Why was the Fire Dragon, which had attacked the defensive city of Zadoltosh , in such a place?
The knights’ explanation was as follows:
First, the dragon attacked two days ago. A messenger was immediately sent, but there was no response, so they concluded that there must have been some sort of interference. Then, the mages in the city managed to fend off the dragon’s flames, while the knights fought back, and by that night, the dragon was repelled.
However, the next day, meaning yesterday, monsters were approaching the city. As they fought back, and considering what had happened the previous day, they searched the city just to be cautious, and, to their surprise, they discovered a scent that was attracting the monsters. After disposing of the scent and defeating the monsters, the city was exhausted, but a new wave of monsters was soon confirmed.
These five knights had been thwarted by the messenger of the sacred bird two days ago, so, knowing the danger, they volunteered to carry the message… which means the defensive city is still under threat.
This Fire Dragon was the very same dragon that attacked the city, and they regretted not bringing any mages with them upon this unexpected encounter.
“Understood. Then, let us head to Zadoltosh ,” I said.
“I thought you would say that,” Belial nodded happily.
The five knights seemed confused and were trying to say something, but they couldn’t find the right words. Perhaps they wanted to warn me of the danger, but more forces are always better, I thought.
“…Apologies, and thank you. I am Vice Commander Barnabas. If you mention my name, it should make things easier.”
“Understood. I have heard that Tenatite has noticed the anomaly here and sent messengers to all the cities,” I replied.
A knight, around forty years old, took off his helmet and bowed. I also bowed, my hands clasped in front of me, distancing myself from the ground.
“Be careful!” they said.
The five knights quickly disappeared from view, and a massive dragon corpse was exposed.
Zadoltosh , the so-called defensive city, was surrounded by thick, high walls. Inside the city, sturdy buildings lined the streets. Surrounding the city was a moat drawn from the Tisty River, and at the moment, the drawbridge was raised, meaning no one could enter unless it was lowered.
I could see mages and archers lined up on a path running along the top of the wall, so I approached carefully, trying not to be noticed.
When the mages saw us, they consulted with each other, likely unsure whether we were enemies or allies.
“I have a message. I received a request from Vice Commander Barnabas, and I have come. I understand that monsters are widely spread, so I will cast an area-wide attack spell. Where is the commander?” I called out.
As I raised my voice, one of the mages flew toward me using a flying spell. She carried a mithril staff with a black gem embedded in it, and wore a different black robe compared to the other mages.
“Vice Commander Barnabas just left. He should not yet have arrived at the royal capital. What is going on?” she asked.
“I met him just before this city. I’m aware of the situation. Those must be the monsters, right?” I replied.
In the northwest, a mixed group of monsters from various species was approaching. The swarm stretched over hundreds of meters and, with the city already exhausted from previous attacks, this was clearly a massive threat.
They were getting close enough that each one of the monsters could be seen clearly.
“…We had just decided to take shelter and hold out. We ran out of high-quality mana potions… And just before we noticed the attack, the commander discovered and pursued some enemy troops who had been carrying out operations within the city, leaving with a small unit. When the news of the commander’s absence reached us, Vice Commander Barnabas had already left… Looking back, it seems that was a diversion,” the mage explained.
“This appears to be a military operation by some nation. In any case, let us first drive back the monsters. I will begin the spell, and I ask that you stay out of here until it’s done,” I said.
“Thank you! Once you create confusion with your magic, we will strike out!” the male mage said, relaxing his previously tense expression.
He guided me to a patrol passage on the wall, directly facing the monsters.
Belial and the mage remained nearby, while the other mages and archers kept their distance, watching the situation.
“Now, let’s see what you’re capable of,” Belial said challengingly.
I nodded and spread my arms, beginning to chant.
“Army of blizzards, heralds of death who rage through the withered fields, come forth. Kneel before me and show your power.”
“This chant… It’s a forbidden spell because of its potency… Where did you learn this…?” the black-robed mage murmured, swallowing nervously.
A biting cold wind swept across the open field, freezing the monsters in their tracks. I envisioned the effect zone in my mind and, after focusing, clasped my hands together, turning my palms inward.
“Freeze, freeze! Let not a single drop of blood remain warm. No longer will anything stand in the way of the Legion’s march. Advance! Gross Tourbillon de Neige!”
With my right arm extended sideways like a blade, parallel to the ground, a violent blizzard suddenly raged across the plains, freezing the vast horde of monsters that had been approaching us, turning them into ice monsters.
No shadow moved.
Then, I lowered my hand and added an extra chant to finish them off.
“The flowers will scatter, the leaves will fall…”
It was poetic, and I liked it, but I had never used it before, so I didn’t know what the effect would be.
The ice-bound monsters all shattered and collapsed. They made a crackling sound as they returned to the earth.
It was a complete annihilation. All their lives were lost in an instant.
“Eh!? The effect is too much…! Scary!”
Even I was frightened by the overwhelming result.
“See!? This is why you should never test it out in a real battle!!”
“I had no choice! When I tried to test it at the research facility, I was stopped because the chant would exceed the boundary of the magical barrier and break it!”
In truth, there were a few spells I couldn’t test even with the facilities at Egdualum. Are all spells like this… And this spell isn’t even the strongest water spell…
“Um… excuse me, who exactly are you? You’re wearing white, but you’re not a mage from the royal palace, right? Are you an S-rank adventurer? And that last additional chant… what was that?”
The black-robed mage asked, his voice trembling. Do mages from the royal palace of Chenkaslar wear white? For now, I decided to simply state my current occupation.
“No, I’m a magic tool craftsman.”
“…A craftsman?”
He seemed to want to say “Are you lying?”
At this point, I thought it would be best to just leave quickly.
“By the way, I heard the commander is absent. Do you know where he went?”
“Ah, yes, to the east. Toward the steep mountain.”
In the direction he pointed, there was a sparse forest, and beyond it, a rocky mountain towered.
Did the enemy retreat to the mountain…? There’s no way they climbed it, right? Maybe they went through a path between the rocks.
“Well then, I’ll go check it out!”
“Ah, please wait! May I have your name…?”
I didn’t respond, instead heading toward the barren mountain path with Belial.
It seems there was a battle on the way.
Bloodstains marked the rocky, dirt path. I also noticed a fallen knight in armor, but he was already dead. The armor was badly damaged, indicating the enemy had considerable offensive power.
Maybe we’re too late…
Just as I thought this, I heard an inhuman scream from further ahead.
I found a survivor nearby, breathing heavily, but if there were others still fighting, I decided to prioritize them. The knight, whose eyes met mine, held his injured side and nodded painfully, signaling that he understood.
“Only you remain now.”
The man sitting in the middle of the path had his right arm sliced off at the shoulder, and an enormous amount of blood was pouring out. The sword was pointed at him by a dragon-faced creature with a human body, a member of the dragonkin race, Zmew. The dragonkin are said to possess strength superior to humans.
This creature had single-handedly cut down multiple enemies, destroyed armor, and severed arms… It seemed even more dangerous than the rumors suggested. The man, sweating profusely, pressed his shoulder and glared at the enemy, who was about to deal the final blow.
“Hoh, a Zmew from the dragonkin. How rare.”
Belial smoothly stepped forward, and both opponents turned to face him at the same time.
“How vile,” they sneered contemptuously.
“You…! I don’t know who you are, but do you mock me!?”
“Mock? How odd. Someone like you, sending such weaklings to attack the city, is surely without any real skill!”
This might be an effort to draw attention, or perhaps a protest for not having a share of the spoils, but either way, I decided to move aside and stealthily approach the injured man. I picked up a sword lying nearby.
The provocation seemed successful, as the dragonkin immediately charged toward Belial. His movements were fast, closing the distance in an instant, and when the dragonkin’s one-edged sword clashed with Belial’s flaming sword, a sharp metallic sound echoed.
In the next moment, the dragonkin’s sword and arm were engulfed in flames, and it quickly jumped back.
“What… what is this!? Magic!?”
Panicking over the flames, the dragonkin seemingly used water magic, extinguishing the fire immediately.
“Don’t be so surprised. It’s just a greeting.”
“You… You’re not human, are you!”
It seems the dragonkin quickly realized. Belial said nothing, simply smirking.
The dragonkin continued to advance while shooting ice magic, but against Belial’s flames, the ice instantly melted away, rendering the attacks useless.
Just as the dragonkin was about to enter striking range, a burst of flames erupted from the ground, forcing him to reveal a gap, and Belial’s flame sword arced toward him. The dragonkin barely dodged, but a long, deep cut appeared on his left arm, and dark blood dripped down.
I approached the man in white armor and took an elixir from my bag.
“This is a healing potion. Please drink it.”
“Ugh… I’m sorry…”
Having lost his dominant arm, he was clearly in great pain. His face twisted in agony as he had already lost a lot of blood and was about to collapse. I supported his back, opened the bottle, and offered the red potion to his lips.
The man gulped it down in one go, exhaled, then opened his eyes wide and winced.
“Ugh… what is this!? It’s… hot! Is it poison!?”
How rude. There’s no way a potion could heal a missing limb without pain.
The man collapsed to the ground, holding his shoulder, groaning and curling up.
The change came swiftly.
“Ugh… tsk…”
His groans grew softer as golden magical energy enveloped his body, tracing the shape of his lost hand. As the light shaped a new right arm, the missing limb reappeared.
“…!!?”
The man’s eyes widened in realization, and he immediately looked at his newly restored right hand.
He cautiously moved his fingers, slowly making a fist and then opening it again.
“This… My arm…!?”
“Here, your sword.”
I handed the sword I had picked up to the man, who sat up and looked at me in surprise.
“This… my arm!?”
“Here, the sword.”
I handed the sword I had picked up to the man, who had risen, while still kneeling on both knees.
After confirming the sword, the man looked at me.
“…Who are you? And what is this medicine…?”
The man had brown hair and green eyes that looked familiar, as if I had seen them somewhere before. Did he resemble someone?
His battered armor told the tale of how intense the battle had been.
“Let’s talk about that later.”
I shifted my gaze to where Belial and the others were still fighting.
Belial seemed to have plenty of room to spare. It almost looked like he was playing with the dragonkin. The dragonkin was using magic and swords, but it was completely ineffective, and I could see that the dragonkin was getting desperate.
The dragonkin briefly distanced itself and began chanting something. It must have been in the language of the Zmew dragonkin tribe, as I had no idea what the words meant.
“Danger, that one!!”
The man in front of me shouted. It seems that he, too, was affected by the magic.
A massive water dragon appeared behind the dragonkin, with three heads that rushed toward Belial.
…It wasn’t as impressive as I thought. There were only three heads. If we’re going to go for it, we might as well wish for a hydra with nine heads that regenerates immediately after being cut.
Belial, unimpressed, sighed and simply walked toward the water dragon. The water hit him and tried to encase him, increasing in density.
However, a large amount of steam began to rise, enveloping everything in a dense white mist, making it impossible to see anything.
“What is this smoke… why is it like this!?”
It seemed the one who cast the spell didn’t understand. It’s simply evaporating due to Belial’s flames.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared through the obscured vision, and when I realized it was Belial, the dragonkin was already injured with a deep gash across its abdomen. Even the tough dragon scales were no match for Belial’s sword.
“…You’re boring. I’m starting to get tired of this.”
“Uoohhh! This… this is impossible!!”
The dragonkin, now completely disdainful, stepped back while shouting.
It seemed it briefly glanced at me before it took action.
“If this is the case… I’ll drag you down with me!”
With a final, desperate effort, the dragonkin closed the distance at an incredible speed. It was so fast that I couldn’t react in time. Before I could even make a sound in surprise, the dragonkin was already in front of me.
At the moment it raised its sword—
Clang!
The swords collided with a deafening sound.
The knight from earlier had stepped in, holding the sword tightly with both hands and blocking the attack.
“You… I severed your arm, didn’t I!?”
“Maybe it’s a gift from the gods.”
The dragonkin stared in shock and remained silent.
It slowly began to collapse.
Behind it was Belial. His flame-covered sword had pierced through the dragonkin’s tough scales and stabbed all the way through its abdomen.
“…Gods are such a nuisance.”
Finally, the battle seemed to be over. This was truly the last enemy.
It seemed that this Zmew dragonkin had been responsible for the operation and had been exiled from the dragonkin village for some reason. Apparently, someone from a neighboring country had offered to help him conquer the city so he could claim it as his own territory, promising to expand the land by conquering this kingdom of Chenkaslar together.
What a troublesome story.
“So… who are you?”
“I received a request from Lord Barnabas and came here in haste.”
“…Barnabas? Why?”
Ah, I see. This person must have been unaware that Barnabas had sent the messenger out since he had been dealing with further monster attacks.
“Please ask him directly. But more importantly, I just saw some survivors. We should prioritize healing.”
“Indeed. …There might only be two or three left alive. They were a terrifying opponent.”
The man bowed his head in sorrow. He had lost many of his subordinates to that one dragonkin. The enemy was quick, and even a single blow could be fatal. It couldn’t be helped, but still…
“Then, take this. Two high potions and two advanced potions.”
He took four potions out of his item box and offered them.
“I cannot accept these!”
“No, I would like to help with the healing, but I must hurry. Please use these instead.”
After saying that, I turned to Belial and told him we should go.
“Wait, I haven’t thanked you yet…”
“Sorry! It’s already evening, and I need to secure a place to stay!”
“Huh? We can find you a place to stay here… wait!”
By the time he tried to stop me, I was already floating in the air using flight magic, heading back toward the defense city.
