CHAPTER 315: CONCERNING DRAGONS 6

 

—Drake’s Perspective—

「Perhaps I should indulge you a little.――【Eight Trigrams Dusk】」

The instant Shinku-neesan thrust Dorenkoi into the ground—

Whoooom!!

With that sound, dense magic spread through the entire underground lake.

It was not an attack.

It was the first stage of Shinku-neesan’s technique, a technique meant to oppose her opponent’s environment-control type technique.

And yet, for just a few seconds, the warped sensation surrounding us was fixed in place.

「…Huh?」

For the first time, Livia let out a puzzled voice.

The magic that had spread across the water’s surface turned into ripples and propagated through the space, forcibly fixing the currents that had been shifting however they pleased until now.

Even the scenery, where up, down, left, and right had been vague, and the senses that had been distorted along with it.

「Heeey?」

Livia smiled.

But that smile was different from before.

It was the face of a child who had found an interesting new toy.

「Shinku-chan, not bad!!」

「It is still too early for praise.」

「Hmm… But, like?」

Splash.

The water’s surface trembled.

「Did you seriously think you could do something about this with just that much?」

In the next instant, countless Livias appeared.

Ten.

Twenty.

Thirty.

No, there were even more.

Enough clones to fill the entire underground lake.

Every single one looked real.

「Which one is me? Try and guess.」

Every one of them laughed with the same face.

A natural shiver ran down my spine, but—

「Drake.」

「Yeah! I’m ready whenever!」

I answered Shinku-neesan’s call briefly.

Half a year ago, I probably would have panicked.

But I was different now. I wasn’t flustered.

Besides, Landbulk had told me again and again.

「You can fool the eyes and ears, but the flow of magic does NOT lie.」

I steadied my breathing.

The magic circulating through my body.

The magic flowing through the underground lake.

Livia’s magic.

Feel all of it.

Found her!

Only one of them had a different strength to the flow of her magic.

「Shinku-neesan!」

「Yes. I have found her as well.」

By the time I noticed, Shinku-neesan seemed to have arrived at the same answer.

「We are going, Drake. 【Eight Trigrams Dusk――Crag Serpent】」

――Boom!!

A massive shockwave, powerful enough to shake the entire underground lake, radiated out from Shinku-neesan, and then needle-like rocks began rising from the ground one after another.

The first shockwave blew away most of the clones all at once, and the remaining clones were pierced by the rocks and collapsed.

「Eh!?」

Livia’s eyes widened as her true body was exposed.

――Now.

「I’m going in!!」

As the impact Shinku-neesan had unleashed pushed against my back, I stepped forward with everything I had.

Livia immediately noticed my movement and instantly adjusted her magic control in order to reclaim control over the space.

「That’s still way too naive.」

Livia laughed, and her right hand moved.

She meant to receive my attack and divert it.

Livia’s magic touched the Red Ogre’s Iron Club as I swung it sideways.

At this rate, I would be swept aside again.

But I deliberately relaxed my strength there.

「That’s what I was waiting for!」

「…Eh?」

My attack was deflected, but at the same time, Livia froze.

If my attack was going to be deflected…

Then I just had to ride that flow and use it.

I let my body rotate with the momentum of the deflected strike and accelerated even further.

Then I added centrifugal force on top of pure power.

「――Raaah!!」

The Red Ogre’s Iron Club, accelerated explosively all at once, drew an arc while blasting the water away.

「Wai—!!」

――Dogooooooom!!

The impact and roar shook the entire underground lake, and from the water’s surface where the blow landed, a pillar of water shot up almost to the ceiling.

Livia’s body was sent flying dozens of meters, skipping and rolling across the water’s surface again and again. Then, at the end, she quietly sank beneath the water.

「…」

「…」

After the fierce exchange up to that point, a sudden silence fell.

And then, after a short while—

――Bob.

Livia surfaced from the water with only her face showing.

「Thaaaaaaat huuuuuuuuuurt!!」

Her sudden scream made my shoulders jump before I could stop them.

「Hey! Who accelerates there!? Doesn’t that make no sense!? Are you muscle-brained!?」

「I’m not muscle-brained.」

「Then what was that!?」

「I just… went with the flow, I guess?」

「That makes no sense!! Seriously gross!!」

「No, I’m seriously starting to feel hurt here, you know?」

After those words, Livia let out a deep sigh.

「Haaah… This is such a pain.」

Then, while rubbing the part of her head that had been hit, she looked at us.

Her face was just a little softer than it had been at first.

「You pass.」

「…Huh?」

「I said you pass~」

She shrugged.

「You landed a hit on me, so that’s good enough, right~?」

The grin she gave as she said that was purer than any smile she had shown until now.

「Well? You’re still totally weak, though? And I don’t want you hanging around here any longer either~」

Her breezy attitude and foul mouth hadn’t changed.

But her words and expression held a definite evaluation of us.

「Then, where would it be best for us to head next?」

While I was still standing there dumbfounded, Shinku-neesan opened her mouth and asked about our next destination.

…The remaining elemental dragons were the Wood Dragon, the Wind Dragon, and the Fire Dragon.

「Hmm, even if you ask where to go next… Why don’t you just stop already?」

「You have suddenly become evasive. Is there some reason for that?」

「I mean, the old geezer Wood Dragon is in his dormant period right now, so he probably won’t wake up, you know? And nobody knows where the Wind Dragon is right now, either~」

「Then it’s the Fire Dragon!」

「No, no, you should definitely stay away from that one~!」

「Eh? Why?」

「Why? Because you’ll both die.」

She said something absolutely outrageous so naturally, as if she were talking about tomorrow’s weather.

「Isn’t that exaggerating a bit?」

We had been trained by the Earth Dragon for half a year.

And although it had been by the skin of our teeth, the Water Dragon had acknowledged us too.

In other words, you could say we had received the seal of approval from two Ancient Dragons.

As we were now, even if we couldn’t win right away, there should still be something we could gain.

「If you really want to go, I won’t stop you, but…」

「…Can I ask where he lives, at least?」

「A volcanic island. Go out toward the sea from here and keep heading straight. I think you’ll reach it in a few days~」

「In that case, we will need to rest somewhere. Let us head there while camping on islands along the way.」

「Sounds good!」

We didn’t have any time to stand still.

If our destination was clear, and if a powerful opponent was there, then there was no choice not to go.

But Livia’s eyes weren’t smiling at all as she listened to us.

「Haaah… Seriously, be careful, okay? The Fire Dragon is the only one who’s genuinely insane.」

At the time, we still didn’t understand the true meaning of those words, quietly spoken as we left.