Knowing that it was only a matter of time before they were spotted, Verdell knew that they needed some kind of distraction to avoid being discovered too far away. Understanding that they had to at least get close enough to the city that the barrier couldn’t be deployed in time to stop them from entering the city, something that was difficult to accomplish with the lack of clouds to hide them and no one helping them on the ground.

Or... Maybe we do have someone helping us on the ground...

Remembering the group of bearkin adventurers still chasing them below at this exact moment, Verdell couldn’t help glancing down below where the group of bearkin adventurers were still rushing forward without showing the slightest care about their surroundings. The scene caused by these few bearkin adventurers alone having been one of the main reasons why none of the adventurers who happened to cross their path so far had discovered them. Having had their attention drawn entirely by the group of bearkin adventurers, who luckily for them didn’t seem to bother sharing the fact that they were chasing after a dragon with anyone else.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say that whenever someone attempted to approach these bearkin adventurers to ask what they were up to, they would find themselves thrown into the sea of sand as the bearkin adventurers rushed past them without caring about answering their questions.

A kind of single-minded dedication that ensured they were able to keep up with the two of them without any problems, while at the same time also ensuring that none of the adventurers along the path followed behind. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Even as they were approaching South Gate City, the adventures up on the walls and those waiting in line all focused their attention on the sand boat surging forward with a terrifying momentum instead of bothering with the approaching dragon up in the sky above them.

Of course, this would change the second they got close enough for those in the wall, but at least for now, the bearkin adventurers still served as a perfect distraction once again. Only, this time around, they had to do something far more shocking to ensure that he and Scaly could make it inside South Gate City before those few adventurers on the walls of the city had the chance to raise the magical barrier and lock the two of them outside the city.

And as he gazed down towards the eager group of bearkin pushing forward the sand boat almost directly below them by now, Verdell felt a plan taking shape inside his mind as he signaled for Scaly to slow down a bit.

Huh? Why does he want me to slow down?

In response, Scaly tilted her head in confusion before ultimately deciding to follow what Verdell was saying by slowing down just enough for the bearkin adventurers below to catch up.

Although she had no clue why Verdell wanted her to slow down, she decided to trust him considering they were essentially in the same boat at this moment and both wanted to get to the first floor of the dungeon.

"Look, the dragon slowed down!"

"Haha, looks like we are about to get our chance at brawling with a dragon! Everyone, get ready to jump into the air! We will drag that dwarf and his dragon to the ground if we have to!"

"""Yes!"""

And unsurprisingly, the second Scaly began slowing down her speed enough for the bearkin to catch up with her, the leading one that had been the first to jump into the sea of sand got the rest of the bearkin adventurers ready to jump up into the air and drag Scaly towards the ground alongside Verdell, something they had already attempted in the past and something Verdell already expected them to attempt again once they managed to get close enough to them.

In fact, this was exactly what Verdell was counting on them doing, as he planned to make use of them to cause a large enough distraction for him and Scaly to slip inside the city before any magical barrier could be erected to block their path.

How he planned to do this was rather simple, as he intended to make use of his limited wind magic to try and push them off course when they jumped up to try and drag them down. After all, outside of the feather falling spell he had used not too long ago, he also knew a few other wind magic spells.

Although wind magic wasn’t his specialty, it was at the very least his second best when it came to magic and something he had focused a bit on in the past because his very first mage related class had been one related to wind magic.

Whoosh-!

And as he thought about this, the bearkin adventurers below finally seemed to have reached the optimal position. Jumping into the air with all their strength using some kind of unique skill in the process that allowed them to get far higher into the sky than what should have been possible, as the stronger once among them directly used the weaker bearkin as stepping stones midair to get higher and ensure they would be able to reach Scaly this time around, a change in tactic the group of bearkin had come up with to reach them after their first attempt earlier on had ended in failure.

A turn of events Verdell had long since expected, as he had already begun conjuring up his wind magic below Scaly-

"Huh? W-wind magic!?"

Whoosh~

Catching the bearkin adventurer only a dozen meters from Scaly completely off guard, as he found a violent wind suddenly slamming into him from the side, sending him flying off in the direction of the large gate serving as the main entrance to South Gate City.

The main benefit for Scaly and Verdell being the fact that the adventurers below didn’t notice them and only ever saw the bearkin adventurers jumping high into the sky before all of them began plummeting down towards the entrance of South Gate City with a terrifying momentum. Every single one of them being launched towards it by Verdell, who had just used his wind magic far more than he ever had since becoming a mage focused on fire magic.

The magical fluctuations that might have been sensed by other mages within the city being completely ignored, as to them, it just looked like the bearkin adventurers were the one to jump high into the air before using some kind of wind magic on themselves to fly towards the entrance of the city.

Why they had decided to do something like this, the adventurers on the inside had no idea about, but at the very least, they were left utterly confused by the sudden strange turn of event. Everyone feeling their attention being drawn towards the strange bearkin adventurers that came crashing down towards them from above.

Huh? Wind magic? The dwarf knowns wind magic as well!? Maybe I can get him to teach me a bit of wind magic after we get to the first floor of the dungeon...

Seeing how everything played out, Scaly could not help looking towards the dwarf on her back with a sense of admiration upon seeing how he could also use wind magic. Part of her wanted to ask him to help her learn more wind magic, as the wind magic, she knew, was rather limited.

Of course, outside of her interest in the wind magic Verdell had just used, she also understood that he was providing her with a distraction to enter the city in the form of the bearkin adventurers who had become the center of attention thanks to their bold display of jumping up into the sky before suddenly flying through the air towards the city.

The fact that a few of the weaker ones had already fainted from the impact of the wind magic having not yet been spotted by the observing adventurers, as the second they did discover something like that would be the second they realized something was wrong about these bearkin adventurers suddenly diving down towards them.

Still, even if they did discover something wrong, it would be far too late for them to do anything about Scaly and Verdell, as the two had already made full use of the distraction to arrive directly above South Gate City. Easily locating the special passage leading to the first floor of the dungeon by observing the long line of people waiting in front of it for their time to enter-

Whooosh-!

And without the slightest bit of hesitation after seeing their target, Verdell informed Scaly as the two of them dove down towards the special passage from over two thousand meters in the sky. Forcing Verdell to use all his strength to cling onto Scaly’s neck, as their current speed of diving downwards far exceeded anything Scaly herself would normally be capable of achieving...