CH 94

“I have no idea what is going on……”

The Land Dragon was officially confused.

A little while ago, some new prey popped up in front of him. It had been decades since the last time prey had shown up before him, so he took the natural course of action and tried to swallow it whole. Despite his large figure, he is actually surprisingly fast, so the scene should have gone with him swallowing said prey, him digesting said prey, and then him relaxing for another couple decades until more prey came.

So, why is it that his scales which he always takes such pride in have been plucked from his body, the venomous tail capable of paralyzing a horse after one sting has been cut off, all four of his muscular limbs have been crushed and twisted in weird directions, and the rest of his body has been frozen to the ground like some pickled vegetable? There was a level of disconnect here he was having trouble bridging.

And then in front of him was some small human girl, one he could usually easily swallow by the way, pointing a sharp looking stiletto at his right eye.

“Well then, shall we have a chat?”

The blonde hair of the small girl lifted up along with the breeze as she gave him a particularly evil smile, and rather than curiosity, the Land Dragon suddenly started to feel fear–an emotion he hadn’t experienced in hundreds of years.

This was a story that took place shortly before the five heroines met the Earth Dragon.

To summarize up the information Frau and Katie dug up, it seems like nobody has seen the Land Dragon in a few decades. Also, it had been seen giving orders or yelling at the monsters that normally live in that area although nobody was able to confirm with it what it was doing there or why it attacked people when they passed by.

So Ellis started to think.

Perhaps it might be a subject of purification like that demon executive that spoke to them the first time they had cleared Demon Labyrinth. Or maybe it was sealed there, unable to move because of someone else’s will.

“Do Land Dragon’s like that have intelligence?”

Frau looked like she had suddenly remembered something with Ellis’s question.

“Actually, in myths and legends, dragons are usually told as being far wiser than humans. Although I’ve never met a real one to confirm that.”

Then Katie hopped in with a bit of her own tale.

“One of Marsfield’s advanced labyrinths, the Ice and Snow Dragon Labyrinth has an Ice and Snow Dragon as its final boss that can use human language nya. Although it normally just says things like ‘Die’ or ‘Prepare yourself’ nya.”

Hmm.

“What’s the matter Mistress, are you planning something again?”

Ellis called everyone else around her to explain the answer for Reeve’s question. When she was done, everyone was wearing the same evil look on their faces.

“Around here nya?”

The surroundings looked to be an ordinary hilly area. There was no road that cut a path through, and there were no special chartaristic features that would signal if they were close to the point Katie had told them about. The five girls leaned on their Magical Horses looking around lost before advancing on foot with Katie and Ellis taking the lead.

It amounted to quite the peaceful walk. There was a gentle breeze that passed through the grass, and it would have made the perfect place to relax and sunbathe. But there was work to be done.

“I found it.”

Ellis was the first of them to locate their quarry. And because of the way the ground tilted, the Land Dragon had yet to notice her in turn.

“Who was it that said they were only 5 meters?”

Claire sighed as she looked up and down the dragon. The Land Dragon’s head by itself was at least a meter long with a body of 5 meters down capped off by a 5 meter long tail. In total, it was 11 meters long–twice the size they had been expecting. Looking at it, it was like taking an ordinary lizard, making it huge, and then beefing it out with muscles. Its body was covered in ocher scales, and its lips were pulled back revealing rows of sharp teeth lining both of its jaws. There was also a bulge at the end of its tail with several needle like spikes sprouting out from the end. Ellis was having flashbacks to the first time Frau had showed off her morning star.

“Well, should we stick to the plan?”

Ellis activated the Poison Nullification necklace she was wearing. And thanks to the effect of their Bond bracelets, the effect of the poison immunity was spread out to all of them. After confirming everyone’s readiness, the girls charged forth towards the Land Dragon.

Katie jumped in front of the Land Dragon, and as it tried to swallow her, she tore up its nostrils with the claws from the Brave Ripper. Distracted by the sudden pain, the Land Dragon tried using its large body to crush Katie, but she was able to cleanly dodge it.

Meanwhile before it could even realize what was happening, the Land Dragon’s venomous tail was severed by the combined attacks from Frau’s halberd, Reeve’s katana, and Claire’s {Wind Blade} spell. From there it received multiple hits all over its body.

Without its tail, the Land Dragon completely lost its sense of balance, and it was unable to utilize its agility or even move the way it wanted to.

Katie’s nails tore in and gouged out the Land Dragon’s nostrils once again as it tried to turn around, but it decided to ignore and focus on the other three–using its full body weight to crush them. Unfortunately for reasons it could not understand, its right hind leg suddenly went limp, and his right side collapsed into the dirt.

“Guoowooooooon!!!”

The Land Dragon let out one powerful roar from the back of its throat, but it was too little, too late. The five girls each used their Ice rings to freeze its body in place, completely sealing any freedom the body had left. The dragon suffered its first defeat in hundreds of years.

The strategy of the girls was a simple one.

Katie was to catch the dragon off guard and distract it while the others focused everything they had into cutting off the tail. After that, it was just a matter of good communication to break its limbs wherever it wasn’t looking and seal away the remaining leftover pile of meat.

It was a simple strategy, yet an effective one.

“Well then, shall we have a chat?”

The blonde haired girl spoke up while pointing her stiletto towards the Land Dragon’s right eye. The dragons reply was one delivered directly onto the girls’ consciousnesses.

“I have no idea what’s going on.”

Ah, what a surprisingly frank guy. Ellis nodded her head before continuing on without his consent.

“If you don’t want to die, then answer our questions. There is a one in four chance of you dying when I stab you with this.”

“By any chance, is that stiletto made from Dark Mithril……with the Mad God ability attached to it? Well, my, what kind of seriously stupid thing is that!”

It seems that the Land Dragon was capable of making an appraisal on his own. The rumors about him having high intelligence were true.

“I’m glad you understand. Now then, why are you attacking humans here?”

“It cannot be helped, I am under the will of the Demon Lord. Humans taste disgusting, so I always try to swallow you whole to minimize the taste.”

Ellis had to think about that. Something seemed a little off.

“The Demon Lord did…..when?”

“Let’s see, it would’ve been quite some time ago.”

“Shouldn’t your job be done already?”

Ellis handed the floor over to Claire who started reciting some facts about the previous Demon/God war to the Land Dragon.

“It is said that the previous Demon/God war concluded about 300 years ago. Records say it ended with the Hero having successfully banished away the Demon Lord.”

The Land Dragon stared at the girls for a few minutes before finally saying,

“So, are you possibly telling me, that for the past couple hundred years, I have been working for no reason?”

“Since the main battleground at the time was around Wisdom, I guess the news never made it over to you.”

Claire answered his question as delicately as she could, but as soon as the words left her mouth, the Land Dragon completely collapsed. For the first time as the girls looked down at this dragon with four broken legs, a severed tail, and body frozen to the ground like a pickled vegetable, they started to feel a little pity.

“Hey Mr. Land Dragon, can you live without eating people?”

Just to make sure of things, Reeve asked him the all-important question,

“I am able to live off of latent mana in the air coupled with sunlight. My mouth is completely vestigial.”

and he gave back a favorable response.

But Ellis wanted to make sure.

“For instance, would you be fine if we tied your mouth closed with a ribbon or something?”

“That’s right. I usually only open my mouth if I’m fighting something, I”

The Land Dragon stopped for a moment, interrupting whatever else he was going to say.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I accept my defeat, and well……it hurts, so please end it for me.”

Ellis heard the Land Dragon’s solemn plea, and she promptly ignored it.

“Alright, so you accept your defeat. Then will you become our companion?”

The other four were surprised by this sudden change in plans, but Ellis kept going. Currently, a second Demon/God war was brewing. She already knew who the Demon Lord and Hero were and what they were like, but there was almost no chance that the fighting would subside after the two of them finished. There was no telling how much damage the two sides could bring in the future.

“Come with us, and help choke out the Hero and Demon Lord.”

“Hmm, it sounds interesting. But humans would never accept me, so why would you?”

“You shouldn’t have any problems with. Pi-tan has already become a normal part of everyone’s lives.”

“What’s a Pi-tan?”

“A Metal Eater.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Ellis’s words had the Land Dragon’s mind running in circles. That most hated creature, a Metal Eater, was accepted by humans? And why was it called Pi-tan? It really was boring always moping around here. And the Demon Lord’s curse on me really has disappeared. Would following these girls along really be the correct answer here?

“Alright, I’ll do it. You can bind my mouth with a mark of obedience, and you probably want to cut off the venom glands in my tail right?”

“Good, then the negotiations are complete. Though you don’t have to obey others, at the very least you aren’t allowed to attack any humans.”

From there, Ellis used Full Recovery to completely restore the dragon to his former glory. After which, Reeve took care to cut out only the venom glands in the tail before Claire burned them with magic.

Ellis made the decision to take the Land Dragon and return to Warren with him immediately. They were going to report that the threat to the fishing village was gone, and bringing the real thing home would be the most convincing evidence.

“We’ll also need to bind your mouth, so let’s use this.”

The five girls wrapped the Land Dragon’s mouth up with the ribbons they had on hand before knotting them all together in a neat bow on top. The Land Dragon stood up with five differently colored bows wrapped around him like an under-wrapped present. It was a surreal sight, but he seemed to like the look.

“Then, to mark our approach, get on my back. I will take you home.”

Thus, the five girls rode the Land Dragon back to Warren after a successful mission.

Later, Claire would become jealous of how comfortable riding the Land Dragon was, and Ellis had to scold her for the trouble she caused in trying to develop a new golem to match him. That, however, is another story.