Chapter 360: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part 25

Author's Preface
It waaaaaaas so looooooong!! I can fiiiinaaaallyyyyyy moooove oooooon to the next paaaart!!

It's several times better than cowering in the back until the very end, but I feel like the Forest-folks who suddenly pushed to the front the moment they saw the enemy weaken need to have their mental fortitude re-forged from scratch.
But be that as it may, even if their firepower is low, that high accuracy of theirs is contributing massively right at this exact moment.

The relentlessly fired arrows flew as if being sucked directly into the massive maw exposing its weak point, reliably and steadily driving the Devouring Great Crimson Clad into a corner.
That emotionless cry of agony, unable to hide the screams of its physical body, was the greatest proof of that.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go! Light it up until you run out of arrows!!"

Adding the flinch from taking concentrated fire on its weak point to the ending lag from its earlier simultaneous breath attack, this exact moment was our greatest chance.

"Emul! Shoot, shoot, shoot it with everything you have!!"

"Yes, sir!!"

Can we do it? Can we whittle it down completely? No good, it's recovering!!

"Cease fire! Everyone fall back!!"

What do I do? The recast hasn't finished yet. How do we survive until we can attack again?

"Emul, your mana?"

"I-I need you to let me recover just a teeny bit, desu wa..."

Okay, meaning you're useless right now. In that case... Oh, is that right, you're going to do it? If so, I'll put my faith in that.

"Tottori."

"What is it?"

"Just in case, get your highest firepower ready. I'm going to go make it flinch one more time."

"Got it......... Hey, what about DeepThro-san?"

"That bastard died. Wanna invite the person themselves over later and hold a funeral?"

"O-Oh... Oh?"

We'll make it a grand parade. Well, setting that aside... Time to go.

The Devouring Great Crimson Clad's resources were exhausted. Flesh regeneration was no longer possible; it could only do what the body it currently had left was capable of.
But even so, it still remained a monster. If so, a powerless human will utilize absolutely everything available to seize victory... Meaning, I'll even lend a hand to a fellow monster that wishes to strike down that crimson monstrosity.

Scattering massive amounts of damage effects from one of its heads, yet burning with a rage reaching its absolute peak in this entire battle, "Scar" charged forward.
The Devouring Great Crimson Clad turned its necks toward the raging three-headed beast to intercept it, but before it could shift into an attack, its attention was diverted by my interference as I brandished nothing but Areadbhair Rebuild.

Furthermore, perhaps realizing which one they needed to keep alive in order to defeat the other, the arrows from the Forest-folks fired from the rear pierced into the Devouring Great Crimson Clad like a storm of rain. "Scar" did not overlook the opening created when it flinched.

"「「「Gorurururuoooo!!」」」"

"「QeeaaaaaaaaaAAAAAA!!?」"

With phenomenal leg strength, the Devouring Great Crimson Clad was trampled down by "Scar." The Devouring Great Crimson Clad desperately tried to escape the restraint, but "Scar" was faster.

The Devouring Great Crimson Clad's back—along with "Scar's" own trampling foot—was coated in the viscous bodily fluid regurgitated from its mouths. It didn't melt things, but I knew perfectly well that the fluid wasn't just there to cause discomfort.
And the exact same went for the Devouring Great Crimson Clad. Perhaps realizing what would happen a few seconds later, it increased its struggling force to thrash about, but "Scar" only increased the power in its legs as if refusing to let go out of pure spite, and with my interference added into the mix, escape became completely hopeless.

I wonder what this is. We didn't form a party, nor are we friends. To begin with, we're in the absolutely antagonistic relationship of player and monster... yet for some reason, there's a bizarre sense of trust here.
It's not like I can trust it with my back, it's just this absolute conviction that "this guy will get the job done"... Which is exactly why the words I called out were brief.

"Light it up!!"

Ignition.
A blast wave accompanied by immense impact and thermal energy trampled over the entire area like a surging wave. Naturally, the Devouring Great Crimson Clad, taking a direct hit, suffered massive damage, and strength completely drained from its thrashing, struggling body. And right before my eyes—having used the Devouring Great Crimson Clad taking the direct hit as an umbrella to shield myself from the blast—was the completely, utterly defenseless red sphere.

"Devouring Great Crimson Clad... No, Eldranza... This is the end!!"

Loaded with every single enhancement skill I could currently use, Areadbhair—clad in the light of 【Sever and Divide】—caught the red sphere.
The scorching sword sliced through the sphere—possessing a texture like densely packed rubber containing both hardness and softness—exactly like a hot knife through cheese.

Divine punishment... No, that's not right. This is a revenge exacted by humans, for humans. If so, I should conclude it like this.

"Human Punishment!!"

Perhaps reading the room, I sharply swung Areadbhair—tracing a trail of flames—and struck a victory pose.

Nailed it. I absolutely just secured the last att—

"「QeeaaaaaaaaaoooooOOOOAAAAAAAAAA!!!」"

"Gueh."

Did I fail to finish it off? No, that thing is already dead. If so, this is just its final struggle, the death spasms right on the verge of its demise, its final dying breath.

I don't know where a dying body found that kind of strength, but putting all its remaining power into standing up solely on its hind legs, the Devouring Great Crimson Clad fell forward... meaning it was collapsing in a trajectory meant to completely crush me underneath it.

"Well, this mu— Ndooh!?"

Ah, I sprained my ankle!? An absolute, full-power blunder at this exact moment on the board!? Damn you, you RNG known as fate... Ah, I'm completely finished desu wa〜?

At that moment, Hyunn! A single sound of cutting wind.

"T-To think I'd be the one forced to wipe the ass of someone looking down on the game..."

An arrow pierced the fatally cracked red sphere. And then, after a momentary silence... it triggered a massive explosion easily rivaling "Scar's" napalm breath, utterly destroying the red sphere of the Devouring Great Crimson Clad as it collapsed according to the physics engine...

"「Q, Qoooo......」"

That was the final cry of the Devouring Great Crimson Clad... the Raid Monster.

The Devouring Great Crimson Clad's body came to a dead stop as if physically locked in space, and the crimson forming its body crumbled away from the edges as if turning into powder.
Catching it in my palm on a whim, its true identity was... a locust. But even that crumbled into a blackened red powder on my palm, disappearing as it was blown away by the wind.

『The frenzy of red blood has been struck down here, yet the bloodline continues unbroken...』

『Monster Raid... Cleared!』

『Subjugation Target: Devouring Great Crimson Clad』

『The Raid Battle has concluded.』

『Participants: 3/45』

『Next Raid Commencement: Will be unlocked in accordance with the progression of the World Quest.』

According to the Bible or something, a locust plague was supposedly compared to the fangs of a lion or whatever. In this game, it was the fangs of a dragon, but... well, since it's a Raid Monster, there's no way you can't rematch it.
I wonder what this monster will transform into the next time it shows up. Honestly, it was way too exhausting, so next time I'll be perfectly fine just hearing about it secondhand.

"Hey Hero, since you took the last attack, let's hear a victory cry."

"M-Me!? E-Umm... It is our victory!!"

"What is this, a strategy game?"

The words I muttered melted into the cheers and vanished. Since it was just nonsense not worth repeating, I didn't say it again, and simply followed the jubilation of the Forest-folks, much like Emul who was making a huge ruckus on top of my head.

......And if it just ended here, it would be your completely run-of-the-mill happy ending. But haven't you Forest-folks forgotten something incredibly important?

If you haven't noticed, I'll point it out for you. "Scar" is curled up in a ball and trembling all over...
Or rather, well, you see... it kinda looks like it's about to use all that accumulated power for some sort of rank-up kind of thing...

Crack.

"Ah."

"Eh."

"Desu wa!?"

I-It molted!?

Author's Afterword
Oh? Scar's appearance is......? [*1]

He got carried away and even struck a victory pose, but the only thing where a victory pose guarantees a fatal blow is the Revolcane... [*2] By the way, what Tottori-kun fired was a combination of the bow-magic "Impact Arrow" which causes a massive explosion upon impact, and the Forest-folks' trump card "Miracle Arrowhead" which drastically increases the power of magic.

Lore Vomit Corner:
The true identity of the red sphere is Eldranza's core. Because colored dragons are mycelium-based lifeforms, as long as the core remains, they can resurrect any number of times. Thus, they sometimes intentionally spit out only their core to escape. However, looking at it the other way around, if the core is destroyed, the colored dragon of that generation dies permanently. Mr. Volcano Lid died because his core was crushed when he got flattened, and Eldranza died because, of all things, its core was precisely sniped.

Translator's Notes

• *[1] Oh? Scar's appearance is......?: A reference to the classic evolution text from the Pokémon series ("Oh? [Pokémon] is evolving!").

• *[2] Revolcane: A reference to the signature weapon of Kamen Rider Black RX. In the show, RX would impale the monster with the glowing sword, withdraw it, and strike a specific victory pose. Only after the pose was completed would the monster finally explode.