The dragon descended directly toward the section of forest Noah was desperately running through.
FLAP!!
Its enormous wings beat downward.
BOOOOM!!
A violent blast of wind crashed into the forest.
Trees bent beneath the pressure. Some were ripped straight from the earth, their massive roots tearing through the soaked ground before the trunks were hurled aside like twigs. Rainwater exploded from the leaves in clouds of mist, while broken branches and debris scattered everywhere.
Noah threw an arm over his face as he continued running. Fortunately, Akari hadn’t spotted him yet. Or at least, that was what he hoped.
The enormous dragon landed among the trees, its massive claws crushing the earth beneath them.
CRUNCH!!
Several trees shattered beneath its weight.
Then Akari’s dragon form raised its head.
Her jaws slowly opened.
Crackle! Crackle! CRACKLE—!!
Brilliant blue lightning gathered inside her mouth. Arcs of electricity danced between her fangs, growing brighter with every passing second. The air itself seemed to vibrate as an enormous amount of energy condensed within her throat.
Noah’s instincts screamed at him.
’Danger! Danger!’
He immediately turned his head.
"Shit!!"
Akari was facing directly toward the path ahead of him.
Noah instantly slammed his foot into the muddy ground and changed direction. Rather than continuing forward, he spun around and sprinted back the way he had come.
At almost the exact same moment.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A massive beam of blue lightning erupted from the dragon’s mouth.
It tore through the forest.
Trees disappeared within the blinding torrent of electricity. The beam carved a path hundreds of meters long through the woodland, obliterating everything before it.
Noah didn’t dare look back. The explosion that followed shook the earth beneath his feet.
’That would have killed me!’
He continued running until something caught his attention.
Akari’s enormous foreleg.
Because she had descended so low, one of her claws was planted among the trees not far from him.
Noah stared at it.
A reckless idea immediately entered his mind.
’Should I?’
His expression twisted.
’No... that’s fucking idiotic. There is no way power of love or friendship works.’
He took another step. Then glanced at the claw again.
’But...’
Noah clenched his teeth.
"Fuck it!"
He abruptly changed direction and dashed toward the dragon.
Mana surged through his body.
Akari’s claw moved through the trees as she adjusted her enormous body, smashing trunks aside without even noticing them.
Noah stretched out his hand.
His ice affinity responded immediately.
Crack! Crack! CRACK!!
Ice erupted beneath his feet. Instead of forming a weapon, Noah continuously created more ice beneath the first layer.The structure rapidly grew upward.
Ten meters, twenty and then thirty meters. A massive pillar of ice rose from the forest floor, carrying Noah toward Akari’s foreleg.
The higher he climbed, the stronger the wind became. Rain struck his face like countless needles.
"Come on..."
The pillar reached its limit.
Noah bent his knees. Mana exploded through his legs.
BOOM!
He launched himself from the top. For several terrifying seconds, there was nothing beneath his feet.
There was only wind and rain. And the massive body of a dragon.
"AAAAHHH!!"
Noah stretched both arms forward. His fingers struck Akari’s sapphire-blue scales.
They slipped.
"No!"
His hand desperately searched for something to grab before finally catching against the raised edge of one enormous scale.
His other hand immediately followed.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The lightning beam struck the distant forest. A tremendous explosion erupted behind them.
The shockwave swept through the surrounding woodland, throwing smoke, shattered wood, dirt, and vaporized rainwater high into the air.
At the same moment.
FLAP!!!
Akari spread her enormous wings. With one powerful beat, the dragon launched herself back into the sky.
Noah’s stomach dropped.
"WHOA!!"
The ground suddenly disappeared beneath him. He tightened his grip with everything he had.
His boots scrambled against Akari’s scales until he managed to find footing along the upper portion of her massive claw.
"Don’t fall... Don’t fucking fall!"
He wrapped both arms around the thick lower section of her foreleg.
The scales pressed painfully against his chest and arms. They were harder than steel, with raised edges sharp enough that Noah could feel them scraping against his skin through his clothes.
But he refused to let go. The dragon climbed higher. Wind screamed past him.
His soaked white hair whipped violently behind his head as rain struck his face.
Noah cautiously looked downward.
The forest was rapidly shrinking beneath him.
"..."
His heart nearly stopped.
He should have been terrified.
He was terrified.
Yet... A grin slowly spread across his face.
His heart hammered wildly—not entirely from fear anymore.
Adrenaline surged through every part of his body.
He was hundreds of meters above the ground, clinging to the leg of an out-of-control Storm Dragon while lightning ripped across the sky around him.
And somehow he was enjoying it. Noah’s grin widened.
’Fuck... Why am I enjoying this?!’
"Shit!"
Despite himself, a laugh escaped his lips as he tightened his grip.
"Hahaha!"
Maybe he really had lost his mind.
’It’s time to become a dragon slayer!! Someday, I’ll tell my kids about how I fought a freaking dragon when I was only nineteen!’
---
Noah slowly began climbing. There was no other choice.
Akari’s enormous dragon form continued tearing through the stormy sky, and Noah was still clinging to one of her hind legs.
"Okay... slowly..."
His fingers tightened around the edge of a dark sapphire scale.
Crack!
A layer of ice immediately formed around his hand, freezing his palm and fingers against the scale.
Noah had realized something important after nearly being thrown off several times.
His physical strength alone wasn’t enough.
Akari’s scales were smooth in some places and sharply raised in others. Combined with the rain and the violent wind rushing against him, maintaining a normal grip was nearly impossible.
So he used his Ice Creation differently.
Every time he grabbed onto a scale, Noah formed a layer of ice around his hand and the scale beneath it, temporarily locking them together.
Then, when he needed to move.
Crack!
He shattered the ice. Reached higher. Grabbed another scale.
Crack!
And froze his hand in place again. It wasn’t fast. But it worked.
---
[A/N: Bear with me, guys... I’m still planning a few things, so please bear with Chapters like this for a little while longer. The main stuff is coming soon!]
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