Chapter 385: The Legend of a Certain Fire Dragon Killer (3.5k)
The fortieth floor of the Scorching Purgatory Dungeon.
The B3-rated adventuring team “Entak First Academy Class 3 Squad 10” was struggling their way through the dungeon.
Following a deep cooperation between the Adventurer’s Guild and the Royal Family, a series of “student dungeon immersion” practical projects had been launched, requiring practical dungeon experience during the holidays.
As exploration became increasingly simplified, more dungeons were left for students as “practice” for their coursework. Thus, these frail students found themselves having to experience relatively “weak” dungeons during their holidays. Of course, this was on the premise that they would genuinely comply with the Adventurer’s Guild’s designation of dungeons as “suitable for practice and weak.”
“Let’s review one more time. Once we enter, don’t change formation, and maintain your composure even if it slaps us.”
The captain of this squad, pushing up thick, bottle-cap-like glasses, led the way with his sword, mimicking the “command” a captain should possess.
“Th-that, Captain, are you sure this is okay?”
“Yeah. We only need to clear the tenth floor to get our practice stamp, there’s no way… no way we need to go to the fortieth floor, right?”
A timid voice came from behind him. Most of them exploring here were still “children,” and entering dungeons was merely for school practice certificates.
“What do you guys know? The team from the class next door has already reached the thirtieth floor. If we aren’t stronger than them, our ratings will be lowered.”
“Practice… practice doesn’t have such important ratings, does it?”
“There’s no need to be so competitive about things like this…”
“The Adventurer’s Guild even has a ranking list for each team—competing with others on the ranking list is something we’ll face in the future, so we need to strive for first place starting now.”
However, like every “honor student” who overestimated themselves and never admitted defeat, this captain did not curb his “pride,” and—
“I’ve already researched the monster data in the library. The monsters on the 40th floor are just common Fire Dragons. The Fire Dragon’s weakness is its head, and according to statistics, eighty-three percent of Fire Dragons prefer to attack with their left claw—I have these details memorized.”
“Th-th-then, Captain, you’ll be leading the charge when we enter the fortieth floor, right…?”
“Hmph, there’s no problem.”
And so, the door to the fortieth floor dungeon, though somewhat devalued in significance now, was slowly “opened” by a group of middle schoolers—
Scorching magma.
A giant shadow.
Burning air.
Unfolded before the children, a danger entirely different from any dungeon they had encountered before, these “sensations” assailed them.
“T-ten meters is this high?!”
In the captain’s blue eyes, he kept tilting his head back, looking up, before he could grasp the full form of the Fire Dragon, which stood over a dozen stories tall—
It was entirely crimson, its feet submerged in the magma. Its amber eyes, devoid of any human emotion, mechanically gazed down at the children standing in the magma pool below.
*Whoosh.*
With a gust of wind, it merely stirred its wings as if waking up, but this created a storm that blew away over a dozen people.
“Captain—where’s the information from your textbook, Captain?!”
The ice wall that a normal adventurer would erect had fallen behind.
“Quick… use it quickly.”
The hot wind, unstoppable and spewing from its mouth, seemed capable of burning everyone’s cloaks.
“If you don’t use it now, it’ll be too late!”
However, the captain who had made such a bold claim had already collapsed before the Fire Dragon.
For the first time, he believed that being an adventurer was truly a dangerous job. The monster before him was nothing like what was described in textbooks; simply gazing at its pressure rendered him completely immobile.
There was simply…
No room…
To fight back…
As its gaping maw opened, the next round of fiercer breath was already gathering in its mouth. This adventuring team of children was about to face—
“Phase one: decisively erect the ice wall. Do not let your teammates be exposed to the high temperatures, as this will significantly reduce the combat effectiveness of melee weapons, and the efficiency of ranged mages’ magic will also decrease after passing through the high temperatures.”
A clear, crisp female voice, as cold and calm as reciting a textbook, came from behind him.
Then, he felt a chilling magic, similar to the voice, pierce his arm and, without any apparent reason, erect an ice wall before him that was even taller than the Fire Dragon’s neck.
“This… what is this…”
A red-haired Half-Beastman, dressed in a maid outfit, stood before him, holding a shield that looked so new it seemed to be maintained daily.
“Phase two: you must know the Fire Dragon’s preferred areas of expertise compared to other Fire Dragons. Is its key strength its breath’s high temperature, or its claw attacks or tail attacks? Only by treating the symptoms can you fight better.”
The cold wind emanating from her blew her shoulder-length hair, and beneath these strands, her indifferent gaze was visible.
Her gray eyes showed no “concern.” Even though she wore a maid outfit that should have represented “care,” her expression and gaze were more like someone who had lost something important and no longer cared.
She continuously recited what sounded like “Fire Dragon Extermination Rules” in a clear voice, as if reading a recipe, her gaze on the children more severe than a teacher seeing their own zero-scored test.
After saying this, she raised her shield and observed the attacking, brand-new 40th-floor Fire Dragon, for which there were no攻略 records, for about five seconds.
As for why it was five seconds…
It was because while she was freezing the Fire Dragon’s incredibly fierce breath, she was also precisely counting down—
“Five.”
As she spoke, she took a step forward without any fear of the Fire Dragon.
“Four.”
She didn’t even raise her shield, simply using her palm, enhanced by Ice Armor Infusion, to deflect the Fire Dragon’s breath.
“Three.”
She walked forward step by step, her slightly contemptuous gaze seeming to observe the Fire Dragon’s performance.
“Two.”
She paused slightly, her gaze shifting from looking up to looking straight ahead, visualizing the Fire Dragon’s entire body.
“One.”
The previously arrogant and even overwhelming Fire Dragon’s breath and movements slowed upon hearing her countdown.
It even flapped its wings and took a step back.
After finishing the countdown, she suddenly gripped her shield, her tail flicked up, and in a posture that a beastman would use for balance when dashing, she shot forward from her spot.
*Whoosh—*
A strong gust of icy wind swept across the area, even suppressing the temperature of the magma in this dungeon belonging to someone else. She, as if by herself, transformed the entire fortieth floor into a frozen realm.
Holding a very heavy shield, she darted out like an arrow.
The Fire Dragon, from its feet to its tail, was gradually frozen by her ice. This freezing did not stop until it reached the Fire Dragon’s neck.
It was as if it had instantly turned into an ice sculpture, frozen in place.
Until—
The shield strike that landed on its head!
*Boom—*
Before the captain, whose legs had gone weak and he was now sitting on the ground, the Fire Dragon, which he had considered an invincible opponent mere seconds ago, collapsed.
In an instant, only a shattered, frozen corpse lay on the ground.
*Hiss—*
The sound of steam, formed by the intermingling of constantly rising magma and cold wind, echoed.
“Phase three: do not hesitate. Dragon-type creatures are highly adept at utilizing their environment and have rapid healing speeds.”
The maid, holding her shield, emerged from the steam of melting ice and water—she didn’t even have any other weapons that could cause damage—and walked towards them, who were huddled together in fear.
At this moment, these children, who had only recently started school, witnessed for the first time that there might be things in this world more terrifying than dungeon monsters.
“The battle must be swift, kill it within one minute.”
Her tone remained cold. She stopped before them and simply brushed some dust off her skirt.
As a Half-Beastman whose fur could easily ignite, her tail and ears were not even singed, maintaining their clean, beautiful orange-brown color as if polished with fur maintenance oil. Her maid dress, which might have been considered a “burden” on the battlefield, was spotless, not even bearing a speck of ember from this dungeon filled with magma, ash, and smoke. And her very beautiful and exceptionally reliable shield was so shiny it was hard to believe it was the one that had just struck down the Fire Dragon.
Compared to the Fire Dragon, the victorious maid adventurer standing here now seemed more like the BOSS.
Especially…
In the few minutes she had disappeared into the dust cloud after the Fire Dragon’s fall, she had been tightly gripping a fiery heart of the Fire Dragon that seemed to be still beating. Red, flame-like blood dripped from her fingertips.
She appeared like a cold-blooded assassin, unfazed by such bloodshed.
“Could it be… could you be… the legendary… Fire Dragon Killer?!”
“What? Is that what the Adventurer’s Guild outside was discussing when we first entered the dungeon?”
“Yes… yes, that’s it! I heard her adventuring team only has herself, but she never makes a living by hunting any other monsters. Her only interest is…”
“…only monsters named ‘Fire Dragon’ in dungeons, especially those on BOSS floors, particularly those that no one has ever conquered.”
“From the west of Entak all the way to the east, what’s most memorable is her maid dress, and…”
The children’s favorite chatter—the strange legends about adventurers—had only just begun.
This legendary Fire Dragon Killer, walking step by step towards them, dressed in her maid outfit, stood tall and respectful with her legs straight and her tail neatly aligned.
Then…
She took out a thin booklet. On the booklet, written in what seemed to be her own hand, was a somewhat crooked but surprisingly cute title—
“Rules to Remember When Killing a Fire Dragon.”
Below the booklet, in the author section, she had diligently written “Will.”
“And! She distributes these kinds of elementary readers to mock adventurers who can’t even defeat a Fire Dragon, implying they never even went to school!”
Hearing someone say this behind her, the little captain, who had been feeling so full of pride, looked at this small booklet, his heartbeat accelerating.
Especially the phrase “never even went to school,” as the maid handed it to him, stabbed his heart like a knife, cut by cut.
“Waa—waa— I… I… *sob sob*… I didn’t… I clearly… I clearly studied hard…”
“Take it. ‘I’ am leaving.”
The Fire Dragon Killer herself didn’t even have time to comfort a crying child. She walked past them, leaving behind a conquered dungeon, showing no interest in the subsequent floors, and departed from their sight.
