Lesser Dragon Breath
The Lesser Dragon Breath. Somehow, I’d ended up with a new companion, but my task hadn’t changed. The golem seemed willing to wait until I was ready; it lowered its sword. Thanks to that, I had plenty of time to prepare, and I offered the golem a word of thanks for its patience.
“I don’t know if you can understand me, but thanks.”
At my words, the golem gave a light shrug of its shoulders. Its attitude seemed to say it didn’t care as long as it could fight, so I let out a small chuckle. It probably had no self-awareness, but judging by its behavior, it acted like a warrior who would do anything as long as it could battle.
“Alright. If you want a fight, I’ll give you one.”
I poured aura into my sword and drew summoning circles around me. From the circles that appeared on all sides, my summons began to emerge. The moment their numbers swelled in an instant, the golem tilted its head. It counted each one of us carefully, tilting its head again and again as it double-checked the count. Once it finished, the corners of its previously motionless mouth slowly curved upward.
An overwhelming force, incomparable to before, erupted from the golem.
“……!”
I instinctively realized what this trial in the ruins truly was: to defeat an existence stronger than oneself. The golem had measured our level and was now unleashing its full power.
“So that’s why there’s an arena inside. Makes sense.”
I gripped my sword tighter and smiled. The opponent was a formidable foe, but I had no intention of backing down. If I couldn’t overcome even a trial like this, there was no way I could reach the pinnacle I dreamed of. And all the experience points I’d burned through to grow stronger would lose their meaning.
Since I wanted to test the limits of my power, I planned to fight a little roughly. I glanced at Adela with a hint of concern.
“Adela. Can you fight?”
“Yeah. I’m strong.”
When she raised her hand, an exoskeleton covered it. The sight of an exoskeleton that could easily tear through steel washed away my worries. That’s right. No matter how delicate she looked, she was still a monster.
With my concern for Adela resolved, I turned back to the golem. It crooked a finger at us.
“Ha. Does it actually have emotions?”
The way it beckoned us as if to say come at me made me grin. I lowered my stance. At the same time, some of the nearby Ikelos shattered into fragments and clung to my body. The shards adjusted their shape, interlocking with precision until a full suit of armor formed around me.
Then—
I leaped toward the golem. Adding my aura to the power Ikelos lent me, I moved several times faster than before. The space around me shrank rapidly. The instant I reached the golem, I spread my legs and dropped low.
“Let’s start with a simple greeting.”
I poured my blooming aura into the blade without holding back and swung a horizontal slash. The elegant arc aimed to cleave the golem in two. It smoothly stepped back and disrupted the line with its own sword. Then it took a single step forward and thrust its blade straight at my throat. A fluid combination that showed exactly what a supple sword could do.
If things continued like this, my neck would be pierced. But I wasn’t worried. This fight wasn’t mine alone.
Clang!
An Ikelos that had charged in over my shoulder clamped its jaws around the golem’s sword. Its spinning teeth clashed violently against the aura coating the blade in a contest of strength. At the same time, Adela, who had moved to the golem’s side, drove a powerful fist into its flank.
The golem was sent flying like a ball struck by a bat from the perfectly timed combo. Yet Adela’s expression remained grim.
“My attack was too shallow.”
“It deliberately flew back to reduce the damage.”
“I’m the only one who got hurt.”
“It swung its sword while flying and managed to cut you.”
A long gash had appeared on the exoskeleton covering its side. Thanks to its unique regenerative ability, the wound would heal quickly, but it had been quite deep. If she hadn’t instinctively deployed her exoskeleton after seeing the counterattack, she would have taken a fatal blow. Adela stared at the golem with eyes full of caution.
The golem landed gracefully on the ground, casually brushed the dust off its shoulder, and pointed its sword at us. The sensation that I could be skewered at any moment made my skin crawl. At the same time, my summons sensed the danger and rushed in.
The golem’s body vanished the instant it saw the summons closing in from every direction. It reappeared with its sword already buried deep inside the mouth of the nearest Ikelos. The speed was so fast I couldn’t even register it. I bit my lip at the speed that defied imagination and shouted.
“Adela, stay sharp! We can’t beat this thing alone!”
“Confirmed.”
Adela must have registered the golem’s speed too. She crouched low, ready to counter any attack. The golem, having bisected an Ikelos in the blink of an eye, left afterimages as it dismantled the incoming summons one by one. It sliced cleanly through necks, legs, and torsos only—its movements were composed purely of efficiency.
The way it carved through the summons in the most optimal form possible was almost beautiful. Threatening, yes, but unfortunately, it hadn’t realized the true nature of the Ikelos.
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
The severed Ikelos pieces fused back together in an instant, restoring themselves to their original forms before charging at the golem again. Seeing the enemies it had just dealt with regenerate and rush back in, the golem reacted swiftly. It spun and sliced apart the approaching Ikelos once more.
“Grrrr!”
“Grrraaawr!”
But the Ikelos didn’t care how many times they were cut. They kept biting and tearing at the golem. Unless it shredded every single fragment, slashing attacks were extremely inefficient against them. Only after the Ikelos had completely swarmed its body did the golem finally realize this. It wrapped its entire form in mana and detonated it outward.
Boom!
The mana control, closer to a technique than raw power, sent the Ikelos flying. While the damaged Ikelos were pulling themselves back together, we finished our own preparations and filled the gap they had left, launching our assault on the golem.
“I’ll attack from above!”
“Then I’ll take below!”
I thrust my sword at the golem, whose posture had been thrown off by the shockwave. Even in that precarious stance, it smoothly deflected my blade and looked at me. But before it could respond, Adela had already slipped inside its guard. She formed sharp claws and raked them across its abdomen. The golem reacted a fraction too late and barely managed to block with its arm.
Krrrrrk!
The moment Adela’s attack failed, my own strike followed. If I missed, Adela would strike again. We kept the relentless chain going. The golem struggled to block the continuous barrage of attacks. If our timing slipped even slightly, we would give it an opening to counter. But I wasn’t worried.
Thanks to the mental link created by our taming contract, we could share each other’s thoughts. That allowed us to coordinate with perfect timing. Still, we couldn’t keep pushing it back like this. The more it blocked our attacks, the more it read our patterns and regained its composure. Besides, this was our first time fighting together, so perfection was impossible.
Bang!
“Ugh?!”
Seizing the tiny delay in Adela’s attack, the golem drove an iron mountain strike into my abdomen. The pain was so intense I couldn’t breathe for a moment, but I refused to lose consciousness. Passing out here would mean the end. I bit my tongue to stay focused and gave an order to my summons.
Vrrrrrr—!
The Rune Golem that had been hovering nearby began to glow. Its Gravity Field activated. The golem floated upward and was pulled in front of the Rune Golem. The waiting construct’s fist came crashing down. But the golem had been waiting for exactly that. It poured aura into its sword, sliced off the Rune Golem’s arm, then stabbed straight into its core and forcibly unsummoned it.
Standing atop the fading remains of the Rune Golem, it looked down at us. I simply smiled back.
“Just as I thought.”
It had only been a short time, but I knew this thing would definitely find a way to destroy the Rune Golem. That was why I had prepared my next move in advance. I consumed the mana I had stored beforehand. A massive summoning circle formed behind me. Beyond the rift that opened, an enormous wave of heat surged forth.
[Grrrrrr]
Vertical-slit pupils observed our world from beyond the rift. The Lesser Dragon that lived in a burning world was preparing its breath to tear apart the enemy, just as the contract demanded.
……!
Even the golem couldn’t ignore this. It showed the most intense reaction yet and tried to escape the breath’s range. But I had already anticipated that.
“Rune Golem! Gravity Field!”
I deployed one of the Rune Golems I had kept in reserve and activated its Gravity Field. The golem’s body, which had been about to leap away, floated helplessly into the air. Normally it would have been pulled in front of the Rune Golem, but I used a little trick to keep it suspended in midair instead, turning the skill into a crowd-control tool. The golem could not escape until the breath was ready.
The Gravity Field’s duration was short, so it didn’t last long. But by the time the effect ended, it was already too late.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaa—!!
The fully charged breath surged through the rift, crossing the arena and engulfing the golem. It wrapped its entire body in aura to minimize the damage, but it was useless. I let out a small gasp of admiration as its surface glowed red-hot and began to melt.
“Dragons really are the best.”
A dragon standing at the apex of the ecosystem remained a dragon, even if it was a lesser one. As the Lesser Dragon’s breath melted the incredibly powerful golem, Adela and I caught our ragged breaths.
If that was the breath of a Lesser Dragon, just how strong was a true dragon? I finally understood why the Lesser Dragon sought to evolve into a real one. We watched as the golem melted away completely.
Then, from behind us, a voice I had never heard before spoke.
“Hmm. Now this one is quite interesting.”