Chapter 41: It's a tough job (1)

Regardless of Jacob’s admiration, Louis anxiously watched the approaching drake with confusion written all over his face.

Why is there a drake here?!

Unlike what humans generally believed, it was difficult to classify this creature as merely a monster.

Drake was born from the union between the blood of the vilest dragon—the Dragonoid, also known as the demonic or evil dragon—and a chimera, created by the Rotberryer.

Louis bit his lip hard as he eyed the beast.

Please just keep moving!

Although only partially true, due to its draconic lineage, Dragon’s Fear had no effect on the drake. Moreover, capturing such a creature would require at least three high-rank tier-1 hunters. In other words, if they engaged with it now, Louis and his team faced certain annihilation.

Thud—

The vibrations caused by its approach made even the Chaotic Twins hold their breaths and the newts curl up tightly to hide themselves.

Thud!

Louis’s group was now about ten meters from the drake.

Sniff, sniff.

As if searching for something, the drake sniffed around while scanning the area with its yellow reptilian eyes.

Could it be looking for…?

There could only be one reason why this drake had ventured down from the mountain. Louis instinctively looked at the baby newt.

Is it after this little guy?

Otherwise, there would’ve been no reason for the drake to come all this way.

Sniff, sniff.

After thoroughly inspecting the area without finding what it sought, the puzzled drake licked its reddish-black tongue and turned away, apparently heading back up the mountain.

Whew…

Seeing that they’d narrowly avoided disaster, Louis let out a sigh of relief internally. However, his reprieve didn’t last long.

Grrrumble…

Dark clouds gathered overhead as thunder roared loudly, causing Louis to instinctively look up. His face hardened at what he saw.

Is that…? No way!

Having experienced this phenomenon countless times before, Louis immediately knew what was happening.

I have to stop it!

Before he could react, lightning struck twice out of clear skies.

Krakoooom!

One bolt hit the drake.

Krakoooom!

The other struck near Louis and his group.

Zzzzt, zzzzt.

The lightning bolt hitting their protective barrier flowed directly into Louis’s newt Attribute Stone bracelet. Thankfully, no one got hurt from the strike, but that wasn’t the issue here.

“Oh…” The lightning caused both the drake to halt its retreat and Louis’s invisibility cloak to dissipate. And then…

Grrrrr…

The drake turned its head, and Louis locked eyes with its reptilian yellow gaze.

Louis lamented, “We’re done for…”

As he watched the drake slowly rotate toward them, Louis urgently yelled out, “Run!”

No one needed to be told twice; they all understood the gravity of the situation. They sprinted away as if their lives depended on it—which indeed they did.

STOMP-STOMP!

The ground shook from the thunderous footsteps behind them, sending chills up their spines.

“Ahhhhh!”

“H-help me!”

“Wahh! L-Louis! What is that thing?!”

“Shut up and run!”

Roooar!

Two humans, three baby dragons, and one large tiger—all running for dear life.

Damn it! Will we even make it?

Louis glanced back briefly.

As they watched the drake steadily gaining on them, it seemed only a matter of time before it caught up. Louis bit his lip and mentally assessed their comparative strengths.

There was himself, a tier-1 hunter; the twins, two tier-2 hunters; Pablo, a tier-3 hunter; and Jacob, who served as support. No matter how he looked at it, their current party had no chance against this tier-1 drake capable of taking down three such powerful hunters.

Their best option was to run away, but even that wasn’t easy.

“I-it’s catching up!”

“Run faster!”

“B-but—”

“There’s no time to argue! Run if you don’t want to die!” Jacob yelled from the very back, pale-faced, while Pablo urged him along.

Panting heavily, Jacob marveled at Louis and the twins running ahead of him.

What kind of kids are these?

Despite having shorter legs, they were sprinting faster than Jacob, despite all his experience as a mercenary.

These kids really aren’t ordinary!

Grrrumble…

Jacob snapped back to reality at the sound of something approaching nearby.

“Oh no!”

The drake was even closer than before. Despite using mana to run faster, they couldn’t shake it off easily. Jacob whistled sharply, knowing things had to change immediately.

Whiiiiiip.

A shadow descended from above at the shrill whistle.

Kreeeee!

The six-winged blood demon swooped down toward the drake’s face upon its master’s call, forcing the drake to halt momentarily. This bought some time for Jacob and his group to put more distance between them and their pursuer.

Louis’s eyes gleamed as he watched this unfold.

Perfect! That should buy us enough time!

Hope rekindled within him, Louis shouted loudly.

“Run zigzag toward the mountains!” Louis called out to his companions.

Due to its joint structure, the drake was slow when moving laterally, and the heavily wooded terrain would hinder it even further. Following Louis’s command, everyone started sprinting toward the mountains.

“Skreeee!”

“Roooooo!”

The cries of the six-winged blood demon and the drake echoed behind them without pause.

“Grrr…”

Although the blood demon had sharp talons and beak, they were unable to pierce through the drake’s thick hide. The agitated drake opened its mouth wide at the pesky creature hovering before its face.

“Kraaaaaaahhh!”

Its deafening roar reverberated through the air, sending shock waves that struck the six-winged blood demon hard.

The six-winged blood demon staggered mid-flight and crashed to the ground.

“Oh no!” Jacob stopped dead in his tracks as he watched the creature he had raised from infancy, which was dear to him like a child, about to be crushed underfoot by the drake.

“No!” Pale-faced, Jacob dashed toward the drake again, causing Louis’s expression to darken.

“That idiot!”

Jacob charging at the drake unarmed despite even the six-winged blood demon being unable to handle it reminded Louis of someone committing suicide.

Dammit!

If they kept running away up the mountain, their chances of survival would increase significantly. Yet for some reason, Louis found himself following after Jacob.

“Dammit, dammit!”

Jacob had thought he’d fully adjusted to his new identity as a reborn dragon, but that wasn’t the case. His humanity from his previous life still lingered within him.

If I survive this time, I’ll make you pay dearly!

As Louis chased after Jacob, Pablo and the twins reluctantly followed suit. Interestingly enough, even the baby newts trailed behind them.

Whistle!

While running away, Jacob whistled, rousing the slumbering six-winged blood demon. However, before it could react, the drake grabbed its wingtip with its mouth.

“Skreeeee!” The agonized cry echoed loudly.

“You damn lizard!” Jacob waved his hand at the struggling six-winged blood demon in agony.

A ball of mana struck the drake’s body.

Whud!

The impact sounded forceful enough, but that was all it amounted to. The mana had no effect on the drake, other than enraging it further.

“Graaahhh!”

The drake shook its head violently, eliciting screams from the six-winged blood demon and causing feathers and blood to fly everywhere.

“Aghh!”

Jacob, enraged by the sight of the blood demon’s pain, made to charge at the drake with clenched fists raised high when…

“You fool!” A hand grabbed him by the back of his neck, yanking him backward just in time.

As Jacob stumbled backward, a small shadow swiftly passed over him. Louis activated his Dragon Heart as he moved past Jacob.

Vwoooom…

The resonant Attribute Power surged throughout Louis’s body, preparing him for the creation of matter. He then murmured:

“Space crystal.”

Krrrk.

Empty space abruptly hardened and took on a tangible, transparent form: a crystalline structure shaped like a conical screw. But that was just the beginning.

“Rotate.”

The Attribute Power began spinning the conical screw. Initially slow, it rapidly accelerated within seconds to a terrifying speed capable of sucking in the surrounding air. At this point, Louis gestured downward with his hand.

“Fire!”

The rapidly spinning screw flew towards Drake, aiming directly at its neck. With pinpoint accuracy, Louis’s holy magic struck the intended target.

Whrrrrr…

The spinning screw pierced through the drake’s tough hide with a chilling sound.

“Aaaaaargh!” The drake let out a painful roar as its wings released the six-winged blood demon.

Despite successfully freeing the demon, Louis did not look pleased. He muttered under his breath, visibly shaken.

“What kind of Magic Resistance is this…?”

At first glance, it appeared that his holy magic had connected properly, but it hadn’t inflicted any serious damage. His spell could pierce a ten-centimeter-thick steel plate yet barely scratched the drake’s skin.

Louis gritted his teeth.

I need to aim for its weakest spot!

No matter how thick its hide, there had to be vulnerable areas, and one typical weakness was the eyes.

“Spatial Fragmentation!”

Kring!

Louis manifested his holy magic near the drake’s face, but the beast easily avoided it by turning its head and catching Louis’s spatial crystal with its mouth.

Crunch!

The sound of stone shattering elicited a gasp from Louis.

“What…?!”

His holy magic was pulverized between the creature’s teeth.

“It bit through my holy magic?! Is that even possible?!”

True to form, the drake had literally chewed up and spit out his spell. Its Magic Resistance was insane enough to make Louis curse under his breath.

Grrrrowl.

As soon as the drake turned away, Louis cast another spell.

“Slow down!”

Time gradually slowed around the drake, and Louis followed up with a psychic attack aimed at its brain.

“Fall!” He intended for this mental assault to hinder the monster’s movements, but instead, it enraged the beast further.

The psychic attack had no effect on it. There were two main reasons why psychic attacks could fail: either the target possessed strong enough mental fortitude to resist holy magic or its thought processes were extremely simple. The drake likely fell under the latter category.

“How stupid can you be?!”

These creatures only understood hunger, reproduction, and aggression. Drakes were monsters made for war.

“Argh!” As Louis gritted his teeth, three shadows streaked past him.

“Hahhh!”

“Hyah!”

It was Pablo and the twins. Pablo hoisted the fallen six-winged blood demon over his shoulder and retreated from the fray. Meanwhile, lightning crackled around the twins as they drew their swords and charged at the drake with agile movements akin to those of a tiger.

The twins dodged the drake’s violent strikes and aimed for its leg joints with their swords.

Klang, klang!

Their blades struck against thick hide.

“Argh, it’s so hard!”

“My hand hurts…”

Seeing their attacks bounce off, the twins looked like they were about to cry. Their hands stung, but not even a scratch marred the beast. This was likely their first time experiencing such ineffective blows.

However, their attack wasn’t entirely futile.

Zzzzt…

Lightning from the twins’ swords traveled up the drake’s legs and spread throughout its body. The creature twisted violently as if having a seizure and let out a horrifying shriek.

“Graaaaah!”

“What?” Louis’s eyes widened at the intensity of the drake’s scream, unlike any he’d heard before.