A death sentence.
It’s fortunate that I can remain unfazed upon receiving it.
Realizing instantly that dialogue would be meaningless, I quietly coiled my magic power and glared at the being.
“Heehee, you’ve got good eyes. So scary, so scary.”
Despite calling my eyes good, the being that was fearfully cowering in a mocking tone was the Dragon King, the lord of this dungeon.
He had a scar on his left eye, but it hadn’t blinded him as both eyes were wide open.
His body wasn’t exactly muscular, but it was toned and lean, with no clothing to reveal his well-trained physique.
That’s quite natural; armor would be a useless burden for this being. He had absolute confidence in his own body. The gray scales adorning his exposed skin were the best proof of that. They proved that the man before me was not human, nor Dragonkin, but a being transformed from a dragon.
“…”
At the stage where such an opponent was glaring at me with a belligerent smile, the option to flee was already gone.
Right now, I’m searching for what I can do.
Fighting is unavoidable from this point on. There is no choice of whether to fight or not. I don’t have the luxury of wondering about my chances of winning. I need to figure out how to inflict a decisive blow, more precisely, a strike that can surely defeat or kill him. That is.
“Oi, oi, oi. I’m talking to you, you know? It’s lonely if you don’t react a little, isn’t it?”
His tone was like that of a delinquent harassing someone on the street, making me think confronting him would be ten times better, but if I tried to buy time half-heartedly, he’d think I was a boring existence. I had such a premonition. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was warmed up from fighting just before. It was good that the Dragon King appeared before that warmth could dissipate. So, I.
“…Haa, foo.”
“Oh?”
Taking one slow, deep breath, I closed my eyelids, an act that would normally be fatal. Then, in my mind, I slowly counted to three. Once again, I flipped the switch.
“I’m going.”
It’s routine. I imagined a switch and shifted the type of thought.
“Kekekeke, well, if you prefer it that way, I can’t help it!”
The moment I opened my eyes, the opponent faced me with a smile at the change in my aura. In response, I slowly but surely heightened my fighting spirit. The man before me was the Dragon King, my enemy. No holding back, no mercy; he was an enemy to be utterly crushed. I converted my consciousness to a combative one like self-suggestion, and simultaneously began operating my magic power at full capacity. It was the first time since fighting Evia-san that I was operating at full power. I had residual strength from my previous battles with the dragons, so I could still fight sufficiently. My body smoothly transitioned into a combat state. The speed of my magic power circulation, the pounding of my heart, and my cold thoughts all signaled that I was fully prepared.
And yet, my instincts screamed. *Run*. But my reason said, *You can’t run*. The answer derived from the conflict between instinct and reason is limited. In those limited choices, I didn’t choose to give up. I gently relaxed my body to the minimum necessary, and resolved to find a way out.
“The instructors told me it’s okay to be afraid,” but they also told me not to despair. Fear is a sensor that alerts you to the opponent’s attack, and despair is a chain that binds me. With those words in my heart, I kept my fear in check, broke free from the chains of despair, and threw myself into this reckless battle. I kicked off the ground and challenged the dragon, who was grinning with what seemed like glee. I believed my choice wasn’t a mistake because of his smiling presence.
“Going head-on! Are you kidding me?”
“Kiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”
Against an opponent of superior skill, tricks are only effective if chosen at the right time and place. In such a situation, what’s required is raw power. Monkey’s roar, connection with the Ore Tree, and magic. I will use all the techniques I possess to defeat this dragon.
It’s a dungeon where death is guaranteed not to happen, yet this dragon is clearly trying to kill me. I can tell. I understand that I will surely be killed. That’s precisely why I didn’t hesitate and charged straight at him. So as not to give up. More than anything.
“Ooh, that cuts well.”
Trusting my own heart’s desire to win. The first strike I unleashed with that spirit left a significant scar on this dungeon, but naturally, it didn’t even scratch the Dragon King. I knew a frontal attack would be dodged. With the intention of at least instilling some caution, I charged up the cliff and swung down. As expected, the attack was dodged, and a large crack formed where the Dragon King had been moments before.
“…”
“If something like that could cut me, I might die.”
The Dragon King just laughed happily at the crack. With his hands on his waist, he stood there, seemingly exposed, yet the pressure I felt from the being before me made it difficult to decide where to strike. As if to cut through that hesitation, I once again raised the Ore Tree to an upper guard.
“Armor.”
Quietly and calmly, without averting my eyes, I searched for a way to defeat the enemy before me.
“Spear of Thunder Palace.”
The opponent still underestimates me. That’s why he’s patiently waiting for me to deploy even high-level magic like this. This magic, once released, unleashes over a hundred spears of lightning, a magic for large-scale warfare. Each and every one of them boasts firepower comparable to mid-level magic or higher. It’s in the higher ranks of firepower. Frankly, he’s not an opponent I can win against in a prolonged battle. I prioritized increasing my firepower rather than conserving magic power. I donned the magic I chose in such a situation. My body began to electrify. The characteristic of this armor magic is that it improves my reflexes with the effects of the worn magic, and also activates an active armor that delivers electric shocks upon contact.
“Magic next, huh? You’ve got a lot of tricks.”
Even in this state, the dragon before me smirked. He saw me as nothing more than a mere pest. Such an emotion was clearly visible. I won’t be foolish enough to get angry about it. I’ll proceed methodically.
“!”
I go in for the kill.
“Oh, you’re faster than before.”
Borrowing the power of lightning, I closed the distance faster than before and swung the Ore Tree down from an upper guard. The distance I covered was about ten meters. The trajectory left a trail of discharged lightning. To a normal person, it might have looked like I disappeared, but to this dragon, it was only a slight increase in speed.
“Layering.”
If this doesn’t reach him, I’ll just have to get faster. Once I realized that a single attack wouldn’t penetrate, continuing the attack would be foolish. In the same motion as swinging down, I prepared magic again for the upward swing, similar to the Swallow Return technique.
“Hooves of Thunder.”
What I prepared was not attack magic, but buff magic. This magic is the type that enhances physical abilities, but its true value lies not in boosting attacks, but in.
“Huh?”
“I reached him.”
“Yeah, you’re annoying with all your flashing.”
Obstruction of vision. It contributes to creating an environment where the opponent has difficulty fighting. Continuously discharging light is very conspicuous. It pulsates intermittently, as if lightning were constantly present right before your eyes. The light doesn’t affect me and also increases my reaction speed. The results were immediate. The Dragon King, who had been toying with me and narrowly dodging until now, changed his expression. A single red line ran across his cheek. His eyes flickered, and his cheerful voice turned into one that made no attempt to hide its displeasure. And then, a ray of light pierced through.
“Pushing in.”
“Are you getting cocky? Who do you think you’re talking to?”
Did the opponent get angry that the one who was toying with him had bared its fangs? The intensity in his eyes increased compared to before. I don’t have time to be intimidated by such things. I need to capitalize on this opportunity. This is the range of the Ore Tree. One-stroke, one-kill. The opponent is unarmed, but I don’t have the slightest thought that this is outside his range. Instead, I feel like I’m in the middle of a hurricane. Still, I can’t retreat. This is the range where I can exert the most attack power. If I move three-dimensionally, I’ll be targeted in the brief moment I’m airborne. Therefore, my movements naturally remain two-dimensional, fighting while my feet are on the ground. I repeated high-speed steps again, inserting a feint with a forward step. I momentarily stopped the light emission and instantly unleashed maximum light power, searing the opponent’s vision. The tactile sensation is difficult to perceive properly due to the high-output electricity generated by the mutual stimulation of the lightning elements scattered around this area. Hearing it would be difficult to pick up with the thunderous sound generated at that time. As for smell, this entire area should have been scorched by lightning, making it impossible to distinguish normal smells from the scent of burning. My reliable eyesight is being burned by this light. This is a plan devised against the instructors, to destroy the opponent’s five senses and decide the battle with sword techniques. The Dragon King, irritated, launched his first attack.
“Hmph!”
“Tch!”
It was a wild, horizontal punch. There was no form. The attack, a street-fighting style, vibrated the air with a single blow, blowing away the surrounding air, but I sensed it and succeeded in dodging it. The Dragon King, feeling no impact, clicked his tongue once.
“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!”
Targeting his irritated state, I used the shockwave of the monkey’s roar to break his posture and swung the Ore Tree.
“You’re so annoying! You’re so stingy!!”
“Tsk!?”
Despite my careful, careful swing, that process was rendered void by a single attack. All I saw was for a fleeting moment. As I swung the Ore Tree, in just one more instant, a blip of time, the blade should have bitten into the dragon’s body. Yet now, I was blown away. My eyes were supposed to have been burned, but after he closed his eyelids once, golden, reptilian eyes appeared, and his right arm, which had instantly enlarged, swept across the entire area. The shock produced by that attack forced me out of range.
“Ah! I’m irritated. I’m irritated!”
And then, the sandstorm obscured my vision. A few seconds later, when it cleared, the Dragon King, who had transformed his right hand into a monstrous, no, a dragon-like appendage, glared at me, no longer hiding his irritation.
“Are you looking down on me!? Do you think you can take me down with such petty attacks!? Huh!?”
His emotion was anger. It seemed he thought my strategy was an act of looking down on him.
“Is that killing intent just for show!? You can do more! Entertain me more!!”
He directed his rage at me as if to say, “How dare you misunderstand me!” That anger pressed down on me like a heavy burden.
“You’re slack-jawed, slack-jawed, you slack-jawed fool!?”
His anger grew, and the Dragon King’s human form began to lose its human shape.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK FIGHTING IS!!”
Wings sprouted, scales appeared all over his body, his limbs swelled multiple times, fangs emerged, and his mouth widened. And then, a dragon appeared, with giant wings that seemed to cover the very heavens. A gray dragon with a destructive and malevolent magic power so potent that the dragon I had been fighting moments ago seemed cute in comparison.
“This is bad.”
Facing such a being, I didn’t despair, but the ray of hope I had felt until then was extinguished as easily as blowing out a candle flame, and I could only utter a simple thought. Unlike Instructor Kio, he’s a battle maniac. It seems I’ve touched the Dragon King’s sour spot. The initial playful mood was gone, and any carelessness or overconfidence was a distant dream. From here on, the dragon’s trampling would undoubtedly begin.
“■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!!”
The roar of that giant dragon easily blew away my body. The other dragons, upon hearing that roar, fled in all directions.
“Kaha.”
Seen from a distance, its immense power was even more apparent. And yet.
“Ah, good. I can still laugh.”
My mouth was still capable of “still laughing.” Despite having no chance of winning, I could still laugh. That means.
“I still intend to win!!”
With a firm resolve in my gut, I countered the dragon’s magic. Compared to the Dragon King before me, my magic power might be minuscule, but the oppressive weight I had been feeling disappeared. If so, there’s still a chance. It might be a path to victory that requires layering miracles upon miracles, but it still exists.
“…”
The dragon, which had been enraged until moments ago, quietly looked down at me. It coiled its magic power, showing its will to fight. Even with just that.
“AH, YOU ARE AN ENEMY.”
This dragon recognized me not as one of the many common pests, but as an “enemy.” In a situation where I should have been terrified, my mouth naturally parted.
“Yes, I’m an enemy.”
I threw those words at the dragon and slowly walked back the distance I had been blown away.
“Tanaka Jiro, I am the enemy who will defeat you.”
And I declared to the dragon, glaring at him. The dragon grinned at my defiant declaration.
“THEN TRY IT, AND BRING ME THE HEAD OF ‘BASCAL ZUTA BAHAMUT’.”
“Understood!”
Well then, let’s restart. This battle that is reckless, audacious, and absurd!
Today’s Words:
I can still survive!!
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*The first volume of this novel has been published by Hayakawa Bunko JA. It was released on October 18, 2018. An e-book version was also released on October 31, 2018. The second volume was released on December 19th of the same year. The third volume was released on February 20, 2019. The content includes revisions and additions to the material posted on “Shosetsuka ni Narou,” along with additional unpublished interlude chapters. Please consider purchasing the new releases!
The comic adaptation is being serialized in Kodansha’s “Young Magazine The Third.” Please enjoy that as well.
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