Volume 1 Chapter 37: Skies Above, Bolts Below

On the back of his mother, Aldrich could feel the rush of wind on his burnt scales as they soared through the sky. Gaelia tells Aldrich,

"Our spells are affected by the anti-magic devices. I've located them, however we must deal with the god form first. Our plan is to lure the god form towards those anti-magic devices. It'll serve to keep the god form off the World Tree and the villagers while we can start destroying the devices."

With Gaelia back in the sky, the god form spots her, presumably losing sight of her earlier, and begins charging at her.

"It's a good thing that it's still angry at me. When the devices are destroyed, we can let out a distress signal to the other dragons. Hopefully… someone will come to our aid."

Aldrich, who was listening attentively, speaks up.

"Can we defeat it ourselves?"

"Impossible."

She lets out a sigh.

"Aldrich, I… we are not that powerful. It's a blessing in itself that the god form has registered us as a threat and pulled away from the World Tree."

"What about the World Tree?"

"… It's possible, but it lacks the strength. Despite its size, it's still young and now is injured. Perhaps if we hold out long enough, it'll recover and be able to fend off the god form."

"Then-"

"But it's unlikely that even then we can banish the god form. In either case, we must destroy the anti-magic devices and keep the World Tree safe."

"Alright."

"How's your ether storage?"

"Bad. I used up most of my ether while fighting throughout the village. The anti-magic field is also sapping any sort of regeneration as well."

"I see. I thought that perhaps your ether would have regenerated somewhat by now considering the affinity you have for it."

"Affinity?"

"It's nothing. I'll give you some of my ether. Together we can both attack the god form."

As she says that, Aldrich could feel ether surge into his very depleted body. It felt incredible, like drinking water after a day without it. The transfer continued until Gaelia spoke again.

"There. That's about half of my ether."

Aldrich was terribly unsatisfied though. He felt as if the ether given to him was like a few drops of rainwater in a desert. He thought to himself that it was concerning that this was half of her ether.

"Do you think we have enough to achieve our goals?"

"With luck, it should last."

Perhaps something else was wrong with the ether transfer or maybe his own ether storage, but he didn't push the issue. If his mother thought they could work with this then he must follow. He himself felt that with the amount he had, he could last a short while.

Within a few minutes the god form had finally caught up to them. Its arms lunged for them, the torrent winds of it ripping through the air. Gaelia dodge and counter attack with a short and rationed dragon breath, inflicting minor damage, but enough to enrage the god form. Gaelia spoke to Aldrich.

"Ration your dragon breaths and focus your fire at the torso. The more we unravel from it, the more it'll hurt the god form."

"Got it."

Gaelia soon began her plan and flew near one of the anti-magic devices, specifically the northern one where Noriko and Yumi were leading their assault. Unbeknownst to her, the elves were in the process of retaking the anti-magic device. It was an easy feat to dodge the god form's attacks, but just as she began moving into position, ballista bolts shot up at her. The first few crashes into her scales, shattering and crushing their way into her legs and torso, but ultimately bouncing off. She winced in pain as she violently dodged. Aldrich held onto dearly life as more ballista bolts flew at them. The god form, taking advantage of the newfound situation, swung again at the dragons. Gaelia witnessed it and dodged the massive hand, but was struck again, this time piercing through an already shattered body part.

Gaelia disengaged from the god form, making space between both it and the ballistas, which were previously concealed underneath trees and foliage. She spotted Noriko and the elves' assault on the anti-magic device, but was unable to stop the teleportation afterwards, especially since the god form was still chasing after her.

When the device was destroyed however, she felt a surge of ether flow into her, relieving some parts of her, except for the parts that were pierced. Those wounds felt unusual for other than the pain, there was a feeling of gnawing pain. Perhaps it was a strong poison.

"Are you alright?"

"I think the ballista bolts were laced with poison. It'll be fine though."

With the influx of ether now in the air, she symbol casted "Cure Poison Ball", which summoned a ball of Cure Poison in the air. She eased the injured parts of her within the liquid before proceeding to the next anti-magic device, the god form in tow.