Yuurei was with Brone today as the two of them were heading towards Rush Valley. It was a small town, but it was expanding rapidly because of the raw material it provided. It also meant that it was favored to be attacked by people who wanted these things for their own, or just bandits who were selfish. While they were walking towards the town though there was something off, he couldn’t point it out. While they were moving forward and towards the town, the town at first seemed fine, but as Yuurei would continue moving forward he would see something wrong with it. There was smoke coming from a bunch of the buildings and soon the sight of fire would be in his field of sight.

What the hell was happening here? The light mage could only feel sympathy and figured that the town was in trouble and they needed their help.

“Brone we going to check on what’s going on.” He would say this, but as soon as his words made it to his friend, a huge shadow would cover them and move towards the town once again.

Yuurei would look up, and his eyes would spread open as he couldn’t believe what he had seen.

Spoiler:

A huge, red dragon would move towards the town as it would spread its flames from its breath and towards the people who lived in that town. It made Yuurei nervous and scared at first because he had never fought one of these things before. Still, all the feelings he was going through would be substituted with another feeling and it was anger. He didn’t like that this dragon was being the one thing he hated, and it was a bully.

The fire dragon would turn around during its flight and it could see that there were two insects near the town that had powerful mana. He would snarl when he saw this as he was getting tired of harassing weak meals and soar towards them with intent to make them his prey.

He was getting ready to head to the town and towards the dragon, but he would notice that the dragon was heading their way instead.

“Oh shit he’s coming our way.” He said as he would throw himself to the side attempting to read the dragon’s movement.

Instead, the dragon would stop before them as he would transform into his humanoid form and would laugh at Yuurei.

Spoiler:

“That was quite hilarious of you insect. Please entertain me more.” He said as he looked at the two of them.

His head turned to the dwarf who was much smaller than Yuurei and he would only laugh a bit more.

“It seems we have an insect and a baby insect with a lot of hair.” He said as he was talking about Brone.

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Brone Heavyaxe agreed to go with Yuurei to Rush Valley, though he wasn't entirely sure as to why, something about valuable materials, then again, most of the time Yuurei requests for him to tag along had was vague in his reasons; eventually, Brone stopped asking and just followed the half-elf and hoped they didn't die... of boredom, he'd prefer to be caught up in a fight so that his prowess can be shown.

The dwarf was barely paying attention, just grunting and looking at the scenery around him every so often, but Yuurei's voice, seeming tensed, caught his attention. Ahead, dark smoke was rising from the town, a moment after, he realized buildings were burning. At first he wondered if the bandits from Magnolia were attacking again, but his question was soon answered by a large shadow was cast over the valley. Brone looked up to see a creature he had only heard stories of and seen in picture books... a dragon.

The beast flew over the town and let loose a breath of fire, confirming who the culprit was. Brone drew both his axes as if instinctively, he would plan on rushing in to help those in need, but his feet wouldn't move; a bead of sweat dropped from his brow and he could feel his arms shake a bit, this was fear, he imagined himself a boy again, fearing the mighty dragon from the stories.

Then the dragon turn about, heading in their direction. Brone was finding himself, trying to force himself to move. When the beast was close enough and Yuurei jumped, the dwarf attempted to jump out of the way, or at least he thought he did, he just froze.

Now before them was a humanoid, an ability he heard dragon could have, and this was proof that it existed. The dragon found this situation humorous. He spouted insults and the dwarf gritted his teeth in anger, "Trust me when I say ye going to get the worse bug bite ever, ye overgrown lizard" he growled as he gripped both his axes tightly.

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Yuurei didn’t like his manner of speaking to them. He and the dragon would look over to Brone as they heard what he said. He was surprised that his friend would be brave enough to say that to a dragon. He would have a smirk on his face because they were going to have a good time today.

“Renji.” He said this as his Exceed would open the bag he carried and Yuurei’s gauntlet would appear on his right arm.

The Nephilim would look at the dragon and at least they had his attention.

“I guess taking you down is the only thing we can do.” He said as the dragon looked at Yuurei and laugh.

“You two think you can do something to me? And you called me an overgrown lizard? Know your place you pathetic insect.” He said this as he would inhale before letting out a fire breath in Brone’s direction.

Yuurei was surprised about this, but while this happened, he had to do something. If his friend was going to get attacked, then he was going to have to return the favor. Yuurei would open both his hands and he would activate his two magic circles. The stars would appear soon after and they would enter Yuurei. He didn’t just stop there though. The light mage had poured mana into his gauntlet all at the same time, and it would increase his power and speed as well.

Yuurei would run next to the dragon, and he would punch the crap out of the dragon right in the face. His face would turn and the fire dragon would look over to Yuurei. He felt that blow, but he was angered by the feeling.

“You dare touch Astarot’s face. Step back, you're an insect, you have to show me more fun than this.” He said as he would backhand Yuurei and it would send the mage flying to the ground as he didn’t expect that to hurt as much.

Yuurei was not wearing armor, so he definitely felt that one.

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Brone gained some of his courage back after he let out that insult, the annoyed look on the humanized dragon's face had given a bit of the dwarf's confidence back, that is until the beast took a deep breath. Brone immediately thought of the the fire that was coating the building tops of the nearby town, so he quickly attempted to lunge out of the way as a blast of fire erupted from Astarot's mouth. The searing heat was definitely felt, but luckily Brone was able to throw himself to the side, just out of range of the blast. Before Astarot could turn his head and have the blast follow the dwarf, Yuurei slammed his fist into the dragon's face, forcing the attack to stop.

The dwarf tumbled to his feet. Smoke emitted from his back, so he tossed his fur cloak to the ground, allowing it to continue burning as the flames ate at it, so long as it wasn't the dwarf himself. Brone gripped his axes tightly as he ran forward. Though he was fearful of the beast, even while he took humanoid form, the dwarf couldn't turn away, especially since his friend was brave enough to save him. As Yuurei was backhanded away, Brone took advantage of the dragon being distracted by that moment and swung his iron battleaxe. Astarot noticed the attack just in time to block the blade with his forearm. As the blade of the axe connected, it rang out as if it hit metal; Astarot wanted to say something clever but the dwarf kept going, the steel axe was coming in for an attack as well, unfortunately because Astarot had blocked the first attack with his left hand, his right hand wouldn't be able to block the second attack since it was also coming in from the left.

The steel axe hit the dragon's humanoid form in the side, just below the ribs. Even though the attack felt as if it didn't sink in enough, the dragon winced either in pain or complete annoyance. Brone had intended Astarot to be pushed back by the force, but when he realized the human-beast barely budged an inch, the dwarf jumped back to gain distance between the two. He slammed his iron axe onto the floor, blade down so the handle was sticking up so he could slip his helmet on, knowing that he would need to go all out for this battle.

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Yuurei would get up from the ground as he was spitting out blood from his mouth. He would chuckle a bit because that dragon was truly strong. Astarot was it? He had powered down the gauntlet as he couldn’t withstand using that alongside the two spells he was holding onto. He would get back to it later, but it was not the right time to be using that. It looked like Brone had attacked and Astarot looked at them both before laughing.

He would levitate from the ground, which he was actually using his wings to do, and have a smile on his face.

“You two really attacked me without hesitating. This is great, you fear me, yet you attack. This is wonderful, most people run away and get slaughtered without a fight. But you two, I need to see how strong your will is.” He said pridefully to them.

He would rush straight towards Yuurei as he would grab the young man by the face as he gripped was tighten. Yuurei was not happy with this move. He would find himself punching and kicking Astarot a few times in his abdomen and thighs before he heard the dragon laughing.

It wouldn’t take long before he let go of Yuurei before spinning and kicking him towards the ground below. The light mage would crash into the ground this time bouncing off it and coughing out blood from the hit. Astarot would soar straight towards the light mage, but he would get up quickly and roll over to the side as the fire dragon would slam into the ground.

The light mage would get up ready to fight as he couldn’t believe this dragon was that strong. He wiped the blood from his mouth again ready to continue this.

“You aren’t going to live long with how you burned down houses and ruin innocent people’s life. Nobody attacked you for you to be fighting like you are right now.” He said this as made his way towards Astarot.

Yuurei had rushed straight towards the humanoid dragon and when he had thrown a left punch, he saw Astarot moving against it. The dragon landed a punch of his own on Yuurei’s chest. Yuurei’s right hand was where it was at. He felt the pain but kept moving as his right hand landed solidly on the man’s cheek. He would chuckle a bit before the man would smack Yuurei with his tail and sent him flying to the ground again.

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Brone had stood his ground, watching the draconic humanoid in case the reddish being made even the slightest move; he recognized this wasn't like any other creature he had fought before and he needed to treat this entirely seriously, seeing Yuurei cough up blood from just one hit confirmed this. His usual tactic to rush in without a thought would possibly lead to his death, besides, his caution was mixed in with his fear, keeping his feet from jumping into a sprint.

From a quick eruption of flames, like a small flashfire, a smaller version of Astarot's wings appeared from his back, allowing him to levitate with barely any movement. Brone mentally yelled at himself, trying to psych himself into attacking at the right moment. The best chance he had to hit the beast was to swing his blade when he isn't expecting it, so counters would have to be favored in this battle. So he waited, but the next moment showed Brone that this tactic too would be difficult. Astarot sped towards Yuurei in a blink of an eye, too fast for the dwarf to react in time, but even if he was too late to start running, he had to move, so he kicked off the ground and tried to follow the beast.

Yuurei was grabbed, blows were exchanged, and a deadly blow was avoided by the light mage, luckily, all the while the dwarf was running, trying to get behind Astarot, finding a blind spot before moving in, however, because Brone wasn't as fast as Yuurei, this 'running around' tactic didn't hide him from the dragon's eye, the beast was beginning to turn his attention to him. For a moment, Brone wondered if he should dodge, or attack, but then he saw Yuurei move in for a punch, as retaliation, the dragon also went in for a punch, 'There!' Brone rushed in, gripping his axes tightly.

The light mage and the dragon exchanged their punches, the dwarf closed in, then another flare of fire produced a tail and Astarot used it to flick the light mage away. Brone finally closed the gap, he began to swing both his blades. Astarot noticed this in time, though he spent his second ridding himself of Yuurei, and since the dwarf decided to attack the beast from a slight blindspot, he couldn't turn around in time, so instantly, his wings quickly spread and gave a mighty flap, sending a blast of wind outward from him, "Back, insect" Astarot scoffed.

But instead of the wind bushing the dwarf back, Brone powered through the wind blast, his iron axe slammed against the beast's left wing at it's base near the shoulder blade, though it was a hit, it still felt like hitting stone. Astarot sucked his teeth, annoyed, "I said back!" he whipped his tail again slamming against the dwarf's face, cracking the helm that protected him. The beast had thought the hit would push the dwarf away from him, but once again, Brone didn't budge back but forward as he swung his steel axe which also slammed against the base of the left wing. That moment, Astarot jerked a bit from the hit.

"Annoyance!" Not able to push the dwarf away, Astarot flew from that spot, leaving a burning scorch mark on the ground. Brone, trying to find his footing, slightly dizzy, he had thought he put the dragon on his back foot, but then he saw Astarot was turning in his flight... now he was angrily flying towards him.

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Yuurei would get up from the floor and he would see that the dragon and Brone had a series of events happen between the two of them. It would look as if the dragon wasn’t as smart, he thought him to be. He tried to push the dwarf back several times and didn’t understand that he couldn’t push him back. Still, Yuurei would see that his focus was on Brone, which was a good thing. He was not enjoying the ass whooping they were getting. Still, he could see that Astarot was not enjoying his time with the dwarf when he saw him rushing straight towards him from the sky.

The Nephilim’s body was aching, but he figured he would bitch about it another time. As of right now, he started running straight toward the two of them and after a few seconds he would pick up speed. Yuurei would make it to Astarot as he was right in front of Brone. He would throw everything into his punch as it would hit the dragon right in the face. The light mage was yelling with all his might when he landed that hit as Astarot was sent flying away from Brone.

Still, while that was happening, he would grab Yuurei’s left arm and they would both start moving in the direction of where the dragon was going in. The berserker started punching Astarot to get him off him, but it was for naught. The dragon would break the momentum of that punch as he would flap his wings as Yuurei bit the man’s finger.

Astarot would look at Yuurei as he would let go of him, which was caused Yuurei to fall to the ground. He would stick his landing and jumped back a bit as he was looking over to Astarot.

“Nice punch, but why did you bite me? You are not worthy.” He said to Yuurei.

“You keep grabbing me and it’s my fault I bit you? Stop grabbing me and fight me.” He said to Astarot.

The dragon would laugh a bit when he heard this and he would stretch his arms in front of Yuurei.

“Fine I won’t play around with you anymore. If you want I will show you what’s destructive.” He said to Yuurei as fire would come out of the dragon’s hand and towards the mage.

His eyes widen as his hands made a star symbol before a circle appeared in front of him and he stepped to the right to avoid the attack at full speed. Yuurei would lunge ten meters that way as he would come to a full stop right there he would look over to Astarot and he would sigh with relief. That attack was too close for comfort and the dragon was impressed that he was able to dodge the fire blast.

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Brone was ready for the collision. Though he couldn't admit to himself that he was frozen in fear. Up until now, he had been using Yuurei as a distraction in order to land his attacks, now Astarot was heading for him full force and the dwarf was more than sure at that speed, he wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time, so he crossed his axes in front of him to use as a form of defense, hoping that he would survive that rush.

As the dragon neared, a flicker of light appeared before him. Brone blinked and the next thing he saw was Yuurei intercepting the dragon, but both he and the dragon flew away from him. The dwarf immediately began running after them, trying to follow up on his previous strategy. Once the dragon had halted his flight to allow Yuurei to drop, Brone began running to position himself in Astarot's blind spot again. Then the dragon erupted a blast of fire from his hands which nearly caught Yuurei.

The dwarf found himself at a good spot behind the dragon, the problem was however, Astarot was levitating out of reach and Brone didn't have any range attacks and throwing his axes were too risky for this kind of enemy. He gritted his teeth, waiting for the dragon to lower himself, but as the beast turned to look at the dwarf, the smile he showed showed that he knew what the dwarf was thinking "I know what you're doing, insect, you're waiting for the elf to distract me so you can try and deliver another attack" his smirk showed his confidence, but with a hint of annoyance, "I assure you that I won't allow that to happen anymore".

Brone gritted his teeth, his tactic was sought out, but what made it worse was that the draconic humanoid was still airborne, "I don't need a distraction to skin yer ugly hide!" he yelled out, hoping Astarot would take the bait.

"Begone, vile thing" Astarot let loose another blast of fire, but this time towards the dwarf. Because of the distance, Brone managed to lunge out of the way, though he did feel the heat of the searing flames that nearly caught him.

"Ha! Yer aim sucks, I guess my father was wrong!" Brone laughed as he stood back up. Astarot looked confused. "He use to tell stories about how powerful red dragons are..." the dwarf chuckled in between his words, "Either the stories were overexaggerated, or yer just a weak pup!" Brone laughed as he playfully swung his steel axe.

"Quiet yourself!" Astarot gritted his teeth in anger, his eyes flared red. Another fire blast erupted from his hands and once again the dwarf lunged, but this time, Brone was more playful, laughing at the failed attempt to fry him.

"My grandfather's forge has more heat, ye damn candle lizard" Brone said. Instead of standing his ground, the dwarf turned around and began to walk away, while laying his axes on his shoulders, pretending to give up on the battle, "This is a waste of time, I became an adventurer for no reason if the stories were false" he sighed loud enough for the dragon to hear.

"How DARE you!" Astarot roared as he flew straight for the dwarf. Brone, keeping track of the dragon's shadow, knew he was coming. He tightened his grip on both his axes and stopped in his tracks. Then he looked over his shoulder to watch Astarot near. The dwarf was placing his bets on Yuurei, hopefully the half-elf had a plan, if not, then Brone would have to try and cut up the dragon's wings while taking a strong attack, for that was his aim... to clip the dragon of his flight.

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Yuurei was glad that Brone was with him; he gave him time to regain his composure. He was sure they were doing damage to Astarot, but God that dragon hurt. The blows he felt were having their effects as he was shaking from the pain he felt. Still, if he lost consciousness now, then it would only be Brone on his own. He watched as Brone and Astarot fought, but it looked more like a game of cat and mouse, with Brone being the mouse.

He readied himself as he was thinking about what he could do. His physical attributes were the best thing about him, so using his other magical abilities was not worth it right now. He would take a deep breath and release it all at once as he watched Brone walking away from Astarot. That was a brave man, but he could tell the Dwarf was depending on him for a surprise attack. He would give him just that as he would run straight towards the two.

His speed came to a full after a matter of seconds as he would rush toward the two of them. It seemed like the dragon was upset with Brone, but he didn’t know why. He was too far to hear their conversation if they even had one. When he got close to Astarot, he would jump onto the dragon before he would attack Brone. The red dragon would be caught off guard with this as he was too angry with the small man. Yuurei would start hammering away on the monster's back and head as he would continue to stagger Astarot as he would bring him lower and lower to the ground.

“What are you doing! Get off me!” He said as he would soar up into the sky and then crash back to the ground and onto his back where Yuurei’s was.

The Nephilim would hold onto him when he saw this and when he crashed into the ground he would grunt and scream from the pain he felt as Astarot would move a bit into the air to see if he had gotten off him. Yuurei was still on him though as he would punch him on his right side and on his waist as the dragon would lower down a bit.

“You need to pay attention to your surroundings.” He would say this and if Brone did anything, Yuurei would push off of the dragon to lower him down just a bit more as he would gain distance from him.

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Brone turned about, readying his axes in hand to strike as the dragon was soaring towards him. Suddenly, Yuurei had leapt onto the back of Astarot, throwing the dragon off his flight path. It wasn't as the dwarf had planned, but he figured he could adept, it was better than being rammed by the beast.

Astarot, with Yuurei clinging onto his back, soared up into the air before dropping down, slamming his back and Yuurei onto the ground. The dwarf felt the rumble and was worried, the hit must have knocked the wind out of him. Brone rushed forward while doing his best to keep to the draconic human's blind spot as usual. As Astarot hovered just a few feet away from Yuurei, he looked down at him with angered eyes, "Look at you, just like an insect, scrambling... how pathetic you look" he sneered as he raised a hand, a flicker of fire began to grow from his palm.

Yuurei warned him, but it was too late, Astarot didn't notice Brone rushing in for the attack. He jumped up, both his axes over his head, and with a battle-cry, both axes were brought down from behind the dragon, both biting into the base of the left wing, the same spot he had attacked twice before.

"Curses!" Astarot instinctively whipped his tail, slamming it into the chest of the dwarf, shattering the ringmail armor and sending rings flying everywhere. But once again, the dwarf wasn't sent flying, he had touched the ground before he was struck and his feet were firmly planted.

The dragon would have turned about and backhand the dwarf, but the pain in his shoulder blade caused him to drop from his hovering position, landing on his feet. The hesitation gave the dwarf the chance to jump out of the way as Astarot turned to face him, "How's that for a bug bite?" Brone chuckled, readying his axes again.

"No more games, you die now" Astarot's voice lowered, emitting a ground shaking growl. Though now with the small distance between the two and without a distraction, Brone would surely take a strong hit, but he was no longer scared, his confidence was backing him well.

"I'm too stubborn to die, lizard" Brone laughed. Astarot, already done with the banter, rushed forward, without both his good wings, he ran along the ground. With such speed, the dwarf couldn't even attempt a lunge, so he positioned his iron axe in front of him to defend against the punch that was coming in. As the dragon's punch shattered the axe, Brone simultaneously swung his steel axe which slammed into the draconic human's neck. Like before, it felt as if striking stone, and the dragon merely jerked from the attack. Instead of laughing, Astrarot was still fuming with anger, so he grabbed Brone's right wrist, to keep him from escaping.

"You said your grandfather's forge is hotter than my fire..." Astarot's voice was deep and intimidating, "Let us test that" he said as he began to open his mouth, heat emanated from his gaping maw. Brone tried his best to pull away, but the dragon's grip was too strong. He began slamming his left fist into Astarot's arm, trying to force him to let go, but nothing was working. As the seconds passed, the heat began to increase. Soon... a blast of fire would erupt from the dragon's mouth.

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Yuurei was breathing hard as he would twitch a bit as he felt the pain coursing through his body. He would kneel a bit as his left hand broke his fall. He was gasping for air as he didn’t know how much of a beating he could take. The light mage didn’t notice at first, but he would notice now. There was blood dripping on his face, which brought him to chuckle. This was great something else that was able to cause him to bleed and hurt this much. Incredible, but it also meant that if he didn’t finish this monster off, then he was a dead man.

Still, it would seem like Brone was doing just fine on his own, which was good. He would get up from the floor though, his body trembling, but on his face was the smile he always carried. When he looked over to see what was happening to the dwarf, he could see that his armor was no longer on him. That means his means of defense against this dragon was no longer there. That wasn’t good, which means that they had to conclude this fight as soon as they can.

He was ready to continue the fighting as he wiped the blood off his face and around his eyes. The Nephilim would see that Brone had damaged Astarot’s wing and with that, he had finally grabbed onto Brone. His eyes widen when he saw this because it seemed like his friend was going to become a barbeque mushroom. He would do his best to get them, but he wouldn’t be able to get to them in time. The fire would get erupt and onto the dwarf. The anger filled Yuurei as he saw this happening and he was running at full speed. He would scream as he would punch Astarot in the face, which would get his fire breath off the dwarf.

The fire dragon was ready to look towards Yuurei and when he did, he would only be met with one thing, another fist. The light mage was shouting as he wasn’t sure if Brone was okay. He kept wailing on the dragon and when the dragon knew he wasn’t going to stop he would drop Brone to the floor, and he would grab Yuurei.

“You insect need to know your place. You aren’t entertaining me but annoying me. I need you to go away.” He said this as he would punch Yuurei in the face.

It would cause the half-elf to tilt his head back from the blow before the dragon would shoot out a fireball from his hand into Yuurei’s abdomen. It would send the light mage flying into the air and away from Astarot. He would turn to look at the dwarf to see if he was still alive and kicking.

“Are you still alive weak insect?” He asked this as he was turning.

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It was but a split second, but in that time, Brone realized Yuurei wouldn't be able to save him in time. So he braced himself the best he could as the fire enveloped him. Orange and red colors swarmed and the pain from the flames dances all about him. He couldn't hold back his voice; he shouted at the top of his lungs as he tried to pry himself free from the dragon's clutches, but there was no budging, there was no escape, just heat and pain.

When the fire ceased, the dwarf was unresponsive and quiet. Most of his hair, both on his head and his beard were scorched black; his mouth hung open as if he was still trying to shout but no sound came, and his eyes stared into the distance, pass the dragon, into nothingness.

Astarot dropped the dwarf in order to deliver a punch back to Yuurei, then a fireball at point-blank range. As the two were dealing with one another, Brone had awoken due to the pain from the burns. He wanted to cry out, letting the pain travel through his voice, but he had already tired his voice, now he was just trying to pick himself up from the ground. His thoughts were battling against the pain, trying to focus. It was frustrating, trying to steady his thoughts, but the searing pain was making it too difficult. The dwarf gripped the scorched dirt beneath him, anger starting to replace both his pain and thoughts.

He finally got to his feet, his hands were shaking, unsure if it was from his anger or from the pain. He looked about and saw his iron axe was shattered, but his steel axe was still intact, so he picked it up. As Brone looked up and spotted Astarot facing away from him, dealing with Yuurei, the dwarf gripped the handle of his weapon tightly. His anger surged, his thoughts were gone, all that remain was anger, pain, and instinct. He opened his mouth, trying to deliver a battle cry, but once again, his voice was gone, but he didn't allow that to halt him. Brone lunged forward. Just as Astarot was turning about to check on the dwarf, the steel axe slammed into draconic human's throat; though once again it felt like hitting stone, the attack still caused Astarot to choke for a moment. Brone pushed forward, putting all his strength into his attack, forcing the dragon to trip over his heel, then taking advantage, drove the weapon downward, bringing the dragon onto his back, slamming his head onto the floor.

Astarot's hands grabbed the blade of the axe, trying to push it away, but the dwarf kept it held there with all his might. They locked eyes, though the it was dwarf that had the searing anger like fire. The dragon inhaled, small bits of flame began to flicker from his mouth as he tried to ready another point-blank fire blast, but the dwarf wasn't allowing it this time, a raised a foot and stomped onto onto the back of his blade as hard as he could, the blade sank deeper, causing the fire within Astarot's throat to burn without escape.

Then there was a blast, causing the axe to fly from the dragon's throat. Once freed, Astarot leapt into the air, trying to fly, but since he had only one good wing, he dropped back to the ground, tumbling some distance away. As he struggled to get to his feet, his hands went to his throat, every time he coughed, black smoke flew from his mouth, "Filthy -cough- insect -cough-" he had trouble speaking, but as he began to regain his composure, his appearance was now slightly distorted. His face was more scaly, his hands became claws, and his hair flickered like living fire. His eyes, now emitting actual flames, were focused on the dwarf. Brone had no fear within him at that point, for his anger and the searing pain was coating any other feelings as he ran forward towards the dragon, his axe at the ready.

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Yuurei was being launched in the air with a fireball on his stomach. The pain and burning sensation he felt from the attack was stupid, and he would be screaming and fighting to get the ball of fire off him. It wouldn’t take long for him to move away from the attack, but now he was in midair ready to fall to the ground. His clothes were torn up, and his upper ware was burned off, he figured that he would have to go all out right now. The light mage would have his eyes turn to gold as a mask would develop around his face. He felt his body becoming bigger than before as he was over a foot and seven inches taller than he usually was.

His wings grew out and he would had four wings that span about three meters long. He would flap his wings to stop from falling as he was serious now. His gauntlet would also find themselves glowing as they would obtain mana from Yuurei to give him more power and speed. There was silence in the air now that he had transformed, and he had gone straight back towards Astarot and Brone. When he got there, he would see his friend was burned and charred from the fire attack that was thrown at him.

He would see that the fire dragon was hurt from all the damage that had been done to him. This was the time to do everything that he could to take this guy on. Astarot would look over to Yuurei who he had thought was a newcomer. They would look at each other and he would look over to Brone for a bit.

“You did great so far Brone. I see that Astarot is hurting between what you and I’ve done to him.” He said to his friend.

Astarot looked confused because this man hadn’t fought him the entire time but was hurt as if he had been in a long battle.

“What is a race like yours doing around here? Are you to strike me down or entertain me, unlike these insects?” He asked him.

“I been the guy who you been fighting the entire time. Still, I guess going all out is the only way to beat you.” He said to Astarot.

The fire dragon was surprised to hear that this was a guy he had sent flying with a fireball not too long ago. Yuurei would fly towards Astarot at full speed and when the fire dragon had tried to hit Yuurei, he would dodge the attack and punch him two times in the face to send the dragon flying away with those blows. Yuurei would move straight towards him once again and Astarot would shoot a bunch of fireballs at the Nephilim. He would dodge the attacks as he wasn’t trying to get hit anymore, and he had to finish this quickly because he didn’t know how long he could last in this form.

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Brone had ran towards the dragon, intending on betting everything on his next attack. Astarot, on the other hand, didn't hesitate, he extended his good wing in a way to intimidate, but the dwarf didn't care, he only wanted to drive his axe into the beast. Suddenly, the air seem to have changed and an angelic voice emanated, catching both the attention of Brone and Astarot.

As the dragon spoke with the angelic being that had suddenly arrived, Brone slowed to a stop, viewing this being, wondering if he had perished during the breath attack, but he then recognized the tattered clothing on the winged being and registered that this was Yuurei. Brone couldn't understand, or tried to, of how this has happened, the burns that covered his body kept him from focusing, it was his adrenaline that was keeping the pain at bay. He was going to continue his run in order to help Yuurei, but the moment he witnessed both winged creatures exchange hits, he realized that the angelic half-elf had the upper hand, and may be able to win this fight. The dwarf stood there, wondering if he should let Yuurei handle this or not; after a moment, he dropped to one knee, his strength that was keeping him up, was leaving him slowly as the burning sensation was coming back. Even with his current condition, he couldn't help but smile as he watched Astarot receiving blow after blow.

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Astarot was surprised that this was the same insect as before. He couldn’t believe the increased strength and the increased speed that was granted to this man. It was scary and for the first time in a long time, he felt himself trembling in fear. The fire dragon would emit a fire all around him, which would bring Yuurei to stop flying towards the monster and away from him instead. When he got far enough, he would look at Astarot as the fire dragon was not having this.

“So you been blessed by that race. They granted you such power! You a little insect will not defeat me. I will show you what happens to those who stand in my way! I have lived for hundreds of years! Even other dragons fear me! There is no way you will defeat me!” He shouted this as he would focus his energy in between his two hands and a fireball would appear.

This fireball would soon become bigger than Astarot as he would have it levitate over his head. He would have a smirk on his face as he would toss it straight toward Yuurei. The Nephilim would see this as he would start moving away from this as he was gaining speed and when he was at full speed he would start moving around the fireball and then towards Astarot. The fire dragon saw this and he would see that Yuurei was coming straight for him. He would get into a defensive position and the light mage would be up close to him.

He would launch a quick jab straight into the gut of Astarot. This time he would grab his stomach and gasp for air as he was hit. The dragon was hit so hard that he felt his body lift itself in the air. Yuurei would punch Astarot on top of his head and it would send him crashing to the ground. The ground shattered around them as it would show the immense power coming from Yuurei’s attack. After that, the life mage would stomp Astarot out before getting on top of him and punching the fire dragon repeatedly.

It wouldn’t take long, but Astarot would stop moving from the attacks and Yuurei was panting from exhaustion and the pain he felt all over his body. This was stupid and he didn’t think he would have a tough time fighting this Fire dragon. If that was the case, then he could only imagine what was going to happen whenever he saw Ansem again. The light mage would get off the dragon and when he walked over to Brone, he would fall to his knees as he had taken a huge beating from the fight.

“We did it Brone!” He said as his transformation would become undone.

His size going back to how he normally was, his wings dispersing from his back and the mask becoming undone. This was a tough day, but they stopped Rush Valley from being destroyed and they stopped a Dragon from causing mayhem.

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[exit]

Brone would do his best to keep himself up, though the most he could do was keep on his one knee while he watched the fight between the dragon and Yuurei. It was an amazing battle between fire and light; their speed and power reflected themselves. The dwarf wondered how he was able to even keep up with the dragon at all. He winced in pain, his body wanted to collapse, but he forced himself to stay up, in case Yuurei needed him in any way possible.

The largest fireball Brone had ever seen was conjured by Astarot, but the dwarf's concern had faded as he watched Yuurei avoid it and deliver a devastating blow. When the draconic figure had plummeted to the ground, Brone tried to stand, but once again failed. Yuurei delivered the final attack and when all was done and all fell quiet, the dwarf's question of whether or not victory was theirs had been answered as Yuurei's transformation had faded and he returned to normal.

All he heard before he fell unconscious was 'We did it, Brone!", then the dwarf was out cold.

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[Exit]