Adonis stretched out his hand, and his Divine Sword appeared out of nowhere.

As always, it glowed with indescribable majesty.

"Do you understand, Lucielle? It's you and me."

As Adonis said this, Lucielle felt her heart race. She realized just how dangerous the situation was, and how incredibly inadequate she was.

Yet, once he told her he needed her she had no choice but to step forward and agree.

"Understood! Do you have a plan?"

A small smile formed on Adonis' face, and he gave her a very proudalmost melancholic look.

It felt different from the kind of gaze a student would give their teacher, or the kind that allies would share with each other.

This felt far more intimate.

"Thank you. And yes, I do have a plan" Adonis took in a deep breath and heaved out a musty sigh.

"The plan is the same as always. To escape. The Item with me should allow us to travel to a higher Floor." As Adonis said this, he revealed a small cube that was hidden in his pocket.

It looked very similar to the 'The Gateway', but far smaller, with more intricate designs around it.

'He still hasn't revealed where he got that Item' Lucielle's thoughts trailed.

However, as soon as it came, she dismissed the entire thing from her mind.

'There's no need to know that now. Besides, even if he says nothing, that doesn't remove the fact that it's all for our benefit.'

Adonis had already made it abundantly clear that he desired to help the world and save it from the tyranny of the Dragons.

Everything he didwhether it was what they understood or notwas to that effect.

He had Lucielle's full trust.

"We only have one chance to activate it, so we have to be very decisive and create the perfect window."

Adonis' plan was simple.

He and Lucielle would fight the Dragon Commander, getting all of its attention.

Once they had it distracted enough, they'd activate the portal to a higher Level and ensure their friends made it to a higher Level.

"The tricky part is what comes next." Adonis sighed.

Even after their friends escaped, they would have to leave too.

They couldn't do so if the Dragon Commander wasn't occupied in some way.

"We have to find a way to incapacitate him, or do something to that effect." Adonis said.

From what Lucielle could understand about the plan, though, she could see another alternative.

"One of us could stay behind." She said, her crimson eyes narrowing as she made the bold statement.

Based on Adonis' unsurprised reaction, it was clear that the thought had also occurred to him.

"I'll stay behind, Adonis. You should escape with the"

"No! Don't you say another word!" His voice sounded aggressive, almost commanding.

Lucielle could see Adonis' face, and it was filled with a lot of pain.

"I won't leave you here! I'm never leaving you!" He growled.

Lucielle felt something in her heart move, but she wasn't quite sure what it was.

She held her chest a little as her heart raced faster than it had ever done before.

"We're all getting out! I'll make sure of it!"

As she heard Adonis say this, Lucielle found herself smiling despite the precarious situation they were all in.

"Thank you, Adonis."

The Hero only nodded to these words, but Lucielle knew they had reached an understanding.

To leave this dreary place together!

All of them!

"Looks like you're finally ready to fight. Unfortunately for you all, I've grown pretty tired of this."

As the Dragon Commander said this, he stretched out his hand.

Purple flashes of energy appeared above his palm, and before long

~VWUUUUUUMMM!~

A massive purple orb of compressed space was swirling there.

The Dragon Commander gazed down with its unfeeling eyes and had a cold look planted on his face.

It was a look of certainty.

"You've all entertained me for long enough, but it's about time for you to disappear. ALL OF YOU."

The swirling purple orb had enough power to achieve that.

Adonis and Lucielle knew that very well.

However

"On my mark, Lucielle!"

"Understood!"

They weren't going to give up that easily.

"Die!"

~WHOOOSH!~

Adonis and Lucielle sped from their individual positions, with cackles of energy flashing all around their bodies.

Lucielle was surrounded by wind and lightning as she took off into the air, while Adonis flew right ahead with his golden cloak of power.

He brandished his Divine Sword and called out a name that had never been uttered until now.

"[AVALON]!"

In an instant, a forceful push of golden energy, mixed with several other multicolored layers of light flowed and filled the area.

The dark purple thing that descended from the Dragon Commander was met with this force of a multitude of lights.

The result was inevitable.

Light triumphed.

~BOOOOOOMMM!!~

The orb appeared to have imploded on itself, and just as Adonis recoiled from the blast, pushed back by the sheer pressure, Lucielle had already caught up to him and grabbed him by his hand.

Twisting in the air, she swung him upward, flying ahead herself.

"[Lightning Convent]!" She yelled, creating several flashes of lightning in the area.

Adonis smiled as he glided in the air, already recognizing her plan.

He went straight for his foe, who easily vanished from his position the moment he got too close.

However, the moment he teleported, a flash of lightning appeared in the distorted space, striking him down the instant he reappeared.

"W-what?!"

The damage didn't seem to be very much, but the sudden electric current that coursed throughout the Dragon Commander's body was enough to stun him.

And that gave Adonis enough time to close their distance.

As he used Light Magic to draw nearer, Lucielle used Wind Magic to propel his target towards him.

With their combined efforts, Adonis was able to get a slash across.

Unfortunately for him, he was a tad too slow.

~WHUSH!~

The Dragon Commander appeared right behind Lucielle this time, his grin widening as he reached out to kill her first.

However, a surge of powerful lighting coursed through her body the moment he made contact, sending him into another state of shock.

Her enchanted outfit wasn't for nothing, after all.

"[Windfall]!" She yelled, causing the air to grow remarkably heavy where the Dragon Commander floated.

Even his powerful wings were no longer able to keep up, so he was forced to descend.

He once again teleported upon seeing Adonis quickly approach him; this time making his way to the five teenagers who seemed to be out of Mana already.

Since the first two were too bothersome, he decided to just destroy the five easiest targets first.

He commanded space to close in on them and crush them the same way he did to the fools who defied him the first time.

In a single ~Splat!~ they would be dead.

However

"Hm? What's this?!"

One of the students seemed to be pushing away the pressure of space itself as his muscles bulged.

'The same guy who launched the crimson blast towards me. Does he have some sort of resistance to 'crush damage?'

It didn't make sense to resist space itselfeven if it was rendered hard to crush people.

Another studenta femalewas also using Wind Magic to somehow lessen the pressure by pushing currents upward.

Their combined efforts saved their lives, and the lives of the three others who seemed powerless in the situation.

'The hell?!'

Unfortunately for the Dragon Commander, he didn't have time to ponder on what was happening right before his eyes, as the two who were fighting him descended from the air and approached him from multiple directions.

'Tch! Annoying!'

They rushed towards him with their bodies sparkling with energy.

The female Mage sent a torrent of flames his way, but he easily disrupted it with a swing of his tail.

At the same time, the Hero tried to slash him with the Divine Sword that he wielded.

He made to teleport again, but the female Mage used Wind Magic to push him closer to the approaching Hero, thus making him have less time to retreat.

As he retaliated by shooting a blast from his mouth, he was stopped by the [Absolute Defense] of his adversary.

He tried to open a portal and attack him from beyond the barrier.

However, he accidentally slid on the ground thanks to it becoming all slippery and muddythe result of the Mage's Magic.

'Annoying! They're both annoying!'

This process continued for quite a long timewith Lucielle and Adonis constantly interrupting and interfering with his attacks.

Somehow, it seemed he had gotten predictable while they remained dynamic.

As a Dragon it was a compromising state to be in.

However, for the humans, this was the perfect time to enact their time.

"Now, Lucielle!"

~VWUUUUSSHH!!~

It was finally time to escape!

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Thanks for reading!

What did you think about the fight? I really wanted to see a scene where the Grand Mage pulled her own weight.

Hope you liked it!