Chapter 75
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Two Dragons (2)
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I hurled my body into the empty air, and gravity yanked me downward.
Whoosh!
The wind battered my ears. Even falling from dozens of meters up, I felt no fear whatsoever.
Because I knew exactly what to do.
"Power of miracles, heed my call! Magical☆Dragon, descend upon this spot right now!"
Fwaaah!
No sooner had the incantation ended than a dazzling light erupted from the gem at the wand's tip.
The light enveloped me, swirling around as it dismantled my casual clothes and replaced them with a glamorous dress adorned with frills and ribbons.
My hair tied itself into twin tails, and my body felt light as a feather.
Flap!
I spread my wings, catching the wind and lifting myself up. My body, lightened by the magical girl's power. A few flaps of my wings, and I shot upward like an arrow.
An acceleration defying gravity. In an instant, I soared far higher than the shattered window.
"Code Red! Deploy the perception inhibitor to the rooftop. Block all cameras and lines of sight."
Miss So-jeong said that as she drew a single sword from her subspace pocket.
Flap!
One more flap, and her voice faded into the distance. I came face-to-face with the being hovering right above the rooftop.
Tremendous winds and static electricity wrapped around my body.
"...Huh."
The creature was beautiful—and enormous at the same time.
A massive dragon with a blue-and-white body. It had to be at least 15 meters long, with gigantic wings flapping behind it.
"Grrr...."
Every breath it exhaled sent blue currents sparking from its mouth and the gaps in its scales.
Crackle, zap!
'...They said it was S-Rank?'
That thing was definitely S-Rank, no question. Without a doubt, this was no wyvern or drake—it was a 'real dragon'.
And then, it slowly turned its head toward me. An eye larger than an adult's palm fixed on me.
Emotions transmitted from its pupil.
Its gaze held a whirlwind of feelings: curiosity about me, a competitive urge to best me, and... fear and pain toward one particular man.
I unconsciously tightened my grip on the wand.
Only then did I notice the bizarre metal device clamped around its neck.
A silver restraint dug deep into its flesh. Red sparks leaped from it, searing the dragon's neck.
'What the hell is that?'
But there was no time for deep thought.
Zap!
The restraint on its neck flashed, and its eyes clouded over in an instant.
No trace of emotion remained in its gaze.
Soon, it opened its massive maw. Deep in its throat, blue light began to condense.
"Eek!"
I reflexively whipped my wings and twisted my body away.
Rumble!
A pillar-thick, savage lightning breath grazed past me.
Immense heat and electricity. The air, electrolyzed, reeked of ozone.
Lucky I dodged sideways, or our house would've been fried to a crisp.
"Hey! What the hell, shooting your breath like that?! You almost burned our house down!"
My words made it pause for a moment.
Maybe... it could understand speech?
"Yeah! Stop! Good dragon?"
I reached out toward it, but the restraint glowed red again, and it resumed preparing its breath.
'No dice on talking, then. Looks like I have to fight.'
Who's the highest-rank hunter in Seoul right now?
Seong Ji-yoon? She's gone into the gate that popped up in Busan.
Seol Yu-hee? Recovering after overdoing it in the last dungeon.
Han No-eul would take at least 15 minutes to get here—and by then, our house would be ashes.
'Guess I'm up.'
To protect our precious home, that is.
As I flapped my wings and rose into the sky, it seemed to take notice, ascending higher as well.
I considered firing 'Shining Spark' right away, but hesitated—doing so might vaporize the dragon entirely.
It's hostile now, sure, but it's no monster. It's one of my own kind. I have to destroy that restraint without killing it.
'Gotta be careful not to pierce its body...!'
I gathered mana and shouted.
"Shining Spark!"
Shining Spark
Ultra-high-temperature platinum beam
I thrust out the wand, unleashing a straight line of platinum light straight at it.
Boom!
"Kraaak?!"
The restraint absorbed the beam, wrapped in blue-and-white mana.
"Huh?"
Strangely, even though I'd targeted only the restraint, it screamed as if struck itself. Its membrane tore momentarily, then healed.
'...That restraint's squeezing the life out of it.'
A normal piece of gear would tank damage for its user, but this was the opposite. Attacking the restraint with mana hurt the dragon instead.
Meaning my attacks couldn't damage the restraint without dropping the dragon first.
Meanwhile, it gathered blue currents in its mouth again.
Crackle! Boom!
I dodged with a flight burst, but lightning raining groundward was only increasing the damage. I needed a real solution.
'What now? Go down and craft an item? Something to break the mind control? But no time...'
Korea has almost no A-Rank+ hunters who can handle aerial combat. The S-Ranks who can are in Busan.
In that gap, its head gathered electricity again.
Flap!
Crackle! Boom!
Crackle! Boom!
I evaded the repeated strikes with flight. Its aim sucked, so no real danger, but this weird standoff where I couldn't hit back dragged on.
My patience was fraying bit by bit. At this rate, every power pole in Seoul might fry.
Then, helicopters rose nearby. Combat choppers shielded in mana barriers flew toward us.
Thududududu—
Beyond the roaring propellers, familiar faces came into view.
"Huh? Why's everyone here?!"
The management bureau staffer I'd seen a bunch, the perception inhibitor guy, Miss So-jeong, Il-ho in her armor, and even Han No-eul.
"Hey! No idea why you're up there, but killing that thing's the goal, right?!"
Han No-eul yelled, mana amplifying her voice. Shocked by her words, I shrieked back.
"You can't kill it!"
"Huh? What're you talking about?!"
"It's a good dragon! It's wrecking stuff right now, but... it's actually nice! It'll be like my little sibling! I saw it with my own eyes just now!"
Han No-eul scratched her head, clearly confused. She conferred with the others, then yelled again.
"So it's being controlled?"
"Yes!"
"And smashing that thing on its neck fixes it?"
"Yes!"
Only then did Han No-eul nod.
"Easy! But can you get it to come down?!"
"Bring it down?"
I glanced back at it.
As if understanding our words, it was climbing even higher.
"Doesn't look like it."
"...That's a problem!"
"Huh?"
"Can't fly higher up top—the electricity up there's too much! Any way to knock it down?!"
Knock it down. That sparked a great idea.
"...Yeah!"
For a bad dragon ignoring me, punishment by force it was.
I rocketed skyward after it, now even higher.
Bursting through the sky-filling thunderclouds, its form appeared.
"Grrr...."
"Sorry, this might hurt a bit!"
But for the people living below, it couldn't be helped.
Crackle!
I aimed my wand at it as it prepped another breath. Sensing something, it gathered lightning fiercer than before.
This time, no dodging. Target: its wings. While it paused to aim at me midair, I'd burn them off completely.
"Whew, alright. Let's do this."
Crackle!
I faced the gathering lightning head-on and extended my arm. Squeezing out every drop of mana.
It's a dragon too—if I held back, it'd endure. Then it'd rampage even worse.
Boom!
Its breath hit first, ahead of my mana. My body tingled and stung. Resistance heated me up. But I could take it.
Within the blue lightning, I chanted the spell. Pouring in everything.
"Shining Spark!"
Shining Spark
Pierces through lightning breath
And the flash detonated.
───!
A shockwave so intense it drowned out sound erupted.
The mana beam clashed with the breath for a moment, then devoured it in a blink.
The platinum ray piercing the heavens engulfed the blue dragon's wings.
"───!"
The wings vanished without a trace in the ultra-high heat. Smoke rose from the stumps.
With a silent scream, the massive body began to plummet.
Mana depleted, my body went limp and dropped too.
'Oh right. Run out of mana, and the transformation cancels.'
The magic faded, revealing my half-burned original clothes and singed hair.
Wings out, but the momentum wouldn't slow easily.
Same for it.
"Kroooar!"
The blue dragon screamed as it fell. We pierced the clouds on the way down.
The helicopters appeared below. Miss So-jeong's worried face, Il-ho and Han No-eul prepping something.
The descent lasted a dozen seconds or so when suddenly Il-ho grabbed Han No-eul and leaped from the chopper.
'But even then, they won't reach the dragon, right?'
Judging its fall path, Han No-eul and Il-ho couldn't make it. Especially jumping together.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, Il-ho hurled Han No-eul midair. A throw powered by armor-enhanced mass and maximum strength. Han No-eul shot forward like a bullet.
"Haha! So this is what flying feels like!"
Even then, she laughed as she summoned the greatsword 'Lava's Fury' from her subspace.
Flames engulfed her body in a flash, turning the blade red-hot.
She latched onto the dragon's body, riding it upward, and slammed the greatsword down at the neck restraint.
"This ends it!"
Crunch! Boom!