Chapter 178
Chapter 178
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Life is a Series of Escapes (2)
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# 178
19. Life is a Series of Escapes (2)
#1 Their Circumstances: A Certain Hero's Circumstances.
My body floated up, and my vision was dyed white.
And what I saw was...
"You bastard?!"
A voice anyone could tell was filled with rage.
And a massive body covered in black scales that anyone could identify as belonging to a certain race!
"Die!"
The dragon, hailed as the strongest species on land, was unleashing its fury at me.
"No, it wasn't me..."
This was truly unfair.
I didn't know the exact reason for the dragon's rage, but I could tell the cause was the instructor.
How many people could enrage a dragon in such a short time?
No one but the instructor, who could even make the mild-mannered God of Nature curse like a sailor.
"To give me such pain!"
Ah, that confirmed it.
If it was pain enough to enrage a dragon, it had to be a beating from that steel pipe.
No wonder it was furious after getting pipe-whacked.
"The problem is that its rage is directed at me..."
Magic circles were being etched into space, and spells began firing off wildly from them.
They weren't accurate due to its anger, so nothing I couldn't dodge, but tanking the aftermath would be rough.
What should I do?
The instructor said I had a chance, but did I really?
Against a dragon?
Even now, one breath attack was melting the ground...
"Huh?"
I suddenly realized something was off.
My opponent was a dragon, the strongest creature on land.
A monster I couldn't beat even going all out!
Yet here I was, lost in random thoughts?
"Let's see..."
I drew the holy sword Exleon, the Church of Nature's sacred blade, and channeled mana into it.
Golden aura began gathering on the pure white blade.
It wasn't just strong offensively; the God of Nature had personally blessed it to protect its wielder, the hero.
Hill had bragged that purely defensively, it ranked in the continent's top five.
Since Hill valued humility, it was probably top three—no, maybe the absolute best defensive sword.
So, time to trust the sword once...
"Blade of Thorny Vines."
I tried a sword technique taught by the Church of Nature.
"Gaaahhh!"
True to its name, sword energy whipped the dragon's body like thorny vines!
Less a sword technique and more like whipplay using aura.
A sword unique to the Church of Nature, modeled after nature itself!
The attack, optimized for the holy sword Exleon, was highly effective!
"Gaaahhh!"
"Huh?"
Way too effective.
"What the...?"
*Smack!*
"Gaaahhh!"
"Hmm?"
*Smack!*
"Gaaahhh!"
What was this? Wasn't this dragon supposed to be an ancient dragon among ancient dragons, over 20,000 years old?
Had it lived too long and gotten frail?
Or was I just that strong?
"No way."
I was a swordmaster chosen by a god, yet still a weakling who couldn't beat a single steel pipe.
"Hyah!"
*Smack!*
"Gaaahhh!"
But what I saw before me was a black dragon shrieking and collapsing with every strike.
"What the...?"
"You damn human!"
"Whoops!"
The dragon bellowed in fury and opened its massive jaws!
"Die... guk!"
"Who said to wait?"
I could clearly see it was about to unleash its signature dragon breath—no reason to wait.
"Evil human!"
"Only an idiot waits!"
Who did I learn from?
The sadistic instructor who held classes even during bathroom breaks.
No, he'd say delays weren't an option.
He ambushed during training even at bathroom timing, claiming enemies don't wait for your bodily functions.
Learned from a guy like that—how could I not have this level of ruthlessness?
I probably had the maturity of an adult to begin with.
"Die, die, die!"
Magic circles blanketed the sky, but oddly, I wasn't scared.
"For some reason..."
Gazing at the holy sword gleaming in golden light, my confidence grew.
"I think I can win?"
One swing split dozens of incoming spells; a second sliced through the dragon's scales; by the third, it was spurting blood and wailing.
"To think a mere, mere human!"
Seeing the raging dragon made the instructor's lines pop into my head automatically.
"Huh? What'd you say? Can't hear a dragon losing to a mere human too well."
"Gaaahhh!"
The instructor's taunts worked like a charm, as expected.
The issue... was they worked too well?
The trembling dragon ground its teeth and roared.
—Die!
Not heard through ears, but resounding in my soul.
Ancient magic's core alongside runes and incantations!
The power only dragons, masters of magic, could wield.
A Dragon Word attack poured toward me.
"Huh?"
"What?!"
No effect whatsoever!
"Whatever it is, take this!"
"N-No way... Gaaahhh!"
I started whaling on the flustered dragon everywhere, and it could only scream.
Until the very moment it died!
#2 Their Circumstances: The Gods' Circumstances.
Two creator gods made the world, then birthed other gods to maintain balance after leaving.
The gods watched from their own dimension, the divine realm, lending power to their apostles when the world's balance was threatened.
And now.
For the first time in ages, the gods were lending their power to one hero.
"Hey, give more blessings over there!"
"Hey, our hero's got a lot on his plate these days, so we need to conserve..."
"What's more important than this?"
"Well, still..."
"Shut it and dump every blessing you can on that guy!"
At the normally mild God of Nature's shout, the other gods shut up and poured their blessings onto one hero.
"Isn't this overkill?"
"Yeah. A human soloing a dragon is too much..."
"Especially an ancient dragon that's lived 20,000 years..."
The other gods grumbled, but the God of Nature was different.
"No, precisely because it's an ancient dragon, we need all your blessings to ensure a sure win!"
No, it just raised its voice, claiming it was why its hero needed the blessings.
"Why not send other heroes to back him up?"
"There are a few active in the north..."
"No, I think the God of Nature's right. He's at least familiar with him—if not, he'd just beat him and bail."
"True. The natural hero's solid anyway. Knows his opponent well, so he's fighting with escape in mind."
"Well, yeah... Our heroes might get tricked, backstabbed, and let him slip."
"If you get it, squeeze out more blessings!"
"Damn, no blessings left for our heroes for a while."
"Me too..."
Grumbling, the gods began exercising their powers, blessing the hero.
At the same time, they siphoned power from the dragon bit by bit—so subtly it wouldn't notice.
—Huh? What'd you say? Can't hear a dragon losing to a mere human too well.
"Hey, God of Nature! Even for you, that's a bit much for a hero, isn't it?"
"Yeah, the dragon's pissed enough to use Dragon Word!"
"Instant death attack! Block it!"
"Damn, isn't this a rules violation?"
"If that guy dies, how do we check on those bastards?"
Hearing "those bastards," the gods went silent, then unleashed all their divine power.
"Damn, dragons don't believe in gods anyway. It'll be fine."
"Yeah, irreverent race that doesn't trust us. This is divine punishment!"
"Right, divine punishment... Let's go with that."
Thanks to the gods using their powers one by one, the Dragon Word was nullified.
"Good. Now that guy's come to his senses... Why's he charging in?!"
"Damn, next time we pick heroes, we gotta screen for personality!"
"Damn, I was lazy and just picked based on aptitude and talent..."
"Fix that quick. What if yours turns out like that?"
Even the lazy grumbling gods shut up seeing a hero ask a 20,000-year-old dragon, "Are your parents still alive?"
"Ah, Nature..."
"Quiet... To catch evil, we need guys like that. Probably..."
Necessary evil, necessary evil!
Seeing the God of Nature yelling that, the other gods silently showered their blessings on one hero.
Until the ancient dragon Arketai died pathetically after 20,000 years.
***
"Huh..."
"Sob... Hero..."
Hearing the princess sob beside me made me want to cry too.
—Was the master's disciple always that strong?
—No...
I acknowledged he had talent transcending ordinary humans.
Even back in the Evil Organization days, he seemed a bit lacking compared to peers, but overall balance made him the best.
But soloing a dragon? Too much!
Not just beyond ordinary humans—beyond dragons among dragons!
Gods running this world?
We've got a cheater here!
Even if balance varies by talent, this is excessive!
"Hero... You're so cool..."
"Indeed, Princess."
To me, he looked like an ecosystem food-chain destroyer, a world-balance breaker.
But to the princess and maid, just a cool hero.
"Fighting that evil dragon alone for me..."
No, it was your brother's sneaky politics plus my judgment forcing him into it.
Right before the dragon fight, I thought he'd bail first?
"Ahh... Hero..."
Ignorant of the circumstances, to the princess, he was Prince Charming on a white horse.
Her pupils were practically heart-shaped, and nothing but "Hero..." came out coherently.
...That's a bit much.
—Huh? What's a bit much?
—That expression... I've seen it a ton.
—The princess's? Just a girl in love, right?
—Similar, but the bad kind.
—What?
—Like how some disciples looked at me?
—Run, hero! You've created a species more dangerous than dragons!
The steel pipe got it instantly and yelled at the hero, but the thrilled hero beating the distant dragon didn't hear.
Meanwhile, the princess's "Hero..." gained "Hah..." and "So cool..." add-ons.
Her worsening symptoms made even the maid edge away!
When it got to moaning gibberish...
—Gaaahhh!
"Ah, the evil dragon!"
My hopeful evil dragon Arketai started thrashing and screaming.
"Nooo!"
Anyone could see the boss mob was low-HP, in death throes!
The evil dragon, smacked repeatedly by golden sword aura and shrieking, looked so pathetic it raised doubts: "Is that really a dragon?"
—Die, die, die! Why won't you die!
—Do I have to die just 'cause you say so?
The maid must've cast some spell—hearing hero and dragon voices right beside us.
—Did your parents raise you to say that?!
—Gaaahhh!
Unclear if pain from sword aura or rage at the hero summoning long-dead parents from thousands of years ago, its cries echoed.
—You human scum!
—Says the dragon getting one-sidedly pummeled by that human!
"As expected of the hero... Everything he says is so cool..."
Where's the cool in one-sidedly cursing and parent-insulting the pitiable dragon?
—The princess is too far gone...
—Yeah, the hero woke up the type you shouldn't...
But before worrying about the hero...
I needed to figure out my own escape first.