Xander and Sandra then began walking towards the little island, guessing that the boss will show up once they reached the middle.
*Grrrr...*
All of a sudden, the bridge began vibrating and Xander looked back to see what happened.
"Shit. Run!" He shouted as he saw the bridge dissolving into sand from the cave they came from.
"Ah!" Sandra let out a small scream as she immediately ran and passed Xander. Seems like her blade master class gave her a speed advantage over other classes.
As they ran with all their strength the bridge was still collapsing behind them, inching closer and closer to them.
Remembering something Xander immediately looked forward and saw that they were very close, about 150 metres away from the bridge.
"We're not gonna make it!" Sandra shouted as she saw that the dissolving bridge has almost caught up to them.
"Yes we are!" Xander shouted and grabbed Sandra from her legs princess style, causing her to squeal in surprise when she was carried.
Before she could even say anything Xander turned into a blur of blue light as he ran towards the small island, leaving a trail of dust behind him.
Sandra just held his neck tightly while closing her eyes. This game felt so real that she couldn't help getting scared just from seeing the lava below. And besides, a person can feel pain in this game so she didn't want to fall into the lava.
All of a sudden the wind stopped howling in her ears and she opened her eyes to see Xander looking sideways towards the bridge.
She took a moment to appreciate how handsome Xander was in the game, unlike his weak, frail looking self in the real world.
She peeked over his shoulders and saw that the bridge dissolved into sand completely and they were now on the small elevated island in the middle of the volcano.
She sighed in relief but she was also curious to know how Xander got so fast. As she turned around to look at him she saw him smiling gently at her.
Her face then turned red as she noticed that she was still in his arms and she jumped off, nearly losing balance and falling.
"Hehehe... You look very cute when you're embarrassed." Xander complimented, fanning the flames of Sandra's embarrassment.
"Hmph!" Sandra harrumphed and turned around.
She had never been carried like that before, talk more of being carried by a boy. She has never been close to any boy or man except her father so she didn't know how to act around Xander after being in such a position.
"He was kind of handsome in that position." She mumbled and buried her face in her palm, the image of when she looked at Xander in his arms flashed in her head again.
"Come on Sandra, pull yourself together." Sandra said and then she let out a deep breath and she finally calmed down.
She then turned and walked back to Xander who was walking around the small island they were on.
"Hey Xander." She called out.
"Hm." Xander turned to see Sandra no longer angry walking towards him.
"What was that back there? How did you get so fast?" She asked as she remembered being in his arms and suddenly being on the island.
"Oh that? It's a skill belonging to the sword magus class." He answered, not revealing too much.
Sandra nodded. She thought that he got a unique treasure that lets him boost his speed and she should probably rob him but now that he says it's a skill she removed her mind from that thought.
"I suspect that this small island is where the we're supposed to challenge the boss." Xander concluded.
"But the island is quite small to fit a dragon."
Xander thought Sandra was probably right about that because the bridge led to this island after all.
The island was circular and had a diameter of 500 metres. It was nothing fancy and was just a very flat sandy surface.
They wouldn't have to worry about seeing as the lava illuminated the surroundings. The heat however was getting to them. Both Sandra and Xander began sweating virtual tears as they waited patiently.
*ROOOAAARRR*
Xander and Sandra looked up as they heard a very loud roar come from above them. They saw something big falling towards them and they jumped back on the island.
Looking closer it was a dragon with red skin and black horns. It's wings were folded as it dived but the face was very scary.
Ears long and pointy, jaws long, graced with sharp looking teeth and those glowing orange eyes that looked like lava.
*Brag!*
The dragon submerged into the lava right in front of the island, splashing it all over the the place and also onto the island, threatening to reach where Xander and Sandra were.
"Thank goodness we moved back." Xander said, watching lava spill on the surface in front of them.
Sandra drew the two blades from her waist and got ready to fight as the boss has finally arrived.
In front of the island the dragon emerged but only half of it's body as it laid it's paws on the island. The dragon, from the size of half of it's body, was very huge. It's core limbs were gripping the edges of the opposite end of the island they were on.
The dragon had a very monstrous appearance that wasn't so pleasing. It's large teeth that were one metre long each looked sharp enough to rip him in two. The dragon had red skin with two red wings that was twice the size of it's body.
Xander dispersed all fearful thoughts and readied himself.
"I guess it's finally time." Xander said, pulling the blue dragon sword from the he sheath on his back.
Both of them charged forward from both angles and the dragon roared in response as it swung it's claws towards Xander.
Xander quickly realised that he ran too close to the edge of the island and looked at the incoming claw.
He didn't know what to do right now. A girl was here too, how can he be defeated before her?
And at the last second, Xander acted.