TN: Shout-Outs Section!
<<Scheduled report.>>
<<Shout-Out Progress for March: 1/8>>
*****
With Momo’s “Shadow Migration”, we arrive outside the City Hall.
A pile of cobbles greet me when I exit the “Shadow”.
We’re near the “Boundary Line” when we were ambushed by the Dragon yesterday.
I search for the Dragon’s whereabouts.
It’s coming closer and closer to where we are.
As always, its flight speed is ridiculous.
I’m still inside the “Safety Zone”, yet my skills and instincts are ringing alarm bells already.
I wonder how frightening it would be to encounter it “outside”.
(..Is taming it even possible?)
Taming the Dragon.
It’s such an absurd plan that I wouldn’t have normally thought of it even if I’m dreaming within a dream.
“K-Kudou-san, where’s the Dragon…?”
Ichinose-san pops out of the “Shadow”.
As if to follow her, Nishino-kun and Rikka-chan emerge from the “Shadow” as well.
“It’s almost—!!”
Before I can finish my sentence, a shudder runs down my spine.
“Duck!”
As if to match my shout—
“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.”
A blinding flash accompanies the roar of the Dragon.
Alongside an abrupt explosion, huge pillars of fire manifest in front of us.
Smoke rises from everywhere around us and thehot air scorches our skin.
(…That was so sudden…!)
To think it would shoot its breath without any warning.
Little can be seen through the dust and smoke.
(The Dragon—)
Its sign—is above us.
Up above, there’s a black dot that’s moving around.
That has to be the Dragon.
I have only been lost in my thoughts for a couple of seconds, but it has flown all the way up there already.
Haha, what an absurd creature.
(How about Peony…?)
With the attack just now, Peony should know that the Dragon is here.
BOOOM!
Countless vines rip through the smoke and appear out of the blue.
They shoot straight towards the Dragon which is flying over us.
Their speeds are tremendous as well.
Although they might not be as fast as the Dragon, they’re at least as fast as I am now.
“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
The Dragon roars, bringing forth a series of dazzling light that flickers like a Morse code.
Explosions occur as breaths are fired in rapid succession.
All the vines which were chasing after the Dragon get reduced to ashes.
“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!”
The unpleasant sound of blackboards being scratched permeates the surrounding.
That must have been Peony’s cry.
Turning around, I see the figure of Peony trembling in the suburban region. [1]
It sways comically like a Dance Flower, but because of how huge Peony is, it feels creepy.
With the shaking of its huge canopy, numerous leaves go airborne.
Ranged attack which makes the leaves act like shurikens.
Yesterday, the “Flowered” Treant also attacked in a similar way.
However, the scale of the attack this time around is clearly different.
Imagine a bunch of boulders swirling around inside a hurricane that is big enough to decimate entire cities.
On top of that, let’s say that the hurricane is directed towards a specific location.
The extent of the leaves’ threat is of that magnitude.
What’s more, these leaves are capable of shredding anyone in their paths, much like sharp blades.
If someone were to enter that storm, they would be turned to minced meat almost immediately.
“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
To counter that, the Dragon releases a breath yet again. However, the range of this breath is much wider than the ones before.
The Dragon’s intention is to burn down all the leaves before they come near it.
(Not only could it adjust the power of its breath attacks, it could adjust the range as well…)
As I thought, the Dragon is also ridiculously overpowered.
It’s almost a miracle that we made it alive yesterday given the overwhelming power that the Dragon possesses.
Shock-waves are spread in all directions as an aftermath of their exchange.
“Kyaaa!!”
“Gu…”
The violent wind which arrives alongside the shock-waves cuts through some of our skins.
For people like Ichinose-san and Nishino-kun who have low individual statuses, this situation can be quite life-threatening.
What’s more, they’re desperately trying to avoid being blown away by the wind.
“Ichinose-san! Nishino-kun! Hurry! Enter the ‘Shadow’!”
“…Sorry about the inconvenience.”
Nishino-kun and Ichinose-san gradually sink into the “Shadow”, their heads lowered.
“Aisaka-san, you too!”
“Eh? Ah, right..!”
Rikka-chan, who was staring absentmindedly at the aerial battle, also steps into the “Shadow”.
“Did you notice something?”
“…No, it’s nothing important. It’s just…”
Moments before she submerges into the “Shadow”, Rikka-chan glances at the sky one last time and says, “Isn’t there something off about the Dragon today? It’s acting differently from yesterday…”
“Eh…?”
Influenced by her words, I also look up at the sky.
The Dragon is maneuvering in the air at a frightening speed, avoiding attacks and releasing Breaths at the same time.
I observe the fight for a moment and realize that something is indeed off.
—The Dragon’s movements appear to be a little…unnatural…?
(Is it due to the injury inflicted by Ichinose-san yesterday…?)
No, that doesn’t seem to be it.
It’s almost as if…the Dragon’s rushing the battle.
(Previously, when I was pinpointing its whereabouts with “Tracking”…)
The Dragon’s emotions were passed on to me through the connection formed by the “Tracking” skill.
What I felt were anger… as well as impatience.
(—It’s impatient about something…? But what could it be…?)
As if to disrupt my contemplation, the Dragon roars.
In response, Peony screeches with its eerie voice.
The battle between them intensifies.
Many buildings have already collapsed, and the town is gradually being turned into a wasteland.
This scenery reminds me of monster movies.
“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
At this instance, the Dragon attempts to go in for the win.
It dodges pass innumerable vines and rapidly draws near Peony’s main body.
“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
Then, the Dragon roars and unleashes its breath directly at Peony.
The power behind this breath is stronger than any that preceded it.
“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!”
Peony rushes to construct a huge wall made of countless vines.
The gigantic fireball collides with the wall, but the wall only serves as a momentary obstruction.
“—!?”
Peony sways its body in surprise.
Without losing any of its momentum, the Dragon’s breath pierces through Peony’s wall and lands squarely on Peony’s body.
Along with an earth-shattering explosion, Peony’s giant frame shakes violently.
The smoke eventually clears up, revealing the burnt figure of Peony.
A portion of its giant trunk has been roasted black.
“Did it…work…?”
The burnt branches break off and fall to the ground.
Even though they’re only tree branches, each of them are much bigger than ordinary trees.
Zuzuuun!
The buildings beneath crumble under the branches’ weight.
From Peony’s perspective, it should’ve only amounted to a few broken branches among the many others, but it seems to have received quite the shock.
“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!”
Peony screams loudly.
It’s writhing in pain and agony.
“Amazing…”
As I thought, the Dragon is no joke. Its strength is simply beyond us.
To be honest, I expected the Dragon to finish off Peony with that blow, but I guess I was asking for too much.
To begin with, if the Dragon could beat Peony that easily, it wouldn’t have fled from the neighboring town.
(…I’m afraid Peony has yet to reveal some of its cards.)
A card which forced the Dragon to escape.
My prediction is proven correct the next moment.
“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!”
Shaking its body, Peony screams with a voice that is louder than before.
Dokun. Dokun.
With the pulsing of its trunk, huge, red flowers bloom on Peony’s canopy.
Dozens—if not hundreds—of red flowers have bloomed.
(Are those flowers… the same as the one I saw on the “Flowered” Treant yesterday…?)
Studying them more closely with “Telephoto”, I notice that there are some differences in terms of size and details.
Unlike the “Flowered” Treant’s flower, Peony’s flowers are shaped like giant roses that are around 3 meters in diameter.
Peony shakes its body even more, making the flowers release some type of glittery powder to their surroundings.
(Are those…pollens?)
While being under the influence of the wind, the pollens reflect off light which induces a fantastical sight.
Is this also a race-specific skill?
No, I don’t remember the “Flowered” Treant having this skill, so it should be something unique to Peony.
“GUAA!?”
For the first time, the Dragon sounds visibly shaken.
It immediately retreats and moves away from Peony.
Are those pollens so threatening that the Dragon has to be wary of it?
Peony shakes its body more rigorously, releasing another wave of pollens into the atmosphere.
However, they fail to reach the Dragon who has flown up.
What sort of effects do the pollens have?
“Those pollens… seem to cause paralysis, confusion, and hallucination.”
“I see…wait, huh?”
President Igarashi presents herself next to me before I realize what’s going on.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“I pretty much exchanged places with Nishino-kun and the others as they returned back to the ‘Shadows’.”
“I-is that so…”
I was so concentrated on the battle that I didn’t notice her next to me.
That seriously caught me off guard. I was really startled.
(On that note, Momo, why did you allow her into the “Shadow”?)
(K-kuuu…)
I take a glimpse at the “Shadow” and see Momo looking slightly apologetic with only her face popping out.
Stop staring at me with those glittering eyes…They’re too cute.
Maybe it was another case of Momo’s “instinct” acting up.
Well, I’m the only one out here anyway, so I don’t have to be overly wary of her.
“Anything wrong?”
“No, not really…Rather, how were you able to figure out the effects of the pollens? Was it through ‘Appraisal’?”
“Yes. Unlike what happened with Peony’s main body, I didn’t encounter any obstruction when I used ‘Appraisal’ on the pollens. That’s how I ‘Appraised’ their effects.”
Fufun.
President Igarashi puts on a proud face.
This means that “Appraisal” works even through lenses.
What a handy skill. I want it too.
“The Right to Question”-san has personality issues. I want the honest “Appraisal”-san.
“In other words, as long as the pollens remain scattered around Peony, the Dragon won’t be able to approach its main body…”
“Yes…the Dragon probably knew the pollens’ effects beforehand. That’s why it’s maintaining a distance between itself and Peony.”
The Dragon circles around Peony at high speed and spews out breaths here and there, but none of its attacks reach Peony’s main body.
Walls made of vines block them before they could do so.
Unless it draws nearer, its high intensity breath attacks would not be able to properly damage Peony.
At the same time, however, with the pollens scattered around, the Dragon cannot approach Peony carelessly.
I see. This right here is a dirty play by Peony.
(But Peony also lacks the means to deliver a decisive blow on the Dragon…Is it still hiding something?)
“…! Kudou-san! Look over there!”
“Wha—!”
The part of Peony’s trunk that was burnt black by the Dragon’s breath is beginning to recover.
In no time, it recovers from the damage and returns back to its original state.
It has regenerative abilities… what a scam.
“Peony’s goal is to drag out the battle. With its pollens and its regenerative abilities, all it has to do is wait for the Dragon to run out of fuel. ”
“…”
President Igarashi is absolutely correct.
Their chemistry isn’t just bad; it’s the worst it could be.
The Dragon has no chance of winning at all.
What’s worse, if the Dragon is vanquished, we will be doomed as well.
“…Is it okay to leave them be?”
President Igarashi stares at me with a binocular in one hand.
“The private conversation you had at the meeting room…I didn’t get to hear the full story of it, but isn’t that Dragon necessary for you plan? Won’t the Dragon…perish at this rate?”
“…You were listening?”
“See? I was right, just as I thought.”
Fufufu.
President Igarashi makes a smug face.
I want to punch that smile off her face.
She tricked me so easily that it’s irritating.
(…She isn’t wrong, though.)
The Dragon doesn’t seem to have any intention of retreating.
Simply put, it wants to settle its score with Peony here.
Even so, the Dragon isn’t in a good position right now.
I should do something to remedy this.
—But how?
If it’s “simply” to get Peony’s attention, it won’t be too difficult.
Although it would be a risky move, there’s this seemingly useless Advanced Ninjutsu which can be used to draw its attention.
But that would be it. I have no idea what to do from then on.
(The story would change if I could at least communicate with the Dragon…)
I doubt that the Dragon could understand human speech.
Should I go ahead and acquire “Monster Tamer”?
Who knows, I might obtain a skill that allows me to talk with monsters.
Nevertheless, unless I can get near them, all this planning would be for naugh—
“—Ah…”
W-wait…
An idea suddenly flashes across my mind.
The idea isn’t overly absurd or crazy, but it would be rather perilous, not to mention that there’s a possibility of failure.
(Still, it would be better than doing nothing…)
We’re almost at a dead end anyway.
Since that’s the case, let’s do this.
I call out to Ichinose-san who is hiding in the “Shadow”.
*****
[1] Last I saw, Peony was still in the mountain ranges, but oh well.