“Everyone ready? Let’s rush the dragon while it can’t move!”

  Our plan was set. Buy time by fighting the dragon while Lythea tries to take control of it. It’s an undead that’s supposedly being controlled by the same person that has sent undead after us before, so she believes it should be possible to hijack the dragon.

  The dragon was still down in the arena, struggling against some kind of invisible spell.

  Lythea restrained the dragon as soon as she showed up which ended up buying us a lot of time, but… It won’t last forever… There’s no better place to fight him than down there, so I rallied the girls and ran down the stairs of the stands.

  “Uhhmmm… Actually… I don’t think there’s time for that…” With a hesitant voice, Lythea called out to us, and a second later…

  *RRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRR!*

  The dragon broke free from his restraints and shook the whole coliseum. Is the dragon really an undead? Seems full of life to me… He then flapped his wings and took off. Dammit… We didn’t even get a chance to attack!

  “Noooo! What now? We can’t reach him anymore!” Sarasa frantically swung her dagger in the direction of the ascending dragon. He took to the skies and slowly circled the coliseum, as if assessing the situation… Or picking a new target…

  “It’s all my fault! My magic’s too pathetic to be useful in the real world! I’m so sorry!”

  “Ughh… Shut up. Don’t start with that again.” Lythea’s apologies and bowing made Carol roll her eyes. “You have another job to do, don’t you? How about you focus on that instead of crying over there?”

  With the dragon circling above the coliseum, we started going up the stairs to jump up to the outer wall. Should get us a better angle…

  “That’s right.” When she passed Lythea, Hecate left her some words of encouragement. “It doesn’t matter how many times you fail, what matters is that you succeed in the end. We’re buying you time, so do your best!”

  “Y- you’re co- counting on me…? Ahhh… It feels so good!” Lythea almost cried as she watched our backs. Next second, she bitterly bit her lip. “But I’m still a worthless worm… I don’t deserve that kind of treatment… Someone like me can’t do anything but disappoint… I’m sure I’ll let you down in the end-”

  *Wooosh…* A hardcover book flew down the stairs.

  “Eghhouch!”

  “What part of shut up did you not get?” The book was an illusion created by Carol. She glared at the girl rubbing her forehead before turning to the dragon again.

  We reached the top then jumped up to get to the roof. This wasn’t a place that people were supposed to get up to, but it was wide enough for a carriage to fit here with some space to spare. The flat surface extended all around the arena, and the whole city was visible from here. It was higher than the wall so we could even see the fields outside the city. We could fight here… I wish we could… The dragon would fit if he landed, but I don’t think we’re gonna be that lucky...

  “I think the dragon’s looking at the city… This is bad…” Bea muttered next to me with a worried look. “Is there anything you can do? I really don’t want the residential areas getting hit…” Me neither…

  “We’ll have to draw his attention to us somehow.” Galene looked around for something that could do the job.

  It’s okay… I think I got it… “Ranged attacks! He won’t be able to ignore us if we pose an actual threat.” I pulled out my pistol. “Hecate, Ririna, can you help?”

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  “But of course… The dragon’s already in my sight. Just say the word.”

  “M- me? He’s a bit too far, but… Let me look in my pockets. I’ll come up with something!”

  Two very different reactions. Hecate already had her sniper out while Ririna searched through her stuff in a panic. “Who else… Abby? She’s more of a supporter…” Excuse me?! Sorceress! Great Sorceress Abby! “Maybe… Carol! Can you throw some of your swords at him?”

  “What about swords screams ranged attack to you?”

  “Ehhh…? You can shoot them out, can’t you? Like you did last time? Pew pew!”

  “I can, but…” The red crown suddenly appeared in her head, and she materialized something next to her with a grin. “Why not use something more appropriate for the job?” A piece of modern artillery appeared next to her. Her hand rested on the metal frame with a big barrel extending from it. Wow…

  “How could this be… I never thought I’d see the day my sniper would lose to another personal weapon.” Hecate lamented, hugging her sniper. I’m no expert, but from games, I’m pretty sure her sniper is on the bigger end. Must be a shock to her… Then again, artillery is not a personal weapon, don’t compare yourself to her. She’s an exception.

  “Fufufu… I’m so sorry, Hecate, but if you do your best, I’m sure you’ll be able to keep up. Somewhat.” Carol provoked her with a smug look.

  “Ladies, don’t start fights over the size of your barrels… Wait… That sounds incredibly wrong…” And by that logic, I have the shortest barrel here… Oh… That’s making my heart break for some reason… “Forget it! Fire! Fire fire fire!”

  Impact Round! Hecate and I fired at pretty much the same time, then next second… *Boom!* Carol fired. Everyone was forced to cover their ears. What a ridiculous thing. The shell hit the dragon with yet another loud explosion. Hecate and I had the next shot ready in a matter of seconds and fired. Maybe Carol was right, and we can keep up with her. There’s no way she can match our pac- *Boom!*

  Another shell?! Already?

  Oh… She’s materializing them directly into the barrel… This dragon’s screwed!

  Or not… The smoke cleared and the dragon was still unharmed. “What the hell? It didn’t do anything?”

  “It’s the scales…” Abby stepped closer. “His scales are creating some kind of magical barrier around him. You’ll need something stronger than that.”

  “Just keep going. As long as he’s not attacking the city.” With her city down there, Bea couldn’t ask for more than that. “I think he’s looking at us more now, so it’s working.”

  “You’re right… Keep firing, Hecate, Carol!” Impact Round!

  Our attacks were actually quite diverse, so we had our bases covered. Carol’s shells used mostly explosives, Hecate shot solid rounds, while I hit him with magical attacks.

  The dragon finally turned in our direction and flew straight at us. He got close, then swiped down at the wall.

  “Abby!” “Got it!” Galene called out, and the two immediately got ready to defend. Abby cast some protective spell on Galene who then deflected the dragon’s claw with her sword. The dragon passed above us, looking for his next angle.

  That barrier is a real problem, though. It’s hard to pose a real threat with it in the way. Need something stronger, huh…?

  Hmmmm… I have something, don’t I? In one of my pockets… The bullet Ririna made for me.

  “Ririna! That bullet you made, think it can make it through the barrier?” I immediately started loading it.

  The sudden question startled her. “I- I never tested it, but… I don’t think there’s anything that could walk away completely unscathed…” Unreliable, experimental weapons… What’s not to love? How much can I push it?

  “Is it safe if I fire it with a skill?” Even if it’s not, I kinda really wanna do it…

  This naughty desire to push the limit and just see what happens was experienced by not just me. With a naughty tone, she gave the weakest warning she possibly could. “It’s probably not completely unsafe… Maybe…”

  Good enough for me…

  I ran along the wall with Agility Burst, following the dragon to get a good shot. There’s only one bullet… Let’s see what it can do…

  The dragon eventually flew a little too close, so… Impact Round!

  A red trail of light cut through the air. Shot so powerful that the pistol released so much heat that it reached the grip in a split second. The bullet hit the dragon with a visceral cracking noise which knocked the dragon off course.

  Now! Heart Piercer!

  With the loss of altitude, I got the opportunity to jump in and hit him with my sword.

  “No… I bounced?”

  Even after all was said and done, the barrier was still there… I jumped back to the top of the wall, and the others soon caught up.

  “It didn’t work… It dealt some damage, but the barrier’s still there. Not as strong as before, though.”

  “We could tell. That was still an incredible hit… A little more, and we could actually break the barrier. Then we may even be able to kill him. My Mailucene could do it.” That was Galene’s finishing move. A skill exclusive to the Hero.

  The dragon hadn’t landed after that hit. Took him a moment to recover, but he went back to circling us. Though, even if he did, there’s no guarantee Galene would be able to land her move.

  “Ririna, can you make another bullet for me?”

  We could kill it with that. Everyone turned to her, and she gasped. “R- right here?! I- I don’t have the right materials or equipment with me!”

  “Ahh… Dammit… It’s not your fault. Worth a shot.”

  “…” Ririna stared at the ground in silence. “If you insist, I can try…”

  “Really?”

  She looked up with a nod. There was a fire in her eyes, the desire to make the person she likes happy. “It won’t be easy… And it’s probably going to take a lot of steps… But with the right substitutions, I may be able to make something close enough. It will take a while, so…”

  “You want us to buy you some time, right? You got it.” I nodded at her, and she smiled back. She then spread her things over a piece of cloth on the floor and got to work. “I almost forgot, but buying time was our original goal, wasn’t it?”

  “Tsk. You’re right… We got carried away. Who was it? Who suggested that we kill the dragon?” A mini witch-hunt started, and Galene averted her eyes before Carol looked at her.

  “We’d be so famous if we killed the dragon…” Abby said with a wishful voice. “We have to now!”

  The dragon made one last lap before hovering in front of us. His jaws and claws were primed for attack. We’re on the defensive now…

  “That’s fine… We can try, but let’s not lose sight of our goal, alright?” I tried to keep them in line. As if I wasn’t part of the problem…