Chapter 48

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Chapter 48

‘Are you telling me to conquer this dungeon?!’

What kind of human can fight a dragon? Its large body and powerful fire were not something a human could compete with. Of course, one could wonder if it would be possible if there was a large force behind them, but right now, there were only two of them. Just Andra and Dustin, who had to face the dragon now.

Dustin looked around. At that moment, the weapon the stone statue was holding caught his eye. It was a well-forged blade. It would be worth using, and it was better than the worn-out ancient sword in his memory. Dustin ran to the statue that was holding a weapon. Contrary to the expectation that it might have some resistance, the stone statue stood still. Dustin took the weapon from it.

A longsword was now in his hand. Dustin grabbed the handle of the sword and released it as he adjusted the sword to his hand. It wasn’t as good as his own sword, but now wasn’t the time to be picky. He grabbed the hilt and hurriedly leaped forward in front of the dragon. The dragon’s claws were heading towards Andra at that moment.

“Move away, Andra Avellin!”

Shing! Claaash—

The sword and the dragon’s claws collided. The grip of the claws was so strong that Dustin had to clench his teeth. It felt like his shoulder was going to fall off. He applied force and warded off the claws with his sword. The dragon stepped back for a moment. Wiping his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand, Dustin straightened his posture.

“Dustin Airak!”

Suddenly Andra stood next to Dustin, who had also brought her weapon. Dustin quickly shot at Andra.

“Andra, you’re in my way.”

Andra, who was pulling the bowstring, swallowed a smirk at Dustin’s remark.

“Nonsense. Are you going to deal with the dragon alone?”

“I can’t afford to deal with the dragon while protecting you.”

“Who told you to protect me? I’ll do my part at least—”

“If you’re by my side, you’re just in the way.”

Before Andra could finish speaking, Dustin cut her off. Because of that, Andra gripped the bow tighter. It was a total distraction. Of course, Andra was more of not at all a warrior compared to Dustin. However, if it was a ranged attack, she could at least hold her ground.

‘Do you think I’ll leave it all to you without doing anything?’

Andra pulled the bowstring and fired an arrow right next to Dustin. An arrow slashed past Dustin’s cheek. Dustin turned to Andra, seeing the blood gushing from the faint, hairline wound. He was watching Andra staring at him with a face sunken as heavily as last time.

“I told you, I’ll also do my part. I don’t need your protection.”

‘I learned it because of you from the beginning.’

By their fifth meeting, Andra realized that Dustin was superior compared to her in terms of strength, so she wanted to learn something so that she herself could excel in. Of course, the noble ladies around her teased her, asking what kind of combat arts it was. But there was no one to stop Andra as she was struggling being tormented by Dustin.

“Father, I want to defeat Lord Airak. That’s why I want to learn combat arts.”

“De, defeat him…?”

“I’ll make sure he never underestimates me again.”

Even Marquis Avellin could not overcome his daughter’s persistence and had to find a teacher to teach her combat.

Unfortunately, however, Andra was no better than anyone in fighting or in swordsmanship. Her teacher even said that he had never seen such an incompetent person.

“Then, Miss, how about a bow that is good at long distances? The bow is so accessible that other young ladies can learn it too. Hunting is a hobby that everyone enjoys.”

Reality was different from the ideal after all. Therefore, the bow was chosen by Andra as her next best option. Of course, it wasn’t easy at first. Andra often broke the bow string and wrestled with the bow.

But her time and hard work did not betray her. Before she entered the academy, Andra already had the ability to hit a target precisely even while riding a horse.

Although she didn’t get the chance to touch the bow when she entered the academy, she put it in the corner of her room and didn’t take it out.

‘That temperament…’

Dustin wiped the blood and turned his head away from Andra.

“Do whatever you want. There’s not much you can do anyway.”

“What?”

“I know the dragon’s weakness. I saw it in that memory.”

Dustin said as he tapped his head with his index finger. Andra frowned at those words. Why was he telling her that important fact now? Things could have been easier if he had said it in the first place! Puzzled, she glared at the back of his head.

“Say so in advance! It would have been nice to have told me earlier. So where is it?”

Dustin was silent. Instead, he raised his sword again and held it. You mean you won’t tell me? In this situation now?

“Dustin Airak!”

“Anyway, I will deal with the dragon. It’s dangerous so just get back. If anything, aim at the dragon’s eyes.”

With those words, Dustin leaped towards the dragon. In fact, he was skeptical at first too. It was because he wasn’t sure if that dragon was the one he had seen. What if it was another dragon with the same appearance? Above all, the dragon’s intelligence was significantly higher than back then. However, looking at the dragon’s attack pattern, it really was the dragon in his memory.

‘Left tail.’

Dustin aimed at the dragon’s tail and swung his sword. However, the dragon flapped its wings as if it could not allow Dustin. The moment Dustin was pushed back by the recoil, the dragon slammed its tail at him. Swish, clang! Soon, the floor of the stadium was smashed.

“Dustin Airak!”

Seeing this, Andra was frightened, so she called out to Dustin. That ignorant bastard! What was he going to do just jumping in? Andra’s stomach churned. Did he think that a normal human’s strength would work against a legendary beast? Sure, he knew its weakness, but there was no way the dragon could simply leave itself open.

After a while, Dustin Airak appeared in the thick dust. Fortunately, he dodged the attack and he looked fine. Andra sighed in relief without realizing it. What if Dustin died early and she had to deal with the dragon alone, she was worried.

‘It’s impossible for me to take on the dragon by myself. Most of all, I need someone to take the attack on my behalf.’

Normally, when dealing with monsters, she heard that there are people who are attacked by monsters, and there are other people who attack the monsters. However, Dustin Airak knew the system well, but could not trust Andra and was attacking alone. Because of that, Andra was so frustrated that she thought he was going to die.

‘To cooperate and attack, we need to stick our nose in each other’s business!’

Andra pulled the bowstring and aimed at the dragon. Her targets, as Dustin said, were the dragon’s yellow pupils. She was going to obstruct the dragon’s vision by aiming at its eyes.

She immediately released the bowstring she had pulled. As soon as she saw her arrow flew, she hit the dragon under the eye. However, the original dragon’s skin was similar to that of hard armor, so the arrow could not penetrate and fell under it. The vertical line between the dragon’s yellow pupils stared at Andra.

[ Who dares! ]

The dragon quickly approached Andra. The scorching heat rushed in. The dragon immediately spewed fire. Graaaaahh! Andra hurriedly ran to the side. As she managed to avoid the fire, the dragon rolled its eyes and roared.

[ This arrogant thing! ]

This time, the dragon’s claws rushed into Andra. Crack! The place where the claws had been pierced was hollow and the sound of shattering could be heard. Andra had goosebumps on her limbs when the place where she had been standing until recently had been completely messed up. As expected, this wasn’t going to be easy.

Andra hastily stopped her steps and lowered her body. The stinging tail flew over her.

“I told you to fall back! I’ll deal with it!”

At that moment, Dustin slammed in front of her and shouted, blocking the dragon’s claw from slashing Andra. Andra also shouted against him. Who are you talking to now?

“If you only let me know about the weakness, this wouldn’t have happened! Say it quickly, the dragon’s weakness!”

[ Do you think that a mere human can receive my power? ]

The dragon became very angry and put more force into its claws. Because of that, Dustin began to be pushed back. Kugh! Dustin’s weapon began to crack more and more. He immediately dropped the sword and grabbed Andra and rolled under.

‘If there was magic…!’

Andra, who was terrified by the claws that were scratching in front of her, shouted inside. At that moment, a raging vortex rushed towards the claws that flew towards her Andra. The dragon hurriedly removed its claws. Andra looked surprised even after she had cast the spell.

“Dustin Airak! The power of the Awakened seems to work here! Through magic!”

Wrapping her hot wrists, Andra hurriedly shouted to Dustin.

“What?”

Dustin looked down at his wrist. His wrist was the same. He couldn’t find the power of the Awakened. While he was bewildered, Andra yelled at Dustin again.

“I’ll push the dragon back into the hole for now! In the meantime, you aim for the dragon’s weakness!”

Andra gathered her powers and laboriously pushed the dragon into the hole with her magic. But the dragon was holding on, nailing its claws to the floor, as if it would never go back into the hole again. Then it started flapping its wings. Andra suddenly began to be pushed back by the recoil.

“Dustin Airak, hurry!”

At Andra’s urging, Dustin ran and swung his sword before it was too late. With sharp anticipation, the dragon quickly removed its claws and flapped its wings upward.

The dragon floating in the air looked at the two humans with yellow pupils. It was because it suddenly felt a subtle but familiar power in one of them.

[ That power is…. ]

The Dragon looked at Dustin and Andra while talking to itself. Then its gaze was fixed on Andra. A familiar power was flowing from that human woman—that power that had been facing him until just a few seconds ago. The dragon knew the power well. No, it couldn’t not know.

“Why isn’t it attacking?”

Andra, who was ready to attack, furrowed her brows as the dragon continued to flap its wings while hovering midair. Then Dustin, who was next to her,held up his sword and spoke.

“He must be looking at us. Because you are suddenly using magic.”

Then the dragon suddenly rushed towards Andra. It was incredibly fast. In an instant, the dragon rushed over to Andra. Seeing this, Dustin swung his sword.

“Andra Avellin!”

Rather than that, the dragon’s tail spun first. Before he could wield his sword properly, Dustin was hit with the tail and was flung away.

“Dustin Airak!”

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