Joseph furrowed his brow as icicles pierced through the sides of the barriers. Luckily, it seemed like Delphina concentrated most of her mana in the middle of the barrier. A few icicles had stabbed into the central portion, but they didn’t manage to get all the way through. However, at the rate things were going, the barrier would be broken, and he’d be turned into a pincushion along with his party members and Delphina. “You’re absolutely sure someone else is going to come?” Joseph asked. “Why aren’t they here yet?”

“Oi!” a voice shouted from outside the barrier. “You big smelly lizard! Guess what? Your mother’s a donkey!”

The frost breath seemed to halt, causing Delphina to relax her shoulders.

“Yeah, that’s right! I’m talking to you! Are you deaf, or did you not understand what I said because you’re the son of a donkey?”

Joseph blinked. “Is that Devon from The Black Hounds?”

“As usual, his method of drawing his target’s aggression isa quite … bold,” Delphina said, a wry smile appearing on her lips. She disabled her barrier, and as expected, the ocean-blue dragon wasn’t even paying attention to her anymore. It was glaring off to the side at a demon who was holding a massive shield.

The shield-wielding demon used his hand to thump on his shield near his chest, causing an obnoxious sound to ring out. “C’mere, you ugly lizard,” he said. “Your mother might’ve been a donkey, but didn’t she at least teach you to listen to your superiors?”

Danielle groaned and opened her eyes. “My god, he’s annoying,” the half-dead woman said. “I want to slit his throat more than Keith’s.”

“Imagine how the dragon’s feeling,” Delphina said. Speaking of the dragon, it had completely stopped paying attention to them. White light leaked out of the corners of its mouth as it drew in a deep breath. A moment later, a blinding laser beam erupted from its jaws and struck the obnoxious demon before he could even react. Rather than engulfing and disintegrating the demon, the laser beam pushed him back, unable to get past the shield. In an instant, Devon was forced through several buildings, breaking the walls with his back, yet the demon still maintained his upright posture while holding his shield.

Joseph climbed to his feet and reached deep into his clothes. He pulled out a glass bottle and uncorked it before taking a sip of the golden liquid inside. Afterwards, he crouched down by Danielle’s side and fed her the potion as well. “Is he still alive?” Danielle asked after taking a sip. She sat up and looked to the side, but the pit she was in blocked her view.

From atop the crater, Delphina nodded. “He’s the sturdiest demon out there,” she said. “He’ll be fine even after blocking a meteor.”

“Why can’t you do that, Joey?” a weak-sounding voice asked from the side.

“Shut up, Keith,” Joseph said. “If you call me Joey again, I’ll spit in the potion before feeding it to you.”

“Some people would pay extra for that,” Keith said and let out a series of coughs. Blood splattered out of his mouth, and he took in a deep breath as he pulled a potion out of his clothes. Half the bottle was shattered, but luckily, there was still some liquid inside. He drank it all in one gulp before letting out a tiny burp. He glanced at his fallen companions. “Are we all still alive?”

“For now,” Danielle said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to stay that way, not with a completely enraged dragon in front of us.” As she spoke, she fed potions into her unconscious companions’ mouths.

“Didn’t you hear what the pretty demon said?” Keith asked. “Devon’s sturdy. As long as he’s alive, the dragon will focus on killing him first.”

“Goddammit!” a voice shouted from off in the distance. It could barely be heard. “If none of you act, I’m really going to die! Do you think blocking a dragon is easy!?”

“Who told you to provoke a dragon, moron?” a feminine voice said. A black shadow flashed near the ocean-blue dragon’s head, and a figure appeared on his snout. She had two tiny, black horns sticking out of her head, barely peeking out from beyond her pink hair. She drew the whip that was looped in a coil on her waist, and with a flick of her wrist, it extended towards the sky like a python. With a downward swing of her arm, it extended and coiled around the ocean-blue dragon’s mouth. She jerked her arm upwards in a curling motion, and the whip constricted, clamping the dragon’s mouth shut, causing the beam of light to shoot out of its nostrils instead.

“Holy crap!” Keith said. “Who is she? I think I’m in love.”

“That’s Natalie, Devon’s sister,” Delphina said. “She’s also a part of The Black Hounds.” A frown appeared on the demon’s lips. “I wasn’t aware she was strong enough to overpower a dragon.”

The woman who silenced Keith cleared her throat. “It’s not completely unexpected,” she said. “Like a crocodile, the muscles on a dragon’s face are structured in such a way that it’s impossible to open their mouths if they want to keep it closed, but as a result, their muscles for opening their mouths are much weaker in comparison.” She glanced at Keith. “Of course, a wimp like you wouldn’t be able to achieve either.”

“Is now really the time to roast me?” Keith asked with a dark expression.

“There’s no time like the present,” the woman who silenced Keith said.

“Are the rest of you just going to watch?” Natalie shouted from atop the ocean-blue dragon’s head. It was shaking its head back and forth, but she remained firmly in place, holding on with the help of her whip.

Dozens of people appeared in the vicinity, and multiple long-ranged attacks struck towards the ocean-blue dragon. Right before the attacks were about to hit, the dragon dissolved into a fountain of purple water in front of all the adventurers. Natalie let out a short scream as she lost her footing, falling to the ground. Her purple skin took on a greenish hue as the liquid splashed on her, and the puddle of poison burbled before reforming into a dragon’s head. It bit down on Natalie and tossed her aside like a puppy flinging a stick. Then, the rest of the dragon emerged from the puddle of poison as if it were crawling out of a crack in the ground.

Keith’s eyes widened. “What the hell? Is that a leviathan or a dragon?”