Just as the adventurers and necromancers believed the dungeon guardian construct and the mist serpent were going to clash with each other again, the mist serpent broke free from the claw of the dungeon guardian construct that had been pinning it to the ground before its gaze locked onto Scaly, who just so happened to be fully visible after her escape from the SS Rank Monster below-
Rumble~!
And without the slightest bit of hesitation, the mist serpent completely ignored the dungeon guardian construct as it came surging directly towards Scaly and Verdell. The one-sided focus remaining bewildering as ever to Scaly, who once again had to turn around and try to escape from the approaching mist serpent.
Problem being, everyone watching from the side spotted her this time around- or more specifically, they spotted the heroic looking dwarf riding on her back looking back towards the approaching mist serpent with a solemn yet confident look on his face.
Of course, this wasn’t the emotions of the dwarf in question. Instead, he found his face becoming somewhat numb upon seeing the massive mist serpent once again targeting the two of them for seemingly no reason once again instead of facing off against the powerful dungeon guardian construct that had slammed its head into the ground. His numb expression being completely misinterpreted as a look of confidence in the eyes of those watching.
"Wait... Is the reason that it’s targeting us is because it discovered you are a dragon?" And amidst the churring of the wind conjured up by Scaly to increase her own flying speed, Verdell came to a sudden realization as he looked back towards the mist serpent chasing after them. "The mist serpent... It wants to consume dragon blood to increase the purity of its own dragon bloodline to potentially elevate its own chances of evolving further in the future..."
Feeling what he said made sense, Verdell didn’t know what to say as he understood that there was little chance of the mist serpent giving up on chasing them.
The reason why it had given up the last time around should be because it hadn’t realized Scaly was a dragon with a dragon blood purity far exceeding that of any dragon he himself had encountered, though that wasn’t saying much considering how Scaly was essentially the first actual dragon he had encountered.
Still... He could at least tell her dragon blood purity was extraordinarily high for her to be considered a dragon instead of a drake or some pseudo dragon wyrm.
Problem was, even knowing this, there wasn’t much he could do, as he was essentially bound to the dragon beneath him and couldn’t exactly jump ship to save himself.
Not only because it would mean death, but also because he wasn’t someone dishonorable enough to do something like that to a companion he had already gone through life and death with several times.
As for Scaly feeling the same... He couldn’t say, but at least he had no intention of sacrificing this friend who had directly allowed him to pass what would normally be an impossible to complete advancement quest and reach the S Rank.
Not just that, but even if the last few days had brought him close to dying a lot, his strength had also been improving rapidly thanks to following Scaly and he had already begun seeing hope of reaching the SS Rank in the future, a level he had never even dared dream about reaching in the past before his chance encounter with Scaly. Having originally believed he would at most reach the S Rank before inevitably retiring like so many others did once they realized just how difficult it became to advance beyond the S Rank.
Feeling his thoughts wandering as he was being carried through the sky by Scaly, Verdell inevitably found himself glancing towards the group of adventurers that he had originally wanted to rely on to get out of the dungeon safely.
To say this group of adventurers were shocked would be an understatement, as Verdell saw their mouths hanging open. Disbelief plastered across their faces as they stared towards him riding a dragon with a monster exceeding the SS Rank chasing him from behind without a single sign of fear in his eyes.
Not just the group of adventurers, but even the necromancers that had been waiting for the opportunity to strike and had looked forward to seeing the dungeon guardian construct clashing with the mist serpent were in a state of speechlessness at the sudden turn of events, as even the leading necromancer that had remained hidden so far had popped her head out and revealed herself for the first time during the battle in an attempt to get a better look at what was happening.
Even the dungeon guardian construct under the control of the dungeon core had frozen on the spot because of the enemy that should have originally been impossible to take down without sacrificing itself, leaving to chase after Verdell and Scaly.
In only the span of a few seconds, Verdell became the center of attention throughout the battlefield, as even Scaly who was doing the flying, was silently ignored by everyone present.
In their eyes, the one in control wasn’t Scaly, but this mysterious dwarven dragon rider that had seemingly emerged out of nowhere.
Not just that, but with how the mist serpent was targeting him, everyone automatically concluded that the two sides had already clashed with each other in the past... And to do something like that, it was clear that Verdell’s strength wasn’t to be underestimated.
For a time, everyone watched Scaly and Verdell soar through the sky with the mist serpent chasing close behind-
"Huh? DAMNED DWARF! YOU DARE!?"
All until the leading necromancer in charge of the vast undead armies suddenly realized that Verdell and Scaly were flying directly towards her. The massive mist serpent chasing them from behind and crushing through any undead, skeleton or monster that dared to stand in its path.