Anti-dragon shield

"Fire!!!"

A volley of arrows fired into the sky from the human barricade positioned at the front of the battlefield, directed towards the infernal dragon of abomination.

Hwaaak...!

Ear-piercing cries resounded throughout the Ember-Crowned Mountains as the Infernal Tarrasque retreated back to get away from the rangers' firing range. It turned back around, its tail striking straight through the rock of mountains that was in its way as the arrows struck to the ground, just barely missing it.

"Proceed!" Bolt signaled with one swift raise of an arm, and the hidden hunters climbed the trees, scanning for potential openings and weaknesses as the brawlers targeted the hideous feet of the humongous creature.

Infernal Tarrasque. Nearly its entire body was heavily protected by its massive carapace, the spikes and inextinguishable fire proving a difficult shield for the brawlers and hunters to get through to its vital weak spots.

However, Bolt wasn't worried. Though his expression was rather fierce compared to others, he wore a relaxed attitude. He encircled the creature by jumping from one tree to another with ease. Even if the dragon was superior in its size, it wasn't much different from the other dragons they had fought so far. With their organized tactics and timely adjustments, they will definitely pull through with a victory. He was certain of that.

Until...

A hunter from the Storm Tribe scrambled to Bolt's side, his anxious expression dripping with sweat. "Warchief!" he shouted. "Some hunters tried to infiltrate the inside of the carapace but the steam killed them in an instant! What do we do?!"

'Was that even possible, for a dragon not to have weak spots?' Bolt gritted his teeth, anguished.

It was his first time experiencing a fight with a dragon that had no clear weaknesses. As a hunter type himself, targeting such spots was the satisfying part of the deed after taking their time to analyze the dragon they had fought. But what could hunter types do if a dragon had no weak spots? Were the hunters going to be useless in such an important battle?

No, Bolt refused to do nothing in their current predicament.

"Support the brawlers for now. We, the hunters, cannot remain still while the others are struggling," Bolt said firmly. He readjusted his grip on his weapon. "I will continue to look for the weak spots. Be careful out there. We are not as tough as the tankers and brawlers."

The hunter nodded in response, and he quickly ran off to relay the Warchief's command.

"Ke-heok!" "Ku-waah!" "Uw-aaah...!"

The Infernal Tarrasque watched as brawlers and hunters flew and tumbled across the grounds the moment it made a move. Humans…did they really think it would wait for them to prepare their operations and do nothing?

With a roar, the Infernal Tarrasque charged forth!

Because of its eye-catching, spiked carapace lined with hell flames, the dragon-slayers had failed to notice its other terrifying features. Its huge, rocky dinosaur-like legs were long, capable of taking big strides. Its mobility wasn't its bread and butter, but it was something the dragon-slayers must keep in mind when engaging near its feet.

Kwaaang-!!

The dragon's bear-like claws struck through the collective shields the tankers bravely arranged as one massive anti-dragon shield. Their anti-dragon shields might have withstood the nightmare pillar of flames, but their altogether strength was not enough to withstand a herculean punch from a beast like such.

Not many of the dragons the dragon-slayers have fought before had used their claws and feet like the Tarrasque before them, and so the tankers were caught off guard with this new attack. With the great shield broken through and their bodies littered across the ground, they couldn't do much as the dragon turned its attention towards the unprotected rangers.

The rangers stood frozen to the spot, eyes trembling with fear as the Infernal Tarrasque glared at them with its blazing orbs.

'It… it knew...'

The Infernal Tarrasque was not one to forget the irritation of such annoying, tiny arrows raining on its face, and it was ready to return the favor to the now-vulnerable rangers, who could only incline their heads towards the towering beast as they awaited their fate.

Who was going to protect them now?

* * * * *

Kuuuong, uwuuong, clang!

Odeus and Pearl advanced towards Malileah with their anti-dragon shield and cutlass, but every time they struck, they found nothing but empty space as she effortlessly evaded the attacks with a yawn.

Wushuuung!

An arrow shot through the air from Yvonne's crossbow towards Malileah, but the pink-haired lady grabbed the arrow mid-air with one hand before it could reach her face. She sniffed and began twirling the thin but sturdy arrow shaft around her fingers.

'Damn. Is this really the best they got?' Malileah wondered, placing one hand on her hip. 'Did Alistein trick me? He said the tribe representatives are the finest young dragon-slayers of each faction. But these little things…they are no different from the others.' She sighed. 'When will Blaze come back…?'

Seeing how Malileah's head was gone in the clouds in the middle of their fight, twirling the arrow like it was some random stick she picked on the way here, Odeus gripped his shield tighter with fury. Just yesterday, Blaze had humiliated them all in front of a crowd. He was known as the second-best tanker in the entire faction, someone who had the potential to surpass Terry Dyingstar in the near future. But because of what happened, Blaze was tasked to guard the Emperor instead of him. The honorable task of being the Emperor's guard was taken from him, and now, another spiteful woman had shown up and was obviously toying with him. With all of them.

Enraged, Odeus disregarded his synchronized attacks with his partner Pearl and hurled his shield alone to attack Malileah. What was the point of doing so if they couldn't even land a hit after who-knows-how-long while the Emperor remained missing and unprotected? "Don't f*ck with me!!" he shouted, his blood boiling. "Since when did I become a joke to anyone? Don't underestimate Odeus Banson of the Sea Tribe!!"

'He lost it! That d*mned Odeus!' Pearl and Yvonne thought at the same time. They couldn't find any openings to support Odeus with his unplanned attack. That ass just lost his weapon along with it.

Malileah burst out laughing as Odeus' shield sailed past her shoulder. He may be weak, but she could see the pride of a warrior's in Odeus' eyes, unwavering despite the large discrepancy in their power. 'Alrighty… Since you're asking for it, I'll put you to sleep next!'

Malileah leaped into the air and flipped back to create a distance between them. As soon as she landed, she used the ground to launch herself towards Odeus and tightened her right fist.

"Odeus, watch out!" Pearl shouted.

"Here!" Yvonne ran towards Odeus' shield as Malileah wasn't looking and flung it back towards its owner with a steady swing of her arm.

Odeus' eyes opened wide with determination as he caught his big, anti-dragon shield, immediately planting its pointed base into the ground. With it, he was able to reinforce his stability. He wasn't dumb. He knew Malileah was stronger. But that fact alone won't stop him, a gifted tanker who was willing to sacrifice his life to protect even against the faction's greatest enemies.

Clang, Boom-!!!

Odeus held his ground as Malileah's fist hit his shield with great force…and sent her flying back with the same amount of force.

No, it wasn't just Odeus. The anti-dragon shield was force absorbent. If the user of the shield could angle the shield perfectly against the enemy's physical attacks, the anti-dragon shield would be able to distribute the force throughout the entire shield and repel it back to the enemy.

Odeus knew that. After all, he had both brains and brawn. It was a gamble he took on his part, but he was lucky enough to angle the shield perfectly to get the result he hoped the hardest for. He stood up tall behind his shield.

He said fiercely, "Dragons, other factions, or secret organizations, it doesn't matter. Lunargard will always come out on top!"