Chapter 50 - Energy Ball

The humans who dared to mock this mighty dragon have nothing waiting for them but destruction. And the Infernal Tarrasque had proved so to the brawlers and hunters that had repeatedly rained attack on its limbs like a bunch of annoying flies.

But even still, the dragon of abomination wasn't satisfied with the countless bodies that lay scattered over the Ember-Crowned Mountain. It wasn't enough. Where were the few humans who stood proud in front of it, the great dragon?

They were nowhere to be found. After successfully blocking its punch, they were on the run. Stupid humans. They should know, every second they were away, more of their kind will lose their lives against this dragon without mercy.

Come out, little humans. This dragon is waiting…

Grin.

Kwaaaang!!!

All of a sudden, a woman with long scarlet hair flashed into view, moving way too fast for the dragon to see how she brutally shredded through the dragon's already-injured, frontmost right limb.

KRAAAARGH!!!

The Infernal Tarrasque threw its head back and let out a bloodcurdling scream that shook the mountains. This woman…intentionally ripped through the same arm that the blonde hunter sliced off earlier. The flesh-exposed stud had only just stopped bleeding, but now it was back and worse. With another painful roar, the dragon snapped its laser focus to the scarlet-haired woman with a spiteful grudge.

The dragon thought the blonde-haired man who managed to cut off its hand was the only one who posed a great threat to its life. But now, all the dragon's senses were roaring, warning it that the real danger was not that man, but this woman. This tiny woman, who wore a mocking grin on her face, was more capable of hurting its body than that man.

'Good, its attention is solely focused on me.' Blaze grinned unintentionally, knowing how painful it must have been for the dragon.

From the short distance away, Warchief Hastamvidé was calling for the retreat of the remaining dragon-slayers as Blaze requested. "Are you really allowing this, Krul?" he asked. "That crazy woman is the only rightly heir left of the Estereon Family. If something were to happen to her, the Estereon- no, the entirety of what is left of the Ember Tribe may fall with her."

With a slight dip of his head, Krul Yanringgo answered, "I have no right to question the young miss's decision. I am but her guardian. I can only trust." He knew the Storm Tribe's Warchief meant well asking this question. It was sensical that even he, the loyal protector of the Estereon Family found the young miss's orders absurd. But as Blaze's guardian, he must not say so, if not stand on her side.

And so, Guardian Krul didn't show any sign of emotion towards Warchief Hastamvidé's question. Just as planned, they would let Blaze handle the dragon alone, and in the meantime, tell everyone to help the Emperor in his fight instead.

Colleen, whose position was a bit far from the dragon and her fellow rangers, was left in surprise and confusion when she saw the remaining brawlers, hunters, and even tankers, retreating from the battlefield even though the dragon was still standing glorious and undefeated. What the hell were they thinking?

All of sudden, there was a loud boom, and from the dragon's direction flew rocks of all sizes. Everyone scattered and took shelter under the tangled branches of the trees, dragging alone the injured individuals before they continued towards the direction of the Emperor and Alistein's fight.

Colleen froze, her eyes widening with shock. But the looks of it, the dragon was fighting someone. Alone. And all knew who was crazy enough to do such a thing.

'What the f*ck, Blaze?!'

Blaze darted around, unscathed from the dragon's endless attempts to obliterate her with its punches, evading all with minimal effort. At the same time, she was delighted, thrilled with the new capabilities she was able to achieve with the help of the elixir Warchief Clamory provided her.

With the rejuvenating elixir put together with Blaze's Hyper Surge technique, she was confident that her strength far exceeded those even of the Warchiefs'. Heck, she could even be better than her father as of now. However, she also knew full well that her current strength was still nothing compared to Jarak's and Alistein's.

She experienced the nonsensical strength they displayed firsthand. And for her to be able to rescue their Emperor, she needed the power of this massive, flaming dragon from hell standing before her.

Irritated with Blaze's smugness, the Infernal Tarrasque shifted its strategy. The dark clouds in the sky above circled, concentrating in the air above the dragon, giving way for light to shine down on the mountain everywhere else. The dragon directed its open mouth up towards the rumbling dark clouds, amassing an immeasurable amount of energy between its jaws as bolts of lightning shot down from above.

The hell-like sight was enough to shake the unshakable.

"Ohh, merciful deity, have mercy on us!" Warchief Dyingstar said breathlessly. He gawked up at the sky, wide eyes of terror fixated on the giant ball of sizzling energy building up above the Infernal Tarrasque's open mouth, now larger than the dragon's entire head itself.

Krul immediately turned back around. "The young miss is still there! I must bring her back-"

"No!" Bolt protested, his face grim. "You will only die if you go back! There is nothing we can do to stop that attack. It is best to run!" He reached out to stop Krul but was a second too late, and the old man was already far away, too far for him to chase and force back. He let out a groan, running his hand through his blonde hair in frustration. "Argh! F*ck my life! I'm going with him!"

"Hey, wait-"

But Bolt had already gone before Terry could even finish his sentence.

~

"Young miss! Young miss! We need to go. Now!" Blaze picked up two small anti-dragon shields she found lying around, one on each arm, when Krul came running.

Without looking, Blaze firmly answered, "No. I told you all to leave. I got this."

Without another choice, Krul dropped to his knees. Blaze's mind was as strong as her, there was no changing her mind when she was set and determined. There was nothing he could do but beg. "Young miss, I beg of you! We need you! I am not worthy to lead the Ember Tribe. You are the last Estereon, you must take responsibility!"

"I'm not going to die here…but perhaps I will. But surviving without the power of this dragon is pretty much pointless if I am to face Alistein. I am willing to put my life on the line for this." Blaze turned around to face the kneeling captain, this time with a gentle look in her red eyes. She didn't say it out loud, but she was beyond grateful that the Protector of the Estereon Family came back for her. Blaze knew Krul was against her decision, but she also knew Krul would respect her decision even if he felt it would do her no good.

"I told you, this is suicide!" Bolt's voice thundered behind them as he arrived. Along with him, of course, was Terry.

"Blaze…are ya truly going to face that" – he gestured up horrific sight, baffled – "…alone?"

Blaze wrinkled her nose. "Worry for yourself, old man. Don't you dare hurt yourself while running."

With a huff, Terry tossed over his giant anti-dragon shield towards Blaze. "Alright. Then use this. When ya come back, let's talk about this dragon power ya were talking about."

Blaze swiped the anti-dragon shield flying towards her from the air and quickly strapped it tight to her forearm. "Sure. Just leave the rest to me. I'll come back. Definitely."

She cast Krul one final look of reassurance before she turned and waved them goodbye.