How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 217 - Devilish Dragon (2)

“What the hell…!”

Honestly, it was hard to accept. Three days. It had been three days since we destroyed their temple.

Their appearance was too early. It felt like the plan I had set up was completely shattered. And I couldn’t understand it.

This wasn’t arrogance. Thinking it was a trap would be the normal reaction. Does this make any sense? How could they find us so quickly?

Only a few people knew I had come to the North. Erendil and her small circle of confidants, as well as Phiri and the Chief of Intelligence.

I don’t think information leaked from that side. And there hadn’t been any problems when we stopped in the city either.

If we had caught their eye in the city, it would have been impossible for them to arrive this quickly.

They wouldn’t be stupid enough to not consider the possibility of a trap.

‘What’s going on?’

Even if, by chance, they had somehow pinpointed the location of the Sword Masters from the Empire and other kingdoms just yesterday or today, it still didn’t add up.

The explosion in the forest and the mystery of the glowstone would still remain. Is Tsukva’s Scythe that important to them? Enough to take such a risk?

“Carlyn! Is this okay?”

“I don’t know!”

I slightly increased my speed. The sound of the wind brushing past my body became a bit rougher. Even so, the pitch-black dragon was slowly getting closer.

I gauged the distance. Should I use my winds at full power? No. I felt we would be caught up to anyway.

We might be able to widen the gap or get further away for now, but there’s a limit to using the winds. The dragon would probably be in the same situation, but it would have better stamina than us.

If the outcome was already decided, it seemed better to conserve even a little strength. I slowed down again.

‘It looks terrifying.’

Now I could properly see the appearance of the devilish dragon. And its eyes too. The red eyes on the black body looked menacing.

There was no one riding on its back.

Only now could I guess why they had moved so quickly. The devilish dragon had flown here alone.

I had assumed the worst-case scenario. In an unexpected situation, I had jumped to the conclusion that even the devil had come. That was something I needed to reflect on.

Yes, as I thought, it would have been too risky for the devil to move right away.

But they couldn’t just let Tsukva’s Scythe go either. The picture was becoming clearer.

If things had gone as I intended, they would have thought we were traveling by dragon, so they sent the devilish dragon.

‘From their perspective, it’s a piece that’s moderately strong but expendable.’

The devilish dragon, its glory from the founding emperor’s era gone, is now an existence incomparably stronger than the dragons bred by the imperial family.

But from their point of view, in the worst-case scenario, it would be better for the devilish dragon to die than the devil.

I glanced back to see the dragon’s red eyes glowing intensely. An extraordinary power could be felt.

A strange energy, I wondered if the devil in the North was watching us through those eyes.

‘But isn’t the difference too extreme?’

The size alone was different. No matter how strong it was, when I recalled the dragon I had seen before, it felt unfair to even compare them.

And it was incomprehensible how something with such a heavy body could fly so quickly.

The jet-black skin wasn’t simply because the scales were black. Darkness rippled above it.

The scales visible between the darkness looked as if they were rotten and decayed, or as if they had been dyed by the darkness.

‘Well, there are no dragons on this continent now.’

It must have been summoned from hell by offering sacrifices, or perhaps recreated from dragon bones using darkness.

As the distance closed, the dragon’s cry echoed through the sky.

It would catch up soon, so it was time to prepare for battle.

There was a sense of helplessness. We couldn’t go down to the ground to face the dragon. Aerial combat was difficult, and our physical condition wasn’t good.

“Let’s fight!”

Amidst the sound of the rough winds, Denif’s seemingly excited voice could be heard. Was he happy even in this situation?

When our eyes met, I could see the anticipation. Well, it seemed we had no choice anyway. I nodded.

Now the devilish dragon was right behind us. I could feel it observing us. Perhaps because of the red eyes, the back of my neck felt chilly.

Seeing it up close, I could tell for sure. It was the gaze of the devil I had seen through the magical tool used to find Devil’s Blood.

I quickly racked my brain. To fight against that thing, I had no choice but to use my winds.

Should I continue to use the winds to restrain the dragon? No, it would be better to save it.

They probably know that I can use control the wind, but this kind of thing should be used as a trump card. Knowing about it and adapting to it are different issues. Sudden use would be harder to deal with.

-Kyaaaaa!

After a sharp cry, darkness and mana began to surge from behind. It was the precursor to a breath attack.

I made eye contact with Denif.

A silent conversation. And then black flames began to spew from its mouth.

We split left and right at the same time. The dragon spewing flames followed me.

The flames weren’t a one-time thing. Since the dragon only had to turn its head, the flames continued to chase after me.

Fortunately, under the control of my winds, flying with the wingsuit was extremely free.

I avoided it with acrobatic-like movements in the sky.

So that the dragon’s neck couldn’t bend to aim at me. The dragon that had brushed past above my head now turned around in front.

And it began to shoot its breath again, blocking our path with its massive body.

This time too, I was the target.

I turned at a right angle towards the ground. Lowering altitude to avoid it, then turning right and ascending again.

‘I wonder why it’s not trying to collide with its body?’

It might be because of its size. In fact, to it, we probably look like flying squirrels.

But watching closely, it didn’t seem that way. While maintaining a certain distance, it didn’t get any closer.

It just spewed flames from its mouth with a roar. And this time, the mana in the surrounding area rippled.

It was magic. A huge wall of fire appeared in the sky ahead of us. It was too wide to go above or below.

“Keep flying straight!”

I shouted to Denif who was trying to avoid it. Just before touching the wall of flames, I used my winds to create a path.

Hot air brushed past. After passing through the wall, flames wrapped in winds followed like a tail behind our feet.

-Kieeeeek!

The dragon roared as if expressing discomfort. And as similar situations continued, I could come to a conclusion.

It’s not getting closer. The devilish dragon was moving to block our path and force us to descend to the ground.

With the winds, even if we lowered altitude, we could just rise again, but it would be difficult if I continued to expend energy.

They probably knew that since we had stayed in the mountains, we needed high ground to fly.

“What should we do!? Attack?”

“Wait! I’m thinking!”

First, we needed to observe it. Its turning speed and movements, the magic it could use. That way we could prevent a disaster when we got close.

While watching the devilish dragon, I continued my thoughts in another direction.

‘What’s happening on the northern battlefield?’

This was one of the reasons I found it hard to understand the appearance of the devilish dragon. This thing was supposed to be facing off against Rudehrn in the North.

The last news I heard was that it was harassing the cities while keeping Rudehrn in check.

To prevent damage, I had seen a large number of mages heading north before I left the capital.

So that means this thing was tying down Rudehrn. Surely Rudehrn wouldn’t have retreated first in the meantime.

In 2–3 days, they would have noticed that the devilish dragon had left the battlefield, but surely they hadn’t given up on that side?

‘Well.’

Even if the enemy retreated, Rudehrn couldn’t advance to the northern limit line with the forces he had. I could understand what they were thinking.

They’d rather focus on finding this scythe rather than letting Erendil quickly take control of the empire.

The strange energy that had been shining in the dragon’s eyes was gone. I wondered if they had sent the dragon to slow down our movement while the devil headed this way.

I felt a bit anxious. We had covered quite a distance in 3 days, but if they weren’t flying, it was a distance where the devil could catch up.

‘We can’t go down to the ground.’

Either catch the dragon or avoid it and keep flying. Looking at the immediate situation, the former was difficult, but the latter wasn’t impossible.

It was just keeping a certain distance and checking us.

But Denif and I couldn’t fly without rest. The winds consume mana and mental power. The human body needs rest.

On the other hand, the stamina of the devilish dragon had to be different from ours. I made a decision.

“Denif! We need to deal with this quickly! The devil is coming from behind!”

“Got it!”

“I’ll support you when you move!”

Although my body wasn’t in good shape, it was important to catch it quickly even if we had to push ourselves.

Now that they’ve seen us, the devil will move directly and command its minions. Those hidden on the empire’s side will probably set up an encirclement too.

It was urgent, but I didn’t want to use the glowstone. Still, it seemed doable. The devilish dragon had moved alone to scout out what might be a trap.

We couldn’t help that our information had been leaked. If we could just deal with this one, escape would be possible one way or another.

“Denif, take the sword!”

“Just a moment!”

I called out to Denif, but he moved without paying attention. Well, it seemed he had his own thoughts.

I focused on the winds surrounding Denif’s body. Rather than watching and helping, I coordinated the winds simultaneously with his body movements.

As Denif suddenly increased altitude, the dragon hesitated for a moment on whether to aim at me or Denif.

In that time, Denif circled above. I, too, blocked the opposite direction to pressure the dragon.

The devilish dragon shot its breath towards Denif.

Denif rotated counterclockwise, narrowly avoiding the breath while gliding.

Then he struck at the dragon’s neck area. However, the sword broke the moment it hit the black scales, despite the added force from the charge.

He had chosen one of the swords, but it was an ordinary sword. It was impossible to penetrate the scales of the dragon rippling with darkness.

“Damn it!”

Of course, it wasn’t without effect. A few scales tainted with darkness shattered and quickly flew away.

The dragon twisted its body. Denif was thrown off by the impact and fell.

“Aaargh!”

Denif regained his balance, but in that brief moment, his altitude had dropped considerably. I raised Denif nearby with my winds.

“Denif!”

“Let me borrow it one more time!”

“I told you to take it earlier!”

“I was testing! Anyway, you’re here now!”

I snorted slightly and threw Moonlight to him once again. I was holding the scythe anyway, so it was inconvenient to use a sword.

But I felt a bit reluctant to give the scythe to Denif.

He’s not familiar with scythes, but it shouldn’t be a problem. Objectively speaking, Tsukva’s Scythe is a superior weapon to Moonlight.

The blade was bigger too. It’s suitable for delivering critical hits. Especially now when facing a dragon, this might be more appropriate.

‘Using the Great Devil’s scythe to catch a devilish dragon…’

From their perspective, the situation was so strange it would make their teeth chatter, but it couldn’t be helped.

I briefly adjusted my grip on the scythe. I was at the stage of finding where to hold it comfortably.

It’s my first time using a weapon shaped like a grim reaper’s scythe, but it should be fine.

It’s not like I’m dueling with swords against a person, and I’ve seen Tsukva swing this a few times.

Right now, what I needed to be most careful about was the dragon’s possible escape. If our resistance became too fierce, it might retreat.

From the devilish dragon’s perspective, it just needs to keep chasing us. It’s faster than us.

We needed to inflict a fatal blow in one shot if possible. Either make it unable to chase us again if it runs away, or kill it.

I’m not sure if it’s possible, but we have to make it possible. I gripped Tsukva’s Scythe tightly with both hands and shot forward, cutting through the winds.