“〖High Rest〗!〖Physical Barrier〗!”

The Hero held his hands high up and chanted.
His body glows slightly.
The bloodflow from the Hero’s shoulder from before, as you can see, has decreased.

It’s troublesome that he has too many support status skills.
Right now, his status is……

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
〖Irushia〗
Species: Earth Hyuma
Status: Quick; Physical Resistance Enhancement
Lv: 78/100
HP: 578/602
MP: 441/552
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

…… The fact that his MP is still high is going to be problem.
But my numbers are still higher than his, and since he doesn’t have any automatic recovery skills, with numbers alone, I can last longer in battle than he can.

I kicked off the ground, spread my wings, and jumped at the hero while flying low.

“I feel sorry for you guys, but… could you move in front of me?”

The hero retreats while saying that, handing over the frontlines to the knights.

“S-Sir Irushia?!”

The knights hesitated for a moment, but they faced towards me nonetheless.
…… If I’m superior than them, it would be an easy kill, but if it was an equal opponent, that would be a nasty hand.
It’s gonna be one tough battle. Hopefully, I can handle them without having to kill them.

“〖Mirage〗!”

The Hero’s sword multiplies in two.
Illusion magic?

“〖Slash〗!”

The Hero holds his sword out.
The distorted-looking sword releases three slash attacks.
The three slashes neatly avoided the knights who were lined up in front and headed straight towards me while breaking the ground.

Calm down, me. Since I have〖Illusion Resistance〗, I should be able to tell the real one right away.
Focusing on my eyes, the three slashes became one.
The real one is on the left.
I turn right while moving my body in the air, avoiding the slash.
And just like that, I went in close.

“Uwa~a~a!”

A knight jumps out with his shield in place.
I push the shield with my front claw. The shield gets dent and the knight falls on his back.
I drag the second knight who tried to swing his sword at me with my left claw and fling him far away, while I try to bite at the Hero.

“Gra~a~a~a!”

At that time, Partner greatly twisted her body.
And because of that, my balance fell, and my aim was off.
I stopped trying to attack with my fangs, but instead, I try to hit him with my cheek.
It ended up being a light attack without relying much on my weight.

I reposition myself and regain my stance again.

Damn it!
I should’ve improved my communication with Partner.
It rampages on its own whenever I see a good chance……

While I spaced off, I noticed that the Hero who got hit by my attack became blurred.
Its form changed from the Hero to a knight, and was rolling on the ground.

“Guh, ugh, c-curses……”

It was〖Mirage〗! Because of that, I misunderstood the Hero from the knights!
That〖Slash〗was used to lure me to this place.

Did Partner already notice this? That’s why she rampaged?
That was close. It’s good that I got two heads. I’m sorry I doubted you, good job though.
That would mean that the Hero’s real body would use this opportunity as his chance.
The part that he’ll aim from this opening is…… my neck!

I pull my leg back and turn my body around.
The sword cut my face from above.

“Gr~a~a~a~a~aa!”

Kuh, my left eye got hit!
But, it’s better than being decapitated, though I still received heavy damage.
My eye…… Can〖Self-Regeneration〗fix it?

“Tsk! This guy has good instincts!”

The Hero lands on a knight’s shoulder, kicks his head with his other foot and distances himself away from me.

“Ga~ah?!”

The knight who got kicked off fell on his knees without knowing what happened.

For now, at least I was able to separate the Hero from the knights.
A few people were rendered immobile…… but, this is still a human city.
The only humans here now are the active knights that were on standby, but reinforcements will likely come around soon.
I wish I could do something before they arrive.

“S-Someone…… bring a medic……”

The knight that I hit and mistakenly thought as the Hero said painfully.
When he fell, it seems he struck his head hard. There’s a lot of blood on his forehead.

That knight tried to attack me lightly to defend himself, but because I thought of him as the Hero due to〖Mirage〗, I hit him with moderate force.
The power got halved thanks to Partner pulling my body away in time, but it’s still fatal to humans.

“Some… one……”

The other knights looks at their collapsed ally worriedly, but they don’t dare make a move with me in between them.
They seem to be cautious of me. They’re probably thinking that if they turn their attention to their fallen comrade, they’ll get attacked next.
The Hero, as well, doesn’t show any signs of making the first move.

With a glance, I turn my eyes to Partner.

“Gra~a!”

Partner roars.
A warm light envelops the fallen knight.

“Aa~ah… T-Thank…… you?”

The knight stands up while covering his head.
His eyes looked at Partner and he was stunned.
The other knights also look dumbstruck.

【Title Skill〖Tiny Hero〗has risen from Lv6→7.】

My title skill…… no, now’s not the time to care about that.

One of the knights lowered his sword.
After that, even though everyone was still confused, they all lowered their swords.

“W-What’s the matter with you?! Hurry up and thrust your swords at the evil dragon! Aim at his eye that I cut!”

The knights are fighting against me, for the sake of protecting their home.
But, not for the sake of aiding the Hero.
Did they find out that I’m only after the Hero……? Did they decide to lower their weapons because they saw me use recovery magic to their ally in the middle of the battle?
Or, is it because they thought that they had no chance against me, especially since the Hero suspiciously went behind them?
Or, is it because everything has been decided from this point?

“R-Raise your swords! We are knights who’re sworn to protect this land!”

One person exclaimed to inspire.
However, his sword was also shaking from hesitation.

“That’s right, hurry up! What were all your training for?! Why were you given a better lifestyle than commoners if you don’t do any good?! That’s because you were expected to risk your life on the line someday! If you don’t do it now, then what else are you good for?! Look at me! While you lot simply stand around guard and do daily patrols, I’ve been fighting against life-threatening monsters my whole life! Hurry up and attack already!”

The Hero yelled until his face turned blue.
But, no one moved. Even the knight who encouraged his allies before had already lowered his sword.

Well, of course.
Even if you’re last in line for back-up, you can’t convince anyone anymore.
Was he even serious when he said all that?

“You scum! I hate people like you the most! Fine then, I’ll use some other way to get that dragon. I hope you all shake in fear when this all ends!”

I extend my front claw and fire a blade of wind using my〖Wind Slash〗skill at the Hero.
The blade of wind rushes towards the Hero.

“〖Slash〗!”

The slash from the Hero’s sword cuts through my blade of wind.
Then, the slash heads towards me from behind the knights.
To avoid the slash, I forcefully moved my body away from its general direction.

“〖Summon〗!”

When the Hero recited that word, a white horse with wings appeared.
A Pegasus? It looks like he’s already ridden on it before.

When the Hero got on it, the Pegasus kicked off the ground. It faces towards the sky and flies in a straight line.

“Come on after me! I’m your target, right?”

The Hero’s words are loudly heard.

I don’t really want to fly too much because of〖Dragon Moth Scales〗, but it does take a while for its symptoms to show up just like what happened to Nina.
Even Adofu was only a distance away before, and the symptoms haven’t shown up to him yet. If this is only a short fight, I guess it should be fine.

I spread my wings, take off to the sky, and went after the Hero.