Within the extradimensional refuge, the air warped and distorted as scorching flames ignited in the red dragon's throat.
"Quick! Scatter!"
"Dragon breath!"
Dex roared in fury.
The members of Crimson Edge made their moves in an instant, taking flight on spread wings, sinking into shadows, or teleporting away to flee in all directions.
*Boom!*
A deluge of raging fire poured downward, transforming the sanctuary into a roaring sea of flames. Everything they had prepared melted away under the searing heat.
Wreathed in fire, Cassius hurled his massive frame against the fabric of the space again and again, tearing apart the barrier separating the pocket dimension from the Material Plane with razor-sharp teeth and talons.
"You dare dream of slaying a dragon with such pathetic tricks?"
"I have seen far too many overconfident fools like you!"
"And in the end, they all share a single fate—reduced to ash!"
Amid the red dragon's roar, the surrounding space shook violently, teetering on the verge of ruin.
Then, beneath repeated crashing blows, a dense web of cracks spread across the void. With a brittle snap, the extradimensional space shattered completely—Klein could hold it together no longer, no matter how hard he strained.
Cast out into midair over the Material Plane, they fell toward the earth and tumbled onto the devastated battlefield.
"Do not be afraid, everyone!"
"After a battle of that scale, he can't have much strength left!"
Dex Flamegold unfurled his wings in midair. Raising his golden greatsword high, he revealed the sunburst holy symbol bearing a divine visage upon the hilt and bellowed fiercely:
"Evil wyrm! In the name of Amaunator, Lord of Eternal Light—I grant you your final end!"
Instantly, a pillar of solar brilliance descended from the heavens, washing over the red dragon.
It was the Oath of Vengeance paladin's Channel Divinity: Abjure Enemy!
Dex channeled the power of the sun god to plunge his foe into terror of order and justice, an ability especially potent against fiends and undead.
Bathed in solar radiance, the red dragon high in the sky glowed resplendently, yet his broad wings beat on without pause.
Klein also cast a spell, conjuring thick spectral chains in midair that wound tightly around the dragon's gargantuan body.
"A Blackguard of Vengeance... familiar tactics," Cassius observed, an amused glint flickering in his vertical pupils.
With just a slight flex of the dragon's muscles, the light clinging to his scales dimmed considerably. The chains violently rattled and shook, clinking loudly against one another.
"Quick! Seize this chance and kill him!"
"His strength is too immense! Neither my Channel Divinity nor Klein's spell will last long!" Dex shouted in desperation.
His companions in Crimson Edge had already anticipated the moment.
"Foe Slayer!"
Grom raised his hand crossbow and loosed a bolt trailing dense black mist—an Arrow of Dragon Slaying.
At the same time, Ingrid assumed a devout expression and raised her scepter, the sun sigil at its head flaring with blinding brilliance.
"Flame Strike!"
A vertical column of divine fire roared downward from the celestial realms.
"Blade of Disaster!"
Klein raised his staff, pointing it toward the red dragon from afar, and sliced open a planar rift several feet long that resembled a sword.
The bolt shrouded in black fog tore through the air, swelling into a shaft as thick as an arm. Divine fire crashed down from the sky, while the rift of disaster sliced through space.
Three legendary-tier attacks struck from different directions, converging on a single target: the red dragon aloft.
Against an ordinary dragon—even an ancient red dragon—such concentrated fire would surely have inflicted grievous wounds. Unfortunately for them, they were facing Cassius.
Dragons were innately resistant to magic, making ordinary spells ineffective against them, and this dragon's very tier of existence was terrifyingly exalted.
"Roar—!"
Rearing his head, the red dragon loosed a thunderous roar and snapped his wings wide, instantly shattering every restraint upon him.
Whether the sun god's radiance, the mystical chains, or the mental disruption, all dissolved into nothing the moment his power surged forth.
Spell Wither.
Beams of antimagic rays shot out, projecting massive spherical antimagic fields through the surrounding air. Ingrid's divine fire was extinguished, and Klein's planar rift was swallowed whole.
As for the Arrow of Dragon Slaying aimed straight for his heart, the red dragon casually pinched it between two talons.
Bolstered by an array of draconic spells, his strength, speed, and reflexes had reached horrifying heights.
"An Arrow of Dragon Slaying? An amusing toy."
Cassius sneered. He could sense the lethal magic woven into the projectile, crafted specifically to destroy draconic essence. Had it truly pierced his heart, even he would have suffered grievous wounds.
Leo Bosque had clearly spared no expense. This was indeed a formidable adventuring party, strong enough to contend with—and perhaps even kill—an ancient dragon.
"How is that possible...?"
"That was an..."
Grom stared into the sky in sheer disbelief, his gaze unexpectedly locking with the red dragon's. Those golden pupils were as bottomless as an abyss, seemingly harboring a hint of mockery.
In that instant, the ranger felt a nearly palpable pressure bear down from every side, freezing space and time.
It was a Charisma potent enough to warp reality itself.
Grom's thoughts seized. His breath caught in his throat, and he froze stock-still where he stood.
To freeze in the midst of battle was a fatal mistake—something a legendary ranger understood all too well. Reality proved it an instant later.
*Whoosh—!*
A shaft as thick as an arm tore through the air, impaling his chest and pinning him firmly to the ground.
"Urgh..."
Grom slowly lowered his head and coughed up a mouthful of blood. To his horror, he saw that the weapon pinning him to the earth was the very Arrow of Dragon Slaying he had just loosed.
"Grom!"
Ingrid's expression warped in panic. She frantically raised her scepter, attempting to cast Death Ward.
Yet in the next breath, scorching flames erupted violently from the bolt, swallowing Grom's gaunt frame whole.
With a brief, muffled shriek and the crackling snap of incineration, nothing remained upon the earth but a vague heap of humanoid ash.
"No—!"
"Let me go! Let me leave! I'm going to the Shadowfell!"
Grom's soul coalesced into a dark shadow, thrashing in a desperate attempt to flee.
Yet the deep-crimson flames chased after it, burning even that remnant shadow to utter nothingness, leaving only piercing shrieks echoing in the wind.
The legendary ranger and Gloom Stalker, Grom Duarte, perished then and there, destroyed beyond the reach of even True Resurrection.
"No, no..."
"Slaying a dragon was a joke from the start..."
Ingrid shook her head faintly, her golden eyes filled with abject horror, her voluptuous frame trembling beneath her white robes.
She had never faced an enemy so terrifying.
It had all unfolded far too quickly. In the span of a few breaths, before the battle had even truly begun, their party had already suffered a casualty.
Chapter 335