The Villainess and the Dragon, Felled. …I ask for just one chance. As the dragon rushed forward to penetrate my magical defenses, I looked for an opportunity to counter.
The trees below are completely blown away by the blow, but I timed my dodge perfectly and avoided it.
(Is a chance really going to come?)
Whatever hope I have will be gone once I run out of magical energy.
“Tch… Damn you!”
Three times. I fired consecutively at that dragon. With no effect. The scales are just too hard, it’s impossible to damage it from the outside.
But I can’t just let myself die without trying. I have to keep trying, even for the slimmest opportunity.
The black beams of light impact heavily into the dragon with loud thunks. Not even a scratch.
(Still not going to use that?)
This time, I fired six shots. Straight into the dragon’s face. One of them hit the dragon squarely in the eye. An explosion erupted.
“GRRRAH!!!”
The Dragon roars loudly. The air shook and trembled. The Dragon’s eyes finally look at me with murderous intent. Did I make it angry? It doesn’t seem like I did any damage though. For the dragon, it must’ve just seemed like eye drops.
Still, getting a reaction out of the dragon inspired me to keep going.
(It’s almost time.)
And, like I hoped, “that” was finally here. The Dragon opened its mouth once more and the embers shone from its throat.
It’s here. I was waiting for this.
I release the last of my magical power into my body.
“Restrict Magic Unleash!”
A snaking pillar of light extends from the earth and entwines with the dragon’s mouth, clamping shut its jaw. But, for a dragon, this isn’t enough to keep that mouth closed up. So I’ll reinforce it with another spell.
“Sixth Seal of Magic! Blockade of Thorns Unleash!”
An ethereal chain passes through the mouth of the dragon, though not piercing its physical body, and further tightens the pressure on its mouth.
“Gah!”
The magical power in my body is almost completely gone. I’m struggling to keep consciousness.
But, even this still isn’t enough yet.
Just as I thought of attempting an escape, a voice clear as a bell sounded from behind me. A comfortable, familiar voice.
“Seventh Seal Magic! Heaven’s Seal Unleash!”
Yua’s voice. The Dragon, on the verge of unleashing its breath, had its mouth encaged in iron. It was completely closed up.
“Yua, you saved me. But why did you come back?”
The strong tone I took almost made it sound like I was blaming her for something, so Yua apologized.
“Um, about that… I’m sorry…”
There are so many more things I want to say to Yua, but the words won’t come out. So, I avert my slightly embarrassed looking face and stare at the Dragon. The red shine leaking from the small gaps in the bindings on its mouth is growing stronger and stronger.
I’m convinced about that breath now.
As I thought, it’s a type of magic.
When a magic spell is cast, it’s impossible to put the genie back in the bottle. In other words, if you start a fire with magic, the only way to put it out is with water. It’s impossible to cancel magic with the user’s will.
“However, you really did save me again.”
“Don’t mention it…”
The Dragon rages trying to remove the seal as its fiery breath begins to grow hotter and hotter inside his mouth. I wonder if Yua realized what I had intended. Victory here was only possible because she used the final sealing magic. The Dragon’s head erupted in a brilliant crimson explosion that not even he could survive. The corpse of the headless dragon fell to the ground and created a violent shaking.
This was a total gamble. If I made a miscalculation, I would have definitely died. It was a dangerous and reckless bet.
The forced suicide of a Dragon.
But, it was only possible under some conditions. First of all, that the “Breath” operated under regular magic rules. Second, I assumed that the Dragon wasn’t strong enough internally to survive the blast.
Next, I needed to actually make him use it. It’s was the only way to force that Dragon to scuttle himself. And to do that, I needed to make him angry.
Monsters typically use their most powerful attacks when they’re at their most threatened, or at their most irritated. The Dragon didn’t necessarily have to adhere to that rule, but thankfully it did. As a result of me getting on his nerves with constant magic attacks, he finally showed signs of using that breath.
Finally, I had to preserve enough magical power to use the necessary magic. Even if I forced the Dragon to use breath, if I didn’t have the energy to use those spells then the entire effort would be fruitless. Well, I suppose it really was very dangerous. If Yua didn’t come, I’d already have become ash. But, I’m still me.
“Fuu… As expected, that was exhausting. Yua, shall we go back?”
“Agreed! But really, are you okay? I don’t know if you even have any magical power left…”
“Don’t worry abo- oops.”
I staggered a little in mid-air, and Yua supported me with her arm.
“Thank you. Sorry, you’re right, I don’t think I have anything left.”
“Looks like it. Veensama, do you need some of my power?”
“No, I’m fine, I can at least use flight magic-”
My words were interrupted by something that sounded like “Grah!” behind us.
“Eh?”
That was the Dragon’s voice…
I look back impulsively. And there was a tiny sized version of the Dragon we had just slain. It was desperately fluttering in the breeze as hard as it could to catch up with it.
What on earth, it’s so cute.
Yua seemed to think the same thing, as she let out a shout.
“Ve-Veensama…! What is that thing!? It’s so cute!!”
I was a little excited myself.
“Yua, calm down. This little one is probably the reincarnated version of that monster.”
“Then that huge dragon… That’s what this little guy will look like in the future?”
Yua gently reaches towards the head of the dragon and rubs it under its ear flap. I tell her to stop.
“Stop that, it’ll bite off your hand.”
“It’s okay, see?”
Yua rubbed the dragon’s head softly. It doesn’t resist. On the contrary, I think it’s enjoying itself.
A friendly dragon, huh.
“Veensama, there’s no way we can take him with us, is there?”
Hugging the dragon, Yua tilts her head at me. Even if you were fighting to the death before, you two seem pretty friendly now. But, I can’t just leave a dragon alone to get up to who knows what, so…
“I guess there’s no choice. We’ll take it in.”
“Hooray!”
Yua is overjoyed and pulls the dragon’s cheeks. It’s a heartwarming scene.
“Let’s return, There’s a lot we need to talk about, like just how the dragon got unsealed in the first place.”
“Understood!”
And like that, we returned to Takrath. As for the body of the Dragon, I had Yua store it using space magic. It’s an S class monster. I’m sure I can find a use for it.
It took a long time to get back. Because I had virtually no magic power left, I decided to walk instead of fly.
Even though I told Yua that I don’t mind if she returned before me, she stubbornly refused and walked the rough mountain path beside me, the dragon in her arms.
There is no path up here in this remote mountainside, so we have to make our own.
I use whatever magical power I regenerate along the way to strengthen my body to descend craggy cliffs or jump gaps.
We walked for a long time. I was exhausted and constantly on the verge of blacking out, but talking about silly things with Yua helped to keep me awake.
By the time the sun was rising, we had almost made it to Takrath.
“Sooo tired…”
“Ye….s.”
When we arrived, we were greeted merrily. The evacuation of the town must have been called off when the Dragon disappeared.
“Y-you’re back! What happened to the dragon?”
To those fearful townsfolk, Yua simply responds with an effortlessly polite “We defeated it.” And as she said that, it was almost like it finally settled in for the two of them. (Incidentally, the small dragon is being magically hidden so the citizens aren’t alarmed).
“Oi oi, did you just say you defeated a dragon!?”
One person.
“No way, that’s amazing…”
Another person. One person after another began to show up and start to gossip. Ah, it’s already getting noisy.
“It’s almost like I’m in some sort of historical scene.”
“Oooh, you’re right!”
“A Dragon is an S-Rank demon, right? A monster that can’t be killed, only sealed away. How can you kill something immortal?”
“It’s not like that, I heard that it’s not immortal if you kill it enough times.”
“Ah, is that so? But honestly, from the stories, it seems like only heroes who are on the verge of immortality themselves are able to defeat an immortal dragon.”
“Wait. Then, who are these girls who defeated it?”
“Beats me.”
As the crowd became abuzz with excitement, people came and thanked us one by one. Yes, I’m sure you’re very grateful, but can we please go now? With my magical power being gone, this is really hard on me.
“Veensama, are you okay now?”
“Gauu?”
Towards the two people who looked at me anxiously (or to be more exact, one person and one pet), I reassured them that I was fine.
And, making our way through the boisterous welcome from the townspeople, we went home at last.
I’m exhausted. Ah, not good…
The moment I stepped into the house, I collapsed immediately.
“Um, if you sleep here you’re going to catch a cold.”
As she gives my body a nudge, I can hear Yua calling out to me. But Yua’s voice melts in my consciousness as I begin to fade off to sleep.
“Anyways, about that the Mayor…”
Ah, that’s right…
I got a summons from the Mayor who wanted to thank us personally. But right now, that’s not going to happen.