Akatsuki Translations

This was the third battle with the Pseudo-Dragon. By now, they had a good grasp of its abilities.

Its abilities were flight and breath. It could fly freely in the sky and skillfully use various breaths. Some were like exploding 【fireballs】 upon impact, others caused wide-area burning, and there were also ultra-wide range, high-output roars. It had only one weapon, but its attacks were diverse.

However, the Pseudo-Dragon’s power was currently significantly reduced.

『ＧＹＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡ！！！』

“It must be tough being in such a cramped space. You have my sympathy.” -Ur

The reason was simple. The terrain was disadvantageous.

Despite having the ability to fly freely in the sky, the Pseudo-Dragon’s current location was in the underground waterways of the city. The space was relatively large, but there were limits to the sky, and it was far from free. There were significant restrictions on movement. That alone greatly diminished its power.

Being able to attack unilaterally from a distance beyond the enemy’s reach was an overwhelming advantage. But that was not possible here. Because it was ordered to protect this place.

There was no reason not to take advantage of that opening.

“Rock, focus on evasion. Shizuku, aim for the wings with ice needles.” -Ur

“I don’t know if it will hit.” -Shizuku

“That’s fine. Force it to dodge and make it crash.” -Ur

Ur calmly gave instructions and continued the attack.

The magic fired from the chariot relentlessly aimed at the Pseudo-Dragon flying around the narrow underground space.

『ＧＵＵＵＵＵＵＵＵＯＯＯＯＯＯＯ！！！』

The Pseudo-Dragon roared in irritation. But it couldn’t attack. If it stopped moving and tried to release its breath, the incessant attacks would pierce its body. Even if the damage was small, it would lose balance and crash.

The situation was one-sided. However, the Pseudo-Dragon naturally didn’t take kindly to that situation.

『ＧＡＡＡＡＡＡ！！！』

Making a sharp turn, the Pseudo-Dragon descended. It flew at low altitude, skimming the ground, and charged straight at them.

『HAHAHA!!! How bold!! 』-Rock

“Evade!!” -Ur

『It’s impossible!! I’ll embrace you, Pseudo-Dragoooon! 【BONE CORE TRANSFORMATIOOOONNN】!! 』 -Rock

The shape of the Rock ‘n’ Roll began to change. The bones of Rock, which were arranged around the vehicle’s body like armor, changed shape. They formed two large hands made of bone. If Ur had seen it from the outside, it would have reminded him of the gashadokuro manipulated by a necromancer.

Furthermore, bone spikes extended from the wheels and pierced the ground.

『【Starving Twin Arms!! 】』 -Rock

The giant bone hands and the Pseudo-Dragon’s body collided. The wheels, deeply embedded in the ground, were pushed back while shattering, unable to withstand the impact. The Pseudo-Dragon’s power overwhelmingly surpassed them.

“We have the upper hand in the number of moves!” -Ur

Ur opened the muzzle of the dragonfang spear again, and Shizuku continued chanting the spell. Just because Rock’s movements were sealed didn’t mean all the chariot’s functions had stopped. Being able to focus on attacking while leaving evasion and defense to the chariot was a clear advantage of the chariot.

Of course, the other side also had no shortage of usable weapons.

『ＧＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡ！！！』

Immediately after being pinned down by the bone arms, the Pseudo-Dragon landed on the ground. At the same time, it opened its jaws wide and began to accumulate a strong heat.

The breath was coming. The kind of intense breath that had burned Ur to a crisp in one hit.

『There won’t be a second time!! 』-Rock

“Interrupt the 【Breath】! Shizuku, shield!” -Ur

Rock’s arms continued to hold down the Pseudo-Dragon’s wings so it couldn’t escape. Shizuku abandoned her chanting and began a defensive spell. Ur removed his black headband and concentrated his consciousness on his future-seeing magic eye.

“【【【【Fire-consuming Shield】】】】” -Shizuku

『ＧＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡ！！！！』

Immediately after the triple-layered shield was generated, the Pseudo-Dragon released its high-power breath. The scorching flames instantly shattered the first layer of the glowing shield in front of them, immediately destroyed the second layer, and burned away the third layer in succession. Despite destroying the magic that devoured the heat head-on, the breath still retained its momentum and struck the chariot directly.

“…Hot, hot, hot!!!” -Ur

Even without a direct hit, Ur screamed at the explosively rising temperature inside the chariot. The sensation of his mouth burning from the side he had screamed from made him immediately close his mouth. It felt like being trapped inside a scorched iron pot. Even with multiple layers of fire protection blessings on each individual and wearing fire-resistant equipment, this was the extent of the damage.

If they had no preparations, this chariot would have become their grave. Or perhaps a cooking pot.

“But we endured it…!!” -Ur

Ur glared ahead with his magic eye. Despite nearly getting burned, he didn’t look away. The scene a few seconds into the future was reflected in his eye. The Pseudo-Dragon’s breath wasn’t inexhaustible. He read ahead and grasped the timing when its firepower would weaken.

“In 5 seconds!!!” -Ur

“【【O Ice, Sing and Play with Me.】】” -Shizuku

Ur began preparing to fire the dragonfang spear again. At the same time, Shizuku started chanting a spell.

Soon, the scene Ur had captured began. The dragon’s breath weakened. The attack ended. The moment when the greatest opening was created was no different for humans or monsters.

They had fully grasped that greatest opening.

“【Roar!! 】” -Ur

“【【Ice Spirit’s Shattering Spear ・ Second Movement】】” -Shizuku

The roar of the dragonfang spear pierced through the weakening breath and struck the Pseudo-Dragon directly, while Shizuku’s ice spears pierced and shattered its wings.

『ＧＹＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡ！？！？』

『Ha!! How pitiful!! 』-Rock

The giant bone hands clenched. The formed fist was swung straight at the dragon in front of them. With a crunching sound, as if being crushed, the Pseudo-Dragon was blown back.

『ＧＯＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡＡ！！！！』

But even so, the Pseudo-Dragon still didn’t fall. It opened its crushed jaws so wide they nearly split. An even more dazzling scorching heat than the previous breath condensed. As if its body couldn’t withstand the extremely strong heat, black blood gushed out from here and there on the Pseudo-Dragon’s black body――――

“――――What?” -Ur

Ur was startled by the Pseudo-Dragon’s movement.

The jaws that had been opened wide enough to split, and then they actually split. With a distorted sound, its form shattered and collapsed. It no longer maintained a proper dragon shape. The gushing black blood squirmed as if it were alive, covering the nearly collapsing body. This creature was…

“A slime!?” -Ur

At first glance, it seemed as if a slime had crawled out from inside the Pseudo-Dragon, but that wasn’t the case. The slime was mimicking the shape of a dragon. However, of course, they had never heard of a slime doing such a thing.

But the slime in front of them was definitely imitating a dragon and even reproducing its power. And now, it was about to unleash its final blow, not even shying away from self-destruction.

“…Well, whatever!! If you’re going to die, die alone!” -Ur

“It’s ready. 【White King Formation – White King’s Nativity】.” -Lynne

Ur leaped out of the chariot. His body was small, but the power dwelling within him was mightier than anyone else’s present. Ur, who had gained the power of the White King, jumped with the dragonfang spear in one hand. Due to the excess power of the White King, that power overflowed into the dragonfang spear as well.

The blade of the 【Purple Flower Spear】 converted magical power into poison. But it wasn’t the temporary poison with short-lived effectiveness born from the faint magical power like during the previous exploration. The poison that had overflowed, bestowed by the White King’s magical power, was a lethal toxin that could rot and melt all things.

“【Thread Fang ・ White King Water】.” -Ur

He once again enveloped the dragonfang spear with the white-dyed poison that had surpassed its original color.

Ur took a stance, kicked off the ground, and thrust.

” 【Purple Flower Piercing Thrust】” -Ur

A white flash pierced the Pseudo-Dragon’s head.

　　　　　　　　　　◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

『――――――』

There was no death cry from the slime imitating a dragon.

Because even if it wanted to raise its voice, it had no mouth, no throat, and not even a head.

Ur’s single strike had erased the Pseudo-Dragon’s head. The combined blow of immense power and the all-melting poison had completely annihilated the Pseudo-Dragon’s head.

Having lost its head entirely, the Pseudo-Dragon still stood still on both feet for a while, but after some time, it lost balance, swayed, and fell. The core of the slime had likely been pierced as well. The remaining body couldn’t maintain its form and collapsed, evaporating.

“Scary…” -Ur

Ur was taken aback by the result he had brought about.

Not only the White King Formation but the Purple Flower Spear also seemed to possess unexpectedly dangerous properties. He knew that the toxicity varied depending on the quality and quantity of magical power poured into it, but there was no limit to the variation.

It even accepted and transformed the power of the White King Formation. The Poison Omen Bird’s talon turned out to be an unexpected find. He decided in his heart to be careful when handling it.

The Pseudo-Dragon had fallen. As if it could no longer maintain its form, it melted into a black liquid, and even that was absorbed by the dungeon and disappeared. The battle with the Pseudo-Dragon had ended.

However, they were still in the dungeon. Feeling the pain of his scorched throat and entire body, Ur gave instructions to Shizuku.

“Shizuku! Search the surroundings!” -Ur

Shizuku poked her head out from the top of the chariot and made a circle with both arms. There seemed to be no monsters around. And she also seemed to have been hit in the throat. In that scorching heat, she had been chanting spells using songs as a medium, so she likely took the most damage.

『Hey, Ur! Shizuku! Drink this quickly! 』-Rock

The completely charred Rock tossed recovery potion vials towards the two of them with his giant bone hand. Ur slowly took it into his mouth, trying not to rush. The recovery effect spreading throughout his body along with the pain in his throat felt pleasant. Beside him, Shizuku also recovered in the same way and peeked into the chariot.

“Phew… Lynne-sama, are you alright?” -Shizuku

“――――Hot! Hot! Why is it so hot!?” -Lynne

『How did you not notice getting scorched like that? 』-Rock

From the looks of it, everyone seemed to be safe. Ur relaxed his shoulders a bit. Or rather, he couldn’t put strength into them. It was the backlash of having consumed all his magical power with the White King Formation.

『But the 【Pseudo-Dragon】… or should I say the 【slime】? The third time was easy. 』-Rock

“The master-less familiar, the disadvantageous terrain, the revealed hand. It has to be easy, or we’re in trouble.” -Ur

The opponent couldn’t exert any decent strengths, and they had all the preparations in place to crush the opponent’s strengths and push their own strengths. No matter how much higher-ranked the opponent was, there was no way they could lose with this.

The final transformation itself was concerning, but they couldn’t afford to spend too much time on this matter. After all, they had only “completed the first stage of the job.”

“Everyone, recover your physical condition to the fullest extent possible. You can use up all the recovery potions and magic potions.” -Ur

“It’s a good thing the 【Starvation】 characteristic didn’t remain in the dungeon.” -Shizuku

“That was also ultimately a magical power collection function to transform Uuga itself into a familiar. It lost its function right before completion. Let’s do our best to recover.” -Ur

The preparations were abundant. They had bought consumables from the Great Eagle of Dawn to the limit. Normally, they would try to make do with even a little restraint, but this time, they couldn’t afford to say that. Since the source of money wasn’t their own, Ur and the others devoted themselves to recovery without hesitation.

“This is bad.” -Lynne

While drinking the magic power recovery potion, Lynne briefly expressed her impression. What she was glaring at was the “core” of the Dragon-Devoured City, Uuga, which lay before them. It was similar to a true magic core, the center of the familiar manufacturing ritual.

Ur also observed it in the same way beside her as she glared at the pulsating magical formula, but he had no idea what it was other than the fact that some tremendous power was squirming within it.

“As I thought, this is an incredible piece of magic, isn’t it?” -Ur

“It’s incredible… but honestly, I don’t want to praise this.” -Lynne

“What do you mean?” -Ur

“It’s dangerous.” -Lynne

Lynne gingerly touched the magical formula engraved on the ground, as if she was afraid. Her movements were as cautious as if she were touching a bomb that could explode at any moment.

“If even the slightest different element is added, everything will collapse in that instant. Normally, if you put together something like this, you’d go crazy.” -Lynne

“I don’t really understand.” -Ur

“It’s like building a huge temple on a foundation as small as a pebble.” -Lynne

“I don’t really get it, but I got it.” -Ur

The understood that the person who came up with this was crazy. He was well aware that they were crazy, so there was no new information.

“That’s why it’s impossible to directly interfere with this magical technique after all. If you mess with it even a little bit and the technique collapses, we’ll be wiped out.” -Lynne

“I see, understood.” -Ur

In other words, the current situation was as planned. Ur turned his gaze to Shizuku. She nodded in response, then turned her face towards the hidden transport route they had used, and brought the finger with the Adventurer’s Ring to her mouth.

“【Communication】 ―― Safety has been secured. It’s okay for you to come here.” -Shizuku

She used the ring’s function for communication. It wouldn’t work if the distance was too far, and if both parties didn’t have the ring, it would be a one-way communication, but it was enough for just a signal.

Before long, the “ones” who had been hiding in the passage arrived.

“Kalkara-sama, welcome.” -Shizuku

“…” -Kalkara

Kalkara, the traitorous priest, was glaring at Ur and the others with a very displeased expression.

“You seem to be in a bad mood.” -Ur

“Do you think anyone would be in a good mood after being imprisoned, restrained, and interrogated?” -Kalkara

“Considering your deeds, I think it’s a pretty good treatment.” -Ur

“I’m grateful.” -Kalkara

“You’re welcome.” -Ur

They exchanged casual gratitude casually.

“We will proceed with the preparations. Everyone else, please come here too.” -Shizuku

At Shizuku’s call, more people continued to come from the hidden passage behind Kalkara. Compared to her, they seemed to be more timid.

Various men and women. They were the “attendants who were in the temple”. With expressions that clearly didn’t try to hide their dissatisfaction and fear, they nevertheless stepped into the deepest part of the dungeon without stopping.

“How did it come to this…”

“This is creepy…”

“I want to go home soon…”

Various screams and laments overflowed. Well, of course.

Many of them were people who had rarely been outside the city, let alone the dungeon. Moreover, they had been dragged to a place like the deep layers of a dungeon, where not many adventurers would set foot. They would naturally lament.

However, they had no choice but to come here. They too were on the brink of a cliff.

“Welcome, everyone. Please cooperate with us.” -Shizuku

“Shizuku-sama!!!”

When Shizuku stepped forward and called out to them, more than half of the attendants who had arrived approached her all at once. The sight of those who held official ranks, even if they were corrupt, addressing Shizuku, who was just an adventurer, with honorifics was abnormal, but there was no room for interjection. The attendants were kneeling before Shizuku with a desperate look on their faces.

“Please, please save us! Please…!!”

“Please be at ease, everyone.” -Shizuku

Shizuku’s voice resonated well in this deep underground place. Her voice, like the beautiful chirping of a bird, shook their brains through their ears.

“I will protect you all at the risk of my own life.” -Shizuku

Even Ur, who was listening from the side, felt a vague sense of reassurance welling up from the depths of his heart. Those attendants who heard it head-on would feel it even more. They were looking at Shizuku with enraptured expressions.

It seemed that she had completely taken control of their hearts in a short time. It was reassuring.

“Is this place really safe!?”

“There are strange sounds coming from here and there!!”

However, as expected, there were still some who were not yet devoted to Shizuku. After all, the time was too short, and there were too many attendants. Even Shizuku wouldn’t be able to control everyone with a single word, or else she would have been able to conquer the world by now.

“Y-y-you bastards! Don’t just stand there! Hurry up and protect me!!” -Griffin

Above all, Griffin, the highest-ranking attendant, was here. The large-bodied, obese man holding the rank of Gran shouted at us loudly while his face was pale with fear, instructing his guards. It was as if he was saying that he couldn’t bear to be here for even a second.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Why do I have to be in a place like this?! Let me go back quickly!!” -Griffin

Just as he was wondering what to do, Kalkara smoothly stepped out from beside Ur, stood in front of Griffin, and grabbed his neck.

“Guh?!” -Griffin

“Shut the fuck up and do your job, pig.” -Kalkara

“Y-you, you b-” -Griffin

“I didn’t want to come to a place like this either. But I have no choice but to be here because I need reliable guards no matter what. If you irritate me any further, I’ll kill you.” -Kalkara

There was a creaking sound of bones, so Ur hurriedly pulled Kalkara away from Griffin. Griffin let out a scream, quickly distanced himself from Kalkara, hid behind Shizuku, and fell silent, making himself small. He seemed to be terrified.

“Were you always this type of character?” -Ur

“I’ll tell you this too.” -Kalkara

Kalkara turned towards Ur and extended rock-made claws from her five fingers, pointing them at Ur. With a dangerous glint in her eyes, she said,

“If Echelle-sama dies, I’ll kill you.” -Kalkara

“This prisoner is real free, huh…” -Ur

Protecting the master she had betrayed. That was her purpose and everything.