I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER

Chapter 160: Dragon vs Team 4 (II)

The dragon moved.

No warning. No sound before it. Just the massive shadow shifting across the rooftop as the creature’s entire body coiled backward like a spring pulled past its limit— and then it launched itself forward with terrifying speed, its jaws splitting open wide enough to swallow the entire floor they were standing near.

Si Hon’s brain caught up with his body before the thought even finished forming.

He shoved Seong sideways hard with both hands, felt her stumble out of the trajectory, and then threw himself backwards in the opposite direction as the dragon’s head slammed into the rooftop with a crash that cracked the concrete beneath it like paper.

The impact shockwave hit Si Hon mid air and sent him rolling across the rooftop floor, debris biting into his palms and knees before he skidded to a stop against a broken ventilation unit.

For one second he just breathed.

One long, controlled breath pulled deep into his lungs.

[One Deep Breath — activated]

The exhaustion clinging to his muscles didn’t vanish— it was nowhere near enough for that. But something in his chest loosened slightly, a thin thread of energy filtering back into his limbs like just enough fuel to keep the engine running another few minutes without completely dying.

He’d take it.

He pushed himself upright.

The dragon had already recovered.

Its massive head swung sideways across the rooftop, tail crashing through the ventilation structures on the far end and sending twisted metal scattering in every direction.

One of Aeloria’s teammates dove flat to avoid getting swept off the edge entirely. Another scrambled backward with a barrier flickering weakly around their forearm— too small, too thin, holding together mostly on stubbornness.

Then some ice appeared and hit.

A wall of it erupted from Aeloria’s direction, thick and sharp edged, slamming upward from the rooftop floor directly in front of the dragon’s chest. It wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t delicate.

The kind of ice that didn’t ask permission— entire sheets of it forming mid-air and driving forward like a battering ram into the creature’s scales. The dragon recoiled slightly, claws scraping backward across the concrete, its growl vibrating low enough that Si Hon felt it in his back teeth.

But it wasn’t enough.

The scales held, no— more like it didn’t even scratch it.

Aeloria pulled more mana and drove another wave of ice directly into the same part she hit, her expression tight with focus. The dragon shook its head violently and the wall shattered apart— chunks of ice raining across the rooftop everywhere.

Si Hon watched from the side.

(Looks like the book actually made her overpowered... (⁠⌐⁠■⁠-⁠■⁠).)

And then something felt... off.

He couldn’t place it immediately. He was exhausted, his legs felt like a wet paper, and there was a dragon actively trying to kill them— so maybe his brain was just misfiring. But something kept pulling at the edge of his attention and he couldn’t figure out what.

He looked at Aeloria again.

She was yelling something at her teammates. Pointing at the dragon’s left flank. Her blue hair kept getting in her face from the wind and she kept blowing it out of her eyes between commands, cheeks slightly puffed from the effort.

Si Hon blinked.

(Why is she...)

She stomped her foot once in frustration when one of her teammates moved to the wrong position and the gesture was so— small— so... weirdly—

(ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ What is wrong with me right now...)

He physically turned his head away.

Seong had appeared beside him at some point, watching Aeloria work with her arms crossed.

"Hey," Si Hon said quietly, eyes still fixed forward. "Does Aeloria seem... different to you."

Seong glanced at him. Then at Aeloria. Then back at him.

"She’s always been like that, angry, mad etc..." Seong said simply, and walked away.

Si Hon stood there for another second.

(That didn’t answer anything.... And yea, she’s the usual angry aeloria...)

"It’s not penetrating," Aeloria said flatly, turning back toward them. Not panicked. Just stating a fact. Her hair was in her face again. She blew it out of her eyes again.

Si Hon turned away again immediately.

(FOCUS.)

"Ahem... No shit," Si Hon muttered.

He moved.

Not toward the dragon— he wasn’t suicidal, but sideways, circling wide around its blind spot while it was still focused on Aeloria and her team drawing its attention from the front. His legs felt heavy.

Every step cost more than it should have given how little distance he was actually covering, the exhaustion sitting deep in his muscles like something had quietly reached in and removed thirty percent of his battery without asking.

Then— dark.

Thin lines of it, almost invisible against the grey rooftop, threading out from Seong’s position near the broken ventilation behind the dragon. They moved fast and quiet, slipping along the concrete surface and climbing the creature’s hind legs before pulling taut simultaneously.

The dragon lurched— not falling, it was far too large and heavy for that, but stumbling enough that its next step landed wrong, claws scraping sideways and grinding a long gouge into the rooftop floor.

Si Hon blinked.

He hadn’t actually seen Seong move into position at all.

She was just suddenly there, red hair catching the wind, both hands extended slightly with the threads running between her fingers like she was playing an instrument only she could hear.

Her expression was focused. Sharp in a way that didn’t match the girl who’d shrugged at him thirty seconds ago like none of this particularly concerned her.

(Definitely because of the Book... no way she’s actually an assassin.) He thought to himself. (⁠⌐⁠■⁠-⁠■⁠)

Then, the dragon recovered faster than any of them wanted.

Its head swung around toward the new threat— toward Seong, with the particular attention of something that had just realized the thing pulling at its legs wasn’t something it could ignore.

"Seong!" Si Hon snapped.

She was already moving. She didn’t need the warning. The threads released instantly and she dropped low, sliding beneath the dragon’s sweeping tail as it crashed overhead with enough force to flatten anything standing upright.

She came back up rolling, already resetting her stance, already pulling new threads from the air around her like this was just an inconvenient day.

The dragon turned its focus back toward the largest threat.

Back toward Aeloria.

Its chest expanded— a deep, pressurized sound building from somewhere underneath those black scales, the kind of sound that made the air feel wrong before anything visible had even happened yet.

Si Hon’s eyes snapped to the dragon’s throat.

(It’s charging something—)

"MOVE!!" he screamed across the rooftop. "GET OFF CENTER— NOW!!"