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The gliders of the elves were created to kill each other.

From the time when the strongest fairy heroes were waging wars for supremacy in the Eramenia forest, elves, possessing technology so advanced that humans could barely look up to them, developed many flying devices for scouting enemies hiding in the woods. It was often that elves, who usually feared fire and were reluctant even to use it for cooking, would unhesitatingly set fire to launch hot air balloons.

Among these flying devices, the glider stationed in this defensive tower was the most basic and yet intricately crafted item that could never be underestimated. A regular glider would have to rely on the flow of the wind, but these gliding wings infused with mana could somewhat ignore the wind’s current and be manipulated to serve its own purpose.

However, no matter how you looked at it, this was not a weapon designed to face dragons. Common sense would suggest that it wasn’t even something suitable for use against a dragon. That was why the fairy squad that was trapped inside this defensive tower couldn’t even dare to take out the glider and remained quietly holed up in the tower.

When Margaret suddenly jumped up to the top of the tower, the soldiers of Eramenia, who had been cheering, couldn’t hide their confusion as they complied with the princess’s command to fetch the glider.

“Princess, we’ve already shot a few arrows at the dragon, and it’s caught by the magic cast on this tower. Glider assault is reckless. It would be better to stall here a bit longer and wait for an opportunity to escape into the forest…”

The squad leader, who was in charge of the tower’s defense, cautiously expressed his opinion. Margaret listened to his words earnestly but merely shook her head.

“That’s not a good judgment. The speed at which the dragons are approaching is fast. One dragon has already been hit by an arrow, and the remaining nine are charging forward without hesitation. If we could deal with them all at once, it would be easy, but if that’s not the case, we have to bring down any dragon we can with a short-term battle.”

“I know Your Highness is renowned as a dragon slayer. But that doesn’t mean you can face all dragons one-on-one and win every time. The Eramenia glider can counteract crosswinds. But it won’t be able to resist the pressure from a dragon’s flapping wings. Not to mention if Pecadia starts casting spells and shows her true power.”

“Don’t worry about the wind. The wind will always be on our side.”

“What do you mean by that?”

At the squad leader’s question, Margaret silently pointed her finger towards the bottom of the tower. It seemed the elven commander finally noticed the presence of Jeongjae, and his eyes widened as he nodded.

“If that’s the case, it’s a fight worth having.”

“Bring the glider. Gather another five or six brave souls to follow me.”

“I’ll assist you directly.”

Margaret did not refuse his proposal. Moments later, the fairy princess was firmly tying herself to the wooden harness, donning massive leather wings on her back.

The five elven soldiers following her had also strapped on gliders and were ready to jump from the top of the tower. Leading the warriors in the front, Margaret drew her sword, gazing up at the Black Dragon.

“This is a dangerous assault. I need to emphasize safety, but if someone were a fool to the point that I had to check everything for them, they wouldn’t even be able to endure in this place. Jump! The wind will lift us up!”

As if to prove her words, Margaret leapt off the top of the tower with fierce momentum, plunging downwards.

There was no natural updraft, and although she was running fast, it was still not enough to generate enough lift. As the glider began to fall without gaining altitude, the elven warriors gasped in fear, but there was a solid trust in the elven princess who had jumped without generating enough wind.

Once Jeongjae realized that Margaret wasn’t receiving proper assistance from the wind, he used magic to support her glider and aided her with wind. The fairy lord, who had looked like she was going to topple down to the tower below in an instant, was now soaring confidently towards the dragon.

“A mere toy!”

Though it snarled, the Black Dragon couldn’t drop its guard against Margaret as it saw her rising form. From the dragon’s perspective, a glider wasn’t even as significant as a flying ship, and it would undoubtedly dismiss it as trivial.

However, with the elven princess of Eramenia flying on that trivial wing, the dragon could not completely ignore her either. The blade, honed by Eramenia’s metallurgy, was not weak compared to a dragon’s fangs.

Following behind Margaret, a squadron of gliders began to leap off the pinnacle of the tower, trusting in Jeongjae’s support. Jeongjae hid behind the tower, beyond the dragon’s line of sight, casting wind magic to lift each elven warrior into the air. The elven army, who had never trained in aerial combat for years, felt a moment of confusion at the unfamiliar sensation, but thanks to the Grand Mage’s delicate coordination, they quickly adapted to the feeling of flying without much chaos.

In an instant, the fairy squad entered the dragon’s defensive barrier and pulled out their bows, unleashing a powerful hail of arrows between the scales of the Black Dragon.

The skilled elven archers could shoot an arrow towards the enemy nearly every three seconds. Even with an uncomfortable posture with one elbow resting on the glider’s control stick, their speed did not diminish. The elves, who had lived for over a hundred years, had archery skills ingrained as basic talent, which even the most proficient human would find challenging to achieve in a century of training.

Etrias’s powerful barrier could not only block attacks from afar but also prevented enemies from approaching closely. However, Pecadia, who wasn’t as adept at defensive magic as in slaying dragons, could deflect arrows coming from a distance while still failing to prevent the elves riding gliders from entering her defensive barrier.

The magic of the Eramenia forest tormented her with irritation, and the inability to rise or fall while stuck in a tower she couldn’t penetrate heightened her sense of crisis.

Moreover, at the moment Pecadia sent the only elven dragon slayer to confront her, she had keenly grasped the objective of the Eramenian forces.

In the ongoing defensive battle, their goal was not to ‘eliminate’ the enemy but to ‘repel’ them. The rational objective for the Eramenian forces was to drive the dragons outside their territory and ensure immediate safety, but at this moment, the evil Black Dragon had become the target for removal designated by Margaret.

There was no intention of succumbing passively. However, the elves were thoroughly prepared according to the goals they had set for themselves. By the time she regained her composure, there was hardly anything that Pecadia could do with her dragonic powers.

Margaret began to circle the dragon’s massive body like a predator ready to sink its teeth into a weakness. For a normal glider, it would have been quite taxing to maneuvre back and forth over such a distance, but seeing her intention, Jeongjae conjured several wind rings around the dragon’s body, allowing the gliders to rotate rapidly.

It resembled a pack of about a dozen mobile tunnels wrapping around the dragon’s vicinity. Except for the pathways laid out by Jeongjae, getting the gliders to move and pressure the dragon would have been difficult at high speed. If that path consisted of only a single route, it would be incredibly easy for the dragon to respond, but the problem lay in the multitude of such rings and the numerous intersections that made it easy to switch pathways at any time.

Realizing Jeongjae had created a sort of aerial high-speed rail, the elves adeptly maneuvered their gliders, switching from this pathway to that, and unleashing arrows at the dragon.

With no options other than being shot down, the elven arrows embedding into the dragon’s scales were comparable to pellets striking an elephant’s body.

The size of the ammunition appeared minuscule before the massive beast, but the bullets that penetrated through its skin could take the life of even the king of beasts in an instant. Faced with elves darting in from all sides and embedding arrows, the dragon could only manage weak flaps of its wings and unleash its breath.

Yet even that was rendered utterly futile if blocked by the counter-spells of the Grand Mage. Trying to shake off the magic with a flap of its wings, the dragon found itself immobilized and could produce nothing but weak flames, like a depleted flame thrower.

In this fight, the Black Dragon succeeded only in a single instance. Only one glider caught fire from its breath, crashing down in place. However, even that elf soldier, who rapidly evaded the situation, was rescued by the Grand Mage’s cushioning magic, resulting in no real casualties.

Despite all that effort and struggle for several minutes, only the loss of a glider, which was hardly expensive, constituted any success. At this point, even if she were to disregard survival, the blow to her pride was tightening the dragon’s heart.

Eventually feeling a constricting tension in her body and the lack of breath, Pecadia glared and said, “I give up. You may kill me now.”

She let her body droop to prove that her words were sincere. As Margaret held up her sword to honor her words, Pecadia jerked her head to the side and growled.

“You shall not have me, Fairy Lord.”

“What do you mean, dragon?”

“Brother, I will not grant you the glory of slaying another dragon into the hands that killed Etrias. Call someone else. If you seek glory by your own means, I will not comply easily.”

Margaret pondered for a moment before slowly steering the glider away from Pecadia.

Dragons might be wicked and crafty, but they were not a race that would make empty threats like this. Although Margaret had no great interest in a dragon’s pride, the real issue was time. If the opponent claimed they would submit without resistence while positing a seemingly inconsequential condition, it would be a reasonable response to comply.

“Finish it, Mage. I shall grant you the glory of the first dragon slayer.”

Thus, with Margaret’s assassination permission delivered, soldiers, realizing the meaning of the execution order directed toward the Grand Mage, quickly scattered from the wind rings.

Jeongjae, who had been hiding behind the tower and watching the situation unfold, waited until all the elves had reached a safe position before raising a massive azure magic circle towards the sky.

“Single target strike magic.”

No one could fail to recognize the spell beginning to shine from Jeongjae’s hand. Simple yet powerful, it was the most potent mana projection spell currently known.

“Star’s Radiance.”

The blue ray pierced through Pecadia’s weak barrier and plunged right into the heart of the Black Dragon. For a brief moment, the mana lance seemed to pause upon hitting the dragon’s heart, then, like a knife slicing through a pig’s tendon, it surged deep into her heart, puncturing the dragon’s spine.

The Black Dragon left neither dying words nor a farewell. Margaret, watching the dragon fall while circling around, heaved a complex sigh, her expression inscrutable.

“I thought she would die, but to think dragons would fall so easily in this world, it’s absurd. Perhaps, in the history ahead, unimaginable events will occur, and I shouldn’t be surprised.”

 

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