Despite all the pain it had taken, the dragon still refused to go down from attacks as simple as those.
It let out another scream and swung its tail around its body. Emilia and Zenos had just landed towards the vicinity of the dragon's attack after dealing a series of brief blows.
"You good?" Emilia asked. Both she and Zenos jumped away from the attack.
"Never been better." Zenos smiled.
Michael stood at the front of the creature, staring up at the dragon, when he noticed a distinct feature on its face.
"They're crying…" Michael whispered, "Why do I kind of feel bad… no, I got to lock in. You can only achieve things in this world through power."
The dragon slightly bent down upon receiving multiple blows. Now it was blinded for four minutes and eleven seconds by Frey's camera lens.
The dragon let out one more roar; it felt painful, and they all felt it, the entire group, danger. Suddenly, the dragon's scales began ripping off its skin and aimed downward toward each of them.
"Everyone! Come to me!" Zylus yelled as they regrouped. "Who has a defensive skill?!" He yelled, desperately.
"Me!" Frey responded immediately, "But I don't know if it'll work for this type of attack, especially with the amount of systemic flow I can sense within it." She nervously took her camera out.
"Who cares, use it! We'll figure something out later." Zylus demanded.
Frey held her camera double-handed once more, taking a picture of not just her, but the entire group into her lens. The ability created a defensive barrier around everyone she captured, but there's a negative towards it… This move would cancel the blinding effect she had used on the dragon earlier.
They pressed tightly together.
Flick!
A transparent barrier began circling around them, as the dragon's spike barely missed, which would've caused a lasting catastrophe.
"What should we do now?" Emilia asked, preparing for any defensive measures, just in case the barrier fell.
"I'm thinking. Hold on." Zylus responded, tapping his hand onto his chin.
"Then think faster! I can't take much more of this!" Frey demanded, the red scales blasting at her felt infinite.
Wait…
"Everyone, stand down! Move out of my way!" Zylus commanded, as they all slightly moved to the side of him, giving Zylus a clear view of the dragon's shape.
Each person still stood inside the barrier, but now Zylus stood in the middle of them all, lowering himself into a bent stance, his katana angled toward the ground.
"Frey, I want you to remove the barrier!"
"I can't! You guys will die-"
"Listen to me," Zylus cut her off, "The moment it drops, every one of you must run in different directions. Zenos, protect Frey from any shards, because she's not used to combat. I'm sure you guys can handle your own, and I just need a quick second." He said, taking a heavy breath.
"I'll believe you, Zylus," Zenos said, slightly nervous. "But if you fail, we're all dead."
"Don't worry," Zylus smirked, "I like gambling, kind of my thing… I guess you can call me, 'The Soverign of Uncertainty.'"
They all hesitated, then moved a second later.
"Okay!" Frey said in a weakened yell, "The barrier is about to collapse!"
Zylus closed his eyes, lightly giving the dragon one last look, moving his katana to his side, in a straightened position.
[Weapon: Demonic Katana]
[Combat: Imminent]
[User Must Move Fast]
[Rage: 0%]
[Pride: 3%]
"Pride?" Zylus smiled, "Didn't even know that was a thing."
"Prepare! Three more seconds until this collapses!" Frey yelled, each of them stayed highly focused.
"Three…" Zylus started the countdown.
"Two."
[Prepare Yourself!]
"One." Zylus calmly exhaled, moving his glance towards the dragon's head, "False: Body Deception Technique."
[Technique: False: Body Deception]
[Technique Status: Processing]
[Success: 0.5%]
"If I could do it with one, then I could also do it with zero point five." Zylus calmly said, referring back to when he fought inside 'The Underealm.'
"It worked," Zylus whispered, landing onto the dragon's back. "Ahhhhhh!"
He started to run, from its back towards the back of its neck, the creature sensed him, and tried shaking him off, but Zylus stayed stable.
"You're not getting rid of me that easily!"
He continued to run forward, dodging through sharp scales that switched their attention from the others, and now focused on Zylus.
"Ehhhhhh!" He shouted, slashing his katana through the incoming shards, blocking them from every angle.
Bam!
He swiped one towards the ground, nearing the end of the dragon's neck.
"You're done!" Zylus roared, one that sounded almost as loud as the historical animal before him.
He jumped into the air, angling his katana for a decisive strike on this monstrosity's neck. As Zylus started to fall, he put another hand onto his katana, preparing to use as much force as possible to swipe it up.
"I believe in you!" Emilia screamed, giving Zylus hope.
Swift!
Zylus's Demonic Katana cut swiftly through the dragon's neck from left to right, creating huge bloodshed.
"I did it."
The creature's entire head chopped off and fell onto the ground, creating a large THUMP!
"We did it!"
"I never doubted him for a minute."
"I could've done the same."
"... He's still stronger than me."
They all rejoiced, well, almost all, from finally defeating this quest.
[Defeated: 1 Lesser-Dragon]
[Ability: C-Rank]
[Rewards: 50 SF Points]
[Congrats]
Zylus dropped to the floor.
Bam!
He didn't bend, nor did he land face down. Zylus stood in one solid standing position, as if the dragon hadn't been powerful enough to knock him down at all.
Zylus started walking towards the group, but something seemed off…
"Good job, idiot." Emilia turned her back.
"A job well done." Zenos proudly said, "That's why we're friends," he tapped Zylus's shoulder.
"Let's go!" Frey gladly yelled.
Zylus stood in the middle of their praise, but one man stood behind them all.
And then, the same chest from earlier started to unlock by itself.