Chapter 448: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part 25

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『Gu... kukuku, that is right... that is exactly right. Humans, will you surpass me? Will you slay a dragon? But if you present a different answer, that is fine as well! That very radiance shall become the answer to my countless years; has the inherited, flowing tide of life transcended the Divine Age? No! Humans, you must transcend it!! O Notorious (Dragon Law)! With shining judgment, purge the immaturity of those who fall short of being heroes!!』

"Gwah!"

"What! I got repelled?!"

"No, I'm completely fine though..."

"Notorious... Is it that status ailment called B.I.G. or whatever?!"

"So we get repelled if our evaluation is below a certain threshold!"

As a golden "Circle" erupted with Siegwurm at the center, filtering out those who were blown away and those who weren't, the fox-masked ninja sprinted forward as if to say who gives a damn about that.

"Noirlind-san! You fell right on your head, are you okay?!"

『Gu, oooh... You fool, to think that someone as great as me—Ahem! Did you think that I would fall from something of this level...!!』

『Then I suppose it is fine if I beat you until you do fall?』

『Gubea!?』

"That's a kick, isn't itー!!"

Noirlind reared back after taking a kick to the throat, and the perpetrator, Siegwurm. Akitsu Akane—the fox-masked ninja—buffed herself internally with a skill while rapidly forming and breaking hand seals, activating ninjutsu... or rather, a Hidden Blade Art.

"Hidden Blade Art... 【Chasing Mouse Sparks (Tsuiso no Hibana)】!!"

Pon pon! With that anticlimactic sound, palm-sized fireballs appeared around Akitsu Akane. They dashed through the air toward the target Siegwurm—where the caster was gazing—each moving irregularly yet steadily aiming for the gold.

『Such parlor tricks are not even worth defending against!』

"That's why I'm doing this! Hidden Blade Art 【Shiranui Bud (Shiranui Tsubomi)】!!"

Each fireball of Tsuiso no Hibana aimed for the target with individual movements; darting around like mice made them difficult to track, but it also meant they intentionally avoided taking the shortest route.

If that was the case, then a massive fireball taking the shortest route—even if slower—would reach Siegwurm before the previously fired small fireballs. Following that, the small fireballs landed on Siegwurm and burst, fulfilling the condition of "using fire near the great fireball" and causing 【Shiranui Bud】 to instantaneously release the intense heat hidden within it.

『Nuguo... it is ineffective!!』

"I'll keep doing it until it works! I... won't give up!!"

Readying her daggers, she pushed ever forward. Due to whatever whim, Siegwurm, currently standing on two legs with his feet planted on the earth, had lower mobility compared to when he was in the air.
Leaping before the sweeping tail could crush her body, Akitsu Akane dashed through the air under the effects of the skill "Hermes Boots," diving right into the range where her blades could reach.

"Taaah!!"

『I shall commend that courage. But to think you can sink your blades into me all on your own is laughable!!』

Even Siegwurm merely shuddering his body was enough to easily repel the daggers wielded by a tiny human.
Furthermore, a claw strike slamming down from above caught Akitsu Akane's body, and right as it was about to bite into her flesh...

『Hm... A log!!』

"It's Auto-Cicada Shell!!"

Derived from the Thief line, the hidden class "Ninja." Among its skills, the Hidden Blade Art 【Cicada Shell】, which can be learned in the very early stages, becomes capable of auto-activating without the use of hand seals once a certain level of proficiency is met.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't completely automatic, as the condition was "the player must perceive the attack and be conscious of activating it," but being able to employ the substitution jutsu even in situations where both hands were occupied was a massive advantage.

"As I thought, with my attack power..."

『Move!!』

"Noirlind-san!!"

In the brief moment Akitsu Akane drew Siegwurm's attention, the massive pitch-black body flexed every muscle and dove in, shoving the atmosphere aside as it slammed into the golden dragon.

『Gu... Can you stop even this...!!』

『For a beast to mimic a human...!!』

"...You overestimate humans too much; humans die if a lion just plays with them."

『Nuguooh!!』

An arrow fired tearing through the air impacted right by Siegwurm's eye. Because Siegwurm was not clad in his golden aura, the arrow, made of magic, landed without being erased; the magic bursting right at the eye—a part that inherently forced a reflex—caused Siegwurm's body to flinch slightly.

Seizing that opening, Noirlind flapped his wings heavily to separate from Siegwurm and immediately unleashed a breath.
Once again, it did not vanish, completely swallowing Siegwurm's body, burning it...

『Insolence!!』

『Tchiiih!!』

Golden wings beat the wind. As if to say even without my shining battle aura, something of this level isn't even an itch, the wind pressure generated by Siegwurm's wings swept away Noirlind's breath clinging to his body.

"...I knew this already, but he's too tough."

"Rust-san! Wait, what happened to that robot-like armor..."

"Conserving power."

"So eco-friendly!!"

A momentary stalemate. However, that blank space of less than ten seconds was more than enough time for the Pioneers who could tread past the golden gravity domain to arrive at this location.

"Good evening. In accordance with the alliance pact, Team 10PM... has come to assist in the Siegwurm fight."

"Ah, hello, I'm the errand boy from SF-Zoo. Sorry, our leader got a little too heated fighting the White Dragon... I came to pass on the message that SF-Zoo will be holding down Bryreinyego!"

"Oh my, pardon the intrusion. Massive Dynamite from Black Sword here. Psyger-100-san has her hands full at the moment... she said she might be late."

Players appeared one after another. Having fought valiantly in the battles leading up to this point and earned a positive evaluation within the gravity domain, these warriors readied their respective weapons and gathered to surround the gold, keeping Siegwurm firmly in their sights.

"Hey kid, uh... did you, um... tame Noirlind?"

"Huh? No, nothing like that, but since we're fighting the same opponent, it's that thing! 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'!!"

『Hmph, swarming out of the woodwork... Do not think you can complain if I crush you underfoot, insects.』

Tension drifted in the air for a moment. So this guy is the same type as Dreadhowl, huh? The temperature among the players dropped slightly.
However, as if to reheat the cooling temperature, Akitsu Akane spoke to Noirlind, and the Black Dragon responded... that display, which if described in laymen's terms looked like nothing but a "textbook tsundere," caused a portion of the hostility directed at Noirlind to vanish into thin air.

"Wait, is he a moe character?"

"Extremely acceptable."

"More importantly, you can actually tame Color Dragons...?"

"No, that's not it. I'm pretty sure Library was doing some verification testing on how enemies' reactions change when you mess with them outside of combat... Is there some sort of hidden parameter?"

In fact, players who frequently pulled stunts against monsters raised a hidden parameter known as the "Wilderness Value," but since it was officially a hidden mechanic, there was no one present who could reveal the truth.

"It seems Pencilgon-shi isn't here, and the older Saiga-san isn't either... I have no choice; provisionally, I, PT Overwerke, the Clan Leader of Team 10PM, will take command! You have no obligation to obey, but if you're willing to follow, then listen up!"

There were voices roaring in agreement, but there were also those who were already leaping forward. While mentally distinguishing those who refused to fall under his command as "Mobs," PT Overwerke quickly ran through his thoughts and formulated a strategy.
Indeed, in this very moment built upon the high motivation known as a hobby, he could rack his brain so much more enjoyably than when drafting documents with the face of a boss—whose only redeeming quality was pretending to be highly motivated—stuck in the corner of his mind───!

"Akitsu Akane... right?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Can I assume that, at least for the duration of this battle, it is fine to treat Noirlind as being on 'our side'?"

"U-Um..."

"...It's fine. Worst case, just treat him as an allied tank that won't take orders, or so our leader said."

Rust, continuously firing arrows while bathing in Mold's buffs, defined the Black Dragon's tactical value in place of the speechless Akitsu Akane.
Truthfully, the clans belonging to the alliance centered around Wolfgang were already aware of the plan to use Noirlind as the lynchpin to defeat Siegwurm, but making a display of "assurance" in front of an unspecified majority was what mattered here.

"Alright, all players will launch their attacks in sync with Noirlind's strikes! He's a massive piece of tactical firepower, getting him killed by friendly fire wouldn't even be funny!! Magic Artillery Squad! I'm leaving the attack timing entirely to Boo-Nasu; use the Support Squad as the starter, and smash your attacks in with perfect timing from there!! If there's anything you don't understand, ask our members!!"

When compared to Black Sword or Wolfgang—which boasted high-level individual strength—Team 10PM intentionally chose more standardized equipment. This was out of an emphasis on making it easier to stay in step during the strategy formulation phase, and that was the greatest strength of veteran corporate wage slaves.

"Thanks to Wolfgang testing the waters, we already know some of his hands! Differentiate between his magic immunity and skill immunity by their visual effects!!"

『Fufufu, fuhahahahahaha!! Magnificent! Very well, heroes... I shall take you on!!』

"Switching between magic immunity and skill immunity... I suppose this marks the end of the 'Sword Saint is strongest' legend, huh?"

PT Overwerke, clad in golden knight armor, pulled a single sword from his inventory and readied it.
It was neither a holy sword fit for the master of Servant swords, nor a dragon-slaying spear blade fit for a hero of scorching heat.

"The highest-tier class of the Magic Swordsman lineage... Rätsel (Mystic Sword). Allow me to show you the art where sword and magic are one."

Readying a Ritus (Ritual Spirit Sword)—which had been specially enhanced in a way possible only for those who attained the Rätsel class—he struck a grand pose.

Author's Afterword
Stop calling Rätsel-kun a "pseudo-Sword Saint who can only wield two swords no matter how hard he tries"!!