Chapter 104: The dragon you called is out of service area

Large chunks of rock on the stone giant’s back crumbled under the intense energy impacts, but it didn’t collapse entirely, repairing itself at a faster rate than before.

All this was achieved by draining my already scarce mental energy and the reserve energy in the magic crystal.

Originally, the magic crystal could sustain the giant for half an hour, but now, I deliberately compressed its energy usage time, boosting its output to enhance the stone giant’s defense and recovery by a whole level.

The cost? The stone giant could now only last less than ten minutes—

But… I felt I was getting close to the dragon’s location!

After a wave of intense dizziness and a surge of nausea, I gritted my teeth, steadied myself, and peeked through the gaps in the stone giant’s fingers.

The area around me was riddled with craters, clearly the aftermath of recent battles—and I was heading in the right direction, so… I should be close to that dragon soon!!!

If I could blend into the chaos, I could shake off Nana Lu… but…

Why was it so quiet now?

A strong sense of unease filled my heart—despite my dizziness, I was unusually alert.

The silence around me could only mean one thing.

The battle was over.

This was the last situation I wanted to face.

But… that doesn’t make sense!

How long has it been!? Less than ten minutes, right? And the battle… is already over?

The moment I reached this conclusion, my heart turned ice-cold…

At the same time, the stone giant took another powerful hit, making me sway slightly—but this time, I was prepared, shielding my head with my hand to avoid smashing it against the rocks protecting me.

Even with this grim realization, I could only grit my teeth and keep urging the stone giant to charge forward.

“Hmph—I’d like to see how much longer you can hold out!”

Nana Lu’s voice, tinged with a mocking laugh, reached my ears, and I could sense she was so furious she was almost amused.

…Indeed, I couldn’t hold out much longer.

…So, what could I do?

I thought grimly, and then the stone giant endured three more attacks.

In moments, the stone giant was teetering on the verge of collapse… and at that moment, it carried me into a wide open plain.

More accurately, a clearing brutally carved out by force.

All around were snapped and fallen trees, with the wreckage of destroyed vehicles smoldering and burning quietly to the side.

The ground was littered with corpses—some dark elves, some humans dressed as mercenaries, and scattered among them, clumps of what was once living flesh.

“Ah… as expected, the battle’s over, and the dragon’s gone.”

Propping up my aching body and exhausted mind, I stared at the scene before me, dazed, before realizing my plan was doomed to fail from the start.

…Yeah, who around here could possibly hold back a dragon?

I thought wearily, and then the stone giant, still running, slowly came to a stop.

“…Hmph! Finally stopped running, huh?”

Nana Lu’s voice rang out, but she didn’t rush to attack, clearly wanting to see what this prey, now teetering on the edge of despair, would do next.

I had no more cards to play.

The stone giant was on the brink of collapse, with less than a minute left. One more attack from Nana Lu, and the giant I was riding would crumble to dust.

The other magic crystals, lacking pre-carved magical runes, couldn’t summon elemental beings, and their incompatible attributes meant they couldn’t sustain the stone giant either.

I was at a dead end.

Clutching the backpack with the two egg babies, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of despair and helplessness.