Marcus steeled himself as the stone dragon ahead of him let out another powerful exhale. It was enough to send a shockwave that rattled everything in the hall. Objects, loot, gemstones, and even weapons that were seemingly haphazardly stashed at many points shook and fell on each other. Even the gemlike crystals embedded on the ceiling and walls were not undisturbed, some of them falling and shattering on the ground.

  Marcus’s cloak fluttered as he stood his ground, while Stella cast a defensive barrier on herself and Alice. Likely, had she not done that, the dragon’s exhale alone would have injured Alice, at least according to Marcus’s calculations. The force of that exhale alone was ridiculous—not discounting the fact that it didn’t make sense whatsoever that a stone dragon could breathe.

  Whatever. Rule number one for magical monsters is to never question their ridiculous anatomy.

  “Looks like I won’t be able to put the final attack on that one,” Alice said from behind. “I seriously doubt I have any attack that can even scratch that thing.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Marcus said, nodding to himself. “Quite frankly, I was expecting something…easier to dispatch.”

  “Marcus,” Stella called out, her voice slightly nervous. “Are we in trouble?”

  At that, he looked back at her, smiling calmly. He didn’t want her worrying about anything. “Of course not. Prepare for me some kind of a finishing spell for that thing, will you?”

  “Uhm…you’re still planning to give someone else the final hit?”

  “If it’s not going to be Alice, then it’ll only be you, Stella. Yes.”

  “I see.”

  Marcus looked back at the dragon, who was now snarling with annoyance at him.

  “Challenger. You appear to believe yourself so above me that you can taunt me like this.” It exhaled again with anger, sending winds that made it slightly hard for Marcus to stand. “What are you even? I’ve never seen a human of your caliber. It makes no sense.”

  “I’m not really sure,” Marcus said. “Now, to be honest, I’ve never seen a dragon either, much less a talking, stone dragon.”

  “Amusing. I must commend you, both for your strength and boldness and for your good humor. I’m afraid, however, that it doesn’t change my judgment. Perish.”

  Marcus darted quickly to his right as the draconic monster’s eyes glowed red, sending a flash of a red beam at his position. The beam vaporized everything it touched, causing a powerful explosion on the hall’s walls. Marcus, however, barely paid attention to that, leveraging his high SPD stat to get quickly to the dragon’s right flank.

  Let’s see. How can I cut something made out of magically reinforced stone?

  The dragon quickly turned to intercept Marcus, sending one of its massive claws straight at him. He lunged upward, spun his body quickly, and dove down at the dragon head-on as he channeled mana to his rapiers. His swords quickly made contact with the stone claws and legs of the dragon, sparks flying as he caused superficial cuts on them.

  Unfortunately, instead of dismembering the creature, he was forced to kick its face, jump out, and land a good few paces away on the ground while crouched. An annoyed grin appeared on Marcus’s face.

  “Looks like you’re one tough guy, huh?” Marcus asked.

  The dragon, however, was disconcerted.

  “Ridiculous. Those blades. How did it scratch me?”

  It shook its head.

  “Irrelevant. You will die nevertheless.”

  It opened its mouth, thin purple flames coming out of it straight in Marcus’s direction. This time, due to the speed of the dragon’s attack, it was nearly impossible for him to dodge it normally. As a result, he finally had to use [Blink Step] over and over again to dodge the dragon’s purple flames.

  A new strategy formed in Marcus’s mind, leveraging his ridiculous speed and agility, alongside [Blink Step], to quickly drain the monster’s mana. As a result, a frantic chase occurred, with the dragon firing beams of purple flame in all directions, while Marcus blinked in and out of his positions with speeds that made it impossible for both Stella and Alice to keep up.

  The two women already rushed into cover, with Stella occasionally raising a barrier or two whenever the dragon’s fiery breath slammed near them. Alice rested her back on a pillar, her breath shaky as she looked at the carnage.

  “Goddess almighty,” Alice’s voice trembled. “T-this dungeon isn’t even S-rank. Who the hell designated it as such? This is beyond anything I’ve seen!”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I guess I’ll never trust the scout corps of the adventurer’s guild ever again,” Stella said, straining as she began casting a new spell while maintaining her barriers. “Can you please watch my back, Alice?”

  “Of course. Focus on what you’re doing.”

  Marcus felt that the monster’s attacks became increasingly frantic, agitated, and strained. Every time he dodged its attacks, the power from the monster’s beams doubled, blasting explosions that cracked and destroyed the foundations of the hall. It seemed that the monster was taking care not to hit the heavy double doors though, probably fearing that they’ll escape.

  Regardless, at this rate, the dumb bastard is losing its mana reserves. Marcus made a mental note about his reserves, though. Though, abusing [Blink Step] isn’t sustainable for me either. I need to find a break.

  Marcus, though, wasn’t bothered in the least bit. Due to the high mana concentration around them, his diamond-rank mana core was recharging so fast that [Blink Step’s] mana consumption was more of an afterthought. At least, unless he had to chain multiple skills together during another assault once he found an opening. It would certainly be impossible.

  On another note, the dragon must be reinforcing its mana reserves quickly too, and maybe it’s even connected to the dungeon itself. Regardless, those attacks are powerful enough to shave off mountains.

  There’s no way it can sustain it better than I can sustain my moves.

  It was actually quite funny, Marcus thought. Due to the attacks of this dragon, it was quickly draining the ambient mana around them. Most likely, the dungeon itself was magically reinforced, so every time it was hit by the dragon’s attacks, the dungeon’s core, which he imagined had a level of control over the dragon, was getting strained.

  All in all, he should be winning this battle of attrition pretty easily.

  And the confirmation came when the dragon had enough and blasted one direction for two whole seconds, causing mild tremors throughout the dungeon after a powerful explosion left a grand crater on the hall’s walls. The dragon slammed its feet hard on the ground with a growl.

  “Challenger. You’re being awfully annoying right now.”

  The dragon craned its neck backward so that the eye on the right side of its head could look at him. “What are you truly?”

  “I don’t know.” Marcus tightened his grip on his sword as he prepared himself in a stance that would launch him straight to the dragon. “Just some lost soldier, I reckon.”

  “Preposterous!”

  [Swift Blade].

  [Hellfire Aura].

  [Blink Step].

  Three skills activated at once, Marcus practically blinked in front of the dragon as his entire body was covered in a light red glow. His blades blazed with great fury so that the light from them was nearly blinding as he cut through the dragon’s claws as it tried to defend itself. As he had expected, this time, the monster’s stone limb was dismembered, leading it into a powerful roar as it collapsed on one side.

  “Grah! Impossible!”

  “Not nearly impossible if it’s happening,” Marcus calmly said as he rose upward again, preparing for a strike from the top. But the dragon didn’t just lie still. Raising its head and opening its maw, a purplish beam struck Marcus.

  Just in time for him to activate [Pinpoint Hardening] for a few seconds. A powerful blast shook the halls, its shockwaves causing tremors that made it even harder for Stella and Adelyn to stand. For a second, the two women looked at the smoke with bated breaths, their eyes fearful that Marcus would disappear, maybe even dead.

  But a second later, he reappeared, fury in his eyes as he zoomed toward the dragon. The dragon tried to parry off his swords using the claws on its other arm, but he quickly sliced off each finger like they were nothing. The dragon was so rattled by the display that instead of trying to bite Marcus, it backed off.

  But that proved to be a fatal mistake when Marcus jumped off from the intact parts of the dragon’s hand, stabbing both his rapiers in the monster’s eyes. At last, the monster, now losing its vision, could only scream and thrash violently, slamming itself on the walls in panic.

  “No! No! This cannot be! My eyes! My eyes! I am the Great Aldach, protector of this fortress. I cannot—”

  “Stella, do your thing,” Marcus ordered, now already standing calmly at the center of the hall as he sheathed back his rapiers.

  “Gladly,” Stella said, smiling, multiple spell circles already in front of her as she aimed her staff at the dragon. “[Divine Judgement].”

  An endless barrage of pulses of white light struck the dragon. Each hit was punctuated by a pained scream as the dragon’s stony body was pierced, cracked, or ruptured entirely. Stella kept up her bombardment as the demon tried to defend itself by turning around or by presenting its more armored sides.

  But after thirty seconds of sustained attacks, the blasts finally cracked parts off the dragon’s body, eventually sending its head off after one of the beams of light struck its neck and exploded violently. Stella lowered her wand, the smoke from her powerful attack obscuring visibility for many moments, before eventually it parted away, revealing the dragon’s unrecognizable form.

  Stella collapsed on her knees, sweat dripping down her face.

  “I…” Stella’s breathing was ragged. “I’ve never overused that spell before. I feel like…my gate is injured…”

  That was when Siris suddenly appeared out of nowhere; the kitsune panicked as it flew around before checking on Stella. “W-w-what? Stella? Have I not told you not to channel too much magic at once?! You’ve thrown everything into that attack!”

  “I…” Stella’s eyes were wide, as she seemed like she was about to faint. But she laughed to herself. “I gained four levels. Worth…it…”

  Before she could collapse on the floor, Marcus had already walked to her and caught her. He patted her head lightly with a proud grin. “Good work.”

  Siris, on top of him, however, wasn’t having it. She had her arms crossed, her brows furrowed, as she impatiently looked down at Marcus.

  “Young man, we really have to talk about my dear Stella’s physical limits.”

  “I...err, well, she’s the [Saint] so I thought…”

  Siris was still glaring at him. Marcus just sighed and lowered his head apologetically.

  “I know, I’m very bad at excuses, Ma’am.”