Apostle of the Gods

101. Battle with the Guard Dragon

Regina challenged the dragon with a touch of provocation to make it accept the four-on-one fight.

First, she presented the four-on-one fight.

On top of that, if you think that the burden is too heavy, you can choose to fight one-on-one. If you say that, the dragon has no other choice but to go with four-on-one.

That is the way of these proud dragons.

「As expected of a dragon」

Regina nodded in satisfaction.

Then, she turned back towards us.

「That’s how it is… Combine your strength and fight together」

After that, Regina stared steadily at me.

I understand what Regina wishes to say.

Go easy on the dragon, so that it would be good training for the disciples.

She also says I should be careful not to get hurt.

But of course, she does not put this into words, because the dragon’s pride would be hurt if it heard that.

And then, Rosetta, Tina and Arti, looked over towards me.

They wanted me to guide them.

This was the first time fighting a dragon for everyone except Arti. Surely, they are anxious.

I suppose I should instruct them on their first fight against a dragon.

「Got it, leave it to me」

Thus, I smiled and started instructing the three of them.

「Arti is the vanguard, Tina is in charge of magic attack, and Rosetta will use the bow from a distance」

All three of them nodded silently.

My instructions are only simple common sense.

And yet, they seemed to be a little relieved after hearing the instructions.

「I will take care of the defence. You can go all out」

「Understood!」

「Yes」

「I am fired up!」Tina said.

Then I told the god-beasts with a stern tone.

「Fluffy, Shiro, Fay, and Rubeum too… Interfering is prohibited」

「Pigi」「Mee」

「I never had the intention to interfere in the first place」

「Understood…Kyuru」

Rubeum answered while still concealed in Dion’s pocket.

「I’m glad」

Fluffy and Shiro walked towards Dion.

However, Fay does not move out from within my clothes.

「I won’t do anything and I won’t get in the way, so I will stay here!」

「No, it might get dangerous」

While fighting with Rubeum, his tail smashed my barrier and I was hit with his flame breath.

And my clothes were completely burned.

If something like that happened again, Fay might get injured.

As a spirit, Fay has high physical and magic resistance.

And Fay is not an ordinary spirit either; she’s a divine spirit. If it is not an excessive attack, it will not injure her.

Moreover, Rubeum, who burned my clothes, is a dragon god-beast. He is particularly strong even among dragons.

I don’t think the dragon before us is as capable as Rubeum.

However, it would surely be better to have her away from the fight just in case.

「Go over to Regina-sama」

「…Understood. Be careful」

「Yeah, I’ll be fine」

Fay flew over to Regina reluctantly.

And then, I looked at Regina and nodded.

We are ready. It was the signal that said we can start at any time.

Regina nodded too.

「Dragon, are you ready?」

「GRRRRR…」

「The one who will serve as referee is Dion, the priest of Dragon God」

Saying so, Regina held out her hand towards Dion.

「I am the priest of Dragon God-sama, the dragon newt known as Dion Edel Aqua. Pleased to make your acquaintance from here on」

「Gr…」

「There are a few things I wish to say beforehand」

Dion continued while politely bowing.

「Tina here is my disciple, but I will be impartial as the referee」

「GRRR」

I think the dragon is saying 「Do you have any guarantee?」

「I pledge to Dragon God-sama that I will serve impartially as a priest of Dragon God」

「GR……」

The dragon seems to have accepted Dion as the referee.

Dragons believe in Dragon God just as dragon newts do.

Therefore, the dragons also show respect for the Dragon God priests.

That is why the dragon was convinced of having Dion serve as the referee.

(Wait… If Dion, the Dragon God priest went in, couldn’t he have talked to the head of the flock?)

I thought about that.

Originally, I just wanted the dragon’s beard, but things ended up this way.

「Well, I guess it is fine」

Perhaps Dion too wanted to grant his disciple the opportunity to fight a dragon.

We took our positions in front of the dragon and stood ready.

Looking at that, Dion deeply nodded once.

Then he turned and looked at the dragon. The dragon groaned and signalled he was ready.

Dion took in a big breath and looked up to heaven.

「Please watch over this battle, Dragon God-sama. The contest of strength between the human race and the great dragon race!」

His voice was very loud and reverberated to the far ends of the mountain range.

I thought it just might reach the Dragon God’s ears.

Dion, who has finished the greetings to Dragon God, looked at the dragon and us in turn.

「We offer this fight to Dragon God-sama. Fight fair and square with all your might」

「「Yes」」

「GGRRR……」

「Start!」

Dion declared the commencement of the fight with a bright voice.