215 - - Heat Battle Digest No. 3

"Hi!"

"Whoa!"

Holak and Mussan, looking out over the river flowing in front of them, involuntarily inhaled and held their breath.

A short distance away from the lake, the river narrows to about a dozen paces.

A huge body covered with a red hull covered the entire bank of the river.

Both of us open our eyes to the fullest at the sight of the master of the lake, which we see up close for the first time.

The serpentine neck and tail. The body is thick and thick.

The length of the body is at least 20 paces.

The head, lifted up, seems to be as high as that of three large men.

Perhaps due to the shallow depth of the water, even the base of the flat, fin-like legs that support the huge body were exposed.

On the back, a dorsal fin protruded like a spine, extending all the way to the tip of the tail.

The jaws, lined with thick fangs, are so large that a single adult could easily be swallowed.

Dripping reddish-black water from the scales with their peculiar sharp projections, the lake dragons let out a roar that made the air tremble.

The two were nearly knocked down by the force of the roar, but they barely regained their strength when someone else let out a yell, determined not to be defeated.

Turning their attention to the owner of the voice, Horak and the others finally noticed a change in the surface of the river.

"What is it?　What the hell?"

"When the hell did this happen?

Blocking the flow of the river were a number of stone piles protruding from the water.

They were evenly spaced, holding the monsters in place.

In the middle of the piles of stones stood a man.

He was clad in white armor and held up a rectangular shield majestically.

He had the dignity of a shieldman who has survived many attacks.

But...

The size of his body is so different from that of a howling, raging dragon that it is ridiculous to even compare them.

The two men, speechless in the face of the man who had challenged them to a battle so reckless, could do nothing but stare at the end of time.

Suddenly, the dragon's long neck snapped, and its jaws opened up and down as it attacked the man.

A moment later, it seemed as if the man's torso would be ripped off with a single bite.

A tremendous amount of fighting energy burst from the man's body.

At the same time, the man's body seems to expand several times in size.

A breath was delayed, and a heavy sound, as if a solid rock had been struck, rang out over the surface of the river.

"What the hell? ......"　

Despite the dragon's blow, the man was still holding his ground on the stone pile.

His shield was raised to catch the monster's jaws firmly.

Horak marvels at the sheer strength and sturdiness of his muscles.

Moussin, who was standing next to him, mutters something as if he had just remembered something.

"Is that, by any chance, ......?"

"You know about this?　Mussan."

"Probably a shieldman's best defensive technique. It is said to repel all attacks.

"So you're a Kamieda martial arts user!"

The dragon shook his head like a madman and tried to bite the man again and again.

However, the shieldman, now with a mind and body of steel, brushes it off with his shield without a care.

"......You certainly have a strong defense. But if you continue like this, you're going to be outgunned.

"Look!"

Suddenly, Mussan points in the opposite direction from the man.

Horak looked in that direction and groaned in understanding.　

"I see, those piles of stones were made by the rock pile formation. ......"

Behind the dragon, there was a new shieldman before he knew it.

Every time a man with a thick build raised his shield, the bottom of the river rose up, shaking the surface of the water, and a stone mountain was formed.

When the new mountain was completed, the man jumped on top of it and lifted the shield again.

The river bottom rises again.

Repeating the same action, the man moves toward the other side of the river.

The two men watch with admiring eyes as the piles of stones are quickly lined up, but gradually begin to notice something unusual about them.

"Hey, are you still releasing them?"

"Oh, his fighting spirit is bottomless!"

The is a middle branch skill that uses relatively little fighting spirit.

But the man had already released it nearly ten times, whereas a normal person would have used it only three times.

As the two men watch the monstrous man's act, the rock pile is finally completed to the other side of the river.

Across the river, the man shouts a signal, and the man who has been enduring the onslaught of the dragon begins to move.

The monster, trying to follow him, finally seems to understand his situation.

The two bystanders finally realize what the men are up to.

"...... This thing is trapped!"

Unlike the lake, the water in this area is shallow and most of the dragon's body is out of the water.

The river is too narrow for such a huge body to turn around easily.

The stone piles that block the upper and lower reaches of the river also seem to have played a role in binding the dragon.

The rows and rows of stones were like the bars of a prison.

Perhaps, under normal circumstances, a cautious lakeshore dragon would have noticed the trap and turned back.

However, the scent of the prey slipping away in front of his eyes and the blood of the aquatic horses scattered around him, it seems that his monstrous instincts were irresistible.

As he looked at the caged monsters, Horak recalled vividly how he had once told the young man of the purple-eyed tribe that lake dragons had the habit of sniffing out even the slightest scent of blood and attacking from a distance.

"But what are you going to do now that you've blocked their movements?"

"Ah, ah, a half-hearted attack won't work against the dragon's scales."

The young men who had rowed the rafts were still lying in a heap on the riverbank, their chests bouncing loudly.

Two others remain, a red-haired girl with a cane and a beautiful silver-haired woman.

The only others left are a dark-haired girl and a young child who had not touched the oar.

The other two are a girl of the Soukei tribe, handing something that looks like a conch to men breathing hard.

One of the young men, who had drunk the contents, stood up vigorously.

It seems to be a medicine to restore his strength.

Beside him, a red-haired girl with a stick outstretched suddenly utters a few words.

A fireball appeared in midair and flew toward the rampaging dragon.

When it hit the scales, it disappeared with a lovely sizzling sound.

After all these unbelievable events, Horak and the others looked at each other and let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Well, she seems to be normal."

"I wouldn't have had a heartbeat if I'd been any more excited."

The most common type of magic technique that specializes in attack is fire magic, but unfortunately, there is a certain compatibility.

The effect is not only halved but reduced to less than 10% in the case of a lake dragon whose body surface contains a lot of water.

Moreover, since it is surprisingly bouncy, it is resistant to blows and cannot be broken through so easily.

As I watched, a child with curly blonde hair came forward, pushing the red-haired girl out of the way.

Wearing a small crown, she looks like a prince or princess.

The child raises her hand and shakes it down with great energy.

A small purple current is generated from his fingertips, arcing toward the dragon.

When it hits the scales, it disappears with a soft snap.

The two spectators give each other another small smile.

Then, they turn around, startled by the sound of laughter coming from behind them.

There they were, the adventurers who had supposedly fled in a cloud of smoke.

They had joined the spectacle without realizing it.

The adventurers suddenly started cheering in unison.

Horak and the others hurriedly return their gaze to the riverbank.

In their line of sight, they saw a beautiful ash-eared woman coming out from behind a girl and a child.

She gracefully lifts her slender staff and utters a short prayer.

The next moment, the surface of the river is enveloped in a white mist.

At the same time, a freezing cold air blows down on Hollak and the others who have been watching from afar.

In the freezing fog, the monster's struggling figure is reflected in the shadows.

When the fog dissipated, all that was left was the image of a dragon, its scales frozen to a crisp.

"I see ......, I guess ice-based magic techniques are a perfect match."

"That's probably the middle branch of the magic technique, . But I've never seen a fog of that magnitude before.

"You know everything ....... Oh, come on!

Just when he thought the fog had lifted, Horak let out a cry of surprise when he saw the beautiful woman lift her wand again.

A mid-branch skill should consume a lot of magic power.

However, the ice master nonchalantly released a new mist with ease.

And three in a row.

The river was completely covered in ice, and even Horak and the other adventurers stopped moving as if frozen.

Next to the beautiful woman who showed off her tremendous magical skills, two men leaped forward.

The two men looked somewhat similar, but they carried different weapons.

The boy with long black hair was holding a bow, and the young man with straight golden hair was holding an unusual conical spear.

After nodding to each other, they attacked the monster that had turned into a statue of ice.

Arrow after arrow pierced the sky, piercing the dragon's eyes one after another without mercy.

Immediately the membrane covering the eyeball was pierced, and bodily fluids gushed out from inside.

The adventurers commented to each other on how well they had hit the dragon's eye.

However, these carefree onlookers were instantly rendered speechless by the next martial arts attack.

A young man slowly holds up a spear covered in purple lightning.

A middle-aged man stands behind him.

Flexibly twisting his body, the young man holds up a conical spear.

As if to encourage him, the man puts his hand on the butt of the spear.

The next moment, the purple lightning was on the other side of the monster.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

After a pause, red blood poured out from the gaping hole in the dragon's face at once.

The conical spear drew a parabolic line and pierced the riverbank on the other side of the river.

One of the shieldmen immediately approached and retrieved it.

"What is it?"

"You see that?"

The spear must have shot out of the young man's hand.

However, Horak and the others had completely lost track of its trajectory.

In front of the stunned onlookers, the purple-eyed youth picked up a new conical spear.

Once again, the mysterious middle-aged man comes close to him.

Again, at the moment of throwing, the spear disappears.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. ......"

Spears were fired in rapid succession, each one destroying the dragon's head.

The scales, which boasted of their invincible defense, were frozen, and there seemed to be nothing they could do in the face of the tremendous spears, which left no trajectory.

Still, the dragon has the strength to live up to its name.

The head, pierced by numerous arrows and pierced by spears, was slowly closing up.

The ice covering his body is gradually melting, and his body is beginning to stir.

While Horak and the others watched with bated breath, a beautiful woman with silver hair stepped forward once again.

"Do you still have some magic left in you?"

You've reached your limit. What are you going to do?

What reached the ears of these two worried people was the sound of a cheerful prayer.

"Moonlight, bind--."

The next moment, a hole appeared in the space directly above the monster, a perfect circle that looked like it had been cut out.

A dazzling silver shine overflows from within.

The two of them looked up at the sky, embracing each other involuntarily at the never-before-seen phenomenon.

The piercing silver light covered the dragon's entire body, freezing every single one of its scales.

"This can't be the Kamieda magic technique!

"There is still such magic power ......."

Unlike the previous , this time the lake dragon seems to have been completely frozen to its core.

A mysterious middle-aged man pats the shoulder of a beautiful woman smiling with satisfaction.

The ice man turns around and nods back, lifting his staff again.

Then, in a soft voice, he spins a different prayer from the previous one.

"Freeze all things!

Horak and the others knew that it was also an upper branch magic technique.

And that more magical power than they had ever imagined had been poured into it.

Forgetting even to breathe, the onlookers watched the proceedings.

A few seconds, maybe tens of seconds passed.

The ice spell is broken, and the lake dragon slowly begins to move.

The only thing that remains is the surface of the river, which is filled with reddish-black water.

The monster silently lays its head on the surface of the river, splashing ice fragments and water splashes.

At the same time, the groaning Horak and the others let out a cry of unbearable joy.

All the while, they had no idea what was going on, but they knew one thing for sure.

The Lord of the Lake, who had seemed untouchable, had been vanquished within a day of the heroes' arrival.

It was a series of scenes so unbelievable that it didn't matter anymore.

The Horacs continue to scream with joy from the bottom of their hearts as they look at the huge monster that has been completely choked to death.

Horak, who had been clapping his hands and jumping up and down in excitement for a while, suddenly came to himself and twisted his head.

"...... So, who was the hero who fixed the city after all?"