Wolf searched for Anri, pushing deeper into the mine.
The mine, usually bustling with laborers, now lay deathly still—as if doused with water.
Wyvern bodily fluids dripped everywhere, some of it already crystallizing. Dragon ore—or dragon crystals, as they were called. Valuable as materials for magical tools, medicine, and even ornaments, they sold for high prices.
Even Wolf was amazed.
But finding Anri took priority.
He drove stakes into Wyvern tails as he explored. He'd learned from Reminia's mother's writings that you didn't need to cut them off—just driving foreign objects into the tail would stop them.
Wolf stopped.
Before him loomed a massive dragon crystal.
Five, no, ten times his own height.
And it was cracked open like a cocoon.
Something huge had rampaged through here. The surrounding rock faces were gouged, some portions charred.
[This is bad. The mother dragon's already left her nest.]
He touched the stone gently—still warm. She was close.
[Where is Anri-sama? Don't tell me she's already—]
A tremendous roar echoed.
Wolf spun around, looking up.
Dallas and Lymat—who'd been cutting through Wyvern tails—heard it too. Both spotted the shadow that blotted out the sky at the same time.
"THE MOTHER DRAGON!!" Dallas shouted.
Wolf regrouped with the two, turning to face the Mother Dragon circling through the air. The thunder of hooves came from the mine entrance.
Arriving with his private soldiers was Grand Duke Hairyl.
"Lymat! Dallas! Save Anri!" the Grand Duke called out.
"Huh? Isn't Anri-sama with you?" Dallas asked.
"With me?" Hairyl replied, confused.
Wolf was surprised by the sudden appearance of this richly dressed nobleman—but he didn't miss Dallas's careless remark.
Lymat covered for the slip. "No way! That Mother Dragon has Anri-sama?!"
"Yes," Hairyl said, his voice strained with urgency. "She was carried off. Please—whatever it takes—save her."
"'Whatever it takes,' he says…" Lymat muttered.
Lymat confirmed through his far-seeing goggles. No mistake—Anri was held in the forelimbs extending from the base of the wing. Luckily, no visible wounds, just unconscious.
[But how the hell do we take down that behemoth?]
That mass was the problem. Three or four times larger than a normal Wyvern. Its stamina would be much greater too. Even a B-rank knight and mage working together, throwing all their skills and magic at it, would have a hard time beating it.
And then—
"The dragon's mouth is glowing!" one of the soldiers shouted.
"Hairyl-sama, fall back!" another cried.
The Grand Duke's private soldiers raised an alarm.
Dallas moved to shield Hairyl.
"[Silphine Guard]"
Wind's protective power surrounded his master.
At the same time, a heat ray erupted from the Mother Dragon's mouth.
It tore through the air, gouging the rock face. Not a direct hit—but the blast and shockwave were devastating.
Soldiers went flying.
Hairyl barely escaped thanks to Dallas's magical barrier. Even so, he could barely remain standing.
The breath attack was standard for dragon-kin.
But the Mother Dragon differed from other Wyverns—she could store mana more easily. When that mana mixed with the fire sac in her belly, she could shoot heat rays far more powerful than ordinary flame.
[This really is hopeless. If only we had one more A-rank adventurer…]
Lymat looked up.
Through the swirling dust, he saw a single man standing firm as a protector.
Wolf.
He faced the Mother Dragon, who loomed from above.
His hand went to the sword at his hip.
He meant to fight.
"Wolf—" Lymat began.
"Lymat-dono," Wolf said, his voice steady. "I'll draw her attention. Rescue Anri-sama while I do."
"Wha—hold on—" Lymat sputtered.
"Dallas-dono," Wolf continued, "hit her tail with a magic attack. Even if you can't cut it, landing a blow on that huge body should throw her off balance."
"I-I'll try," Dallas stammered.
"I take it you're His Excellency the Grand Duke," Wolf said, turning to Hairyl.
"Wh-what do you want, adventurer…?" Hairyl managed.
"Don't worry," Wolf said firmly. "Your daughter—Anri-sama—I will save her."
"…Please. I'm counting on you." Hairyl could barely manage to breathe.
Wolf dropped into a forward lean. Hand still on his sword hilt, he shot forward.
The Mother Dragon battle had begun—sudden and without warning.
Dallas scrambled to chant his spell.
"[Zin Vitt Fin]!"
Wind magic, Level 5. Annihilation-class magic. The many blades launched were all directed, by Dallas's full magical control, toward the Mother Dragon's tail. The dragon dodged the barrage of vacuum blades—but one slipped through and struck the tail.
"GYAAAAAAAAH!!"
The huge frame collapsed. Losing control, it began to fall. With a loud crash, it hit the ground.
The dragon wasn't damaged—just shaken, dizzy, its head spinning.
Instead, its mouth glowed red.
The heat ray.
And standing right before its mouth was Wolf.
He poured power into his copper blade, swinging up toward the dragon's snout.
A metallic clang erupted like fireworks.
At the same time, the copper blade spun through the air above the mine and shattered. The blade of his favorite sword—his companion for nearly twenty years—flew out of Wolf's sight.
It couldn't be helped.
He'd cut Wyvern tails—even cut a dragon's body in half—with that blade. Weak spots or not, it had reached its limit.
The Mother Dragon remained unharmed.
It glared at the human who'd appeared before its face. Its mouth began to glow again.
"Damn!" Wolf cursed.
Wolf faltered—but only for an instant.
He gripped what remained—the hilt. He drew back his fist and drove a punch straight into the dragon's snout.
The sound was like rock shattering a castle wall.
* * *
The Mother Dragon's huge body began to fall. Like a thousand-year-old giant tree, the dragon's mass tilted backward.
Everyone was in shock at the sight of a man punching a dragon—and actually knocking it down.
Only one person moved—Lymat, asked by Wolf to rescue Anri. He caught the girl as she slipped from the dragon's forelimb.
At the same time, the princess-knight awoke.
"Wol—?!" Anri gasped.
"Sorry," Lymat said dryly. "Not your Prince Charming."
Lymat carried the princess away from the Mother Dragon. Behind them, the dragon crashed to the ground with an earth-shaking roar.
He passed Wolf, who still stood before it.
Their eyes met.
"Honestly…" Lymat said, a strange smile spreading across his face. "Just who are you, exactly?"
* * *
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" Reminia screamed suddenly in her laboratory.
Gentle spring sunlight streamed through the window, birds chirped outside. The breeze had grown warm, fully spring-like, yet the room remained as empty and dull as ever.
"I had a dream that Papa was in danger!" Reminia exclaimed.
"Huh?" Hashiry said, not looking up from his desk. "More importantly, please don't sleep in the lab. You're technically on duty, you know."
Hashiry sat at his desk, looking through research materials. Not work—just personal research, a hobby. Which meant neither of them had any actual work to do.
"Hey, Hashiry," Reminia said, her voice insistent. "You can go home. Something bad is definitely happening to Papa."
"What are you talking about?" Hashiry asked, finally glancing up. "You've already given your father a full makeover."
"Even so, I'm worried!" Reminia whined.
She flailed her limbs on the chair like a child throwing a tantrum.
[That's strange…] Hashiry thought to himself. [She's supposed to be the daughter of the Great Hero (Legend) we brought from the Nikaras countryside…]
Hashiry's temple twitched.
Suddenly, Reminia stood. Hashiry expected her to actually leave—but instead, the girl raised her hand.
She began to chant.
Branch of words from the sacred tree.
Pure water blessed by grace.
Wrath of those who slumber deep in the earth.
I, Reminia, desire it:
The key that holds sacred power to banish evil!
At the twilight hour, reveal the holy sword that breaks the curse!!
[Holy Relic Release (Ris)! Aurora Blade (Es Ralda)!!]
A magic circle appeared, rising to reveal a single sword. It blazed with dazzling light, turning the room white in an instant.
Reminia gripped the hilt.
Squinting through the bright light, Hashiry finally found his voice.
"A holy relic?" Hashiry gasped. "Wait—you can use summoning magic too?"
A grand magic equal to Level 6. Holy relic summoning—requiring not just difficulty but Level 9 advanced techniques.
Even decades—no, a century—of training might not be enough to master such magic. Yet this fifteen-year-old girl had done it as if it were nothing. Hashiry thought she must be dreaming.
But it seemed nothing special to Reminia. She simply answered "Mm" without boasting about her relic or her magic.
"What are you going to do with that thing?!" Hashiry demanded.
It was hard enough just keeping her eyes open—the pressure from the sword alone threatened to blow the lab apart.
Reminia lightly tossed the sword, and it spun once midair and vanished. As if nothing had happened, the lab returned to its former emptiness.
Hashiry realized—now it was teleportation magic.
High-difficulty grand magic, Level 6, same as summoning.
"Wha—!" Hashiry sputtered. "Where did you send the holy relic?!"
"To Papa," Reminia said simply.
"To your father?!" Hashiry exclaimed. "No—if you send something like that, Wolf-sama would be completely bewildered! Imagine a holy sword suddenly dropping into his lap while he's cooking—he'd jump out of his skin!"
"It's fine," Reminia said, waving her hand dismissively. "Papa will make good use of it. Besides, it's a limited-use spell. I set it to disappear once the crisis is averted. No problem, Hashiry."
"Everything about this is a problem!!" Hashiry shouted.
This was too much for Hashiry to understand. Maybe she should just go back to the countryside herself…
That was her thought that spring afternoon.
* * *
Now he had no weapon.
Though he'd knocked it down, the Mother Dragon was still alive and getting up.
To finish it, he needed to shatter its hard dragon scales. But bare-handed, that was impossible. He needed a weapon.
Just as he thought that, the world before him filled with light.
In that blinding light, he squinted and saw a single sword floating. It drifted toward him—and was drawn into his hand as if by gravity.
Somewhere between a longsword and a claymore, several times larger than his copper blade yet light as a feather. When he swung it experimentally, it glittered like a star.
The blade itself was unremarkable—no different from any other sword. But there was no doubt: this was a holy sword, or perhaps a demon sword, of some kind.
A miracle? Or a doting daughter's overprotective meddling? Wolf couldn't decide.
But one thing he could say:
"With this, I can cut the dragon."
Wolf raised the blade.
The Mother Dragon moved its head while still prone. It rumbled low. The sound seemed almost afraid of the sword.
Then its mouth glowed.
The heat ray was coming!
"Wolf-dono! Dodge!!" Lymat screamed.
He couldn't. Lymat, Dallas, Grand Duke Hairyl, and Anri were behind him. He couldn't retreat. And there was no time to hesitate.
The heat ray erupted.
A single streak of red light cut through the air as it raced toward Wolf. The shockwave gouged the ground.
"NNNOOOOOOOOO!!" Wolf roared.
With a roar of pure will, Wolf swung down the mysterious holy sword.
He heard a muffled thud.
In that instant, the heat ray from the Mother Dragon was pushed back.
It deflected slightly to the right—and pierced the Mother Dragon's wing.
"GRYYYYYYYAAAAAHHH!!"
The scream of pain echoed. The Mother Dragon thrashed wildly.
Wolf stared in stunned silence.
So did everyone else.
"The Mother Dragon's breath…" one soldier breathed.
"Deflected it," another whispered in disbelief.
"Unbelievable…" a third murmured.
A beat later, cheers erupted like battle cries. The soldiers, discouraged just moments before, saw their morale soar.
Wolf heard the cheers behind him as he looked at the sword. Not a single nick on the beautiful blade—and reflected in it, a soot-covered, sturdy man.
Summary:
Wolf ventures into the Wyvern-infested mine to rescue Anri, only to confront the colossal Mother Dragon and lose his beloved copper sword. Lymat and Dallas attempt to assist while Grand Duke Hairyl arrives with his private soldiers, and Lymat spots Anri unconscious in the dragon's grasp. Meanwhile, Reminia senses her father's danger through a dream, summons and teleports a holy sword to Wolf, who uses it to deflect the Mother Dragon's heat ray and turn the tide of battle.
Trivia:
Wolf's copper sword had served him for nearly twenty years before shattering against the Mother Dragon.
Reminia's mother's posthumous writings taught Wolf that driving stakes into Wyvern tails immobilizes them without needing to cut.
The Mother Dragon is three to four times larger than a normal Wyvern and can accumulate mana more easily.
Dallas uses two named wind magic spells: [Silphine Guard] (protective) and [Zin Vitt Fin] (Level 5 annihilation-class).
Reminia is fifteen years old and can perform Level 6 grand magic including holy relic summoning and teleportation.
The holy sword Reminia sends to Wolf is called Aurora Blade (Es Ralda) via Holy Relic Release (Ris).
The sword is described as somewhere between a longsword and a claymore, several times larger than Wolf's copper blade yet light as a feather.
Wolf punched the Mother Dragon and knocked it down with a single bare-handed strike before receiving the holy sword.
Hashiry is from the Nikaras countryside and brought Reminia to the capital, believing she was the daughter of the Great Hero (Legend).
The Mother Dragon's breath attack is a heat ray fueled by mana mixing with a fire sac in her belly, stronger than ordinary flame breath.
Lymat uses far-seeing goggles to confirm Anri's condition from a distance.
Grand Duke Hairyl arrived with private soldiers and personally begged for Anri's rescue.
The Mother Dragon's wing was pierced by its own deflected heat ray.
The soldiers' morale skyrocketed after witnessing Wolf deflect the heat ray.
Reminia set the holy sword to automatically disappear once the crisis is averted.
Notes:
• Anri - A beautiful half-elf princess knight and daughter of Grand Duke Hairyl, she is a B-rank adventurer, Captain of the Blue Brigade, and frontier vigilante. With blonde hair, pale skin, and a slender, muscular frame, she carries an aristocratic bearing. Recently rescued after being carried off by a dragon, she is Wolf’s devoted fiancée, possessing absolute confidence in his strength.
• Wolf - A 42-year-old former A-rank adventurer now operating at SSS-rank levels, he retired to Nicalas Village to raise his daughter, Reminia, as a humble farmer and craftsman. Though soot-stained and calm, this protective, curly-haired father possesses immense, beyond-human strength. A pragmatic, understated mentor, he leads by example, balancing quiet devotion with the quiet authority of a seasoned guardian.
• Reminia - Fifteen-year-old Great Hero of Straval and researcher of the Double World Theory, this willful, intelligent girl sports striking red hair, amethyst eyes, and a slender build. A dedicated protector of her father, Wolf, she balances a tomboyish exterior with immense, limited-use magic—including holy relics and teleportation. Her speech shifts between analytical precision and deep devotion to him.
• Dallas - A B-rank knight, adventurer, and mage, he serves as Anri's attendant and Lymat's companion. Clad in black robes, he wields wind magic like Silphine Guard and Zin Vitt Fin. Though nervous and prone to visible stress in tense situations, he is a capable combatant who works alongside Wolf. He speaks casually, often displaying more emotion than Lymat, and was involved in the ruse regarding Anri's kidnapping.
• Lymat - A young, B-rank knight and mage serving under Henri. With pale green curls and narrow eyes, she is a pragmatic, observant attendant who uses far-seeing goggles for reconnaissance. Skilled in swordsmanship and respectful in speech, she acts as a capable adventurer. Working alongside Wolf and Dallas, she is increasingly awed by Wolf's abilities, though remains suspicious of his secret knowledge of dragons.
• Hairyl - Grand Duke and Lord of Rifalas, older brother to King Murad and a powerful mine operator ruling 15% of Lexenil. A formal, extremely busy royal, he is the devoted father of Henri and Anri. Driven by genuine concern for his daughter’s safety, he arrives with private soldiers to execute a desperate rescue mission, balancing his heavy political responsibilities with deep paternal instincts.
• Hashiry - A 24-year-old A-class mage and researcher at the Royal Magical Research Institute, she is Reminia’s tall, slender, white-haired advisor and secretary. Sporting a white and gold jacket, boyish features, and pale blue eyes, she balances professional, patient service with a playful, teasing dynamic. Often exasperated by Reminia’s overprotectiveness, she observes her superior's magical feats with disbelief.