Yes, my suspicions were justified. Ragni was...
"D-d-d-d-DEMON!!!!!" - Katrina's sudden scream could throw anyone off balance.
Ragni rolled her eyes in hopelessness, and I dismayingly slapped my forehead.
"What the hell, Katrina, can't you grasp the situation at all?" I felt like pounding her right here.
"But, but, but she has horns, and eyes, and this provocative attire. I saw such creatures in a book; I think they were called succubi." At Katrina's words, Ragni's right eye started twitching.
"Any idiot would have realized by now that she is the dragon we came here for! Why do I have to suffer this punishment?" I exclaimed.
"She? But dragons are big and scary monsters, and she's so small..."
"You want a big and scary monster, huh? Well, I can arrange that!" Ragni gnashed her teeth furiously. "Very well then!"
After these words, Ragni's body was engulfed in a dark, cold radiance – the ancient magic that granted dragons the ability to transform. The shadow that became Ragni began to grow in size, taking on the familiar shapes described in books. She grew bigger and bigger until she reached the cave's ceiling, and at that moment, the glow stopped. It was a truly magnificent creature, massive body supported by mighty legs, her tail completely blocking any retreat. Seated on her hind legs with the front ones folded across her chest, her horns reached neatly up to the cave's ceiling. Though one could have mistaken her for a wild beast, her face now resembled that of a lizard with horns on her head and massive fangs, but traces of Ragni's features were still visible. She continued to gaze down at us with the same contempt, just from a higher position.
"So all this time, you were deceiving us!" Katrina screamed and lunged forward, extending both her hands and instantly casting her best offensive spell. A tremendous discharge of electricity, far more massive and destructive than the one she used against the admissions committee, seemed like it could shatter the entire mountain. But Ragni didn't flinch, despite the blow striking her directly in the chest, right in front of her heart. Such an attack could have easily killed a dragon, except for one exception. The lightning crackled against the monster's scales, scattering into tiny sparks, almost inflicting no damage. The confrontation lasted for almost two minutes. Having exhausted all the mana she could put into a single spell, Katrina sank to one knee on the cave's stone floor. Ragni only scratched a small burn left on her scales. Alas, to her, a fifth-grade mage was nothing but a pitiful insect. Katrina's face expressed nothing but shock.
"I see you don't want to talk peacefully," Ragni's voice changed, becoming deeper and more majestic, but still dripping with the same mockery as before. "I warned you many times, but you didn't listen to me. Now, I'll have to kill you, even though I almost liked you."
Ragni opened her enormous, fanged mouth, and within it, tongues of nascent flame could be seen. Katrina still couldn't move from the shock and sat helplessly on the path to certain doom. The way out was blocked, leaving only one option.
Summoning all my strength, I rushed forward. Scooping up Katrina, I dashed into the nearest passage. The dragon's flames missed their mark, but Ragni showed no haste in pursuing us. Her words echoed after us: "There's only one way out while you're inside – you shouldn't have crossed paths with me."
With those words, Ragni shattered the stone marking the cave entrance against the wall and slowly began to follow us. We were trapped.
"Why, why didn't it work? My father won't forgive such a mistake," Katrina was still in a state of shock, mumbling nonsensically to herself. One could understand her confusion, but her rash attack nearly cost us our lives.
"Katrina, haven't you realized yet? This isn't just an ordinary green dragon described in the assignment leaflet. For one simple reason, they don't have a human form. In their human form, dragons' hair often indicates their origin. Ragni is one of the great black dragons. They are known as dragonlords, possessing the second greatest power among all species, and they are also completely immune to magic. The fact that you managed to leave a small burn on her is already a great achievement. Besides, their scales are too strong for ordinary blades. She is one of the most dangerous opponents in Verania."
"I'm sorry, Krito. I was such a fool," Katrina seemed on the verge of tears, but she quickly collected herself. "Even if she's immune to magic, she won't escape a cave-in. Try to make your way to the exit while I create the biggest lightning strike I can and bring down the ceiling."
"Idiot! If you bring down the ceiling, the whole cave might collapse, and you'll perish along with her. Besides, I doubt I can get out of here either."
"There's no other way. Do you have a better suggestion?"
"Yes, I do!"
"Cough, cough. I thought you were hiding from me, but it seems you're here having a romantic rendezvous," the fateful voice rang out again, now much closer. Ragni was undoubtedly sitting on the other side of the stone, waiting for our appearance.
"Delay her for no more than two minutes; I'll find a way to get us out," I whispered to Katrina.
Without saying a word, she just nodded and jumped out from behind the stone. She could no longer create such powerful lightning, but by combining her body's speed with the force of the lightning, she could evade Ragni's flames for a while and send back smaller lightning strikes in response.
"Just a little longer, even if I die, I hope my foolishness won't lead to his death," Katrina thought as she continued her desperate battle. With every lightning strike she released, with every leap, she weakened further, and even Ragni realized the sheer desperation of her attempts.
Finally, having exhausted all her strength, she stumbled on a flat surface and fell in front of Ragni.
"I think it's your turn now, sorceress. Sorry, nothing personal," Ragni opened her mouth and lunged at Katrina, attempting to swallow her in one gulp.
"I hope at least he's safe," the princess managed to think before losing consciousness.
"Don't rush to bury yourself, Princess. Of course, the hero always appears at the last moment. The two minutes granted to me by Katrina's selflessness were spent climbing the highest boulder in the room, from where I could aim precisely at the dragon's head. These words caused some confusion in Ragni, and I threw two accurately aimed stones right at her face. The first stone hit her right in the eye, making her squint and causing considerable discomfort. Unfortunately, after deflecting from the first attack, she moved out of the trajectory of the second stone, which just bounced off her nose.
"Hmm, you thought that by blinding me, you could escape? Too naive. I would recover faster than you could drag this barely alive sorceress to the exit. You should have run away while you had the chance."
"Well, what can I say? I never intended to run away. I plan to defeat you and claim the reward. Otherwise, I won't have anything to pay for my dorm room," yes, I haven't lost yet; don't think it's all over, you foolish lizard.
"Fine, since you're so eager, you'll die first."
Ragni lunged at me with her mouth wide open, but with such a massive body, her movements were too slow. I leaped off the boulder and ran down the corridor. As I expected, in her normal form, moving on all fours, Ragni was just under six meters tall, and she could easily maneuver through these corridors.
And there it appeared – the spot where I was heading. The corridor widened slightly at first, then sharply narrowed to enter the nursery. A perfect place for a trap. I sprinted full speed into the passage and stopped only ten meters inside. So what do you say now, enraged dragon?
"Fool! This entire system of tunnels was dug by me, and whatever you think, I can fit through any passage!" Ragni screamed, running at a furious pace, and smirked slightly.
Now I understood why there was that widening before the narrow entrance to the room. She leaped, folding her wings and paws close to her body, stretching like a snake, and smoothly fitted into the small opening.
Ragni stood in the room she was not supposed to enter. Moreover, she completely blocked the only way out. There was one last resort. I took out two stones similar to the ones I threw in the first attack, but Ragni was prepared for this.
"Well, no, now you won't escape," she swung her massive tail and brought down a part of the corridor leading to the room. Now there was no way out, but it didn't matter.
I hurled the stones with all my might, but Ragni easily dodged them and looked at me with pity.
"Sacrificing yourself to let that girl escape is noble, but it won't save you anymore," she opened her mouth, and tongues of flame began to burst out. Suddenly, two enormous stalactites broke loose from the ceiling and, neatly piercing through her scaled wings, pinned the dragoness to the ground. "Ugh, what the hell? My wings, that hurts, damn it!! Now I'll have to restore them for a week. I'll remember this."
It was a pitiful sight: afraid of damaging her wings further, Ragni tried not to move. Stepping aside a bit, I calmly walked out of her line of fire.
"Phew, now I can relax," I said with a slight smirk.
"Oh, you little... Do you think this is the end? I'll show you now!"
Naive, just as I expected, she began to transform. Of course, dragons are dangerous in their human form, as they retain all their physical and magical powers, but rage blinds even the greatest.
"I'll kill the bastard!" Ragni roared wildly, lunging at me.
Everything was going according to plan, just as the summoner described about dragons and their weaknesses. They are strong, fast, and can break a person's spine with a single blow, but those that rush into battle recklessly act predictably and straightforwardly. There were about five meters between us, Ragni flew towards me with her right hand and claws extended at great speed. Without much thought, I positioned my right foot slightly forward, my left back, and raised my arms, bent at the elbows, in front of me. The strike consisted of three phases: first, deflecting Ragni's attack with my right arm; second, making a half-turn on my right foot; and third, using the momentum from the rotation to hit her back with my left elbow. The strike wasn't too strong, but by altering Ragni's flight path, she crashed into the wall where she shouldn't have reached. Surprisingly, the stone shattered into tiny pieces upon impact, while Ragni merely stood there, scratching the area of the hit. Apparently, even in her human form, the dragon's bones remained as strong as in her true form. This battle might drag on.
"Rarh!" emitting a now inhuman roar, Ragni jumped into the air and rushed towards me, propelling herself off the ceiling.
Too predictable! Even before she reached the ceiling, I stepped aside, and unaware of my change of position, Ragni headed to where I stood a moment ago. Naive, she could no longer change trajectory mid-air and neatly crashed her head into the ground. I believe even for her, it was very painful. Without wasting time, I increased the distance between us. Ragni was now seething with fury, preparing to finish me off with her next attack.
This time, Ragni assumed a low position and leaped forward at a speed far surpassing her previous attacks. She moved close to the ground, her right hand held back, preparing to deliver a deadly strike. If she had attacked me like this from the very beginning, I wouldn't have been able to dodge, but now I knew the limits of her speed. At close range, she made a sharp swing with her right hand, but her claws only sliced through the air. Anticipating the moment of her strike, I leaped into the air and landed both feet on her back. Losing her balance, Ragni fell face-first into the ground and slid a couple of meters. A few more strikes like that, and she would no longer be able to stand on her feet. Her breathing was labored, her hands trembled, and she swayed slightly from side to side.
"I won't lose to a pathetic human!!!" With these words, she finally unleashed a stream of fire from her mouth. It seemed she realized that her only chance against me was to fight with magic.
However, her assumption was not meant to be tested. At the moment when Ragni was about to engulf me in a stream of flames, familiar crackling of electric charges came from behind the rubble in the corridor. Lightning broke through the debris and sent rocks flying in all directions. One of the stones hit her squarely on the head, and, exhausted and on the verge of losing consciousness, Ragni was knocked out cold.
"Krito!! Can you hear me?! Are you okay?!" I never thought our princess would be so concerned about me.
"Don't worry - it's all over now."