The Laughing Swordsman

Ela quickly got a hold of herself and continued to fend off the two-horned demons.

As she did so, two dark green horns grew out of her forehead. They looked like marble and had a soft luster.

She let out a roar.

Scales covered Ela's wound, but blood continued to seep out.

She swiped with her claw again, tearing another two-horned demon to shreds. However, that came at the cost of a slash across her chest.

Blood sprayed once more and Ela's horns began curling backward.

Her eyes were bloodshot.

Mildred anxiously held her heart.

"Ela! Just prevent them from attacking you! You will die at this rate..."

Ned gritted his teeth. He was still throwing firebolts, but away from Ela so he did not accidentally hit her.

"Yeah, Mildred's right! We can't go on like this!"

Ela narrowed her eyes.

"Alright."

She made sure to remain in front of the group and batted away the sabers that came for her.

Thankfully, Ela was able to attract all the two-horned demons. For now, the group was protected.

However, holding off all the two-horned demons was simply too hard for her. While the demons had ignored the group entirely, they encircled Ela.

Despite trying her best, she was unable to hold off every slash that was coming for her. Long gashes appeared on her body. She needed someone to help her, else she would soon take her last breath.

Alyx raised her finger.

Her brows were furrowed. She wanted to try something but was unsure of the consequences.

But at this point, she had to do something.

Alyx's finger curled. With an ethereal tug, a spell was thrown to Ela and the demons.

Suddenly, the mana in that area disappeared.

The demons immediately lost their wings and roared in pain. As they fell from the sky, their bodies bulged and shrunk. Their skin had become a bright red and their limbs swung around wildly.

However, through it all, their grip on the saber remained as tight as ever.

As for Ela, she was unaffected by the spell. Her breaths were ragged and her body was bloodied.

She flew over to the roof of the palace and collapsed once she got there.

Ela forced a smile.

"Hello everyone."

Apollo clapped loudly.

"Wow, that was so cool!"

Ela turned to face Apollo and raised an eyebrow.

Ned chuckled as he casted more firebolts.

"His name is Apollo."

Ela nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Apollo. And thank you for the compliment."

Apollo giggled.

"Nice to meet you too!"

Ela shook her head.

"Anyways, I will be ready to join the battle once more within a few more moments ."

Her dragon features receded somewhat. She gathered mana at the tips of her claws to cast a minor healing spell.

The bleeding slowed to a stop, but her wounds still looked nasty. Mildred frowned because of that.

"You can't! At least rest for a little while longer."

Ela hesitated but nodded. She continued to cast healing spells on herself.

Ned sent a bombardment of fireballs on the two-horned demons that fell. Once they left the manaless area, their bodies stopped convulsing and recovered.

Thankfully, their wings were gone for good.

As such, they plummeted. Most of the demons hit the ground with a crack, but some directly broke through the roofs of houses in the village.

Ned was worried he would hit some of the villagers but shot firebolts towards the demons.

Even the ones in houses.

The two-horned demons were damaged somewhat from the fall. Along with a direct impact firebolt, they died.

One of the firebolts went through the hole in the roof.

The demon inside was struck, then died. However, a nearby boy caught on fire from the residual impact.

His cries resounded through the village as his body charred.

Ned closed his eyes. With a frown, he murmured.

"Sorry."

Although Ned was sad, he recognized that the boy would have either died by the demon, or his fireball.

He let it go and focused on casting more fireballs.

The situation appeared to be calming down. However, the four-horned demon wasn't just standing there.

It was preparing a spell.

The dense ball of mana above the demon's palm flickered. It was alternating between blue and black. On top of that, a bolt of mana would shoot out from time to time.

The four-horned demon walked towards a three-horned demon. The three-horned demon was on one knee and in its enlarged state.

It was just about finished healing its injuries. There was a wound on its back that was slowly closing.

Before it fully closed, the four-horned demon pushed the ball of mana into the three-horned demon's back.

The three-horned demon's body burgeoned and convulsed.

The four-horned demon stepped back to watch the three-horned demon change.

Horns suddenly appeared out of the jutted demon's shoulders and elbows. Its limbs elongated and its body bloated.

The demon's face melted away. One of the horns at the top of the demon's head was pushed down while the remaining two horns shifted to opposite sides of its head.

A large set of jaws burst out, splashing some blood onto the snow. Under the jaw was an elongated horn and above it was two curled horns.

As that was happening, a set of wings burst out from its back and a tail grew from its back.

The transformed demon's eyelids fluttered open, revealing small yellow eyes.

It looked like a dragon.

The transformed demon opened its jaws wide and bellowed.

The ground shook.

Large gales of winds were stirred up, carrying waves of snow with it.

The transformed demon was obscured by the mist of snow.

Suddenly, the mist parted ways, and the transformed demon shot towards the palace.

Ela gritted her teeth.

"...How dare they."

Ela's draconic features flared up.

"You dare disgrace the race of dragons?"

Ela leaped off the palace.

Mildred reached out her hand.

"Ela, no!"

Ela was falling.

Her horns grew rapidly.

Green scales spread all across her body.

Then, her body expanded.

She morphed into an elegant emerald dragon.