novelraw Chapter 98
Chapter 98
Chapter 98
Chapter 98
Chapter 98
*
The price of stupidity is your own responsibility!
Shouting that, the gaunt-cheeked man made the first move.
Four daggers thrown at once were deflected by the Jewelhead Dragon's scales.
"Starting off with a big show," was the bald man's line, and its meaning became clear when the dragon, having risen, made an annoyed face at the daggers thrown at it.
The four daggers shattered midair, turning into a net of light that covered and entangled the Jewelhead Dragon.
I'd never seen anything like it before; since I didn't see any special magical energy, it must have been a skill.
The gaunt-cheeked man made a gesture as if reeling in a line of magical energy stretching from the net to his hand, and shouted.
"I'll give you one minute!"
Before those words finished, I was already running.
Scales from the dragon flew through the gaps in the net, but I knocked them all away with my sword.
Hearing capable partner mutter behind me, "That speed's ridiculous," made me a little happy.
Wondering if I might end up cutting the net, I swung my sword like a blunt weapon.
I was doing more bashing than slashing—maybe I should've asked Tepe for a club instead, I thought as I struck the skull I was getting tired of hitting.
Scales and blood shattered and scattered.
Clicking my tongue, thinking I'd held back too much because of the net, I leapt away from the spot before anyone could shout at the magical line flying at me from behind.
The magic released by capable partner exploded at the dragon's head.
The scales, already cracked by my blow, shattered apart.
It was a magic called Flame Spear, focused on penetrating power.
If that had hit me, it would have been seriously bad, but the fact that capable partner fired it at me from behind without hesitation made me feel a sense of trust.
The same act—attacking from behind, assuming I'd dodge—felt so different just because it was a different person doing it.
No, I'm not talking about mentor or junior apprentice in particular.
Before my feet touched the ground after leaping away—
The bald man leapt high with a roar, and, using the momentum of his fall, thrust his blunt weapon/staff into the crack.
There was a blink of an eye's pause, and the bald man spoke.
"Explosion takes guts!"
With those supremely idiotic words, the tip of the staff he'd thrust in exploded, and the bald man was blown away by his own blast.
Seeing someone who could launch a ready to self-destruct attack without hesitation, I wondered who was it that said Faltarl was a Demonlands full of idiots.
Aren't there plenty of idiots right here?
Seeing the half-destroyed dragon's head, I moved to its exposed belly for a follow-up attack.
At that moment, the gaunt-cheeked man shouted, "Did we get it!?" and his hand slackened for an instant.
Capable partner, who had been circling to the opposite side from me, spoke in unison with me, unintentionally.
"Idiot! That's a dragon species!"
Before those words reached the man's ears, scales flew at him, and thanks to the bald man's desperate tackle, the scales only managed to blow off the gaunt-cheeked man's left leg.
"Shit, that hurts! Sorry! Twenty more seconds! That's my limit!"
I heard his surprisingly energetic voice.
I constructed a physical enhancement magic circle on my back.
"Capable partner! I'm going all out for the next twenty seconds!"
Wait, am I capable partner!?
Even as she said that, I saw her warhammer raised behind the dragon.
Maybe because Jewelhead Bunny is hard to cut with a sword, everyone's weapon is basically a blunt weapon, which is a relief given the situation.
As long as it's a blunt weapon, it doesn't matter if it can't pierce the gem scales.
That said, the bearded guy trying to fight the Jewelhead Bunny barehanded is pretty crazy.
Got saved by that damn rabbit in a weird way.
Capable partner and I shouted as we attacked the dragon's flank.
No technique, no finesse—just shouting and slamming our weapons down on the dragon's belly with all our might, over and over.
The Jewelhead Dragon screamed in pain and anger, spewing blood and thrashing to regain its freedom.
In the distance, I could hear the gaunt-cheeked man shouting, "Uoooh, determination! Determination! My body's giving out, hold it down! I can't do it on one leg!"
We crushed its head again and again, dealt so much damage to its insides it couldn't get up for a while, half-destroyed its head, and kept pounding its belly, telling it to die, just die already.
Seriously, isn't it about time it just died?
My arms, after swinging my sword hundreds of times, felt heavy.
Covered head to toe in blood splattered from the dragon's torn belly, I genuinely thought that.
"Sorry! That's my limit!"
The gaunt-cheeked man said that twenty-two seconds later, and the dragon swept its tail at the spot where I'd jumped away.
I kept my distance, batting away flying clumps of earth with my sword.
Its head, still not fully repaired from being half-destroyed, locked onto me.
Still not dead?" capable partner said, making a bitter face, and the gaunt-cheeked man replied, "I'm stopping the bleeding, just wait a sec.
"One more explosion, then—determination!"
Said the bald man, his equipment charred, and I couldn't help but laugh.
No matter their expressions or the situation, I couldn't sense even a hint of anyone wanting to run away.
Everyone looked at me laughing like I was an idiot, but you're all idiots too, you know?
"Alright, one more time. This time, I'll stop its movements."
"On your own? Seriously, you're the best, masked person. If your wife dumps you, marry me."
Climbing onto the bald man's back, the gaunt-cheeked man said that. "If you're on my back, you'll go up with me if I explode," the bald man said, tying himself and the gaunt-cheeked man together with a rope.
"Fine, but what about firepower? Masked person should be okay, but for us, this is probably our last shot."
Capable partner really is capable.
If it doesn't work next time——
"If that happens, just leave me and get out with everything you've got."
"Are you sure?"
"I was planning to fight that thing for up to three days from the start. If we don't have enough firepower, we'll just make up for it with speed and determination."
For some reason, capable partner let out a sigh.
"Alright! The idiots have declared their idiocy, and we've even got permission to run if it comes to that. Rejoice, idiots—it's the last round to risk our lives being idiots."
"Not even for my wife could I go three days."
Said the gaunt-cheeked man.
"Firepower is determination—good words."
Said the bald man.
Alright, let's go.
With just a nod, we all understood, and we moved.
This time, I'm the one who'll stop its movements—just as I declared, I stood right in front of the dragon to pin it down.
As if to declare to the dragon that it would never move freely again, I exposed myself before its fangs.
I shattered the jaws that tried to bite, deflected the claws that tried to tear, and if the dragon tried to turn its gaze away from me, I took the opportunity to land a heavy blow.
In that opening, capable partner and the others did something on its side.
My enhanced hearing picked up the gaunt-cheeked man's grumbling about spending too much and getting scolded by his wife.
Killing my pure curiosity about what they were doing, I focused on the violence before me.
The answer came right away.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw capable partner and the bald man charging at the dragon's flank, weapons raised, roaring.
The gaunt-cheeked man must have done something—the tips of capable partner's warhammer and the bald man's staff were glowing a vivid orange.
Sensing danger, the dragon tried to turn around, but I slammed its head into the ground with my sword to stop it.
The warhammer pierced the dragon's side, and the staff was thrust into the gaping wound.
Waiting for capable partner to grab the gaunt-cheeked man by the collar and leap away, the bald man shouted again.
"Determination is firepower!"
He definitely deserves the grand idiot award.
The dragon's belly blew apart.
The bald man, sent flying by his own explosion, gave me a satisfied thumbs-up as he soared through the air.
I'd at least like to win second place in the idiot awards.
I told the staggering dragon with my whole body: this is it.
I held tight to the reins of my body, which was trying to leave my thoughts behind.
Just one step away—just one step more.
I forced down my trembling, fearful heart by baring my teeth and grinning.
I poured magical energy into the second physical enhancement magic circle I'd constructed on my back.
Right up to the very edge of my full power.
The dragon's movements were terribly slow.
No——they were slow, weren't they.
As I finished my swing with the sword, I realized that.
The dragon split in two vertically.
Feeling pure terror at the uncontrollable power surging through my whole body, I released the second physical enhancement and leapt backward.
As I landed, the capable partner joined me, dragging the gaunt-cheeked man and the bald man along the ground.
"Masked person, you're insane. Sorry, I thought you were an idiot for trying to take down a dragon alone."
"Slicing a dragon in half—now that's something to talk about over drinks. I've got a great story to tell my wife."
"Determination makes your blade even sharper."
Their three completely different words made me smile in spite of myself.
The last one was so mysterious I had no idea what it meant, though.
"Thanks for believing in my idiocy. But if this isn't enough, help the carriage folks and run with everything you've got. I'll handle the rest."
It happened the moment I made that declaration.
The dragon's body, which had barely been standing, sank into the ground.
The gaunt-cheeked man, learning from experience, started to say something but hurriedly shut his mouth, and after that, no one spoke.
It felt like if anyone opened their mouth, something would happen as a signal, so the silence continued.
In that painfully heavy silence, a hard, glass-shattering sound rang out.
The dragon's surface began to crystallize.
Instead of cheers, we all let out a huge sigh.
The first ones to finally cheer were the adventurers who had just barely managed to do something about the carriage.
The capable partner leaned on their warhammer like a staff and let out a long breath, the bald man sat down on the spot, and the gaunt-cheeked man lamented that he couldn't find his blown-off leg.
Me? I gave a thumbs-up to the bearded guy, who was jumping up and down shouting for joy, with a "We did it!"
Edds, hugging Pal, pointed at me and said, "That's it, that's what I'm talking about."
I sheathed my sword and lowered my gaze to my feet.
Well then, time to stick my leg back on again.