As the vanguard heroes rushed in like panthers, they continuously struck at the gaps between the scales.
Thump! Thud! Whoosh...!
Although Ipian's skin beneath the scales was extremely tough, preventing fatal injuries, there was no doubt that wounds were forming, blood was splattering, and damage was accumulating.
"Ugh..."
Unable to bear it any longer, Ipian spread its wings to flee by flying, but—
Thunk! Thunk!
Immediately, another mechanism installed on the city walls—a net of iron chains—flew out, tightly binding Ipian's wings.
It was Damien who had skillfully fired the net launcher located between the mana cannons.
The wings were bound only for a moment, but the other heroes were not so naive as to leave them unattended.
The wings were targeted and attacked, rendering the flight ineffective.
'It's working perfectly!'
Whenever Ipian tried to attack the dealers on the walls, the vanguard would interfere, and when Ipian tried to crush the vanguard, the dealers would interfere.
I blocked the area attacks including the dragon's roar with a magical barrier, and our mages neutralized the magic.
"How annoying...! I'll wipe them out in one go!"
And the breath—
"Hoorah!"
Dusk Bringar was on mark!
Boom-!
As the middle head tried to breathe out again, the risen Dusk Bringar, wielding a sword as good as a club, smashed it into the creature's jaw.
However, the middle head stubbornly resisted, preparing to shoot out its breath. This time, it was aimed at the vanguard heroes inside the fortress courtyard.
Just in case, I hurriedly prepared defensive measures, but Dusk Bringar loudly shouted.
"Hey, we can use that here too-?!"
As Dusk Bringar's mouth slightly opened, a current of magical power gathered—firing a counter breath.
Thunk-!
The breath shot by Ipian's middle head clashed in the air, spreading dazzling light and immense heat everywhere.
And that was enough time.
The other heroes quickly dodged the path of the breath, and Dusk Bringar, now wrapped in [Lord of the High Tower], withdrew.
Boom and more boom!
Ipian's breath turned one side of the fortress courtyard to ashes, but that was all.
"Ouch, ugh!"
...Except for Dusk Bringar, who was clipped by the breath and rolled away.
Frustrated by the continual thwarting of its attacks, the middle head incredulously stopped its breath and stood momentarily with its mouth open—
Right into which Damien fired a mana cannonball.
Blam!
It hit the mark.
It was a clean effective hit. Thick smoke billowed, and black blood dripped from the creature's gaping mouth.
With both their bodies and pride wounded, Ipian's three heads glared menacingly through the smoke.
"Presumptuous vermin...!"
"I'll sweep you away, you bug-like creatures-!"
"I'll kill you, I'll kill you, dare to counter my magic...!"
The three heads equally shared control, and the malevolent aura emanating from the wicked dragon grew even more toxic.
I swallowed dryly.
'Phase 2...!'
From now on, the three heads would simultaneously launch attacks...!
Growl-!
This time, the left head prepared a breath, the right head a roar, and the middle head magic.
Phase 2 proceeded in such a way, each of the three heads simultaneously using breath, dragon roar, and magic.
Without knowing the countermeasure in the game, this phase often led to annihilation.
However, this time we had a countermeasure!
'If we interrupt the motion of one of the heads, the other two will also be stunned!'
In other words... by continuously neutralizing the magic, we can also cancel the other two heads' attacks!
"The middle head is preparing 9th rank wind magic!"
"Although it's 9th rank, its output is weaker than the right head's, so let's stick to it!"
Our mages once again caused the neutralization of magic.
Crrrrunch-!
The middle head's wind magic and our mages' counter wind magic collided, and soon neutralized each other—leaving the heads preparing breath and roar also stunned and reeling.
'If we can keep neutralizing like this, Phase 2 might actually be easier than Phase 1!'
That's why we took magic neutralization as our strategy.
Skipping patterns and striking with damage is now possible!
Whenever the magic was neutralized, Ipian staggered in place, unable to move, while the vanguard heroes and the attackers on the walls could comfortably deal massive damage.
A giant enemy beast just stands there showing its vulnerabilities?
What better prey could there be!
Bang! Bang! Boom...!
The mana cannons fired by Damien exploded consecutively on Ipian's head, and the vanguard heroes climbed over its body, embedding their attacks.
Even the incredibly tough scales couldn't withstand the continuous accumulation of damage and began to split and fall off one by one, and the wounds engraved on Ipian's body gradually increased.
Thus, covered in blood and continuously beaten, Ipian...
"Arghhhhhhh-!"
Finally.
Truly enraged.
As if hair were standing on end, the scales covering Ipian's entire body bristled—like dry ice sublimating and emitting white steam, dark energy poured out through the gaps in the scales.
I shouted upon noticing the change in its state.
"It's Phase 3! Everyone, defensive positions-!"
Immediately, the heroes retreated en masse. I erected a magical barrier to block the pouring dark energy.
Sssss...!
The magical barrier began to corrode upon contact with the energy released by Ipian.
'This isn't just malevolent energy anymore; it should be called venomous gas!'
By the time the entire courtyard was enveloped in the mist of this venomous gas...
Thunk-!
Like a missile soaring through storm clouds.
Ipian, with its wings fully spread, spiraled up into the sky.
Hovering in the air, Ipian's appearance had changed slightly.
Rustle rustle...
The scales on its head had all fallen off, and in their place, thick venomous energy was billowing out.
The face was hardly visible due to the venom, but the golden gaze fiercely shone through the dense black energy like headlights.
"I intended to capture you alive and present you to father... but I won't do that."
And then, a violent magical current surged into each of its three heads.
"I'll tear you to shreds and turn you into ashes! I'll report to father that you were too young and frail, and I ended up killing you-!"
Whoosh-
The atmosphere churned, and the next moment.
Kabooooom!
The three heads of Ipian simultaneously exhaled their breath.
The three streams of breath targeted not the interior but only the outer walls of the fortress.
The ancient walls, characteristic of the Lake Kingdom's royal guards, withstood for a moment but eventually began to melt away.
Boom and more boom!
The beast rotated its body, exhaling breath from its three heads.
The intense black flames shot out, burning down the entire outer wall of the fortress, and the walls crumbled into ashes all at once.
"..."
Despite the considerable distance between where I stood in the center of the fortress and the walls, a burning sensation stung my cheeks.
Thump, thud...
As I lifted my head at the sound of the walls collapsing.
Hovering over the swirling black flames, floating on the black smoke it had emitted...
Ipian's true form, transformed into a rampaging wicked dragon, was visible.
It flashed its evil gaze from within the dark energy enveloping its face.
'Just by its appearance, it could be a candidate for the final boss...'
I smirked, trembling slightly.
Phases 1 and 2, to put it extremely, were just a taste.
This state truly represents the real monster, worthy of the eldest son of Night Bringer.
"Yeah, it would be a shame if the Black Dragon Legion fell too easily...!"
At that moment, our mages and long-range dealers returned from the walls.
"Lord, I thought we were going to die...!"
"We were prepared, but it was truly terrifying..."
The mages, covered in soot, trembled as they flew and landed behind me.
At the start of Phase 3, Ipian always began by demolishing the fortress walls with its breath. We had prepared in advance.
As soon as it began to emit its malevolent energy, those on the walls had avoided it using Dearmudin's flight magic.
Thanks to that, everyone was safe, but it seemed they were still in shock. They all trembled.
"Are you okay, Damien?"
"Of course, Your Highness."
I asked Damien, who appeared calm, and he smiled, setting up his new equipment—a giant slingshot—on the ground.
"It was just a warm-up."
Smiling back, I scanned the surroundings once more.
Where the walls had completely crumbled, now stood a giant wall of black flames, towering like a new barrier.
"It would be unwise to think of escape, Guardian of Humanity..."
The three heads of Ipian simultaneously let out a low sneer.
"Since it's impossible from the start."
The destruction of its own lair's walls by Ipian was partly to counter our dealers who had been attacking from above, but it was also a ritual marking its hunting grounds.
This wall of black flames signifies that either it or we must die—it's essentially a 'room you can't leave unless you win.'
"With Ipian in a berserk state, its attack power increases within its hunting grounds... It's different from before. Assume that a mere brush is lethal, and move safely."
Upon conveying this to the heroes, they all swallowed hard.
Until now, we had managed to weaken its attacks by consistently applying stuns and rigidities through various gimmicks, allowing for easy dodging or defense.
But in Phase 3, with the walls gone and all gimmicks blown away, Ipian itself has boosted its attack power. No exaggeration, now even a scratch could be deadly.
"So, our approach too must be swift and decisive!"
I pointed at Ipian and shouted.
"Junior, Elemental Disassemble!"
"Yep-!"
Junior had prepared the [Elemental Disassemble] spell and cast it on Ipian.
Clang-!
A white halo appeared in the sky, followed by a distortion as if space itself was shattering.
The magic had undoubtedly hit. However, Junior's expression was not bright.
"As expected, one shot of [Elemental Disassemble] isn't enough...!"
It was the same as with Parekian.
Ipian was also countering [Elemental Disassemble] by increasing its magical output in real-time. Moreover, its magical power was overwhelmingly higher than Parekian's.
'Even Parekian, the least magically powerful member of the Black Dragon Legion known for extreme martial prowess, could only be gradually worn down by applying [Elemental Disassemble] several times.'
This ancient dragon had lived playing with magical elements since the distant past.
Hoping for [Elemental Disassemble] to fully affect Ipian was unrealistic. Indeed, it easily countered, snorting derisively.
"Is that all the resistance you've prepared? Then, let's finish this...!"
Thunk-!
Ipian spun in midair and shot towards us like a jet. At the same time, a fierce current of wind gathered in its wide-open three maws.
Since it just used the breath pattern, it seems the three heads are simultaneously issuing a dragon's roar.
With the three heads' enhanced attack power simultaneously roaring, my magical barrier could no longer hold.
'Then before that, I just need to prevent them from using it!'
I smirked.
[Elemental Disassemble] clearly hadn't taken full effect. Despite being a supreme mana burst skill, Ipian's magical power remained intact.
But undoubtedly, it had been diminished somewhat.
This was what I was aiming for.
"The planned operation begins now!"
I turned to the heroes with a smile.
The situation was fraught with tension, but the thought of unveiling the new trick we'd prepared... as one who strategizes against formidable foes, I couldn't help but feel exhilarated.
"I call it, Operation... 'Hairstyle Change'!"
"..."
Hecate, who was closely guarding me, somehow looked perplexed, and right behind me, Damien grunted as he loaded the 'ammunition' into the giant slingshot.
The 'ammunition' let out a bewildered voice.
"...Are we really doing this?"
That ammunition was none other than the head of the Dullahan Legion Commander.