Chapter 45 (1/2)
45 Breaking past the Firedrake! A Fight to Advance!
“Let’s go!”
Without even needing me to voice the words, the four children silently dash forward in response to nal
They headed towards the firedrake
I had everyone employ [Stealth Steps] but, as expected, even the firedrake would notice them once they approached its vicinity
Eleing Donna along with him, headed towards the left
As for ht at the firedrake even when the four separate
Naturally, the firedrake turns its attention to me, the one in front
There,
“∩ ∨ ―― 《Flashlight》!”
I compressed the duration of the spell to an instant and produced a high-intensity ∩ (light)
Of course,them
Gugyaaa!?
The blinded firedrake shrieked
Using that opening, the four children slip past the firedrake and move to their predetermined positions
Meanwhile, I slide under the dragon’s belly as I use [Psychokinesis] on the wire hook that Melby had taken out forit forward
Beck had already taken a stance with his waist lowered and both arle ― the 《Mad Bull Stance》
He wouldn’t be thrown off balance so easily because he had the [Toughness] skill as well, or so he said
There is an added mechanism on the hook that wasn’t there the last time I used it, back when I slipped out of the Nest for Melby’s sake
I wind the reel with [Psychokinesis] and succeed in slipping underneath the firedrake before it moves
Then, I circled behind Beck
“ΩルΩル ーー《Stronghold》!”
With a four-symbol activation, earthen walls form around Beck’s lower body
At the sa thethen the walls as much as possible
I don’t knohat happened exactly, but the exterior face of the walls dissolved into a toffee-like state and then hardened in the same way as a mineral
At that moment, the firedrake finally turned this way
Either its regeneration ability had kicked into action, or it never received a serious wound in the first place
When I glanced back to check uel had already run through the cavern and their figures were now disappearing behind a bend
That corner wasn’t directly in line with Beck and the firedrake, so they would be safe from attacks
I retrieve soments from the leather pouch at my waist that I used specifically to store them, and throw them at the firedrake’s head in succession
I thought they would be repelled by its scales, but the fragments tore the firedrake’s hide to pieces
The firedrake glares at er
Then, it inhaled deeply
“Beck, Melby!”
“I’ht! Wait, who’s Melby?”
“I’m fine!”
I could hear the shrill voices of the fire spirits
The eht, I suppose
Right after the glint in the firedrake’s eyes sharpened, an intense radiance surged out from within its throat
Practically the only thing that could be seen froht
The ray of light was partially deflected upwards through Melby’s intervention, but even so, it remained on a direct course towards Beck’s torso
Below the earthen walls, I lay face-down in Beck’s shadow as the super high-teulfs Beck’s upper body
Although I knew that this 《Mad Bull Stance》 would turn one’s upper body invincible through a Godly power, this spectacle was still bad for the heart
With that thought in on attacked and learned that “it would be fine as long as he took the bloith his upper body”
The breath attack engulfed Beck’s upper body and continued to extend past us,the cavern wall
We were exposed to the breath attack for what seemed like an eternity, but then it stopped
Furtherht froh the si hot air that remained from the firedrake’s breath attack did made it a bit hazy
There―
“Ω、Ω、Ω、Ω!”
With all ic] and create s to stand on
The cavity was still hot, but the eh it at least
Ele Donna, returned from further inside the cavern
“It’s done! Let’s go!”
Heedingtime to even nod, the two advanced down the “path”
“Fellow believer Beck, you should hurry too!”
I shouted out to the sole re person, Beck
However, he didn’t respond to my call
Instead, he just stared fixedly at the firedrake without even budging from his place before the earthen wall
“Beck!”
“ーGo on ahead, Fellow believer Orochi!”
“Huh!? What are you saying!”
“I will hold it back here! If I don’t, you guys won’t be able to get away!”
The firedrake once again inhales in preparation for a breath attack
Upon noticing Beck approach, the firedrake interrupts its breath attack to stomps down on him
“Beck!”
I thought he had been crushed, but Beck eht the dragon’s foot
“After all, I aht Dikreos Wawn’s son!
As if I could leave my comrades and turn my back on the ENEMY!!!”
Beck gives a warcry as he slowly forces back the dragon’s foot which he had stopped
Despite its initial surprise, the firedrake repositioned its other legs and put evenBeck
Noould be the ti!
“Ah geez! What an unwelcome favour that is!”
I retrieved so that was hanging on
Really, just what are these fragments?
Incidentally, the stock of fragments that had di was secretly replenished by Melby
The firedrake groans viciously as it stumbles
Meanwhile, Beck slipped out froon’s foot
“What do you mean by an unwelcome favour, Fellow believer Orochi!
needs you more than me!”
“As if I care about that!
If you died, Mona, Pingu, Mitchell, Cat’s Eye, Mole, Dog, and the others, everyone… everyone would mourn for you!
Everyone! We’re all returning to the children’s rooether!”
Cat’s Eye, Mole, and whatnot were the naiven to the children in the Nest
Most of the nah Gazaine couldn’t be bothered to think up new names every time
“I can’t do that!
Someone has to stay behind to hold back the firedrake!”
“That’s why I said I’ll do it!
Even in a one-on-one battle, I would be the one with the highest chance of survival!”
“You can’t be sure of that, right!?
No uarantee that you won’t be done in by the firedrake!”
“Like I said―”
“That―”
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!?”
The sudden shout caused Beck and I to flinch instinctively
Somehow, I felt that even the firedrake, which had been extracting the fragments with its mouth, seemed to be surprised
The one who interjected in our unsightly arguuel nor Elemia――
“Donna! Why did you return―”
“I’m here too!”
“Me too!”
When I turned around, a red-head and a head of silver ran past on either side of me
Carried by the e to the outside, Miguel strikes at the firedrake as Elema throws her knives
“We’re going to stop it here!
Donna, go scold those two idiots!”
“O-oi, what are you saying?
Why did everyone return!?”
When I unintentionally flared up,
“Fellow believer Orochi and Fellow believer Beck, this way!”
Donna said that, grasping at the napes of Beck and
Of course, we could shake ourselves free if we became serious, but we couldn’t oppose Donna’s intensity With her dog ears now erect instead of laying flat as they did nored further into the covers of the cavern
“Beck-kun!
Why didn’t you obey Orochi-kun’s decision when he was elected the leader by everyone!”
It seeitated, as she attached ‘-kun’ to our names instead of ‘Fellow believer’
“B-but I’ht…”
“That’s irrelevant!
I would definitely have opposed if Beck-kun needed to be sacrificed!”
“Uu, ah……”
Beckaround
Having talked Beck down, Donna instantly turned to look in my direction
“Orochi-kun too!
Didn’t you say you would immediately follow behind us!?”
“N-no, I did intend to properly follow after you guys…
But Beck, this guy……”
“Don’t lay the blame on others!
Orochi-kun, you thought you would fight the firedrake alone, confine it as long as possible, and take it down if you got lucky, didn’t you!?”
“Uh…!”
With her hitting the mark, I was at a loss for words just like Beck
I didn’t think as far as taking it down, but I did think that the firedrake ht be surprised and run away if I used one or two of my secret weapons
“M-?”
“There’s no way that’s it
It’s girls’ intuition”
So it’s a girl’s inherent ability
Please include that in the status
“Why do you have to do it alone, Orochi-kun!?
Even I, even Eleh we all want to help Orochi-kun, why don’t you direct us!?
Are we that unreliable!?”
“Ah, no, that is…”
Indeed, that ht be the case
Even without doing the tightrope act of inducing the firedrake’s breath attack to create a path, having the four earn ti with 《Tunnel》would have been a
The reason I didn’t do that was because I orried about the four fighting against the firedrake without me
I certainly intended for all four of them to return alive, but on the other hand, I also doubted their strength
Thisfor them when they were fired up about their th
“Sigh… that’s right
It’s just like you said”
Even as I was being scolded like this, Miguel and Elemia skilfully continued to evade the firedrake’s attacks
――No, it was for the sake of the coether with
“Beck I’m sorry