This chapter was brought to you by the collaboration between PolterGlast and Saekano Translations.
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Volume 1 Chapter 4.2
The Realization of the Escapism, and
the First Step Part 2
Translator : PolterGlast
As the gigantic
dragon's claw closed in on Nozomu, a shadow suddenly sprang forth from his
side, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, and instantly broke away from the scene.
Immediately afterward,
the giant dragon's claw slammed onto the ground, creating a thunderous sound
and shockwave.
"What are you
doing, you foolish disciple!"
"S-Shisho......"
What caught Nozomu's
eye amidst the cloud of dust and smoke scattered by the shockwave was his
master, who was supposed to be waiting for him in the hut.
Shino always kept an
eye on him from a distance while Nozomu was jogging, so when Nozomu suddenly
disappeared shortly after the fog appeared, she was in a hurry to find him.
Then she jumped into
the strange light, which seemed impossible to appear within the fog, and saw
her disciple being toyed around with by the monster in front of him.
"Suddenly, I lost
sight of you in the fog, and when I went looking for you, I saw that you were
in this dreadful mess."
With wrinkles etched on
her forehead, Shino stared at the gigantic dragon in front of her.
"Five colors, six
wings, and a jet-black body. It's no doubt the legendary Dragon King of
Destruction. Gosh, I never thought that at my age, I would have to deal with
such a legendary monster ......"
"The Dragon King
of Destruction? ......"
"Yes, its name is
Tiamat, an abominable black dragon that devoured its own race 5,000 years ago
and should have been sealed by her own race."
[Tiamat, the Dragon
King of Destruction]
The most heretical
among heretics, devouring even her own race and feared by all living beings.
Tiamat was a legendary dragon that was sealed more than 5,000 years ago and
should have disappeared from the world long ago.
"How unlucky for
us to come face to face with such a monster......"
"Shisho ......
*cough, cough*!"
As Nozomu coughed, red
blood spattered along with his cough.
There was a high
probability that his internal organs were damaged. Looking at her disciple's
condition which seemed to be worse than expected, Shino gritted her teeth.
"Nozomu, listen
to me. I'll distract it, so you should run away in the meantime."
"B-but Shisho,
what about you?......"
"In any case, if
we remain together, we won't be able to escape- ...... kuh~ !"
Ignoring the master
and disciple who were in the middle of conversations, Tiamat's feet slammed
into the ground right next to them.
Shino jumped as fast
as she could, pulling Nozomu's body with her. At the same time, she drew her
katana from her waist and with a quick movement, cut through the incoming
shockwave and debris.
"Damn it, go! Run
for your life and don't look back!"
"Shisho,
-ughh!"
Throwing Nozomu away
as soon as she landed, Shino immediately charged toward Tiamat. In the blink of
an eye, Shino accelerated her body at once.
Shino, who had closed
the distance in an instant, put all her strength into the katana and swung it
without hesitation, but the [Phantom] that was released was blocked by the huge
scales and fizzled out.
"Tch, I expected
it, but to think that there's not even a scratch!"
In front of the
unscathed Tiamat, Shino couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
On the other hand, in
the face of Shino's resistance, Tiamat's gaze turned from Nozomu to her.
Apparently, Tiamat is more interested in lively toys.
"Grrrr......"
With a delighted
growling sound, Tiamat spread her wings and deployed countless light bullets,
firing them simultaneously towards Shino.
The deployed light
bullets moved together like schools of fish, charging from all directions toward
their prey, Shino. There were more than a hundred of them.
"Mmmmmm!"
Pouring Qi into her
blade, Shino kept dealing with the swarms of light bullets coming at her.
Her swordsmanship was
truly worthy of being called a master, and she unleashed a barrage of blows
that would have been unthinkable from an old woman's thin frame.
With a single slash,
she slashed through more than five bullets, shattered ten bullets with a blast
of her Qi blade, and then used the aftermath of the shattered bullets to cause
chain explosion of more than 20 bullets. Since that wasn't enough, she even
used her scabbard like a sword and continued to knock down a swarm of over a
hundred approaching light bullets in the blink of an eye.
"Guooo...."
But the swarm of light
bullets didn't stop.
The giant dragon kept
firing light bullets, letting its inexhaustible power do the work for it. If
the first wave was cut down, it would shoot the second wave. If the second wave
was destroyed, it would shoot the third wave.
Tiamat was clearly
enjoying herself. Even the highest-ranked swordsman was no threat to her.
Tiamat's mouth
contorted into a sinister smile, wondering how much longer the toy in front of her
eyes could withstand it.
"Oooooooo!"
Even in the face of
Tiamat's never-ending wave of attacks, Shino kept slashing, smashing, and
destroying the oncoming light bullets.
However, the power of
the light bullets themselves that were fired was also gradually increasing.
The number of light
bullets that could be slashed more than five in a single blow was gradually
reduced to four, three, then two.
Finally, the situation
had reached the point where even with all of Shino's strength, she could barely
cut through one of them.
"I can barely
hold out, damn you monster!"
Under the increasing
pressure of the light bullets, Shino kept intercepting them, deliberately
pushing her physical limits, but the effects of the rapid drain on her Qi began
to appear on her body.
The muscles in both
arms began to cramp, and she lost control of her body.
(Maybe if it’s the old
me- …… no, it’s still impossible. Even in my prime, I cannot see any way I can
win.)
The legs that had been
holding on began to lose their strength, and an intense sense of fatigue arose
as if all the blood in the body had been drained.
Shino bit her lip as
her body became less mobile than she intended. The taste of rusty iron spread
in her mouth.
"Damn, this is
what I get for being so withered deep in the forest! I'm no better than my
pitiful disciple!"
The severe fatigue
eventually led to a complete loss of sensation.
Firs, the sense of
taste and smell disappeared. The rusty iron taste that had spread in the mouth
no longer could be felt, and the scattered burning smell from light bullets
also vanished.
Then came the loss of
hearing and sense of touch. As if paralyzed, the sensations in the skin and
hands holding the katana became vague, and the sound of the explosion of light
bullets at close range faded away.
Finally, the vision
gradually darkened.
Nevertheless, Shino
kept wielding her katana. If she were to be killed here, Nozomu would be the
next target.
"Is this my end?
....... But it's okay, now that my foolish disciple has escaped- ......"
While accepting her
own death, Shino strangely found her mind strangely calm.
(Ah, I see. I myself
enjoyed living with that foolish disciple more than I thought I would ......)
At first, she felt
repulsed by the depressed Nozomu, as if she was seeing her past self, but
before she knew it, he had become a big part of Shino's life.
If she could protect
him, then everything would be okay.
Just as she was about
to accept her own death, a voice that shattered her wishes echoed clearly in
her ears, which should not have been able to be heard.
"Shisho!"
Suddenly, her
disciple's shout made Shino's already pale face turned even paler.
Shino involuntarily
turned her head in the direction of the voice, only to find that her disciple,
whom she had thrown far away and told to run away, remained where he was,
defying her wishes.
"You fool, get the
hell out of here!"
"Grrrr...."
In the face of Shino's
pleas, Tiamat's gaze shifted again to Nozomu, and countless light bullets shot
toward him.
"Crap!"
The current Nozomu had
wounds all over his body.
Even with his
remaining strength, he had no way to withstand Tiamat's attacks.
Shino concentrated all
the Qi she had into her right hand. Then she slammed her Qi-enveloped right
arm, which was compressed to the utmost limit and shining brightly, into the
ground with all her might.
Qi-jutsu [Light of
Annihilation].
A Qi-jutsu in which
the Qi injected into the ground is released at the enemy's feet, launching the
opponent into the air and destroying him with a torrent of Qi.
It is a Qi-jutsu
specialized for annihilation and destruction, with the greatest area of effects
and high annihilation power among the Qi-jutsus possessed by Shino.
The released light created
a huge wall of light between Nozomu and the light bullets, blocking the swarm
of bullets right in front of it.
However, Tiamat's
light bullets quickly devoured Shino's Qi which was not long-lasting
Shino even poured out
the last of her remaining Qi, literally burning even her life, as she desperately
fought to withstand those light bullets.
But the reality was
cruel.
Several light bullets
went through the gaps in the Qi, which had been slightly weakened by the sudden
depletion of Qi, and pierced through it easily.
With trailing tails of
light, the voracious light bullets bared their fangs at Nozomu.
"Stop!
......"
As Shino's face was dyed
with despair, the light bullets struck the immobile Nozomu, blowing his body
away like a leaf falling from a tree.
◆
Nozomu's body was
thrown into the air by a direct hit from the a light bullet, and after a few
seconds in the air, he slammed into the ground.
"Gg-, uggghh......"
Unable to even let out
a scream due to the immense pain, Nozomu writhed, letting out a pained cry of
agony.
The light bullets that
hit him, penetrated his body, and blood continued to flow unceasingly from the
wound.
His body was rapidly
losing heat, and instead, a dense presence of death enveloped his entire body.
He had experienced the
presence of death when he was attacked by the Wild Dogs, but this time it was incomparably
denser.
The massive blood loss
had severely impaired Nozomu's brain function, depriving him of the ability to
even think about escaping.
(I... will... die)
Nozomu's mind was
filled with the reality that would surely befall him in the next moment.
The certainty of death
was so strong that it could not be compared to anything he had ever experienced
before.
(No, I don't want
this......)
The first thing that
came up was the rejection of reality that loomed in front of him.
The strong presence of
death and the rejection of it expose the instinct that were normally hidden,
instantly shattering the ice in his heart which had been stagnant due to the
intense conflicts and cold treatment from his childhood friends.
(I don't want to die)
After all the excuses
and escapism from reality had been erased, the next thing that emerged was a
raging thirst for life.
The intense urge and
vigor for life raged like an active volcano, burning away the last bit of life
inside him.
(I don't want to give
up!)
The radiance
intensified when the light was about to be extinguished.
"Aaaaaaaa!”
The strong will to
live ignited like a flash of light.
With an inhuman
scream, Nozomu stood up and rushed at the giant dragon that was playing with
his life.
"Grrrr
......"
The light in Tiamat's
eyes grew stronger. Tiamat sensed that this was the last resistance Nozomu
could put up, and the gigantic dragon loved the thought of crushing that
resistance with all its might.
Five-colored flames
lit up inside the gigantic dragon's mouth. It would breathe out an extreme
breath of fire that would create a huge crater.
Nozomu ran towards
Tiamat, but as he couldn't close even a tenth of the distance to the gigantic
dragon, an extreme breath of fire was released.
(Slow ……)
Facing the incoming
extreme flame, Nozomu's concentration was stretched to the limit, stretching
his perception of time many times over.
Within the stagnant
world, he became frustrated with his own slow movements.
(Why am I so slow!?)
It had always been
that way. This slowness, this heaviness as if his entire body was bound by
chains, had always prevented Nozomu's attempts to move forward.
And even now, it bound
and restrained Nozomu's entire body.
There was no way to
dodge the enormous flames of death that loomed before him.
When Nozomu looked
down at his own body in impatience, he saw chains that he had never seen before
entwined around his entire body.
Invisible chains that
held a pale light. The chains, which at first glance did not seem heavy, bound
Nozomu's body firmly as if trying not to let him escape.
(So it's your fault!)
Instinctively
believing that these chains were his shackles all along, Nozomu put his hands
on the chains that bound his entire body, trying to remove them.
Under normal
circumstances, it would not be easy to break chains with one's hands. What's
more, the sudden appearance of the glowing chains would be considered some kind
of hallucination.
But for some reason,
the current Nozomu was convinced that the chain was definitely existing there,
and that it could be ripped off.
(Don't get- …… in my
waaaaaaay!)
As Nozomu yanked the
chain forcefully, it made a cracking sound and the chain rings broke apart.
The ripped invisible
chain flew through the air and disappeared like a snowflakes.
In the next moment, he
accelerated in an instant and ducked under the approaching Tiamat's flame
breath.
Contrary to the
seemingly unstoppable bleeding, Nozomu's body was filled with more power than
ever before and readily responded to his thoughts.
The acceleration was
so fast that Tiamat lost sight of Nozomu for a moment. Nozomu put all his
strength into that one-thousandth of an opportunity.
Nozomu sheathed his
katana as he ran under the extreme flames. He then sent all his Qi into the
katana and compressed it into an extreme blade of Qi. He then drew out the
katana from its sheath.
Qi-jutsu [Phantom]
The sharply compressed
blade of Qi, which was thinner than hair, flew at the same speed as the drawn
katana and landed on Tiamat's left eye.
"Grooaaarrr!"
Tiamat roared in
response to the counterattack, which Tiamat hadn't even anticipated, and
reflexively jerked its head up.
Nozomu's [Phantom]
landed on Tiamat's left eye, but unfortunately, it couldn't even penetrate the
cornea of Tiamat's eye. The legendary Dragon King of Destruction was an
opponent on a whole different level of existence.
However, the attack on
the eyeball made Tiamat irritated.
Although dragons are a
type of spirit species, they do have physical bodies and also have biological
aspects, even though they are a mass of source elements.
Therefore, they also
perform reflexive defensive actions that humans and other animals often do,
such as protecting its sensory organs from strong external stimuli.
"Ooooooooo!"
Tiamat, who had
suddenly received a counterattack on her delicate sensory organ which was her
eye, raised her forelegs and stomped the ground furiously.
The huge forelegs hit
the ground over and over again, each time causing a local earthquake.
Nozomu rushed to get
out of Tiamat's range of attack, but the tremors were so strong that he was caught
in it.
In this situation, he
was unable to make a move.
But the next moment,
the ground collapsed, and Tiamat's huge body plunged into the pit.
"Guoooo!"
Apparently, Tiamat had
stepped into a cavity that existed underground.
Tiamat struggled to
get out of the pit, but its massive body slowed the dragon down.
The barrage of forelegs
attacks stopped, and Nozomu stepped in to close the distance again.
"Guuuuu!"
Even so, the gigantic
dragon was tenacious.
The moment Tiamat's
right eye saw Nozomu, a swarm of light bullets formed at a speed of less than a
second.
There were more than a
thousand of them. The spirit king, who was using the supernatural power of
spirit magic, commanded them to defeat the insolent human.
A thousand swarms of
light bullets were fired. There was no time to dodge them, no time to intercept
either.
The overwhelming force
directed at one person rushed in to tear Nozomu's body apart.
"I won't let
you!"
But the cluster of
attacks was stopped by an unexpected person.
Shino, Nozomu's
master, slammed her Qi-filled right arm into the ground again.
[Qi-jutsu・Light of Annihilation]
Once again, a torrent
of Qi erupted from the ground, obliterating the first cluster of light bullets
that rushed toward Nozomu and destroying the following ones one after another.
Furthermore, Shino's
[Light of Annihilation] flexibly changed its point of impact in accordance with
Nozomu's sprint, precisely breaking through the swarm of light bullets and
creating a path between Nozomu and Tiamat.
"Haaaaaa!"
Nozomu sprinted along
that path.
Nozomu, who had
removed the shackles of [Ability Suppression], ran faster even than his master,
Shino.
"Gugaaaaaa!"
However, he still
couldn't reach Tiamat.
As Nozomu ran straight
through a swarm of light bullets, the figure of Tiamat, who was in the process
of generating a huge fireball in her mouth, jumped in front of his eyes.
Dragon's Breath is
also basically spirit magic. Therefore it can be manifested without needing to
cast a spell or formulate magic circles.
And Tiamat actually
became unhinged, frustrated by the puny human's resistance.
Tiamat poured her
power into the giant five-colored fireball that she had generated earlier as if
to blow up the world itself.
However, this was the underlying
cause of the Dragon's defeat.
The moment Tiamat's gigantic
flame emitted its strongest radiance, *boom!* then the entire world trembled
like a pounding heart.
"W-, What is
that?"
The next moment, the desolate
earth began to glow white, and a huge magic circle was drawn that seemed to
cover the sky.
While Shino was
perplexed, the magic circle painted in the sky emitted a pulsating white light,
and a beam of light shot out from the center of the circle toward the ground.
At the end of the
pillar of light that fell from the sky was Tiamat, a giant dragon with
five-colored six wings.
"Grrooaaarrrr!"
A cry of anguish
escaped from Tiamat's mouth. The gigantic fireball that had been generated in
her mouth instantly lost its power and became smaller and smaller.
The sense of
intimidation that overflowed from its entire body faded, and its huge scales
lost their luster and power.
"No way! Is it
possible that the world itself is trying to seal Tiamat's power away!?"
As if confirming
Shino's words, Tiamat's power was significantly diminished with each beating of
the pillar of light.
This is a world
created to seal away Tiamat. It was only natural that there would be a
mechanism to suppress the giant dragon's power when it was getting out of
control.
At this moment,
Tiamat, weakened by the sealing mechanism, had been reduced in power down to S
rank in terms of adventurer rank.
"Go! My foolish
disciple!"
"Haaaaaaaa!"
Nozomu
hastened his move at the one in a thousand opportunity.
Once again,
the katana was sheathed, and Qi was sent to it and compressed to the extreme. When
he had closed the gap between the two, he drew out his katana and
swung it.
The [Qi-jutsu・Phantom] that was unleashed slashed at the weakened
scales on Tiamat's throat, and the compressed Qi exploded from the inside. The
burst of Qi blasted the jet-black scales from the inside, exposing its soft
skin.
"Ooooooo!"
Nozomu's follow-up
attack was released.
As if tracing the
previous attack's trajectory in reverse, a returning slash bared its fangs at the
exposed skin.
Tiamat's neck was slashed
deeply, and a large amount of blood gushed out like a stream.
"Groaarrr!"
Tiamat screamed due to
the intense pain from the severe throat injury.
However, even a wound
that would be fatal to an ordinary demonic beast was not enough to defeat the
jet-black dragon.
Nozomu used his
momentum of the returning slash to turn his body around. Utilizing the momentum
of his leap, he thrust his katana into the wound he had just made.
The katana pierced
deep into the giant dragon's neck, the blade completely buried deep inside the
flesh.
But Nozomu ended up
hanging in the air, supported by the katana he had thrust forth.
"Ggrrrroaaarrrr!"
Even so, the dragon
did not fall.
It roared so loudly
that it shook the ground and went berserk in an attempt to shake Nozomu off.
The katana was buried
deep inside the flesh and could not be pushed or pulled.
Nozomu, using his last
ounce of strength, fixed his posture with his feet and the hilt of his katana,
which was firmly buried inside Tiamat's body, and concentrated all the
remaining Qi into his right arm.
"It's over!"
He raised his right
fist and slammed it down onto the katana hilt, releasing the Qi that had been
concentrated.
In the next instant, [Qi-jutsu・Light of Annihilation] was activated.
With a dazzling light,
a huge explosion of Qi gushed out. The burst of Qi, comparable to top-tier
magic, passed through the katana blade and blew away all the nerves and the
flesh of Tiamat's neck.
"Guuuu….”
The dragon's huge body
fell to the ground, and the impact blew Nozomu's body away.
Although a lot of
blood was oozing out of her neck, Tiamat's body twitched slightly, but her eyes
no longer had any sign of life in them.
Shortly after that,
the dragon's huge body dissipated, becoming particles of light that soared like
a tidal wave.
Nozomu looked up with
a stunned expression upon seeing the particles of light soaring into the sky.
Nozomu had already
lost a lot of blood. His body could no longer move a single finger either.
He was injured all
over his body. Fortunately, his limbs remained attached to his body, but not a
single part of his body was unscathed.
Particles of light
shot into the sky, gathered above Nozomu, and fell on him violently.
Wounded all over and
unable to move, he was swallowed by the onrushing torrent of light.
"Oi, Foolish
disciple!"
With the voice of his
master calling in the distance, Nozomu, who had gone beyond the limit, finally
lost consciousness and fell into darkness.
◆
He was dreaming.
Nozomu had no idea where he was, but he at least knew that it was a dream.
The space was pitch
black with no way to see the surroundings. He was the only one standing there,
alone.
He could not feel the
ground, and the ripples that emerged from under both of his feet made him
realize that he was standing on the surface of water, which was an unusual
situation.
The darkness that
filled his vision seemed to last forever, and not even a breeze was blowing.
There was nothing but
ripples spreading out, just a silent world.
Eventually, Nozomu
checked his body and noticed invisible chains entangling his entire body.
The chain he had ripped
off when he faced Tiamat in the sealed world.
Upon closer
inspection, one end of the chain dived below the surface of the water.
He looked down under
his feet and peered at the end of the chain that extended below the surface of
the water and saw a huge shadow crouching at the bottom of the dark lake.
A huge jet-black body
frame and five-colored six wings. It was unmistakably Tiamat, the Dragon King
of Destruction.
Noticing Nozomu
looking down at her, the giant dragon looked up at him, glaring at the surface of
the water.
The invisible chains
that extended from Nozomu's body entangled the huge dragon's entire body,
restraining its entire body.
Tiamat's gaze
intersected with Nozomu's, and the giant dragon's eyes turned into a strong
color of resentment.
Tiamat didn't say
anything.
Instead, through the
connected chains, a freezing chill ran through Nozomu's entire body. It felt as
if he were climbing up a precipice with a single unfastened rope.
As Nozomu and Tiamat
kept looking at each other in silence, the surroundings gradually became
brighter.
His time to wake up
was near.
Nozomu, slightly
relieved that he was still alive, shifted his gaze to the dragon once again.
The dragon was still
glaring at Nozomu, and she still had that dark vindictive light in her eyes.
Eventually, a single
powerful white light shone on the dark lake, enveloping one person and one
dragon in a gentle light.
Enveloped by white
light, Nozomu was about to wake up from his dream, with a twinge of anxiety
about Tiamat who was chained to him with the same chains.
◆
