Chapter 422

The die spun slightly, and information about the target appeared:

[Duergar Commander, Duergar, Challenge Rating 18]

‘Legendary, just as I thought.’

An adult red dragon had a Challenge Rating of 17, which meant this duergar commander was theoretically stronger than an adult dragon.

Anser wasn’t afraid, though. His own Challenge Rating was certainly higher.

He beat his dragon wings, turned around, and plunged into a dive.

The duergar commander roared, his body suddenly swelling to enormous proportions. His thick legs planted themselves on the ground like pillars as he drew back his right arm, javelin in hand. Leaning backward, he tensed his entire body like a bow drawn to its limit.

The other duergar followed his example, and more than two hundred javelins angled toward the night sky.

Anser gave a contemptuous smile. He neither dodged nor cast a spell.

‘Today, I’m going to play the evil dragon!’

The distance between the two sides closed rapidly, shrinking to less than a hundred meters in just a few seconds.

“Kill him!” the commander shouted in Dwarvish.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A dense chorus of whistles filled the air as the javelins formed a deadly barrage, piercing the night sky toward the fearsome red dragon overhead.

As the javelins approached their target, many duergar broke into grins, already imagining the magnificent sight of the dragon riddled with holes and falling dead on the spot.

The next instant, the red dragon vanished.

More than two hundred javelins struck nothing but empty air. Not a single one touched his scales.

Then a flash of red light appeared in the night sky, and the dragon reemerged. As though teleporting, he had passed through the barrage and crossed the remaining dozens of meters, appearing directly above their heads.

“Get out of the way!” the duergar commander shouted in Dwarvish.

He leaped away from his position.

Before his warning had even finished, the red dragon’s partially folded wings snapped open. A fierce wind howled as his speed dropped sharply.

At the same time, he opened his enormous jaws and unleashed a blinding torrent of flame that glowed like molten lava, forming a massive cone of fire more than fifty meters long.

As the dragon swept low over the ground and swung his head from side to side, his scorching breath turned hundreds of meters of the surrounding area into a sea of flames, engulfing most of the duergar.

Many were reduced to charred corpses before they could even make a sound. Flesh and armor burst into flames, while even their inferior Underdark weapons glowed red, warped, and melted.

With maximum damage exceeding 140 points, this fiery breath was simply more than ordinary duergar could withstand!

[Target killed. Gained 190 experience points.]

[Target killed. Gained 2,220 experience points.]

Anser glanced at the results of his attack, beat his wings, and climbed higher.

‘You think shooting me down is going to be that easy?’

He knew his defenses were formidable, but that didn’t mean he wanted to let others stab him for nothing.

Why bother taking an attack head-on when a single use of Ethereal Jaunt could avoid it?

Heavy footsteps thundered behind him, growing faster and faster.

He glanced sideways and saw the duergar commander, now transformed into a giant, leaping across the sea of flames and pursuing him relentlessly.

‘Can’t fly?’

The thought had barely crossed his mind when the duergar commander suddenly launched himself into the air, hurtling straight toward him at a speed slightly faster than the Fly spell.

‘That’s a psionic leap.’

Anser was proficient in psionics himself. How could he fail to sense such obvious psionic fluctuations?

‘But that speed is way too slow!’

With a slight acceleration, he left his pursuer behind.

“Argh! Fight me!” the duergar commander roared.

His somewhat broken Common echoed through the night sky, carrying more than a hint of impotent rage.

“ROAAAR!”

Anser answered with a draconic roar, twisted his body, and charged straight toward the duergar commander.

Before he could close the distance, a psychic spike struck him without a sound.

[You have been attacked by the Duergar Commander’s Psychic Spike. A difficult Intelligence Saving Throw is mandatory. You possess psychic resistance. Saving Throw successful. Protective Field has blocked the residual impact…]

An attack of this caliber couldn’t even penetrate his multiple layers of protection.

Anser snorted coldly. This duergar really was underhanded.

He couldn’t be bothered wasting words. With a thought, he decisively activated Time Stop!

He stepped outside the current timeline. Everything around him came to a complete halt, leaving him the only one free to move.

As the distance closed, he raised a ferocious dragon claw. Brilliant platinum light shone across its surface, intertwined with psionic energy and Phoenix Flames, while a radiant glow flickered around it.

BANG!

The enormous claw slammed into the commander’s head. Magical light flashed, and the impact sent him flying.

The duergar commander’s skull caved in, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle, and his eyeballs vanished. His blood-soaked, mangled face was left with nothing but two bloody sockets.

‘Pretty tough!’ Anser remarked jokingly.

He had put all his strength into that claw strike. Its primary attribute was Charisma, and it carried the combined power of a ninth-level Divine Smite, Divine Favor, Psionic Strike, Sacred Flames, and other abilities. The resulting attack was terrifyingly powerful.

Yet the duergar commander wasn’t dead.

His injuries healed at a visibly rapid pace, and he regained consciousness after flying barely a dozen meters.

His gaze remained vacant, however. He clearly hadn’t figured out how he’d been injured.

He didn’t know who this red dragon was, but he’d already noticed far too many things that didn’t add up. The traces of radiant and psionic power were unmistakable.

Since when did red dragon paladins exist?!

Without the slightest hesitation, he struck the amulet on his chest.

The amulet shattered, and his figure vanished into thin air without a trace.

Anser hadn’t expected his opponent to be so perceptive or to flee so decisively. The duergar hadn’t even given him half a second to counteract his escape.

‘Next time, I’ll cast Forcecage first!’

But then he wouldn’t have any opportunity to put his melee abilities to use. He’d be limited to bombarding his opponent with spells.

Besides, such a small cage couldn’t accommodate his enormous body.

He surveyed the battlefield. Amid the flames blazing everywhere, hardly a figure remained in sight. Everyone capable of running had already fled.

The Red Dragon Spirit, Fire Elemental, and Wildfire Spirit had scattered to pursue and kill the fleeing enemies. They were strictly following Anser’s instructions, preventing the enemy from gathering together, even while retreating.

The surviving duergar elites had fled even earlier than their own commander. Even the slowest among them had already made it several hundred meters away.

‘Can’t let you get away.’

That legendary duergar hadn’t been particularly good at taking a beating. Anser had barely finished warming up.

He spread his dragon wings and quickly caught up with a group of duergar.

With a heavy thud, he landed directly in front of them, blocking their escape route. He raised his head and looked down imperiously at the few duergar before him.

“Vermin, what’s your commander’s name?”

He spoke in flawless Common, his voice ringing like clashing metal and carrying an oppressive weight.

The duergar immediately turned and ran, their short legs moving as fast as they could.

The wind howled as an enormous dragon tail came crashing down, smashing the fastest runner into a bloody pulp and driving him deep into the earth, leaving flesh and soil almost indistinguishable.

“Answer me!”

The tremendous dragon roar shook the surrounding wilderness, kicking up layers of loose soil. The duergar’s eardrums rang painfully from the deafening sound.

Out of the corners of their eyes, they caught sight of that overwhelming figure blotting out the sky. Boundless terror instantly engulfed them. Their bodies slipped beyond their control, and their ability to think was reduced to almost nothing.

“Ugart… That was Lord Ugart…” one duergar murmured.

“His full name!” Anser snorted.

“Gildrak Ugart, Gildrak Ugart…” the duergar repeated over and over.

The corners of Anser’s mouth curved upward. As long as he knew the commander’s full name, even fleeing back to the Underdark wouldn’t save him.

He twisted his body and swept his dragon tail sideways, sending the remaining duergar flying and bursting into clouds of bloody mist.