First strike. Ur bent his body even lower, slipping under the tail’s swing.
Even so, it was a close call. The sound of his armor and skin being gouged rang out, but he didn’t hesitate and kept moving forward.
Second strike. The tail shot straight out like a spear.
Ur twisted his neck, and the tail grazed his cheek, drawing blood. But it wasn’t a direct hit. He kept moving forward.
Third strike. The tail slammed into the ground haphazardly. Tiles and debris flew, hitting Ur’s body.
The impact sent him flying, but he immediately recovered and kept running. He didn’t stop his feet. He kept moving forward.
Fourth strike──.
[G A A A A A A A A A A A!!]
Finally, the dragon, impatient, turned around.
Instantly, the density of its killing intent skyrocketed. The moment Ur faced it directly, he realized just how much of a monstrous, biologically superior creature he was dealing with. His organs trembled with fear.
A monster he absolutely couldn’t match in his current state. With full killing intent, it extended its gluttonous tongue toward Ur. The speed was on a completely different level from the haphazardly swung tail. Ur couldn’t even react. The tongue closed in on his head,
“【Thunderbolt!】”
But before the tongue could tear through Ur’s head, Diz incinerated it.
[G A A A A A A A A A A A A A!?]
“Are you insane……!?”
While burning the dragon’s tongue with lightning, Diz was both shocked and impressed by Ur’s decision.
Terrifyingly, his aim was correct.
The small dragon wasn’t at full strength. It hadn’t finished devouring the Core Magic Stone, so its recovery and strengthening weren’t complete.
The dragon understood that if it didn’t focus on Diz, Diz would kill it.
So, even the slightest distraction would tilt the battle in Diz’s favor.
But the dragon couldn’t move to eliminate Ur. If it made a serious move, that itself would create an opening for Diz to exploit.
She understood his intent. It made sense. Logically, his choice was correct.
Once he had entered this space with no escape, facing the danger head-on might have a better chance of survival than cowering in a corner.
But this way of fighting, even if done perfectly, was a hair’s breadth from death.
If Ur made a misstep, if the dragon misallocated its killing intent, if Diz was too slow to seize the opening──.
Ur would die. Without a doubt, he would die.
This coordinated attack was balanced on an incredibly precarious edge. It was a reckless cooperation that required complete trust in each other, entrusting one’s life entirely to the other.
And yet,
“Of all people, you’re entrusting your life to me… the woman who tried to kill your sister……!?”
Psychologically, it would make more sense if he were trying to kill her in this opening.
Instead, he was willingly throwing himself into danger, trusting her to cooperate in order to help defeat his sister’s enemy. Diz couldn’t comprehend his mindset.
[G A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A R R R R R R R R!!]
As the dragon’s gluttonous tongue still threatened to cut Diz down, she looked toward Ur, who was running through the darkness, seeking an answer. For a moment, their eyes met.
“────”
There was no hesitation in his eyes.
No disgust, no anger, no fear, no guilt—he had swallowed all his emotions.
There was only unwavering determination to do what needed to be done.
[Diz!]
“Akane.”
[It’s fine!! Niitan’s a total idiot!!]
Hearing his sister’s words, Diz also cast aside all hesitation.
The immature adventurer, the one she was supposed to protect, the conflict with his sister, the guilt, the duty of the Seven Heavens.
All the various thoughts she had about Ur. In this one moment, Diz discarded them all.
For this moment, this instant, she acknowledged him as a partner she would entrust her life to, and she stepped forward.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
Ash and gold flanked the ominous small dragon, charging.
It was an abnormal coordination. An insane pincer attack.
The disparity in their strength was immense. Yet, it worked.
The dragon perceives even the slightest threat from the gray adventurer, and that is precisely why this confrontation exists.
The dragon cannot afford to hold back even a fraction of its power against the golden hero, and that is why this battle continues.
A balance of madness—and because of that, both of them know this fragile alliance will soon collapse.
“Authority, prepare.”
Understanding this, Diz moves.
[Are you really doing that!? Right now!?]
“Yes. Maintain the sword, but release seventy percent of the armor. Use that energy.”
With a fluid motion, the crimson armor ripples and peels away. Raising her palm to the scarlet orb above her, Diz chants.
“【Authority of Red Rust—Degradation Creation, Begin】”
The crimson shape transforms. Writhing, glowing, it begins to fully take on a new form. A majestic and beautiful sword, wreathed in fierce flames—the Pure Flame Sword.
“【Imitation—Blazing Flame Sword】”
The sacred relic once bestowed upon the first Luckbird by the fire spirit Faranan begins to manifest.
[──GAAAAAAAAAA!!]
The moment the young dragon witnesses this, it lets out a roar of immense fury. This was also a reflection of its fear. The dragon was driven by the desperate need to destroy that accursed holy flame sword at all costs.
“Getting impatient, lizard!!”
──Taking advantage of the dragon’s completely distracted state, Ur thrusts his spear into the unprotected tail of the dragon.
[GIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!?]
Of course, it wasn’t a significant wound. With Ur’s strength and the sharpness of his spear, he could only barely pierce the dragon’s scales, causing minimal pain. However, it was enough to disrupt the dragon’s relentless assault on the hero in front of it. It was only a minor stumble, but Ur meticulously and relentlessly continued his attacks.
[GAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!]
“Did that hurt a little──”
Ur taunted the dragon with a shout, provoking its roar.
But suddenly, he felt a searing heat. The tip of the dragon’s tail split open, and like Ur’s dragon fang spear, it began to emit a beam of intense heat aimed directly at him.
“Tch!”
He narrowly dodged it.
The tip of the dragon’s tail continued to emit light.
However, perhaps because the dragon’s gaze was fixed on Diz, its aim was off, and the beam scattered wildly around the area, almost making Ur scream.
“What kind of creature────but…!”
Even so, biting back his screams and complaints, Ur gritted his teeth and stepped forward again.
“Take this!!”
He slammed his dragon fang spear into the wildly thrashing tail.
A hard impact. Had it transformed? His blade no longer seemed to penetrate. Still, he poured all his strength into it, slamming the tail to the ground and pinning it there. He did everything he could to ensure the tail’s deadly tip didn’t turn toward Diz.
[GIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!]
“Ugh!?”
This time, the middle of the tail transformed. A mountain of blade-like spikes pierced Ur.
The plating was peeling away.
His attacks were no longer effective. The dragon was starting to deal with him as an afterthought. And that was only natural.
What Ur was doing now was akin to sticking a needle into the pinky finger of a giant who could crush him with a single step. The fundamental difference in power made it a reckless act against an opponent he could never hope to defeat.
The longer the battle dragged on, the clearer the gap in their strength became.
Ur had always known it would come to this.
“──Not yet, not yet!!”
Still, Ur pushed forward. Even if the dragon was only dealing with him as an afterthought, he would make it spend that afterthought.
Do not fear. Do not retreat.
In this moment, taking even a single step back would send him tumbling into the abyss. It was okay to scream and wail. Bite down with everything you had. That was the only path to victory, the only way to survive.
Take even the smallest fraction of what that golden hero was carrying on her shoulders!!
[Diz! It’s ready!!]
And Diz did not let the opportunity Ur had desperately created go to waste.
“Spirit of Fire, Faranan.”
Wielding the sacred flame sword she had created, she swung it.
The trajectory of the blade, swept upward from below, cut through the darkness like the rising sun.
[G──────AAAAAAAAAAGAGAGAG!!!?]
The sword cleaved through the dragon’s body, severing one of its arms.
The dragon let out a scream and recoiled. Just moments ago, it had been regenerating its wounds, but now it could not. The wounds inflicted by the blindingly hot flame sword were still burning, preventing any regeneration.
The dance of flames quickly eroded the dragon’s body, purging the impurity and illuminating the fortress that had become the depths of the labyrinth.
Even the devouring tongue of gluttony could not reach before the flames.
The balance had tipped just before the alliance crumbled.
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
