Chapter 97: Dragon Slaying
I slip under the Dragon’s claws and run towards the it's side.
Henry: “HAAH!” (sfx exhale)
I thrust at the defenseless side with my full force. I churned up enough Magic Power inside of me, and I also drank a strength-enhancing Potion, so my thrust was much more powerful than my initial strike.
My attack succeeds in piercing through the Dragon’s scales and carve out a hole……...but it’s still far from reaching his organs.
[GAAARGH!!]
From pain and anguish at me, the Ice Dragon lets out a roar and swung its tail towards the source of the pain where I stood.
I need to pull out my spear and……..it’s stuck between the tightened muscles!!
Henry: “CRAP, WHOA!”
It caused a moment of hesitation, and the tail glanced at my arm.
Even though it barely brushed it, I can still feel how powerful that strike was. A dull pain thrummed in my arm.
Henry: “.........if my weapon wasn’t the Nyoiten Spear, this fight would have been over with this.”
As I mumble, I call back my Spear that was still stuck to the Dragon. The Nyoiten Spear’s [Return] ability prevents me from ever losing my weapon. It’s a boring but exceptionally useful ability.
And at this point, I was expecting this, but with my attack power, it would be tiresome trying to take down this thing. I could probably take it out with one strike to the head, but in a one on one solo fight, there’s no opening. The Dragon isn’t that dull-witted.
If I try to stack damage by throwing my Spear from afar, it’ll turn into a war of attrition where either the Dragon’s life energy will expire first or my stamina and Magic Power will run out.
If it would give me time to concentrate, I could try and stack 4 Spells on top of each other and see if I can take it out with that, but that would be extremely risky.
If there was someone with high firepower…….like if Ageha was here, I would just have to buy her some time, and she would take off that Dragon’s head and end the battle instantly.
……….and it’s my first time fighting against a Dragon solo too.
[GAAAARHH!!]
As I was trying to figure out a method of attack, the Dragon released its Breath.
The very first breath caught me off guard and almost hit me, but now that I am facing it head on, in this situation, I dodge it with ease. ………..but, looks like that Dragon was expecting it, and began letting out weaker bursts of smaller Breaths continuously.
Blue Magic Power Cannonballs came rushing towards me, and I had no other choice but to focus on dodging all of it.
Henry: “UGHー DANGIT! IT’S HARD TO MANEUVER! [Fire] {Ignis} + [Strengthen] {Hazac}!”
Below my feet was the perpetual snow that fell year round, and without solid footing, it’s hard to evade the Breaths.
At this rate, the Dragon might crush me just with its Breath, so I found an opening between two Breaths and threw my Spear. Because my first attack caused damage and pain, it braced itself by raising and concentrating the Magic Power inside its body and……..as a result, although I pierced its scales, it didn’t go any deeper than that.
…….but, that’s all the time I needed to buy.
Henry: “See ya!”
Yeah, fighting a Dragon under these circumstances is too much trouble. There is absolutely no reason why I should force myself to continue fighting. I’m fairly certain that I could beat it 8 or 9 out of 10 times, but I’m not crazy enough to risk my life against 10 to 20% chances of death.
I took out a Smoke Bomb from my pouch and threw it against the ground. The smoke quickly rose and filled the surrounding air……...and as I focused on detecting any Breath attacks, I turned tail and ran.
Next time I’ll bring Cyril with me, got it! Her Magic will blast you away!
And like that, I cursed at it inside my head as I put distance between myself and the Dragon and ran out of the smoke screen.
Henry: “..........that……..was a mistake.”
I checked behind me just in case, and with a <FLAP FLAP> and <WHOOSH WHOOSH>, from above the smoke screen, I saw the Dragon looking right down on me.
That’s right. Dragons can fly. I heard that with the exception of the Wind Dragon, the act of flying can be very fatiguing, and that’s why they roam around on the ground but……….crap, I don’t know if I can escape it now.
The 3 potions I drank were Muscle Strengthening, Magic Power Increase, and Stamina Increase…….in addition, I decided to hurriedly drink down the Speed Enhancement, and now I was seriously trying to make my getaway.
……….at the very least, I wanted to relocate to a place with less snow on the ground because I won’t be able to dodge these Breath attacks forever!
As I detect Breath attacks from behind me, I dodge by instinct left and right and continue descending down the mountain.
Now then………..what should I do to get out of this situation?
<<<<>>>>
I came down to the mid-region of the mountain.
Even though the density of the Magic Corruption should make it difficult for the Dragon to be here, it seemed to be intent on hunting down the intruder that violated its territory and wounded it on top of it all.
Now, as it fired its few dozen-th Breath, I jumped to dodge it.
Henry: “........alright, what should I do now?” Even if I go down any further, I don’t think I can shake it off. I just can’t overturn the flying advantage the Dragon has.
So now that I have better footing, and I got a better understanding of my opponent’s habits, I can fight it here. Or I could reunite with everyone and beat it to a pulp.
I’m on the fence about it. If I bring a Dragon when they are expecting a Giant, it might cause confusion and panic. I’ve only spoken briefly about combatting Dragon’s.
But even so, we’ve fought together this far, so I can’t imagine them not being able to handle an unexpected situation like this.
……..I guess it’ll be fine.
Henry: “HEYーーー!! I’m bringing a Dragon so get ready!!”
I raised my voice squeezing in as much hope as I could stuff into each and every word.
Teo has extremely good hearing. Even if she doesn’t catch my entire message, she’ll know that I was trying to send some sort of message.
…...and while I was busy yelling, a Breath directly hit my left arm.
Henry: “OWーーー!”
Even though I had 2 stacks of [Fire] {Ignis} around my body as an anti-frostbite, I still feel a painful sensation burn across my skin. It didn’t completely freeze over my skin, but my left-arm is not moving like I want it to.
Henry: “[Strengthen] {Hazac} + [Heal] {Teol}!”
I cast a Heal Spell on my left hand as I continue to run towards where everyone should be.
During that time, I started feeling my Magic Power drain low, so I dug out a Magic Potion from my pouch and chugged it down. Since I was trying to drink it while running at full speed, I spilled a lot of it, but I can’t complain about how wasteful that was under the circumstances.
I continue to dodge the following Breath attacks when…
“[Soaring Flame Strike]!”
With a disciplined yell, I see a flaming blade emerge from the direction I was heading straight towards the Dragon behind me.
[GYAU?!]
The Dragon panics from the unexpected attack and yelps in surprise. …….I immediately put on the emergency brakes and turnaround.
The attack must have aimed at its head as it shook it side to side to reveal a huge opening.
Henry: “........[Strengthen] {Hazac}”
I am for one of its wings. The stretched webbing does not have any scales, so it’s much more fragile than the rest of its body.
Henry: “ーーOoooRAH!”
I threw my Nyoiten Spear as hard as I could. I split the Spear into a little more than a dozen clones and punch holes in the Dragon’s wings.
Unable to hold its altitude any longer, the Dragon falls to the ground. …….but from the Dragon’s physical composition and body shape, it wasn’t flying with its wings, but it was due to using its Magic Spell, but in order to initiate the Spell, the wings are a crucial component. This is something in common across multiple flying-type Demonic Creatures.
It is an intricate part of their body, and it takes time for it to grow back than any other body part.
Ricardo: “Mr. Henry, apologies for making you wait!”
Henry: “Mr. Ricardo, thank you for the assistance!”
Jend: “We’re here too!”
And from behind Mr. Ricardo, his two pupils came running up from behind.
Ashley: “Dang, Henry. A Dragon? That’s amazing that you got away this far. I see some in Southgaia occasionally, but it’s a Creature where we have to all gang up on it at once to take it down.”
Henry: “If it’s just running from it, yeah.”
In the end, I didn’t receive any major damage from its attacks. The only time I got hurt was when it caught me off guard as I yelled a warning to everyone. And thankfully, it’s intelligence is relatively low, so its attack pattern was easy to read.
If this was a Dragon that lived much longer, then it would have had much more experience and intelligence that would make it the worst opponent to fight, but this one hadn’t developed that far.
Jend: “Ha, all this excitement is making my body tremble.”
Ashley: “Jend, stick to what you can do, and don’t try to be brave.”
And as we talked, a single arrow flew towards the fallen Dragon. The arrow was enveloped in the Magic Power’s light, and though it scratched the scales, it didn’t do any further damage.
Teo: “......looks like with my bow, I’ll need to directly shoot it in the eye for it to be of any use. I’ll focus on distracting it.”
Henry: “Oh, okay.”
Teo, who suddenly appeared on the scene, bitterly gave her own assessment. But for real, she risked for the Dragon to turn its full attention on her, and she still shot it with zero hesitation. She’s got guts as always…...but a little part of it just might be youthful recklessness.
Teo: “So, Mr. Henry. What should we do? Among us, I believe that you would be the one to have the most experience fighting a Dragon.”
Henry: “Well………..oh hey, Teo, where’s Cyril?”
Teo: “She’s singing somewhere back there.”
Then we can just buy her some time, and it’ll be over in one blast.
Henry: “Then let’s just keep it company for now. I’ll stand front and center. Everyone, stand back just a little more than usual, and don’t try to do anything excessive to stop it in its tracks!”
“ “ UNDERSTOOD! ” ”
[GAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!]
As soon as we agree on a strategy, the Dragon released a huge Breath attack at the whole group.
We all jumped away from the spot and dodged……..or I thought everyone did when Mr. Ricardo remained behind.
Ricardo: “[Flame Blade]・Swipe!”
And as he bellowed a powerful shout, he swung his sword.
An enormous wall of fire appeared in between him and the Dragon’s Breath, and they collided head on.
Ricardo: “HMPH!!”
Mr. Ricardo elegantly moved his sword even further and with it, the wall of flames shifted. After it stopped the Dragon’s Breath, it suddenly turned and a wave of fire was blown back towards the Dragon.
The Dragon didn’t seem to receive any solid damage, but it hurriedly took a defensive guard position.
Henry: “Mr. Ricardo! I said don’t do anything extreme!”
I’m glad that the end result was positive, but that was an unnecessary risk to take. I shouted towards him but…
Ricardo: “No, I wanted to try that at least once!”
……….okay, I guess it can’t be helped if you really wanted to do that once in your life?
But because of that wall of flame, the Dragon’s sight was blocked, it lost sight of our group as we approached. Looking at the outcome, it was hard to argue with him.
Jend took the left, and Ashley took the right as they closed in on the Dragon for the attack. I headed straight towards it, and tried to stay in the center of the Dragon’s attention as I approached.
Henry: “[Strengthen] {Hazac} + [Strengthen] {Hazac}!”
I cast my strengthening Magecraft Spells on my Spear, and threw it as the Dragon as I ran. Learning from its previous experience that it wouldn’t be able to block it completely, it positioned its body to protect its vitals and increased its defensive Magic Power.
As a result, I only scratched the Dragon’s vast amount of life power, but…...that wasn’t my aim.
Jend: “HAAAAH!!” (sfx exhale)
Ashley: “ーーEEEAAHH!!”
Jend and Ashley pincer the Dragon from the left and right and deliver a devastating attack. Their attack powers are definitely on the higher end, and they cut right through the scales and through the flesh. With the flames wrapped around their large broadswords deliver further damage, and the Dragon roars in agony.
In response to the pain, the Dragon began thrashing about wildly and…..oh, it’s my chance.
Henry: “[Fire] {Ignis} + [Strengthen] {Hazac} + [Strengthen] {Hazac} + [Strengthen] {Hazac}.”
While the Dragon was distracted with its opponents on both sides, I stack 4 Magecraft Spells on my Spear. I raise my concentration and brace the Spear above my head and…..
ーーI throw.
The Dragon had its eyes locked on Ashley and didn’t notice the incoming fatal blow, and its head instantly blew off.
Ashley: “WHOA?! WHAT HAPPENED?!” Seeing the Dragon’s head suddenly erupt out of nowhere, Ashley shouts in surprise.
Jend: “........ughー in the end, I guess we weren’t that useful.”
Jend is mumbling his complaints, but no no. Because the two created a huge opening for me to strike, I had an easier time nailing it.
But even so…….once the fight was over, it was actually pretty surprising how easy it was. I guess with this Party, we were able to fight against a Dragon Class without any issues.
I’ll need to keep that in mind going forward.
As I thought, I started heading towards the Dragon to collect its Drops. It’s body began to <HISS> as it immediately turned into the Corrupted Magic Power as I walked to it.
Cyril: “Umーー what am I supposed to do with all this Magic Power I stored up?”
Henry: “......just throw it at any poor unfortunate Demonic Creature that’s walking nearby.”
And Cyril, without being able to do anything, complained directly at me.
……...why?
<<<<>>>>
CREDITS
Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely
Written by Hisagushien
Translated by: ChonkyTranslator
Japanese Title:
セミリタイアした冒険者はのんびり暮らしたい
作者: 久櫛緑（ヒサグシエン）
http://kuontenrin.ehoh.net/
Original Source:
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n1161ft/97/
Book 8: The Flame Swordsman