Cave King – 249

Chapter 249 – It was summoning magic!?

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Blindingly bright lights rained down over the magic circle around Remlik.

“Remlik!!”

Just as I tried to move towards him, the ground shook, and a blast of wind tore through the area.

And then the light quickly subsided, and the area was covered in darkness.

“This…”

We looked up at the sky.

What we saw was something so large that it did not fit in our field of vision. And it took several seconds to comprehend what it was.

“…Dragon.”

But not any dragon.

The shape was similar to a lindwurm. However, even if you got a hundred of them together, they would not match this one in size.

It was so awe-inspiring that we were lost for words. The great body was covered in golden scales, and there were wings on its back that were even larger than its body.

It looked like an island was floating in the sky. I was not sure if it was larger than the leviathan or not.

However, there was no time to stand there in awe.

The giant dragon then turned its amber eyes towards us.

“We will retreat for now! Remlik…”

I turned to where Remlik had been standing, but he was no longer there.

“Remlik, where are you!?”
“Lord Heal!! The teleportation!!”

Rienna said, and I immediately teleported to the back.

Just then, lightning struck up ahead. It was right where we had been standing earlier.

If we had been one second late…

“Sorry, Rienna.”
“It’s fine! But Prince Remlik…”

She said as she looked around.

“Where is Remlik!?”
“Prince!! This is no time to be playing games!!”

Fule and I searched as well, but we could not see him.

Ashton and Haines, who had been waiting here, also realized the situation. And so they teleported to other points in order to search for him.

We had decided in advance to retreat if there was some unexpected threat.

Perhaps he had gone all of the way back to the Leorl mountains.

However, when Ashton and Haines returned shortly after, they had dark expressions.

“We went as far back as Leorl, but no one has seen him…”

Said Ashton. And then Haines added,

“No traces or scent…”

In other words, he had not teleported anywhere.
Where could he be then?

As I wondered about this, there was suddenly a sound so loud that it shook the ground.

When I turned my head, I saw that the dragon was roaring up above.

Eventually, as if in answer to that roar, there was a rumbling in the sky. And before we knew it, the sky was covered in dark clouds all of the way to the horizon.

Large drops of water began to fall, and rain poured down like a waterfall. Eventually, it was so bad that we could only see a few steps ahead of us.

As the ground was covered by father, the sounds of thunder echoed.

Some of the lightning struck very close to us. The ground shook as chunks were gouged out.

Apparently, they could not see us either.

Still, I could tell the dragon’s location by its magic energy.

However, I still did not know where Remlik was.

Not his body or magic energy… And the lindwurms that had been around as well. Even most of the dead bodies were gone.

“Could it be that…”

One worry came to mind.
A memory of when I fought with my younger brother, Oren.

Oren had used the blood and flesh of his men in order to summon Lopez.

“That dragon… Was Remlik sacrificed in order to summon it?”

I muttered, and Rienna and the others went pale. They must have remembered it as well.

But Fule replied quickly.

“B-but! There was no light that time. It was black.”
“Yes… And it took time for Oren to take in his men. But this time, it happened in an instant.”

Answered Rienna.

Indeed, it was different this time. So perhaps it was too soon to assume that it was the same magic.

Still, it seemed very likely that the dragon had appeared in exchange for Remlik and the others.
Perhaps they were absorbed into it.

As I became even more worried, Ashton said,

“In any case, what is certain now, is that this dragon is an enemy…”
“All this lightning and rain… Leorl will be in danger! And what if it goes to the forest… We must stop it!”

Haines was right. This was bad.

This dragon had more magic energy than anyone I had faced up until now. Perhaps it was stronger than Baris and Rienna. This rain and thunder was proof of that.

There was no chance of negotiating now.
We had to defeat it as soon as possible.

I nodded my head.

“We will search for Remlik later… For now, let’s return to Leorl and think of a plan. Also, we should have the people evacuate to Sheorl.”

I said, and willed myself to teleport… However.

“…Huh?”

Fule tilted her head.

The others also looked at their Teleportation Stones with puzzled expressions.

“I can’t…teleport.”

Even though I raised it up in the air and willed it, the Teleportation Stone did not work at all.

In the meantime, a blinding light shone down from the sky.

“…Lightning!”

I immediately cast a magic barrier, and then the light flashing around us, carving out the ground.

As the crackling echoed, I sensed that the dragon’s magic energy was moving towards us.

“It knows our position now!”

And then numerous bolts rained down over us.

“Lord Heal! I’m sorry!”

Ashton said as he picked me up and started to run.

Haines picked up Rienna and Fule and ran next to us.

When I turned my head, I saw that lightning was striking down as if gathering towards us.

The ground shook, and dust rose high into the air.

“Thank you, Ashton.”
“It’s nothing. While you may be able to block it with barriers, it would be a bad idea to stay there.”

As Ashton said, the lightning was gouging out the ground every time it struck. That would make it difficult to escape underground.

“You saved us. Sorry, but if you could carry us for a little longer.”
“Certainly!”

As lightning struck in every direction, Ashton continued to run.

The dragon must have lost us, as it was now quite far away.

Once the thunder was distant enough, Ashton said,

“It seems like we have gotten away for now. What will you do, Lord Heal? Should we go on to Leorl?”
“At words, we may all have to escape to Sheorl. Though, since we did not return, it is possible that Baris has already given the order to evacuate. However, they might not be able to make it…we would have to buy them some time.”
“So we will fight?”
“Aye. I want to fight it once and see. Ashton, please continue to run. Protect Rienna and Fule! I…will attack that dragon with magic.”

They all nodded.

I had actually wanted to avoid doing this.

After all, it was possible that Remlik had been absorbed by that dragon.
So an attack might result in killing Remlik.

But…there was no time for hesitation.
My promise with Remlik was my priority now.
We had to protect the people of Leorl. Remlik would not hesitate if he was in my position.

Forgive me, Remlik.

I created a red light in my hand.

I would unleash a magic that Elto taught me—Hell Explosion.

“Lord Heal, my magic energy as well!”

Rienna sent me her magic energy. She left the magic barrier to Fule in order to strengthen the power of my magic.

“Thank you. Now, prepare for the impact.”

I pointed my hand towards the dragon, targeting the center of its body.

As it was so big, it was not difficult to aim.

“…Go!”

And then I unleashed Hell Explosion.

The red sphere of light shot towards the dragon.

Once it was out of sight, Fule said,

“Huh? Ah…”

When it reached the other side, the light expanded.

And then it filled the area, stretching far enough that it nearly touched us.

And then the ground began to shake violently.

“Everyone, here it comes!! Ashton, stop!”

Ashtop stopped running, and I quickly cast a magic barrier.

The blast and impact. And then rain came down.
We managed to stay on our feet. Eventually, our vision cleared.

“Ohh!”

Fuled raised her voice.

The rain stopped, and there was a large hole in the cloudy sky, where sunlight poured in.

And under it, the golden dragon had lost its balance, and was slowly falling.
Its scales seemed to be burned and smoking.

Was it defeated?? No.

The dragon quickly started to beat its wings and regain its balance.

Fule said with disappointment,

“It didn’t work then?”

There was no blood or wounds.
It was practically unhurt then.

And then the dragon turned its amber eyes towards us.

“Here it comes!”

Ashton and Haines began to run once again.

In no time, the hole in the sky closed up again, and the thunderous storm came down over us.

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