CH 174

I explain my strategy to Ichinose-san when she comes out of the “Shadow”.



As always, her cooperation would be indispensable.



“…Are you serious?”



“Of course.”



After hearing my plan, Ichinose-san’s eyes widen in surprise.



President Igarashi, who was listening besides us, also expresses her shock.



“Just like before, whether this operation succeeds or not hinges upon Ichinose-san’s shooting skill. Can I entrust you with this?”



“I-I’ll try my best to make it work.”



Ichinose-san nods.



Next to her, Aka undoes its mimicry and trembles as if to say, “I’ll also do my best!”



“What can I say, that’s one crazy plan you got there…”



“I’ll take that as a compliment.”



“I’m not being sarcastic at all. I’m honestly surprised…Is there anything that I can do to help?”



President Igarashi puts her hand on her chest and claims that she’s willing to do anything.



Anything, huh…



“There’s one, no, two tasks which I want you to perform.”



“What are they?”



“First, can you ‘Appraise’ that Dragon?”



I doubt that it’ll work, but there’s no harm in trying.



President Igarashi agrees to do so and observes the Dragon through her binoculars.



Then—



“—It worked.”



“…! Really?”



To be honest, I didn’t expect it to succeed.



It seems like Ichinose-san is also bewildered.



“I can’t see everything—but I can tell what status and skills it has. Unlike Kudou-san and Peony, the Dragon doesn’t have the ‘Appraisal Interruption’ skill. While some of the information is covered up…”



President Igarashi tells us about the Dragon’s status and skills.



*****



Blue Dragon



LV 38



HP: 1400/5200



MP: 550/2300



Strength: 1200



Endurance: 800



Agility: 2500



Dexterity: 1200



Magic: 2200



Magic Resistance: 1100



SP: 176



Unique Skills



■■■■



Skill



Claw Attack, Breath Attack, Dragon’s Scale, Extreme Flight Speed, Enemy Detection, Coercion, Roar, Berserk, Enhanced Breath Attack, Super Enhanced Breath Attack, Enhanced Claw Attack, Enhanced Dragon’s Scale, Enhanced Flight Speed, Crisis Detection, Telepathy, Reduced MP Consumption, Attention Cutoff, Increased Range, Thought Resonation[1]



*****



That’s the Dragon’s status.



It’s amazing how ridiculous its skills and status are.



All of its stats are well beyond mine.



The levels of its skills are unknown, but it’s more than enough.



“Appraisal” is so good. Give me “Appraisal”.



On a separate note, this might actually work.



The Dragon has the skill I that I was looking for.



“Momo.”



“Wan!”



Momo bobs her head.



Leave it to me!



“What’s the second request?”



“Oh, that’s—”



I explain to her about my other request.



Her smile stiffens when she hears about it in details.



“…You want me to do what?”



“You can do it, right?”



“O-of course. I’ll do it. I’ll do it!”



When I make the gesture of snapping my fingers, President Igarashi agrees instantly while rubbing the regions around her stomach.



What an outstanding effect it had.



“….Kudou-san, you act like a purebred devil when you deal with her.”



“…That’s not true…I think…”



While I’m being on the receiving end of Ichinose-san’s dubious gaze, we position ourselves for the operation.



With this, the operation officially commences.



*****



“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”



The Dragon roared, its body already tattered.



Unable to approach Peony because of it pollens, the Dragon was attacking with its breath attacks from a distance.



Alas, the Dragon was too far away, and its attacks were always intercepted by numerous vines before they could harm Peony.



“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!”



Peony’s attacks weren’t all that special, either.



It simply fired endless waves of leaves upon the Dragon.



The Dragon had been burning them to crisps before they could hit, but some of them were beginning to reach the Dragon.



—The Dragon’s stamina was approaching its limit.



It could only unleash a finite number of breaths, and the more it did, the weaker they became and the shorter they ranged.



On the other hand, Peony had regenerative abilities, so no matter how many times it attacked, its power never decreased.



As such, as they exchanged more and more blows, it was apparent which side had the upper hand.



“GUAAA?”



The Dragon could not completely block Peony’s attacks. Hence, its body was slowly accumulating damage.



The more damage it accumulated, the slower its reaction speed became, and the slower its reaction speed became, the more its movements were affected.



It was a vicious cycle.



The Dragon was at the mercy of Peony’s tactics.



“GU…AA…”



Its body was riddled with wounds.



Their battle was entering the endgame.



Peony’s vines eventually managed to arrive below the Dragon’s legs.



“!?”



Exhausted, the Dragon did not notice this for a few moments.



Facing Peony, this proved to be fatal.



Shurururururururu!



The vines coiled around the Dragon’s leg before it could blink its eyes, forcing the Dragon to an abrupt stop in the middle of the sky.



The Dragon’s immediate instinct was to burn down the vines, but it was all too late.



The Dragon was pulled down from the sky by the vines and smashed to the ground.



“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”



The Dragon howled miserably.



As the ruler of the sky, it was humiliating to be dragged down.



After ripping the vines to shreds with its claws, it attempted to take off from the spot.



Regrettably, Peony had already deployed enough leaves, branches, and vines to fill up the entirety of the Dragon’s field of view.



Quite literally, Peony the plant had constructed a “cage”.



—Don’t think of escaping.



That was its message.



With how tattered its body was, it was uncertain whether or not the Dragon could unleash another breath.



Regardless, it knew that it wouldn’t be able to prevent Peony’s next attack.



“Gua…”



The Dragon understood what fate awaited it.



It was destined to perish here.



Nevertheless, its eyes weren’t dead yet. It hadn’t given up.



“Gurururu…”



It poured all its remaining mana into its mouth.



………don’t give up. I can’t give up here.



This guy had slain my significant other. Defeat isn’t an option.



Now come! I’ll engrave the wrath of a Dragon onto your body!



“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”



Along with its roar, the Dragon readied itself for one last breath attack.



It was at that moment.



There were countless branches in front of the Dragon—and one of them had suddenly snapped.



It was only one; however, it was clear that someone had attacked.



—A red bullet?



Using its amazing eyesight, the Dragon had seen through the identity of the projectile.



A red bullet had pierced through the branch that had fallen down.



It awfully resembled the bullet which hit its right eye just the day before.



Is that human behind this?



The Dragon did not understand what was happening, and its confusion only grew from then on.



The red bullet gradually transformed into a small slime.



“!?”



Furthermore, when the slime shivered, it began to multiply explosively.



Influenced by the universal law of gravity, the slimes fell down onto the Dragon.



They blocked the sunlight and created a small shadow on the forehead of the Dragon.



“Wan!”



“!?”



Then, a dog appeared in front of its eyes.



What the—a puppy? Where did it come from?



“Oioi, you’re completely battered…Oh well, this makes it easier for me to carry you away.”



The Dragon heard a human’s voice. It sounded somewhat familiar to its ears.



It’s the voice of that human who provoked me yesterday.



“Yo, I guess we haven’t seen each other since yesterday, Dragon.”



The human had also appeared out of nowhere.



“Gua…?”



The Dragon was even more confused.



From its perspective, Kazuto was a creepy human who could appear and disappear as he wishes. What more, he kept reviving yesterday nonstop even after it killed him.



—This is the worst.



The Dragon lamented its rotten luck.



Perhaps this human had noticed its fight with the Treant and had come over to fish in troubled water.



They’re as crafty as always.



It was the same back in its original continent.



Although humans were weak and powerless, they were annoyingly clever.



What should I do? What can I do?



The Dragon couldn’t think of a way to overcome this problem.



“Don’t worry. We have ourselves a few seconds to spare.”



“?”



What is this human saying?



And why isn’t that tree continuing its attacks?



Why isn’t the ‘cage’ closing in?



The Dragon was extremely confused, but it noticed that the dog in front of it was staring intently at it.



“Wan!”



“Gururu..?”



What?



Aren’t you that human’s companion?



Should I bite it?



It glared at the dog with undisguised hostility.



Surprisingly, far from looking away, the dog didn’t even cower in fear.



The Dragon was rather impressed that the dog had the courage to stand in front its presence without trembling.



Then,



>



“………………………………………………….Gua?”



The Dragon was utterly confused by the voice which resounded inside its head.