Chapter 136
The two Giant Dragons tangled in Mid-air for a moment before separating.
This was a level of impact no human could withstand.
Old Man Ban was still clinging tightly to Alcasas's body, but it wasn't due to his own strength.
*Damn it!! That's one hell of an impact!!*
Old Man Ban frowned slightly at the Psychic Power communication that echoed in his head.
Con.
If not for Con's Telekinesis, Old Man Ban would have been flung off long ago.
Ban looked at Daloran, the Mad Dragon, who had fallen to the Floor.
Daloran, who had been flailing, unable to regain his senses from the significant impact of the Body Slam, eventually came to and rose to his feet.
Daloran's red body was covered in a thick, dark crimson liquid, distinct from the color of his scales.
It was human blood.
Several Black Mages, who had been Cast-ing magic to reinforce the Dragon's Barrier on the Mad Dragon's body, couldn't withstand the impact and were flung off, ground into the Floor.
However, that was only a few, and a considerable number of Black Mages remained safely clinging to Daloran's body.
Old Man Ban's eyes fixed on one of those Black Mages.
White hair.
A young face that contrasted with it.
A handsome face, but one that gave off a subtly twisted and distorted impression.
Ban's fist clenched tightly.
"Balam."
The High Priest of the Cult of Pride.
Lucifer's first son.
A man sometimes called the strongest Black Mage in history.
And to the Hunters of the Labyrinth, he was perceived as an even worse bastard than the Magic Beasts that had tormented them countless times.
Noticing Old Man Ban's gaze, Balam smiled faintly at him.
Seeing that smile, Old Man Ban felt a fire ignite within him.
"Do you remember my son and daughter-in-law? Do you remember my kin you killed!!"
Old Man Ban roared and began to control Alcasas.
Alcasas rose its massive body.
The two Giant Dragons moved on all fours on the Mortal Realm, glaring at each other.
The horns of the White Dragon and the Fire Dragon flashed and glowed for a moment.
Soon, an immense amount of magic began to be fired at each other.
Magic stones of enormous size, far surpassing ordinary Dragon Hearts.
And the horns, which acted as catalysts, preventing the weakening of magic's power, a characteristic of the Great Labyrinth.
Because of this, the Magic Phenomena unleashed by the dragons were as powerful as those used by Mages on the Mortal Realm, with little difference.
Lightning struck the two dragons' Barriers, and flames and ice raged towards each other.
After exchanging blows with magic, the two Giant Dragons soon charged at each other.
Their forelegs violently struck each other's bodies.
The impact, which penetrated the Barrier and still had leftover force, mercilessly shook the massive bodies of the two dragons.
*If we fight like this, we're at a disadvantage!!*
Con's advice echoed in Old Man Ban's head.
*Those guys are reinforcing their Barrier with Black Magic!! If we keep trading blows, our Barrier will shatter first!! If we fight head-on, we'll lose!*
The surroundings were devastated and exploded by the magic pouring from the dragons' horns.
Each time a foreleg struck a Barrier, a dull thud, as if a shell had exploded, swept through the area.
Cracks began to appear in both dragons' Barriers.
And just as Con said, Alcasas's Barrier was in a much more serious state.
While Daloran the Mad Dragon's Barrier had cracks here and there, Alcasas's Barrier looked precarious, as if it could shatter at any moment.
*We'll lose at this rate.*
Ban's mind raced.
His gaze shifted to the side.
Not far away, a Horde of Magic Beasts belonging to the Lucifer Followers was rapidly approaching the Expedition Team.
A momentary smile flickered across Ban's lips at the sight.
"Hey, Necklace! Cast an Illusion!"
*An Illusion? Suddenly, why?...*
"Illusion is Alcasas's specialty, isn't it! Cast an Illusion on that Horde of Magic Beasts and make them attack the Mad Dragon!"
At his words, Con was silent for a moment before bursting into laughter and immediately giving Alcasas a command via Psychic Power.
The two dragons, who had been relentlessly exchanging blows, briefly separated, entering a short Lull.
As soon as the distance opened, the Mad Dragon, once again, prepared its Breath with an attitude of “try and stop me if you can.”
Air was rapidly being sucked into the Mad Dragon's mouth, but Alcasas was not preparing to fire a Breath.
Instead.
It took its time, gathering mana towards its horns, preparing to Cast Illusion Magic.
Since it wasn't an instant Cast magic, it required preparation time, but Illusion Magic had a shorter Cast Time than Breath.
*It's Cast!!*
One step ahead of the Mad Dragon's Breath, magic flashed from Alcasas's horns and activated.
Daloran the Mad Dragon, protected by the Black Mages and Balam, was not affected by the Illusion.
But the other Hordes of Magic Beasts were not so lucky.
Suddenly, hundreds of Magic Beasts at the front of the Horde, who had been Charging towards the Expedition Team, let out monstrous cries and changed their Charge path towards the Mad Dragon.
"What!! What's going on?"
Lucifer Followers, riding on the Magic Beasts and Barrage-firing rifles at the Expedition Team, shouted in confusion.
They urgently reissued commands to the Hordes of Magic Beasts to Charge towards the Expedition Team, but the Hordes of Magic Beasts did not change their direction of Charge.
To the Hordes of Magic Beasts, the Mad Dragon appeared to be the Expedition Team.
The Wyvern Horde was no different.
As if possessed by something.
They poured out aggression towards the Mad Dragon at terrifying speed, rushing in.
"L-Lord Balam! I can't control it!...Aargh!!"
Regardless of whether their controlling Tamer was injured or not.
The Hordes of Magic Beasts and the Wyvern Horde instantly attempted a Body Attack on Daloran's Barrier.
Hundreds of Magic Beasts, not caring about their bodies being damaged, used their speed to collide with Daloran, causing his massive body to sway and tremble.
Due to the broken concentration, the Breath that was about to be unleashed was canceled.
The sound of the Barrier cracking could be heard even from afar.
"Breath!!"
Just as the Mad Dragon was momentarily surrounded by enemies.
Air began to be sucked into Alcasas's mouth.
The Mad Dragon, attacked by its own allies and struggling to shake them off, couldn't react.
Extreme Cold was unleashed from Alcasas's mouth towards the Mad Dragon.
The Hordes of Magic Beasts, caught in the Illusion and biting at Alcasas's Barrier.
The Lucifer Followers riding on them.
And the Wyvern Horde flying around them.
They were instantly enveloped in the cold and froze solid.
There were no screams.
They simply froze to death, maintaining the expressions of their last moments of life.
*It worked perfectly!*
"Not yet! Necklace! It's not dead yet!"
No sooner had Old Man Ban's words fallen than the Mad Dragon burst out, smashing through the frozen corpses of the Hordes of Magic Beasts.
Of course, its condition was far from perfect.
Its Barrier was tattered from being directly hit by the Breath and the Magic Beasts' attacks.
Old Man Ban smiled at the sight.
"Now, we're finally on equal footing."
The Mad Dragon Roared.
A considerable number of Magic Beasts were still Charging towards the Expedition Team.
Perhaps intending to prevent the remaining Hordes of Magic Beasts from being drawn in by Illusion Magic and hindering it, the creature approached at a terrifying speed.
Instead of its powerful but easily canceled Breath, the Mad Dragon seemed to have decided to engage Alcasas with close-quarters combat and instantly Cast-able magic.
As if to prevent Alcasas from having another chance to draw in the Magic Beasts with Illusion.
The Mad Dragon approached at a terrifying speed and began to pound on Alcasas's tattered Barrier.
But this time, the situation was different from before.
"Your Barrier is quite tattered too, isn't it!"
At Alcasas's Counterattack, the Mad Dragon's Barrier began to crack with a precarious sound.
The condition of the two Giant Dragons' Barriers was now completely similar.
The Mad Dragon continued to pour attacks at a terrifying speed to prevent Alcasas from using Illusion Magic again, and Alcasas, knowing that if it retreated, the Mad Dragon's attacks would rain down on the Expedition Team, did not back down and engaged in the fight.
As a result.
It was perhaps natural that the Full-body Barriers of both dragons shattered almost simultaneously.
And from the moment their Barriers broke.
Every single ordinary magic spell became fatal.
The Mad Dragon and Alcasas unleashed magic at each other.
The Giant Dragon's scales were scorched by lightning and burned by high-temperature flames.
After a barrage of magic, the fight transitioned to close combat.
Sharp claws left long wounds on the opponent's body.
Blood splattered, screams erupted, and Dragon Fear ran rampant as a gruesome and terrible battle ensued.
*Meanwhile, the remaining Hordes of Magic Beasts and the Wyvern Horde had almost reached the Expedition Team.*
The sound of shotguns, meant for close-quarters combat rather than Heavy Machine Guns, began to echo, and Old Man Ban felt increasingly anxious at the sound.
*If only I could unleash a Breath on the remaining Horde of Magic Beasts, even just once.*
*If only I could use Illusion Magic one more time, we'd have an absolute advantage.*
The problem was that the Mad Dragon and Balam wouldn't allow it.
Illusion Magic was not an instant Cast magic.
It required time to activate.
Breath was the same.
And the Mad Dragon seemed to have no intention of giving them time to prepare either of those two attacks.
The two Giant Dragons continued to fire magic at each other and swung their forelegs, fighting.
The fierce battle didn't last long.
It met its end.
The Mad Dragon, with a Roar, bit into Alcasas's long neck.
Blood spurted out, and Alcasas's neck was almost half torn off.
Alcasas screamed and swung its foreleg.
Sharp, massive claws dug into the wound on Daloran's chest.
One dragon was biting the opponent's neck, and the other was clutching its heart.
And almost simultaneously.
Both heart and neck shattered at the same time.
With a crunching sound, the light faded from Alcasas's eyes.
The Mad Dragon, too, without time for a victory Roar, staggered and collapsed to the Floor.
It was the moment the King of the East and the King of the West met their deaths simultaneously.
*Dangerous!!*
But though the two dragons were dead, the battle was not over yet.
The fight between the Expedition Team and the remaining Hordes of Magic Beasts was intensifying.
Along with gunshots, the sound of various explosives planted as Booby Traps detonated.
And Old Man Ban had no time to rest either.
Almost simultaneously with Con's scream-like voice, a Black Magic spell narrowly grazed the side of Ban's head.
If Con hadn't used all his strength to deflect the magic's trajectory with Psychic Power, it would have been an attack that would have burst his head.
Ban immediately dismounted from Alcasas's corpse and grabbed his Auto Shotgun.
"How many Black Mages are left?"
*Five. Including Balam.*
"They're too strong for an Elderly Person with just a single shotgun to handle."
He would die.
It was highly probable he would die.
But Ban, instead, laughed.
"Hey, Necklace!"
*F-Fight?*
"I have no intention of committing suicide. I'm going back to the Expedition Team. The problem is that this shotgun won't work on the Black Mages."
He slightly pulled back the Charging Handle to check if a round was properly chambered. Then, Ban took a Deep Breath.
"You. You can use Telekinesis, right? Can you accelerate the shotgun's Slug Rounds to penetrate the Black Mages' Defensive Magic in one go?"
*I think so.*
"Good. That's enough."
Ban Shouldered the shotgun and began to move around Alcasas's corpse.
Reaching Alcasas's tail, Ban repeatedly opened and closed his sweat-soaked hands, gauging the distance between himself and the Expedition Team's Defensive Position.
"Bentley. Ash. If I happen to die, please come and meet me."
*Don't say such ominous things, Grandpa! Please stay alive!! Don't let me fall into the hands of the Black Mages!!*
"I'll try. Now...here I go!!"
Ban sprinted with all his might, moving away from Alcasas's tail.
Expecting Black Magic to fly at him at any moment, he began to run towards the Mad Dragon's corpse, his gun aimed.
Con, too, was tense, ready to accelerate the rounds with Telekinesis at any time.
However.
No matter how much he ran and ran.
No Black Magic came.
*What is it? Those guys? Why?...*
Balam and the Black Mages were busily moving, approaching the corpses of the Mad Dragon and Alcasas.
Old Man Ban seemed not to be their priority at all. They didn't even spare him a glance.
As Old Man Ban frantically ran back to the Expedition Team, Balam briefly cast his gaze upon him.
He gave a strange smile and waved his hand.
Old Man Ban couldn't look at Balam until the very end.
*The Expedition Team!!*
At Con's scream, Ban's gaze snapped towards the Defensive Position.
An enormous number of Hordes of Magic Beasts lay dead, unable to even approach the Defensive Position.
It was practically a massacre.
But their attack hadn't been in vain either.
The outer wall of the Defensive Position had collapsed.
The sound of shotguns and Black Magic being fired.
The Roars of Magic Beasts echoed chaotically.
Old Man Ban gritted his teeth.
"Please. Please!!"
*I hope at least one more person is safe.*
*It's a futile assumption, but please, I hope no one died.*
Ban ran like mad.
After running to the Expedition Team's Defensive Position with endurance unthinkable for an Elderly Person.
"Necklace! Accelerate!!"
*Leave it to me!!*
Ban began to fire the Auto Shotgun his grandson had made for him.
The 10-gauge Shotgun began to Roar, tearing through the Magic Beasts' Barriers and the flesh within them in one go.