Jett used [Burst], further increasing his physical abilities as he put all of his strength into a massive swing of his weapon, managing to cut through the Abyss Dragon's scales and draw blood from its underbelly.
"Raaaaagh!" The Abyss Dragon howled in pain.
–Though it could only last so long as another yell from Vildren caused all those attacking the massive dragon to pause for a moment:
"Get back! It's taking flight!" Vildren shouted.
There was a build-up of the abyss beast's miasma as its wings coiled and its body flexed, bubbling with energy as it prepared to lift off with Jett right beneath it. It was only then he realized that there would be a wave of the disease-bringing energy from its position when it lifted off–right where he was.
'Crap…!' He realized.
The only chance he had was using [Wind Burst] to propel himself away from it then using [Blink] to break his momentum, flipping over as he vanished and reappeared in an instant away from the Abyss Dragon's immediate location.
Though he wasn't quite far enough as the others had already moved far enough, the dragon lifted off, flapping its grand wings as it unleashed a mighty shock wave of miasma.
FWOOOOOM
[Power Air Shield!]
Standing his ground, he summoned the translucent barrier of wind before himself, blocking the rippling shock wave and the darkness that was interlaced with it. There was enough of a whiplash from merely holding the magical shield up that his neck whipped back and his feet nearly were lifted from the ground, but he stayed firm.
"Nngh…!" He strained.
–Each flap of the colossal dragon's nightly wings brought upon such thunderous winds, causing ripples through the mountainous fields as those that occupied it struggled even to stand. It took flight, now having the advantage over the grounded warriors.
"It's airborne again…!" Johannes called out, "What're we supposed to do now?!"
It was definitely a problem, considering the majority of their forces were limited by the length of their own blades.
Vildren turned back towards the robed mages; the only ones left standing were a hazel-haired young girl and a glasses-wearing, timid man, "Bombard it! We need to bring it back down to the ground!"
The mages were quivering, on the brink of tears.
It was the hazel-haired girl among them who spoke up, "W…we can't! We used the rest of our mana in that last push! It was everything we had…!"
"What?!" Vildren reacted in disheartened shock.
As if it couldn't get worse, the Abyss Dragon rained down its deathly breath from above, spewing the black clouds down like a corrupted storm swirling amidst the mountains. The luscious fields were ruined by the beast's breath; the life was siphoned straight out of the verdant blades of grass as they dried and turned brittle.
"Ahhh…!"
"Ahh!"
–Those unfortunate enough to be caught beneath the flying dragon's putrid release screamed out in agony as the miasma took hold of them, causing them to drop down to the ground and writhe from the unbearable pain.
"This is bad!...Way bad!" Johannes remarked.
Vildren gritted his teeth, though forced himself to stay composed as he yelled out, "Stand–!"
Before the gold-ranked adventurer could fully unleash the next command from his mouth, booming it out, he was interrupted by the rookie adventurer who stepped forward.
Jett looked up towards the Abyss Dragon that had taken to the air, yet did not shy away from the battle at hand, "Leave it to me. I'll bring that thing to the ground."
"What're you saying?...Have you been paying attention at all–that thing is too much for you!" Johannes spoke in disbelief.
Though Vildren even seemed to have his own doubts, he swallowed them before holding a trusting smile, "I'll entrust that part to you then, Jett."
"Yeah," Jett nodded with a confident smile.
Perhaps it wasn't the most strategic plan he could come up with, or among the least reckless, but it was certainly a strategy to him: he crouched down, catching the attention of the others before—FWOOM.
A massive propulsion of wind boomed from beneath his feet before he launched up directly into the air; a use of [Wind Burst] meant to push him upwards was successful.
As he sailed into the air swiftly, he swung his leaven blade multiple times in the direction of the dragon, unleashing rangeless slashes that cut into its scales.
While no lasting damage was done, it annoyed the Abyss Dragon enough that it looked straight towards the cloak-wearing man that was somehow in the air with it.
"Yeah, that's right, eyes on me!" He smirked.
As he began falling, the Abyss Dragon soared straight towards him, carving its wings through the air as it closed in rapidly.
'Damn, it's scary having it fully on me like this!' He thought with a smile.
Its jaws parted and its rows of razor sharp teeth were revealed as it aimed to swallow him up in one swoop. Just as it closed in–
[Blink!]
In an instant, he moved from in front of the beast's nose to now standing atop its head, having to balance himself before gripping onto its scales.
"Hah…I made it!" He celebrated.
Immediately, the dragon noticed the man upon its head, roaring out and thrashing amidst the air as it spun around to try and shake him off.
"--Woah!"
He dropped down, getting a tight grip on its scales as he stayed holding onto it, summoning the enhanced strength within his body to do so.
From below, such unorthodox actions left the others perplexed while the Abyss Dragon struggled in the air, doing its best to throw the rookie off, but to no avail.
"...He's crazy…Who thinks of doing something like that?" Johannes muttered in disbelief.
Vildren stood tall, though didn't waste a moment as he made sure the effort of Jett did not go to waste, holding his sword up high, "Prepare yourselves! The beast will be on our level soon enough–! We will not waste our next opportunity!"
Before the deed had even been done, Vildren set it in stone, though it was easier said than done for Jett.
The air howled in his ears as the dragon flew violently above the valley, spinning and roaring out of frustration.
"Stay still, you big bastard…!" Jett gritted his teeth.
Opening [Void Inventory], he summoned Frostfang into his left hand, stabbing it and his leaf-forged sword into the dragon's scales, creating an anchor point for himself before he began pulling the weapons through the beast's flesh.
"RAAAAAARGGHH–!!!"
A heaping trail of blood sprayed in the air as the back of the dragon's neck was eviscerated by the dagger-and-sword combo, though it finally managed to shake Jett off, who stumbled from it.
"Woah…!"
Plummeting downward, he was brought high enough from the basin valley that such a crash landing would be fatal. However–
He stored both of his weapons, instead invoking [Aqua Piercer] as the bow manifested from droplets of water.
"Nngh…!"
With his back to the ground far below, he watched the Abyss Dragon as it soared down directly towards him with full intent of crunching him between its jaws.
"--Hate to break it to you, but I'm not your dinner!" He shouted.
Pulling the string of water back, an aquatic arrow formed before he released it, shooting the projectile directly upward as it sailed with perfect precision towards the colossal beast. The arrow of water moved with high speed, clashing directly against the beast's nose with a large, impactful splash.
–Not a single scratch was left on the scaled nose of the monstrous, winged creature of the abyss as it simply roared out and flapped its massive wings, closing in faster.
'...That wasn't nearly as effective as I expected!' He thought.
"Jett! Look out!" Vildren called out from below.
There was no doubt in the eyes of those below that the reckless rookie was going to become chow for the dragon, however–Jett Levine did not go into this without a plan as a smile beamed across his lips.
'Alright–let's do this!' He thought.
The [Void Inventory] was opened, though not with the intent of withdrawing anything, but instead instantly storing every familiar he had brought out, causing them to "poof" away before the eyes of the others.
"Huh?!" Johannes reacted in horror watching the cyclopean giant simply vanish.
It was definitely a confusing sight for those on the ground who had no inclination of what the rookie's ability was–only witnessing the warriors pop away.
Though in the next moment, he brought it all back, waiting for the dragon to close in before invoking another risky [Blink], landing upon its back just as its jaws snapped towards him.
'I got the timing right again! Lucky!' He thought.
Realizing the man was on its back, the Abyss Dragon immediately took a sharp turn before coming close to the valley, swooping back up as it roared out in anger.
"Sounds like you're getting annoyed," Jett chuckled, trying to maintain balance as the fearsome winds of the swift flight caused his unkempt hair to flutter, "--Well, prepared to be a lot more annoyed! To me, everyone!"
The [Void Inventory] opened itself once more, this time bringing everyone of his stored familiars out as they landed upon the dragon's back.
[Demonkin Youth Alex] [Booze-Loving Gunter] [Crimson Swordsman Jiao] [Cyclopean Warrior: Juru] [Blue Slime] [Silent-Footed Khan]