CH 16

I pass through the Guena village, a place where people have to live in a level of civilization a few degrees below that of the capital, because the only resources available to them are minerals, and I reach the volcano.

The sun is shining at its highest point, meaning I took about three hours to get here, just like I thought I would.

Crystal dragons live around volcanoes, and close to the caldera, so most people would never catch a glimpse of one. They live in high places, and are perfectly fine with lava flowing through their feet.

I’m sure all that also plays a part in the fact that only one person has defeated one.

I coat the modified two-wheeled magic vehicle with magic energy, and go up the mountain.

…This steel horse is technically not touching the ground right now, it’s running on the magic energy I’m laying on the ground. That means stuff like lava and rocks won’t be a problem.

I keep going up and through some clouds… And then suddenly my vision opens up. Apparently I’m near the top, and there’s a wide open space in front of me.

The black ground laid out in front of me is actually cold lava, and I see a red river boiling on top of it.

I get closer… And see another mountain going a bit higher, and the red ground on top of it that looks like it’s breathing.

“There it is.”

It’s walking on top of the bright red lava that looks like a personification of earth’s wrath. A silver dragon with a sort of divine air around it.

Someone gave it the name ‘sorcerer killer’.

People in the village down there call it ‘messenger of god’.

And to me, it’s Ririi’s robes and staff.

A crystal dragon, with a difficulty ranking of SSS.

“…Just wait a bit longer, Ririi. Daddy will get you a shining robe that’ll be the envy of everyone that looks at it.”

I make magic energy flow to my entire body, and jump down onto the lava.

◆

Many shining golden magic circles are drawn in the sky.

They are all lined up towards their target, with as much magic energy as can be infused into a single attack, and especially made to accelerate and pierce. Basically, they’re the magic version of adamantite thunder spears.

The magic energy in my hand feels like a drawn bow, just waiting to be released.

…This might be bad. It might be completely pulverized. If I fired this at the walls of the capital, it would probably reach all the way to the ministry of magic. That’s what the feeling in my right hand tells me.

“…But it’s fine. It’s not like there’s only one of these.”

I should be more worried about exploding the volcano, but I did at least adjust the angle to make sure the spears don’t pierce the dragon and then hit the ground. Well, let’s just fire and worry about the rest later.

“…”

There’s no sound, and the lightning fast spears hit the silver dragon.

…But…

“No no no no. That can’t be right, why is it unharmed!?”

I thought for sure that’d be an instant kill… But as soon as it touched the crystal dragon, everything disappeared like it was never even there. Even the impact itself just sort of evaporated.

I don’t know what kind of material that is, but the magic energy I fired should be more than enough to not be able to be absorbed by crystals that size. I mean, it felt to me like it had enough power to pierce through half the capital.

…Does it actually… Really absorb magic energy infinitely?

“…Ugeh.”

From far away, the crystal dragon raises its head and stares at me. Its eyes are completely locked on me.

And Ririi’s staff on its forehead is stretched this way.

“Is this… Bad?”

“Gyaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!”

The silver dragon charges this way faster than you’d think would be possible for a thing that size. It’s still far, but I’m already feeling the earth rumbling and the atmosphere trembling.

An average sorcerer would be frozen with fear already.

The crystal dragon charges in with a simple tackle, probably trying to impale me with that horn.

Crystal dragons have no natural enemies, so it makes sense for it to use such a crude and straightforward attack. Most things would die to it anyway.

Most, not me.

“I wanted to take it down with magic alone if I could, but…”

I have to give that up.

As far as countering magic goes, crystal dragons really are the strongest in the world.

They have to be if even I’m outmatched. That means I have to take it down quickly with ‘something else’.

The crystal dragon’s been charging this way and has closed about half the original gap between us at this point. In a few moments, it’s going to get here and impale me to death. I’m sure that’s what that thing’s thinking.

I pick up a lump of lava near me and make it float with magic energy. It’s about the size of the cake Ririi was eating yesterday, and fits in the palm of my hand. It should be big enough.

My target keeps rushing without a clue. I lay out three acceleration magic circles between us, and fire the lump of lava at the crystals on its back.

There’s an explosive sound, and the crystal dragon staggers a lot. Those crystals that are invincible against magic are crushed by the lump of lava I fired at the speed of sound.

“…Toughness level nine doesn’t really mean it’s hard to break.”

That really just means it’s hard to damage. Well, those crystals should be really hard to break too, but even a lava rock can do it if it’s accelerated to the speed of sound.

The average sorcerer can’t accelerate things that much, so that thing’s just unlucky that I’m the one it came across.

“Guah… Grrr…”

The ‘messenger of god’ staggers, but starts to get up. That attack just hit the crystals on its back, so even if it was a pretty big impact, it didn’t damage its body.

I walk near it, and pick up one of the many crystal pieces on the ground. I infuse it with magic energy, and the dragon doesn’t stop me because it’s having trouble getting up.

“…This is incredible.”

It gives off a faint glow like moonlight, and keeps sucking in my magic energy with no sign of stopping. It’s like I’m firing magic energy into the air.

So I can’t even beat a piece small enough to pick with my fingers, uh? It’s pretty shocking really.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!”

The crystal dragon’s legs twitch as it stands up, but it roars at me. That thing’s probably finally acknowledging me as a real enemy, but it’s too late.

I throw the crystal piece that was absorbing my magic energy into the mouth of the crystal dragon. The crystal makes a dull scraping sound, and the crystal dragon’s face is blown away without leaving a trace.

“…I knew it. It has no resistance on the inside.”

I say to myself while releasing the magic circles. I guess I did defeat it with my magic energy, so it should technically count as me beating it with magic.

It probably won’t though. I kind of feel like I won a battle but lost a war.

“…Ah…”

I look down, and a chill runs down my spine.

The longhorn that was supposed to be Ririi’s staff was shattered into pieces by the explosion. I look for any piece that looks big enough to be used as material, but can’t find any.

“…I guess… I need another one.”

My shoulders feel heavy.

..I’m pretty sure she said the wings are used to make the robes. I stuff the materials in my magic bag, and go back to the magic vehicle with disappointment weighing on my shoulders.

Well… Now I know I can defeat them if I shoot magic in their mouths. It’ll go better next time. If I just pierce through it, I can recover the horn in perfect condition.

…In the end, it takes me four hours to find another crystal dragon, and it’s completely dark by the time I get home.