[Chapter 310. Aerial Evasion]

Iris found purchase on the stone, her claws digging deep into the freshly scored grooves just as the gale created by the Greater Drake's desperate wing beats finally subsided. All that remained was a harsh, scorching wind with each subsequent flap of its massive wings. The dragon wasn't flying high, barely hovering a couple of meters above the ground after it struggled to maintain balance without its severed foreleg. Its powerful muscles strained as blood continued to pump from the ragged wound. But Searanox knew that this new development gave the beast a dangerous advantage—it could now direct its full fury at them from above, making it nearly impossible to approach safely on foot. The tactical situation had shifted dramatically in the dragon's favor, despite its grievous injury.

With a mental tug, he brought D1 back out from his drone storage. Its shield systems were still recharging from the earlier destruction, but it was the best choice he currently had. The materialized drone shimmered into existence between blinks, its blue hexagonal wall still showing stress fractures along its hull from the previous encounter.

Meanwhile, D2 executed a sharp banking maneuver, its propulsion systems whining as it altered course to reach Iris's position. The drone arrived just in time—right before a torrent of white-hot flames spat out by the enraged dragon descended upon them. The fire consumed the entire platform, the intense heat turning the very air into a shimmering, wavering inferno, with the exception of small pockets of safety behind the energy barriers that flickered like dying embers in the wind.

The remaining layer from D2 was holding under the relentless onslaught but flickered violently, its hexagonal pattern distorting as the dragon's thermal assault pushed against the energy matrix. D1 did not fare as well. Its barrier broke the moment it reformed, the newly generated energy field still too unstable to fight off the full force of the dragon fire.

In the next moment, Searanox found himself in the middle of the inferno. His armored suit did not catch fire but the heat alone was insufferable. It was a suffocating blanket that threatened to melt the flesh from his bones despite his enhanced constitution. The Ring of Intermediate Fire Resistance blocked out most of the heat and flame that came his way, but not all of it. He could still feel the searing heat through his coat, the metal components of his armor growing uncomfortably hot to the touch as sweat beaded on his brow and evaporated instantly. His lungs filled with the hot air and flames surrounding him, and he held his breath. Every breath he took would draw more of the fire into his body, damaging his lungs and burning more flesh within.

While he could see nothing but flames his twelve offensive drones were relentless. Their violet beams cut through the inferno, firing directly into the beast's wings. They slowly worked on the membrane, punching holes through the flesh with each beam. The dragon's wings, once majestic sails of crimson, now resembled tattered nets of shredded flesh; each new puncture caused the beast to bellow in agony. And yet, this did not impair its ability to fly in the least; despite the damage, it beat its tattered wings keeping itself airborne.

As the flames finally died down, revealing a landscape of blackened stone and glowing embers, Searanox's skin was severely scorched. As he sucked in fresh air, he could feel that his lungs were burned after breathing in the fire for only a second, the acrid taste of sulfur and charred flesh coating his throat.

With a pop, he uncorked a bottle of red liquid and drank the potion, the metallic tang of blood and herbs mixing with the lingering scent of battle. In an instant, his body shimmered green and the wounds on his body closed, the superficial burns vanishing as if they had never existed. It felt as if his healing drone had spent a couple seconds mending him, the potion's magic coursing through his veins to repair the damage wrought by the dragon's fiery breath. It was not much, but it was enough to suppress the burning pain in his lungs, allowing him to draw breath without searing agony.

His eyes darted over to D1, which was still hovering close by. Its hull was blackened and damaged, but it remained functional, its systems showing signs of strain but no critical failures. The drone's metallic surface was warped in places where the heat had bent its frame, yet its core remained intact. Afterward, he looked over to Iris, who was in the process of getting back to her feet. She was fully protected by D2, her dark fur singed at the edges but otherwise unharmed.

`It appears that Sustained Overcharge is worth the fifteen TP a minute. That's good to know.`

Searanox thought this while bringing D1 higher into the air, moving it away from the fight to recover its defensive barrier. Its ascent was steady and deliberate, a silent guardian watching over the battlefield. His eyes took in the dragon down to the smallest detail. Small rivers of crimson were running down its scales and dropping onto the floor, the blood sizzling as it hit the rock. The dragon's movements were becoming more erratic, its once-imposing presence now tainted by its own mortality.

`I have no time to wait for it to die from blood loss. Though, how do I get Iris up there without exposing myself or the remaining drones to that concentrated fury?`

As the thought raced through his mind, Searanox's analytical processes kicked in, calculating the tactical options with cold precision. He dismissed one of his basic offensive drones with a mental command, watching as its form dissolved into shimmering particles. In its place, a basic Travel Drone materialized—a sleek, half-meter-wide oval disk. The drone appeared beside him and immediately shot toward Iris with silent efficiency, leaving a faint trail of displaced air in its wake.

"Iris! Hydra!" Searanox's voice cut through the chaos of the battle, sharp and authoritative.

Before the echo of his command faded, he was already in motion, dashing away from her position along the perimeter of the platform. He leveled his magitech rifle at the dragon, its energy core humming with barely contained power as he prepared to provide covering fire.

Iris watched Searanox's tactical retreat, her silver eyes tracking his movements even as she registered the travel drone arriving before her. He and his remaining drones had simultaneously shifted their focus, directing their violet energy beams from the dragon's tattered wings directly to its armored head. The beast responded with violent thrashing, its massive head whipping left and right as it tried to shield its eyes after one of the beams managed to damage its protective scleral layer, leaving a blackened scorch mark on its eye. The dragon's pained roars reverberated through the caldera, each sound wave carrying the heavy weight of its agony.

For a moment, Iris stared at the hovering travel drone before her, her mind racing to decode Searanox's command. The word 'Hydra' clicked into place. Without hesitation, she launched herself onto the drone, landing with ease as if it were a familiar surfboard. The drone's magic field immediately activated, securing her boots to its surface and stabilizing her body to counteract the violent turbulence created by the dragon's wing beats. Her body remained perfectly balanced despite her standing position, her Eldritch Zweihänder held ready at her side as the drone shot off toward the outer wall of the caldera, its propulsion system humming with the sudden acceleration.

The massive beast followed her with its eyes, a burning inferno of malice tracking her every movement as she flew off toward the caldera wall. Its massive head swiveled with uncanny precision, the damaged eye blinking rapidly while the other glowed with feral intelligence.

Then, it turned its attention toward Searanox, the unblemished eye fixing directly on him. The dragon banked hard, its massive body coiling in mid-air with a serpentine grace that defied its bulk, muscles rippling beneath scarlet scales as it prepared for another devastating attack.

Next came its massive tail—a colossal whip of flesh and scale that sliced through the scorching air with the sound of cracking thunder. D2 flew over toward Searanox with desperate speed, its systems whining as it positioned itself between him and the incoming tail. But the tail didn't connect with the protective barrier of his drone. He was not the target.

Instead, it slashed right through the cluster of offensive drones at the rim of the platform, a arc of destruction that caught them completely by surprise.

Searanox noticed too late, the realization hitting him like a physical blow as he tried to dismiss his drones in time. His drones had begun to scatter, their systems responding to the threat with automated evasion protocols, but the tail was simply too fast. It slashed through them like a scythe through wheat. The sound of tearing metal and shattering crystal echoed across the platform as six of his precious drones exploded into showers of sparks and debris, their violet beams extinguishing in an instant.

As the tail swept past, he tried to recall his Offensive Drones, but it was too late. He lost two Intermediate Offensive Drones and four Basic Offensive Drones. Searanox spent twelve silver coins and eighty TP to construct new drones over the next ten seconds, filling up his ranks. The dragon roared as it saw the new drones appear beside Searanox, its body twisting before diving right at him.