"ROAR!"
Although it didn't understand the meaning of Nanoda's gesture, the Emperor Hell Dragon felt a distinct sense of humiliation from that raised middle finger.
Its savage ferocity spiked. Spreading its wings, several fiery red magic circles materialized, orbiting its massive body.
Unlike ordinary dragon species that breathed fire from their mouths, the Emperor Hell Dragon could wield magic directly. The elemental affinities displayed by Emperor Hell Dragons varied by region, with the fire attribute being the most common.
Like a volcanic eruption, massive chunks of molten lava emerged from the magic circles. The originally dim sky was illuminated in a blazing red. Looking up, it resembled a scene straight out of the apocalypse.
With another flap of the Emperor Hell Dragon's wings, burning lava poured continuously from the magic circles, streaking across the sky in swathes of crimson and plummeting down like falling meteors.
"Hey, Zaha, why aren't these flaming meteors avoiding us?"
Watching the Emperor Hell Dragon's massive area-of-effect attack, Briz was somewhat puzzled. But Zaha, who had been right beside him, was nowhere to be seen.
"Run!"
As if having anticipated this, Zaha had already run quite a distance away, trailed by a large horde of Demon soldiers.
Only then did Briz realize that Zaha couldn't completely control the summoned Emperor Hell Dragon. After all, dragons were creatures whose pride rivaled that of the Demon Race.
"Damn it."
Briz didn't look back again and bolted. The bronze armor on his body grew increasingly thick and heavy, making him look very much afraid of death.
On the other side, Nanoda extended her index finger and thumb into the shape of a gun. Beneath a magic circle, she fired off Ordinary Offensive Magic.
The black-and-white beam of light struck the Emperor Hell Dragon's neck. The beast didn't even attempt to dodge, simply letting the magic hit it.
The moment it made contact, a polygonal protective barrier identical to Defensive Magic rippled across its black scales. The Ordinary Offensive Magic, which seemed capable of piercing through anything, was completely neutralized.
The Emperor Hell Dragon exhaled a puff of white smoke from its snout, seemingly sneering.
At this time, the flaming meteors also crashed to the ground, with one of them hurtling directly toward Nanoda's face.
The instant she felt the intense heat, Nanoda deployed the human system's Defensive Magic, specifically designed to defend against Killing Magic.
The immensely powerful flaming meteor smashed into the blue barrier. The shield was engulfed by the flames carried by the lava, and the scorching heat could be felt even through the magical ward.
Ultimately, the flaming meteor failed to penetrate the barrier. As the flames burned out, the lava shattered and dissipated into ash.
The surrounding grasslands were not so fortunate. The falling meteors cratered the earth, and the flowing fire directly ignited large swathes of the ground, turning the surroundings into scorched black-and-red earth.
Aside from the spot where Nanoda stood, everywhere else was a complete wasteland.
No wonder Frieren had to detour around packs of Emperor Hell Dragons. Ordinary Offensive Magic couldn't hurt them at all. And given the opponent's formidable magical attacks, if a few more hits landed, even the strongest Defensive Magic wouldn't be able to hold up.
If it were Frieren's charged-up Ordinary Offensive Magic, it might have a chance to pierce through the Emperor Hell Dragon's defenses. Her own charged Severance Magic wasn't entirely out of the question either.
Unlike Frieren's battle against Qual, where she couldn't move while charging and needed Fern to cover her, Nanoda's own Severance Magic could be charged simply by holding it in her palm.
However, the Emperor Hell Dragon didn't give Nanoda the chance to relax.
Ripping through the smoke and dust kicked up by the meteor bombardment, the dragon dive-bombed, using the momentum to thrust its sharp black claws toward Nanoda.
Screeeeech!
The sharp claws slammed against the Defensive Magic. After a shrill screech, the Defensive Magic that had already endured the flaming meteor began to fracture.
The Emperor Hell Dragon's massive vertical pupils glared straight at Nanoda, who was huddled inside a Defensive Magic barrier no larger than the size of its palm.
"Good grief."
Nanoda shook her head, her expression entirely calm.
In the distance, Zaha observed the single Demon and the single dragon amidst the devastation.
Faced with the Emperor Hell Dragon's power, the Demon troops behind Zaha were existences not even worth mentioning.
"You almost got me killed, Zaha!"
Briz ran over. His bronze armor was damaged in multiple places, with flames still flickering on the reddened edges. It was obvious he had unluckily been hit by a flaming meteor while running away.
At this moment, a hint of genuine anger appeared on his usually expressionless face.
"You're the one who failed to keep up with me. How can you blame me? It's my first time trying to summon an Emperor Hell Dragon too," Zaha said dismissively.
"But anyway, what is up with that Demon? With that amount of mana, I've never seen anyone capable of fighting so well."
Usually, a Demon's mana capacity was directly proportional to their combat strength, but Nanoda was a bizarre exception.
"There's something very wrong with her. Logically, besides us, there shouldn't be any other Demons appearing here. That Lord has never miscalculated before. What do we do? If even the Emperor Hell Dragon loses, will we have no choice but to use that?"
Briz felt a bit guilty; he had now realized that the broken-horn Demon had gone incredibly easy on him during their fight.
To be able to contend with an Emperor Hell Dragon, the opponent had to be at least a Great Demon.
"Either way, our goal has already been achieved. It just means heading back a little earlier. From the looks of it, my Emperor Hell Dragon might not necessarily lose. Let's decide the moment the outcome is clear. Relax, there won't be any problems."
Zaha pulled something from his chest pocket and gripped it tightly in his hand.
"ROOOAR!!!"
Its twin claws took turns smashing against the Defensive Magic. The speed was so immense it left afterimages. More and more cracks webbed across the surface of the barrier, and the meager amount of mana Nanoda was displaying was rapidly draining away.
At the final moment, the Emperor Hell Dragon's claws ignited with flames, and a single strike shattered the already heavily damaged barrier to pieces.
The barrier shattered and dissipated like glass. At that exact moment, Nanoda, wielding the broken horn, unleashed the strike she had been brewing for so long.
Its claws halted in mid-air. The Emperor Hell Dragon's pupils shrank as its magical resistance barrier shattered. Under the effect of the fully charged Severance Magic, a bloody gash extended effortlessly along its massive belly all the way up to its neck, nearly slicing it diagonally in half.
"RRROOOOOOAR!"
Amidst its roars, the heavily injured giant dragon spread its wings, kicking up dust and smoke as if intending to take flight and flee.
"Truly tenacious."
Nanoda hadn't expected the Emperor Hell Dragon to be so durable. Even with its body nearly split in two, it still had energy left.
As expected of the strongest dragon species.
Exerting force into her legs, Nanoda leaped high into the air. From a distance, she looked like a tiny black dot soaring above the Emperor Hell Dragon. Without any unnecessary hesitation, she delivered a heavy kick straight down on the dragon's head.
BOOM!
The Emperor Hell Dragon, which had just left the ground, was knocked violently back down. Its original gaping wound widened further. It weakly opened its fang-filled maw, letting out a feeble whimper.
Gradually dissipating into mana particles from the hideous wound, the completely exhausted Emperor Hell Dragon slumped onto the ground and closed its eyes.
This once intolerably arrogant and strongest dragon species had been defeated.
There was no overly exaggerated clash; the victor was decided in a mere instant.
____
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