Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: An Obvious Fight: Dragon vs. Hero (5)
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“Leave the rest to you all. I’ll handle that twintailed redhead.”
Zatasneo issued the order to his subordinate dragons, and ten of them came swarming over.
“They’re heroes and such, after all... so I guess I should give them this much.”
He said that with a smirk.
Jenny’s group quietly prepared for battle as they watched him.
“D-dragons... there are fewer of them?”
At that moment, Bastia’s soldiers noticed that the number of black dragons had noticeably decreased.
They soon spotted their leader, Zatasneo, and the dragons that had pulled away, gathered in one place.
“Look over there! It’s Emi and Hickle!”
“Reinforcements! They brought reinforcements!”
“Uwooo!”
Emi and Hickle.
And behind them, sturdy-looking humans.
They were humans, sure, but now wasn’t the time to be picky.
They had brought powerful allies as reinforcements.
That alone gave a glimmer of hope to this battle.
That was what mattered.
“Black dragon...”
Jenny glanced tensely at the black-haired man and recalled Kane’s words.
“Dragons basically have near-infinite mana. That’s why they’re called the ‘Tribe of Mana.’”
And on top of that, overwhelming physical specs.
Mana and body—both perfect. The ultimate, worst race.
That was a dragon.
Normally, no human body could stand against them.
But even these seemingly perfect beings had a weakness.
“They love using polymorph magic to transform. No idea why.”
Some say it’s to show off their superiority over lesser races.
Whatever the truth, only dragons know.
“Anyway, that polymorph is proof of carelessness. In other words, a weakness perfect for ambushes.”
When polymorphed, their physical specs drop overall.
And most importantly, defense.
The ‘dragon scales’ that make up much of a dragon’s defense weaken in polymorph form.
‘Just like with Miss Emi’s attack...’
He had undone the polymorph on his arm to block the attack, which clearly meant it was dangerous to hit him now in human form.
‘Then now’s the chance...!’
Attack at ultra-high speed before he could undo the polymorph.
They were already facing off, but she moved fast enough to call it an ambush.
Splat—!
Vanishing from her spot in an instant, Jenny opened the battle against the black dragon horde, the Hasler party, Trason’s formation, and Emi and Hickle’s fight.
‘Starlight Thrust...!’
A ultra-high-speed sword technique that used blink to close in fast, striking from outside the enemy’s awareness.
Moving at light speed, it targeted vital points with impossible dynamic vision and reflexes.
Named Starlight Thrust, for being able to slice even the faint light of a falling star.
Squeeee—!
Her sword dove for Zatasneo’s throat from outside his perception.
By the time he noticed her, he’d already be impaled.
Even sensing the mana flow would be too late.
Her superior physical ability made her sword faster than any mana detection.
Kwajik!!
But.
“Whoa, that was scary.”
Zatasneo wasn’t just wearing the black dragon leader title as an ornament.
An attack from completely outside his awareness.
But he always had defensive and detection spells around him.
He grasped it in an instant and quickly undid the polymorph only on the targeted throat area.
As a result, her attack, blocked by the barrier and scales, only left a small scratch on his neck.
“Tch...!”
Her failed strike made Jenny click her tongue and retreat.
She created mana platforms in the air to stand level with the bastard in the sky.
“You’re pretty fun after all. Guess I’ll have to get serious.”
With that, Zatasneo undid his polymorph entirely.
Grind! Griiiind—!
The sturdy 190cm man’s body swelled enormously.
In an instant, he became a black dragon nearly 15 meters long.
Far larger than the other dragons.
She had just been eye-to-eye with him a moment ago.
Now she had to crane her neck to look up.
“......”
No more defense drop from polymorph.
She had to fight the dragon race leader at full strength.
“Kihihihik! How do you want to despair? Cry? Rage? Or... just give up in futility?!”
The black dragon leader’s booming voice echoed.
“Kahahahat! Die, humans!”
“This is your grave!”
“So stupid! Why come here?!”
With that roar, the ten dragons charged at Emi, Hickle, and the humans.
“They’re coming!”
“Grant us strength against evil, Bless!”
“Frozen mana, pierce the enemy...!”
Their battle began too.
Jenny glanced worriedly at them.
“Where you looking?!”
Kwaaaa—!
A terrifying black flame shot from Zatasneo’s mouth toward Jenny.
“...!”
Black flames.
The black dragon’s breath.
Its property: darkness.
A horrific attack that corroded and rotted everything.
“They can use all basic spells, but their root property never changes. Same as any other creature.”
Once more, Kane’s words surfaced in her mind.
The mana property they’re born with.
It doesn’t change.
Red dragon: fire.
Blue dragon: water.
Black dragon: darkness.
“Black dragons are outliers even among dragons. Because of their darkness mana.”
That gives them top destructive power among dragons.
But it also makes their weakness crystal clear.
‘Light and holy power.’
Powers that dispel darkness.
But no one here had light mana.
It was rare enough that only Mersenne had it in the entire empire.
Probably none in Bastia either.
And even if there was, countering the black dragon leader’s immense darkness required equal light power.
Holy power was the same.
Probably needed one of the few on the continent with top-tier holy power.
“Purify...!”
Kwagwagwagwa!
Jenny didn’t dodge and cast purification magic on the massive darkness.
She knew if she evaded, her comrades behind her would take it.
“Ngh...”
The black flames vanished completely.
Jenny grimaced, a bit strained.
“Kahahahat! Fun, so fun! First human to take my breath and come out unscathed!”
Zatasneo laughed in satisfaction.
Still brimming with leisure.
Jenny glanced back at her comrades.
“...No helping it.”
With resolve in her eyes.
She infused her sword with shining holy power.
Paaat—
Gathering power in her whole body, she pulled her sword back into a charge stance.
“Oho, holy power attack this time? You’re really entertaining me?!”
Zatasneo grinned wickedly and drew up mana.
A pitch-black magic circle formed behind him.
Looked like he was preparing something ominous.
“Haaap!”
“Dark Ray!”
She shot forward with all her pent-up power, becoming a streak of light.
At the same instant, a jet-black ray that devoured all light erupted from the opposite side.
Kwaaaa—!
The opposing forces clashed.
She thought it’d be a stalemate tug-of-war in the middle.
Kwagagak!
“Wh-what?!”
The radiant beam sliced through the black laser in an instant and reached Zatasneo unimpeded.
Cheee—!
“Graaaah...!!”
Zatasneo hastily raised a barrier, but it shattered instantly.
It ravaged his body.
Paaat—!
The light beam pushed the massive black dragon away, sending him flying far off.
“Z-Zatasneo, sir...?!”
“What the hell was that?!”
“Incredible...”
Everyone there could only stare blankly at the receding beam of light.
#
Kwajijijik—!!
“Guh... grrrk!”
Zatasneo kept getting pushed back endlessly by Jenny’s charge wrapped in radiant holy power.
He was extremely flustered.
‘How can a mere human have this power...?!’
She didn’t even have the light power he feared most.
Just a human who could use some holy power.
She had exceptional talent, sure, but that was it.
A nuisance, but he thought he’d win without much trouble.
What the hell was this!
He couldn’t even properly defend!
His scales were grinding away from the charging sword, and soon that attack would hit bare flesh.
‘You think I’ll take this lying down...!!’
“Grr... graaaah!”
Kwaaaang!
Zatasneo drew mana from his dragon heart and blasted an enormous amount in all directions.
Just venting mana.
But the near-infinite dragon mana made it look like an explosion.
“Ugh.”
The blast halted Jenny’s charge, forcing her back a bit.
She took some damage too.
“Guh, kekeke... You’re really pushing me, human. First one to corner me like this.”
Zatasneo caught his ragged breath as he said that.
Then he forcibly overclocked his dragon heart even more, squeezing out absurd mana.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The overclocked heart pounded with immense force.
The heartbeat echoed outward, audible even to Jenny.
It flooded his entire body with insane mana.
“As a reward, I’ll show you. The true power of a dragon...!”
Bloodshot red eyes.
Blood spurted from between scales.
The strain on his body was visible.
The dragon body, called perfect, strained under this mad mana.
Something tremendous was coming.
Even those without mana sense could tell.
But.
“...This should be far enough, right?”
Jenny was relaxed.
Even glancing back to check distance from the others.
“Wh-what are you...”
As Zatasneo asked in bewilderment, Jenny turned back to him.
“Oh, sorry. If I handle everything myself... it’d be a shame for my eager junior who wants to shine.”
With that, she.
Suuu—
“...Huh?”
Expelled the outrageous demon that tried to possess A-rank hero Lin’s body.
The one who made the light hero Mersenne weep and praise as a goddess.
“...H-huh?”
Unleashed her monstrous mana and holy power.
All of it.
“Honestly, I don’t like how you’re eyeing Big Brother Kane... but you’re a junior, so I’ll look out for you.”
“A-ahhh...”
The moment he saw that colossal mana and holy power.
Zatasneo was certain.
She was beyond him.
A single dragon matched a mid-tier demon.
But that was just ‘matching’—something one hero could handle.
But a dragon leader matched or exceeded mid-tier demons.
One hero alone couldn’t handle it.
Depending on the individual, even two heroes.
Such a being.
That being was certain.
That human.
No, that monster...
He could never beat.
“I’ll handle that one for now.”
Those words and the pure white holy power enveloping her were Zatasneo’s final memory.