Volume 4, Chapter 39 – Dragonkin Suikyou

“Ooooooh!”

Taking a deep breath, Suikyou let out a roar.

This was the Dragon Roar, a technique that the Dark Dragon King’s fragment had also used.

Chris-san and Lu-chan both flinched in reaction.

“Ho ho ho. To remain unmoved by my roar… you are quite impressive.”

Hmph. My Status Resistance skill level is MAX. There’s no way it would work.

“I’m not afraid of you,” I continued provoking her, hoping to make her lose even a little of her composure.

“Ho ho ho. However, your lackeys don’t seem quite as unfazed. Now, how about this?”

Taking another breath, she she unleashed a Water Breath from her mouth, launching it directly at us.

“Defense Wall!”

I intercepted the water breath with a defense wall.

“Lu-chan, Chris-san, just like back at the Silver Village!”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

The moment I finished blocking the breath, I fired a flash of Purification magic at Suikyou as a distraction.

Then, Lu-chan fired an arrow, and Chris-san closed in from a blind spot.

“Ho ho ho. Futile.”

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With a look of complete composure, the black aura enveloping Suikyou easily blocked both my Purification magic and Lu-chan’s arrow.

“Ga… hah!”

In the next instant, a groan echoed. Looking toward the sound, I saw Chris-san, who had lunged at Suikyou, taking a fist straight to the stomach.

Her body bent into a sharp V-shape, and a massive amount of blood sprayed from her mouth.

“Ho ho ho. With that, she is incapacitated.”

Suikyou carelessly tossed Chris-san aside toward where Shizuku-san lay fallen.

“Ho ho ho. It’s practically a morgue, is it not?”

Suikyou grinned maliciously.

“Chris-san!”

I called out in a panic, but Chris-san remained motionless, her eyes wide open.

“Now, next is the little Elf girl.”

“Eh?”

In the blink of an eye, Suikyou moved in front of Lu-chan and pierced her stomach with a hand-blade strike.

“Ah… gah… Sai… nt-sama…”

Lu-chan coughed up blood, and then all the strength left her body, leaving her limp.

With the light gone from Lu-chan’s eyes, Suikyou tossed her away like trash toward Shizuku-san and Chris-san.

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“Ho ho ho. How does it feel? To challenge the strong without knowing your own limits and be defeated so pathetically?”

I rushed to Lu-chan’s side and cast Healing magic.

“Ho ho ho. Yes. I’ve just thought of something. If you offer yourself to me, I shall spare the lives of that Elf girl and the female knight. To sacrifice yourself for the lives of your lackeys and the peace of your people… is that not a fitting end for a Saint? Ho ho ho ho ho ho!”

Suikyou proposed a devil’s bargain with that same spiteful smile.

“…Kuh.”

Letting out that grating, unpleasant laugh again, she strode toward us.

“Or perhaps you’ll find your resolve once I kill one more? Ah, yes. How about that white furball over there?”

Suikyou looked at Mashiro-chan, who hadn’t been sent back, and grinned.

“Tch! Barrier!”

I instinctively pulled Mashiro-chan to my chest and activated a barrier to enclose the four of us.

“Ho ho ho ho. There is no escape, even if you shut yourself in a barrier!”

Suikyou coated her hand in black aura and punched my barrier.

With every strike, a heavy thud shook the entire cave. I felt a massive shock ripple through my barrier, causing it to warp.

“Kuh…”

“Now, how long will it last?”

Suikyou laughed with genuine enjoyment, punching the barrier over and over as if she were tormenting it.

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“Kuuuuuh!”

Due to the overwhelming power of the attacks, I had to stop Lu-chan’s healing to put all my strength into supporting the crumbling barrier.

I had managed to stop the bleeding, but Lu-chan’s condition was far from stable. To save her for sure, I needed to cast Healing magic quickly.

“Ho ho ho. How pathetic, Saint-sama? You should just resolve yourself to offer up your body already.”

“I would never…!”

“Besides, is it not your fault that these wretches are dying? You thrust your nose into the customs of my country out of a selfish sense of justice. This is the result of your selfishness—trying to save one human by sacrificing the people of my country who were living in peace.”

“But…!”

“What ‘Saint’? Forcing many sacrifices for the sake of your own selfish ego. Is that not your true nature? Ho ho ho ho ho!”

“…Ugh.”

Crack.

“Ah.”

Because I was shaken, my concentration on maintaining the barrier wavered.

“Ho ho ho. You fell for it. This is the end.”

Suikyou’s fist shattered my barrier and closed in on me with terrifying speed.

It’s no use, I won’t make it!

I threw myself over Lu-chan and Mashiro-chan to shield them, bracing for the end.

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…

…

…

“Guh… wh-why? Why can you move?!”

The blow never came.

Hearing Suikyou’s pained voice, I timidly looked up.

What I saw was Shizuku-san, who had risen to her feet and swung Kirinagi through, and Suikyou, whose right hand had been sliced off from the wrist.

“Phew… Fiene… dono.. are… you… safe…?”

After squeezing those words out, Shizuku-san collapsed face-first onto the ground.

“Why?! I paralyzed her thoughts with incense, sealed her will with the Enslavement Curse Mark, subdued the summoned Black Fox, and further mixed in my own power! How could this happen!”

I see. So that was the trick.

“Curse you! How dare you! But it changes nothing—you still have no means of attack. I shall simply kill you all now!”

Suikyou took a deep breath, entering the preparation for a breath attack.

A massive amount of energy, visible to the naked eye, concentrated in her mouth.

Then, Suikyou opened her mouth wide to unleash the breath!