We stood in front of the staircase on the 9th floor.
Before us was the staircase leading to the 10th floor… dimly lit, looking almost like a path to the underworld.
“I’m going to go down. If there’s a place to wait, I’ll come back, but we might end up in a fight immediately.”
Mom looked sad for a moment, but quickly returned to her usual expression.
“I understand. Do your best.”
“””Yes.”””
Ms. Naga handed me a mithril knife that we had obtained on the 6th floor, just in case.
“Just in case. Also, Ashera, you should take this…”
She said that and pressed the Elf’s Secret Potion into Ashera’s hand.
“It’s a healing potion of the Elf’s Secret Potion. It would be terrible if you ended up with a scar on your pre-marriage face. If you drink this, it will heal most injuries for one minute continuously. Also, I’ll give the three of you the maximum magic enhancement I can use…”
The enhancement magic Ms. Naga had cast on us consisted of three types: physical guard, magical guard, and body strengthening. It felt significantly more effective than the usual enhancements I normally received, in accordance with her words about maximum power.
“Th-thank you very much.”
I thanked Ms. Naga, and we descended the stairs in the order of El, who had the highest defense, then me, then Ashera.
The 10th floor was a single layer that had become like a plaza. I couldn’t see the opposite side, and it seemed that even the horizon might be visible.
In reality, it was something like a haze, so distant objects were not visible, but with this much space, it probably wouldn’t interfere with combat… for the Earth Dragon.
When we slowly landed on the 10th floor, there was a sensation as if the domain had changed.
Seeing El and Ashera wearing difficult expressions, I guessed that they felt it too.
“It’s really wide. Where is the Earth Dragon…?”
“Yes…”
“It’s going to come to a fight anyway. I’ll use the sonar.”
“Understood.”
“Yeah.”
If the 10th floor was one open area surrounded by walls, the place where we were, next to the wall, should be at the edge.
Let’s try sending the local sonar toward the center… There it was.
“There’s an Earth Dragon at the center. It’s coming this way. It would be bad if Mother and the others come down. We’ll move back a little.”
“Yes, brother.”
“Got it.”
We waited for the Earth Dragon about 500 meters away from the stairs.
The formation was as we had decided: El, I, Ashera.
After about a minute, the Earth Dragon appeared with a rumbling.
I was on guard for an immediate breath attack, but it seemed there was no instant-death first strike.
“El, Ashera, it seems there’s no first breath attack. Spread out.”
“Yes.”
“Yeah.”
We quickly broke formation using spatial kicks.
The Earth Dragon ran past the place where we were and stopped when it hit the wall.
My first impression of the Earth Dragon I saw was overwhelming. That was the word.
I felt the difference in rank as a living being, and fear naturally welled up inside me…
To scold my heart that seemed about to be swallowed, I slapped my own cheeks with both hands.
The dull pain calmed me down just a little.
Its total length was about 10 to 15 meters, height 3… no, 4 meters, and overall size was probably about that of a 10-ton truck. It had the appearance of a triceratops, with two horns, looking at us with a hateful gaze.
After observing it a bit, the Earth Dragon exhaled breath to drop us to the ground.
Just as its mouth opened, I could see the light of magic inside. It was probably intentionally showing its magic to instill fear in its opponent.
When the magical power in its mouth reached the critical point, a rain of mineral bullets burst out.
I used the Vernier to escape the line of fire, but the speed of the breath’s projectiles was comparable to bullets from the original world.
It wasn’t a speed that could be easily dodged with room to spare.
Perhaps because the breath didn’t hit, the Earth Dragon cried out loudly and this time used magic.
As expected, the magic it used was earth magic. The speed wasn’t as fast as the breath, but still reasonably fast.
However, for those of us who knew the Vernier, it was a speed we could easily evade.
If it could use earth magic, it should be able to use the breath instead… perhaps the breath couldn’t be fired in rapid succession.
It would be helpful if I could figure out the interval between its breaths.
By now, I understood the Earth Dragon’s movements. I’d take the offensive.
“Let’s launch an attack. First, let’s gather information on the enemy with sonar.”
I said that and drew my magic weapon (greatsword), charging at the Earth Dragon.
I drove my magic weapon (greatsword) into its back from above by putting my body weight into it… the blade tip scraped along the surface of the skin with a grating sound.
That single strike, with all that speed and weight, ended up making only a slight scratch on the surface of the scales.
I immediately disengaged with a spatial kick, but I didn’t forget to send out a sonar pulse… first time.
It seemed that the scales on its back were the hardest.
I saw Ashera, swapping places with me, gathering magic in her left hand and heading toward the Earth Dragon.
Unlike me, she was aiming for its flank, not its back.
Ashera skillfully maneuvered her unpolished thrusters to cling to the Earth Dragon’s side and unleashed the magical fist she had gathered and stored.
The Earth Dragon’s body bent into a ‘k’ shape and was blown back about a meter.
Even a formidable Earth Dragon didn’t remain unscathed, apparently letting out a scream in pain.
Looking at the traces of the magical fist, although only slightly, some scales had peeled off, exposing the dragon’s flesh.
I saw my chance and prepared my magic weapon (greatsword) and charged at the Earth Dragon.
My bad habit came out again. The Earth Dragon, which still had plenty of strength left, turned its face toward me and assumed a stance to unleash its breath attack.
Complete carelessness. I had said so many times that underestimating it was a bad idea…
I didn’t know how much I could suppress it, but I deployed a magical shield to brace for the impact. However, there was only the sound of the breath, and no impact came at all.
Cautiously withdrawing the shield, I saw El had enveloped the shield in a magical barrier, blocking the dragon’s breath.
“Sorry, El.”
“No, it’s fine.”
I took a step back to observe the dragon. The wound that Ashera had inflicted earlier was gradually healing.
“El, Ashera, this one has healing.”
Its defense was this high, and on top of that it could heal…
The wounds that Ashera inflicted in such a short time were almost completely healed.
I calmed myself down for a moment and decided to focus on gathering information first.
I repeatedly fired sonar as I passed by.
After about ten sonar shots, I gathered most of the information.
As expected of an Earth Dragon. Its magical power was ten times mine. Its strength was about the same as Emperor’s. It probably used earth and healing spells. It made sense that it reacted to the local sonar.
Truly specialized in defense. Ashera had changed the strategy to inflict status effects, but it seemed resistant to poison, paralysis, and sleep.
At this rate, we’d be at a disadvantage… Its magical power was far too great. A prolonged battle would mean defeat.
“El, Ashera, I’ll try the ultra-vibration. If this doesn’t work, we’ll retreat to the 9th layer once.”
“Yes, brother.”
“Got it.”
Hearing El and Ashera’s responses, I applied ultra-vibration to my magic weapon (greatsword).
A sound like a familiar hum of wings made me charge at the Earth Dragon.
Aim for the neck! Raising the super-vibrating blade, I swung my magic weapon (greatsword) at the Earth Dragon’s neck!
A nasty sound, gyariririii, rang out, but the blade went in surely. I was convinced that the ultra-vibration could defeat the Earth Dragon.
Once I got through the surface scales… in another two seconds, I could cut through the scales… then we’d win!!
The moment I was certain of victory, a crack appeared not in the blade of the magic weapon (greatsword) but in the blade of the dagger it was originally made from…
The dagger that the magic weapon was based on couldn’t withstand the clash with the Earth Dragon’s magic weapon…
The dagger’s blade shattered, and in the same way, the magic weapon’s blade also shattered. At that moment, my magical power dropped to nearly zero.
Before I could even be surprised by the unexpected event, my consciousness faded into darkness…
I gradually regained awareness amidst the surrounding commotion… remembering that I was in battle with the Earth Dragon, I leapt up.
Looking around, it seemed this place was inside a narrow cave.
At the cave’s exit, the Earth Dragon was glaring at me with hostility. It probably couldn’t get into this cave due to its size.
After a roar so loud that I thought it might burst my eardrums, the Earth Dragon exhaled its breath attack.
El, as if to protect me, enveloped himself in a magical shield to block the breath attack.
As for Ashera, before I knew it, she had put on the right gauntlet of my armor and was forming a spherical magic shield behind El.
She was preventing part of the breath from hitting the wall and bouncing back at us.
Even so, she probably couldn’t block all of the attacks. Both El and Ashera were battered.
“Why didn’t you escape to the 9th layer?!”
“I tried to escape immediately, but the Earth Dragon blocked the stairs with earth magic… I’m sorry… it seems we were trapped.”
“Blocked…”
“Yes…”
“…Where is this?”
“While trying to escape using a space kick, we found a cave and took refuge in it.”
She must have judged that it was impossible to move the earth and sand blocking the stairs while carrying me and escape.
She stayed holed up in the cave, enduring silently until I woke up.
There could have been other ways instead of letting me die…
“Both of you… how much magic power do you have left?”
“I probably have about 10% left…”
“I have about that much too…”
I was the only one with magic power… I felt as if this fact was crushing me.
In my mind, thoughts like ‘I have no choice but to defeat the Earth Dragon,’ ‘How?’ ‘My weapons will break in the middle’ swirled endlessly with no answer.
Even so, El and Ashera were already at their limits. The Earth Dragon probably knew that too. It was peeking into the cave, preparing for the next breath attack.
I took out my dagger and spare knife and slowly stood up.
“Brother, what will you do?”
“I’ll defeat the Earth Dragon with an ultra-vibration…”
“It probably won’t hold up…”
“…Even so, staying still here is better than nothing.”
“At the very least… if I had a mithril weapon…”
I suddenly remembered something from El’s words.
I wasn’t supposed to have it normally… I happened to get it on the sixth floor… a precaution from the overly cautious Ms. Naga…
I opened my backpack that was lying at my feet and slowly took out the ‘Mithril Knife.’
It seemed that neither El nor Ashera had remembered it, as they both stared at the ‘Mithril Knife’ with wide eyes.
I put away the spare knife and equipped the Mithril Knife in my right hand and a dagger in my left.
If we didn’t defeat it now, El, Ashera, and of course myself, everyone would probably die.
As time passed, the advantage would be on its side.
It was probably healing, but if even a single wound remained, it’d be a bonus.
When I steeled myself to head toward the Earth Dragon, Ashera pressed a small vial into my hand.
“What’s this?”
“It’s an elven potion Naga gave me. It seems to heal for about a minute.”
“I see. Thanks…”
I decided to keep it in my mouth to use at the crucial moment.
If I crushed it and used it, it should heal the cut in my mouth too, I thought, following the brute-force logic without considering anything else.
If I didn’t survive this place, there was no point worrying about vial shards ending up in my stomach… and I couldn’t imagine having the luxury to drink a potion while holding a mithril knife and a dagger in dual-wielded hands.
So I’d crush it. The rest, I didn’t care about!
“Well, I’m off.”
“We’re counting on you, brother…”
“Aldo, do your best…”
“Yeah, leave it to me!”
I shouted that and, with the secret potion bottle in my mouth, made my way out of the cave. The Earth Dragon probably thought this was just its final struggle. Ignoring El and Ashera, it came chasing after me.
This worked to my advantage. I wanted to draw the Earth Dragon as far away from the cave as possible.
After pulling it about 500 meters away from the cave, the Earth Dragon launched a breath attack. I dodged with the Vernier, but just barely.
I couldn’t take much more. I steeled myself and charged straight at the Earth Dragon.
The Earth Dragon seemed quite angry. From its perspective, we must have been no more than insects.
Annoyingly flying around me, it had the audacity to let me taste pain.
Its intestines must have been boiling with rage.
Bathing in its killing intent, I raced straight through the air toward the Earth Dragon.
Aiming for the neck, I drew out my mithril knife and magic weapon (greatsword) and applied ultra-vibration.
Hiiiiiiiinn. When the magic weapon (greatsword) screamed, I couldn’t help but laugh, thinking, ‘It really is like a flying insect.’
Earth Dragon… you’re going to be killed by that flying insect…
Just when its head was about to be within reach, the Earth Dragon used magic.
It probably prioritized quantity over quality. Pebbles rained down like a shower.
I judged that it was ‘unavoidable,’ bit down on the healing potion I had in my mouth along with the bottle, and drank its contents. Of course, I made sure to spit out the larger pieces of glass.
I probably swallowed some smaller fragments, but it didn’t matter now.
In the midst of the rain of pebbles, I swung the magic weapon (greatsword: ultra-vibration) down with my full weight onto the Earth Dragon’s neck.
A disgusting screeching sound of ‘Gyarrrrrr’ echoed, but thanks to the mithril knife, the magic weapon (greatsword: ultra-vibration) cut through the scales much faster than the previous strike.
It was probably for the first time here that it imagined its own death.
In the eyes of the Earth Dragon, a clear fear appeared, and from its mouth, which had been joyfully breathing out fire, a death cry resounded.
Ignoring the Earth Dragon, which was looking at me with pleading eyes, I, carried by the momentum of slashing its scales, struck down its neck.
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