Despair stared Alicia straight in the eyes.

As the marching steps of the adversary grew near, it drew closer to her.

"Looks like I got some of the entrails of that filthy beast on my body" The humanoid Dragon said, instantly setting himself ablaze with energy.

The remnant white fur, one long rabbit ear, and the fluffy tail of the dead creature he spoke of was instantly consumed by the blue energy that coated his body.

In no time at all, they became ash and flew awayeven the blood of the beast.

All of it gone with the wind.

"S-Snow?" Alicia muttered, her eyes wide open as tears fell out of them.

Her body shuddered as her mind struggled to process the loss. In that moment, something rose from within her depths, and she opened her mouth to bring forth even more vomit laced with blood.

Her insides were on fire, and her mind felt like breaking apart.

At that moment, Alicia remembered the blurry incident that just passed. She recollected how Snow jumped in front of the blast to protect her, which ended in her death.

" N-no S-Snow" As she whispered and muttered, drool and tears flowed down her pretty face, cascading to the vomit beneath.

"How disgusting you humans are" The Dragon before them said with a smile on his face.

His cold stare seemed to have vanished entirely once he witnessed the suffering of the people before him.

Trisha and Billy, who had recovered to an extent, still had perplexed expressions on their faces. And as for Alicia, she was in the middle of a mental breakdown.

All of these things seemed to amuse the Dragon, who still stared at them with disgust.

"I know what your small minds must be wondering at this moment." Both hands were behind him as he floated a feet or two into the air.

"What about our comrade? The one who was supposed to occupy this dragon while we ambushed him from the side?"

The eyes of the three twitched as soon as they heard those words. They had been too occupied with thoughts of fear, pain, and survival, but somewhere at the back of their mind they also wondered what happened to Clark.

He was not an incompetent comrade, and his capabilities were also top notch. The fact that their enemy was able to catch them off guard like this meant he must have failed somehow.

But how?

"Well, he should be joining us right about"

~BOOOM!~

Like a meteor, something descended from the sky, instantly making a crater in front of the three who knelt on the ground.

The shockwave caused them to fly a few meters away from the point of impact, their bodies helplessly flailed to the side due to the shocking descent of a powerful force.

" Now." As the Dragon finished his statement, his gaze fell on the lump of flesh that had landed on the ground.

Smoke rose from the roasted body, with blood spurting out of the nostrils and mouth. His flesh looked mangled, and so many bones appeared to be broken.

But he was not dead.

"Such a durable guy. Even after sending him over a thousand meters into the air and rendering him unconscious with my full-powered blast, he's still not dead."

The crash had made a huge crater on the ground, and the terrible state of Clark's body made it clear that the boy was better off dead.

Coughs and strained breathing made it clear that he was now conscious, and the pain that was coursing through his body at the moment was nigh unimaginable.

He couldn't even scream since his throat had been burned and his voice was lost. All he could so was writhe in pain as he nearly choked on breath.

"To think humans would catch us off guard. I have to say pretty impressive. I didn't think I would have to keep my guard up when facing you people, but it seems I was wrong."

He began to approach the group, his body floating in the air as he did so.

"Your plan could have actually worked, given the right conditions. However, it was doomed to fail from the start considering the opponent you were up against." His eyes glowed brighter than ever, and his smile widened like that of a demon.

"My name is Ser'ith, and as a Spatial Magic user, your strategy was going to be useless to me no matter how you went about i"

Before he could move any further, the burned-up hand of Clark's scorched body held one of his legs in a tight grip.

His resilience, despite the pain that coursed through his body spoke volumes about his resolve.

"R-runn p-pleasee" Whispers surged from his charred lips as he slowly turned his head towards his comrades.

Tears flowed down his closed eyes. His eyelids were now glued together after his flesh melted, so he couldn't properly open them. Even then he pleaded desperately.

"R-ruu"

~BOOM!~

The Dragon Commander crushed Clark's face underfoot, causing thick blood and the last set of Clark's teeth to fly out.

His face instantly became deformed as Ser'ith constantly stepped on it, changing its pasty shape with every pound.

"You. Dare. Hold. My. Leg. YOU VERMIN?!" The Dragon Commander yelled in fury.

Despite the heavy descent of Ser'ith's foot, Clark still held on, not allowing the Dragon to pass.

"Die. Die! DIE!" Serith yelled, pounding on his face even more.

His skull must have shattered many times over, and his entire body convulsed to prove just the kind of pain he was experiencing.

This continued until Clark's grip finally loosened and his hand fell.

"Hmph!"

Ser'ith frowned in disgust as looked at Clark's bloodied face, spitting on it before floating away.

"How can he still be alive even after that?" He shook his head, sighing in annoyance.

Once he finished crossing the crater, staring at the weakened three who were yet to leave their positions, his smile returned.

"Now then where were we?"

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Thanks for reading!