The Neighborhood High School Girl, Miss Isezaki, Is the Great Saintess Returned from Another World~ And I, Suddenly Awakened as Her Exclusive Mana Supply Uncle, Travel Between Earth and Another World with Time-Space Magic~ - 57. Impressive Coordination

57. Impressive Coordination

The adventurers looked up in astonishment at the Earth Dragon, and the leader shouted loudly, “Hey! Don’t stop, keep going!”

“Oooh!”

Startled by the voice, the adventurers readied their weapons. Arrows and fireballs immediately flew from behind, slowing down the Earth Dragon’s movements, and the vanguard once again challenged the Earth Dragon.

Among them, Geeta’s movements were particularly noticeable. He lured attention by moving more agilely than others, skillfully dodging the forelegs with graceful agility, creating openings in the Earth Dragon’s defense.

Taking advantage of these openings, the leader and other vanguard members swung down their weapons to launch attacks. It was a well-coordinated and impressive collaboration.

However, no matter how sharp their attacks were, the Earth Dragon’s tough scales repelled them all.

“Even tougher than a tortoise’s shell…”

Such complaints were heard from the adjacent archer.

Despite showing some signs of anxiety and fatigue, the adventurers’ offensive continued. Then—

“Grrrrrrrrr!”

The Earth Dragon let out a loud roar, irritated by the adventurers moving around in front of it.

Suddenly, the Earth Dragon vigorously lifted both front legs and, maintaining its momentum, stood up on its hind legs alone.

“Watch out! Something’s coming!!”

The leader shouted sharply.

Immediately after, the Earth Dragon swiftly spun around—

Its thick, long tail, which had arrived late, roared as it attacked the adventurers.

Thud!

A dull sound, as if from a collision, resounded, and the adventurers were thrown back. They tumbled through the air and fell to the ground defenseless, making another dull noise—

And then they lay still.

The surroundings fell silent, with only the faint sound of the Earth Dragon’s breath, resembling the exhaust of a truck, audible.

In the midst of this, Geeta was the only one kneeling, trying to stand up.

“Geeta!”

Cyril shouted in dismay and ran towards him.

“Don’t come, Cyril!”

But Cyril rushed to Geeta and emitted a faint light from his hands.

“A severe injury… I’ll take care of it right away—”

However, the Earth Dragon was already in front of them.

Swatting its foreleg, the Earth Dragon sent Cyril and Geeta flying together like scraps of paper. The two of them tumbled on the ground, covered in sand and mud.

This time, neither Geeta nor Cyril moved.

“Ugh…”

Then, a strange sound was heard nearby.

Looking to the side, I saw the thin man next to me collapsing from his knees to the ground, unconscious.

This was a symptom of magical exhaustion, as I had heard from Miss Isezaki. He had been casting fireballs repeatedly, so it seemed that his limit had finally been reached.

As the two archers looked down at the fallen thin man, they let out trembling voices.

“Ugh… Ughhh…”

“I-it’s impossible…”

The male and female archers trembled uncontrollably, tears welling up in their eyes.

Having dispersed the vanguard, the Earth Dragon now started walking towards us.

The two of us, without shooting our bows and arrows, watched the scene in astonishment—

“Ugh… Help us, plea—!”

“N-no, I can’t take it anymore—!”

Suddenly turning our backs, we screamed and fled from the scene.

The vanguard was wiped out. The rearguard was in the same state.

In such a situation, before I could even call out to stop them, I watched the backs of the two who fled—

“Heehee…”

Suddenly, the Earth Dragon spoke.

No, that’s not it.

The one who spoke was the man in robes who had somehow appeared on the Earth Dragon’s shell. He was the one who summoned this Earth Dragon.

“Heeheehee, it’s futile to run. There are other thieves waiting over there. So… aren’t you going to run? Maybe you’ll get lucky and escape?”

It seemed he was speaking to me, the only one left behind. Only the twisted mouth could be seen under the hood pulled down over his eyes.

Without replying, I answered myself in my mind.

Run. Run… Right?

Certainly, if I just ran away, I could easily do it.

If I used “Leap Warp,” I could escape right now, and if I used “Dimensional Shift Teleportation,” it would be impossible for the Earth Dragon to chase me to the other side of dimensions.

But I couldn’t leave Miss Isezaki behind. I didn’t want to run away. That was the only feeling I had. That feeling alone kept me rooted in this spot.

The man in the robe shrugged indifferently at my silence.

“What, have you already given up? Or are you just standing there scared stiff? …Well, whatever. Do it, Earth Dragon.”

“Grrr…”

The Earth Dragon let out a growl as if in response, then lifted its foreleg and swung it down—right above my head.

A massive foot sole descended from above, casting darkness before me.

But—

Perhaps there was a chance? Such thoughts constantly lingered in my mind.

I cautiously extended my palm upward, creating the usual rift.

Immediately after—

There was a sporadic sound of falling sand. However, the foot didn’t come crashing down, no matter how much time passed.

Though I had steeled myself, it seemed I had involuntarily shut my eyes. Well, I was just an ordinary middle-aged man, so it couldn’t be helped.

I gently opened my eyelids and tilted my face upwards.

“Oh…”

I unintentionally let out a relieved sigh.

What I saw there was just the sole of the Earth Dragon’s foot, stopped abruptly by the spatial barrier.