Chapter 118

TL Note: I’ve changed system strengthening to system enhancer . I find it more fitting with how it enhances their power .

The dragon sleeping in Karon is running wild .

His body wouldn’t be able to stand the power of a pure dragon and will eventually collapse . However, even in such a state, his fighting spirit is still present .

“Is there still a way to help Karon, Falga-sama?”

―― …… In his current state, the power of the dragon should be suppressed if we knock him unconscious . He is now a dragon, albeit imperfect, but at the same time his body is fragile . You would still be able to fight with him with your fist, but his power has greatly increased .

It might be dangerous if I get a single blow from him?

Furthermore, he is in a weakened state… . .

I should use my healing punch to cancel the damage and let only the impact pass, but if his body collapses before we know it——–

“… so I have to use the system enhancer . ”

I have to rely on an unfinished technique .

Even with the assistant of the gauntlet operating my magic, the system enhancer couldn’t be completed . I didn’t think I would use it so soon during the fight … If I knew I had to use it at such a crucial moment, I would’ve practiced more .

“No use crying over spilled milk . Let’s do what we can for now . ”

I stared at my palm and clasped my fist and made direct eye contact to Karon .

He who has undergone a more dragonic like transformation has let out a growl that did not seem sound human-like at all .

“Char …”

“……Hmm?”

Karon’s wings slowly start to move .

…… No way, is he trying to fly? No, even though his wings have grown, can he fly immediately?

Either way, I can’t let him do that!

When I saw Karon flapped his wings and put his strength on his legs, I raised my voice .

“Oh no you don’t!”

If he could fly in the sky, nobody other than Neah can deal with him as she can’t carry me with that transformation of hers .

“I’ll hold him to the ground!!”

Leona-san created three ice daggers and shot them at Karon’s feet . When the released dagger hit his right leg directly, it expanded into lumps of ice and sewed his foot to the ground .

Leona-san screamed at me and Ark-san .

“He can’t use his axe right now! So deal with him at this moment!”

“Okay!”

“Leave it to me …!”

Ark-san heads for Karon with a sword in flames and I clenched my fist as tight as possible .

The method is the same as before!

Reap his consciousness! I will heal all the injuries in the process!

“Hold on Neah!”

“It’s not like I can say no! Might as well just do it !!”

Considering Karon’s body, I use a healing punch to hit him .

However, with my fist and Ark’s sword hitting Karon directly — at that moment, the ice that was restraining his body shattered all at once .

“Wha– !?”

It was destroyed so easily !?

Freed from the shackles of ice, he swung his wings sharp like a blade . I hurriedly raised my right arm to defend against his razor-sharp, hard wings .

The two clashing sounds felt like two metals hitting each other .

One is the sound of my gauntlet, and the other is the sound from Ark-san blocking the wing with his sword .

“Ku, this is a little …!”

“Ark-san!”

However, Ark-san’s sword could not withstand the hardness of the wings and was broken from the middle .

Karon is aiming for Ark-san instead of me!

He tightened his fist and aimed at Ark-san .

“Gaaaaah!”

“As if I’ll let you!”

I stopped him by using a healing magic restraint bullet from behind .

However, Karon slammed his fist on Ark-san without taking my healing magic restraint bullet .

“Gua …!?”

“Ark-san !?”

The fist that I could barely catch with my eyes smashed the handle of the sword and smashed his torso .

Ark-san was struck by the ice ground and fainted .

I want to hurry to help, but …

“You won’t let me do that right …!”

Karon growls in front of me . Perhaps he changed his target from Ark-san to me, he glared at me terrifyingly .

I’m worried for Ark-san … But I can’t show any weakness against Karon!

“Gah!”

“I’ll deal with you the same way!!”

The movement is the same even with his speed and power increased .

I dodged Karon’s fist diagonally .

When I tried to hit him from his gap, something sharp jumped out from behind him .

It is the blue wings that grow on Karon’s back . In a hurry, I withdrew my fist and stepped backwards .

“Usato! That wing is also dangerous !?”

“I know, but!”

There’s just too many attacks …!

I can still barely deal with his attacks, but adding another attack from his wing is a little too much .

Without being able to turn to the offensive against Karon’s onslaught which was constantly unleashed, I have to steadily retreat .

“Jyaa!”

“Gu …”

His hand pushed up from below and slammed my right arm upwards .

Karon’s sharp wings approached my defenseless torso as I was blocking with my right arm .

“Shi—–“

I can’t make it in time with the gauntlet, there is no choice but to receive it!

Leona-san’s two ice swords flipped Karon’s wings from the side as she tried to catch the wings with her left arm, and I barely avoided a fatal injury .

“I’m here to help!”

“Thanks!”

While the wings were being flipped, I took Karon’s arm and threw it to the ground, and I took a distance with Leona-san .

There is a danger of him flying, but it’s better than getting caught by his attack like before .

Let’s calm down and adjust once more .

“That wing is awkward and it’s hard to defend against itt . ”

“It’s terrible to deal with it . And I can’t follow his current attacks . This is different from predicting where he’s going to hit … It’s not something we can do many times . ”

‥ …… Karon has become a really troublesome person now .

Not to mention his power, his movement has increased dramatically .

He has surpassed the weakened wicked dragon’s power, and has probably surpassed its agility .

“To be honest, I can’t respond head-on to Karon’s attack . My armour is like scrap paper in comparison to his attacks . “

With that said, she showed me her sword and the blade had a crack .

Is it about to break?

Ark-san’s sword is meaningless to Karon now .

“But your gauntlet can fight Karon without being destroyed . ”

“… Yes”

My gauntlet did not break even after getting hit by his previous attack .

It’s a desperate situation, but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue .

However, it is difficult for me and Leona-san to go on the offensive against his onslaught . The restraint of ice is meaningless in front of him now, and Karon’s defense is too much work to deal with .

‥ …… I’m worried if I can handle Karon’s power, so should I try that?

“… Usato, Karon is about to attack . ”

“Leona-san, can you deal with his wings?”

“It’s not impossible, do you have a plan?”

Nodding to Leona-san’s words, I turned my gaze to Neah .

“Neah, apply resistance to blow to me . ”

“Eh, are you kidding me? Are you seriously trying to take that hit head on? No matter how resistant my magic is, there’s a limit—-“

“I’m begging you . ”

“… Aaaah whatever, I don’t care anymore at this point!!”

The magic of resistance to “cold air” that was applied to me was canceled, and the magic of resistance to “blow” was newly applied .

The moment the resistance to cold air disappeared, the chilly air surrounded me .

Leona-san, who understood what I was trying to do, threw her near broken sword and created one ice sword in her hands .

“I’m telling you right now, I can’t prevent Karon’s attack many times! Even if I endure it, I can only take a few shots!”

“That’s more than enough! Leona-san, I’m going!”

“Okay!”

I jumped out first .

Slightly later, I heard the sound of Leona-san stepping out and concentrated on Karon in front of me .

He was leaning forward trying to thrust me, but he was struck by my assault, but I quickly picked up and threw his tightly clenched fist casually .

I used to avoid his attacks, but now it’s different .

I didn’t hesitate to catch Karon’s fist with my left hand .

“!?”

“I’ve caught you!”

Now that resistance to blows has been granted, Karon’s fist does not work on me .

Karon attacks me with a fist, but the blow is prevented by resistant magic .

The wings attacking from Karon’s back are also blocked by the ice sword created by Leona .

The resistance spell will only work for a few shots, and Leona-san’s ice sword won’t hold for long, so it’s now or never!

“Oraaa!”

Pulling the fist he grabbed as much as I could, I thrust a healing punch at his solar plexus .

“Gee !?”

The fist pierced deeply into his skin, and the light of healing magic spread throughout his body .

I felt a certain response, but at the next moment, I could feel the feeling of glass shattering from my fist . It was an uncomfortable and strange feeling, so I pulled my fist back .

At the same time, Karon was in agony and moaned .

“Gyaaaaaaaah!”

“Even this isn’t good !?”

If I go any harder, it would be too dangerous even with healing magic .

However, it’s impossible to stun him with a fist of this level .

“!? Usato!”

When I hesitated in front of him, I heard Leona-san’s panicked voice behind me .

Looking back to her, something touched my right leg .

“What !?”

Looking at my feet, Karon’s tail was tightly wrapped around my feet with tremendous force .

Cold sweat all over his body, he bare his teeth and held down his solar plexus . His eyes were bleeding and he was clearly angry at me .

“Neah, stay away from me!”

“Kya! U-Usato !?”

“GiGuaaaa !!”

At the next moment when I threw Neah away from me, Karon’s tail entwined in my leg became like a whip, swinging my body like a toy, and slammed me on the ice ground .

The unexpected attack made it impossible for me to breathe for a moment .

“Ughhh, Ahhh …”

“Usato! I’ll help–“

“Gaaaah!”

Leona-san tries to help me, but Karon expects that and swings his tail towards her .

With that sudden blow, she was silently slammed into the icy ground like Ark-san and lost consciousness .

“Even Leona-san …!”

Because I hesitated, she was knocked unconscious by Karon!

…… Tsk! No use regretting now! I have to do something!

“Gaaah!”

When I tried to get up, Karon jumped and spread his big wings and fell toward me .

Not giving me time to rest, he slammed into a continuous attack .

“Chi! You sure are thorough !!”

Is he going to crush me?

With my arms facing up, I protect my face and chest .

My body squeaked from the shock, however I still endured it——-but when I heard an unpleasant sound from the ice on my back, my thoughts panicked again .

“This is not looking good !?”

At this rate, I’ll fall upside down under the ice!

If I can’t move after getting into cold air, I’m afraid what he’ll do to Leona-san and Ark-san .

“Gaaah !!”

“This is even worse !! Hmmph !!”

When I saw Karon trying to swing his hand down to me as if stabbing me, I slammed my right elbow against the cracked ground as much as I could, and in reaction, Karon avoids it .

Karon’s hand was slammed against the ice ground instead of me .

Maybe my elbow and Karon’s blow exceeded the limit, the ice ground on my back shattered greatly——we fell head-on into the lake below .

“Huuuu–!”

I took a deep breath and fell into the water vigorously .

The first thing I felt was the coldness from the core of my body and the fear of the lake at the bottomless depth .

The inside of the lake was surprisingly clear and beautiful, but I had to go ashore immediately .

This is not an ordinary lake . It is a lake that exists in a different world, where monsters live .

Among them, even if I was attacked by a monster and dragged in, it would be difficult for me to survive . Besides, I don’t want to be attacked by Karon in the water .

To go ashore as soon as possible, I head toward the surface of the water where the sunlight shines .

“Gabobobo !!”

“– !?”

However, when Karon grabs my foot and pulls it into the water, the water surface moves away .

He’s really persistent!

If you are also suffering, then go to the surface instead of grabbing me !!

I really can’t fight him underwater . But still, he didn’t let go of me, he pulled my leg all the way, and hit my belly with his other hand .

“Gaha …!”

Because it was underwater, the force was slightly diminished, but I still received his attacks head on .

It hurts! Now that the effect of the resistance magic has expired because Neah’s not here, I can’t take such a fist many times!

Feeling a sense of suffocation, I used magic on my ungrabbed right arm and thrust it into his face, activating a healing magic burst palm and temporarily crushing his sight .

“—“

At the moment when his hand loosened, the gauntlet was turned downward and the healing magic burst palm was released again, and used that as propulsion to hurriedly head to the surface of the water .

“… Good!”

I couldn’t hold my breath because of the fist I received on my stomach .

The surface of the water was very close to my eyes and nose, but it seemed endlessly far away .

Is this the end? At that time, when I was about to give up, someone’s hand reached out from the surface of the water where the sun was shining .

A small and delicate hand that is not an adult’s hand ―――,

“…!?”

The air leaking from my mouth was held down by hand, and the other hand grabbed my other hand from the surface of the water .

Then, I was pulled with a force that cannot be imagined from a small arm .

I was pulled up on the ice on the lake, and I thank Amako, who is out of breath while holding my hand with both hands, and Bluerin, who is biting her cloak .

“Haaaah, Haaaaaah … I thought I was about to die . Thank you, Amako . And Bluerin . ”

“I saw the future and immediately asked Falga-sama for me to enter the barrier, but I’m glad I was here in time …”

Did you come to help me after seeing the prediction that I would fall into the lake?

I would really be in danger if this child didn’t come to help .

As I stood up, adjusting my breathing and healing my aching belly, Neah came down to my shoulder .

“I want to complain about how you toss me away but right now … could Karon be defeated?”

“No, not yet–“

Something jumped high in the sky before I told Neah .

Something that appeared with a momentum that I couldn’t believe came out of the water——-Karon opened his big wings in the air and looked down at us .

“…”

“As you can see, not yet . ”

Neah was speechless .

Aside from the cracked body, Karon seems to be still fine .

“Amako, stay away with Bluerin”

“… Are you going to be alright?”

“It’s not like I lost my hands . I just have to do it . ”

Unless the power of the dragon that hurt his body is managed, it cannot be cured by healing magic .

However, the only way to stun him is to hit him with a powerful healing punch, but … then I will break his body and die .

‥ …… Is there no choice but to use system enhancer?

Amako seems to mumble something under her breath, but when she glances at Karon who is about to attack, she nods a little and leaves the place with Bluerin .

Fortunately, Karon is still glaring at me, perhaps because she isn’t interested in Amako .

“… Neah, I’m sorry, but fight with me a little longer . ”

“I can’t hate you for fighting this far . I’ll fight with you until the end … . Don’t think too lightly of me . ”

“Haha, you don’t say?”

I smiled at her casual tease .

Both Ark-san and Leona-san were done in by Karon’s attack .

So I have to deal with him together with Neah .

‥ …… If system enhancer doesn’t succeed――,

“Uuuuu …!”

“He’s coming!”

“Ugh, okay . ”

Karon fluttered his big wings against me who coated healing magic all over my body .

This is practically the final battle .

‥ …… The deciding factor .

“Jyaaaaaaaaa !!”

“Come on!”

Karon attacks from the sky at high speed .

Looking up at him, I swung my gauntlet and screamed to hype myself .