The Mercenaries of Mayhem charged into battle.
Karoth, dodging the Black Dragon's attacks, caught sight of them and grinned.
"Ha! Reinforcements at last!" he shouted—before narrowly avoiding a massive claw swipe.
He had no time to say more—the dragon was relentless.
But now, it had more opponents.
Bam, still supercharged by Anna's mysterious mana potion, raised his hands.
The air around him crackled. His aura blazed, hotter than ever.
He thrust his palms forward—and a massive firestorm erupted.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the battlefield—forcing the Black Dragon to flinch for the first time.
The beast snarled, shaking off the flames, its eyes locking onto Bam.
"Uh-oh," Bam muttered.
The dragon lunged at him.
Bob, seeing Bam in danger, charged in with his massive shield.
CRASH!
He blocked the dragon's swipe—barely.
The ground beneath him cracked from the sheer force.
Bob gritted his teeth. "Hah! That's all you g—"
Then the dragon swung its tail.
Bob went flying.
He crashed into a boulder, leaving a Bob-shaped dent before slumping to the ground.
"…Ow."
Jim cracked his knuckles. "Alright, scalebag—let's see how you handle these."
He leapt up and punched the dragon's leg with his iron gauntlets.
Nothing happened.
He blinked.
The dragon blinked.
Jim slowly lowered his fist. "…Okay. That's just rude."
The dragon swatted at him, and Jim barely backflipped away in time.
Marcus, standing at a safe distance, carefully adjusted his crossbow.
With a click, he fired—
THWIP!
The bolt struck the dragon's eye.
The Black Dragon howled in rage, shaking its head violently.
"Oh ho! Bullseye!" Marcus cheered.
As the dragon recoiled, Derek seized his chance.
With a battle cry, he leapt into the air, raising his massive greatsword above his head.
His muscles tensed.
This was it.
He swung with all his might—
CLANG!
The sword shattered.
Derek stared at his now broken blade.
The dragon stared at him.
The battlefield fell silent for a second.
Jim, still dodging the dragon's tail, glanced over. "Wait. Did your sword just break?"
Bob, climbing out of the rock he crashed into, squinted. "Uh… that's not supposed to happen, right?"
Bam, still glowing from his mana boost, sighed. "Derek, what the hell."
Marcus adjusted his goggles. "On the bright side, at least it's only the sword that broke."
Derek just stood there, gripping the hilt of his now useless weapon, his eye twitching.
The Black Dragon growled, recovering from the pain in its eye, and turned its attention back to the group.
And now—Derek was standing right in front of it.
"…Ah," he muttered.
The dragon's claw came down.