chapter_0122

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
122

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
122

“Beyond the door, a Ragged
Dragon is waiting.”

A dragon.

It is more appropriate to call
it a phenomenon rather than a living being.

How could you consider a
creature that could obliterate an entire nation alone as merely a
living being?

It is a phenomenon and
disaster akin to a storm, earthquake, or tsunami.

That’s why various nations
centred around the Church of Armadi worked together to form the
Anti-Dragon Pact.

And such an existence is
waiting beyond this door?

The word “lie”
flashed momentarily in Phoebe’s mind but quickly vanished.

Though many of Lucy’s words
had seemed far-fetched before, none of them ever turned out to be
untrue.

It’s likely the same this
time.

“Technically, it’s an
Undead Dragon—a dragon’s spirit placed within the body of a
golem. It’s just trash compared to a real dragon but still strong
for a dragon wannabe.”

Given that the original dragon
was considered a calamity, regardless of how degraded this creature
was, it was bound to be formidable.

Even though Lucy used the
derogatory terms ‘trash’ and ‘ragged,’ she acknowledged its strength.

For them, just academy
first-years, it would be extremely challenging to face.

Phoebe imagined the appearance
of the dragon beyond the door and swallowed nervously.

“It’s tough to tackle it
in a straightforward way. Though I’m fine, we have a weak trashy
swordsman and a ditzy sloppy Saint on our team.”

“Get to the point.”

Perhaps the word ‘weak’ had
annoyed her.

Frey, who had been quietly
listening from behind, responded with a sharp voice.

Though her voice was harsh
enough to sound dangerous, Lucy only gave a small, familiar chuckle.

“This so-called phenomenon
is akin to some sinister necromancy. Even a dumb sloppy Saint should
recognize what this means.”

“Purification.”

As soon as Phoebe heard the
word ‘necromancy,’ she understood Lucy’s intention.

Even if it has the body of a
golem, a dragon is still a dragon, making it hard to deal with. So,
why not just focus on the golem instead?

We don’t need to defeat the
golem. If we can dispel the dragon’s spirit inhabiting it, the
golem will collapse on its own without its core.

“Of course, even if it’s a
pathetic dragon taken down by humans, purifying its spirit isn’t
that easy. Most self-proclaimed priests wouldn’t dare try. But we
happen to have a so-called Saint with us, even if she’s a sloppy
one.”

Purifying the dragon’s
spirit.

For regular priests, even
gathering dozens or hundreds wouldn’t make it possible.

Dragons live for centuries at
the very least, spreading countless disasters during their time.

How could the spirit of such a
creature be light?

In the past, three bishops
combined their strength to purify a dragon that had risen as an
undead spirit. So, regardless of how weakened, the dragon beyond this
door would still require at least bishop-level intervention.

Normally, it would be
impossible for a first-year Academy student to possess such high
levels of divine energy.

No matter how talented they
might be, without years of experience, it’s just not feasible.

However, here stood the Saint.

She is considered the symbol
of the current Church of Armadi, a figure who has performed miracles
in many places.

Even if she is young and
cannot fully utilise her powers, the divine energy within her does
not disappear.

Her divine energy is enough to
purify a dragon’s spirit.

“Let’s take it easy. Who
cares how much those sloppy professors at the Academy struggled?”

Lucy’s giggling plan looked
truly flawless.

‘As always.

Lucy had a plan inside the
dungeon.

When passing through the
dungeon floors.

When dealing with the bosses
guarding the doors every 10 levels.

It was as if God himself had
shown her the way to conquer the dungeon.

So.

What if Lucy was really
Armadi’s Apostle, as the Apostle of the Evil God had hinted?

What if all the plans that
came out of her mouth were actually given by Armadi?

Would my name be included
among those plans?

Does Armadi still trust me
even though I’ve made deals with the Apostle of the Evil God?

Does he believe that his lost
lamb will find her way back?

I’m sorry, Armadi.

I have no confidence.

This foolish lamb, who
couldn’t overcome her anxiety and fell for the Evil God’s temptation,
can’t live up to your expectations.’

“Sloppy Saint?”

Phoebe lifted her head at the
voice calling her and met the eyes of Lucy Allen.

Eyes full of certainty as she
looked at her.

“You can do it, right?”

Lucy looked at Phoebe as if
wondering if she really couldn’t do this.

Could she really do it? Of
course, Phoebe had prayed for purification countless times.

As an active Saint, she had
travelled to numerous places.

Most of these places were
filled more with sorrow than happiness.

There were more tears than
laughter in the places she visited.

Thus, performing purification
rites had become routine for her whenever she went to a new location.

However, Phoebe had never
purified such a high-level soul before.

These tasks were usually
handled by Bishops or Cardinals, while she would merely watch from
behind.

Had this been Phoebe before
she entered the Academy, she would have said she could do it without
hesitation.

She would have thought that
Armadi sent her here, entrusting her with this task.

Phoebe would have clasped her
hands in prayer, believing in Armadi, not in herself.

But now, it was different.

Now, she questioned whether
she was truly loved by Armadi.

Now, having made a deal with
the Apostle of the Evil God, harbouring darkness in her heart.

Phoebe found it difficult to
confidently say that she could do it.

“Can’t you do it?”

But at Lucy’s next words,
Phoebe shook her head involuntarily.

“No. It’s fine.”

Reacting emotionally, a flush
rose to Phoebe’s face at Lucy’s provocation.

Realising she had made a
mistake, Phoebe tried to correct herself, but it was already too
late.

“Then let’s go. Sloppy
Swordsman, you stay behind and guard the Sloppy Saint. Don’t move
unnecessarily; it will get in the way. Sloppy Saint, prepare the
purification prayer as soon as you enter. Use it as soon as you’re
ready.”

After glancing at everyone,
Lucy pushed the giant doors to the Boss Room open without any
hesitation.

Roooaaaarrr!

Immediately, an enormous sound
echoed through the crack in the door, vibrating their eardrums
alongside the gust of wind.

The roar was filled with
resentment, anger, and hatred.

‘Can I really do it?

Can I truly embrace everything
contained in that prayer?

Oh Armadi.

Please, answer me.

Give an answer to this
inadequate lamb.’

It’s unbelievably noisy.

I feel like my eardrums are
going to burst.

Even the booming speakers in
the movie theatres weren’t this loud.

Is this what they call the
power of a dragon?

As soon as we stepped past the
door, it closed behind us, plunging the Boss Room into darkness.

Not long after, I heard the
sound of wind coming from above, followed by earthquake-like tremors
as something landed, bringing with it a subtle, dawn-like light
filling the Boss Room.

Roooaaaarrr!

Only then did I finally catch
sight of our enemy.

Standing on a rocky pedestal
in the centre of the Boss Room was a dragon.

Contained in a body made of
rock, this is a dragon that was once hunted by humans and has been a
plaything for them ever since.

Wow, it’s been a while.

It’s rare to tackle an Academy
Dungeon boss during the first semester since the rewards aren’t worth
the effort.

I think the last time I faced
one was a penalty run where I cleared all bosses barehanded*. (*No
farming/grinding.)

But there’s no problem.

I completely remember how to
hunt this guy.

Moreover, we have a Saint with
us, which is like our secret weapon.

Normally, you’d never get a
Saint as a party member at this stage unless you were extremely
lucky.

So, you piece of trash.

Die quietly and hand over the
rewards to us.

Seeing Phoebe clasp her hands
and begin the purification prayer, I addressed the dragon.

“Hey, you pathetic piece
of trash lizard♡, how does it feel to be slaughtered by humans and
treated as their toy?♡ Huh?♡ How does it feel to be insulted by a
girl like this♡?”

As soon as the dragon’s red
eyes locked onto me, the euphoric rush of power surged through my
body.

The provocation worked
perfectly; now Phoebe won’t be threatened.

All that’s left is to hold out
until Phoebe starts the purification.That’s easy.

What makes this dragon
difficult in the early part of the game is that it flies around. That
bastard hardly ever comes down, acting all unfair and cowardly from
the sky.

To bring it down, you’d have
to bombard it with ranged attacks, but at this stage of the game,
players don’t have many ranged attack options.

So, hunting that guy usually
turns into a dirty and annoying grind.

However, it’s different now.

As long as Phoebe purifies the
dragon’s soul, everything will be resolved.

Holding out until then?

Piece of cake.

“Oh, right♡ You can’t
even talk because you don’t have a brain?♡ Sorry♡ I forgot that
you are a sloppy♡ trashy♡ pathetic♡ lizard♡”

As soon as my provocation
ended, the dragon roared, spread its wings, and headed toward the
high ceiling of the cavern.

Now that I think about it, the
Academy professors who designed this are evil bastards.

Making students fight a dragon
while leaving its biggest advantage, the sky, intact.

But that means nothing to
veterans.

The dragon’s patterns are
broadly divided into two.

A breath attack while flying
around.

Magic bombardment using dragon
speech.

There’s also a pattern for
when it takes enough damage and falls to the ground, but that’s none
of our concern.

That guy will fall from the
sky straight down.

Alright. What’s the first
move?

As I raised my shield and
watched the dragon, its mouth opened wide, and I started running
forward.

Moments later, the spot where
I had been standing was engulfed in the dragon’s breath, and flames
that could turn everything on the ground to ashes trailed behind me
as I ran.

This pattern is easy.

All I have to do is keep
running.

The flames linger for a while
on the ground, so if you pick the wrong route, you might meet a fiery
end. But that’s not an issue for me.

After all, I’m a veteran.

I’m so familiar with the
escape route that I could run it with my eyes closed.

I used to evade this pattern
effortlessly even with a level 1 barehanded character, so there’s no
way I can’t do it with my high stamina and speed now.

After running for a while and
turning the cavern into a sea of fire, the dragon stopped breathing
flames and moved to the centre of the cavern.

Then it spread its wings and
opened its mouth again.

The second pattern.

Magic bombardment.

Depending on its health, the
types of magic vary, but right now, since it’s at full health,
there are about three types of magic it uses.

Lightning.

Earth spears.

And summoning of vengeful
spirits.

No matter which one it is, I
can handle it.

As I was thinking about how to
counter the magic, Grandpa spoke up.

Already finished preparing?

Wow. As expected from the
Saint.

It was worth carrying you to
the 100th floor.

While I was still waiting for
the dragon, which had risen into the sky, to fall down as a mere
statue, unfortunately, my waiting was in vain.

The dragon had started casting
its magic.

I rolled to the side to avoid
the spears rising from the ground and looked over at Phoebe.

Phoebe’s eyes, fixed on the
ground, seemed lost.

…Could she have failed the
prayer?

Phoebe?

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