Chapter
1 Part 4
Nozomu is
working part-time at the commercial district depot the next day.
There is no
companion today, and the Boss is asking him to organize and record the
cargo in the depot area. After confirming the cargo that going to be
transported, he reported to the Boss, the Boss has something to tell and
called Nozomu,
"By the
way, Nozomu, have you heard of a hunter seeing a dragon in the forest the
other day?"
"Dragon
...?"
Dragon.
The strongest
existence on this continent.
It is one of the
spirit species and boasts tremendous power.
It seems that
some people who once defeated the dragon had gained its power.
This existence
called dragon slayer does not exist at present time, and it only remains
in history textbooks and legends.
"But, what
is a legendary dragon doing near such a city?"
"I think
so, perhaps the dragon is just a misunderstanding. Well, you often go to
the forest, you should consider it even if it's "Lóng" (TL: Chinese
Dragon)."
When He said
that, the Boss laughed with a smile.
Unlike Dragons,
"Lóng"s are a type of demon beast.
Its power is not
as strong as the dragon, and the intelligence is low, but it is a very big
threat to humans.
Its power is
definitely one of the highest in the category of demon beasts.
Certainly, no
matter how I think about it, I can't win.
"I
understand. I'll be careful."
I thanked the
Boss and went home to go to ShishÅ's place.
=============================================
Nozomu goes
home, prepares his sword, and heads for his master's hut.
He uses minimum
clothing of demon beast skins that don't hinder movement, a knife and a
pouch attached to the belt, a set of treatment tools such as potions in a
pouch, a smokescreen ball, a sound ball, and a deep charge ball.
As the name
suggests, the smokescreen ball generates a smokescreen, and the sound ball
makes a surprisingly loud noise, and hopefully, weak monsters can be
repelled. Finally, a deep charge ball. This is a thing that shoots thunder
that is comparable to the upper-tier magic around the thrown area, and the
price is correspondingly high.
Since He has
such low basic ability, and the number of times he can use powerful Qi
technique is limited due to his Ability Suppression, so he bought it just
in case.
Even if the
effects of strengthening items that affect him are suppressed in this way,
the power of items that do not depend on one's own abilities is not suppressed,
so he always brings it with him when he goes to the forest.
On the way to
Shino's hut, the fog came out, so he speeded up a little.
The fog
gradually became thicker and could not see even 1 meter away.
"This is
bad."
Nozomu muttered,
and when he saw the compass that he had on hand did not point in a certain
direction, he turned around.
"What does
this mean."
There are
certainly many demon beasts in this forest, but they don't have the
characteristics that would make the compass go crazy.
When He feels
impatient with the abnormal situation, He took a deep breath and calmed
down, and looked around again.
The trees are
overgrown and he can use them for hiding, but it is not a place where he
can rest with peace of mind.
"Is it
unavoidable to stay here for the time being?"
For the time
being it is necessary to secure a safe place, so he walked around marking
the passing trees with a knife so as not to get lost.
After a while,
he seemed to go through the forest, the trees were gone, and he came to an
open place.
It seems that
the fog has gradually begun to dissipate.
As he was
relieved, the surrounding scenery suddenly became distorted.
"Eh?"
The next moment,
he is standing in a strange place.
Surrounded by
mountains, it is a barren land as far as the eye could see.
Definitely not
around Arcazam.
A huge shadow
covered him who was confused.
The moment he
wondered what was going on, Nozomu become speechless.
A huge black object
covered half of the sky.
It has 6 large
wings with 5 colors and it flaps firmly.
It has jet-black
scales, and its profoundness seems to symbolize the years it has
lived.
Its eyes
embraced the darkness of the abyss and stared at the tiny man on the
ground.
It is all the
embodiment of despair.
"Dragon
King Tiamat"
A heretical
dragon among the feared heretics who even eat the dragons of the same
race.
It was a
legendary dragon that disappeared from the ground more than 5,000 years
ago.
Nozomu stood
with a stunned expression.
He can't
understand his current situation.
If you think
about it normally, no matter how many demon beasts appear, you never think
of encountering a legendary dragon right in front of your eyes and nose in
the city where you live.
He is confused,
but in fact, this space is a tentative world between the real world and
the spirit world (where the spirits live), created to seals Tiamat using
the continental veins.
However, Tiamat
possesses extremely powerful power, so this temporary confined world power
becomes fluctuate.
The fluctuation
passes through the ley line, and due to the connected ley line, it may be
connected to somewhere on the continent and make a path.
The path is much
smaller for Tiamat to pass through, but most creatures such as humans can
pass through it.
Nozomu passed by
without knowing the way and came to this confined world.
Tiamat faced
Nozomu. In his eyes is pure joy of finding his prey for the first in a
long time. As the jet black dragon folded its wings, it descended
directly towards Nozomu. Nozomu shroud his whole body with Qi, kicked the
ground, and left the place instantly.
Immediately
after that, Tiamat descended with a roaring sound.
The dragon's
weight and the impact of the drop caused the ground to turn up and scatter
with a shockwave.
Nozomu is
knocked over by the shockwave, blown away, and slammed to the ground.
There are no
visible injuries because he was taking a defensive stanceinstantly, but there
are wounds in several places due to scattered stones and rock fragments.
He immediately
decided to retreat.
He throws all
the smokescreen balls he had and escapes to the forest at full speed among
the smokescreens that have been generated.
He thought that
if he hides in the trees of the forest, he would have more time to escape.
However, the
idea is too good to be true.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
As he ran
between the smoke screens, all of the smokescreens disappeared with a
tremendous roar.
Not only that,
he is blown away again by the shock wave that struck.
Looking at
Tiamat, he isn't moving at all, it seemed just a simple roar and the
accompanying shockwave has blown away all the smokescreens.
When Nozomu was
dumbfounded, Tiamat opened his mouth wide, and huge black flames gathered
in his mouth.
The flame is
chaotic black with various colors mixed in.
Nozomu's alarm
bell instinctively started ringing at the maximum and withdraw his feet as
fast as possible.
The exhaled huge
flame passed by him at a very last-minute and landed in the forest.
The next moment,
the sound disappeared from the world.
When he noticed,
he is flying in the sky.
Swimming in the
air for the first time in his life, It felt so unreal, but seconds later,
the impact of being hit on the ground forced his consciousness to return
to reality.
Check the body
that was injured in the fall, take the potion out of the bag, and drink
it.
While feeling
the healing potion heals his body, He saw the forest and the surrounding
area and becomes speechless.
The forest is
completely burned down.
At the point of
impact, there is a crater that seemed big enough for Solminati Academy to
enter it, and its existence had completely vanished.
The trees around
the crater had been blown off and carbonized without retaining their true
shape, perhaps because it was burned out in an instant.
The barely burnt
trees were all knocked off of their roots by the shockwave.
Looking back at
Tiamat with a stunned expression, the jet-black dragon spread its five
colored 6 wings.
A photosphere
colored in innumerable five colors is created on the wings.
"Spirit
magic"
Magic used by
spirit species that summon the power of the world. Unlike other spells
used by non-spirit species. Spirit magic, that do not require a process
that interferes with the outside world, is activated the moment he decides
to use a spell, enabling overwhelming haste compared to
other spells.
Countless
photosphere is heading his way while giving trails of light. The amount is
innumerable and fills most of his view.
Nozomu cuts off
the photosphere with his katana while retreating with all his might, but
he is easily swallowed by the swarms of light in too large of quantity.
Still, he
resists with all his might to avoid fatal injuries.
When the rain of
light stopped, there is Nozomu, pierced all over the body.
He took multiple
potions and drink them all at once.
"Guuuu!"
He looked at
Tiamat who slowly approached him while he moans as the potion forcibly
healed his body.
It is impossible
to escape if you look at the state of the forest.
The forest that
hides him is burned down, even if he can hide, it will be blown away all
at once again.
He only has one
choice, and the battle of despair began.
"Uhhhhhhh
…………"
It's been more
than ten minutes since the battle started.
No, it wasn't a
battle.
A battle is only
possible if there is an enemy, but for the jet-black dragon, such a thing
is not in front of him.
Nozomu is just
his toy dispel his boredom.
The jet-black
dragon can kill Nozomu in a blink of an eye, but for the dragon, this is
not a battle but a play.
Just like a cat
playing with a mouse.
However, for
that reason, Nozomu survived this eternal ten minutes.
Still, there is
only despair await beyond that.
He can't even
injure the scale with all-out slashes and Qi technique he shoots without
thinking ahead.
Even if he
dodged Tiamat’s swinging arm, He would be blown away by the shockwave.
It is impossible
to escape due to circumstances.
There are no
tools on hand that can penetrate the scales of the dragon.
He ran out of
energy, and the physical strengthening by Qi technique has almost reached
the limit.
In such a
tightrope walking situation, the limit finally came. He doesn't know how
many times, but the impact of being blown off and hitting the ground numb
his body. The effect of Qi has expired. He swallowed the last potion with
trembling hands and managed to get up.
Tiamat raises
his arm like a tower again to Nozomu.
Nozomu cannot
avoid strengthening his arm by Qi technique.
In the face of
the inevitable death, Nozomu remembered what he has been doing like a
revolving lantern.
In a vague
consciousness, a magic lantern ran in front of such desperate situation,
and He looked back at his own past.
The smile of his
parents in his hometown.
"Come to
think of it, I’m not giving filial piety enough."
They were good
parents.
They didn't say
anything to him for wanting to support Lisa, and even though their lives
weren't good, they sent him to school.
He met Lisa and
fell in love at first sight.
"Come to
think of it, it was my first love, it was said your first love would not
come true, but is it really the case?"
At that time, he
confessed, and one day he was able to convey his feelings.
But in the end
………….
He wants to
support Lisa's dream. With that oath in his heart, he knocked on the door
of Solminati Academy with just that thought.
"I want to
support Lisa's dream. I hope so ... but still ..."
Ability and
grades did not grow as expected, impatience was solicited, and although he
struggled, the path was closed due to the manifestation of ability
suppression.
Lisa suddenly
said goodbye and He was isolated from the school.
"I was ...
bad, why, why ... I wonder why she didn't tell me anything ..."
His heart is
still hurt even now.
He wonders if
his existence was such a big deal for her.
He met ShishÅ,
and a little light flashed.
"I'm glad
to have met ShishÅ. She's a wild woman, but she is clearly a good person."
It was a hellish
day of training, but she definitely thought about him.
At first, She
wanted to ignore him, but she helped him while complaining of being
attacked by the Wild Dog.
When he thinks
about it now, He was able to return to his former self.
To himself when
He was laughing and angry honestly.
The next moment,
a shock struck him, erasing his memories with his awareness.
Tiamat's arm
reached the ground in front of Nozomu. After that, he is thrown and rolled
on the ground unsightly.
Tiamat is
clearly playing. His expression looks amused and completely doesn't pose a
threat.
Tiamat opens his
mouth wide. Chaotic flames gather inside. Is it tired of playing with him,
or Is it trying to see how much he can tolerate?
In any case, he
had no way to resist now.
"Gugu,
Aguje ..."
Nozomu already
raised an indescribable voice and stared at the flame.
Almost
unconscious, he could no longer even think of the past.
The magic
lantern has passed, and only a dense, cold sign of death wrapped around
him.
"Die"
He faced the
dense of death and became rigid.
"Die"
It is more
"death" than when one person was attacked by a Wild Dog in the forest.
"I don't
want it"
He almost has no
ability to think clearly, and develops his instinctive thinking.
"I do not
want to die"
It becomes a
strong thirst for life and burned the last life in him.
“I don't want to
give up”
It is a
manifestation of the strong will to live that Shino once saw.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
The next moment,
he screamed insanely and roared at the giant dragon who played with his
life.
Nozomu steps
towards Tiamat with a roar that burns his last life. Its speed is so fast
that it's hard to believe it's a dying human.
However, it was
slower than when it was fully recovered, and the flames were released
without being able to get close to Tiamat by half the distance.
"Slow"
Nozomu's
thoughts are focused only on eliminating the threat in front of him in
order to live. His extreme concentration extends his sense of time
many times over. In it, he was frustrated by his slow movement.
“Why am I so
slow !!”
With this, the
huge flame of death approaching in front of him cannot be avoided.
When He looked
at his body, suddenly a chain that he had never seen before tied him up.
"Is it
because of this !!"
He is convinced
that this chain is his shackle and touches this chain to tear it apart.
If you think
about it normally, you can't easily tear the chain apart. But he was
confident that he would break the chain for some reason.
"It's in
the way ... Aaaaaaaaaaaaa !!!"
He pulls the
chain by force and the chain break with a collapsing sound.
The next moment,
he accelerated in an instant and passed under the huge flame.
Tiamat lost
sight of him for a moment due to too much acceleration.
Nozomu puts all
his energy into this opportunity.
At this time his
body vitality and blood are not yet recovered, but his body reacts
instantly to his thoughts.
His physical
ability is clearly jumping above the state at the time of full recovery.
He draws the
katana out while running. Send his energy to the drawn sword.
Extremely
compressed the energy he sent. Pulls out the katana with his screaming
fighting spirit.
Qi technique
"Phantom"
Qi, which is
thinner and sharper than the hair, flies at the same speed as the drawn
sword. He cut both eyes of Tiamat with a single slash.
Tiamat roars and
lifts his neck in response to the unthinkable counterattack.
"Phantom"
is a simple technique that shoots a slash with the compressed ki of the
blade, but it is difficult to see the extremely compressed ki, it flies
at the same speed as the high-speed drawn sword, and if it is within 10
meters range, it is very difficult to avoid because it lands almost
instantly.
Moreover, this
extremely compressed Qi is a technique with extremely high killing
ability, there is no denying it is difficult to defend against whether it
is a steel shield or a magic barrier as it landed in both
directions.
However, since
it is necessary to extremely compress the Qi, it is necessary to prepare
for half a second to several seconds, and in a situation surrounded by
multiple enemies, it exposes a large opening.
As he rushes
toward, Tiamat lifts his forefoot and slammed it into the ground many
times.
The huge
forefoot hit the ground over and over again, and each time the ground
shook, causing a local earthquake.
Nozomu hurriedly
breaks away and moves away from the last-minute forefoot, but is
overwhelmed by the shockwave.
He can't move as
it is. However, the next moment, the ground collapses, and the giant
Tiamat entered the hole.
Apparently,
Tiamat has stepped through an underground cavity.
Tiamat is trying
to get out, but it doesn't work because his eyes are closed.
Nozomu took out
all of the things in the pouch while closing the gap with Tiamat, and
threw something into his head.
It was a sound
ball that was thrown. It explodes near Tiamat's face, causing a strong
sound to reverberate around.
Tiamat, who was hit
directly by a sound ball from close range, averted his gaze for a moment
and slowed down.
If this was a
spirit, it would not have been so much affected.
Although a
dragon is a kind of spirit species, it has a physical body even though it
is a mass of elements, and has an aspect as a living thing.
Because they use
physical sensations, they can be affected by unforeseen circumstances that
can be lost or confused.
Of course,
dragons are spirit species even though they are easily affected by physics.
While wearing the paranormal sensations he deserves, Tiamat, who has too
much power is unable to sustain most of his reasons, therefore it
is completely confused by a series of impossible situations.
Tiamat has
completely stopped his movement. Nozomu rushes to Tiamat at full speed.
The aim is the
dragon's neck. The reason he aimed at the neck was that he wasn't
confident that he could break the skull of the dragon's head.
The dragon has a
physical body. In other words, if the body can be killed, it can be
killed.
The important
thing is to kill his body.
However, it is
not easy because the dragon itself has an extremely strong body.
Nozomu jumps
towards the lifted dragon's neck. Send attention to the katana that's
about to be drawn again, and extremely compress it. He pulls out his sword
and his sword flashes.
The Qi technique
"Phantom" cuts through the scales in Tiamat's throat, and the
compressed Qi explodes inside. The erupting Qi flicks the jet-black scales
from the inside, exposing the soft skin.
Furthermore,
Nozomu's pursuit is released.
Qi technique
"Phantom -Recurrence-"
A repeated blow is
released as if tracing the unannounced trajectory that flashed earlier.
The blow cuts
through Tiamat's neck deeply, and a large amount of blood spouts like hot
water.
However,
normally, even if it receives a fatal injury, it is not enough to defeat
the jet-black dragon.
Nozomu uses the
momentum of the return blow to make one full turn.
Combine the
power of rotation and the momentum of jumping to pierce the wound in the
neck that has just been torn.
The sword
pierces the giant dragon's neck deeply, and the blade passes through his
throat and reaches near his brainstem, but suspends on the air with the
sword he stabbed as support.
"Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”
However, the
dragon still does not fall.
The roar that
shakes the earth echoes, and it rampages to shake off Nozomu.
The sword is
buried in the flesh and cannot be pushed or pulled. If nothing is done, it
will be shaken off and bloody red flowers will bloom on the ground.
Nozomu squeezes
his last power and reaches for the pouch on his waist.
The last
remaining depth charge ball is taken out.
He hits it
against the blade of the sword with all his might.
The next moment,
thunder struck with a dazzling light. The thunder, which is comparable to
the upper-tier magic, passed through the sword and the nerves of the neck
and burned down the dragon's cranial nerve cells.
But the thunder
also burned his body and completely robbed him of his remaining power.
The dragon's
giant body is collapsed and thrown out. The dragon's body is moving
slightly, but his eyes no longer have the brilliance of life.
Eventually, the
giant dragon collapses and becomes particles of light, soaring like a
tsunami.
Nozomu could no
longer think of the particles of light soaring into heaven, he is just
watching.
He is full of
wounds, has limbs, but nowhere is safe.
Eventually, when
the particles of light gathered in the sky above him, they fell toward him
with rage.
Beyond the
limits and unable to move, he was swallowed by the looming torrent of
light and lost consciousness.
============================================
Nozomu’s
consciousness awakens slowly.
His
consciousness in the dream reminds him of the battle with Tiamat.
Severe pain hit
the whole body when he forcibly raised the upper body, and when he looked
around, he is in the forest on the outskirts of the city.
"Unknowingly
... come back ......... haven't I."
In an
incomprehensible situation, the pain running all over the body tells him
that the previous battle is not a dream.
"Anyway, to
ShishÅ ........."
He doesn't know
how conscious he is, but it's not a good idea to stay here.
Judging that,
Nozomu forcibly moves his aching body and heads for Shino's hut in a vague
consciousness.
He didn't even
realize that he had become a "Dragon Slayer" which is only a few
people in history ...
