Gamma snapped back into reality, confused while also puzzled about what he had just experienced.
He didn't get time to truly think about it, however, as the sound of wing flaps reminded him that he currently had bigger problems to deal with.
Looking around for a solution, he discovered that he was still holding his grinder in his left hand. Not giving it a second thought, he turned it on, before bringing it down on the talon that held him causing a high-pitched screeching when the saw made contact.
A roar of pain quickly followed and the dragon let go of him, causing the grinder that was still stuck inside the dragon's talon to be yanked out of his grip, alongside his welder and Anturia's beat-up teapot.
'At last I have a good excuse for breaking it…' his mind noted as he fell, the wind rushing in his ears. Above him the dragon was still roaring in pain, clutching its talon and to his surprise, he realized that some kind of red fluid was dripping from it… which didn't belong to him, but the dragon.
"Did I do that?" his mind couldn't help but wonder. He could still clearly remember Robin telling him that even the best swords haven't been able to penetrate dragon's scales, and he had been using a basic tool that had never been intended to be used as a weapon in the first place.
His thoughts were cut short when he finally hit the ground, the impact driving all the air out of his lungs. If he hadn't been still wearing his armor beneath his clothes he would've broken every bone in his body, but luckily that wasn't the case, even if he felt as if he had been run over by a truck.
With a groan of pain, he struggled to his feet, carefully standing up again. He however didn't get a chance to recover, as the Mountain Dragon landed in front of him, carrying a furious expression.
It was still holding its injured talon, a dangerous growl coming from the back of its throat.
'Alright, I'm dinner…' he thought fearfully when the dragon angrily glared at him, opening its mouth. It however didn't come forwards to bite his head off, but instead kept it where it was, a red glow appearing in the back of its throat. Gamma's mind quickly caught onto what was going on. 'Correction, I'm not about to get eaten, I'm about to get toasted!'
A second later a wall of flames headed towards him, the deathly breath of pure heat threatening to reduce him to a pile of ash.
Realizing that he wouldn't be able to dodge in time, he instead covered down, protecting his head with his arms while waiting for his inevitable demise.
*Klick! Wrrrrrrr, klick-klick-klick…*
He paused when he heard the familiar sound, unsure where he had heard it before.
*Wrrrrrr, krrrk-krrrk-krrrk. Klack!*
Then the flames barrelled down on him, his clothes immediately catching fire… but there was no pain. All he felt was heat and a bit of stinging at the area with his eyes.
Looking down at himself he saw that the clothes he had gotten from the village shortly after arriving here were fully ablaze, slowly crumbling to a burned black mass which fell loose from his body as they became victims of the flames… and revealing a metallic glitter beneath.
It was the metallic glitter of solid titanium, a protective carapace around his skin that didn't let a single spark of the hungry flames through, no matter how angrily they were licking at the armor, trying in vain to consume the vulnerable body below.
Gamma had never taken off his armor since he arrived, be it to sleep or to bathe, and instead simply put normal clothing over it. This was partly due to him still not fully understanding how it worked and how to take it off, but mainly because it felt quite comfortable and right in place, almost like a second skin in a way. The only exception was his helmet as hiding your face behind a visor all day wasn't exactly polite as well as uncomfortable toward others.
Talking about the helmet, he realized that a protective covering had encased itself around his head to protect him from the flames. It did however lack a visor, which explains why his eyes and the skin around it hurt a bit while the rest of him was fine.
Luckily that area had been mostly protected by his arms earlier.
Lifting his hand to his forehead, he felt something resembling a hoodie out of two layers of chainmail with a layer of leather in between. Additionally, there was a metal mask that protected his mouth, nose, and chin. Tiny hydraulics and gears were also present which were likely responsible for moving the parts into their respective places. Those probably also caused the sounds he heard earlier.
A scream interrupted his train of thought. Looking up he realized that the Mountain Dragon had turned away from him, probably thinking that he was dead, and had started focusing on other people instead.
He looked at the red dragon for a moment who was currently trying to tear down a wall of one of the houses before a metallic shimmer caught his attention.
It came from his grinder, lying not too far from him, the steel blade still covered in a red fluid, whereas the clean part caught the light of the moon in its reflection, illuminating the tool in silver and crimson.
A crash came from the dragon's direction, indicating that it had managed to get through the wall and to its inhabitants inside.
Gamma stopped thinking, and ran over to the tool, picking it up. Luckily it wasn't damaged by the fall and was still operational, which was quickly confirmed by the high-pitched screeching sound that came from the tool when he turned it on.
He quickly realized that it was a mistake when the dragon whirled around with a growl, having heard the tool. 'I should make more silent equipment…' his mind went before the dragon opened its mouth, revealing a glowing red in the back of his throat.
'Oh, not again!' he thought, probably being the only person in the world to ever think something in such a situation before he had to quickly cover his eyes with his arm to protect them from the flames.
"Growl?" was the first thing he heard, after the hot assault was over, blinking a few times to get the red spots out of his vision.
Looking up he saw that the angry expression of the dragon had been replaced by confusion, as Gamma seemingly wasn't bothered by the fire breath. The angry expression was quickly back, however, and it lounged at him instead, sharp claws blistering in the moonlight ready to slice him to pieces.
Gamma barely managed to roll out of the way, having second thoughts about his plans. 'Ok, what am I thinking? Only because I'm fireproof doesn't mean that I can take on a freaking dragon! Should have better thought this through…'
He swung his grinder at his attacker's belly, causing the dragon to hiss, as it made contact before quickly backing away again as it tried to bite him this time, its sharp teeth slicing through the air where his head (and a big chunk of the rest of his body) had been a second prior.
Gamma inspected the wound he had given the Mountain Dragon, and to his horror, he realized that it wasn't much more than a scratch, the injury barely half a meter long which was nothing from a dragon's perspective.
He tried to swing again, this time aiming for a muscle, but the dragon was ready this time around, swinging its talon at him which resulted in him getting thrown across the marketplace and crashing headfirst into a wall.
He landed harshly on his back, causing his world to start spinning while filling with colorful spots. While his armor would've normally been able to feather the impact, he was only wearing a chainmail head covering instead of the proper helmet.
He groaned, trying to righten himself, an act that gave him the feeling of needing to throw up, but he forced himself to stay that way, concentrating solely on his breathing. After the world had finally stopped spinning, only leaving behind a horrible headache, he opened his eyes again… and came face to face with the Mountain Dragon, who was staring down at him with something that almost looked like a victorious glitter in its eyes.
He came back to his feet, but stood unsurely, threatening to fall over again any second while the grinder was nowhere to be seen.
He looked the dragon straight into its eyes, deciding that if he would die now, he at last wouldn't cover down, mating death head-on instead.
The dragon lifted its talon, ready to give him the finishing blow with its sharp talons that were almost glittering pure white in the moonlight.
Gamma then closed his eyes after all, his bravery failing him.
'I wonder if I had a good life…' he wondered 'I certainly made the people here happier… well as long as I wasn't keeping them awake in the middle of the night…' Gammasighed. 'But what about before that? I still don't know where I came from… Do I have any regrets besides that?'
TSHACK!
Gamma jumped back, his armor now covered in blood. Strangely enough, he didn't feel any pain.
It was then that he realized that the blood wasn't his.
Looking at his attacker, he saw that the Mountain Dragon was just as surprised as he was, before slowly looking down at its chest where the tip of a huge metal spear was sticking out, some form of fluid slowly dripping from its tip, slowly coloring the ground red.
Looking in the direction where the projectile came from, Gamma realized that it had been fired from the town's highest tower. The tower where the Balista was positioned to be more precise, the same weapon that had tried, and failed to chase away the Swamp Dragon.
Today however it had hit its mark, and upon closer inspection there were indeed three guards standing around the huge weapon, looking down at them.
A pained growl caused his attention to shift back to the dragon, which was slowly collapsing to the ground, its body twitching a few more times before it stopped breathing and the world itself seemed to hold its breath.
"Are you alright Gamma?" one of the guards finally asked in a concerned tone, the shout breaking the silence.
Gamma gave them a thumbs up, smiling underneath the protective mask... and blacked out.