Since he had not taken even the one whose lower body had been crushed into his calculations, Russellunt hurriedly
tried to cast Blink. Unfortunately, however, just before his body vanished, something
slapped itself onto Russellunt’s head.
Puuuk.
At the same time, something hot mercilessly pierced through Russellunt’s skull. It was
a longsword brimming with an Aura Blade.
Helbertron’s beloved sword, the Rehert Saber. The long blade of this ancient artifact
mercilessly burrowed into Russellunt’s skull, then lodged itself deep in the center of his brain.
Kwaoooo.
That no creature can live with its brain pierced was a truth unchanged through all ages. No matter how
formidable a life-form a dragon might be, with its brain destroyed, there was no way for it to endure any longer.
With a death cry, Russellunt felt his consciousness fade.
‘Th-this can’t be?’
It was a death he had truly never imagined. Russellunt, an Ancient-class Black
Dragon who had lived well over five thousand years, met such a hollow end. Without even
completing his mission. The dragon’s enormous body was now plummeting helplessly to the ground.
Thud.
The lifeless body of the Ancient-class dragon struck the earth with a tremendous roar. Because it had fallen from such a height,
a pit about one hundred meters wide was gouged out in an instant where Russellunt crashed.
Accordingly, clouds of dust billowed up in thick swells. Crumpled on the ground, Russellunt no longer
moved in the slightest. With a longsword buried deep in the crown of his head, he had died completely.
Helbertron, who had fallen together with Russellunt, was thrown far away by the impact
that erupted against the ground. Like his comrades, he had dug deep into the dirt, but fortunately, he did not seem
to be dead. Half-buried in the ground, wriggling as he tried to pull himself out, Helbertron’s appearance
seemed to show the tenacious vitality of the undead.
The three Death Knights who had fallen from high in the sky were also safe. Only the dullest one,
Primberg, had lost one arm and one leg. But that was not a problem.
If he received a sufficient supply of dark mana, he would be able to regain his original form again…
“Hey, you all right?”
Reindelf, whose body was relatively intact, trudged over and gathered up
Helbertron’s battered body. A short distance away, Saramis was supporting Primberg. Having
collected their comrades, the Death Knights approached Russellunt, who was embedded in the ground. As if to confirm his death
once more, they pointed their swords at him, but the dragon’s death could be known at once.
“It’s over.”
They looked down quietly before the dragon’s enormous head, its tongue lolling out.
As if they could not believe they had slain it themselves. Behind them, Damon was appearing.
The surroundings fell silent all at once.
No one opened their mouth. Bertek’s mouth hung wide open as if his jaw had dropped off entirely,
and even the four surviving Paladins did not move, as if they had become stone statues. The mercenaries,
who had been firmly protected by the shield, were likewise aghast.
It had only been a short while since they had faced a dragon for the first time in their lives. Immediately after, the horrifying destructive power of the dragon
had left them speechless.
The destructive power of an Ancient-class dragon was truly fearsome. As if annihilating five hundred heavily armed
infantrymen in an instant were not enough, it had then unleashed high-circle magic beyond anything imaginable.
Even excluding magic, a dragon was a powerful life-form one could not dare imagine opposing.
Just looking at its hard scales, which nothing but an Aura Blade could penetrate, it could truly be called
invincible.
But today, they had witnessed a legend. It was astounding enough to have seen the true nature of a creature called a dragon,
but they had never dreamed there would be humans who could hunt and kill such a dragon.
To be precise, one human and four Death Knights. The humans present were utterly absorbed
in staring at the mage and Death Knights who had accomplished a legend.
“H-heavens…”
Bertek’s astonishment was even greater. The black mage he had captured and been transporting.
That man possessed such terrifying skill… The black mage’s performance was like
a textbook a mage absolutely had to master when facing a dragon. The technique of appropriately disrupting its magic
to save the knights in danger, and diverting the dragon’s attention so they could find openings to attack,
could truly be described as fantastic.
In particular, when Damon dispelled Time Slip, Bertek had been so shocked his eyes nearly popped out.
Time Slip was a 9th Circle spell acknowledged by anyone. The fact that he could dispel it
proved that he was an archmage who had reached the 9th Circle.
No, even without that, the mere fact that he had deployed Hell Fire, the flame of destruction that burned everything away,
left no room for doubt. That astounding skill, pushing the dragon back while coordinating exquisitely with
the Death Knights. It was something he truly would not have believed had he not seen it with his own eyes. Thus, the people present
remained submerged in astonishment, staring at the beings who had accomplished the unbelievable.
But a little later, there was one being who broke that silence.
“Wh-what in the world happened?”
There was a pair of eyes staring at the dead dragon with an expression as if he had no idea what had happened.
It was Wilkerson, released from Russellunt’s mental magic. Looking bewildered,
Wilkerson alternated his gaze between the dragon and the Death Knights, and before long remembered his own mission.
He drew his sword like lightning and shouted.
“You bastard! To think you would dare escape… If you do not surrender quietly, you will not get off unharmed!”
Damon’s gaze slowly turned toward Wilkerson. As if annoyed, he waved
his hand toward Saramis.
“Deal with him. But don’t kill him…”
With his sword drawn, Saramis slowly moved toward Wilkerson. Seeing that,
Wilkerson tensed sharply. He had never once fought a Death Knight until now.
There had been no undead uprisings in Arcadia for a long time. Nevertheless, Wilkerson
was well aware that a Death Knight was by no means an easy opponent. Of course,
he did not anticipate his own defeat in the slightest. As if displaying the vigor of old age, he roared.
“Cursed beings who cannot go to the netherworld even in death… I shall put an end
to your unholy lives.”
After uttering those words, Wilkerson charged in spiritedly. A fierce clash followed.
Clang, clang, clang.
Wilkerson was a Sword Master of considerable skill. The Aura Blade rising one foot high
from his sword proved that clearly. Unfortunately, however, Saramis, who faced him,
was an expert who far surpassed Wilkerson. His basic swordsmanship was so, and the power of his
Aura Blade was also stronger.
From Saramis’s saber, an Aura Blade nearly three feet long formed, and together with the cold
emitted by his beloved sword, Frost Soul, it displayed terrifying power.
In life, Saramis had been one of the four experts representing Truvenia. Moreover, after becoming a Death Knight
and receiving a sufficient supply of dark mana, he possessed power roughly twice
what he had held in life. Therefore, this was a fight in which Wilkerson had no chance of victory from the outset.
The outcome was decided before long. The aged Wilkerson quickly tired, and the path of his sword
grew dull, but there was no way for Saramis, an undead, to tire.
“Huk.”
Feeling the longsword in his hands snap helplessly in two, Wilkerson retreated
with a pale face. But his opponent’s saber was already aimed
at Wilkerson’s heart…
There was no time even to be surprised. Wilkerson had never dreamed a Death Knight would be this strong.
But the chill emanating from his opponent’s sword was being transmitted through his breastplate,
so he could not doubt his own defeat. Having settled his heart, Wilkerson closed his eyes tight with a resolute expression.
“Kill me. Though I accept death because my strength was insufficient, His Majesty the King
will surely avenge this grudge.”
But the Death Knight did not thrust his sword forward.
Clank.
The Death Knight sheathed his sword, turned around, and walked toward Damon. Wilkerson, opening his eyes,
was dumbfounded. Regaining his composure, he stared straight at the black mage.
In the current situation, dealing with the black mage rather than the Death Knight was the wiser judgment.
For the one controlling the Death Knights was him…
“Why aren’t you killing me?”
“Then why should I kill you?”
At the mage’s immediate counterquestion, Wilkerson was left utterly speechless.
“Th-that’s…”
“Because I’m an evil black mage who controls Death Knights, so of course I should kill you—is that it?”
“…”
Unable to bring himself to speak, Wilkerson merely nodded. Damon looked at him once,
then let out a long sigh.
“It’s true that I’m a cheap and despicable villain. But you know,
I don’t particularly like murder. Believe it or not, since coming to Arcadia,
I haven’t killed a single person…”
Hearing that, Wilkerson’s eyes widened as if he could not believe it. With a bewildered expression,
he looked back and forth between the Death Knight and Damon. Damon gave a bitter smile.
“Honestly, whether you believe me or not isn’t something I care about. My only purpose is dragon hunting,
that’s all. I have no interest whatsoever in anything else. Understand?”
Since the words were spoken with clear physical evidence(?) before him, there was no way not to believe them. Moreover, since he was
in no position to subdue him by force either, Wilkerson eventually nodded.
“I-I understand.”
After looking at him for a moment, Damon turned his head.
Sssssss.
Beside him, a gap in space rippling darkly appeared. It was the magical treasury,
Incresia. Damon intended to put the corpse of the dead Russellunt into Incresia.
When he sent the signal according to the agreed method, Incresia began to expand rapidly.
Shoooook.
In the blink of an eye, Incresia expanded to thirty meters on each side and, like a toad swallowing a fly,
gulped down the dead Russellunt’s body. That enormous bulk was lightly sucked into Incresia.
“H-heavens…”
At the astonishing, utterly unbelievable sight, Wilkerson’s mouth fell wide open. Of course, the others
had no more mouth left to open. Every one of them already had their mouths hanging wide open
and drool running down. Having swallowed Russellunt’s corpse, Incresia returned to its original form.
After storing the dead dragon in the magical treasury, Damon turned to look at the Death Knights. Helbertron,
who had been reduced almost to a wreck, and Primberg, who had lost two limbs. If they had been human,
they would have died long ago. But thanks to the advantage of being undead, they were still
alive, and if supplied with dark mana, they could return to their original forms at any time.
After looking at them for a moment, Damon nodded.
“Whew. You all worked hard. Since it was our first time, there were more than a few clumsy points,
but if we keep going like this, we’ll become more adept at slaying dragons…”
At Damon’s praise, a faint smile formed on Helbertron’s face.
“Worked hard? If not for you, it would have been impossible to kill that thing.”
In truth, the one who had made the greatest contribution to catching the Black Dragon was none other than Damon.
If not for his performance, the four Death Knights would have been annihilated long ago.
They had no choice but to realize to their bones that a mage’s assistance was essential
in hunting a dragon. Though a mage could not face a dragon head-on, in dragon hunting,
he was an existence that could never be absent. Without a mage, one could not even approach a dragon.
Damon nodded as if satisfied.
“If either you lot or I had been missing, this hunt would have failed. So from now on,
let’s gradually acknowledge each other. And you lot, don’t get too cheeky with me from now on…”
Embarrassed smiles appeared on the Death Knights’ faces.
“Well, there’s no need to acknowledge or not acknowledge anything. Aren’t we the most perfect combination there is?
Still, after killing one dragon, I feel thoroughly relieved. Dragons really are
a horrifically strong race.”
“That’s right.”
A faint smile also appeared on Damon’s face as he nodded. Though they had struggled a little,
it had to be said that they had accomplished their objective for now. After all,
they had caught one Ancient-class dragon. After glancing around once, Damon looked at Reindelf.
“You take them into Incresia first. Things are too chaotic right now,
so later I’ll gather dark mana and restore your bodies.”
“Well. Do as you like…”
Reindelf nodded obediently and took the two into Incresia. Leaving only Saramis behind
as his guard, Damon soon closed Incresia.
Sssssss.
Incresia, which had swallowed an entire dragon whole, soon vanished from that place. After confirming it,
Damon turned around.