The Loser No 1 : Trapped Inside Alorexa

006 - The Desperation

They already feel the heat from Leia’s Blazing Wave affecting them for some time. They realize this is their last gamble. If they really don't want to waste all the mana Leia uses for the three auras, there is no other choice but to finish off The Great Zarkhan as soon as possible.

“Zul, there's no need to hold back,” says Leia. “The monster's Elemental Resistance has been decreased. As long as you don't throw your ice magic directly at its flames, your magic can still hurt that monster.”

“Yes, Mam!” says Zul before he starts moving to the left flank.

 Gaston continues to bombard the dragon’s head from the front, while Azzim begins his madness slashing movement using his daggers from the right flank.

 “Listen! My mana supply won’t be enough to last for the next 2 hours,” Leia warns.

The monster's large size makes it an easy target to be bullied. However, its high durability makes it so hard to knock out.

On the other hand, with its large size, its attack range is quite difficult to dodge. Even though its movements aren't that fast, they are still finding it difficult to dodge the monster’s rampage due to the limited space inside the cavern.

At least, the three aura skills released by Leia are effective enough to reduce the monster’s durability and its high HP regeneration rate.

Gaston notices the last hit of his huge axe and manages to leave a deep cut on The Great Zarkhan’s face.

“Looks like its defenses have weakened a lot.”

Now, that monster is also starting to show its emotion unlike its uninterested looks so far.

 “So, how does it feel?” says Gaston with a smirk.

  

Over time, Gaston has started to occupy the dragon’s attention with his brute frontal force and making the monster angry. Zul’s Ice Elemental Magic attacks are also effective enough to make the monster’s movements stiffer and slower. Only Azzim who is now currently going crazy, peeling the dragon’s skin over and over.

However, Zarkhan never shows that it is in pain, as if all the skin Azzim has torn apart are not part of its body. The dragon just ignores Azzim on its back, and keeps targeting Gaston due to its rage.

After an hour they gang up on the dragon, only then do they see the deepest part of the monster’s thick skin. For a moment, Gaston notices a glimpse of heat under The Great Zarkhan’s skin, and his face suddenly turns so pale.

  

“Azzim, get back!” he shouts, violently pulling Azzim's left arm, intending to throw him backwards, away from that monster.

A heat wave is gushing out of Zarkhan's body as soon as its skin is destroyed. Those three warriors are blown away by the thrust of the explosion coming out of the monster.

Meanwhile, Leia tries his best to hold her ground by keeping the banner in its place. She has no other choice but to receive any incoming damage from that last explosion.

The Great Zarkhan, which has been considered a red ancient dragon monster, has now transformed into a green venomous winged reptile, almost looking like a viper with feet. Its entire skin is turning green, releasing a thick poisonous gas and dropping green liquids. It fills the entire cavern with poisons.

To make it even worse, those warriors are currently in a closed cavern. While the monster keeps regenerating its health, the Nethertoxin it releases continues to drain their HP over time.

They never expect that destroying the dragon’s skin would actually put them into a more dire situation.

  

“Damn shit!” Gaston spits and then starts coughing blood.

He rushes to check on Leia’s condition, and tries to help her stand back on her feet.

“Leia, are you okay?”

 “Forget about me. Just kill that monster already, so that we can get out of this place. That poison gas! We won't be able to last long in this condition,” Leia replies, prompting Gaston to rush back to attack the dragon.

  

Meanwhile, Azzim has just returned to his feet not far beside them. But at that very moment, The Great Zarkhan blows a hot, corrosive, and poisonous breath toward them.

The system alert inside Leia's head begins to noisily give out warnings. Looks like his scanning technique has managed to analyze the characteristics and abilities of this monster they have faced all day.

[Alert!]

[Zarkhan will release Corrosive Breath]

- Corrodes any metal based items and weapons.

- Inflict high concentrated poison damage.

“Shit. We need to get away from this place!” she exclaims.

  

Zul immediately creates a protective barrier of ice with all the remaining mana he could collect in that short of time. While he doubts it is enough to withstand Zarkhan's next attack, he at least hopes it would give his friends enough time to dodge.

Just before the barrier is melted by Zarkhan's Corrosive Breath, Azzim has already distanced himself. But Gaston is forced to stay where he is, trying to protect Leia who is still behind him.

He knows Leia can’t leave the little circular area where she planted The Banner of Senopati Bayantika to maintain the three aura skills she releases.

He desperately tries to block the monster's burst with his big ax and moves forward.

“Graarrrrgh!” 

He slams his big ax into Zarkhan's head, slamming it so hard to the left. It manages to leave another deep wound on the dragon’s face, and stops the monster’s corrosive breath.

He took Zarkhan’s attack head on, enough to prevent Leia from being hit by the monster's Corrosive Breath. But unfortunately, after blindly confronting Zarkhan, his large ax is cracked and starts to corrode.

In fact, even though the ax is a rare type of “Magical Weapon”, it has been weakened by the effects of the Corrosive Breath that the ax had previously blocked head on.

As Gaston sends another slam to attack Zarkhan's head, the ax shatters. The monster slams its head and sends Gaston away. He is slammed so hard against the wall. He even bounces back quite far after hitting the wall.

When Zarkhan opens his mouth once more, Gaston finds Zul already standing in front of him.

“Zul, stay away!” exclaims Gaston, who is still currently lying on the ground.

“Sorry, Captain! Just for this one, I can't obey your orders,” Zul replies, standing in front of Gaston as if trying to protect him and Leia at the back from Zarkhan’s next attack.

Zarkhan blows out another Corrosive Breath. Zul holds his ground with all his remaining strength and the little mana he has, with the last ice barrier he could create. Even if he manages to block most of Zarkhan’s attack, the force of that corrosive breath is still able to send the two of them away in the air.

Shortly after, those two warriors are lying unconsciously near the cave wall, not even moving a finger. Leia also falls down, yet she is still able to hold her ground inside the small circle under the banner.

Now, Azzim is the only one who can still fight. But he looks so desperate, looking at the dire condition of his friends. All this time, he had always fought with the help of them creating openings for him. But now, they have already passed out.

“What can I do now?” she murmurs, crying over her helplessness.

“What are you doubting about now? You don't have the time to doubt. You have no right to doubt yourself. We know that you can only do one thing. But remember, that one thing is enough to help us go this far,” says Leia, who seems to have a hard time getting back up.