Amity and Enmity

Chapter 44

Day: 1230

Days Left: 4250

Lives Saved: 6

Alfreda clutched her stomach, wincing as her open wound pained when she attempted to get back on her feet. Fortunately, in her monster form, she was far sturdier than an ordinary human; however, even being a fire demon could not protect her from being thrown numerous feet. There was a crack in her lower torso, her rock-skin split open, and her molten lava blood slowly oozed out. If she used any of her fire abilities, it would likely open up even more, but since she was facing a dragon, using fire was perhaps unnecessary.

Over in the distance, Princess Alfreda could see Ms Ivette on the ground, having been knocked away by the dragon's wings and tangled amongst a pile of collapsed tents, her long snake tail flickering in agitation as the naga hauled herself up.

To Alfreda's surprise, Oscar was still on the dragon's back; he had purposefully pierced himself like a mushroom skewer on one of the spikes on the dragon's spine to prevent himself from being blown away. He pulled the spike out, revealing the gaping hole in his mushroom body, then after a moment, it began to seal itself up.

Alfreda groaned, looking down at her injury that would never heal that quickly, even in the Eternal Abyss.

A mushroom gets to have fast healing abilities, but a fire demon gets easily broken if I use my fire abilities?

Oscar continued to wander around the dragon's back, spreading more mushrooms that looked like dots from this distance, as if the dragon had freckles. How many did there have to be until the dragon finally slowed down? At the very least, they were buying time, which was all that was important.

But Alfreda wanted to kill this bitch, remembering what she had done to Calixte, taking away his mask and not giving it back even after seeing him permanently suffocating. What if he never regained consciousness? What if all this suffocating had damaged his brain to the extent that he had lost his memories?

And then there were the imps who had been hurt when captured.

The fire demon clenched her fists.

No...

Forget about buying time.

I'm going to kill her.

I will rip out her throat just as I warned her if she tested me.

Finally baring through the pain, Princess Alfreda stumbled up to her feet, and a puff of smoke slowly fumed out her mouth. "Alright..." Alfreda tied a side of her red dress into a knot, allowing herself full movement. "Let's stop playing around, pet."

The fire demon headed to the dragon, walking with her head held high.

The dragon let out a low grumble, its eyes focused on her, before slamming its paw on the ground. It snarled as the fire demon rolled to the side, evading being squashed. Again, the dragon swiped its paw, but the fire demon's reflexes were too quick for the dragon's slow and heavy movements.

Alfreda continued to walk towards the dragon, conserving her energy and controlling her breathing, waiting when to dodge. As she approached, she found it more difficult to take another step, not because of her injury, but because of the realisation of how enormous this monstrosity was; how could she possibly defeat such a thing? Wait until Oscar had covered this beast in fungus and collapsed with fatigue? No, it wouldn't be satisfying to slit its throat while asleep. She wanted to do it when the dragon was in its prime, to show who truly had power.

And that was when Alfreda noticed the dragon's underbelly. Now that she was closer, she could see it hidden in the large crater, the thin line and the remnants of blood, though the injury was no longer bleeding.