“My lord, would aiming for the eyes be too difficult?”
Leonard furrowed his brow at Yellian’s question. In truth, targeting the eyes was one of the easiest strategies. The problem was that the dragon moved so swiftly and attacked relentlessly, leaving no opportunity to aim an arrow at its eyes.
Elton was also struggling, but all he could do was restrict the dragon’s movements. They needed to distract the dragon while simultaneously blocking its attacks to create an opening to target the eyes.
“……I’ll do it.”
“What?”
Yellian quietly observed Leonard, who gave no response, and assessed the situation. Then, they realized that Leonard wasn’t unaware of the fact that targeting the dragon’s eyes was the solution.
He knew everything. But there was no time to attack the eyes, so even if he wanted to, he couldn’t.
If that was the case, all they needed to do was buy Leonard some time. It was a simple problem. Except for the fact that it meant risking their own life.
“Are you insane?”
“There’s no other way!”
“No way!”
Though Leonard reacted with uncharacteristic agitation, Yellian had already made up their mind.
If they died like this, it would be a decent way to go. How often does someone get to die facing off against a dragon? Thinking this, Yellian picked up a stone rolling on the ground.
“Yellian, what on earth are you trying to…….”
He spoke with concern, but soon had to dodge the dragon’s incoming tail, unable to finish his sentence.
Seeing this, Yellian steeled their resolve. Certainly, Leonard and Elton were fighting well. Though Yellian hadn’t seen the previous subjugation team and couldn’t compare, it was hard to believe just two people could achieve this much.
But that was all. To defeat the dragon, they lacked a decisive blow. Yellian decided to become the bait so Leonard could deliver that blow.
Yellian threw the stone they were holding at the dragon. Despite throwing it with bravado, the dragon didn’t seem to feel anything, not even turning its head.
“Just how tough is its hide?”
“Yellian, stop it!”
Seeing Yellian pick up an even larger stone, Leonard shouted urgently.
However, Yellian had no intention of stopping now. They picked up a stone twice as big as the last one and threw it at the dragon with all their might.
“Uwaaaaah!”
They also didn’t forget to shout as loudly as they could.
[Krrrng.]
It definitely had an effect. Whether it was because of the stone or the shout, Yellian wasn’t sure, but the dragon turned its head in their direction. It soon swung its tail to attack, but Elton rushed forward and blocked the dragon’s strike.
The dragon’s gaze remained fixed on Yellian, unwavering. Of course, it would. Yellian hadn’t dodged.
Elton was desperately blocking the attacks aimed at Yellian. Yellian deliberately didn’t dodge to buy time for Leonard to draw his bowstring, but in truth, they were so terrified they felt like they might lose their mind.
It was at that moment. An arrow sliced through the air and lodged into the dragon’s eye.
[Kraaaak!]
Targeting the eye definitely worked. As the arrow embedded deeply into the pupil, the dragon let out a pained scream and writhed violently.
As its massive body thrashed, the cave shook as if it might collapse. The dragon’s long tail also whipped around aimlessly, lashing the cave like a whip. It was at that moment that the thick tail headed straight for Yellian.
“Uwaaah…….”
Contrary to their expectation that the sharp spike on the tail would tear their body to shreds, Yellian felt no pain at all.
Feeling something was off, Yellian opened their tightly shut eyes. There stood Leonard.
“My lord……?”
Realizing that he had shielded them, Yellian’s eyes widened. Just as when he helped the woman escape earlier, Leonard was protecting them now too.
Then why?
Yellian couldn’t understand why Leonard, known for his cold demeanor, had saved them not once, but twice. Overwhelmed with confusion, Yellian could only blink in shock. Then, seeing the blood dripping at Leonard’s feet, their mind went blank.
“Le, Leonard!”
They were so shocked that they didn’t even realize they had called him by name instead of ‘my lord.’ Looking closely, they saw his shoulder gradually staining red with blood.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Leonard, you’re the one who’s hurt!”
Yellian grew angry at Leonard for worrying about them while bleeding so much. Why didn’t he take care of himself? Who was he worrying about in this situation? Knowing that he had protected them made Yellian’s emotions even more raw.
“So, you’re not hurt, right?”
“I’m not……. Why did you do that?”
Leonard didn’t answer. Instead, he turned away from Yellian. Only then did they see that his back was stained with blood. Leaving the stunned Yellian behind, Leonard drew his long sword.
“Elton, since we hit the left eye, it won’t be able to see well on the left. You restrict its movements from the right side. Make it lower its body as much as possible.”
“Understood!”
Elton followed Leonard’s orders and moved to the dragon’s right side to draw its attention.
Meanwhile, Leonard approached from the dragon’s left. Perhaps because it had lost vision in its left eye due to the arrow, the dragon didn’t notice Leonard getting close.
Not missing the brief moment when the dragon’s movements slowed, Leonard leapt toward it. Though it was a massive creature, Elton’s skillful attacks and retreats had forced it to lower its stance significantly. Thanks to that, Leonard could reach near the dragon’s neck.
Without hesitation, he stabbed his sword into the dragon’s neck. The strike was so powerful that green blood spurted from between the seemingly impenetrable hide.
Though the dragon thrashed in agony, Leonard held onto the sword and didn’t let go. The more the dragon struggled, the deeper the sword embedded itself.
‘Thud!’
Finally, the dragon’s massive body collapsed. Seeing the dragon no longer moving, Yellian swallowed hard.
They couldn’t believe they had defeated the dragon. Of course, they hadn’t done anything themselves.
“Leonard, ah, my lord! Are you okay?”
Yellian inadvertently called Leonard by name before quickly correcting themselves.
Hurrying to Leonard’s side, they looked at his blood-soaked back with a worried expression. His clothes were completely drenched in blood.
“I’m fine, just call me by my name.”
“……What?”
“It sounds much better that way.”
At Leonard’s words, Yellian could only blink their wide eyes. They had expected to be scolded for presumptuously using his name, but instead, he said he liked it. Had he lost his mind from losing so much blood?
“Why no response?”
“Ah, yes! I’ll do that, my lor…… I mean, Leonard.”
Worried he might change his mind, Yellian replied cautiously while gauging his reaction, but Leonard showed no intention of retracting his words.
Though Yellian was curious about what change of heart led Leonard to allow them to use his name, they couldn’t bring themselves to ask outright and only swallowed dryly.
“Elton, take care of it.”
“Yes, understood!”
At that point, Yellian didn’t yet understand what ‘take care of it’ meant. Not until they saw Elton draw his sword and begin sawing at the dragon’s neck.
“We need to show proof of a successful hunt.”
At Leonard’s words, Yellian quickly nodded in agreement. Who would believe they had slain a dragon just by word of mouth? Especially that just two people had done it.
“Ah…….”
Only when Elton had nearly finished cutting off the dragon’s neck did Yellian collapse in relief. The reality of having defeated the dragon finally sank in. They had thought they would die, but it seemed their life was unexpectedly long.
Sitting weakly and staring blankly into the distance, something shiny caught Yellian’s eye. Tilting their head, they followed the light.
There was a golden, round egg-like object. It shone so beautifully, like pure gold, that Yellian couldn’t help but squat down and stare at it, entranced.
It was then. A cracking sound rang out as the egg began to split.
“Wha, what is……?”
While muttering to themselves in surprise, the crack grew larger, and soon the egg completely split open.
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