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Vol 1: Chapter 28
…That move took away all my mana, but I somehow pulled it off.
「Did you do that, Reiji?」
「Y-Yes.」
「Well done!」
Dante-san praised me from a little far away, while facing the dragon with Joseph-san.
Taking a closer look, both Joseph-san and Dante-san were worn-out. Their bodies were injured, and their equipment was burnt at several spots.
「The difficult part is from here on out…」
「Yeah.」
The remaining adventurers were less than half of what they were originally. The remaining ones were also hurt and exhausted.
That’s why I thought we should defeat it at the same time it was dealt a major blow, but…
「A beast is much more dangerous when it is wounded.」
That’s what Raikira-san said repeatedly when he was hunting and Dante-san nodded in agreement.
Even the dragon wasn’t looking down on the adventurers up until now. The adventurers would have been wiped out had the dragon attacked with no regards for its life.
That danger was ever-present.
「How do we– Nn?」
Raikira-san stopped mid-sentence, and suddenly looked to the other side of the street. At the same time, you could hear the adventurers cheering.
Over 30 horsemen rode at the front, followed by over 100 infantry. It was reinforcements.
「Tsk, finally… those guys look shiny and all, but so damn late!」
Despite sounding bitter, Raikira-san couldn’t hide his joy.
The adventures could set up a joint front with the troops, or fall back to the rear.
Either way, the crisis of annihilation was avoided.
「Thank goodness…」
I was also relieved from the bottom of my heart. The relief only lasted until I saw the person at the head of the reinforcement.
「…These guys were struggling so much against a dragon? Seems like there are only small fries here.」
The man, whose sleek, blond hair fluttered in the wind, had fairly white skin for a human, and his ears were slightly pointy.
His equipment was clearly different from the other soldiers, wearing a cloak made of finest cloth, and wearing expensive-looking clothes, like a noble. He wasn’t wearing an armor, as though saying it wasn’t necessary.
「We are counting on you.」
A grim-faced man, with a goatee, bowed his head, and the blond-haired man climbed down from his horse and walked towards the dragon.
His presence attracted everybody’s attention – even the dragon’s.
「-Isn’t that the Guild Master?」
「Is that good-looking blond guy an adventurer?」
I heard the whispers of the adventurers.
「Yeah, there’s no doubt that you’re a dragon. What’s up? You can’t talk?」
《You are an elf…? Why is an elf here?》
Everyone was startled, hearing the words that suddenly came into their heads.
…The dragon can talk? Is it an opponent which can communicate its intention?
《Don’t get involved, elf. In accordance with the old pact, I shall only punish humans…》
…Pact? What pact?
《……Muh?》
At that moment, the dragon’s movement stopped.
《……I see, high level 【Fire Magic 3】 and 【Mana Quantity Increase 3】. But you have two skill holder slots shut off… You are a child of mixed blood, aren’t you?……》
At that moment, the elf – the half-elf frowned.
「What did you just say?」
《…On the mark, huh? A sad mixed-blood child born as a result of copulating with a race an elf shouldn’t have – a human. Have you been banished from the Elf Village after having two of your skill holders destroyed as punishment? However, it seems that the elves also had pity. To think they gave you such rare skill orbs…》
「Here I was thinking that you don’t talk, but surprisingly, it seems like you’re quite a chatty dragon. But you made two mistakes.」
《……Mistakes?》
「One, I wasn’t banished. I voluntarily left the stagnating garbage dump of an elf village. And the other…」
The half-elf opened his right palm and pointed at the dragon.
「I am not the kind of person an inferior creature like you, who has been bound by the world, can talk to like an equal! Die!」
Dense light gathered on his right palm. And suddenly, a swirling flame, spinning at tremendous speed, was shot at the dragon instantly.
The dragon twisted its head and evaded it, but the attack landed on a part of its body and caused a big explosion.
The adventurers were blown away by the blast that took place. Fortunately, I was hiding behind a building, and I was able to immediately observe the subsequent exchange that took place.
The dragon spit out flames, but the half-elf jumped at an angle, with tremendous speed.
…What is that speed?!
According to what the dragon said – is the dragon somehow capable of “identifying” skills? – the half-elf has only two skills. However, he was able to jump at that speed.
The dragon attacked the half-elf, who jumped into the air, with its front leg. The half-elf dodged it in a trajectory that ignored the law of inertia.
「HAAA!」
Five shots of flame swelled up from the half-elf’s hand. They landed on the dragon’s body and exploded. He seemed almost caught in the blast too, but he fluttered his cloak and flowed out of the way, as if he was controlling the wind.
The dragon roared and swung its halved tail, but the half-elf, again, dodged it with a movement which ignored the law of inertia.
(How? How does he dodges that? He can only use 【Fire Magic】… I see, he is indeed using fire magic!)
I finally came up with a theory. He was using the explosion of 【Fire Magic】 to move his body, in such a way that doesn’t injure himself.
…What amazing mana control! If what the dragon said was right, it would mean that he doesn’t possess 【Mana Control】 skill.
…Would I be able to do it, too…? Maybe. Might get a little burned, though.
The half-elf seemed to be wearing extra sturdy boots. He used 【Fire Magic】 and moved by setting the explosions on the boots.
I started thinking that what the dragon said might actually be right. 【Mana Quantity Increase】 skill – seemed to be quite a rare skill orb, as Mimino-san said previously.
And 【World Ruler】 seemed to be capable of learning even that rare skill. I felt my body gradually being filled with mana.
「Amazing. Is that a Mithril-rank adventurer?」
「He is on a whole nother level.」
「As expected of the “Crimson Dragon Slayer”!」
I heard the voices of the adventurers watching the battle from nearby.
…So that is a Mithril-rank!
He was leading the dragon by the nose single-handedly, after all. The dragon’s scale began to wrap with mana again, but his magic had enough power to penetrate through and cause direct damage.
「Is that all you got? As usual, dragons are slow. How boring.」
With an inhumane smile on his face, the half-elf raised both hands up to the sky. A gigantic mass of flames appeared.
「Go ahead! Crysta!」cried one of the adventurers who knew the half-elf.
…Oh, so that person is called Crysta, huh? He is a mithril-rank adventurer, and a half-elf, and called Crysta, huh….
…Wait a minute!
―Reiji… Even if I can’t destroy the Rigura Kingdom, I must still retaliate in some way. If that’s the case… then, I must definitely kill that cold-blooded bastard!―
…Who said that?
―Crysta-la-Crysta, a half-elf mithril rank adventurer. I must kill him no matter what―
I turned back and looked behind me.
Raikira-san, who was supposed to be there, was gone before I realized.