116. Demon King Adra 2

On a hill north of the Yorks Great Labyrinth, about a two-hour walk away, Shiro and the others surveyed the northern horizon.

"That's it," Shiro murmured.

Dust rose in the distance—masses of demons approaching. And hovering slightly behind them, above the ground, a massive black dragon could be seen flying.

"Whoa, damn, this is intense! Feels different from a dungeon, man!" Makoto said, his tone teasing, but his face dead serious.

"Keep your guard up! First, hit them with a suppression spell to slow their momentum! Leave the rest to me!"

He spoke, then Shiro, Mitoka, Shestia, and Kotone leapt into the sky.

They fired their familiar Homing Lightning Needle twice.

A cascade of glowing needles rained down upon the demons.

The attack slowed nearly all of them, their movements grinding to a halt.

On the ground, at that moment, Aria, Albert, the Hero Party, and Steven began eliminating the demons.

While that unfolded, Shiro and the others closed in on the dragon.

Incidentally, Shiro and Mitoka used flight magic. Kotone rode atop her winged lion, Twa. Shestia flew via soul-link with Mitoka—her level had risen, and through training, she’d stabilized the connection, though it still flickered at times.

"Shiro, look," Mitoka said. "The demons are attacking the dragon."

"Yeah, I see it. But the dragon isn't retaliating... or rather, it doesn't seem to be keeping pace with the demons' speed," Shiro thought.

"The dragon's acting strange. Its eyes look off. And its internal mana flow is all over the place. Shiro, check it with Mana Sight and Miasma Sight."

Shiro did as Mitoka said, scanning the dragon with both Mana Sight and Miasma Sight.

"This... is miasma? It's like the whole body's saturated with it. But why the hell is it like this?"

He wondered, then suddenly remembered he'd once asked Firumia about this before—but never got a reply.

"Shiro, dragons can communicate via mana telepathy. Try speaking to it through mana," Mitoka said.

"Got it."

"Hey, you there—can you hear me? If you can, respond."

Shiro extended a thread of mana toward the dragon, sending out a mental query.

"○×○××!"

"Whoa, it worked—sort of. But I can't make sense of the words..."

——"【Concept Language: Ancient Draconic】Module auto-installing."

A voice announced in his mind, and suddenly Shiro understood the dragon's language.

"Help me!"

"Wait—help me? What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know... my body... won't listen... I'm furious... I want to hurt... violently..."

Shiro hesitated, then stepped closer to the dragon.

Suddenly, the dragon roared and unleashed a breath attack straight at him.

"Whoa—close!" Shiro dodged, rolling backward.

The dragon descended slightly after breathing. It scanned the air frantically, eyes darting—looking for an enemy.

"Damn it... this isn't right..."

"Stay calm!" Shiro shouted, but he had no idea what to do.

"Shiro, if we get too close, it might attack out of defensive instinct. We’ll need to land the dragon safely and apply Miasma—Mana Conversion magic," Mitoka suggested.

"Got it. Let’s try the usual—lightning shock from above. Shestia, hit it with Ice Freezing to slow it down."

Shiro shot upward, aiming Lightning Shock at the dragon.

"Understood," Shestia replied, firing Ice Freezing from behind the beast.

The dragon roared—*Gyaoo!*—but showed no sign of damage.

Shiro circled the dragon, firing Lightning Shock with care to avoid serious harm, but the effect was minimal.

The dragon had high resistance to magic. Weak spells wouldn’t cut through. It now dodged with sharper, faster movements than before, swinging its tail in attack.

Worse, it could cast all-elemental magic. Getting near meant sudden slashes from its tail, mouth, and claws—sharp, fast, and deadly.

It also launched Fire Balls and Wind Cutters as offensive spells.

Shiro and the others barely dodged the attacks while trying to talk to the dragon.

The beast still had fragments of reason—sometimes it seemed to try speaking—but quickly snapped back into frenzy, caught between clarity and madness. Shiro hesitated, unsure what to do.

Then, just as he glanced down at the ground—

"Danger!" Mitoka shouted.

Shiro flinched, glancing toward the dragon—just as it swung its tail in a blur of motion.

The tail struck him square, slamming him into the ground.

A crater formed where he landed—five meters wide, two deep. The impact would’ve crushed a normal body flat.

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