Piote.

Arterion continued to observe the whole scene.

“If only my power were fully restored…”

Then he wouldn’t have been pushed back this much. If any attack even grazed him, he would’ve died instantly without being able to heal.

But what could he do? He couldn’t afford to stall. If he delayed, his rival would only grow stronger.

Even so, these humans were impressive. There had been very few who had pushed a dragon like him this far in a thousand years.

‘They really prepared thoroughly.’

What on earth were these people? Their teamwork was astonishing.

Daggers continually creating platforms, divine powers that kept recovering them as long as they didn’t die.

And superhumans risking themselves while trusting the mages binding his magic.

These beings knew how to fight a dragon. Just as Ereness said, that Ghislaine was an exceptional human lord.

Despite their greatness, Arterion felt a peculiar sense of déjà vu.

‘Doesn’t it feel like they’ve fought me before?’

Surely, among the humans of the time, no one had fought a dragon. And there couldn’t possibly be any proper records of that.

Yet these ones were cornering him without a single mistake. Even the level of magical sealing was flawless.

To prepare with mere speculation was far too thorough.

‘Did Ereness tell them?’

No. That couldn’t be. She and he were practically a shared destiny.

Ereness would never wish to fight him. Although she had informed the humans about him, her absence here was proof of that.

It truly meant that they had inferred and prepared entirely by themselves.

‘I can’t help but acknowledge it. That you all are remarkable.’

But that’s all it is. In the end, he would emerge victorious. After all, he was the last dragon who had overcome even tougher battles.

Kwaaaaaang!

This time, Arterion’s tail struck Kaor. Kaor didn’t die either.

In fact, he quickly recovered and hurried to climb back up on a dagger.

Even as his wounds increased, Arterion calmly surveyed the situation.

To them now, he would simply be a strong and immensely solid giant monster.

It was inevitable. He couldn’t use magic, and being large provided plenty of attacking points. He was nothing more than a massive target.

If this continued, he would tire himself out instead.

Arterion’s eyes narrowed.

There was no point in dealing with the superhumans clinging to him now.

‘Dagger, divine power, mage.’

These three elements were the pillars maintaining the balance of the battle. If even one fell, they wouldn’t be able to handle him.

‘The shadows.’

Arterion subtly turned his gaze.

The woman controlling the daggers was far away. She wasn’t participating in the attacks.

She was solely focused on assisting her allies to fight freely in the air.

Now he looked down.

‘The divine power.’

The warrior saint with the strongest power was solely devoted to healing and defending her allies.

Although it was an unexpectedly fitting role, it could not be more effective in this situation.

Plus, that fake saint(?) emanated a tremendous divine power. In some ways, it surpassed even the purity of a saint.

Arterion surveyed the small fortresses built in the distance.

‘The mages.’

Immense magic power continued to suppress him. This wasn’t merely spreading a mana field.

If several mages attempted to individually remove the spells, his magic wouldn’t be so cleanly undone. It would have been torn apart and vanished chaotically.

Clearly, the mana was pooled into one, governed by an outstanding mage. He needed to either kill that person or prevent their control, even if just for a moment.

‘Did they truly anticipate even that.’

They had detached the fortresses to obscure the flow of mana. This was a purely chillingly thorough preparation.

Grrrr……

Even while attacking the humans before him, Arterion’s attention was still elsewhere.

He couldn’t strike all three at once. He needed to select one and relentlessly target it.

If he could bring down just one, the situation would turn in his favor.

As half of the pure white body was stained red, Arterion reached a decision.

His eyes lit up. Spreading his wings wide, Arterion pulled back slightly.

Kwaaaaaaaaaang!

Suddenly, he shot toward the ground.