Chapter 403: Ouroboros Participation

I carry the longsword (magiatite-jii) on my back and take Aro and Naiko (nightmare) with me as we ride the steel horses towards the city of Alban. Incidentally, it seems that while he’s transformed into a sword, [God’s Voice] actually classifies magiatite-jii as a weapon. As we ride towards Alban, I hold him up to the sky and seriously observe him.

【[Magic Steel Spirit Sword]: Value A】

【[Attack: +77] [Magic: +24]】

【A sword made unsparingly of the high-value magic metal magiatite. 】

【Magiatite has high magical conductivity, so it has the property of enhancing the wielder’s magic.】

【Magiatite of such high quality is so rare, so using so much of it as a sword is regrettable.】

【In addition, this sword is alive.】

It gives quite a large status enhancement. Normally 77 would feel small, but with my attack halved while I’m humanised, it’s an amount I’m grateful for. I’ll make good use of it, jii-san.

As we don’t have much time, I decided to give the steel horses to a man who was forlornly looking down at the street, seemingly struggling for money. According to the man, steel horses are popular thanks to their power and fast legs, but unless you’re a first-class adventurer, taming one is almost impossible, so their value is incredibly high. In exchange, I asked him, a little insistently, for any information he had on the princess’s party. But other than the time it supposedly starts, none of his information seemed very credible.

Having dropped off the steel horses, we head directly to the castle. While carefully using [Presence Perception], I examine the outside of the castle, and before being spotted myself, I see a soldier…a [Knight Slime], standing guard in a position that can’t be avoided. Seeing the opening, I pelt at full speed towards the knight slime and split it in two from the shoulder on one side to the leg on the opposite side. I don’t know the first thing about wielding a sword, but it seems that a straightforward swing with as much strength as I can behind it is enough to deal with C+ knight slimes.

They might have taken the forms of humans, but thanks to [Status Inspection], I can tell that they’re just slimes.

Before the other knight slimes that notice the commotion can close in on us, we use the nightmare’s thread to quickly scale the wall. A flash from Aro’s strengthened arm is then enough for us to break into the attic.

After that, I rely on the rough floor plan that Lilixira had taught me before to head for the hall where the party is meant to be happening. Everything has been going to plan so far was going to plan, but it seems that the slimes have some sort of troublesome skill to sense us, as we’re soon pursued by a crowd of knight slimes. Aro’s [Clay] is able to seal off the passage, and we manage to give them the slip. 

Finally, we arrive above the objective hall. We’ve arrived just before the time of the princess’s party is meant to start. It’s the perfect time. Had we arrived too early, information about an intruder would have spread too early.

Now… While they’re still in a state of confusion, we’ll cooperate with the adventurers and defeat the Demon Lord. I didn’t want to involve humans as much as possible, but this is the best option. The Demon Lord will show up in front of the adventurers to snatch their experience without fail. That timing presents an opportunity to hit the Demon Lord with a first strike.

I absolutely can't afford to lose this fight. Monsters that can not only pretend to be humans, but can easily replace people of power are far too dangerous. If I fail here and the Demon Lord survives, the world will eventually fall into their hands for sure.

By all rights, the correct course of action would have been to consult with Lilixira about their strength and look for another opportunity when we’ll have a higher chance of victory. And yet, nevertheless, here I am now. Since I’ve partially deceived Lilixira, I can’t afford to lose here.

I don’t know exactly who the enemy is. Is it the ghost of the slime I defeated before, or else some sort of offshoot of it…? But no matter what shows up, there won’t be any reason to flee.

Having shut my eyes to think for a few seconds, I open them and look back at Aro and the nightmare with a faint smile in an attempt to dissipate some of the tension that's built up.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Behind me, Aro has a slightly bewildered expression.

“Dragon-god-sama… From over there, I hear some sounds and shouting…”

“Huh…?”

If I listen closely, I can indeed hear the sound of Volk shouting and a part of the building being destroyed. The battle has already begun. I’m too late.

“N-no way!? Wh-why? Why is it so early…?!”

I fluster. U-umm, what do I do now? What does this mean? Eh, isn’t this really bad? Has the Demon Lord already arrived? I-Is Miria safe?

The nightmare sighs, and stands in front of me. She lifts the edge of her mask, revealing her small lips.

“Ua, ua, uo…”

After apparently practising vocalising, she looks at me again.

“Calm down.”

The shock calms down my jumbled thoughts. N-nightmare, you, when did you learn [Grisha Language]…!

“She said she wanted to be able speak with you, dragon-god-sama.”

Aro says, a little proudly. It seems the one who’s been teaching her is Aro.

Nightmare, you… It’s not at all clear from how you usually behave, but you think about me that way…! As I think that, as though reading my thoughts, the nightmare directs a burst murderous impulse towards me. It seems it wasn’t for me, but for my other half. No, I knew that, but…

But anyway, thanks to the nightmare, I’ve regained my composure a bit.

“Thank you, nightmare.”

As I reach out a hand to stroke her head, she stoops down to dodge me. Th-this girl…! Setting that aside, I rush towards the sound of an explosion. It seems the information about the location of the party was slightly off. Using [Presence Perception] to the utmost, I investigate the situation below.

Suddenly, the sound of a huge explosion roars directly below us. From the sound alone, it's clear that it's from a technique with incredible power. There's no time to investigate the situation.

I cancel my [Humanisation Technique]. My body swells up. To my side, my partner’s neck grows out.

The nightmare quickly extends a thread to me, picks up Aro, and moves to my back.

I meet my partner’s eyes and nod.

I stomp down onto the floor as hard as I can. The floor shatters apart with a thunderous roar. I fall into the hall.

I look around. The bodies of fallen adventurers, as well as humanoid green slimes that wearing armour that have stopped pretending to be humans, are scattered throughout the hall. At my feet Volk is kneeling, covered in wounds.

“A dragon!?”

“It’s the Saint’s bound beast! She’s sent it in here!”

“It doesn’t matter! Anyway, kill Volk while we can! If he gets back up, it’ll be bad!”

The knight slimes surround me. I sweep them knight slimes away with my tail. Suddenly flicked away, the knight slimes slam into the wall. It seems they'res just barely still alive. Was I wrong to hold back because I didn’t have a full grasp on my surroundings? They're rather tough considering that wasn't enough to kill them.

After looking around, I flap my wings to shoot out [Wind Slashes] towards the knight slimes. Six blades of wind attack six different knight slimes. One of is hit directly, and is cut two together with its armour.

【490 experience points have been acquired.】

【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 490 experience points have been acquired.】 

As the blades of wind touch the ground, they create a windstorm that ruptures the bodies of knight slimes. The knight slimes that were able to avoid being hit directly are unable to endure the secondary effect.

【510 experience points have been acquired.】

【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 510 experience points have been acquired.】

【The level of [Ouroboros] has risen from 102 to 103.】

【530 experience points have been acquired.】

【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 530 experience points have been acquired.】

Great, the underlings are only at the level of being a minor nuisance. The problem is the Three Knights…

“Kill Volk now!” “But how can we get close to that dragon…?”

“Kill him from range! He’s weakened, just one more push…!”

My partner suddenly brings her head next to Volk and wraps him up with her tongue, taking him inside her mouth. I think for a moment she's about to eat him, but apparently it was to protect him from the attacks.

“S-somehow, finish him off!”

“That’s impossible!”