I tossed several stored magic stones toward the [Hero], then put some distance between us.
The robed woman did the same—summoning magic stones before running in the opposite direction.
The [Hero], left in place, used his unique ability to float the magic stones we'd given him around himself—drawing the dragons' aggro toward him.
The dragons launched long-range attacks from above, but none reached him thanks to his ability.
After buffing himself, the [Hero] drove the tip of his reverse-gripped sword forcefully into the ground.
Cracks spread outward from that point across the surface.
Then the ground shook like an earthquake—the cracked earth floated upward, forming rocks of various sizes.
The [Hero] launched those rocks toward the dragons overhead.
They struck with tremendous force, turning any dragon they hit directly into black mist.
As expected from man-made magic beasts—their durability was nowhere near the real thing.
A genuine dragon probably wouldn't have fallen to a single hit, no matter how powerful.
Furthermore, countless magic circles appeared overhead, covering the dragon horde as innumerable attack spells rained down.
The robed woman seemed to prioritize quantity over quality—scattering wide-area attack magic—but only a small fraction of the dragons turned to black mist.
Still, she was dealing solid damage, slowing their movements noticeably.
I created multiple mana footholds in the air, dodging rocks and spells while weaving freely through the dragon ranks, swinging my magic sword Schwarzhause to cut them down.
After killing enough, some dragons' aggro shifted toward me.
I paused my attacks, moved even higher above the horde, and deliberately left myself wide open while looking down at them.
A portion of the dragons rose toward me—but before they could close in, a massive magic circle appeared beneath my feet.
From it, the robed woman's [Mjölnir of Heaven] rained lightning down on the dragons—reducing them to charred remains.
With her top-grade spell wiping out so many at once, the horde's aggro now focused entirely on the [Hero] on the ground and the robed woman.
"—All right then."
Leaving the horde to the two of them, I turned my gaze even higher.
For some reason, my eyes met those of the black dragon, which had been silently watching the battle from the very top until now.
"Black dragon—you're my opponent. You're just a fake and lack the power, but you'll serve as the measure of how much I've grown in these past six months."
My words must have struck a nerve—the black dragon roared and unleashed fireballs.
In response, I swung my magic sword, sending jet-black slashes crashing into the incoming flames.
The fireball and slash collided midway, exploding violently and raising smoke between us.
Using the black dragon's blocked vision, I kicked off a mana foothold—accelerating with the shockwave from the diffused mana—and closed the distance in an instant.
"—[Form Three: Mont Dry]."
With the magic sword reshaped into a greatsword, I passed beside the black dragon's face and swung at the base of the wing right in front of me.
The slash—enhanced with [Instant Capability Super Boost]—severed the wing at the root without any resistance.
The black dragon let out a near-scream but counterattacked.
From behind came variously shaped masses of ominous purple mana; from the front, its tail whipped toward me.
"…[Reflective Wall]."
I manifested a gray, translucent wall in front of me.
The black dragon's tail struck it and bounced back forcefully in the opposite direction.
By touching the wall myself, I reversed my own direction from upward to downward.
Dodging the purple mana masses approaching from the front, I severed the other wing in the same way.
Then I dropped with gravity, putting distance between me and the black dragon.
I'd hoped it would crash to the ground, but it crudely substituted mist for wings and stayed airborne.
The black dragon let out a rage-filled roar.
In response, it manifested large amounts of mist around itself—transforming them into countless tiny needle-like projectiles.
"Looks like it won't end so easily after all."
I muttered while dismissing my mana footholds and dropping further.
At the same time, countless needles rained down from above toward me.
I reached the dragon horde before the needles could hit me.
The time I'd spent fighting the black dragon had been almost instantaneous.
Even so, no dragon in the horde paid any attention to me—an intruder—because their aggro remained fixed on the [Hero].
Inside the horde, I used the dragons as cover—maneuvering so the needles would hit them instead—while continuing to cut them down with Schwarzhause.
Normally magic beasts don't attack each other, but with aggro control applied this way, I could make them wear each other down.
Wiping out this many dragons—even with the three of us cooperating—would take serious effort.
So I'd have the black dragon help too.
As its magic struck the horde, the robed woman went on the offensive again.
This time she prioritized quality over quantity in her attack spells.
◇
For a while, the black dragon's magic thinned the horde, but it seemed to realize those attacks weren't effective against me—it dove straight toward me.
"[Hero]!!"
"Leave it to me!"
The moment I saw the black dragon dive, I called out to the [Hero]—and received his strong reply.
We hadn't coordinated, but with both of us here, there was only one thing to do.
"Both of you—drop it!!"
The black dragon—caught by our combined abilities—spread its mist-substituted wings wide to slow down, but its efforts were futile. It crashed hard into the ground.
We kept the pressure on, crushing it into the earth while breaking out of the horde and regaining altitude above them.
With the troublesome opponent neutralized, the three of us focused fully on the remaining dragons.
The robed woman naturally unleashed spells, while the [Hero] and I sent flying slashes and advanced/top-grade magic—attacking the horde without mercy.
From there, it was one-sided.
The black dragon lay pinned to the ground.
The horde—facing our relentless wave attacks—couldn't mount much resistance and steadily decreased in number.
—But just when it seemed we'd finish them off, it didn't end that easily.
Another hole opened in the sky, and new dragons emerged from it.
"Haa… haa… Reinforcements now? You're really making this annoying…!"
I'd relaxed a bit thinking the battle was ending—probably a mistake.
I'd been fighting nonstop, keeping ki active constantly since the latter half of the [Hero] fight, plus maintaining the magic sword and firing off massive spells. The accumulated backlash was manifesting as exhaustion.
I was starting to pass the point where willpower could cover it.
I glanced toward the boulder crushing the red-cloaked man, wondering if this was his doing—but I sensed no major change.
The two humans a short distance away didn't seem to be interfering either.
It was probably natural to assume the red-cloaked man had prepared a second wave from the start.
(One more push. If I falter here… I'll regret it. I know that. No room for weakness now…!)
I reassessed the situation, gave myself a mental kick to push through the creeping exhaustion, and glared at the newly emerged dragons.
They immediately launched fireballs, mana bullets, and other long-range attacks.
To avoid being sandwiched between the new dragons above and the surviving horde below, I dodged while dropping back to the ground.
"Orun, are you okay…?"
The moment my feet touched down, the robed woman approached—asking with genuine concern on her face.
"No problem. Let's finish these magic beasts off quickly."
I knew I was pushing myself, but I didn't want to show weakness to her…
I answered firmly. Her expression faltered slightly as she murmured sadly, "Orun hasn't changed… always trying to handle everything alone…"
But her sad look lasted only a moment. Her face turned serious again as she looked straight at me and spoke.
"Orun—I need your help… to end this battle quickly."