An Extra’s POV
chapter-507

[Moments Earlier]

~BOOOOOOM!~

As Eric closed his eyes and enjoyed the wonderful breeze, just as he said he would, he heard the rumbles that echoed from the Capital.

"...."

He ignored it the first time, instead choosing to focus on his nice rest. Becoming perturbed would ruin the process of recovering his Mana.

How could he properly make his escape if he didn't have sufficient Mana for the journey?

As such, he did his best to shut everything out. He minimized conversations with Justin as they both remained under the canopies of the trees that surrounded them.

None spoke a word, and Eric was grateful for the silence.

But…

~BOOOOOOOOOM!!!~

… The explosions did not stop.

'That one sounded pretty loud.' Eric, with his eyes closed, found his thoughts trailing.

Was he worried? Did he feel concerned for his comrades that chose to head to a place of danger, despite all the warnings he gave?

'M-maybe just a little…' He couldn't help but think about all of them.

It had only been a couple of months, but he truly felt closer to them than all the other friends he ever had. They had gone on so many adventures—-from Dungeon exploration, to travels, to training… and many more.

The mere thought that they could die made his heart ache.

But, even though he felt this way, why wouldn't his body move? The answer was pretty obvious to Eric.

The thought that he could die made him immobile.

'I can't risk it. I can't risk it. I can't risk it.'

As these thoughts of his grew louder, so did the explosions. To drown out the sounds and strengthen his resolve to remain, he just kept it going louder.

'I CAN'T RISK IT!'

Before Eric realized it, he was right on his feet, walking close to Justin with a grim expression on his face.

His body trembling, and his lips quivered, yet he stared at his friend with an unblinking, wide gaze.

"Let's go help our friends out."

As Justin heard this, a smile coursed through his face and he slowly opened his eyes, witnessing the face of a boy who, despite being scared, chose to throw it all away for those he deemed his allies.

The very sight was enough to inspire Justin.

"Okay." His smile widened as he jumped to his feet.

"Let's go."

************

[The Present]

"Do we all understand the plan?" Eric asked, his breaths a little shallow after using Mana to use his [Grand Sound Magic] Skill in order to prevent the enemy from hearing what they were saying.

Prior to this moment, he had heard about the nature of their adversaries, as well as their abilities.

Adonis previously fought the Dragon Commander, so he already knew the nature of his abilities.

"He is almost as fast as I am, even when I'm using [Absolute Light Magic] to buff myself. He can reflect your attack back towards you through troublesome mirrors. He also has Lightning-based Magic. He might have other tricks up his sleeves, but that's pretty much the gist of it." The Hero had said.

As for the Dragon General, Eric and Justin had been present for most of Adonis' conflict with her, but they still listened to his explanations since the fight was too fast for them to properly grasp much.

Her [Copy] Skill was the only real thing she had displayed, and her being a General meant that she had a bunch of other S-Tier Skills apart from that one.

"I don't know how many Skills she can copy and use at the same time. But if there are multiple, then we need to brace ourselves for the possibility that she can use even more S-Tier Skills."

After all that was said and done, the Dragon General was simply an impossible foe to beat.

Even if they found weaknesses to the abilities she displayed, there was always the likelihood that she would just show another one out of nowhere.

Eric had read more than enough books to know how these sorts of characters had the biggest asspulls in their respective series.

There was no real way to strategize and win.

Of course, it went without saying that the two Dragons had immense regenerative abilities—both regarding Mana and Life Force.

Their only disadvantage was that they probably weren't good strategists or combatants, but they far made up for all this with brute force.

If any of the five slipped up, it would be game over.

After processing all of this information, Eric took responsibility and formulated what he considered the most optimal plan—

given their current situation.

They were all incredibly weakened, and they were up against superior foes.

The only thing they had to their benefit was numbers, so it was only fair that they used that to their full potential.

Once Eric saw everyone nod at his question, his stern face became even more serious and he readied himself for what would come next.

Right now, he had taken on the role of the Party Leader—

fulfilling one of his biggest dreams.

But, he wasn't satisfied with just this.

'We are going to win this battle… no matter what!'

************

"What do you think they're talking about?" R'ashu asked, a deep frown appearing on his face as he stared at his superior.

His buddy, Phil'emon had perished just moments ago, and he was beginning to get a little nervous. Two of the five of them had perished already, which was absurd in its own right, but the humans didn't seem to have given up yet.

Instead, they seemed even more motivated to try harder.

'Lady Kar'en can handle herself, but what about me?' He wondered, shuddering a little as he considered the very unlikely possibility of him dying.

Well, he would have previously deemed it unlikely, but after the death of Phil'emon and Amu'ra—both of whom were his seniors

—he was beginning to lose confidence in his ability to keep up, not to talk of winning.

"There's no need to be so worried, R'ashu." Kar'en's voice echoed in the air as she narrowed her gaze on the five humans.

"I know what their plan is."