Albion Subjugation (4)
I swung the warhammer. Again and again and again. Balancing on the back of the creature as it soared into the sky, I struck it relentlessly. Someone shouted in confusion at the sight of me, but I paid them no mind. The countless experiences I'd gained in that other world had taught me how to keep my footing no matter what.
[Insolent vermin!!!]
I ignored Albion's roar. I dodged the occasional beams that shot toward me from behind. All I had to do was keep doing my job. As long as the main force held out, my role was clear.
How much time had passed? I couldn't say for sure—my focus had been pushed to its absolute limit. Then, the moment I brought the warhammer down once more—
“...Huh?”
A blizzard swept in, and I lost my grip on the dragon's back. The impact slammed into me with a heavy thud. It didn't hurt, but a wave of discomfort crawled up my spine. Still, I had no time to dwell on it. I downed the last remaining potion and forced myself back to my feet.
Half the party, including the detached force, had already fallen. The survivors were doing everything they could to hold the aggro of the crystalline guardians according to my orders. There was no time to stay down.
I dodged a flash of light. Closed the distance. Accelerated my movements and thoughts. Recalled the battles from that other world. Landed every strike I could on the beast's body.
One second felt like ten. Ten seconds felt like one. Even as that strange sensation washed over me, I never stopped moving.
When I finally came back to my senses, most of the Lebungs had already collapsed. And then—
[How dare these insignificant vermin!!!]
Albion, with less than one percent of its HP remaining, spread its wings and took to the sky once more. The crystalline guardians that had tormented us shattered completely, their fragments beginning to absorb into the dragon. Its chest swelled dramatically.
Anyone could tell what was coming. The most iconic attack associated with dragons. The prelude to a breath attack.
Judging by the remaining HP, this had to be a final desperate pattern. Could we dodge it? Probably not. It was obviously going to scale with the number of crystals that had been active during the cast. The visuals alone made that clear.
One percent. After everything, we were going to fail because of a final pattern with barely one percent HP left.
“Haa...”
A sigh escaped me, followed by a wave of emptiness. I didn't want to admit it, but all I could think was that this had been a waste of time. How could anyone call this a good memory? There was no way I could say we'd fought well even in defeat.
“Huu...”
The second sigh left my lips at the exact moment a silver breath erupted from Albion's maw. My vision was swallowed by pure white.
★
The ruler of Niblord, Albion, descended quietly onto the frozen peak where everything had turned to ice. The insignificant vermin were nowhere to be seen. It was only natural. No matter how much they had received the goddess's blessing, they were still mere creatures. And it was the blessing of a defeated goddess at that. There was no way they could defeat the true sovereign of Niblord. He curled the corners of his mouth at the thought.
As he watched the swirling blizzard bury everything, Albion prepared to close his eyes.
Then—crunch.
Something burst out from the pure white snow.
A figure clad in full plate armor and a helmet that completely covered their face. In both hands, they gripped a massive warhammer. In an instant, the figure had broken through the blizzard, leaped high into the air, and positioned themselves directly above Albion's head.
The speed was impossible for a mere vermin.
[What?!]
It had been right after Albion had expended all his strength. His reaction was too slow to even cast a simple protective spell. Yet his mind remained perfectly clear. The countless experiences gained in that other world had kept his concentration from breaking even after more than ten hours of extreme combat.
“...It's over, lizard.”
A blue glow that clashed wildly with the jet-black armor enveloped the figure's entire body. The light traced a brilliant arc, becoming a comet. That comet plunged straight down, piercing through Albion's skull.
BOOM!
Albion's head slammed into the ground with a deafening roar. The dragon, already at its physical limit, had no strength left to withstand the blow.
And so Albion—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
—felt the impact of his own head being hammered into the ground over and over even after collapsing, before finally losing consciousness.
“Ahh, that feels good.”
The last thing the dragon heard was the cheerful voice of a mere vermin.
The party of 'Inquisitor' has become the first to defeat the ferocious ancient white dragon Albion!
🌟 Their achievement will be eternally celebrated as a new legend across the continent.
The access restriction to Niblord has been lifted.
The raid 'Albion Subjugation' is now active.
First achievement unlocked! The title 'Conqueror of Niblord' has been activated.
“...We did it.”
The moment those words left my mouth, my legs gave out and I collapsed onto the ground. It was a pleasant exhaustion I hadn't felt in a long time—the wonderful sensation of every muscle in my body going completely limp.
“Thank you for your hard work, Miss Lene.”
As I sat there quietly staring up at the sky, a man's voice came from behind me. I turned my head slightly and saw the alchemist Lebung standing there—the true MVP of this raid.
“...You too. Thank you so much for that last moment. We really only cleared it thanks to you, Mr. Alchemist.”
“It was everyone else who held out until the end. I just put the final cherry on top.”
“Still, we only succeeded because of that cherry.”
Originally, Albion's final desperate pattern should have ended with me dying to the breath attack and the raid failing. But right before the breath was unleashed, the alchemist—who had been the only other survivor on the field besides me—used a skill on me.
Eternal Light. A skill that fixed the target's HP at its current value for five seconds. On paper it was completely broken, but it carried heavy penalties that made it difficult to use in real combat. If we hadn't reached the HP threshold where the breath pattern triggered, even with that skill I would have been vaporized by the barrage of light beams.
In that case, this Lebung might have been criticized with comments like, “Instead of that, you should have provided more support to the party earlier.” But he had believed in us. He had prepared Eternal Light. He had been willing to risk being blamed by strangers, all to prepare for a future that wasn't guaranteed.
And thanks to that resolve, we had defeated Albion.
Yeah. No matter how I thought about it, today's MVP was definitely the alchemist.
“Everyone really worked so hard!”
The other Lebungs began gathering around me, shouting words of appreciation. Their faces showed a mix of emotions, but the all-night raid had clearly taken its toll—exhaustion was evident in every voice. Of course, I was tired too. Tired enough that I wanted to collapse into bed immediately.
“...Everyone. How about we handle item distribution tomorrow and get some rest for now...?”
Thankfully, they all agreed. We decided to meet at the location I'd designated after getting some sleep, then disbanded. It was time to let our exhausted minds recover.
I logged out of New Dimension, climbed out of the reverse capsule, and immediately threw myself onto the bed.
'This is too much, too much, too much! Relying on a fake goddess like that!'
“T-that wasn't a goddess, it was more like... the World Tree of the elves or something...”
....
“I'm sorry...”
I had a dream where Ia scolded me mercilessly.
★
When I woke up, it was already 5 PM. Yeah... I could practically hear my daily rhythm collapsing in real time. The silver lining was that today was a holiday, so Bora was probably playing with her family at home. Just in case, I'd already sent her a message saying we probably wouldn't be able to meet today.
“Ughhh...”
My head still felt a bit fuzzy, but I stretched and got out of bed. The appointment time I'd set with the party members yesterday was... 6:30 PM. We'd agreed to meet after I started streaming.
The stream was scheduled to begin at 6, so I still had about an hour.
Realizing I had a full hour of free time, I naturally sat down at my computer and logged into the Lene Gallery. I figured the Lebungs would be celebrating by now.
What I saw instead was this:
“...What?”
It was like the apocalypse. Come to think of it... I had turned off the stream in the middle yesterday. I'd completely forgotten.
“...I'm screwed.”