Chapter 122: Is it funny that I almost got swallowed by a dragon?

“Cover me!”

Before the deputy could even react, Alice had already rushed forward with her longsword. Seeing her commander bravely charging, the deputy, a step behind, hurriedly commanded the other warriors.

“Quick! Cover the Commander!”

Seeing this, the other warriors, as if injected with adrenaline, rushed forward regardless of the state of their weapons. Although most of them were swatted away by the dragon’s tail whip.

But under the cover of these warriors, Alice, running swiftly, finally broke through the dragon’s blockade and leaped onto its body near its heart.

It was exactly as she had suspected. The scales on the dragon’s chest and abdomen were not very dense. Her longsword could easily pierce the paper-thin scales, inflicting severe damage on the dragon.

“I don’t know where you came from, but you won’t ruin the home we protect!” Alice swung her longsword, piercing the dragon’s chest. “Pierce, Holy Penetration Blade!”

As if chanting a Bankai incantation, after a soft murmur, the longsword in Alice’s hand erupted with a powerful light, instantly penetrating clean through the dragon’s body.

The light shot through the dragon and into the forest behind, neatly slicing all the trees in its path in half.

The sheer sight of the scene was a testament to the Holy Penetration Blade’s power.

That light was the magical power Alice had condensed onto the Holy Penetration Blade, releasing it in the form of sword energy.

The magical power had been condensed onto the Holy Penetration Blade long ago. The move to release the sword energy was unaffected by the True Chaos Magic aura, as simple as lightly pressing a nuclear bomb’s red button.

A single strike easily pierced the dragon’s heart. This should have been enough…

However, just as Alice was about to follow up with an attack, the deputy’s shout came from not far away.

“Commander, look out!”

The moment the words left his mouth, the slow-to-react Alice was swatted away by the giant dragon’s claw.

Her entire body was sent flying like a tennis ball, crashing into a large tree a hundred meters away.

Seeing this, the surrounding warriors were shocked.

“Commander!”

They rushed to aid Alice but were blocked by the dragon’s fiery breath.

Fortunately, Alice was wearing the Holy Knights’ exclusive Holy Light Armor, and the strike did not inflict severe damage.

She struggled to climb up from the ground, her red hair slightly disheveled. A trickle of blood flowed down her forehead.

More than her own injuries, the giant dragon surprised her more.

The dragon’s heart had been pierced by her Holy Sword. Even if it hadn’t died on the spot, it should have been severely wounded and unable to fight. Why…

Why was it still fighting? Was that merely a minor injury to it?

However, as she looked up at the dragon in the distance, she suddenly understood everything.

Through the hole in the dragon’s chest, she saw the dragon’s internal structure. There was no flesh or blood inside. Instead, there were magic circles slowly spinning like gears. This explained why not a single drop of blood flowed from its severe wound.

The giant dragon was never alive to begin with.

In other words, this giant dragon was a massive Magic-Armored Golem!

‘Was that it?’ Realizing this, Alice was utterly shocked.

“Commander, what are you doing, Commander!”

Suddenly, the deputy’s shout pulled the dazed Alice back to reality. She was horrified to find that the giant dragon was charging toward her, opening its maw to bite her.

Alice’s heart leaped. She tried to jump back to evade the attack, but her left leg failed her.

‘Crap!’

However, at that critical moment, a small figure suddenly charged forward, bumping Alice aside.

Stunned by the unexpected collision, Alice realized she was still alive. She quickly turned her head and saw that the small figure that had pushed her aside had been swallowed by the giant dragon in one bite, a piece of robe fabric still hanging from its mouth.

Without a doubt, the person who took her place was the little witch, Charlotte, who had been assisting them.

She was Master Rhynes’s daughter.

If she died saving Alice, how could Alice ever face Master Rhynes again?

Thinking this, the distraught Alice clenched her fist.

“Damn it! Even if you’re already dead, I’ll kill you again today! I won’t let you run rampant!”

Alice’s red hair seemed to catch fire as it fluttered in the wind.

Alice stood up angrily, drew her Holy Penetration Blade, and prepared to burn all her remaining power, staking everything on a decisive battle with the giant dragon.

However, just as Alice was about to move, the giant dragon suddenly started shaking violently in place, as if it were choking.

Noticing the anomaly, Alice paused slightly.

The next second, the giant dragon’s body exploded completely. Its hard scales scattered everywhere like paper shreds, leaving only a skeleton tightly wrapped in a magic circle.

“Sister Alice, why are you still standing there?”

A familiar voice suddenly came from above. Alice quickly looked up and saw Charlotte, her clothes slightly torn, hanging onto the dragon’s neck. Her silver dagger was stuck into one of the dragon’s bones.

It turned out that after Alice’s earth-shattering strike pierced the dragon’s body, Charlotte, flying in the sky, had noticed the anomaly inside the dragon.

She realized that this giant dragon was likely a man-made Magic-Armored Golem.

So, by destroying the core inside, she could stop this massive thing completely.

However, due to the True Chaos Magic aura, Charlotte’s magic couldn’t accurately hit the core, which was somewhere inside.

And so, Charlotte abandoned magic, rolled up her sleeves, and charged forward. After being swallowed by the giant dragon, she finally found the dragon bone that served as its core.

“If I cut this dragon bone, all this will end!” Charlotte shouted loudly to Alice.

However, even as a skeleton, the giant dragon still didn’t want to stay here and be defeated. Its powerful will to survive made it violently flap its wings and fly high into the sky.

Seeing this, Alice immediately leaped up, grabbed the skeleton’s ankle, and flew with it into the air.

Strong winds buffeted Alice’s hair, and the skeleton shrieked an ear-piercing cry, but Alice was fearless.

Her eyes were firm. The task she had to do was set from the beginning. There was no need for hesitation.

After stabilizing herself, she quickly climbed along the skeleton toward the neck, then leaped forward, aiming for the dragon bone that Charlotte had stabbed with the silver dagger.

“Sword Skill—Peak Attainment!”