If you’ve got resolve, fear’ll just vanish.
Before me stood the monster—most famous, strongest, most vicious, and most abominable in all the world.
It was a nightmare called a dragon.
Finally starting to watch us with suspicion, he slowly lifts his head and glares at me sideways.
Complex horns, like withered trees sprouting from the head, glinted in the sunlight.
"Whoa!"
Soral, the ranger, couldn’t help but cry out in shock.
Thought how oddly girlish my voice can sound, or something equally pointless like that.
We’re moving straight at the dragon’s face, our party included. Yeah, that’s not just regular fear.
Even if it was Solar, the veteran of a thousand battles.
My heart was hammering so hard it felt like it might explode.
But strangely, I wasn’t feeling much fear.
More than that, the resolve to protect everyone else overpowered everything else. I stayed calm. Watched the dragon’s movements.
“Raidock.”
“Yeah… good! First unit! Attack! Now!”
“““Oooohh!!”””
Warrior Moda took the lead, shield raised.
Raidock and Persia shouted from behind and to the side.
“Vacuum Soaring Slash!”
“Slash Flash Sky Fang Soar!!!”
Of course, already enhanced by the priest Bep’s magic.
At the same time the swordsman unleashed one of his rare long-range techniques, the ranger Solar and the hunter Jitarou loosed their bows.
Both fired arrows tipped with mithril alloy—luxurious, extravagant.
“Painting the Dragon’s Finishing Touch!”
Solar’s bow carried a technique focused on piercing a single point.
“Hellfire Bomb!”
It was Bardack who unleashed the high-heat fireball. How the hell could he pull that off without a crest?
Bardock dropped to his knees with a thud, but pulled a potion from his coat and downed it in one gulp. He was on his feet again instantly.
He probably drank a mana potion to restore his magic power.
Go all in on the first move.
Most of the mana potions prepared this time ended up in my hands.
The result of adventurers’ mages begging me to figure out whether it’s more efficient for them to drink it or for me.
In the end, I took the majority, then Bardack and Bep. The rest we split up—gave one each to the squads—to settle it.
Meanwhile, the adventurers stationed in the first unit unleashed their strongest long-range attacks, one after another.
Concentrated fire so fierce it’d leave no trace of a normal monster rained down on the dragon’s forehead.
Even a dragon couldn’t take that. It lifted its head straight up and roared.
GAAARRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
The roar shook the ground. Felt like the air itself exploded.
A few adventurers scattered to the sides staggered, knees giving out.
Never thought I’d get killed by sound before!
I gritted my teeth and barked.
“Look! That dragon’s screaming in pain!”
Hearing that, Raidock snapped in.
“Right! It’s not some god that doesn’t feel pain—look right between its eyes! Keep pushing! First Unit—keep attacking!”
More attacks flew in waves.
Attacks dependent on stamina remained unchanged, but those relying on magic power had all lost their strength.
Prepared for a long fight, probably.
Still, the onslaught was brutal. The dragon screamed again.
This time, it wasn’t fear. It was certainty. We could win.
We’re through!
Damage is getting through!
At that moment, the dragon’s thick front leg slowly rose.
Probably swinging it up for an attack.
“Everyone! Fall back!”
The order barely left my lips when we scattered to safety, out of reach of the beast’s leg.
By a hair’s breadth, the leg swung down, empty, right in front of the First Unit.
But.
In the next instant, we realized we’d made a massive mistake with this tactic.
The sheer mass, the unimaginable strength—ripped through the earth, shattered the rolling boulders, scattered the sand like dust.
Boulders the size of fists raining down, mountains of dirt slammed into us.
The plan that dragon attacks would only come via breath had collapsed by now.
“Oooooooh!”
Morda, usually silent, roared and braced his shield, standing at the front of everyone.
The rest of us had nowhere to go but crawl into the safe zone his shield created.
“What now!? Raidock!?”
“Hah! I expected something like this from the start! Look! The ones on either side are handling it just fine!”
Each unit spread out like wings of a crane formation had, apparently, anticipated this—shieldbearers in front were barely holding the onslaught.
Of course, injuries piled up. But they were instantly healed with the healing potions we’d scattered around.
This is the hardest part! If we can hold through this, we’re fine! Keep fighting! Bep! Focus the enhancement magic on Moda! I’m good! Moda! I’m counting on you!
Yes!
Oy!
For the third time, the counterattack came—overhead slash—against the first unit’s concentrated fire.
But we endured. The brutal, monotonous assault couldn’t break us.
Gyagoyaaagigegaaaaaaaarrrrrr!!!
The dragon roared higher than ever, struck by its fourth barrage.
"Look! His forehead! A little—blood’s coming out!"
"Oooohhhhhhhhh!!!"
It was a roar of joy. A wild, ecstatic shout.
We’d reached the point where even we couldn’t tell what kind of noise we were making—this was victory.
Even though we hadn’t played a single card yet, that’s what it felt like—like we’d already won.
The dragon roared, digging its four claws deep into the earth.
The veteran adventurer’s instincts screamed at maximum volume.
Raidock shouted before I even had time to react.
“Breath’s coming!”
It wasn’t a guess. No hesitation. Raidock spun toward me in a flash.
I whipped my cloak wide and raised my staff high into the air.
The dragon’s jaws yawned open.
I felt the savage magic gathering deep in its throat.
A pale blue light burst from between its fangs—cold, hopeless, final.
It promised death to everything.
“Ten Thousand Li Earth Wall!!!”
I poured every ounce of my power into the spell.
A thick wall of earth shot up before me, rising from the ground like a sudden fist.
Not bad—thick as a castle wall, solid as stone.
The earthen fortress, spread in a half-circle as planned, wrapped around the dragon’s head like a fist. The blue flame breath rebounded off it.
The curve sent the raging fire straight back at the beast.
“…Gah! Won’t hold long!”
I’m pouring every ounce of magic into the wall, but the heat’s already turning it to glass. Chipping away, fast.
“Good! Shift to phase two! All units—ready the bomb arrows… fire!”
The archers, spread wide on either side, had been waiting for this. They drew their mithril bows—some bought, some rented for this fight—and loosed every last ounce of strength into arrows tipped with explosives, driving them deep into the dragon’s side.
Soral and Jitarou shot explosive arrows in swift, arcing trajectories over the earthen wall.
It was an explosion so magnificent it felt divine.
The air shuddered with a roar unlike anything before.
"O... ooooh! It's working! It's working!"
When the smoke cleared and the dragon’s form reappeared, morale across the entire army hit its peak.
Scales were torn off all over its body. Flesh was ripped away. Blood dripped from every inch of its frame.
And yet... should we be impressed that it survived such an explosion with just this?
"We can do it... we can do it!"
"We can do it! We’re capable!"
"We can win!"
The confidence surged.
The dragon raised an arm, smashing through the earth wall blocking the view.
The wall on the other side crumbled easily, since we’d already stopped pouring magic into it. The dragon’s furious face appeared beyond.
“Good! Shift to Phase Three! First Unit, launch another diversionary attack! Once we’ve sealed that breath again, we’re free to unleash magic attacks!”
“““OOOOOOO!!!”””
The dragon’s roar echoed emptily across the entire plain.
Then came the next release of its vile breath attack.
In front of the blinding, icy-white heat, the earth wall formed—fully restored, all magic channeled through mana potions.
As if burning itself alive, the dragon was forced to take its own breath full in the face.
“Good! Full-force assault, all units!!”
“““OOOOOOO!!!”””
The adventurers were sure of victory, watching the barrage of bombs and the magic and techniques unleashed with desperate precision.
But.
We’d forgotten something very important.
That the enemy was a dragon.
A large-scale battle of over a hundred fighters… burning!!