The punch that I went all out pierced through the Wicked Dragonās chest.
To be honest, I could not grasp how powerful my punch would be if I was seriously trying to hit someone. But if I were to put it on a scale, it would be like punching a zombieās shoulder and sending it flying without any mercy. One things for sure, this must never be used on a normal human being.
Howeverāāāā
Ā
āā¦ā¦ā¦..Yo-uāre toughā¦ā¦ā¦..!ā
Ā
I was surprised by the lack of feedback from my punch.
Itās as if I was punching through a thick and firm rubber. Different from the magic armour that Neah casted, the punch felt as though the shock has stopped abruptly, and dissipates by escaping around the body.
My punch wasnāt effectiveāā When those words played around my head, a sentence from the notebook floated at the back of my head.
[The attack did not make sense before the Wicked Dragonās powerful scales.]
Itās not as if Iāve forgotten about those words.
However, that is before the living being has deteriorated after hundreds of years. For my punch to not penetrate its body, the Wicked Dragonās scale is indeed formidable.
Ā
āā¦ā¦..Hm?ā
Ā
Since I was upset by this ordeal, I looked at Neah who hasnāt recovered and gave her a good hearty punch.
Wondering whether itās just me overthinking, I wanted to test it one more time, but before that could happen, the moonlight that was illuminating me was suddenly blocked by āsomethingā.
ā¦ā¦.I could still hear the grunting and moaning from Neah.
The zombie that sheās controlling wouldnāt have been able to move without her permission.
As if to justify my reasoning, the punch that I was about to give was interrupted by āsomethingā that is large enough to block the moonlight.
Ā
āā¦ā¦..Tsk.ā
Ā
Our eyes met.
Ā
The Wicked Dragon, with its face turned sideways and staring at me from above with its cruel eyes, we crossed gazes as I raised my face.
Those dry and cracked eyes indicate someone with a will, and the sigh that leaks from the ends of its mouth releases an unpleasantly horrible odour and rotten smell. Then, the end of its mouth which has been greatly torn is cut into a distorted shape, giving the illusion as if mocking me.
Ā
āā¦ā¦ā¦.ā
Ā
This is bad.
I have no idea why, but that word came in mind.
This living thing is way more dangerous than the snakeāāāNo, even the word living thing is to good of a word for it. No words can describe the thing that is in front of me.
But, the phrase āA snake staring at the frog.ā is befitting of this situation.
Because that is what I am right now, a frog being looked down upon by those fearless eyes, and my body being chained down as if being bound by a shackle.
If I donāt move, I will be eaten alive. Regardless of whether it has a will of its own, thus before Neah recovers, I wouldāve been crushed by the Wicked Dragon in front of me.
Ā
āUguā¦ā¦Buun! ! !ā
Ā
I pull out my fist and proceeded to punch myself in the forehead.
Instantly, my consciousness returns, and the nervousness of my body and mind have returned to normal.
Ā
āLetās do this!ā
Ā
Perhaps due to my rough treatment towards myself, fresh blood leaked from my forehead, staining all the way from my eyebrows to the chin. However, thatās no problem with a little bit of healing magic.
Wiping the blood using the back of my hand, I took a distance away from the Wicked Dragon who was looking at me without trembling.
Ā
āWell oh well, what a predicament Iām facing right now.ā
Ā
Its poison is bad, the claws are terrible, and Iām sure its tail would hurt like hell.
Even my crucial punch didnāt seem to work, so saying that I could defeat this thing would be a dream come true.\nāā- Guess I should just defeat Neah then.
If what she says is correct, that āI have this zombie under my controlā, then tackling the main source would end the battle.
And different from the battle with Ark-san, its attacks are intense, but the speed isnāt much. So Iām sure if I were to attack Neah, it wonāt come to defend her.
Thinking so, when trying to shift this battle to discipline Neah to a certain degree, the Wicked Dragon who was watching me unnaturally turned its head greatly towards a different direction.
Ā
āBu, HaiāāChi, ni kuā¦ā¦ā¦, Minra, Hoe, Bou, uuuuuu.ā
āMeatsā¦.. Everyone, destroy? What the hell is this thing trying to say?ā
Ā
I donāt know whether itās just a peculiar moan from a zombie, but itās looking diagonally behind me, which is facing the direction of the road leading to the western-style building.
ā¦ā¦Is it itās instinct to return there? Or does that place have a connection with the hero?
Is there such a phenomenon amongst zombies?
But according to the notebook, the last place it died was at Samariar. It is completely opposite of where itās looking at right now, the village where Tetra-san lives.
Ā
āWell, whatever. Letās ignore it. Itās not like I can do anything about it.ā
Ā
From there, I started running lightly into the half-broken western-style building.
For the time being, I looked back from time to time to see whether the Wicked Dragon is doing anything.
However, it did not respond to anything, which I might think that itās moving according to Noahās orders. With a sigh of relief in my heart, I jumped up to the second floor in one fell swoop.
At that momentāāā
Ā
āGihiii.ā
Ā
At the same time that eerier laughter was heard, the throat of the Wicked Dragon has greatly swollen.
Ā
āO-Oh noā¦..ā
Ā
Was it a trap!?
Ā
Thinking that it was trying to exhale the corroding sludges towards me, I tried to leave the building, but somehow the Wicked Dragon wasnāt facing me.
Not even batting an eye on me, its throat swells while breathing in more air.
Raging winds swept around the Wicked Dragon, and as I couldnāt understand what it was trying to do, I had no choice but to stand at the edge of the second floor in confusion.
Then, I heard the voice of Amako who I thought had evacuated.
When I looked at her general direction, I could tell that she was desperately trying to convey to me something along side with Bluerin and Ark-san where the miasma was thinner.
Ā
āāāā-! !,, āāāāāā! !ā
āā¦ā¦Huh, I canāt hear you, the wind is too strongā¦ā¦ā
Ā
I have no idea what she wants to say with this noise.
While I used my arms to protect the upper part of my eyes so that sand wouldnāt get into it, I carefully watched the movement of her mouth.
Vi- llageā¦. Poisonā¦.. Fallā¦.. Poison is going toā¦. Are you kidding me?!?!
Ā
āAs if Iāll let you!!ā
Ā
The moment I understood her words, I kicked the wall and rushed into the face of the Wicked Dragon.
Despite being exposed to the raging wind, I gripped my left fist and punched its chin just beneath its broken eye with clear hostility, different from the previous punch.
The purple miasma that was about to leak out from its mouth has warped and shifted to the left due to my punch.
Ā
āUuā¦ā¦.ā
Ā
I hurriedly used healing magic while being poisoned, and landed on the ground.
However, the cure wasnāt quick enough. Blood came coughing out from my mouth, which immediately after I wiped it away.
Ā
āWell, though Iām used to it, poison is still painfulā¦..ā\nĀ
I complained while healing the poisoned part and the injured part, and looked at the Wicked Dragon who was put into place.
The Wicked Dragon held its lower jaw with its arm.
As if that punch would defeat it. It shakes its head and got up immediately.
Ā
āI should get up as wellā¦ā¦..ā
Ā
I couldnāt leave this thing alone.
Iāll have to beat it no matter what happens.
Ā
After healing myself, Amako who was away from Bluerin, ran towards me with a different expression.
Ā
āIām glad I got throughā¦ā¦.!ā
āYeah, thanks for that. I wouldāve overlooked it if it werenāt for youā¦. But that fuckerā¦.ā
Ā
Despite my presenceāāIt was aiming at the village where Tetra-san and the mayor are.
I think it saw the village lit up in the dark.
I donāt know what its aim is, but itās definitely not an order from Neah.
I canāt imagine her trying to kill the villagers sheās controlling. Rather, she is just a disappointment, showing a strong obsession with what she wants.
Ā
āThis Wicked Dragon, I seemed to look too sweet compared to him. Amako, I could finally understand what it was trying to say.ā
Ā
The words it spoke while looking at the village.
I didnāt know at that time, but seeing the horrible nature of the dragon, I completely understood its meaning.
Ā
āDestruction, flesh and blood, everyone, destroy. Basically this dragonās a mass of destruction. All this while, it has been observing me whether I could be its plaything, but it has found a better plaything behind me.ā
Ā
Since it couldnāt hit me at all, it changed itās motive.
Ā
āNeah seemed to have revived a ridiculous thingā¦. Whether itās a blessing in disguise, she doesnāt seem to be able to grasp the situation yet.ā
Ā
Really, you just have to do something extra, didnāt you.
In this case, be it Neah who revived this thing, the hero is also the one to blame for not completely disintegrating this giant thing. Anyway, the option of running away is now gone.
Ā
āThis doesnāt mean my punch doesnāt work perfectly. See Amako, its temporomandibular joint has come off, and it canāt be closed. Though the outer shell is hard, but the bones inside isnāt.ā
āā¦.. Usato, letās run away.ā
āā¦ā¦.Huh?ā
Ā
Amako pulls the hem of my troupe as I was clenching my fist and trying to go for a round two with the Wicked Dragon, as it was holding its chin and moaning.
Ā
āWhat do you mean by running away? If we leave that as is, it might cause even more trouble. Alsoā¦ā¦ We canāt get out of the sludge that that shit had spit.ā
āThe trees in the back arenāt rotten yet, so maybe we can escape through there. Usato, I too am genuinely worried about the people in the village, but not everything can be managedā¦..ā
āā¦ā¦.ā
āThat is not a normal being. No matter how great Usato is, that thing is something you canāt manage by yourselfā¦ā¦ā
Ā
Itās true that the power of the dragon is unknown.
I too think that it is foolish to fight someone like that. However, I donāt have the intention of backing away either.
Didnāt you see Amako, that shit tried to drop a lump of poison into the village without hesitation. The poison is so deadly that even I canāt move for awhile. If a child or a woman inhales that, theyāll lose their lives in mere minutes.
In addition, the sludge is harmful enough to rot plants instantaneously.
Right now, itās only intention is to destroy the village, but what if it dropped into Lukuvis or Lingle Kingdom? Aside from Lingle Kingdom where the rescue squad is there, but Lukuvis has many children who are vulnerable to it.
Ā
āWhat if that poison-sparging guy starts flying away and hits a nearby country? If that Wicked Dragon is the same as before, it would bring about an endless destruction.ā
āā¦ā¦.B-But, Usato will dieā¦ā¦.ā\n\nWhile wearing the Healing Magic around my entire body, I started running at the same time.
At that exact moment, the purple miasma overflowed from its mouth, as if a volcano was about to erupt, wrapping around it.
It doesnāt matter who the enemy is.
Currently, Neah is holding down the dragon, thus its trying to break it off.
It did not hesitate to spew miasma on her.
However, upon entering the miasma, a tremendous impact was struck on my body.
Ā
āāāāāWhaā¦ā¦..!?ā
Ā
I saw its tail slithering around like a snake at the corner of my eyes.
Iām gonna get hitā¦..? I wouldnāt be able to catch it normally, and my vision is getting narrowerā¦..
My visibility is getting poorer due to the miasma, and I was blown away without any means of blocking.
Furthermore, the tail that turned into a whip continued to smack on the ground where I was rolling.
Ā
āIt hurtsā¦ā¦ā¦!!ā
Ā
Shit, somehow I was able to put up a defence on time, but I couldnāt concentrate well with the poison and injury on meā¦ā¦.!
Combining with the spell from Neah and the attacks from the dragon, I have to escape from its area of attack soon.
I tried getting up whilst using Healing Magic, but the dragon, approaching at a position where it can look down on me, cross its huge arms.
Ā
āKuā¦ā¦ā
āKu, Kakakaā¦ā¦.Kakakka.ā
Ā
The dragon that canāt form sentences well to begin with, now with its jaws off, it was even more incomprehensible. What I do know is that itās mocking me.
However, it didnāt like it that it couldnāt speak well, thus it held its swinging jaw with one of its arms, and the jaw was snapped back into place with a banging sound.
Ā
āIāll gill you.ā
āā¦.. What the, you actually have a brain to talk?ā
Ā
A writhing voice is emitted from the mouth of the Wicked Dragon.
While returning the irony from its eerie voice, the dragon who has distorted the end of its mouth finally comes close to my face.
Ā
āāāāIāll, gill, hero. Not one, drop of blood, remains.ā
Ā
What? A hero? Who, me?
Why are you looking at me when Iām not the hero ā¦? Donāt tell me, he thinks I am actually one?
Ā
āā¦.Y-Youāre wrongā¦. Iām not the hero.ā
āYou , a hero, outsider!ā
Ā
Youāre misunderstanding okaaayyyyyy! ! !
Iām not a hero, but just a crew member you knowwww! !
Also, an outsider?! I donāt know if thatās his basis of someone being a hero, but if thatās the case then everyone in the rescue squad is a hero! !
I really canāt hide the shock that this dragon is misunderstanding something so unreasonable.
Ā
āThatās why, gill.ā
Ā
Then again, Iām in a bit of a pickle.
While struggling to break this situation whilst also holding my foot, which is trying to crush me from a while ago.
However, before I could do anything, the dragon grabbed me and lifted up its huge arms, as if trying to swing it.
Ā
āAh fuck, Iām going to diāāāā
Ā
At that moment, I was hit with the same impact as when the leader attacks me with all her might.