Ch.108Chapter 108 – Black Dragon Yuto (1)

The story goes back to a few days ago.

It was when I witnessed Sera learning magic from Beatrice.

“Magic that changes appearance? Do you mean just making something look different?”

Beatrice immediately shook her head at my response.

Perhaps my explanation was lacking, as her answer seemed slightly off the mark.

“I’m asking if there’s magic that goes beyond that, like completely transforming the body.”

At my question, Beatrice thought for a moment, then began smoking a cigarette.

I felt that my question might have sounded a bit stifling to her.

But what could I do? I’m not a magician.

I could try to explain using whatever expressions came to mind, but honestly, I wasn’t confident I could explain it perfectly.

“Ah.”

Still, Beatrice nodded, seemingly organizing her thoughts.

“There is.”

“What kind of magic is it?”

“Polymorph.”

While smoking, Beatrice continued.

“It’s magic that uses mana to completely reconstruct the body.”

“Is it difficult to use?”

“Of course it’s difficult.”

After exhaling a puff of smoke, Beatrice spoke again.

“The spell formula is complex and it consumes a lot of mana, so you can’t use it for long. Just in case you were wondering, I can’t accept requests to transform into your ideal woman.”

Beatrice joked.

As soon as the word “ideal” left her mouth, Sera suddenly began staring at me with lifeless eyes, but I decided to ignore that for now.

“From what you’re saying, it seems you can do it too.”

“Well, yes?”

Beatrice said with a smile.

“As I mentioned earlier, the mana consumption is extreme, so I can’t maintain it for long.”

“But you can use it.”

“That’s right.”

Beatrice nodded.

And my mind started to go blank. There was something I realized through her words.

“You said dragons taught magic, right?”

“That’s what’s been passed down.”

“And humans can use Polymorph too.”

“Yes.”

Beatrice was answering as if these were obvious questions that annoyed her.

“So going back, dragons can use it too, right?”

Beatrice’s expression changed.

“If you can use it, why wouldn’t those lizards be able to?”

At my words, Beatrice raised a finger asking for time, then took out another cigarette and began smoking.

After hastily smoking while seemingly organizing her thoughts, Beatrice turned her gaze to me.

“Fuck?”

Yeah.

Fuck indeed.

+

The fortunate thing was that Beatrice could detect someone who had used Polymorph if she set her mind to it.

After immediately checking me, Christina, and Sera, Beatrice nodded.

“At least none of us are affected.”

“You know you’re included in the suspects too, right?”

“Hey, if you don’t trust me… No, I guess I should be included too, huh?”

If a dragon had transformed into Beatrice, we would lose the only person in this castle who could detect someone who had used Polymorph.

From the dragon’s perspective, Beatrice would be the number one person to either eliminate or avoid.

‘What if Beatrice…’

There was a possibility, however slight.

But I quickly dismissed it.

If Beatrice were the dragon, she would have tried to manipulate the conversation earlier to prevent me from even considering the possibility.

“Let’s assume you’re normal for now.”

“Touchingly grateful, you helmet bastard.”

Beatrice snapped back fiercely.

“So, what are we going to do?”

The only person who can detect it is Beatrice.

Should we have her check everyone in the castle, including those outside, to find the dragon?

‘That’s impossible.’

Then could we increase the number of people who can detect it?

When I looked at Sera, Beatrice shook her head.

“Seraphina learns quickly, so if I teach her intensively, we might be able to increase our numbers.”

“I’ll work hard, Kay!”

Sera immediately showed enthusiasm.

But even if one person became two, it wouldn’t make much difference.

We were absolutely short-handed to find a single bomb.

I reorganized my thoughts.

A dragon presumably infiltrating using Polymorph.

Assuming that’s true, its purpose is unknown.

But if it infiltrated…

It must have a purpose.

‘If I were that creature…’

What purpose would I have for entering?

When would I try to achieve that purpose?

“Let’s change our approach.”

“What is it?”

“Why would it be hiding?”

That’s where we should start.

Analyze its behavior and deduce its strategy.

“…Since dragons aren’t stupid, even with the first-strike advantage, it would anticipate a counterattack.”

Our strategy was to take a hit and then drag it down to the ground for a counterattack.

After I took its eye last time, it might think to win without giving us a chance to counterattack.

Yes, counterattack.

“If it’s trying to catch us off guard to prevent a counterattack…”

I can roughly guess why it snuck in.

Then, its strategy…

“…You said the dragon hasn’t moved for days, right?”

Sera quietly said to me.

It had been so inactive that even here, tension was starting to ease.

Because of that, our side was getting exhausted, causing problems to emerge everywhere.

“What if that’s bait?”

Whether we go out to take the bait, or the bait itself is a bomb, or we return with relaxed minds after capturing it.

After we attack that bait, there must be a scenario prepared where our side takes damage.

Beatrice and Sera seemed to have the same thought, as their expressions darkened.

Beatrice looked annoyed, while Sera turned slightly pale.

“Um, benefactor. What are you going to do? Will you tell Lady Diana or others?”

“Finding trustworthy people is the obvious thing to do.”

At the very least, we needed to identify trustworthy people among the commanders.

With so many people, there are many commanders, but they have ranks too.

The number of those at the very top isn’t that many, so Beatrice can check them right away.

“Beatrice, come to the meeting tomorrow.”

“Are you going to check everyone there?”

I shook my head at Beatrice’s words.

Finding trustworthy people is natural, but on the other hand, if we search too noisily, the creature might hide better or escape to plot something else.

“Then why do you want me to come?”

“We need to set a trap.”

At my words, the three looked at each other.

Among them, Sera seemed to think for a moment, then turned to me with a small exclamation.

“Kay, perhaps…”

Seems she’s caught on.

I nodded and said:

“If it’s hard to find, then what should we do?”

It’s like a hamster.

If you don’t know where it’s hiding, there’s one of the easiest ways to get it out.

“We make it come out on its own.”

By pretending to take the bait.

+

And the result is right in front of me.

“For someone who loves fighting, you sure hid well.”

The dragon said nothing.

Seeing it tremble slightly, it seemed to be angry that its plan had been exposed.

Or maybe it was embarrassed.

I had Sera and Christina step back slightly and picked up my halberd.

Then the dragon immediately raised its head and began to roar.

-KRUAAAAAAA!!!

As I stood still with my halberd facing that roar, the dragon looked down at me again.

If it were human, it would be like raising one corner of its mouth in a sneer.

[Soon the foot soldiers will come here.]

“Ah. So that was the plan.”

To eliminate the fake, celebrate the victory, return to the castle, then release the Polymorph and call its subordinates for a complete annihilation.

“Isn’t that a bit too simple?”

The dragon’s movement stopped momentarily.

And as if it didn’t want to admit it, just as it raised its arm—

Fires lit up from all directions.

“Prepare to fire!!!”

A booming voice that was hard to believe came from an old woman.

With that voice, I quickly started running with Sera and Christina.

[Are you running away!]

The dragon roared in anger as it tried to chase after us.

“Who said I’m running because I’m afraid of you?”

Of course, the dragon was scary.

But I was running away because staying here would get us caught in the crossfire.

“Fire!!!”

With Diana’s signal, the cannons and ballistas prepared on the castle walls all fired at once, targeting the dragon.

Weapons that would normally be fired at external enemies outside the fortress now spewed fire at the dragon inside.

[You…!]

The dragon’s hard scales block the attacks.

But there are many of them.

As if solely for this moment, as the weapons spewed fire, the dragon was seen taking a step back.

It was clear that damage was accumulating, little by little.

“Too bad! Originally, about half of these were supposed to be destroyed before we started!”

I shouted mockingly from hiding.

In reality, according to the original plan, we expected more than half of these weapons to be destroyed by the dragon before we began.

However, since the dragon’s scheme was discovered early, none of the weapons were destroyed.

Additionally, they surrounded the dragon in a formation.

No matter how powerful the dragon was, it couldn’t avoid taking damage from attacks coming from almost 360 degrees in all directions.

[You, damn creatures!]

Just as the dragon spread its wings as if to fly into the sky—

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Beatrice’s voice echoed.

The ground beneath the dragon split, and a huge black sphere appeared again.

It was the gravity sphere that had briefly crushed the dragon before.

The dragon, which was trying to fly into the sky, fell to the ground and collapsed.

And immediately Diana shouted:

“Now!! Fire!!!!”

As her signal ended, the bombardment temporarily stopped, and harpoons attached to iron chains began to be fired.

Directly at the dragon’s wings.

[This…!]

The dragon, caught in the gravity sphere, managed to swing its wings once with difficulty.

With just that, the harpoons fell from the sky.

The harpoons that were meant to pierce its wings lost their path and fell to the ground.

A small smile appeared on the dragon’s face.

“Fire!!”

But as if anticipating this, more harpoons were flying in.

I shouted toward the seemingly surprised dragon:

“We planned to fire in two waves from the beginning!”

We were certain that the first wave would be blocked even if launched by surprise.

That’s why we prepared by dividing the numbers.

The second wave of harpoons was fired, and since the dragon had already made a big movement, it couldn’t defend properly.

-KANG!

Some of the harpoons that hit the wings began to fall to the ground.

The sturdy defense was still intact.

“Foothold!!”

“‘Protect the young lambs!'”

The shield Christina summoned created a foothold in the air.

Jumping on that shield, I grabbed one of the harpoons that had started to fall after hitting the dragon’s body.

[You, damned one!]

Meanwhile, as Beatrice’s magic wore off, the dragon tried to rise somewhat.

But there was still no proper resistance.

So I ran with all my might.

“I’ll pierce through!!!”

With one hand, I climbed up the dragon’s massive body that hadn’t fully risen yet, and thrust the harpoon toward the base of its wing.

With the determination to pierce through no matter what, I even used red lightning, thrusting the harpoon with all my strength.

-POOK!!

-KRUAAAAA!!!!

The dragon began to roar in pain.

And I landed on the ground and rolled once.

[You, bastards, my wing!]

The dragon quickly swung its wing once.

But its movement was awkward due to the iron chain attached to the harpoon.

And on top of that, several more harpoons began to pierce it.

“Now you can’t fly even if you want to.”

The dragon’s flight was blocked.

As I realized the biggest achievement of this operation, the outside of the castle walls also began to get noisy.

“Monsters are approaching!”

“Fight as planned! The outside troops will return too!”

Along with Diana’s voice, explosions were heard from the outer wall.

-SWAAAK!

“Ah, really!”

It was the sound of the dragon swinging its arm toward me.

I rolled on the ground once to avoid its attack and drew my halberd to face it.

“That was close.”

“Who told you to get distracted?”

It was Beatrice’s scolding as she descended by hanging onto an iron chain in the air.

And Aria and Ludger, both in full armor, began to stand by my side.

“Ready, Helmet?”

“Of course.”

We succeeded in drawing it out.

We even managed to disable its wings.

There wouldn’t be a better opportunity than this, so we had to end it here.

-KRUAAAAA!!!

The one-eyed dragon, wounded all over, began to roar once more.