We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
The demons that writhe in the darkness.
The old dragon watches the cooperation between Mistral and Ruiseine with interest. We also watched the developments, taking a step back so as not to disturb their concentration.
As Mistral’s dragon energy swelled, the divine power flowing to Ruiseine intensified.
As Ruiseine absorbed the divine power from Mistral, she closed her eyes deeply and recited a prayer.
The divine arts were activated by combining the prayer with ritualistic movements.
From the tips of Ruiseine’s sweeping hands, trails of light remained, drawing mysterious patterns in the air.
It seemed that they could activate the divine arts by omitting the patterns or the prayers, or sometimes both, depending on the time and situation. However, it was said that omitting the ritual to offer to the Goddess in this way would drastically reduce the power of the activated divine arts.
Ruiseine carefully recited the divine arts.
As the completion approached, a sacred energy emanated from Ruiseine’s entire body. It gradually spread to the surroundings, and upon touching the miasma, it turned into sparkling stardust and began to purify.
Slowly, Ruiseine opened her eyes and raised her hands towards the miasma. Then, the sacred presence that had been overflowing gained directionality and surged like waves towards the dark abyss.
Although divine power is invisible, completed divine arts are visualized. Faint, pale waves of yellow light repelled the darkness. The darkness touched by the waves of divine arts twinkled and created a path before us.
It worked. I almost cheered.
Seeing the path that had just been purified being swallowed by the surrounding miasma, I felt a sense of powerlessness.
Sweat like beads trickled down Ruiseine’s forehead.
Although the divine art was not for very long, Ruiseine looked exhausted and in pain.
Mistral’s energy was still flowing to Ruiseine, but it seemed that Ruiseine’s mental strength and stamina had run out first.
I gently rubbed Ruiseine’s back as she panted heavily.
“I, I’m so sorry. One more time…”
“Ruiseine, don’t push yourself.”
Mistral called out to stop Ruiseine, who was trying to straighten her posture using her naginata as a cane.
“This is on a different scale than what happened at Orta’s village.”
Saying this, Mistral gazed at the cloud of miasma that enveloped the distant high mountains.
The darkness spread across our entire field of vision. Far above, pale lightning occasionally flashed.
“That’s right. This miasma is just too thick. If the power isn’t enough to purify it all at once, new miasma will encroach as soon as it’s purified.”
The deep miasma cloud was dark and stagnant, making it impossible to see through. We didn’t know how far it stretched or how much of the area was being consumed by the miasma, but even an amateur could tell that it was far beyond what a single Miko could purify.
“However, we cannot proceed like this.”
“Indeed. We need to think of something…”
We all put our heads together, groaning.
If this is the King of Dragons’ territory, and a gathering place for the remnants of the Dragon Race who finish their lives in the Dragon’s Mausoleum, was it not the case that such things never happened in the past?
If they were periodically afflicted by such events, and if the Orta clan visited once every few decades to purify them, I thought there would be some way to overcome this.
My gaze suddenly moved to the Dragon Offering Swords that Yufilia and Nina carried on their backs.
The Dragon Offering Swords, for some reason, had excellent compatibility with Yufilia and Nina. They efficiently absorbed Yufilia’s dragon energy, and when Nina refined it, it was sublimated into magnificent dragon arts. It was unclear whether this was a characteristic of the Dragon Offering Swords or due to the excellence of their teamwork.
Perhaps it was both.
Yufilia had always sent dragon energy to Nina. Nina had refined the dragon energy and turned it into dragon arts. Even before she had such deep knowledge, she had become proficient enough to wield the outlandish dragon art called Ryū Sō Ranbu.
Yufilia was adept at sending dragon energy to something, and Nina was adept at refining the received power with high precision. And perhaps, the Dragon Offering Swords had the property of conducting and controlling dragon energy well. In fact, they absolutely must have it. That’s why Orta, who couldn’t control the three Dragon Jewels due to their immense power, desperately sought them.
“It’s time for this.”
“It’s time for our turn.”
Yufilia and Nina also realized this and held up their Dragon Offering Swords.
The golden twin swords reflected the sunlight emerging from the sea of clouds in the east, shining dazzlingly.
“However, can these Dragon Offering Swords truly dispel this miasma?”
“That is indeed a question. After all, Yufi and Nina cannot use purification dragon arts, can you?”
“I’ll practice now.”
“I’ll learn from now on.”
“No, no, it’s too late to start now!”
“This is troubling.”
I can dance the purification Dragon Sword Dance. But to dispel all of this miasma cloud, I would need multiple people like myself.
Holding the Dragon Offering Swords… Yes. I can’t possibly wield such huge, greatsword-like weapons one at a time!
Yufilia and Nina also held them in both hands and swung them, wielding them in a manner far from swordplay.
“This hateful miasma!”
“This detestable darkness!”
Since their Dragon Offering Swords, ready for use, seemed useless, Yufilia and Nina pouted with displeasure and swung them as if to vent their frustrations.
A “swish” sound as they cut through the air.
And at the same time.
The miasma where the Dragon Offering Swords had been swung glowed golden and vanished.
“Oh?”
We all looked at each other.
Then, Yufilia and Nina swung their Dragon Offering Swords again.
Holding them firmly in both hands, they swung them horizontally. The miasma cloud then shone golden for a moment and dissipated.
Next, they swung them vertically. This time, the dark abyss split open, and a path was created in the gap, similar to what Ruiseine had made.
“The Dragon Offering Sword is the key to reaching the Dragon Altar. Does this mean something like that?”
They created a path of similar size to the one Ruiseine had painstakingly created with just a single swing each.
Looking at them, they showed no signs of exhaustion from simply swinging their swords.
“Then, let’s do this. Yufi and Nina will create the path. Ruiseine and I will continue to maintain a barrier around us in case of emergency.”
“Mist and Laira will handle any dangers that arise.”
As a test, we tried it a few times in the shallow parts of the miasma cloud.
Each time Yufilia and Nina swung their Dragon Offering Swords, the path extended. Although the miasma would encroach immediately, maintaining the surrounding barrier with divine arts allowed us enough time to run through.
“Interesting cooperation. Is this your family?”
The old dragon, who had been watching quietly, nodded in admiration as we finally began our serious advance into the miasma.
“When one is insufficient, all can compensate. You are all one, like a single world connected by dragon veins.”
“We are very happy to hear you say that.”
We burst into smiles at the old dragon’s analogy.
Some cannot use dragon energy. Some cannot use spirit arts. But our hearts are connected, and it is happiness to be able to stay united as one.
“I place my hope in you. Reach the Dragon Altar and dispel this curse. And please restore peace to us old dragons.”
“Yes! Leave it to us!”
With renewed determination, we finally began our full-scale penetration into the miasma cloud.
Yufilia swung her Dragon Offering Sword down from a high stance. The darkness split, and a path appeared. Nina swung her Dragon Offering Sword horizontally. The path that had been split widened, and the surrounding miasma thinned.
“Let’s go!”
With Ruiseine and Mistral at the center, we began to run.
Priscilla-chan was held by Mistral. Ares-chan was working hard to float in the air.
The path gradually narrowed. Yufilia and Nina maintained it by continuously swinging their Dragon Offering Swords. Ruiseine’s barrier delayed the encroaching darkness, and Nimia’s blessing warded off the ominous aura.
We ran over treacherous rocky terrain. It was a steep slope, but we quickly ascended using the power of dragon energy and divine power.
Looking back, only darkness was visible. The miasma was swallowing the path as we ran past.
The miasma, blocked by Ruiseine’s barrier, sparkled like stardust. The darkness, illuminated golden by the mysterious power of the Dragon Offering Swords, vanished.
Occasionally, pale lightning flashed nearby.
Lightning, I can control to some extent. Thanks to the Demon Lord. While being careful not to be struck by lightning, we ran through the path born in the darkness.
“Elnea-kun, watch out on the right!”
Ruiseine’s attention was drawn.
In the pitch-black darkness with the worst visibility, Ruiseine’s Dragon Eye was reliable.
Nina swung her Dragon Offering Sword to the right with all her might. Then, a gust of dark cloud parted, revealing the face of a rotten dragon.
Purple blood spurted out, and the flesh of its rotten face oozed. The scales on its neck and body were peeling off, and it emitted a rotten smoke. This Fubaryū, which seemed to erode one’s soul just by looking at it, glared at us with red eyes deep within its sunken sockets.
I took a stance with my White Sword and the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword, and Laira gripped her Spirit Tree Two-Handed Staff in both hands.
The area we could fight in was narrow. Only the space within Ruiseine’s spreading barrier and the gaps opened by Yufilia and Nina were our survivable zones. One step into the miasma cloud, and we would surely be cursed.
“Run!”
Our running speed turned into a full sprint.
Mistral held Priscilla-chan tightly and cleared the worst terrain with wide leaps. Ruiseine cast the divine art “Star Crossing” and glided forward slightly above the ground. Yufilia and Nina desperately kept swinging their Dragon Offering Swords as they ran.
Laira and I separated from the others and engaged the Fubaryū.
The Fubaryū, which emerged from the miasma, gathered dark smoke in its throat and pulled its head back to gain momentum.
Laira’s two-handed staff roared.
The green-glowing staff was driven into the Fubaryū’s front leg.
With a dull thud, as if a rock had been thrown into a muddy swamp, the rotten flesh of the Fubaryū burst. Meat pieces, intermediate between solid and liquid, purple bodily fluids, and a severed front leg flew off, following the path of the staff.
Laira’s two-handed staff had splendidly severed the Fubaryū’s thick, rotten front leg.
With its stance broken, the Fubaryū’s head lowered.
Into that gap, I deeply thrust my White Sword.
It was inserted up to the guard between the Fubaryū’s eyebrows, and I unleashed dragon energy. The impact of destruction released from the White Sword’s blade blew off the Fubaryū’s head.
I protected myself from the scattering flesh and fluids with my self-created barrier and retreated to Laira’s side. Laira placed her hand on my shoulder.
I activated Spatial Jump.
In an instant, we detached from the side of the Fubaryū, which had lost its head and front leg. I leaped to Mistral’s side and ran alongside him.
However, the Fubaryū was not defeated.
The Fubaryū left behind us was already being swallowed by the miasma. In the process, it began to regenerate its lost leg and head.
I felt its eyes, which should not have regenerated yet, were fixed firmly on us.
“Elnea-kun, there are more…!”
Ruiseine’s scream-like voice echoed.
“Nyan!”
Nimia cried out towards the darkness.
The miasma cloud turned to ash. Beyond it, the upper body of a Fubaryū that was about to pounce transformed into white ash.
I shivered.
What if it had exhaled a breath of curse from beyond the miasma?
Even with Ruiseine’s early patrol, remote attacks were too difficult.
“Leave the distant ones to me, nyan.”
“Elnea and Laira, deal with the approaching Fubaryū!”
The Fubaryū that Laira and I defeated, and the Fubaryū that became Nimia’s ash prey. It wasn’t just them.
Low growls echoed from all directions. The ground trembled, and a creepy sound like something heavy dragging was heard.
From beyond the path Yufilia and Nina had opened, and from outside Ruiseine’s barrier range, several Fubaryū appeared.
No, no, no, there are too many!
“Laira, aim for the legs or head like before! We can’t defeat them. We can escape as long as we buy time!”
“Yes, indeed!”
Laira and I ran in different directions.
Laira ran forward and attacked a Fubaryū obstructing the path ahead, which Yufilia and Nina had cut open.
I leaped backward and to the sides, swinging my White Sword.
I decapitated the transformed wyvern and cut a short-legged Fubaryū crawling on the ground in half.
The White Sword, with its dragon-slaying attribute, was extremely effective against Fubaryū as well. Even so, it wasn’t enough to stop it with a single blow. Still, it slowed its regeneration and made the Fubaryū writhe in agony.
Laira clad her Spirit Tree Two-Handed Staff in dragon energy and blew away the Fubaryū, body and all, with her blows. The Fubaryū scattered rotten flesh and spewed poisonous blood as it was blown away. Thus, Laira secured our path.
However, the scattered flesh and purple blood smoked and rotted the earth when they fell. Stepping on corrupted ground would spread the decay’s poison to us.
While being careful of our footing, we ran desperately.
We leaped over cliffs that required us to climb on our hands and knees, and sprinted down steep slopes. The rocky ground we stepped on shattered, and Mistral almost fell. Maintaining his balance, Mistral’s expression showed no sign of ease.
Mistral was not the only one without composure. Ruiseine’s face was pale from continuously casting divine arts, and a look of desperation could be seen on Yufilia and Nina’s faces. Laira’s dragon energy visibly decreased with each swing of her two-handed staff.
Despite this, the Fubaryū relentlessly attacked.
I estimate there were seven to ten of them, but they regenerated as soon as they were cut or struck, and attacked from the depths of the miasma darkness.
At this rate, we would be completely exhausted before reaching the Dragon Altar. In the worst-case scenario, we might also fall victim to the curse!
Using the power of the Spirit Tree, I cast an illusion on the first Fubaryū that pursued us from behind. The Fubaryū, losing sight of us, became disoriented.
Next, I slashed a Fubaryū that poked its head out from the darkness on the left.
While approaching the next Fubaryū with Spatial Jump, I pondered what to do in this critical situation.
Fubaryū were originally old dragons. Driven by instinct before being cursed, they must be directing their hostility towards us who have invaded their dragon tomb. I believe the nearby Fubaryū have gathered to attack us.
If we can just escape to the Dragon Altar like this, it would be fine, but I don’t even know how much further we have to go.
Perhaps we should retreat for now.
If Nimia grew larger, we could ascend rapidly and escape the miasma cloud.
But if we do that…
It would be unavoidable that our presence would be detected over a wide area of the Dragon’s Mausoleum, and even the old dragons far away would notice us.
If we disengage, we’ll have to return to the entrance of the Dragon’s Mausoleum and come back stealthily, won’t we?
Retreating would save us. But from the beginning, the problem of not having a way to overcome this miasma remains unchanged. Should we enlist the help of the old dragons of Dragon Peak?
In the span of a single leap, I turned over what to do in my mind.
The conclusion was.
“Everyone, let’s retreat for now…”
“Yo!!”
I was about to ask Nimia to grow larger, standing beside Mistral.
At that moment, with a deep voice, a human figure burst out of the miasma darkness.
The figure aggressively delivered a flying kick to the Fubaryū whose head Laira had blown off.
The Fubaryū that was kicked was, surprisingly, engulfed in golden light and vanished.
“Oh dear, I can’t help it. My true nature slipped out.”
The figure that kicked away the Fubaryū landed gracefully and offered us a charming smile.
