episode_0025

“Everyone spread out! Let’s complement each other’s blind spots and focus on attack!!”

At my shout, the mercenary members took their positions one by one, widening their angles.

Since I created the Scar Mercenaries, it has been the formation I have used most often. Spread out in all directions, but complement each other’s weaknesses.

If they were gathered together in one place, they could be annihilated by a single powerful attack. This is a very efficient method as they have to endure attacks and sabotage from enemies coming from various directions.

Crrraaa!

The dragon opened its huge maw as if it could easily chew up a small house, and came running with a roar so loud that it felt like my eardrums would burst.

Whoa!

A person’s claws are so strong that they can tear them in half with just a slight swing. I managed to avoid the claws rushing at me by concentrating my mana.

Liquid-sudden!

-…Screw you!

-Now! Hurry up and beat them!!

-Eat this, you monster!!

Quad deuk, pop!

As always, I drew the monster’s attention, and then the mercenaries joined together to attack.

“…Ugh, why is it so hard!”

As someone shouted, no matter how hard I tried to cut and hit it, I could only cause a slight wound and could not land an effective hit.

Wow-!

Whoa!

“Ugh!”

-Ugh!

-what..!

-….shit!

The dragon immediately crouched down with its wings together, then spread its wings at once and blew away everyone who was close to it.

The wind pressure is enough to blow away dozens of people with just the flap of the wings. And the body is so hard that it cannot deliver effective hits with any reasonable attack.

“Is this… a dragon?”

Crrr…

The majesty of the dragon, with its large wings spread out like a giant barrier, was like the noble appearance of a predator looking at its prey.

‘…under. okay. If it’s a dragon, it should do this much!’

This was within the expected range. I never thought it would be easy to catch a dragon that only appears in legends.

I knew this would happen, and I prepared something.

“…Everyone, I’ll go with the second method! Power, to location!”

“”To the location…!””

At my shout, the mercenaries took out from the bag they were carrying a rope thicker than a person’s forearm and stronger than rubber, and a nail as big as a person’s head.

“… Vanguard, charge-!”

Excluding those equipped with equipment for capture. About half of the people, including me, ran back to the dragon.

Craaaa-!

A dragon that approaches me with its mouth open as if it wants to chew me alive. I concentrated my magic on my entire body and focused on the dragon’s movements.

Quad deuk!

The dragon closed its wide-open mouth and tried to chew me, but I managed to avoid it.

“Huh!”

Tung-!

At the same time, he struck the defenseless head of the dragon with all his body strength.

“….now!”

-Get down!

-You’ll get dizzy! You monster!!

Those who were superior in weight applied force to the dragon’s head like me, and those who had weapons that could inflict strong impact, such as blunt weapons, hit the head with all their might.

Big…rrr…

Even if it was a dragon, it was bound to stumble if it received multiple strong impacts to its head, which was connected to its brain.

“Rearguard, throw the rope!!”

Plop, plop!

At the same time as my instructions, those who fixed the nails on the hard floor threw ropes with huge awls and drove them into several places on the dragon’s body.

Stumble-!

Big… ah-!

“Don’t stop attacking! Don’t give him time to resist!!”

At the same time, the conviction to kill this monster was gathered together and an overwhelming attack was launched.

There was no such thing as retreat, and the will to simply annihilate the enemy in front of me gave me greater strength than any other divine protection.

dump.

Finally, the dragon, whose entire body was tied and exposed to a one-sided attack, fell to his knees.

“Vice-captain Seris!!”

“Haaaab-!”

Cerys simultaneously flew into the sky and reached the dragon’s head, which was kneeling and breathing heavily.

Suddenly!

An attack against a disheveled target with an overwhelming body and overwhelming magical power.

….thud.

In front of Seris’ overwhelming firepower, the legend collapsed.

“….I won!”

Starting with Hans’ shout, the mercenary members were consumed by the joy of victory. A 5-star monster has been defeated. That monster was the legendary dragon.

Additionally, the request was a direct request from the empire.

The mercenary members exhaled harshly, but cheered at the confirmed golden future.

….however. Is this really the end?

‘…Something is strange.’

I looked at the dragon’s lifeless body with its head cut off.

It was definitely… strong. Although it was incomparably stronger than other ordinary 4-star monsters… it failed to show the majesty that lived up to its reputation.

Clouds passing overhead block the sunlight and cast shadows. At the same time, the fog of the unknown begins to accumulate in my mind.

Was this… at a level that the empire could directly request?

It was strong, but… There are countless mercenary groups and strong men under the empire.

It is true that we are a remarkably strong mercenary group within the empire, to the point where we feel proud of being a Scar mercenary group, but… was it really enough to pose a threat to the empire, as requested?

‘no. At that level… even if it’s not us, someone will be able to take it down.’

Just like the battle just now, just nails and rope. And I didn’t think it could be defeated with a one-sided attack.

So, I even made a follow-up plan. The dragon was exterminated so easily.

And, there was another strange thing.

-…It spews disaster-like flames from its mouth, and the flying natural disaster has indescribable strength.

It was a phrase that was clearly written in the request form. Typical characteristics of a dragon that breathes and flies.

‘But that thing didn’t fly… and it didn’t breathe fire.’

I don’t know if the wings were already torn or if they were born torn from the beginning. Anyway, those wings wouldn’t be able to support its huge body and fly.

And Breath didn’t show anything other than swinging its claws or crushing with its teeth.

…I couldn’t find a single thing in common with the characteristics of the ‘dragon’ written in the request, other than a similar appearance.

‘…then. There are two hypotheses.’

First hypothesis. The body of the dragon is indeed the one at the time the empire placed the request, but it has been weakened for some unknown reason.

…This hypothesis is frankly ridiculous. The dragon that terrified the entire continent could not become so weak in the desert of death, where only 4-star sand worms were strong.

And the second.

‘…That’s not a dragon.’

If that corpse isn’t a dragon… If we haven’t encountered a dragon, then everything is correct.

And, in fantasy, there are beings that are similar to dragons but much more degraded.

drake. Although it is incomparably weaker than a dragon, it is nonetheless incredibly strong.

In the world, it is also called a flightless dragon.

So… that monster wasn’t a dragon… it was a Drake?

…Then what about dragons? The disaster that slaughtered dozens of sand worms…?

“….me. Leader..”

At that time, Ceris, who seemed to be hesitating somewhere, walked towards me with a depressed expression.

“…Wait. Vice-captain Seris…”

“…Yes?”

…And there was something strange from earlier. Obviously, if it’s a cloud… it would be right to move with the wind rather than stay in one place.

However, the shadow that had been cast over our heads from earlier did not disappear.

…Rather, it grew bigger, as if something was approaching.

I looked up at the sky, feeling anxious. But nothing was visible in the sky.

Clouds and the appearance of a dragon. It just shows the blue sky.

“……?”

As I narrowed my eyes and looked at the sky, I caught something shaking in the air.

And the shimmer gradually grew in size and came towards us.

…especially to Seris.

“…….”

I ran towards Seris without saying a word. Even if I have to burn my entire life, I can reach Seris.

Warriors who can sense mana capture the flow of attacks through mana. Through the flow of mana, you can see the trajectory of the attack and also determine the location of the monster.

So, what happens when mana does not exist? What is an attack that is hidden in such detail that the mana trace is not visible?

…The correct answer is. Can’t see through. But most people don’t pay attention to it. There were only two cases of attacks where the mana trace was not visible.

first. The level of the attack is very low, and it is an attack that does not send mana.

second. Because it is a well-hidden attack whose mana cannot even be detected, it is an attack so strong that one cannot dare to deal with it.

The second item is something that veterans like us have a harder time encountering in life, so most people only think about the first item.

If that happens, if the habit continues.

A warrior can deal with attacks that leave a reverberation of mana even from a blind spot, but if he cannot sense mana, he is more defenseless than in any other situation.

And, Seris was only looking at me, not knowing that the attack was coming. An attack that would never be noticed, and would kill even Seris in an instant.

Tadadadadak-!

“…Captain?”

Wow!

I lunged at Ceris and pushed her away with all my might.

Seris flew far away thanks to the mana-filled push and my weight. To a range where attacks cannot reach.

And then I fell down in the same spot where Seris had been standing just a moment ago.

“Captain?! What happened suddenly…!”

…thank god. It went according to my plan.

Kwazizig-!

That time when the shadows are the darkest and the shimmer comes right before your eyes.

I felt the terrible roar of my flesh being torn apart and my body becoming mute.

***

“…Phew.”

at las. I defeated that dragon. I was surprised that it was much weaker than I thought…but isn’t a good thing a good thing?

‘…okay. Now… let’s apologize to the leader.’

The time he had promised himself had arrived. A promise to relieve all the weight and apologize to the leader when the battle is over.

All the excuses and escapes that had been piling up were already gone. As the back disappeared, the fear of being abandoned disappeared and my courage grew.

As the hot sunlight was obscured by the shadows cast by the clouds, Seris felt an unknown joy.

Is it because I can finally say an apology? Or maybe it was because I had the courage to face the leader again.

“…me. Leader…”

Seris approached the Venice leader, who looked somewhat dazed, and spoke to him.

How many days has it been since I spoke to you like this? Just being able to see his face filled me with joy.

“Wait a minute. Vice-captain Seris…”

“…Yes?”

The leader seemed to have been aware of this situation as well, and needed some time to think.

…Surely, if you were the leader… wouldn’t you forgive me?

‘It’s going back to the way it was before.’

I was happy for a moment. To the time when I felt the joy of being alive.

Cerys forgot about the fears and hesitations she had had before and was thinking about the happy future ahead.

Tadadadadak-!

At that time, the leader started running towards him.

…Perhaps the leader… would you please speak to me again first? Still… there’s no need to do something like that…

“….?”

The leader started running towards him desperately, with an expression on his face that said he had seen something he shouldn’t have seen.

…with more mana wrapped around his entire body than when he was in battle.

“…Captain?”

no way. Is the leader trying to hit me? No… it’s okay though. If only I could go back to the past… because I could bear the pain.

widely-! Wow!

“….Huh?”

The leader, who was continuing to run, suddenly flew towards him as if he was throwing his body away. At the same time, a tremendous impact occurred, and the body flew far into the distance.

Cradangtang-!

“…Ugh!Captain?! What happened suddenly…!”

Seris was taken aback when the unexpected move of pushing came out.

Cerys sat down and looked at the leader at the sudden incident.

Kwazizig-!

At the same time, the body of the leader, who was looking at himself with an expression of happiness, was mercilessly torn apart.