Chapter 77

Edited: Shiro

“Let’s go Bluerin!!”

“Guruaa!!”

Bluerin and I both challenged the Wicked Dragon .

The dragon wondered at us, then raised its head and snarled at us, wanting to crush us . We split up and moved to the side of the dragon, and from the corner of my eyes, I saw Amako muttering something .

“I’m counting on you, Ark-san…… . ”

[Attract the Wicked Dragon . ]

The first words that Ark-san spoke after he woke up .

Bluerin and I will disturb the dragon to buy some time . It’ll be quite difficult to attract the attention of the dragon all by myself, but I should be able to do it if we’re together .

“You don’t have to force yourself to attack!”

“Guo!”

Bluerin replied with a “Yeah I get it!” growl .

I’m glad to be able to rampage as much as I want, as I happily hopped from left to right to avoid the attacks of the dragon . Occasionally, I’ll use my fist instead to constantly direct the attention of the dragon towards me .

What’s important right now is that we shouldn’t take damage, as the main event isn’t right ‘now’ .

“You annorying grats!!!”

“The larger you are, the easier to dodge!! Bluerin!!”

While shouting at him, I squat down to dodge its right claw . Right after, Bluerin who was at the right side, dealt a fierce bite on the side of the dragon, shaking its huge body greatly . When it tried looking at Bluerin, I hit its arm with my punch, making it turn to me once more .

“Nice one Bluerin!!”

It really is nice to have two people… . . No, in this case, it’s one person and an animal .

Though it’s my second fight with him, the time I’ve spent with him made up the difference . I know him, and he knows me .

No one is more reliable than him .

Whenever the dragon looks at either of us, the one that has lost its attention would attack . Since it has left with only one eye, it could not respond to attacks from blind spots .

“This counts as a sort of combo…… . ”

With this, it is possible to overwhelm the dragon even if it isn’t easy .

Well, I still can’t get into its mouth, which is oozing out miasma, so there’s no decisive shot .

“Don’t think that you can defeat me with such puny tactics!! No matter if it’s you or the hero, I will kill all of you!! You’re so weak!!”

“You sure talk a lot for a Wicked Dragon! Did you increase your vocabulary after sleeping for hundreds of years?”

“~~!!!!”

While lightly speaking to it, I avoided the sludge that it spitted out with a backflip .

If it’s regarding provocation, I can do this all day . After all, my vocabulary for abusive language has increased abnormally since joining the Rescue Squad .

What’s more, this thing is easier to handle because there’s no resistance .

“Your attacks deal no damage to me!! Even the hero could not penetrate my body!! So what makes you think your attacks who are far inferior than that of the hero could do anything to me!!”

“… . . Haah, you sure can talk huh . You afraid to be played around like a fiddle, are you really that scared huh? Huuuh?

“I ain’t afraid of a puny bastard such as you!!”

When I look at this dragon, it reminds me of that snake that I fought back in Lingle forest .

In the end, the one that killed the snake was Rose . If she hadn’t come, I would’ve surely died by then .

That experience made me realize death and found my buddy Bluerin . However, thinking about it right now, I am ashamed of my past .

She had to help me in the end .

But right now, when I’m fighting with Bluerin, it feels that the battle with this dragon is similar to that of the snake . The difference this time is that I have two friends that I can rely on .

Also, it said that the hero couldn’t even penetrate it?

“I am certain that you are strong in your hay day . Even if you are deteriorating now, you’re still strong enough, so I’m sure you have powers that even we can’t imagine right? However———–!!!”

While talking back to it, Bluerin was sliding in front of me, and I used him as a footing to jump and hit the throat of the Wicked Dragon with a flying kick .

The miasma spat out like a fountain, and it was in so much pain that it had its hands on the ground, looking astonished as I landed in front of it .

“Ggrr, Ga…… . ”

“For me who knows the real hero, you’re just a degraded version of a  lizard . ”

If it was her, she would’ve burnt the poison from the inside with her overflowing thunder .

If it was him, he would’ve skillfully manipulated his Divine Light Bullet and captured the dragon .

Because I know the two of them, this dragon which is as worned out as me, seems more and more humorous .

“G-G-Gyou ba~rstaaaarrd!!”

The dragon who has its throat crushed with miasma dripping down thrusts at me . As expected, I’m not durable enough to plunge into the mouth full of sludge and an extremely dense miasma .

If I were to get bitten, I wouldn’t even last ten seconds before the poison kills me .

However———

“You sure about that? Only focusing on me?”

“Guoooooooo———–!!!”

With eyes bleeding, and the only opponent it can look at is me, Bluerin approached from beside and hits its side with its claws .

The impact greatly flew it right past me, and it rolled on the ground and fell .

“I’m not the only opponent here okay . Don’t ignore Bluerin just cause he’s a monster, my buddy is a daredevil who will headbutt anyone for whatever reason . ”

Except for Rose!!

…… . . Even after dealing so much, it had little effect on the dragon . It’s endurance might be abnormal, but above all things, it’s a zombie .

“However, you now have a weakness precisely because you’re a zombie . ”

I muttered to myself so that it can’t hear me .

“Usato!!”

When I was holding my fist again to try to punch the dragon, Amako raised her voice and called my name .

“They’re finally here!! Bluerin, pay attention to that big thing!!”

I asked Bluerin to take care of the dragon, then immediately descend to Amako and Ark-san .

When she called me, she had finished preparing everything, and now it’s my turn . After a short break, I arrived at the two of them, and Ark-san, who was sweating profusely on his forehead, presented—–a Halberd .

“Usato-dono, I’ll leave the rest to you……!”

“Alright!”

The Halberd’s blade has been imbued with Ark-san’s magic, glowed bright red around it .

This is the strategy to defeat the Wicked Dragon, as planned by Ark-san .

It can only be said as a brute force method .

——-Severe the scales of the dragon by slashing it with flames .

Indeed, flames will be effective against zombies . However, it is extremely difficult to burn its skin with fire that is thick . And it’s even worse to severe its body when my full blow punch didn’t even work on it .

Also, Ark-san who can use fire, can’t recover even after healing him with healing magic . It’s not much, but right now he can’t do it .

Thus, in response to his words——-

[Yes, that is why Usato-dono will do it, and not me . ]

Ark-san will put all his magic into the halberd, and create a blade of fire .

Then, I will approach its chest, smash it with brute strength, and crush its heart .

The steel blade has absorbed so much heat that its glowing red . This strategy might be dodgy, but it is worth trying as there’s little to no chance that we can beat the dragon .

“Once it is released from my hands, the blade will quickly lose its heat . If you return the blade to me, I cannot burn it as my magic is almost depleted . So——”

“I only have one chance . ”

“That is right . ”

I looked at the dragon while watching the halberd still wrapped in Ark-san’s magic .

I don’t know if it has noticed or not, but I’m sure it’s turning its attention to Bluerin .

In order to aim at the heart of the dragon, I must hit a blow at top speed directly in front of it . If the power isn’t enough, the scale will not penetrate, and if the fire is damaged along the way, it will become just a regular halberd .

If I hesitate, this operation will fail . Don’t be scared now, me .

“Let’s go!”

“Yess!!”

At the same time as Ark-san releases his hands, I kicked the ground and ran towards the dragon . While checking the blade, which is glowing intensely, I aimed at the chest of the dragon while advancing in a straight line .

“If I continue——-”

If I rush——–While such words come to mind, the dragon who is distracted by Bluerin, turns its eyes to me, and it spill a large amount of sludge, covering its body and surrounding itself with miasma .

“You kidding . ”

I involuntarily stopped and bit my teeth, embracing the miasma .

Right now, it’s okay to use healing magic, however, once I enter the miasma, what awaits me is a ruthless attack from the dragon .

“Damn it, so that’s what you’re doing!!”

It knew what we’re trying to do .

That’s why it didn’t stop Ark-san who is heating the Halberd, and quietly dealt with me and Bluerin .

It was also taking measures against us . It knew we couldn’t defeat it in a normal way, so it’s been playing around without killing us .

“I have no choice but to go……!!!”

I only have one shot at this .

If I stop right now, that chance will be gone .

I attempted to jump into the miasma with the intention of getting hit——-However, something small suddenly came from behind me .

“Amako??”

Amako who flew to me vigorously cling onto my neck and waist .

She was shouting something, and I was confused as to what she was trying to say .

“I will be Usato’s eyes… . !! Continue running!!”

“……Tsk, alright hold tight then!!”

Recognizing her intentions, I deployed healing magic to wrap the both of us, and proceeded to jump into the miasma .

Going straight through an unclear field of view, I could not see anything in front, not even my feet .

I’m now not afraid of the attacks . After all, there’s a girl behind me with the strongest eyes!

“Squat!”

I bent down, and something huge passed over my head .

“Jump backwards, then go round to the left!”

At the same time as I back step, I made a large detour to the left and cut through the miasma .

I did not overlook a single word of Amako, and responded to the action .

…… . This is really the strongest combo .

Even when thinking about these useless thoughts, I was a little moved .

“Go out of the miasma!! It’s right in front!!”

“Alright!!”

I held the halberd with both hands and rushed forward .

Then, after escaping the miasma, the figure of the Wicked Dragon that is lighted up by the moonlight waved its huge tail .

When my legs were about to put on the brakes, Amako squeezed my head, implying to me that I don’t have to worry .

“It’s okay, he’s here . ”

At the same time, Bluerin jumps out from the side and uses his entire body to prevent the tail from blowing towards us .

A sudden flashback of Bluerin being hit by the snake on that day appeared on my head as I involuntarily nodded at him .

That’s right, we have Bluerin .

It is not just a combo with Amako, but Ark-san and Bluerin as well .

That’s why, it is [everyone]’s power that defeats this shitty dragon!!

“Uoooooooooooooo!!!”

“?!”

Raising my voice, I ran straight towards the dragon .

The dragon tried swinging its big arms in a hurry with a terrified expression, as if it didn’t think we’ll come over . Unfortunately, we were quicker .

I approached three meters before it, swung the halberd, which was held to the right, with all my power .

“Nuuuuun!!!!!”

The moment it collides with the scales, the glowing blade scorches its skin .

It’s effective!!! I continued pushing the halberd, leaving it to momentum to pierce through .

Then, I could hear the sound of something breaking . The sound of the blade broke from the point of the handle, and it flew away .

“———”

I gazed at the scale that shook off the blade .

It was only a couple of seconds, but it felt like a really long time .

It’s no good…However, as I was about to give up, the scale of the dragon suddenly ignites, and at the same time, a horizontal slash is cut into the chest of the dragon .

“———–Wow!!”

Pure white ash overflowed like smoke from the wounds of the chest .

While listening to the dragon crying in agony, I saw an object that was emitting an unusual shine behind the ashes .

“Is that it’s heart??”

The heart makes a slow beat while buried in ashes .

No wait, can we even call it a heart, when it’s separated from the body? Since there’s no other internal organs inside, it seems as if this part is forcibly kept alive .

Also, there’s another weird thing .

It was a sword that was stuck into the heart that’s still moving, even when it’s cut off .

A silver blade, with a golden guard, and a pitch black handle——-A blade that was familiar to me back in Japan, was stuck into the heart of the dragon .

“Why, a sword…… . ”

“Uu, Uoo————-!!”

“Usato!! What are you waiting for!!”

“… . . Ku . ”

That’s right, this is not the time to be thinking .

After returning back from Amako’s words, I thrust my arm into the wound of the dragon and grabbed the sword that had pierced the heart . The feeling from the sword is nothing but an imitation sword, and I tried pulling it out as much as I could .

Then, the dragon screamed in a frenzy, and immediately stopped moving .

“Ka, Y-You’re gidding, I haven’t even desdroyed anyding, not even gilling anybody……You bastard, am I going to be debeated by a hero again . ”

The body of the dragon that has stopped moving is disappearing into ashes .

It’s as if the wedges that kept it in this world are slowly disappearing .

“I, been used———”

Finally, the entire body turned into ashes .

All that remained was the ashes piling up like mountains . And in front of that mountain of ash, I sat there in relief .

“We were able……to defeat it?”

“You did Usato!”

Amako who got off of my back happily gripped her fist tightly . Looking around, both Bluerin and Ark-san are safe . No one was dead trying to kill this thing .

“W-we did it… . . ”

Looking at the sword in my hand, the feeling that grew inside me wasn’t the joy of defeating the dragon, but suspicion of the predecessor hero .

“What is the first hero thinking, stabbing that thing with this… . . ?”

The sword that was drawn out from the heart of the dragon has a length of about 40cm, and the blade dazzling in silver, with the handle being black .

Is this a wakizashi? …… . . Well not like I care about it, but the worrisome thing is that as soon as I pulled it out, the Wicked Dragon disappeared into ashes, as if being released .

That just doesn’t make any sense .

From what I’ve read from the notebook, the hero was said to have thrown the blade into the heart of the Wicked Dragon, defeating it in the process .

However, given the situation of the dragon and the sword that was pierced, the hero cannot be considered to have just defeated it .

“Either way, the dragon has been killed . ”

“No, it’s different . ”

“Hm?”

Amako strongly denies the words that I muttered unconsciously .

“That, is not someone who has been killed… . That is what I felt . So, it might be correct to say that Usato has released it . ”

“……Hahaha, thanks . ”

Instead of killing him, I let it go .

Delighted with Amako’s words, I stroked her head with a smile . Amako then turns her eyes diagonally downward, shyly muttering something .

However, the loose expression immediately turned serious .

“……Usato . ”

“Aah, I know . ”

Don’t worry, I did not forget .

This isn’t the end .

There’s still one more person, and she’s the main cause of this incident .

“Amake, please guide me to her . ”

I looked up at the half-broken western-style building, and whipped my tired body, forcing it to stand up to do one last job for the day .