Cave King – 250

Chapter 250 – The Tables Were Turned!?

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When the dragon turned its head towards us, lightning fell down nearby.

“Tsk!”

Ashton started to run again while carrying me.
Haines also ran parallel to us while carrying Rienna and Fule.

At the same time, countless lightning bolts struck down like rain.

“Lord Heal! Leave this to me!”
“Thank you!!”

If one hit was enough, then you merely had to keep shooting.

As the lightning fell, I unleashed Hell Explosion over and over again.

However, no matter how many times I attacked, the dragon did not lose its posture.

At first, I thought it was using a magic barrier as well.

But I was apparently wrong.
When the rain died down and I was able to see the dragon again, I saw that along with the explosions, there were great splashes of water.

While sending magic energy to me, Rienna said,

“Perhaps it is gathering the rain water to block the impact…?”
“In the first place, this waterfall-like rain might be weakening the force.”

Fule said while casting a magic barrier. Haines nodded.

“That is quite likely… Brother, in that case…”

Ashton looked at the spot under the dragon and opened his mouth.

“We could go right under the enemy, and slam it with an attack to the stomach. And it will be easier to see, since we’ll be out of the rain. Of course, it will also be easier for the enemy to see us.”

Rienna turned to me.

“…What should we do, Lord Heal?”
“To be honest, I am not enthusiastic about it. It’s possible that Ruda and the others are waiting for us.”

As if remembering something, Haines said,

“That Ruda. During Prince Remlik’s escape last time, he also seemed to know where we were.”
“Aye. Even now, he could be detecting our magic energy.”
“In that case, surely it would be dangerous to go now…”
“Yes, it is dangerous. However, if we don’t do something, the dragon might just ignore us and head to Leorl instead. I want to avoid that at all costs.”

If they were not finished evacuating, then it could result in heavy losses for the demihumans.
Even if we couldn’t defeat the dragon, we had to buy more time.

“…We will deal with it. However, instead of being right under it the whole time, we can hit it once, and then return to the rain and hide. After that, we could go under it from a different place and attack it again.”
“Hit and run repeatedly. Very well. Let’s go with that strategy.”

Ashton said, and then he started to run towards the dragon.

He would reach it in no time.

“Ashton, we’ll be right under it soon.”
“Yes!”

Ashton started to run even faster.

Eventually, beyond the waterfall-like rain, we could see a field where it was not raining.

I raised my hand up to the sky and prepared to unleash the magic.

“We’re out!”

Ashton said, and then we were directly below the dragon.
At the same time, I unleashed the magic.

Upon seeing this, Ashton ran back out into the rain.

“…How was it?”

Amidst the thunder, I looked towards the dragon.

A second later, the sounds of an explosion echoed again, and there was a gust of wind as the rain was blown far away.

In the sky, the dragon seemed to have been staggered.
And several scales fell down to the ground.
On the dragon’s stomach, there was an exposed area that was burned black after losing the scales.

“Yes! It’s working!!”

Fule cheered.

So the rain really did affect the attacks.
Also, we were much closer to the dragon.

While running, Ashton said,

“Lord Heal. Let’s continue with the hit and run tactics!”
“Aye!”

If we continue, we should be able to win… Huh?

I suddenly sensed numerous presences moving in our direction. They were all the shape of lindworms.

“…The Vader people must have noticed us.”
“In that case, Prince Ruda…”
“No, he’s not alone… They must mean to surround us.”

I could sense over a hundred of them heading in our direction.
Not only that, but they were taking a formation as if to chase us right under the dragon.

Ashton continued to run, but the formation seemed to continue on and on.
They had likely created a net with the dragon in the center.

“Are they chasing us to the center where you can see better?”
“Perhaps that is where they want to fight us.”
“So the enemy had a plan as well. What should we do? Wouldn’t it be better to get out of their circle first?”
“No. As we cannot use the teleportation stones, it would be bad to charge into them. But if we defeat the dragon, we’ll be able to use the stones again.”
“Understood. In that case, let us go back to the spot right under the dragon!”

Ashton charged back again.

I targeted the spot where the scales had come off of the stomach, and unleashed Hell Explosion.

Just as before, there was an explosive sound and strong winds.

And then many scales fell to the ground. This time, the dragon let out a painful roar.

However, there was no time.
Where there was no rain, the Vader army was closing in to surround us.

“Ashton. There is no point in hiding now. We’ll continue to attack. Just keep running below it!”
“Yes!!”

Instead of going back into the rain, Ashton ran at full speed.

As for me, I fired continuously at the dragon.

The dragon started to lose its balance, and it seemed like maintaining the rain of lightning was the most it could manage.

“We can win!!”

Fule and Haines said at the same time.

The dragon’s wound was widening.
I was sure of our victory as well.

However, that’s when it happened.

“…This sound.”

The sound of something cutting through the air.

“Ashton, stop!”

I said, and quickly cast a magic barrier.

In the next instant, something huge—it was Rude, charged into us.

“!!”

And then the ground that we were standing on cratered from the impact.

After Ruda crashed into us, he took a defensive stance a short distance away.

“Hmm, so that didn’t kill you after all… Hmm? Where is Remlik?”

Ruda looked at us with confusion.

He must have thought that Remlik would be here too.
Ruda then glanced towards the lindworms, and appeared to give them orders to go someplace else.

So they didn’t know where Remlik was either.
In any case, perhaps we could use that to our advantage.

“Hey. More importantly, Ruda…”
“The battle has already begun! I have no intention of negotiating with you!”

Ruda said, and then he brought down the same powerful lightning attack he had used last time.

Ashton and Haines ran and dodged them.

However, unlike last time, he continued the attack over and over again.
On top of that, there were the attacks from the dragon.

Fule blocked them with her barrier and said,

“…Will he run out of magic energy!?”
“Perhaps he is receiving some from the dragon or others.”

As Rienna said, it seemed that Ruda was more dangerous now than he was before.

I could also not focus on the attacks, and having to fight while making barriers meant that I couldn’t defend in time.

On top of that, the lindworms were getting closer.

At this point, it was only a matter of time before they had us trapped from all sides.

“Huh? That!!”

Fule shouted as she looked up at the sky.

There was a golden statue that flew at a high speed… It looked like Mappa.

“Mappa!!!!”

We all shouted at once.

The Mappa statue made a fist and slammed it heavily into the dragon’s head.

The dragon bent backwards and screamed.

“He did it!!”

Fule raised her hands happily. I cheered as well.

At a speed that the eyes could not follow, the Mappa statue continued to give the dragon a taste of its fists.

“It’s strong.”

I muttered.

Was Mappa controlling it? I didn’t know, but…

Near the Mappa statue, there was someone who looked like a devil. It was Baris.
It seemed like he was supplying it with magic energy.

Baris…so he had planned this.

The dragon was trying its best to block the attacks with its arms.
It was no longer making it rain, and Ruda’s lightning attacks had stopped as well.

Ruda was stunned.

“Tsk!! What the hell is that? Some kind of naked monster!?”
“It is our symbol! Ashton, Haines!”

Ashton and Haines put us down, and then rushed towards Ruda.

“Haines, let’s go!”
“Aye, brother!”

Ashton and Haines unsheathed their swords and attacked Ruda.

Ruda met them with his claws, but as he could not use magic, he had to stay on the defense.

“Shit!! To be defeated by a mere human and demihumans!”
“We Sheorl people would never lose to an arrogant fool like you! Argh!”

Haines’s sword smashed against Ruda’s jaw, causing him to lose his balance.

“Gah!”
“Now, brother!!”
“Aye!”

Ashton threw the rope around Ruda, and with familiar movements, tied him up.

“We have won, Prince Ruda.”
“Tsk!!”

Ruda tried to get free of the bindings, but the rope was made of mithril.
It could not be broken or untied.

Just then, many Mado Armors came down from the sky.
They then started to unleash magic on the lindworms.

“AAHH! Run!!”
“Prince Ruda is captured! And the originator is losing! It’s over!”

Upon seeing that the dragon was struggling, the Vader people began to abandon formation and run.

And so I tried talking to Ruda.

“Ruda. The battle is over. We do not mean to war against Vader. Just tell the king to withdraw the dragons. And we can talk.”
“Heh… I really cannot understand you people. If I were in your place, I would kill me in an instant. The battle is not really over, you know?”

Haines was annoyed.

“You still think you are strong? You do not know when to quit… Huh!?”

Suddenly, Ruda’s body began to glow.

“Hehe. I will take that as a compliment. Next time, you better be sure to kill me.”

Ruda turned into light completely, and then was sucked towards the dragon.

Not just Ruda, but the other lindworms were also turning into light and being sucked towards the dragon.

Ashton was astonished.

“So that dragon really is a mass of lindworms! Lord Heal!!”
“Aye!!”

As if to follow Ruda, I unleashed Hell Explosion at the dragon.
I targeted the wound where the scales had come off.

An explosion immediately enveloped the dragon, and a powerful wind blew.

But it was too late.

The painful-looking wound of the dragon had healed, as if it was never there.
And the scales were starting to grow back as well.

The dragon roared once again, and then the powerful rain and thunder returned.

Of course, the Mappa statue reacted immediately.

It started to punch, but…

“Mappa!!”

The dragon’s tail swung, and the Mappa statue was blown away, far into the distance.

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