“You...!”
Garrett tore his gaze away from Talia’s corpse and quickly backed off.
His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the black dragon in front of him.
The rain-soaked contract parchment crumpled in his fist.
He was furious.
And shaken.
If he had reacted even a moment slower, that Acid Breath would have hit him in the face instead.
Garrett had no confidence that he could survive a point-blank breath attack while completely unprepared.
“What about me?”
Evelyn lowered her head slightly.
Her golden slit pupils gleamed with undisguised malice.
“You treacherous outsiders actually tried to trick a young, innocent dragon like me into becoming your mount.”
She put special emphasis on the word innocent.
Then she bared a row of sharp white fangs.
“Dream on.”
Darrien, who had watched the whole thing from the side, was speechless.
The sister he had grown up with had once again expanded his understanding of what the word shameless could mean.
One moment, she had looked perfectly willing to negotiate.
The next, she had blasted the other side’s mage to death without even hesitating.
Compared with Evelyn, Darrien suddenly felt that his own so-called evil dragon behavior was almost honorable.
Before he could comment, brilliant golden light suddenly erupted around them.
Boom!
A razor-sharp killing intent crashed toward the dragons.
At some point, Garrett had thrown away the parchment.
Golden Aura blazed across his body.
Raindrops shattered into mist the moment they approached him.
He gripped his enormous broadsword with both hands.
The weapon was almost as wide as a door.
His eyes locked onto Evelyn.
Rage had nearly overwhelmed reason.
Talia was dead.
Elliot was already out of the fight.
The dragon-hunting plan they had spent so long preparing had completely fallen apart.
The rational decision was obvious.
Retreat.
But Garrett couldn’t accept that.
They had prepared for this hunt for far too long.
They had tracked the dragons all the way here.
Success had been within reach.
And then this black dragon had humiliated them again and again.
Now his companions had died right in front of him.
Turn around and run?
He couldn’t.
At the very least...
Before he left, he was going to make this damned dragon pay.
“DIE!”
But Garrett wasn’t the first to charge.
Bruno was.
The dwarf priest had already reached his limit.
With a roar, he stomped through the mud and rushed forward.
His heavy holy flail spun rapidly above his head.
The weapon cut through the rain with such force that its whistling nearly drowned out the storm.
Evelyn’s golden eyes clearly reflected the Aura burning around both enemies.
For some reason...
She suddenly felt excited.
The adventuring party that had started with four combatants had already lost more than half its strength.
The mage was dead.
The ranger was gone.
The two remaining melee fighters were still dangerous, but they no longer carried the same overwhelming pressure that had made Evelyn unwilling to fight them head-on.
Which meant...
She could actually fight now.
A strange heat began rising from deep inside Evelyn’s body.
Her powerful heart hammered against her chest.
Hot dragon blood surged through her veins.
The instinctive hunger for battle buried within her draconic bloodline finally ignited.
“ROAAAR!”
A deafening dragon roar shook the forest.
Evelyn spread her wings wide.
Her nearly twenty-three-foot wingspan blocked out a large portion of the storm-darkened sky.
Rain hammered against her black scales before being thrown aside by her enormous wings.
Lightning tore across the clouds.
For one brilliant instant, her golden eyes seemed to burn in the darkness.
Darrien felt his whole body tremble.
His blood instantly began to boil.
Now this was more like it!
This was how dragons were supposed to fight!
All that hiding, ambushing, tricking people, and gaining their trust...
How could any of that compare with tearing an enemy apart head-on?
“ROAR!”
Darrien let out an excited dragon cry of his own.
He was just about to charge when an extremely familiar voice reached his ears.
“Dear Darrien.”
Evelyn’s tone was unusually gentle.
“Do you know what a dragon’s greatest weapon is?”
“Obviously our claws, teeth, and Dragon Breath!”
Darrien answered without thinking.
“No.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Our body.”
“Huh?”
Darrien froze.
He still hadn’t figured out what she meant when a black-scaled claw suddenly clamped around the back of his neck.
“Wait.”
A terrible feeling rose inside him.
Evelyn’s smile only widened.
“So...”
“Dear Darrien.”
“Let’s fight side by side.”
“Wait!”
Darrien’s pupils shrank.
Too late.
Evelyn tightened her grip.
Her hind legs sank into the mud.
Her waist twisted.
Her entire body turned.
“You lunatic!”
Darrien’s scream echoed through the storm.
At the same time, Bruno had already reached them.
“HAA!”
The dwarf kicked off the ground.
Boom!
Mud exploded beneath his feet.
His short, thick body launched into the air.
The spinning holy flail tore through the rain and aimed straight for the joint of Evelyn’s front leg.
Bruno was an experienced adventurer.
He knew exactly how to fight large magical beasts.
Joints.
Wings.
Eyes.
Those were the targets that mattered.
Especially against a young dragon.
Cripple one leg, and the rest of the fight would become much easier.
The flail was about to land when a terrifying sense of danger suddenly came from above.
“What?!”
Bruno jerked his head up.
His eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
A massive black dragon body was falling straight toward him.
And it wasn’t Evelyn.
It was the other black dragon.
“What the hell?!”
Bruno’s mind went blank.
Weren’t dragons supposed to fight with claws, teeth, and breath?
Since when could one dragon pick up another dragon and use him as a weapon?!
“EVELYN!”
Darrien’s furious scream came from above.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
“Stop moving!”
Evelyn shouted excitedly.
“This is our first time fighting side by side!”
“THIS IS NOT WHAT ‘SIDE BY SIDE’ MEANS!”
A moment later...
Darrien slammed into Bruno.
BOOM!
The impact nearly drowned out the thunder.
Mud and rainwater exploded in every direction.
Bruno landed on both feet.
His thick legs sank halfway into the mud.
The tremendous impact traveled through his arms and into his chest.
Even with a dwarf’s naturally powerful constitution, he couldn’t suppress a grunt.
A thin line of blood slowly ran from the corner of his mouth.
But somehow...
He stayed standing.
“Damn it...”
Bruno clenched his teeth.
Before he could stabilize himself, Evelyn had already yanked Darrien back.
Darrien looked completely stunned.
His head spun.
His eyes stared blankly ahead.
He clearly hadn’t recovered from being used as a living club.
Garrett had also been shocked by what he had just seen.
But years of combat experience allowed him to crush that surprise almost immediately.
An opening!
The black dragon had just committed to a huge attack.
Her balance hadn’t fully recovered yet.
Garrett charged without hesitation.
Both hands gripped his sword.
The broadsword rose over his head.
Golden Aura surged along the blade.
“Die!”
The sword came down toward Evelyn’s neck.
Evelyn caught the movement from the corner of her eye.
Her massive tail whipped out at almost the exact same moment.
Whoosh!
The air cracked.
Garrett’s expression changed.
He had no time to continue the attack.
He was forced to pull the sword back and block.
CLANG!
Broadsword and black-scaled tail collided.
The shriek of metal against scales exploded through the forest.
Enormous force traveled through the blade and into Garrett’s arms.
His hands went numb.
His whole body slid half a step backward.
His boots carved two deep trenches through the mud.
What strength!
Garrett stared at the black dragon.
Only now did he truly understand just how terrifying the dragon race was.
Evelyn was still only a Bronze Rank young dragon.
Yet purely in terms of physical strength and toughness, she could already stand against a Silver Rank warrior like him.
And when it came to explosive strength...
She might even exceed him.
No wonder so many high-level spells that enhanced the body were given names like Dragon’s Might.
A dragon’s body...
Was already a weapon.
The thought had barely crossed Garrett’s mind when he noticed something strange.
The black dragon’s expression...
Was wrong.
Evelyn had lowered her head.
She was muttering to herself.
“Good strength.”
“Enough weight.”
“Hard scales too...”
“?”
A terrible feeling crept into Garrett’s chest.
Then he saw Evelyn reach out with both claws again.
She grabbed Darrien, who still hadn’t fully recovered.
“Wait!”
Darrien snapped awake.
“Don’t do it again!”
Evelyn ignored him.
Her hind legs drove into the ground.
Boom!
The mud collapsed beneath her feet.
Power surged through her waist and abdomen.
Holding Darrien with both front claws, she swung the entire black dragon around.
“EVELYN!”
Darrien completely lost it.
“PUT ME DOWN!”
“No!”
Excitement filled Evelyn’s golden eyes.
“Darrien!”
“Show them the power of the Blackthorne siblings!”
“I DON’T WANT THIS KIND OF POWER!”
Whoosh!
The huge black dragon body tore through the rain.
Darrien traced a terrifying arc through the air.
Straight toward Garrett.
“You’re insane!”
Garrett couldn’t stop himself from cursing.
He immediately tried to retreat.
But the instant he moved...
His sword refused to budge.
“Hm?”
He looked down.
His pupils contracted.
At some point, Evelyn’s thick tail had wrapped tightly around the blade.
Garrett yanked backward.
Screeeeech!
The sharpened edge ground violently against hard black scales.
Sparks scattered through the rain.
Several black scales tore loose under the blade.
Bright red dragon blood mixed with cold rainwater and slowly ran down the sword.
Pain shot through Evelyn.
But she didn’t let go.
That single instant of delay...
Was enough.