Dragon’s Lair (2)
The reaction was immediate.
[───!]
A strange language echoed through the cavern, reverberating from the pit’s depths, and the two figures began to twist violently.
Crack!
Their ample robes tore apart, revealing the glinting scales of reptiles beneath.
In an instant, their bodies expanded, defying the laws of physics with an explosive transformation.
[How dare mere mortals!]
[To challenge the master’s avatar…!]
Two dragons, one with dark brown scales and the other with black, roared as they rose. Each was over ten meters long, their wings spreading wide enough to obscure the entrance to the ruins.
Dalen’s axe was already back in his hand.
Swish—
A slicing sound cut through the roars. It wasn’t loud, but the result was chaotic. A three-meter-wide membrane of the dark brown dragon’s wing fell to the ground.
“Tsk.”
Dalen clicked his tongue. He had aimed for the head, but the wing had been severed instead.
It wasn’t that the creature was too fast; the weight of the axe was simply different from before.
‘The heft feels good, but I still need to get used to it.’
Dalen flexed his hand. Even for him, wielding an axe a hundred times heavier than usual wasn’t easy.
The fact that he could even reflect on this showed how leisurely the battle was for him.
[······!]
For the two dragons, however, it was a life-or-death situation.
[───!]
[─! ──!]
Their draconic language tore through the air, magic surging like waves.
The pit’s floor erupted as golems several meters tall rose, and a viscous, lava-like breath filled the air.
[Ttaraea! Bind him with the golems and let’s escape!]
[I’ll hold him off with my breath! At least ten more!]
Gone was the arrogance from the dragons’ eyes, replaced only by a desperate will to survive.
With a single axe throw, the master’s avatar had been crushed before it could even transform.
At first, they thought it was the power of some relic weapon, but when the axe effortlessly sliced through a wing like a reed, they realized the man before them was no ordinary human.
Their only choice was to unleash their strongest spells and breath, then retreat to the heart of the dragon’s lair where their master resided.
The dragon’s breath, as potent as lava from the deepest veins, and over ten stone golems might buy them some time.
[Eleven… twelve! Ttaraea, fall back!]
Just as they thought their plan was working—
「Ice Formation: Bloom」
「Flowing Branch」
The breath that had fanned out across the pit was swallowed by a cold that branched into dozens of tendrils.
[What the…!]
The black-scaled dragon’s mouth began to freeze mid-roar. It tried to retreat, but its feet wouldn’t budge.
「Hundred Roots」
Hundreds of icy roots had spread across the ground, freezing its legs and pinning it down.
[Ttaraea!]
The dark brown dragon with the severed wing called out to its companion. No answer came.
The black dragon had already been turned into an ice sculpture by the roots and the cold storm that had consumed its breath.
Crash!
Dalen charged through the frozen remains, shattering them with his shoulder. Shards of ice and dragon flesh scattered everywhere, but he paid no mind.
Once, he had needed a holy sword to even stand a chance against such a dragon.
Now, he could dispatch them without even drawing his broken holy sword.
The rapid growth he had achieved through life-threatening battles was almost unbelievable. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t pleased with this accomplishment.
This sense of achievement fueled his motivation to take another step forward.
Even the seemingly unstoppable end of the world now seemed like something he could tear apart with his own hands.
[Bind him! Stop him at all costs!]
The dragon’s voice was frantic. Fifteen golems charged at the command.
Dalen drew his sword without a word. Not the broken holy sword at his back, but a blade from a plain scabbard at his waist.
Whirr…
The sword sang a strange note as it was freed, its jewel-like blade reflecting the magical glow scattered across the pit.
[The Shattering Sword, Tyrfing…!]
The dragon muttered in a panicked voice.
The reward from the northern kingdom of Char was not limited to gold and jewels.
Their treasury overflowed with such riches, but Dalen had asked for something else: the relic weapons sleeping in the royal vault.
Originally, he had requested a relic axe and scabbard, and after negotiating with the avatar of Suum, he had also acquired this sword.
Rumble!
The golems charged with a sound like rolling boulders. Dalen swung his sword lightly.
It was as if he was testing the sword’s ability, not even bothering to assume a proper stance.
Boom!
A golem, weighing several tons and charging at the speed of a galloping horse, was sent flying with a single swing, crashing into the pit wall.
Rumble…
The impact shook the pit, sending rocks and sand raining down from above.
“Not bad.”
It was a surreal experience to wield legendary equipment he had only seen through a monitor.
He had never used the holy sword Tortanis, so he couldn’t compare, but the Shattering Sword was a weapon he had often sought in the game whenever he allied with Char.
It was a weapon worthy of a reward for battling evil gods.
‘A weapon that reflects the impact of a strike…’
The downside was that the sword’s durability decreased with each use of its ability, and it was limited to physical force, but it was still impressive.
To address the durability issue, he had also taken a matching scabbard from the royal vault.
Step.
Dalen loosened his wrist and walked toward the remaining golems.
It didn’t take long to sweep through the fourteen golems and sever the dragon’s head.
Felber, Tommy, and Volkma arrived a little later.
Felber surveyed the chaos in the pit, then nodded at the sight of the decapitated dragon at Dalen’s feet.
“Was it a dragon?”
“Two dragons. One avatar of an earth dragon. They came to greet us, so I returned the favor.”
“Greet…?”
Volkma tilted his head in confusion, but no one paid attention.
“Did you finish up top?”
“We let a few slip, but we got most of them. Judging by the forces they had waiting below, they planned to ambush us from both sides.”
“The earth dragon must be furious.”
“Can’t blame it. We did wake it from its slumber.”
Felber said, using a spell to clean the bloodstains from his clothes.
Dalen watched, then wiped his blood-splattered face with his hand.
He had some magical knowledge now, but he couldn’t understand the mindset of mages who used spells for such trivial tasks.
After extracting the dragon’s heart and storing it in a pocket dimension, the four of them entered the half-collapsed entrance to the ruins.
A long corridor stretched out before them, the air thick with a warm heat despite being deep underground.
“You received an elixir from Char as a reward. How was it?”
“Very good. The strain on my body when manipulating timelines has lessened significantly.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“And you? You received a sword, a scabbard, and… quite a bit, didn’t you?”
“The axe will take some getting used to, but the sword and scabbard are definitely useful. They make a good pair.”
Shing…
Dalen partially drew the sword. The nicks from the battle with the golems and dragons had all been repaired.
The scabbard, unnamed, had the ability to restore the weapon’s durability.
Unfortunately, the holy sword didn’t fit, so it remained broken and strapped to his back.
The group continued down the dark corridor. Though they encountered many forks, Dalen moved forward without hesitation each time.
The passageway itself was a labyrinth, a place where getting lost and stumbling into traps was almost a given. A single wrong turn at a fork could lead you straight into a pit bristling with spikes or a boulder set ablaze.
Felber, sensing the danger, stroked his beard and whispered quietly, “I hope this isn’t too forward, but have you been here before?”
“A few times,” Dalen replied.
“That’s a relief. The Dragon’s Lair is notorious for its magic resistance. Without you, we’d be in quite a bind.”
Dalen nodded. His own senses had been significantly dulled since entering the lair. Even the trusty spells he relied on were ineffective here. Every step he took was guided solely by memory.
“Stay alert. In those few visits, the Earth Dragon’s avatar never came out to greet us. And we never ventured too deep, just enough to snatch some treasure.”
Dalen had tackled the Earth Dragon’s lair before, but only to grab the treasure piled near the entrance. There weren’t many times he had grown strong enough to face a true dragon head-on. Characters capable of defeating the Earth Dragon, known as the Dragon God’s right gauntlet, were rare indeed.
And those who reached such strength were usually too busy dealing with the myriad crises erupting across the continent. This time, by sheer luck, they had stumbled upon the lair’s entrance.
“There, I see the end,” Dalen said.
The narrow passage had widened into something akin to a grand boulevard, ending at a gate that resembled the entrance to a sizable city.
As they approached, the gate began to open on its own. Inside was a cavernous space, darker than the passage they had come through, but Dalen remembered it as a large, empty chamber.
‘In the game, it served as a kind of rest area.’
Beyond the vast open space lay a complex network of monster dens and treasure-filled rooms. Dalen’s memory extended only that far.
The group slowly entered the chamber.
Thud―.
The door slammed shut behind them.
”…Huh?”
What was this? The door had never closed in the game.
As he pondered, something sliced through the air.
Bang―!
A gunshot echoed.
Instinctively, Dalen opened his hand to inspect what he had caught. In the darkness cast by the lair’s enchantments, the object in his palm faintly reflected the magical light emanating from his eyes.
“A bullet? But the shape…”
Felber spoke, and Dalen frowned. It was a bullet, but its form was strangely familiar. Not the round lead shot common in this world, but a sharp, streamlined copper bullet.
Memories from his military service, long buried, flashed through his mind.
[Align sights! Prepare for volley fire!]
A deep, resonant voice, characteristic of dwarves, boomed through the chamber. From the pitch-black darkness, thousands of eyes glinted, reflecting the magical light.
”…Damn it.”
The dwarf shouted.
[Fire at will!]