Unlike me who was surprised by the sudden situation, Melanie showed a rather calm attitude. He tilted his head and asked Lionel curiously.
“How did you open it? You shouldn’t be able to break my spell so easily.”
Lionel did not answer Melanie’s question.
Rather, he was staring at me and ignored Melaine’s presence.
I could see Lionel’s eyes shaking from afar.
“I told you not to try anything stupid.”
Lionel growled. His mood was clearly expressed in his subdued voice.
Lionel approached me without hiding his anger. Melanie moved as if he was blocking Lionel, but at that moment, he had to avoid the flames that flew his way.
I was appalled by Lionel’s use of magic without reciting a spell.
‘Since when?’
Lionel was one of the top wizards in the empire, but he was not skilled enough to cast magic without reciting spells.
He came up to me in a flash as I opened my mouth in surprise.
A firm arm quickly pulled me into their arms. I had to ask what happened, but I hugged him a few times. I was a little relieved by the familiar touch.
Thanks to that, I missed the chance to ask him a question.
Over Lionel’s shoulder, I could see Melanie with an angry face.
“What are you doing?”
“These handprints.”
Lionel’s stern voice rang as he interrupted Melanie. I stepped away from his arms and looked up at him, and there was a cold feeling around my neck.
The gaze that fell from my neck scanned my mouth and the blood stains on my clothes one after another.
Lionel said no more, but as I was near him, I realized that he was angry enough to lose his reason.
I instinctively backed away from him while Lionel slowly loosened his arms.
I held my breath while his cold gaze left me and turned toward Melanie.
When he came to his senses belatedly, Lionel had already turned toward Melanie.
“How dare you!”
A huge wave of mana began to stir around Lionel.
The power of gathering around him was so great, it was something I had never seen before. But the situation was not good.
“No!”
His opponent was a dragon.
No matter how great Lionel’s magic was, it was impossible to beat a dragon whose existence itself was mana.
I stretched out my arm to stop Lionel but was blocked by a transparent wall.
Without realizing it, some of Lionel’s magic flowed out and wrapped around me. It was meant to protect me, but now it was nothing but a hindrance to me
* * *
As I knocked on the mana wall that stood in front of me, Lionel did not look back at me.
“Lionel, stop it!”
You’re going to die if you attack the dragon!
I stamped my feet, but he didn’t listen to me.
When I looked at Melaine again, he was already ready to fight, too.
Melanie showed her teeth and smiled suspiciously.
“You are very talented, but you don’t seem to have good eyes to recognize his opponent.”
“That’s what I should be telling you.”
The air between the two was tense. Melanie also felt her magic power increase.
“Stop it, please!”
It was even more impossible for Lionel to win if Melanie fought seriously.
Melanie glanced at me as I kept hitting the invisible wall.