Being a Specialist Isn’t a Good Thing

The residents of Lake-town could say whatever they wanted, but Josh could neither hear nor make sense of it, because he was flying high enough now.

Besides, that guy probably did not care about such things anyway. All Josh could see now was that damned Smaug.

Honestly, if Josh did not know teleportation magic and flight magic, that guy might really have gotten away.

Not only would he have escaped, but he might also have destroyed all of Lake-town just like in the original story. Because of Josh, Bard was not in Lake-town right now, which meant that Smaug could wreak havoc without restraint.

And after he was done, he could just pat his ass and leave. No one could do anything to him!

That made Josh extremely unhappy. Although he did not particularly care whether that guy slaughtered everyone in Lake-town—after all, that was more or less what happened in the original story—he would not allow it to happen if it was because of him.

The Elemental Light Wings were incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, Josh had flown in front of Smaug, and his sudden appearance truly gave Smaug a fright!

A half-elf who could fly? And he had not flown over from Lonely Mountain, but from the town at its foot!

After carefully examining the wings behind the half-elf named Josh, Smaug’s expression grew increasingly grave. Those twin wings, radiating a faint golden glow and looking exceptionally holy, contained a power that even made his heart tremble!

And those wings were not physical objects at all. They were entirely formed from some mysterious power!

Smaug could almost certainly conclude that this was magic! A half-elf who could use magic freely—what had happened to this world?

"Who exactly are you!"

"The one who’ll kill you."

Josh could not be bothered with Smaug’s state of mind or whatever he was thinking. He only knew that he absolutely could not let this guy escape again.

Although Akathosh was helping him study the intercepted information on this world’s rules, and Josh could have waited until he was finished before troubling this dragon again.

But Josh did not want to drag things out over something like this. If he promised someone something, he would definitely fulfill it. Without wasting words on Smaug, Josh directly stirred his magic power. Void Origin combined with his elemental magic, launching an attack straight at Smaug.

Green Wind element combined with Void Origin and, under Josh’s guidance, transformed into a phoenix. This phoenix, glowing pale green and carrying countless wind blades, howled as it rushed toward Smaug. Smaug’s hairs stood on end—if he had any.

But he reacted quickly, immediately spewing flames wildly at the incoming phoenix.

Although Smaug did not possess magical power, he was a Sixth Tier powerhouse himself. The flames he spat out were no weak attack, especially when he went all out!

The blazing flames collided with the phoenix, and for a moment, Josh’s phoenix could not advance at all. It was even in danger of dissipating. However, Josh did not care much. He had never expected to defeat Smaug that easily.

Defeating him did not mean killing him. Josh had complained more than once about Akathosh’s picky appetite. You were going to swallow him anyway, so why did you have so many damn requirements?

Texture and taste were important, sure, but Josh did not think Akathosh was going to savor every bite.

Controlling the Elemental Light Wings, Josh instantly circled behind Smaug. A massive six-pointed star rune appeared before him, and sharp ice spikes carrying the aura of the Void shot toward Smaug!

Smaug immediately sensed the threat behind him, but he was being attacked from both sides and had no way to deal with everything.

Still, this guy’s defenses and reactions were quite good. In that perilous moment, he immediately determined which spell posed the greater threat—the phoenix that had nearly been dispersed by his flames!

So he immediately turned around and spewed flames at full force toward the ice spikes once more, while his back, the toughest part of his body, directly took the phoenix that had originally posed such a great threat.

The phoenix collided with Smaug, and Smaug immediately let out a scream!

The enormous wail pierced the heavens, causing the Lake-town residents, who had been listening to Bilbo tell Josh’s story, to stare blankly into the sky. Then they saw a scene they would never forget—the once-unrivaled dragon had been left covered in blood!

Blood containing terrifying fire power rained down from the sky and, upon landing, set the earth itself ablaze!

Smaug looked utterly miserable now. The scales on his back had been torn into a bloody mess, and even his wings seemed to have chunks of flesh missing.

Smaug had never dreamed that the phoenix, which had seemed almost completely neutralized by his flames, would still possess such power!

Strands of wind blades carrying Void element had severely wounded him! And with Smaug’s back in agony, he naturally could no longer focus fully on the ice spikes before him. One sharp ice spike pierced straight into his chest.

Pain! Excruciating pain! Smaug had already forgotten how long it had been since he had suffered such tremendous pain. His scales were tough and unbreakable, and almost no blade or sword could pierce his defenses. Yet today, he had been injured so badly by mere wind and ice!

Even Josh himself had not expected to reduce Smaug to such a state with just two casually cast spells. Watching Smaug howl as he fell toward the ground, Josh suddenly thought, Could this guy’s magic resistance be zero?

The more Josh thought about it, the more he felt that was probably true!

Magic elements were indeed fairly abundant in this world, but this world was unimaginably strict and cautious when it came to the use of magic.

Just think of Gandalf. When facing Orcs he could have casually killed with magic, he had actually chosen to kill them with a sword.

Even when he was being chased by those Orcs, he had not thought of using magic to kill them. He had merely used magic to create obstacles and prevent pursuit. If it had been Josh, he would have gone straight into slaughter mode without a second word. Who would bother caring about all that?

Perhaps it was precisely because magic was so restricted that the creatures of this world had extremely weak resistance to magic, while their resistance to physical attacks seemed rather formidable.

Josh still remembered when that group of dwarves had fled through the valley with Bilbo while fighting those goblins. They had fallen from high places countless times, yet nothing had happened to them.

In another world, they would probably have suffered broken bones or even worse injuries long ago.

Smaug lived in this world, and one of his ancestors had indeed been skilled in magic. But that guy had died long ago; even if Josh wanted to dig up his grave now, he probably would not find a single bone.

Having adapted to this world’s development and rules, Smaug had naturally evolved in a lopsided manner. This guy really was impervious to blades and spears. Josh remembered Bard shooting who knew how many arrows at him

without doing a damn thing to him. Even ordinary lava capable of melting gold had no effect on him.

One could imagine just how terrifying this guy’s defense was. But when this one-sided extreme defense encountered Josh, he was in for disaster.

Just two spells, combined with the Void element Josh had mixed into his magic, made the spells even more terrifyingly powerful. They had nearly killed a mythical creature like Smaug outright!

"Sure enough, being too ‘specialized’ isn’t a good thing."

Josh shook his head slightly, feeling not the slightest bit of sympathy for Smaug’s miserable state. Honestly, if this guy had not wanted to take revenge on Josh and the others by heading for Lake-town, Josh would not have beaten him half to death like this.

But Josh did not stop to consider that if he had not wanted to capture Smaug, and Smaug had not realized that he seemed unable to defeat him, none of this would have happened in the first place.

Unfortunately, Josh would not think in that direction. Even if he knew, he would not care. Smaug was not a good thing to begin with, so why should he be polite with him?

"Wait, did I hit him too hard and kill him?"

Truthfully, Josh was a little worried. Especially after falling from such a height, he was genuinely afraid Smaug might have been killed by the impact.

Fortunately, Smaug’s physical resistance was still quite good. In particular, the guy plunged headfirst into Lake-town’s lake, which made Josh breathe a sigh of relief.

Slowly floating down from the sky, utterly unconcerned about the Lake-town residents continuously gathering around, Josh stopped above the lake.

Smaug was struggling to lift his head. He stared fixedly at the person who could use magic so casually, at the person who had defeated him. He knew he was finished.

"Who exactly are you? Why can you use magic!"

"Me? I’m merely the Elf King of an Elf Empire that is currently being established. Of course, I’m also a mage, so it is only natural that I can use magic."

Was it not perfectly normal for a mage to be able to use magic and excel at it?

Josh had always called himself a mage, and he had never hidden his ability to use magic. As magic power surged, Josh prepared to make his move.

"Honestly, you were my target from the beginning, because one of my friends is also a dragon. In order to grow stronger, he must devour other creatures that are huge or powerful. You were my target from the start, Smaug."

"A dragon? Impossible! There can’t be any other dragons in this world besides me!"

"Yes, there truly are no other living dragons in this world besides you."

Josh nodded, acknowledging Smaug’s words, but the movement of his hands did not stop.

The freezing current made Lake-town seem to enter the harshest winter in an instant. The vast lake water slowly began to freeze, and Smaug’s entire body was soon covered in frost.

"But I never said I was from this world!"