They were fiercely confronting the approaching dwarves and mercenaries, and the center of the dispute seemed to be the ownership of the green dragon in the cave?
Dorregaray quickly walked over to Geralt and the others, just in time to hear Geralt's hoarse and resolute voice.
"Let's stop here, all of you. I will not allow you to approach the cave."
Geralt's hand was on the hilt of the silver sword on his back, his cat-like pupils coldly scanning the restless crowd.
He paused, raised a finger, and pointed towards the sky, in the direction where the terrifying sounds of impact were still coming from, raising his voice a few notches.
"And you don't want to incur the wrath... of the being fighting the golden dragon, do you? So step back."
Geralt's eyes flickered; he knew perfectly well that only a few of them could never stop the hundreds, the thousands, of the dragon hunting team driven by greed.
Even with Yennefer, a powerful sorceress, she couldn't fight off so many with just two hands.
He could only invoke Karl's immense strength and his power to fight the golden dragon.
Hoping to create enough of a deterrent to buy time until the decisive high-altitude battle was over.
When Dorregaray heard this, a flicker of surprise and gratitude appeared in his eyes.
He hadn't expected that this Witcher, who had seemed indifferent and uncaring before, would be so similar to him in protecting intelligent creatures.
He immediately smiled and loudly repeated: "Well said! Witcher! We should not indiscriminately kill intelligent beings!"
He slowly stepped forward, first gently raising his hand towards Yennefer, who looked wary, indicating he meant no hostility.
Then he calmly stood shoulder to shoulder with Geralt, Yennefer, and the two Zerrikanian girls, facing the vastly outnumbered dragon hunting team.
As the nominal leader and initiator of this dragon hunting team, Nidalmer's brows were furrowed.
He was in the midst of a fierce internal struggle, repeatedly pondering the words of Geralt and Dorregaray.
Indeed, whether it was the majestic golden dragon or the person who could fight the golden dragon fiercely in the air,
beings with suspected incredible abilities were something their team could not contend with.
If handled poorly, it would anger both sides and even lead to a temporary alliance between them.
Then they would most likely be met with a one-sided bloody massacre.
To expect both sides to wear each other down and then let them pick up the pieces? That idea was naive!
The conversation between the golden dragon and that man had been clearly heard by everyone; it was more like an honorable duel between "knights" than a bitter fight to the death.
Once their group of outsiders dared to interfere or touch that profit, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Carefully weighing the pros and cons, he realized that the consequences were by no means something he and his team could bear.
Nidalmer wanted to speak to stop the dwarves and mercenaries from approaching the cave further and to prevent the situation from escalating.
But at this moment, the development of the situation had gotten out of control. Except for some of the core guards under his command, who were still disciplined and would not act rashly without his orders,
the other recruited dwarves, mercenaries, and adventurers were so excited by the wealth that they wouldn't listen to any persuasion.
"Half-breed freak! Get out of the way if you don't want to die! Once we kill the green dragon, we'll leave immediately!"
"When the guy up there finishes fighting, we'll be long gone. What can he do?"
"Maybe he's already seriously injured by the golden dragon, can't even protect himself, how can he have the strength to care about us?!"
Some impulsive dwarves also waved their tomahawks and echoed roughly: "Yes! Get out of the way!"
"What threat is a weak, poisoned green dragon? Don't stop us from getting rich!"
The team was in an uproar, the noisy insults and objections growing louder and louder.
Nidalmer had already shouted several times in a row: "Quiet!" "Step back!"
But his voice was like a stone thrown into a storm, instantly drowned out, and no one paid him any attention at all.
For a moment, Nidalmer's face became extremely ugly.
As a king, at this moment, before his own team, his orders had lost their effectiveness.
He began to wonder if it had been a wise decision to hire these dwarves and mercenaries to form a dragon hunting team.
Geralt looked at the pressing, ill-intentioned crowd, knowing that words were useless.
He hesitated no longer, and with a clang, slowly drew the steel sword from his back, the cold blade reflecting the sun's cold light.
His cat-like pupils flickered without change, watching the gradually approaching team of dwarves.
Yennefer's hand also crackled again, sparkling with dazzling electric light.
She glanced at the tense, battle-ready Geralt beside her.
There was both anger and an indescribable complexity in her eyes.
"Geralt, sometimes I really hate your stubbornness and... your stupid sense of justice." Her voice was annoyed and helpless.
Before she could finish, Geralt's mutated Witcher senses were the first to notice an abnormal movement from above.
It was a sharp wind, making people's scalps tingle from the rapid descent, and he sharply looked up to the sky.
Seeing the massive golden dragon turning its back to them, falling towards their direction like a meteor at terrifying speed,
his pupils instantly narrowed to the size of pinpricks, and the shadow of death washed over his body like ice water.
His voice was full of uncontrollable trembling and terror, almost roaring and shouting: "Yen! Quick! Cast the shield!"
Yennefer, hearing Geralt's unprecedented cry of terror, didn't hesitate for a moment.
She almost instinctively sharply thrust her hands forward, the Chaos magic in her body pouring out without reservation.
A transparent, slightly thin spell shield instantly unfolded, enveloping Geralt, herself, Dorregaray, and the two Zerrikanian girls.
Dorregaray also realized the approaching danger; his face drastically changed, and he shouted briefly: "Join me in casting the spell!"
As he spoke, his hands quickly moved, complex incantations whispered in his mouth.
The magic of the two sorcerers resonated and overlapped at that moment.
The semi-transparent shield cast by Yennefer quickly hardened and thickened, visible to the naked eye, emitting a more stable energy glow.
The moment the shield was formed, out of the corner of her eye, Yennefer noticed Nidalmer on his horse nearby, completely stunned by the sight in the sky.
A slight hesitation flickered in her eyes, but thinking that he was a king, she finally quickly raised her other hand and shot a spell towards Nidalmer.
A force of telekinesis, emitting a pale white light, instantly acted on Nidalmer.
"Ah?!" Nidalmer only had time to exclaim, and his entire body was pulled by this force, staggering several meters away.