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1087: The Mountain Dragon's End
Gamudo slammed his Dragon Punisher into the base of the mountain dragon’s neck.
「DOOOORYAAAHH!!」
BOOOOM!
An explosion as loud as the mountain dragon’s roar, followed by Gamudo getting blown away into the air like a rocket. His dwarven crafted armor was now shattered and broken apart. Even he would be in danger if we let him crash into the ground in that state, right?
As I was wondering whether or not we should rescue him, I saw Diaz run off. I guess it probably isn’t the first time this has happened, so we can let him take care of things.
Meanwhile, the mountain dragon was also left in a horrific state.
A deep crater had been drilled into the base of the neck. The scales, flesh, and even bones had been gouged out. Even compared to the high vitality of a dragon, this level of damage was no joke.
「I can sense the magic stone!」
『Yeah! Give it a good beating before it can regenerate!』
「Nn!」
Fran dove down from the skies to put an end to the mountain dragon writhing in pain.
「GWOOOH!」
Yet the mountain dragon refused to go down without a fight. It turned its face toward us, and let out a roar with all the strength it had left.
The force from the sonic blast struck Fran. However, we had already planned for this event.
『Doryaaaah!』
I slammed wind magic against the shockwaves to cancel them out, and thickened our barriers to force our way through the mountain dragon’s roar.
『Fran, finish it!』
「Nn! Taaah!」
Fran delivered a powerful thrust, and at the same time, I extended the blade of my sword.
My blade penetrated through the dragon’s durable, mana-imbued flesh and reached the magic stone. All the mana contained within came flowing into me.
『You’re mine!』
「GYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!」
The dragon’s roaring death throes hit Fran at point blank range and sent her flying. However, she was relatively safe thanks to the sturdy barriers we had set up. Good thing we never let our guard down.
As for myself, my durability fell considerably due to my combined usage of divine energy and Evil Conquest. My repair speed also seemed incredibly slow. I should probably reserve this kind of technique for a last resort, or it might end up killing me someday.
But before I could ask Fran if she was okay, an unexpected event interrupted.
《The effect of Self-Evolution has been activated. Gained 100 self-evolution points.》
『Huh?』
Again? But I just triggered self-evolution earlier today. This means a single mountain dragon was worth over 1000 points! Thank you, all of dragonkind!
My self-evolution finally reached rank 20.
Hooray! Fran, listen to this! I just got another self-evolution!
I had intended to say that out loud, but my voice didn’t reach Fran. I was summoned to a familiar place before I had any time to speak.
I still don’t know if this is my mental world, or some kind of divine realm, but I found myself in the white space I usually meet Fenrir-san in.
A completely empty space covered in white as far as the eye can see. I was simply floating there, as if the concept of gravity no longer existed. There’s no need for panic, since I’ve already been here many times before.
Either way, I’m sure zero time will have passed in the real world regardless of how long I spend here. It sucks that I can’t immediately share this excitement with Fran though.
「Yo, Master.」
『That voice, Fenrir-san? You woke up again?』
「More like I got woken up.」
A black mass took form in the realm of white. To be more precise, a black wolf. Though he looked similar to Urushi, his figure was more refined and divine.
Not to mention his enormous size. No clue if the concept of size actually applies to this realm, but he was incredibly huge. I was currently in my human form, and even the wolf’s eyeballs outsized me.
If you measure from the base of the feet to the top of the head, he might have a height of 400~500 meters.
Of course, I felt zero fear, nor even any surprise at his sudden appearance. That’s probably because I understood that this wolf was my friend, or more accurately, my other half.
That said, I couldn’t help but be surprised at the next group who showed up.
Three women, each with beauty exceeding the mortal realm. They were the Goddess of the Silver Moon, the Goddess of Chaos, and the Goddess of the Underworld.
「It has been a while.」
『Y-Yes, it has.』
What’s going on? The goddesses never appeared during any of my previous self-evolutions. I guess rank 20 does seem to be a good cutoff point…?
「Congratulations. You have succeeded.」
『Huh? Um, succeeded?』
「Yes. Just now, you successfully separated the souls of my kin Fenrir and the Evil God. You have my deepest gratitude.」
「In other words, you’ve accomplished your mission. Well done!」
「I never imagined you might manage this feat in such a short period of time. You’ve worked very hard to get this far.」
Mission! Oh right, my mission! No, I didn’t forget. It just took me a while to remember!
「Master, really…? Well, whatever.」
『Fenrir-san! I didn’t forget, really! I just kinda wasn’t thinking of it as a mission since it went alongside my goals too!』
「Fuhahaha! Yeah, I know! I’ve been watching you the entire time. If anything, I should be thanking you for your hard work and effort.」
『G-Good to hear…』
I was never the type of guy to be like “I need to accomplish my mission at all costs!” or anything like that. But Fenrir-san has been with us for so long, so I definitely wanted to make sure he recovers.
「You will now be rewarded as promised for accomplishing your mission.」
『Reward… Eh? My reward…?』
If I remember correctly, the reward I was to receive after completing the mission was…
「We will return your soul to Earth’s reincarnation cycle.」
「Of course, with a little extra bonus thrown in.」
「I assure your next life will be blessed with talent and fortune.」