Chapter 103.

The dragon realised that I am responsible for defending against the breath .

And it must have decided that I should be crushed first .

As expected of a dragon, it chose me instead of the ones who were relentlessly attacking it .

The less intelligent demon beasts are those who want to crush the things that attack them more violently first .

In other words, this dragon understands the importance of defence .

It also knows that humans are more fragile than dragons .

This might not be the dragon’s first time to fight a human .

As I tried to calm down and respond to the fireball,

「HAAAAAAA!」

Tina shoots the enormous ice block that she had prepared at the fireball .

The fireball flew down at me from above .

Inevitably, Tina’s ice mass took a trajectory from down to up .

(But I told her to leave the defence to me though…)

Nonetheless, I can’t say that Tina’s decision is wrong .

If Tina hadn’t made this decision, there would definitely be a casualty, assuming that I wasn’t present in the party .

In a general party, this is likely a natural or an essential behaviour of the mage .

While I was thinking about that,

「HAAAADAAAAAAA!」

Tina raised a war cry befitting an imperial princess and immediately changed the trajectory of the ice mass right before hitting the fireball .

From ascending to descending; Acceleration in a horizontal direction is added to the free falling ice mass .

The ice mass hits the dragon at a tremendous speed .

The dragon decided that the ice mass would hit the fireball and had just begun to prepare a new fireball .

Currently, the dragon’s magic resource is divided into the storm breath and the fireballs .

Therefore, almost no resources remained for defence .

「GAAARAAAAAAA!」

The ice mass that flew at high speed hit the dragon and shattered its scales .

「Not yet!」

When Tina shouts, the ice mass changes form .

The ice mass instantly dispersed, and while whispering a humming sound it froze the dragon’s whole body in place .

Even the mouth which was shooting out storm breath is frozen .

This stopped the storm breath .

I was completely surprised at Tina’s quickness and skill in converting her magic .

The ice mass was converted into magic with pure cold effect in a very short time .

「As expected of Dion’s disciple」

While praising Tina, I wiped out the fireball that was flying towards me with my left hand clad in magic .

「GU……」

The dragon stared at me rather than Tina .

And while vibrating its body incessantly, it emanated magic .

The dragon shook off the cold magic .

Tina’s attack broke one scale on the dragon .

But even that doesn’t seem to have caused much damage .

A dragon’s vitality is terrifying .

「guuu…」

As the dragon groaned softly, it slowly turned into a supine position .

It is the cue for giving up .

Right now, Arti, who was trying to follow up with her sword, suddenly brakes and stops .

However, Rosetta does not know the meaning of the pose .

She shot an arrow towards the dragon who had already admitted its loss .

When I tried to move to stop the arrow,

「That’s enough」

Dion, who is serving as the referee, was standing at the halfway point between Rosetta and the dragon .

It was spontaneous as though he was there right from the beginning .

He was grasping the arrow Rosetta shot a moment ago .

「When did……」

Rosetta was flabbergasted and astonished by Dion’s movement .

「Rosetta-chan, supine position signals the declaration of defeat . The attacks must be stopped」

「Sorry」

「Well, I am sure you didn’t know . Please be careful from now on」

Dion eyed Regina instead of Rosetta .

「I forgot to inform her . Sorry…」

Regina seemed to reflect a little .

Once again Dion took a deep breath .

「Victor, Humans!」

Dion’s voice echoes through the mountains .

「GRAAAA……」

The dragon got up from the supine position .

Rosetta heaves her shoulders, nocking an arrow to the bowstring .

Tina is still glaring at the dragon while readying her cane .

Both were at the peak of tension .

Arti sheaths her sword into the scabbard and turns towards Rosetta and Tina .

「It is all right now」

「Thank you」

As the tension wears down, Rosetta slumps to her knees .

And her master, Regina, catches her from falling .

「It is over for now… So, calm down」

While saying that, Regina removes the arrow from the bowstring .

On the other hand, Dion smiled at his disciple, Tina .

「That was a good move . The last attack was especially good」

「Th-Thank you」

Dion held the tip of Tina’s cane and slowly lowered it .

It’s discourtesy to continue to assume a battle stance even after the contest is over .

So the masters calmed their disciples and released their battle stance .

And then, I approached the dragon .

「That was a good fight」

「GRRRR…… . 」

The dragon quietly groaned . It is likely saying something in dragon language .

As I tried to explain the exact part which I thought was splendid, another dragon descended from the skies .

It was more than three times bigger than the dragon we just fought .