The Hero flies higher and higher.
How high does he intend go?
Looking down, Haranae looks really small.

In the meantime, I use〖Self-Regeneration〗while flying.

The cut in my eye steadily healed.
I can see again with my left eye.
I knew it was amazing. If I had used Rest, I’m not really sure if the wound would close just as effectively.

After the cut from my face was healed, I once again focused on flying after the Hero.
I then increased my speed since it’s taking a while for me to get closer to the Hero.

“〖Quick〗!〖Power〗!〖Quick〗!”

A light envelops both the Hero and the Pegasus.
The flight speed of the Pegasus rose and it distanced itself greatly again.

The Pegasus is the Hero’s wings, while the Hero concentrates on magic as they move about, that’s a tactical advantage.
Just how high are they planning to fly anyway?
It’s not like I can easily lose sight of him, and I have automatic recovery to boot.

“〖Mirage〗!”

The Hero tripled in numbers.

“〖Luna Lucent〗!”

The Hero holds his sword upward.
Many beams of light fall down toward me.

The skill itself usually shoots around ten light beams, but with〖Mirage〗, there were thirty.
And that’s not all, since I increased my speed, slowing down became difficult.
This guy is using nasty skills at such nasty timing.

I immediately lower my speed and turn my body sideways to avoid getting hit.
Including the illusions, I managed to avoid all of the attacks.

Did I increase my distance with the Hero again?
I look up to see. But, the Hero showed up right in front of me.

“Gru~u~a~a~a!”

Panicked, I swing a claw at the Hero.
He didn’t react.
I later realized that it was just another illusion from the〖Mirage〗earlier.

I can’t afford to dawdle around just because I lost sight of the enemy.
In terms of ascending or descending, of course descent is much faster.
It’s quite hard to fly upwards with this heavy body.

I turn my neck around and look for the Hero while diving down.

And then, an intense pain ran through my back.
The Hero also dove down parallel to my fall.
Extending my tail from the blind spot, I was able to avoid a direct hit.
I’m already accustomed to air battle.

Flying while looking at my surroundings, a sword struck my body.
A Pegasus enhanced with speed magic is just too fast.
It wasn’t really a heavy blow, but it’s still hard to fight back since the Hero constantly attacks me from time to time while maintaining〖Mirage〗.

“Gru~u~o~o~oo!”

I shoot〖Scorching Breath〗.
Since I can’t catch them, I’ll just use wide-range attacks to draw them out.
I thought the attack would work, but the Hero jumped straight into the fire.
The Hero’s sword appeared from below and aimed upwards towards my jaw.

“Gu~uh!”

My head widely faced upwards, exposing my vulnerable undersides.

The Hero didn’t have fire resistance, but he still had〖Spirit Protection〗and〖Fairy King’s Blessing〗with him.
It might be because of those skills that he was able to jump into my fire.
Knowing what skills he has means nothing if I don’t even know what those skills can do.

“There’s no point in attacking if it won’t even work, you fool!”

I glanced at the Hero, he was holding his sword up high.
That stance, I immediately felt that he’s about to do something dangerous.

“This is the end for you!〖Skyfall〗!”

Just like before, his attack struck my chest.
For a second, my vision got blurry but I learned that it wasn’t an illusion.
As if my insides were pressured, a heavy air escaped from my mouth.
I couldn’t even scream.

While falling defenselessly, the Hero dives down after me.
Even as I try to straighten my posture, I couldn’t move my body well.
It might be a light status, but I still got paralyzed. This is bad.

In any case, I need to heal my chest injury with〖Self-Regeneration〗quick.
I was able to turn my body around so I wouldn’t fall on my back.
Right when I felt slightly relieved, the Hero caught up to me and struck my back.

“〖Ground Upheaval〗!”

The ground gets pushed in all directions as the power of the impact rises.
It was as if gravity was going berserk all around us. The nearby building was crushed by the wind pressure from my fall and, just like the ground I crashed onto, the building collapsed.

My consciousness is leaving me.
I can’t move my body. I can feel the blood leaking out of my back.

“Hah…… hah…… I doubt you can survive something like this……”

“Grua~a!”

Partner roars.
My body’s weight is getting softer.
I can think clearly again. I immediately use〖Self-Regeneration〗.

“Gru~owa~a!”

Upon hearing my own voice, I waved my front claw and shot a〖Wind Slash〗to the air while trying to lift my head up.

“U ~oh!”

The Pegasus flew further into the sky and dodged the wind blades.
I saw the Hero barely clinging on the Pegasus.

Is the Hero’s physical energy weakening?
It seems the Hero also did his best to endure the recoil of using a lot of MP-heavy skills.
Physical Enhancement Magic may be convenient, but it’s definitely going to have a costly side effect if overused.
Even the Large Red Orangutan knew.
If so, doesn’t that mean that this is the perfect chance for me to counterattack while he’s incapacitated?

““W-Why?! Why didn’t it die after all that?! Damn you!”

I’m now an Ouroboros, which is said to have bottomless vitality than before.
If I prolong this any further,〖God’s Voice〗will start cooling off.
Still, that guy’s〖Skyfall〗and〖Ground Upheaval〗were really dangerous. It’s all thanks to〖Self-Regeneration〗that I’m still here now.

“For a piece of trash, you sure are annoying!”

The Pegasus flies high up again and tries to flee.
I want to at least land a decisive hit before the Hero recovers from the recoil.
I once again fly in pursuit towards the Hero.

“Gra~a!”

Partner used〖High Rest〗.
However, damage that couldn’t be recovered remained behind.
〖Self-Regeneration〗is more powerful when it comes to recovery, meanwhile〖High Rest〗is more MP-efficient.
Though, that skill is something only my other head can use.

I position myself and shoot a〖Wind Slash〗at the Hero’s head.
And by slightly shifting my angle, I shoot a second one at the Pegasus’s leg.

“Hey! I’m about to get hit!”

Upon hearing the Hero’s words, the Pegasus drops its speed. The first one I shot at the Hero missed and passed over his head.

After that, the second one hit the Pegasus’s leg.

“Neigghhh!”

Its white thigh was deeply gouged and blood splashed everywhere.
I then aimed at the wings. I shoot a third and a fourth blade continuously.

“M-Move it! Hey! You useless thing! Hurry up and move!”

The wings were torn by the wind blades and the Pegasus lost its ability to fly.
The Pegasus falls towards me.

“D-Damn it aa~all!!”

The Hero tightly grips his sword.
His arms are shaking. He still hasn’t recovered from his skill’s recoil.

I flew higher, grabbed the Hero’s back with my teeth, and pulled him away from the Pegasus.
The Pegasus falls alone.

“L-Let go! Let go of me!”

I ascended higher with the Hero’s back in my mouth, turned around, then dove down in a straight line.

“S-Stop! Let go of me, let me go! Someone kill this evil dragon!”

“〖Physical Barrier〗!〖Physical Barrier〗!〖Physical Barrier〗!”

My head crashed into the ground hard.
Dusts spread everywhere.

My neck hurts.
Did I overdo it just because I had healing magic?

“Gru… gra~a!”

The damage I received was soon healed by Partner’s〖High Rest〗.
…… I think heard a crying voice somewhere. What was it?

I look to where I thought the Hero landed but he wasn’t there, instead he was a few distance away from me lying in blood.
Just when I thought it was finally over, the Hero lifted himself up by holding on rubble.

“A, a, c-curse you…… h-how could I have… been done in like this…… h-huh?”

The Hero looks at his hands strangely, and then he looks at his surroundings.
He then looks at me, and wrinkles his nose.
No, wait… he’s looking at Partner?

I look at his line of sight.
The Hero’s sword is inside Partner’s mouth.

〖Holy Sword Radim: Value A+〗
〖Attack: +112〗
〖A demonic sword with the power to slay darkness. Many demons fall from this sword.〗
〖It was kept hidden behind the temple of Haranae for a very long time.〗

Oh, the rarity is very appealing…… no wait, why do you have that, Partner?
It seems that it got hurled away when the Hero got crashed.

“T-That’s mine! Give it ba-……”

Partner turned his head up and the sword went further in her mouth.
And with a loud gulp, she swallowed it.

…… Um, is it okay eat it?
Doesn’t it slay darkness? Doesn’t it repel demons?

The Hero looked at Partner with eyes that clearly say “I can’t believe what I’m seeing” or something like that.
He then set his gaze below.
I looked to where the Hero was looking at and saw the Pegasus lying in blood on the ground.

“Every single one of you is nothing but useless garbage……”

The Hero turned his back away from me and started running.