The Serpent Dragon of the Western Continent Route (2)
Serpent Dragon.
I remembered it as one of the strongest dragons that ruled the seas. Long ago the Central Continent and the Western Continent had been joined as one, until a battle between the Serpent Dragon’s chieftain and a dragon named Fafnir tore a vast hole between them. That hole had only grown wider with time, until the land split into the continents we know today.
Well… the one before me wasn’t the chieftain, but its kind was still the reason the continents had been divided in the first place. Fafnir had been something like a land god among dragons—he’d simply stayed put. The Serpent Dragon’s chieftain, for all that it had started the fight, had lost spectacularly. Left with no choice, it had led its kin to a new nest in the ice-choked ravines at the edge of the world. That was why you never saw one of them on this side of the ocean.
So why, then, was this one swimming straight toward the Central Continent?
“S-Serpent!!”
Chaos erupted outside the moment the creature revealed itself. Shouts of panic mixed with women’s screams as people scrambled in every direction.
“Turn the ship around!”
“We’re already at full speed—it’s impossible to make it back to port!”
Even the navigator and the captain were arguing up on deck. Couldn’t they have kept their voices down? Passengers who had been desperately trying to flee the other way heard every word and plunged even deeper into panic. No turning back, and at this rate a head-on collision with the Serpent Dragon was inevitable.
“Hmm… it’s pretty big…”
A Serpent Dragon was covered in blue scales, unmatched in ice magic and completely immune to cold. That was how they could live in the lifeless cliffs at the world’s end. But then where did they find food?
No way… it couldn’t have come all the way to this continent looking for a meal, right?
There were historical records of Serpent Dragons attacking people at regular intervals—every thirty years or so. Roughly nine hundred years ago, a whole swarm of them had appeared at an ice-free port on the Northern Continent and devoured three hundred thousand people. The largest ever observed had measured nine hundred meters.
This one, even being generous, was only about eighty.
The Colossal Titans in Attack on Titan were a hundred meters, for comparison.
“But why come all the way down to the Central Continent… Don’t tell me it swam here just to eat?”
Honestly, what a gourmet. There were plenty of people on the Northern Continent—why bother coming this far south?
And no, I was not hoping Northern Continent people would get eaten instead. Don’t get the wrong idea. An elf who valued human life as much as I did was a rare creature in this world.
“If this keeps up we might end up turning back to the Central Continent… better to deal with it quickly.”
Going back would make things awkward with the mayor, his wife, Helena, and Heor—people I’d already said goodbye to. And while I might be fine, everyone else on this ship would die or be badly hurt.
I left my cabin, climbed the stairs, and stepped out onto the upper deck. I’d meant to calm the panicking passengers myself, but the navigators and crew were already moving among them, trying to restore order.
“There’s no need to worry. We hired adventurers precisely for situations like this.”
“You think a handful of adventurers can handle a Serpent Dragon?! Why aren’t you turning the ship around this instant?!”
Fair point. Honestly, bringing a few adventurers along and expecting them to take down a Serpent Dragon swimming free in the open sea? If I’d been an ordinary adventurer I would already have jumped overboard and started swimming for my life.
“Young lady. Don’t stand around out here—hurry back to your cabin.”
“Pardon?”
I was sighing over the thought when a man approached from behind and tapped my shoulder. Solid build, thick armor, a terrifying axe in one hand. He looked every bit the high-ranked adventurer with a freshly swollen ego—probably only recently promoted.
“Young lady? Me?”
“Is there another young lady standing here besides you?”
Well. To people who didn’t know who I was, I probably just looked like an ordinary girl.
“Are you one of the adventurers hired for this ship?”
“Haha. Strictly speaking, we’re hired by the company, not the ship itself.”
At least he answered politely. With that he strode off toward the captain, his footsteps crisp and measured—almost military. Former soldier or knight order, maybe? Textbook drill-ground form.
The rest of his party followed. Most carried staves, so they were probably mages.
“Captain.”
“Ah! You’re here!”
The moment the adventurer uncle called out, the captain’s face lost that I’m-about-to-die look. Was there actually a chance?
“Well? Can you handle it?!”
“Hmm… it’s quite large.”
Quite large didn’t begin to cover it. An eighty-meter dragon could wipe out an entire country and still have room left over. Was this guy really an adventurer? Maybe I should just step in first.
“I-Is size a problem?! The homeland should already have finished preparations by now!”
“Well, if we gave up just because it was hard, we wouldn’t be adventurers.”
He flashed a grin and gripped the axe with both hands. The pose looked cool, but the subordinates behind him only sighed.
“Haah… the captain’s eyes have gone crazy again…”
“Can we even catch it…? If we fall in the water the will I stuffed in my pocket is going to turn to mush.”
“I’ll deliver it to your wife myself if I make it back, so quit worrying.”
They weren’t even tense—just trading jokes. Weren’t they scared?
“Ohh! As expected of Alloin’s Wolves!”
“Captain. Call everyone who can use magic up to the deck.”
“E-Even the passengers?”
“Of course. If that Serpent reaches us we’re all dead anyway.”
“A-All right!”
The adventurer uncle’s chilling words sent the captain scurrying inside, trembling. Moments later his voice echoed through the ship, and people who could use magic began filing out one by one. Not many, though. Plenty had probably decided they were too scared to come.
“Can’t blame them. I’m scared myself—why wouldn’t they be?”
The adventurer uncle laughed heartily and tightened his grip on the axe. I watched his hands carefully. They were definitely trembling, just a little.
Right. He was only standing out here with that axe because there was no other choice. If he’d wanted to run, he would have already.
“Mister, are you scared?”
“What? I told you to go inside and you’re still here. Aren’t you scared, young lady?”
“Of that thing? Why would I be scared of that?”
It looked a bit grotesque, sure, but I was about to turn it from a living creature into something else entirely. In this world, any monster you hunted belonged to the hunter. It would be mine, lock, stock, and barrel.
“Oho, so the young lady’s got more guts than I do?”
That set his whole party laughing behind him, saying a little kid was braver than all of them.
“You guys are scared too?”
“Of course we’re scared. It’s a Serpent, for crying out loud.”
“A dragon you only see on the Northern Continent if you’re ridiculously unlucky, and here it is on the Central Continent. How could we not be scared?”
They were people too. Even tasting the fear of death, they could still laugh because their comrades were right beside them and adrenaline was flooding their systems.
What about me? Was I actually terrified deep down, only thinking I wasn’t because there were so many people around and the adrenaline was doing its job?
“If you’re scared, just stay back. I’ll take care of it.”
“H-Hey! Young lady! It’s dangerous—don’t go any farther…!!”
Ignoring the adventurer uncle’s protests, I stepped forward. I reached into my Inventory and pulled out a staff topped with an enormous Mana Stone.
“W-Wait! Captain, don’t stop her.”
“What are you talking about—”
“Just wait, I said!”
Something had clearly clicked in the mind of the man who’d been watching me thoughtfully from behind. He grabbed the wrist of the party leader who had been about to haul me back, then stared hard at me.
“That staff with the huge Mana Stone… the pointed ears… and the rumors we heard in the port city… You still don’t get it?”
“No way! That young lady is Esilly?! The Magic God who erased an entire legion?!”
Excuse me, I’m an elf. Why are you calling me a Magic God? Just how far had that ridiculous nickname spread? Couldn’t they have given me a pretty, cute epithet instead?
“Now I’m a little annoyed. Looks like I need to work off some stress on you.”
When would I next get the chance to unleash this magic without a care in the middle of a vast open sea? The thought alone brought a smile to my lips.
I’d hesitated a little when using it on people. After all, I’d already killed tens of thousands. But this time there was no need to hold back. I was casting of my own free will, and the target was nothing more than an eighty-meter earthworm.
I raised the staff with its massive Mana Stone and began gathering mana into a single point. The moment my mana ran dry I recovered it, then recovered it again the moment it ran dry, piling it higher and higher. What happened when you repeated that endlessly until the mana compressed into one spot?
A mass of mana that vast would collapse under its own power if the caster didn’t carefully control it—exactly like nuclear fission. And just like nuclear fission, it released an enormous amount of energy.
That was the strongest magic only I could use. I hadn’t named it myself, but people called it Inferno.
Inferno meant hell, right? Well, it also meant blazing flames, so the elemental matchup was fine either way.
“All right then—time for you to become my sudden windfall!!”
You weren’t a living creature anymore. You were money. Once you died I’d sell the meat as food and the hide to clothing shops and magic-tool stores.
I caught the white orb of mana that was already on the verge of collapse, then hurled it in a beautiful curve—like throwing a baseball—straight at the Serpent racing toward us through the water.
Ah. I should have put up a barrier first. Almost forgot to activate it for a second there.