The first two people to jump out of the trees were a gorilla and a... spider? Benjamin wasn't completely sure from a first glance. The gorilla let out a roaring laughter as it tried to grab hold of the menacing and flailing tail of the Dragon.

“Hehe, hahaha! I must say, this is actually really fun, my dear Countess! I can see why you would mostly prefer to hunt these without calling for help. Apart from the profit coming from the materials you can get from them, of course. Oh! Got it!”

Waiting for the perfect moment, the gorilla managed to grab hold of the Dragon's tail and hold it to the ground. The spider... woman? Rushed ahead, making use of the opening the gorilla had created.

“I believe I may have already said this multiple times, but just because we are cooperating for the Grand Hunt, does not mean it is any less disgusting when you call me that, as such...” She stopped talking for a moment to dodge a kick from the Dragon, then, she briefly touched its hind leg. As she moved away from it, a thread was extending from her hand to the leg. “I kindly ask that the piece of shit Baron, you, does not call me that.”

As she ran along the side of the Dragon, it tried biting or clawing her, but she managed to deftly dodge all of those attacks. She had just managed to connect the hind leg with one of the forelegs when the gorilla let out a grunt that could only be a bad sign.

“Fuck, it's really tough to hold this thing down for too...” He was interrupted by being thrown high in the air by the Dragon's tail, gaining a cut on his chest by the tail's pointy end. “Ah fuck, it got me.”

The Dragon, now free from this small restraint, was able to focus completely on trying to force the spider away from it. Pressured by it, she seemed to sever the thread from her hand, but the Dragon still seemed to be hindered by the thread connecting two of its legs.

“Baron!”

A mongoose jumped out from the trees and prevented the gorilla from smashing into a tree. Then helped him keep standing.

“Ugh, thanks, but this wound isn't too bad, just put some spittle on it and it will be completely fine.”

As he said that, more and more people came out from the forest to attacks the Dragon.

“Well, that's the Baron's one redeeming quality, being a good punching bag for the Dragon while we take care of it. Seems the only reason that our Mistress really wants you around in this hunt.”

The green wasp left a biting remark as she passed by the two of them, while the black wasp next to her passed by in silence.

“Hah, you know, I do like some sting in my women's tongue. You're still a disgusting bug, but keep being that sassy and maybe I will make an exception for you while your Mistress isn't looking.”

The expression of shock and disgust in the wasp's face was almost comical.

“Oh my, it seems that one of the wasp girls don't think highly of you as a potential mate, esteemed Baron.”

The fox that came out of the tress stopped by the gorilla.

“Whatever, I never needed any of my women to think highly of me as a potential mate. Makes it easy and boring, don't you think so? Newton?”

Benjamin wondered who the gorilla was talking to, as a honey badger, a mantis and someone completely covered wordlessly passed by him in order to join the attack on the Dragon.

“And there he goes, nothing on his mind except for fighting right now. Well, what are the two of you waiting for? Go help them kill the damn thing before the Cuntess tries robbing part of our share with some bullshit like but my warriors did so much more!”

Both the fox and the mongoose saluted before going to the Dragon.

“Yes sir!”

Try as it might, the Dragon couldn't break the thread that limited its movement. That said, it could still somewhat hold its own against its attackers. Giving up on actually piercing through its extremely resilient hide, attacks were mostly focused on its back that was more like a kind of shell, even if it resulted in injuries. As it was distracted by the two wasps seemingly attempting to attacks its eyes, the Dragon received a heavy blow to its back by the honey badger.

“Hah! Got you!” The injuries the honey badger received as result of his own attack only served to excite him even more it seemed. “How about another one?”

The Dragon, grunting with frustration, attempted to repel the honey badger's attack using its tail, but before it could even start swinging it, it lost some of its balance, as the fox was puling at the thread connecting its legs. Regaining its balance while attempting to swing its tail at a target near its back merely resulted in its point harmlessly coming close to its back. Quickly seizing the opportunity, the spider connected the tail with the Dragon's side with quite a short thread. Its tail was now sealed. With its attacks more limited, it attempted to bite the incoming mantis, but managed only to have the hooded man grab onto one of its horns. Then it became clear what creature he had ascended into. The scorpion tail surged from under the clothes and directly pierced the Dragon's eye. A deafening roar of pain could be heard. Only increasing in intensity as the mongoose bit into its other eye.

“Good! Keep it up, that thing is a goner! Time to cash in.”

The gorilla cheered on as he stood up, looking like he had not been injured before and ready to rejoin the fight for the finishing blows. However, there was one small thing that all of the people attacking the Dragon seemed to be ignoring. Samson, however, who had been watching the whole thing in a defensive stance had not forgotten about it. He shouted even louder than the roars of pain the dragon was letting out.

“Countess de Trestia! Pay attention! Get away from that one, it's preparing something! Look at the Pool, another Dragon is coming!”

The spider turned around, a hint of panic showing in her eyes, then she looked back at the agonizing Dragon. There was certainly something strange about it, it was almost as if the small spikes on its back were growing, or being pushed out. So many different things happened at the same time that Benjamin wasn't able to really keep up with them. The dying Dragon seemed like it burst like some kind of balloon at the same time that the surface of the Pool burst, as something came out of it.

“Be careful!” Layla pulled Benjamin back, so that he wasn't hit by any of the contents of the Pool. “It's dangerous to touch even one drop.”

At almost the same time, as he looked, Samson was now holding his weapon only with his right hand. In his left was one of the spikes that moments previously had been on the dying Dragon's back. A piercing howl filled the place, perhaps from the newborn Dragon? The Mantis was now quite near the three of them, kneeling on the ground, looking like she was in quite the intense pain.

“Ah fuck, it got the damn thing, but it got me too. Shit. Is it poisonous? That's not good.”

Almost every one of the people who had been attacking the Dragon seemed to have been wounded some way or another by the barrage of spikes from the dying Dragon, who somehow looked quite satisfied. From the now many holes in its back a strange liquid and gas started ooze out.

“Shit. I should have known it wouldn't be this easy. It never is when I get that nagging feeling.” The spider lamented as she dodged the dive from the new Dragon, who was now next to the dying Dragon. She then suddenly became completely horrified. “Oh no, you don't! No!”

Many of the people there tried to react, but it was over in an instant. The new Dragon quickly grabbed the dying Dragon and lifted off with its huge wings. Benjamin couldn't help but ask himself how it could carry something that seemed so heavy. Once it was in the air, there was little anyone could do. Besides, a few of them were coughing and tearing up from the strange gas that the dying Dragon had released.

“Damn, it's gone... That one Dragon was already a problem, to think another one ascended right at that moment...”

The spider looked at the direction the flying Dragon had gone to with irritation and anxiety.