The Deathfrost Dragon, which had soared above the mountain range, landed before Richard and Rodos at tremendous speed.
Richard shouted in horror.
“What is that thing?! That is practically a real Dragon!”
He had been told it was merely a monster resembling a Dragon, yet it looked exactly like the Dragons he had seen in books.
Even so, a Longsword was already gripped in his hands.
‘At least he has the fundamentals.’
Despite the shock on Richard’s face, his body had reacted quickly.
Rodos drew a tomahawk into each hand and stared at the Deathfrost Dragon.
“SKREEEEEE!”
The Deathfrost Dragon let out a bloodcurdling shriek as it glared at Rodos with unfocused white eyes.
“Do not be alarmed. It only looks impressive.”
Rodos maintained his distance from the Deathfrost Dragon with a calm expression.
It looked exactly like the Deathfrost Dragons he had seen in the past.
A Deathfrost Dragon.
A mutation produced when an Ice Drake was exposed to Cold Energy.
It resembled a Dragon, but perhaps it would be more accurate to describe it as a giant lizard covered in razor-sharp ice instead of scales.
“SKREE!”
Cold air poured from the Deathfrost Dragon’s gaping jaws, and teeth sharper than blades gleamed within.
From head to toe, it was essentially a massive block of ice.
“It is smaller than I expected.”
“You call that small? It looks about the size of a castle!”
Richard shook his head.
Small?
No matter where he looked, all he could see was the Deathfrost Dragon.
Even at a rough estimate, it seemed as enormous as the Lord’s Castle they had visited earlier.
“Observe the enemy in front of you carefully.”
“What are you talking about?!”
Richard’s hands trembled around the hilt of his Longsword.
He was so tense that he could barely lift his head.
Beneath his feet lay the frozen corpses of previous subjugation forces, shattered into pieces.
“Damn it!”
His own fate was practically being shown to him before his eyes, yet the Young Master beside him kept telling him to concentrate.
Young Master... no, that bastard Young Master.
“GRRRRR….”
The Deathfrost Dragon did not immediately charge.
It remained at a distance, glaring at the intruders.
However, the way its upper body crouched low made it clear that it could spring forward at any moment.
“I apologize for bringing you here so suddenly.”
“I am sure you are terribly sorry. Is there any point in exchanging last words when we are both about to die?”
Richard was dumbfounded.
He could not understand why Rodos was apologizing now.
Had the Young Master finally regained his senses now that death was staring them in the face?
At that moment, Richard felt a heavy hand settle on his shoulder.
“We will not die.”
Rodos spoke calmly.
He had no intention of dying here.
Naturally, he had no intention of leading the Apprentice Knight he had brought with him to his death either.
“Your shoulder is very stiff.”
With those words, Rodos squeezed Richard’s shoulder firmly.
“What are you talk—AAAAAGH!”
Richard cried out in agony, but Rodos calmly continued massaging his shoulder.
“SKREEEEEE!”
At that moment, the Deathfrost Dragon finally lost patience and spread its wings with a furious shriek.
Large and small ice spikes shot from its frozen wings toward Richard.
WHOOSH!
As the ice spikes tore through the air toward him, Richard froze in place and accepted his fate.
This was the end.
At that moment, Rodos stepped forward and swung his tomahawks.
BOOM!
The ice spikes shattered beneath Rodos’s axes before a single one could reach Richard.
“I keep my promises.”
“What in the world….”
Richard could not close his mouth.
He had not expected Rodos to mean what he said.
‘Cold.’
Rodos casually brushed the ice powder from his shoulder and checked Richard’s condition.
“Thank you.”
The way Richard looked at Rodos had changed from moments before.
“What should I do?”
Richard tightened his grip on his sword.
The distrust that had filled his expression was gone.
There was now trust in his serious gaze.
“Fight that thing.”
Richard nodded.
He understood now.
Rodos had not brought him here merely to throw him into certain death.
“I told you earlier. You possess talent that has yet to manifest. Today, we are going to awaken it.”
“How exactly are we supposed to awaken it? Do I have to smash that block of ice apart? I have never seen this monster before. I can barely keep hold of my sword, so carefully observing it is impossible.”
Richard asked honestly.
He was willing to fight, but he needed to know something about his opponent first.
“You are right. But nothing will change merely because I tell you.”
“?”
Richard nearly struck Rodos over the head without thinking.
“SKREEEEEE!”
At that moment, the Deathfrost Dragon began slowly approaching.
“It is faster to experience it with your own body.”
Words were meaningless.
Experiencing something firsthand was faster than hearing a hundred explanations.
“What kind of logic is that?!”
“Look ahead.”
Only then did Richard realize that the Deathfrost Dragon had come extremely close.
“When did it get this close?!”
Naturally, the Deathfrost Dragon had no intention of politely waiting for them to finish their conversation.
“SKREE!”
The Deathfrost Dragon slammed down one enormous foreleg.
As though he had expected it, Rodos grabbed Richard and pulled him clear of the attack.
BOOM!
Snow exploded into the air with a deafening crash, and the ground was gouged apart.
“I promised you. I will not let you die.”
“I think you may be right, Young Master.”
Just as Rodos had said, knowing about the attack beforehand would not necessarily have meant Richard could evade it.
“It will swing its foreleg once more. We attack then.”
“Understood.”
Richard assumed a fighting stance.
Beside him, Rodos lowered his body and prepared for battle.
‘It begins.’
Rodos felt his fighting spirit begin to boil.
Since awakening in this new body, this was his first battle against a monster.
“SKREE!”
Just as Rodos had predicted, the Deathfrost Dragon raised its foreleg once again.
“We move inside its reach.”
Rodos did not miss the opportunity and charged.
Richard desperately followed with his Longsword in hand.
“Urgh!”
The instant Richard threw himself forward, the Deathfrost Dragon’s sharp claws slammed down.
BOOM!
The earth caved in with a deafening crash.
Rodos gritted his teeth.
If they had been even slightly slower, they would have been crushed.
“The tail comes next. Jump high.”
“What?”
Just as Rodos said, the Deathfrost Dragon rapidly twisted its enormous body and swept its tail around.
WHOOSH!
The tail tore through the air as it swept across the ground.
‘How does he know?’
Richard leaped high in surprise.
Rodos knew the Deathfrost Dragon’s movements with perfect accuracy.
“SKREEEEEE!”
“Now the head.”
The moment the two of them landed after clearing the tail, the Deathfrost Dragon lunged with its jaws wide open.
Rodos twisted his entire body and swung his axes at its head.
BOOM!
Both tomahawks struck the Deathfrost Dragon’s head.
Shards of shattered ice flew through the air as its head reeled.
“SKREE!”
The unexpected counterattack caused the Deathfrost Dragon to shriek in pain.
“Now!”
Richard seized the opening and brought down his Longsword, but it was nowhere near enough.
CLANG!
Richard’s Swordsmanship was insufficient to pierce the creature’s hardened icy hide.
Apparently annoyed by Richard clinging to it, the Deathfrost Dragon shook its head violently.
“This is impossib—AAAAAGH!”
Unable to hold on, Richard was flung away and crashed into the snow.
‘He is not injured.’
After confirming that Richard was unharmed, Rodos crossed his tomahawks and brought them down.
BOOM!
The Deathfrost Dragon staggered once again with a heavy impact.
Rodos had struck precisely the same spot as before.
“SKREEEEEE!!!”
The Deathfrost Dragon refused to retreat and began wildly swinging its forelegs.
Even a glancing blow carried enough force to obliterate a human body.
‘Avoid the fatal blows. Take the rest.’
Recalling the fighting style of the warriors of the North, Rodos closed the distance.
“What is he doing?!”
Richard stared in horror.
Instead of retreating, Rodos was charging forward.
It was an action Richard could hardly imagine taking himself.
“SKREE!”
Rodos ducked his head and twisted his body, evading the creature’s claws.
For attacks whose trajectories made them impossible to avoid, he used his weapons to deflect them.
As he did, torn wounds began covering his entire body.
However, Life Force surged through him and healed those wounds almost instantly.
‘At last, I can fight like a warrior of the North.’
Rodos was satisfied.
Even the Deathfrost Dragon’s razor-sharp claws were no longer a problem.
He could swing his weapons without having to worry about every injury.
BOOM! BOOM!
Rodos’s two tomahawks repeatedly smashed into the Deathfrost Dragon’s head.
Under the relentless assault, the Deathfrost Dragon could not even counterattack and was forced to endure blow after blow.
“SKREEEEEE!”
Unable to withstand any more, the Deathfrost Dragon released a harsh breath and crouched down, covering its body with its wings.
Cold Energy gathered around it, and a snowstorm began to rise.
“Fall back.”
It had entered a groggy state.
Deathfrost Dragons had a habit of curling up in place once their stamina was exhausted and remaining motionless until they recovered.
‘Time to regroup.’
Rodos wanted to finish it now, but his current offensive power was insufficient.
The Cold Energy was restoring the creature’s wounds and replenishing its vitality.
Unless he could unleash an attack powerful enough to overcome that recovery, attacking now would be meaningless.
Rodos approached Richard and spoke.
“We need an opening if we want to bring it down.”
“An opening?”
Rodos nodded.
With its keen senses, the Deathfrost Dragon would not miss even the smallest movement made by an intruder.
“That creature has a weakness as well.”
There was no such thing as a living creature without a weakness.
Even Dragons, known as the strongest creatures on earth, possessed a fatal weakness known as the Reverse Scale.
Naturally, the Deathfrost Dragon, despite being covered in hardened ice, also had a weakness.
Having fought Deathfrost Dragons before, Rodos knew exactly where it was.
“Where is its weakness?”
“The back of its head. That is why I needed you.”
The Deathfrost Dragon’s weakness was the back of its head.
That was why Rodos had brought Richard.
“Unless someone draws its attention, I cannot get behind it.”
“You want me to draw its attention?”
“If you do not want to, I will do it.”
“No.”
Richard shook his head.
Drawing its attention was the better option.
He had already experienced firsthand that his sword could not inflict so much as a scratch on the creature.
“SKREEEEEE!!”
At that moment, the Deathfrost Dragon roared and took flight.
“Stay alert. It will be even more dangerous than before.”
Every beat of the Deathfrost Dragon’s wings spread Cold Energy throughout the surroundings.
At the same time, a snowstorm began raging.
It was so violent that they could barely keep their eyes open.
“Urgh!”
Richard’s teeth chattered from the cold.
Despite wearing Cold-Weather Gear, he felt as though he were standing there naked.
He could not see ahead.
He had no idea whether he would be able to evade the creature’s attacks under these conditions.
Even so, Richard collected himself and tightened his grip on his sword.
“I will create an opening somehow.”
He could trust him now.
It was time to trust Young Master Rodos and do his own part.
“I am counting on you.”
After confirming that Richard was ready, Rodos disappeared into the snowstorm.
“SKREEEEEE!”
At that moment, the Deathfrost Dragon’s unfocused white eyes turned toward Richard.
Even through the raging snowstorm, it was staring directly at him.
‘It is coming.’
Richard lowered his stance.
He realized the Deathfrost Dragon was about to attack.
“SKREEEEEE!”
Sure enough, the Deathfrost Dragon beat its wings violently.
Hundreds of ice spikes rained down.
If Richard failed to evade them, he would be turned into an ice porcupine.
“How am I supposed to dodge all of this?!”
Richard shouted even as he began running.
BOOM!
Ice spikes buried themselves in the ground immediately behind him.
“Damn it!”
Richard kept moving without pause.
Countless ice spikes continued raining from the sky.
He swung his sword to knock some aside and threw himself out of the way of others, narrowly evading them.
Everything he had experienced moments earlier was already forcing Richard to grow.
“What? Did I actually dodge all of them?”
“SKREE!!”
Richard barely had time to be surprised before he was forced to roll across the snow again.
The Deathfrost Dragon had entered a steep dive and begun repeatedly slamming its forelegs down at him.
“Ah! I am going to die! Could you please help me?!”
Richard screamed with a miserable expression.
“Young Master?”
“…….”
However, Rodos did not answer.
Richard could not tell whether Rodos simply could not hear him or had abandoned him.
He desperately fled and evaded the attacks, but he had reached his limit.
He had been driven against the blocked entrance of the mine.
The Deathfrost Dragon opened its jaws as it stared down at the cornered Richard.
“GRRRRR….”
“I cannot do this anymore! Huh?”
Just when Richard thought it was truly over, his eyes widened.
Rodos’s voice came from above.
“Well done.”
At the same moment, the snowstorm began to clear, and the sky flashed brilliantly.