"Woo!" Screamed Erich Caine as we flew through the air.

I couldn't believe how he managed to stay on the dragonfly. I was a couple meters behind him, my coat swaying in the wind as I held onto the dragonfly's tail arduously. I was holding onto my life. Although I was literally on the verge of dying, the dragonfly flew with great pace and we were west in no time. It seemed like the Astute King's intel was right.

As I hung onto the tail of the dragonfly, I gazed down below to a large serpent with multiple heads lashing out in the water. It was directly below Rossterre Bridge and it seemed to be occupied with something at the moment.

"Erich!" I shouted. The wind was fighting against me so I couldn't say much.

Erich knew what I meant and nodded. He spoke to the dragonfly and we started to descend. My vision became clearer and I saw what exactly the serpent was busy with. A yellow barrier, shaped like a dome, was being pounded by the serpent.

Erich Caine and I landed a few miles away and I dropped onto the ground.

[You have encountered the 6th grade serpent species, 'The Pylembrian Drakon!]

"Erich, how long can you keep him?" I said whilst unsheathing my Dojigiri. 

"Maybe another ten minutes or so." He replied whilst wiping away the blood that ran down from his nose. 

"Cover me."

I sprinted towards the multi-headed serpent as the dragonfly soared above me and tackled the Pylembrian Drakon. Due to its extremely large physique, the Drakon toppled over and landed in the water. I rushed over to the Drakon's antagonist. It turned out to be a beautiful young girl with dark brown hair which fell to her shoulder. She was cowered on the ground protected by the barrier.  The young girl darted her eyes over to me, an unpleasant look was on her face.

"I didn't need your help!" She scoffed. 

She dusted her clothing and stood up, disabling her barrier.

[The constellation 'Immutable Fortification Lord' shows you gratitude for saving his incarnation.]

Geez, the constellation and the incarnation weren't really alike were they? The dragonfly burst out of the water as the Pylembrian Drakon followed closely below, nearly chomping off its wings. The dragonfly swooped down below again to tackle the Drakon but it failed. 

Although the dragonfly ranked higher, the Pylembrian Drakon clearly wasn't a catastrophe for nothing. The Pylembrian Drakon lifted its tail up and smashed the dragonfly into the pillar of the bridge. It seemed that the damage taken by the insect affected Erich too as he groaned out in pain. I gritted my teeth as I watched the dragonfly slump onto the water. 

Despite its large body, the serpent approached the dragonfly at an alarming rate. I bounced forward and poured Magic Power into my Dojigiri, which fire was enhanced by my Burning Fire Fingerless Gloves. I leapt into the air and struck the Drakon Although I believe I struck the Drakon, he didn't seemed phased and slowly turned its head. 

Panickingly, I wiggled my sword past its scales more and poured more magic power, its skin detonated in flames and it began flailing. I hung onto my sword as the Pylembrian Drakon began flailing and stabilised myself. Unfortunately, one of the three heads on the Drakon caught my eye and I was sent launching by the tail.

I cursed and thought quickly of using Whispering Zephyr. 

"Work. Work, please."

Alas, it did not want to cooperate and I was sent skidding across the ground and into a wall. 

Thud! 

My vision wavered slightly but returned as I quickly shook my head. In front of me I could see the stunned Erich Caine, who was most likely in a trance due to the dragonfly getting a beating. I coughed up a light amount of blood, this wasn't good. The catastrophe forgot about the dragonfly and diverted its attention to where I was, and Erich Caine was right in front of me. 

I grunted as I stood up, Erich was still in a daze and the catastrophe was approaching quickly. I reached my hand down to my side and realised that my Dojigiri wasn't there, it must have flung away as I got thrown. The Pylembrian Drakon closed the distance and I was forced to sprint forward. 

"Erich!" I shouted in anguish. 

I forced myself to sprint quicker and I was on the verge of grabbing Erich. Suddenly, the Pylembrian Drakon let out a poisonous ball of spit which hurled toward us. I grabbed Erich but the spit was a few seconds away from touching me. 

"Stupid old man." A voice muttered.

A yellow barrier quickly manifested in front of me and blocked the spit coming my way. I leapt back and gazed at the young girl who conjured the barrier.

"Thanks."

"Whatever, don't mention it."  She tutted and dodged the incoming tail flick that came from the Pylembrian Drakon. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she was just repaying her debt. 

I placed Erich in a safe spot and came back to the sound of a vicious hiss from the Pylembrian Drakon. There was a dagger in one of the six eyes. The rage was concentrated in the young girl, who was holding a dagger.

"Cover me." She spoke whilst leaping into the air.

"W-wait! Hold on!" I dashed and picked up my fallen Dojigiri. This girl was extremely reckless. 

All the heads on the Pylembria Drakon turned to the young girl. Each of the heads let out a huge ball of poison in turns. Fortunately, I was quick enough to rush in there and glide into her, pushing us both out the way.

"What the hell are you doing?!" The young girl screamed at me as she picked herself up from the floor.

"I told you to cover me, not push me out the way so we can tumble onto the ground."

"I thought that I-"

"No time to talk, move."

She grabbed me by the back of my coat and we sprung away, just avoiding the balls of poison that burned the ground.

I picked myself up and patted my coat.

"I'm older than you, treat me with some respect."

She rolled her eyes and went back into combat.

[The constellation 'Courteous Gentleman' is ridiculing the ill-mannered.]

[The 6th grade serpent species, 'The Pylembrian Drakon' is releasing the 'Mound of Poison'.]

The three heads spat out their poison and it merged together. The Drakon seemed to be aiming for the girl exclusively, the tail swung in the air and hit her in the side, flying her into the wall.

[Exclusive Skill, Capture Lv. 6 has been activated!]

The young girl, clutching her ribs, watched as I flew forward. This Drakon clearly wouldn't be dealt in a blow or two, so I had to improvise. The Drakon turned to me and swung its tail quickly. I quickly gained momentum and rushed into the air, dodging the tail flick and landing onto the Drakon's huge body. 

The Drakon shook vigorously, trying to get me off but it was no use, I clung on with my sword and wasn't willing to let go.

"Watch out, you idiot!" shouted the young girl.

I quickly looked forward and saw one of the Drakon's head extend and bolt toward me. Its head unfastened its mouth and the Drakon's great teeth were shown. I just about dodged its fangs, the head moved quickly through the air and turned abruptly after missing its target. I released my sword from in between the scales and held it upright, inciting a blazing fire.

The dragon swooped back for me and released a ball of poison coming at me like spears. I dodged each ball and flung himself forward, slashing at its eye. The extended head leaped back in pain but then instantaneously rushed again.

The head slammed into its own scales trying to gnaw me. The Drakon attacked like a vicious dog, oblivious of any surrounding danger besides its prey.  It seemed the nape of the Drakon's neck was pierced during its pursuit as it suddenly recoiled in pain and jerked intensely. I took that window of opportunity to stick my sword in the Drakon's eye, erupting its whole skull into flames.

The Drakon danced around for a moment before succumbing to the incineration and its head, after being dislocated from its neck, collapsed onto the ground. Behind where the head used to be, the young girl was there, chewing on something which seemed to restore her vitality. 

"I thought you were out of commission?" I sneered, sarcastically. 

"You wish." She snickered then spat the item out her mouth. 

"I'm not your damsel in distress, old man."

I chuckled before noticing the sudden shift underneath our feet. 

"Below!" 

The scales swiftly shifted into spikes and  directed itself at us as we jumped. I struck my sword down with the aim to deflect the incoming spikes.

Wham!

My sword vibrated against the barrier that had abruptly popped up. All the spikes were deflected and then scattered onto the ground.

"Don't waste your breath old man. I got that."

I chuckled nervously, maybe I shouldn't play the defense right now.

"But that thing doesn't look too happy right now, huh?"

We stood in the air on top of the barrier as the Pylembrian Drakon below us proceeded to go on a rampage. The Drakon dashed toward us and smashed one of the heads into the barrier. The young girl groaned as she felt the blow. The Drakon smashed again and the barrier started to show cracks.

"Get ready." The young girl barely muttered out before the barrier vanished and we were falling through the air. 

I wasted no time and lit my Dojigiri up quickly. We were above one of the Drakon's head, I was ready for a clean hit. Immediately, the Drakon dashed away but circled around. I landed on the ground and watched as the Drakon slowly closed in onto me whilst circling around. I jumped out the trap, just escaping the near death of suffocation. I watched as the Drakon still ran around aimlessly, enraged by the death of the other head. 

"Got any ideas?" I spoke to the girl beside me. 

"You're the old man, you think of something."

"Youre the old man, you think of something." I relayed in a mocking tone. I darted forward, quickly approaching the rampant beast. The Drakon turned and I caught the eye of one of the heads. 

Huh...? 

I was frozen in my tracks, watching the incoming serpent race towards me. The head lowered itself,  bumping up and down irregularly due to the debris on the ground. I tried moving my legs again but they were glued to the ground and I was still unable to move. The head came close and its teeth opened wide, ready to consume its prey. 

Thwack! 

The head bounced off the barrier and with that, the barrier shattered instantly after. A dagger was quickly thrown at the Drakon and pierced the left heads eye, now both of its eyes were neutralized.

The Pylembrian Drakon scurried away momentarily and the girl collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. 

"Damn old man, you're really useless aren't you?" 

 "I was just making you work a little."

"I'm not going to save you next time, I don't particularly like burdens."

[The constellation 'Immutable Fortification Lord' is praising his incarnation.]

[The constellation 'She Who Brings Victory' is telling you to pull your weight.]

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' awaits your strategy.]

[You have been sponsored 700 coins.]

"No worries, you've done enough, time to let the 'old man' handle this, eh?" 

I patted her shoulder and waited for the Pylembrian Drakon to approach. It came with great pace, although the left head was not active, the middle was and it was ferocious. 

I leapt in the air, rising right above the Drakon's head as it crashed into the pulverised building. The Drakon glanced up and saw my Dojigiri descending quickly. I dug my sword into its eye and once again, sent fire into its eye. The serpent rammed through the building and out through the side. 

I flicked off the sweat that ran down my face, I exerted so much magic power in this battle and my gloves were scorched from the amount of heat I kept emitting. 

The Drakon circled back around and I watched as its eye regenerated. So each of these heads had their own unique powers, eh? 

The Plyembrian Drakon spat up and hurled balls of poison, assisted with the spikes that had formed from the regenerated scales. All of these attacks came at me instantaneously and I blocked a handful of spikes, a couple piercing my cheek, knee and coat.

 The mound of poison flew in the air. Suddenly, the Drakon's tail snapped into the ground and I leapt sideways, dodging the blow but getting in front of the poison ball's trajectory.

Now was the time... I thought of the teaching Calssus taught me and the instructions on how to use Whispering Zephyr. The wind slowly formed in my palm and I thrust forward, blowing away the poison. I accidentally lost control for a second and the wind flung me back, skidding on the ground with my behind. 

"Hey! If you had a skill like that then why didn't you use it old man?!" 

I hesitated before answering. 

"I had some trouble using it. 

She rolled her eyes before returning to the task at hand. 

"It's coming."

The Drakon came back with bloodlust eyes. 

"We can't defeat it."

"What?" Her eyes widened. 

"We can't defeat this one from the outside."

The young girl frowned. "Then what are you suggesting?" Her expression slowly formed into a surprised expression. "Don't tell me you'll..."

I nodded my head slowly. 

"Old man are you crazy?! You'll die!"

I bit my lip before replying. "Doesn't hurt to try."

She grabbed her hand out for my coat but I moved already, slowly walking towards the beast serpent. Its head lowered again and it's mouth unlocked, showing its monstrous teeth slowly. 

"Make sure you can defend yourself." 

I spoke to the girl behind, who was currently running towards me. 

Chomp! 

My whole world became dark in an instant.