“Roar——!!!"
The giant dragon let out a deafening roar, opening its massive jaws to bite down on Hulim Heyerar.
“This trick won’t work anymore.”
Hulim grabbed Little Semiris Pan Gien in one hand.
Whoosh!
She vanished in a blur, reappearing moments later in the sky behind the dragon.
“?”
The dragon bit empty air, staring dumbfounded at the now-empty lair entrance.
Meanwhile, Hulim was already flying farther and farther away behind it......
“How did it find us......”
Temporarily out of danger, Hulim had time to think about what had just happened.
The dragon must have detected their intrusion and returned early to block them at the lair entrance.
Being discovered meant there was some kind of alert mechanism in the lair.
“Wait...... Could that magic field’s purpose isn’t just to keep other creatures out, but also to warn it?”
“Roar——!!!"
At that moment, the dragon’s angry roar echoed from behind.
It had finally reacted.
Its golden vertical pupils locked onto the fleeing Hulim.
Whoosh——!
With a single flap of its wings, the dragon took to the sky.
“Roar!!!"
After another roar,
the dragon flapped its wings violently.
Boom——!
A sonic boom rang out in the air.
Hulim glanced back and froze.
“No way?!”
The dragon was closing in at an unimaginable speed.
“This is bad. The sky is its territory—we can’t outfly it!”
A hint of anxiety flashed in Hulim’s eyes.
“Little Semiris, hide in my clothes and don’t fall out!”
Without waiting for her response, Hulim stuffed Little Semiris into her clothes.
She then gripped the Seven Luminaries with both hands.
“You won’t catch up that easily!”
Maintaining her high-speed flight, Hulim glanced back at the dragon and pointed the Seven Luminaries at it.
In the next instant,
Whoosh——!
A crimson beam of light hurtled toward the dragon.
But the dragon merely tilted its wings slightly, drastically changing its flight path.
The crimson beam grazed past it, missing completely.
“Such fast reflexes! Then what about this——”
Whoosh——!
A white beam of light erupted from the tip of the Seven Luminaries.
It was so fast the dragon couldn’t possibly dodge.
It hit the dragon head-on.
Yet what happened next left Hulim staring in disbelief.
“N-no way......”
The dragon was completely unharmed!
Only a wisp of smoke rose from the hit area, and its red scales showed no signs of damage.
How do we fight this?!
This thing is way too strong!!!
Even the black Earth Dragon they’d encountered when retrieving the Seven Luminaries hadn’t been this powerful.
“Something’s wrong. Could this dragon be anything but ordinary?”
Since attack magic was useless, she’d have to find another way to interfere with it.
“Seven Luminaries! Dual—Flame and Frost Storm!”
Two conflicting storms formed behind Hulim.
They quickly canceled each other out, creating a thick cloud of mist that blocked the dragon’s view of her—and darkened the sky.
The moment she vanished from the dragon’s sight, Hulim sharply changed direction, hoping to shake off the pursuit.
But before she could fly far,
“Roar——!!!"
A thunderous dragon roar—different from before—echoed through the air.
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Then, Hulim watched as the mist she’d created was swept away by an invisible force......
The mist cleared, and the sky brightened again.
The dragon locked onto Hulim once more, who’d changed course.
“Roar——!!!"
“......”
Boom!
The familiar sound of a sonic boom came from behind as the dragon closed in again.
......
“Hey, Hulim, did we lose the stupid dragon?”
Little Semiris poked her small head out of Hulim’s collar.
“Not yet......”
Hulim replied weakly.
“?”
“......See for yourself.”
At Hulim’s words, Little Semiris clung to her clothes to avoid falling, climbed onto her shoulder, and craned her neck to look back.
What she saw turned her little face pale.
“Wahh——! It’s catching up! It’s catching up!! Run, Hulim!!!”
She scrambled back into Hulim’s clothes in panic.
“I know, I’m running...... Wait, where are you crawling?! Stay where you were!”
“Roar——!!!"
“Ugh, seriously! We only took a little of your junk—do you have to be this mad?”
“??? Roar——!!!!”
Well,
it seemed even angrier now......
“Sea of Fire! Torrential Current! Anode Ray......”
Hulim unleashed all kinds of magic at the dragon behind her.
While they didn’t deal much damage, they at least slowed it down a bit.
The girl and the dragon chased each other through the sky, soon reaching the entrance to the Underground Metropolis......
“Roar!!!"
It was the familiar scene of the dragon’s head getting stuck at the entrance.
“Alright, alright, I’m here. Call it off—was this little bit of stuff really worth it?”
Hulim held up her backpack and shook it in front of the dragon.
Clink, clink!
The sound of clinking metal came from inside.
“Roar——!!!!”
A storm-like roar blew Hulim backward.
Realizing it was safe, Little Semiris popped out of Hulim’s clothes again.
She flew into the air, hands on her hips, and stuck her tongue out at the dragon triumphantly.
“Haha! Stupid dragon, can’t catch us, can’t catch us! Nyaa~!”
“Roar——!!!!!”
“Little Semiris, let’s go back.”
“Okay, wait for Little Semiris, Hulim~!”
Little Semiris caught up, and the two headed underground.
As for the dragon, its roars could still be heard from the entrance long after they’d left......
......
Deep beneath the Mirnabith Mountains, in the Mana Pool.
A magic array unfolded above the pool.
Under the array’s influence, a vortex formed at the center of the Mana Pool.
Countless floating light particles swirled into a small, glowing cyclone at the center.
Beneath the vortex,
a young girl floated with her eyes closed.
The pool’s water was separated from her by the vortex and the cyclone. Only glowing lines extended from the vortex to her body, transforming into light particles that merged into her skin upon contact.
She looked as if she was shrouded in a layer of radiance......
After some time,
the girl slowly opened her eyes.
At the same moment,
the magic array floating above the Mana Pool gradually dimmed.
The vortex in the pool calmed down.
Splash~!
In the next instant, the girl broke through the water and flew upward.
“Hulim, you lasted even longer than yesterday~!”
On the shore, Little Semiris deactivated the magic array.
“Yeah, I guess my body’s getting used to it after spending so much time here.”
