"Huh…?" Seeing a certain dragon suddenly jump forward with great enthusiasm a few seconds after the brilliant beam of light died down, Verdell could not stop himself from making a surprised sound. Watching with a sense of awe and fear, as Scaly smoothly swept through the three S Rank Adventurers on the ground. Ending the three before they had the time to resist before clashing head on with the Elemental Archmage who had barely managed to raise a defensive mana barrier by the time Scaly reached him.
Everything playing out happening so fast that the exhausted mist bound behemoth and the human guardian shadow walker didn't have any time to respond and could only stare towards the dragon and mage clashing a short distance away from them. Neither knowing how to respond, as this sudden shift was not something either of them had expected. Even more so for the human guardian shadow walker, as he had never expected a dragon of all things to emerge while he and his companions were at their weakest.
Although he had already known about Verdell, the supposed monster tamer, he hadn't regarded him as a possible threat given the fact that the Elemental Archmage behind him close to the SS Rank was still in great shape and was more than capable of dealing with any trouble a monster tamer below the S Rank might try to case.
But even with a dragon emerging, he didn't suspect it to be related to Verdell and instead believed it might be some kind of unique dragon capable of avoiding detection from the magic artifact he and his now dead friends had been relying on to ensure their own safety.
After all, no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't associate the ferocious dragon violently suppressing his one remaining companion with the level 21 monster next to the suspected beast tamer. Not because of the level, but instead because it was difficult to believe a dragon this ferocious would remain next to a dwarf without attacking the other party, much less become the tamed monster of a monster tamer who hadn't even reached the S Rank.
However, none of this would change the deadly situation he had now found himself in. Already weakened and having just used his trump card to severely weaken the mist bound behemoth-
Bang!
A mist bound behemoth that was more than happy to take advantage of the situation to once again attack him even in its weakened state. Leaving him with no way to go back and help his friend, whose situation was becoming worse with each passing second.
Damnit! How in the world am I supposed to get out of this situation!?
Silently cursing inside his own head as he forcibly exerted strength beyond what his current exhausted body could handle, it didn't take long before the mist bound behemoth was on the losing side and began getting involved due to the countless weakening effects along with deadly curses that the terrifying dark magic earlier had dropped on top of it.
Even if it was clear from a glance that it wouldn't be long before the mist bound behemoth was cut down by him and died beneath his blade, it was also clear that the one finding himself locked in a deadly battle with Scaly wouldn't be able to survive if he truly ended up forcing himself to give his everything to kill the mist bound behemoth.
In the end… There was one way out of the current situation…
Problem was, it would mean giving up on the mist bound behemoth that he and the ones already dead on the ground had sacrificed themselves for, something he didn't want to do considering the importance of the mist bound behemoth went beyond just killing it.
Unfortunately, looking at the worsening situation behind him, it became clear that he wouldn't be able to finish off the mist bound behemoth before the mage behind him was overwhelmed and perished to the dragon's relentless offensive. Meaning he might not even get the chance to kill the already severely weakened mist bound behemoth and might instead end up being pinned down by a pincer attack from the dragon and mist bound behemoth. Leaving him with no way out of the current situation alive, a turn of events he wasn't willing to see play out.
Part of him was also thinking of making use of the beast tamer still hidden away observing everything from a distance, but on second thought, he realized a beast tamer still at the A Rank would barely buy him a few seconds of time. Far from enough to make any meaningful difference in the current situation.
"Cure all of you! I will be back!"
So, in the end, he could only grit his teeth and give up on the mist bound behemoth for now and retreat to recover from his injuries alongside the still alive mage before looking for an opportunity to get what he wanted from the mist bound behemoth after he had recovered-
Whoosh-!
Not hesitating for more than a second as he took advantage of the towering lump of flesh hurling down towards him and used the terrifying force generated when it slammed into the ground beside him and cracked the earth to launch himself backwards at a terrifying speed that even someone like Scaly found bewildering and difficult to keep up with.
Fwoosh-!
But having seemingly waited for this opportunity, Verdell emerged from the grey mist hurling a sizable fireball along the trajectory of the human guardian shadow walker. Forcing him to readjust his movement and stop before the fireball could crash into him-
Swish-! Ptsh!
"Aaaah!"
Giving Scaly the little time she needed to successfully break through the mana barrier of the Elemental Archmage. Killing him before the human guardian shadow walker had the time to reach him and save him.
"DAMNABLE DRAGON! AND YOU! DWARF! I REMEMBER YOU!"
Faced with this kind of humiliation by none other than a little dwarf who hadn't even reached the S Rank, the human guardian shadow walker yelled out in anger upon seeing his one remaining companion being cut down by Scaly. Directing most of his anger towards Verdell, as he understood full well that without his interference just now, he would have been able to catch up with his friend just before the mana barrier broke and successfully escaped with him.
Given his own strength ultimately being at the SS Rank and his class having no lack of escape techniques and skills, he was confident of being able to escape from everyone present even if the dragon before him could fly-
Whoosh~
An ability he soon enough demonstrated, as he immediately merged with the surrounding grey mist and rapidly escaped towards the one direction that hadn't been blocked. Giving Scaly and Verdell no chance to stop the other party before he was already gone.
Although, one of the reasons why he had been able to smoothly escape also had to do with the fact that the mist bound behemoth also attempted to take the opportunity to escape in its weakened state… And in Scaly's eyes, the importance of the mist bound behemoth went beyond that of the SS Rank Adventurer.
The reason? The mist bound behemoth was of a higher level and would in turn reward her more experience at the end compared to the escaping SS Rank Adventurer, something that was obvious not just from the higher level alone, but also the fact that the five adventurers had so much trouble killing it even going five against one.
Even though she did feel it was a bit of a pit that one of the adventurers managed to escape, it wasn't a worst-case scenario where all the adventurers escaped or the kill for the big strength boost went to one of those adventurers.
Not to mention, she had also clearly seen how Verdell had so graciously stepped in and helped her secure the kill on the mage adventurer she had been struggling to kill. Preventing him from escaping…
[Gained 57.236 Exp]
[*Ding* Reached level 24]
That one kill had managed to send her level directly up to level 24, while the remaining three S Rank Adventurers that had presented themselves on a silver plate to her had brought her all the way from level 21 to level 23.
In a sense, it wasn't wrong to say the mage alone had managed carry her through level 23 in a single step. Truly, killing stronger enemies was far better compared to weaker enemies who barely gave her any experience.
Speaking of which… There was still the mist bound behemoth left trying to escape from her. Killing such a powerful monster… She was already starting to get excited imagining just how strong she would end up becoming after killing it.
Not to mention level 25, she might even directly skip past level 25 and reach level 26 in a single step. Jumping two entire levels from killing just a single monster.