We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Connect with the will of Dragon Peak.
Orta’s dragon arts were collapsing the surrounding terrain.
Once we created some distance, Orta immediately went berserk.
The attributes of the dragon jewel Orta contained were light, darkness, and earth. It split the ground, spewed darkness, and fired golden beams of light.
We had to somehow get close to Orta and prevent its wide-ranging dragon arts. Otherwise, even though we’ve incorporated the Bewildering Technique, everything would turn into a wasteland with a clear view.
Kicking off the unstable ground, I charged at Orta.
But Orta wouldn’t allow me to get close.
It spread a dark mist around us, stealing our visibility. Then, from within the darkness, it unleashed a barrage of golden beams.
“Gah!”
The dark mist, if touched, would instantly poison one’s body. I halted my approach and tried to tear away the dark mist with the storm’s gale. Just then, a golden beam approached.
“Whoa, leave that to me!”
A deep voice I’d recently grown accustomed to resounded. And then, a man like a rock stood before me.
The beam struck the man, forcing me to close my eyes against the blinding light.
However, even after taking Orta’s dragon arts, the man didn’t budge.
He was worthy of the title Immovable Dragon King. It was Berrig.
The dazzling light subsided, and I opened my eyes. Berrig, holding his hammer with both hands, crouched low, shielding me with his back.
And then, in my line of sight.
Orta, whose dark mist had been torn away by the Storm Dragon Arts, was visible.
“Alrighty! I can’t let Elnea have all the fun!”
From the sky, a hail of spears rained down, accompanied by a cheerful voice.
It was Dragon King Heorona!
Heorona, flying with blue scales shimmering on his skin, summoned multiple spears in his palm and hurled them at the Orta on the ground.
Orta parried the incoming spears with the Ryūhōken and flapped his back wings.
“I won’t let you fly.”
Suddenly, from beyond our senses, Dragon King Jura stepped into Orta’s range!
Orta was astonished. But the movements of the Ryūhōken in his hands didn’t stop. He blocked one of Jura’s sharp swings, which left afterimages, with one Ryūhōken. Then, he counterattacked with the other. Jura evaded it with fluid body movements.
But then, Orta’s thick tail attacked.
“Hey, hey, Jura isn’t the only one good at close combat, you know?”
Heorona, who had been in the sky moments before, appeared as if to cut in between Orta and Jura. He then kicked up Orta’s tail and drew two short swords from his back.
A spray of blood erupted.
For a moment, I thought I saw the black leather armor of Orta, which even a White Sword couldn’t easily damage, being cut.
But no. In the motion of drawing the short swords, he had cut Orta’s exposed skin, his face.
With both eyes deeply cut, Orta writhed in pain.
“Honestly, the sky’s storms are quite the effective marker.”
Berrig on the side gave a wry smile.
“I heard the plan from Ruiseine-chan.”
“We’ll cooperate too.”
Heorona and Jura had retreated for now.
Now that Orta’s vision was obscured, it was the perfect opportunity to attack. But they chose to retreat.
Because.
The distant sky glowed with polychromatic colors.
Immediately after, a massive explosion occurred around Orta.
It was a simultaneous long-range dragon arts barrage from the Dragon Peak Alliance dragons who had gathered, following Fiolina’s transmitted will!
The scale of this attack dwarfed Orta’s dragon arts. The ground burst apart, and the blast wave surged with the force of blowing everything away. The roar and tremor spread, causing landslides in nearby mountains.
This single strike broke the Bewildering Technique I had activated.
But that was fine.
The Bewildering Technique I had cast was merely to buy time. For Ruiseine to explain the plan to Jura and the others. To stall Orta.
And then.
“Elnea!”
“Lady Elnea!”
“Elnea-kun!”
“We’re here!”
“We brought them!”
Mistral and the others jumped down from Lily’s back.
“You’re pushing yourself too hard before we even arrived.”
“You used the Bewildering Technique well.”
Zan and the others, who had already undergone Human-Dragon Transformation, descended from the sky.
“Did we make it in time?”
“I heard the circumstances from Gashark. We’ll lend our support.”
From another direction, Gashark and Sestarinis appeared.
The Bewildering Technique didn’t just confuse.
In addition to confusing anyone at random, it also had the effect of guiding specific individuals.
As we wandered in the Dragon Forest, we were led as if to the Moss Garden.
The Bewildering Technique I had spread also served to guide everyone, who had been separated far apart, to this location.
But I was glad we made it in time.
My dragon power was running low, and I might not have been able to hold Orta back any longer on my own.
The assembled group glared at the epicenter of the explosion, their fighting spirit full.
“So… that’s how it is…”
No one believed that Orta had been defeated by the dragons’ simultaneous attack just now. Therefore, no one flinched even when Orta, brushing away the dust, appeared with a leisurely figure.
“Nonsense.”
Orta faced us alone. His eyes, cut by Heorona, had already recovered and gleamed with hatred.
“So, this is your plan. Against an immortal me, you’re going for a war of attrition… How absurd!”
The remaining dust was blown away by the dark dragon energy emanating from Orta.
“No matter what you scheme, it’s futile!”
Orta kicked off the ground.
A shadow of black and gold trailed behind him as he approached.
“Your next opponent is me!”
Mistral drew his jet-black one-handed club and stopped Orta’s charge. And then, a fierce exchange began.
The battle against Orta entered its next phase.
As if to support Mistral, Zan unleashed his fists, clad in beautiful platinum flames.
At the same time, the rest of us, including myself, retreated.
As Orta said, from here on, it’s a war of attrition. Even with extremely high immortality, he’s not immortal as he claims. His dragon power isn’t infinite either.
Therefore, we’ll continuously attack him, aiming to wear him down through a long battle.
It might be a cowardly way of fighting against Orta alone.
But Jiludo and the Giant Demon Lord said.
If there’s an outcome you desperately want to achieve, you can’t just go by the book. Sometimes, you have to grab what you want, even if it means appearing messy and ugly.
As the planner of this strategy, I might be straying from the righteous path of a hero.
But!
For the sake of Dragon Peak, and for the sake of the many who live there, I will use any means necessary.
And I will definitely defeat Orta!
Next, after I was completely exhausted, Mistral and Zan would take over as Orta’s opponents.
In the meantime, we moved on to our next plan.
“Ares-san, Priscilla-chan. I’m counting on you.”
I took Priscilla-chan’s hand, who was hidden, carefully protected in the shadows of everyone.
“Yes. Leave it to us!”
Priscilla-chan replied with a beaming smile. Beside her, Ares-san, in her adult form, manifested.
Then, Priscilla-chan and Ares-san held hands.
“Priscilla and”
“Ares’s”
“Dragon Peak Labyrinth!!”
They spun around and uttered powerful words!
The two’s explosive spirit arts erupted. The ground trembled, and the terrain distorted. The scenery of the sky swayed unnaturally, and the mountains we saw disappeared. And then, a mountain range we had never seen before appeared. The area that was a desolate wasteland transformed once again into a deep forest. The figures and presences of Mistral and the others fighting in front suddenly vanished.
“You should rest for now. I’ll block Orta’s dragon arts!”
With a thud, Berrig started to move. His dragon jewel was an Earth Dragon, and it seemed he would play a role in suppressing Orta’s ground-splitting dragon arts.
“I’ve lost my dominant arm and can’t fight properly. However, I can maintain the storm while Elnea rests.”
Gashark offered encouraging words. The Storm Dragon Arts I created were also necessary for the battle against Orta. Gashark, who was skilled at controlling wind, took over the maintenance of the Storm Dragon Arts.
“I’ll go check the battle situation.”
“If I’m lucky, I’ll steal a Ryūhōken.”
The Twin Princesses ran off into the depths of the forest.
“Lady Revalia, we’re coming too!”
“Tch, can’t be helped.”
Lyra, who had dived down, jumped onto Revalia and headed towards the dragons gathered in the sky. Sensing their presence, many dragons were also gathering on the ground.
“Now, Elnea-kun. Please rest while you can.”
Prompted by Ruiseine, I decided to take a breather.
The remaining Dragon Kings, including Sestarinis, also disappeared into the forest to prepare for their next turns.
And then, only myself, Ruiseine, Priscilla-chan, and Ares-san remained in this place.
Priscilla-chan, having exhausted her strength with the current spirit arts, was sleeping soundly in Ares-san’s arms.
“Finally.”
“Yes. It’s going to be a tough fight where not a single mistake is allowed.”
“Don’t worry. We will definitely defeat Orta.”
Nodding once more, I sat down and replenished my dragon power with deep meditation. At worst, it could be a prolonged battle lasting several days. I had to recover as much as possible while I could.
Ruiseine’s role was to care for those who had fought Orta. If they were injured, she would heal them with magic and universal nasal medicine, and also prepare meals. I too entrusted my exhausted body to Ruiseine and decided to take a short nap.
Even as I rest now, Mistral and the others must be engaged in a fierce battle. From afar. From different locations. While moving through the spirit arts of the labyrinth spread across Dragon Peak, explosions and tremors could be heard.
The Dragon Peak Labyrinth that Priscilla-chan and Ares-san activated was incomparably more powerful than my Bewildering Technique. It confused not only spatially but also physically. And it covered an astonishingly wide area. Priscilla-chan had to push herself to her limits for the long battle against Orta. And currently, Ares-san was also under a great burden. This time, she could not fuse with me. She was tasked with maintaining the labyrinth with all her might.
Ares-san was intently staring somewhere far away, deep into the forest.
The tension of the surrounding situation meant I might not be able to sleep. But that worry turned out to be unnecessary. As soon as I rested my head on Ruiseine’s thigh, my consciousness faded. The battle with Orta seemed to be incredibly draining both physically and mentally.
I’m glad we didn’t attempt this alone. If Zan, the Dragon Kings, and the dragons hadn’t cooperated, this might have been a dangerous plan. And even so, it would be a difficult fight.
But we will surely achieve victory. We will defeat Orta and bring peace back to Dragon Peak. With that resolve in my heart, I fell into a temporary sleep.
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