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Chapter 118: Save My Sister First

A crack split open in the trunk, and after a dull thud a pitch-black hollow appeared before them.

A short-haired white-furred fox-eared girl stuck out her head; she brightened when she heard Peggy’s voice, yet the moment she saw Reiner she shrank back timidly.

What a shy little creature.

Peggy glanced back at Reiner and lowered her head slowly. “This is my sister Neve; she is very wary of humans.”

“Tell her to come out and let’s leave this forest quickly; according to Elyanna the red dragon is quite dangerous.” Reiner raised an eyebrow.

Peggy nodded, and her inner voice reached him at that moment.

(Since things have come to this, I can only trust him…)

She tapped the trunk and whispered, “Come out quickly, he is different from other humans, he is a good man.”

With Peggy’s assurance, Neve crept out, clutched Peggy’s waist, hid behind her, and peeked at Reiner from time to time.

The little one looked only in her county teens and did not seem very bright.

Even so, her eyes were lively and she did not appear malnourished, so she probably had not gone hungry these days.

Reiner glanced into the hollow and saw that it was carpeted with dead leaves, with heaps of berries in the corner and half a wild rabbit.

At that moment Neve spoke softly. “Sister… this place is unsafe; monsters keep flying overhead.”

“We will leave with him right now.” Peggy stroked her fox ears and soothed her gently.

Just then a flock of startled birds burst out of the woods.

Nora pricked up her ears, looked toward the depths of the trees, and drew the dagger at her waist. “Master, something is coming from the sky!”

Following her gaze, Reiner saw a crimson shadow shoot toward the clouds and let out a piercing roar.

Nora covered her ears, her expression tense and uneasy.

Peggy and Neve clung to each other tightly.

Reiner focused his eyes.

To him it looked less like a dragon and more like a gigantic winged red lizard.

After circling a few times the red dragon dived at them, and a glaring red glow lit up its chest and throat.

“Careful, it is coming straight at us.” Reiner raised his staff, gathered a Fireball in an instant, and fired it.

The Fireball exploded in mid-air and hit the red dragon squarely, yet the creature blasted through the flames unfazed and kept rushing toward them.

Reiner muttered, “Fire magic doesn’t seem to work on it… wait, Peggy, don’t run!”

Terrified, Peggy pulled Neve and dodged to the side.

Nora reacted quickly and grabbed her, but Neve still ran off.

Frowning, Peggy struggled and shouted, “Are we supposed to sit here and wait for death?”

Reiner had no time to explain and merely yelled at the fleeing little fox, “Neve, come back!”

Nora called again, “Master!”

Reiner understood at once, hurriedly unfolded a Radiant Barrier, and blocked the flames the red dragon spewed from above.

The distant Neve was not so lucky.

Seeing its fire fail against Reiner’s group, the red dragon turned its attention to Neve.

Reiner reacted fast, shot a large Water Ball at the fleeing Neve, and drenched her clothes completely.

A second later the flames descended on her, and the trees around her were set ablaze.

Through the fire Reiner could just make out Neve being ignited; she fell to the ground and rolled frantically.

“Neve!” Peggy cried anxiously; she finally broke free of Nora only to be held back by Reiner.

“Don’t go out yet.”

With a sob Peggy said, “My sister…”

She was a clever woman, but seeing her kin in peril robbed her of calm.

“I know, settle down a little.” Reiner fired another Water Ball and doused the flames on Neve.

In the distance Junice raised her staff and chanted; soon several dark clouds formed overhead, and icy rain fell, slowly quenching the surrounding fire.

The red dragon circled once in the sky and also spotted the spell-casting Junice.

It dove at her and spat fire, but Elyanna blocked it with a Radiant Barrier.

Reiner gathered a Wind Blade at the tip of his staff; when the beast climbed high again to repeat its dive attack, he shot the Wind Blade without hesitation and sliced its wing.

Hit, the red dragon lost balance and plummeted.

It rolled over, flapped a few times, failed to take off, and then lunged at Reiner’s group with its gaping jaws.

Sparkling with lightning, Martina sprinted forward with shield raised and rammed the red dragon.

Yet their sizes were not on the same scale at all.

Ncounty as tall as a two-story house, the red dragon did not budge, while Martina herself bounced back.

Seeing the dragon draw nearer, Reiner hurriedly cast Earthquake.

Its speed dropped a little, but it soon flapped its wings and lurched toward Reiner again.

Reiner promptly carved a large hole in its fragile membranous wing with another Wind Blade, grounding it for good.

As the red dragon crashed down, Martina leaped high and hacked at its neck.

“Clang!”

Martina’s greatsword, which could slice iron like mud, failed to sever its head and only knocked off a few red scales.

“Its hide is so tough!” Martina complained while hacking furiously.

The red dragon suddenly dug its claws into the ground, its forelimb muscles trembled, and then its thick powerful tail lashed at Martina like a whip.

It was not fast enough, and Martina dodged easily.

After pulling some distance, the red dragon spewed dragonfire at the group, then abruptly turned and scrambled toward the fallen Neve.

“No!” Martina dropped her shield and charged, hugged the dragon’s tail, tried to halt it, and was flung away.

Seeing Martina hurtling over, Nora yanked Reiner aside.

Peggy, who failed to dodge in time, was struck and sent flying several meters, screaming in pain.

Reiner touched the ground with both hands, and several stone walls rose before the red dragon as he shouted, “Neve, run!”

In a daze, Neve struggled to her feet after a few seconds.

The stone walls were like paper before the giant dragon and shattered at a gentle ram.

Neve, utterly defenseless, was seized in one of its claws.

Just as the dragon was about to swallow her, white light burst forth.

A dazzling beam pierced the dragon’s head in an instant, and its massive body fell.

Reiner looked back and saw that Elyanna had fired the shot.

He would ask her about it later; for now he had more urgent matters.

Reiner ran to Peggy and asked, “How are you?”

Peggy lay on the ground groaning in pain, her mouth covered in blood and her white hair stained crimson; she was clcounty badly hurt.

She said brokenly, “Master… please save… my sister… please… ugh!”

Before she could finish she vomited another mouthful of blood.

Reiner took out a bottle of holy water, pulled the cork, held it to her lips, and ordered, “Open your mouth and drink!”

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