"Woo woo…"
The ram-horned ground dragon wailed under the relentless assault, then suddenly wheeled around, ignoring the grievous wounds riddling its body and the pursuers behind it, scrambling toward the cave!
"No! It's going to escape!"
Jenny cried out in alarm, then snatched up the bow she had been carrying on her back—a thing that looked more like an ornamental artifact than a weapon.
She drew a green-tipped arrow from her quiver and nocked it to the string.
Hum! Hum! Hum!
One after another, bright orbs of light flared to life from the various rings on her fingers.
"Precision Aim!" "Sharpness!" "Gale!"
Buff after buff was channeled onto Jenny in rapid succession.
"Miss… Miss Jenny is a wizard too?!" Willin, not far away, gaped so wide he nearly thought he was dreaming.
"Whoosh!"
Jenny released the bowstring. A streak of green light shot from the bow in the blink of an eye.
Pfft!!! The green bolt struck the ram-horned ground dragon square in the eye, erupting in a geyser of red and green blood.
"ROAR ROAR!!!!!" The ground dragon whipped its head around and charged straight at Jenny.
"That's it! Keep it up!" Excitement blazed across Jenny's face.
"No! Get away from her!" Jemos, standing off to the side, went pale.
"Roar!" The ground dragon bellowed and spat a black orb of light from its maw.
The massive orb detonated in midair, scattering droplets of black rain laced with flickers of flame across the entire area.
"Ah!" "My eyes!"
The black droplets struck the mercenaries and immediately ate through flesh, carving out gaping wounds. Adventurers screamed in unison, and a gap tore open in the encirclement.
Whoosh whoosh! The ram-horned ground dragon seemed to be burning through every last reserve of energy in its body—it swelled slightly in size, its hide flushing a vivid crimson.
Its speed skyrocketed, and it closed the distance to Jenny in an instant.
"Protect the miss!" The sole surviving guard rushed forward, raising his longsword with his one good left arm.
Crack! The ground dragon clamped its fang-filled jaws shut, swallowing the knight whole in a single bite. It chewed relentlessly as shreds of flesh and blood dripped from between its teeth.
"Ah…" Jenny's legs gave out and she crumpled to the ground, paralyzed with terror.
She was merely a First-rank Apprentice. Her earlier arrow attack had only been possible thanks to the many rings on her body amplifying her power, and after that single shot, her pitiful reserves of spiritual power had been nearly exhausted—she couldn't manage another attack.
Right now, Jenny was nothing more than a fragile, helpless noble girl, collapsed on the ground and facing an unknowable verdict of fate.
"Argh!" The ram-horned ground dragon was not one for mercy. It simply spread its massive jaws, sharp fangs still dripping with gore, and lunged to snap them down on Jenny.
"Am I going to die? Father… I'm sorry…" Jenny's mouth hung half open as a single tear slid silently from her right eye.
Clang!!!
The expected agony never came. Jenny blinked open her eyes in bewilderment and saw a resolute figure standing before her.
"Hey, hey! In knight novels, whenever a princess is in trouble, a knight always shows up—right?"
Willin laughed and brought his longsword crashing down with all his might!
The massive steel blade bit into the ground dragon's enormous skull, throwing off a spray of sparks. Willin roared as his Life Force erupted in full, condensing beyond his armor into a faint, illusory layer of luminous plate.
"ROAR!!!"
The ground dragon staggered back several steps and bellowed at Willin.
"Well, well! This really is a real-life hero-slaying-the-dragon scenario!" Willin glanced back at Jenny, then assessed the dwindling reserves of Life Force within himself, and a bitter smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Whoosh whoosh!!!
A dark shadow coiled around the ground dragon, hammering it again and again. Those outside the fray could see nothing but the swirling dust at the center of the battlefield and hear only the ground dragon's ceaseless roars.
Under the crushing pressure of the beast, Willin found that everything Lord Leilin had once forced him to learn came flooding out all at once, his techniques growing sharper and more refined with every passing second.
And then his body went suddenly hollow—as though every last shred of strength had vanished in a single instant.
"Arcane Burst has ended! Life Force is completely depleted!"
Willin's heart plummeted. The next moment, a tendril of shadow like a steel whip punched through the luminous armor and slammed into his chest.
Crack! The fine-steel breastplate caved in immediately. Willin was flung backward, a torrent of blood pouring from the corner of his mouth.
"Oh! No!"
In the fading twilight of his final moments, he seemed to glimpse the ground dragon's enormous shadow looming overhead—and hear some distant, grief-stricken wailing.
"What a… short life it's been! But I have no regrets!"
A smile lingered on Willin's lips, his vision freezing on the image of Jenny collapsed on the ground, weeping.