Chapter 791: December 15th: Tactical Encounter

"Gyiirarararararararara!!!"

Explosive flames burst against the back of the defenseless Blade Dragon... no, if the announcement wasn't lying, the Tenth True Dragon Species, "Tomahawk". Furthermore, Survival and Ur Idim close in from the left and right on the staggering Tomahawk. They launch their attacks......... what the-

"It's not flinching!!"

It took that and only staggered a bit? But my words definitely reached them, and on top of that, the two of them step even further forward.

Tomahawk's neck turns towards Ur Idim, and the moment it tries to orient its massive body towards the one with the relatively higher threat level...

Gan-gon!!

Two gunshots ring out from a distance, and after a split-second pause, two incoming bullets land a severe blow on Tomahawk's face. It's like being slapped the moment you turn around; Tomahawk's face is knocked aside with an unnatural motion, but... that's it.

But that one instant is a more than sufficient opening for the two who had already stepped into range to slam their attacks home.

"Oooooooooooh!!"

"Nuuuuuuuaaah!!"

Ur Idim's iron fist smashes into Tomahawk's right knee, and Survival's Great Iron Whip strikes Tomahawk's left shin. These aren't just normal swings; they are critical blows empowered by absolutely every buff this party could apply beforehand... However,

"It's hard! This guy's bad news! There's seriously barely any feedback!!"

"Gu..."

I knew this, but... it's hard!! This is worse than having our attacks nullified—it's just plain excessively high VIT and an overly hard carapace!!

Despite taking a surprise attack from five people, Tomahawk swings its arm casually, showing absolutely no signs of being bothered. As expected, the one targeted is Ur Idim-shi; my "Scar" should have slightly influenced mid-combat aggro, but does this mean it senses a threat that surpasses even that?

But this brings a tear to my eye. After I went through all the trouble of showing myself right in front of it...

"Blade KindleIgnition!"

Using MP as kindling, I ignite Areadbhair. This isn't just any flame; this scorching heat slaughters dragons!!

"Super-Effective Slash!!"

The new ability Areadbhair acquired, "Flame ExplosionNitro", won't accumulate its parameter unless I intentionally miss critical hits. It's become quite a troublesome effect, but I've already solved this problem.

Kukukuku.... behold the "Blunt Pine Resin" I bought up in Catzeria! By smearing it all over a weapon, you gain two effects!!

The first is an extreme decrease in critical success rate. Specifically, it lowers it so much that I failed a critical hit even when swinging seriously... it's one of those sub-decimal probabilities.

And the other is...

"Burn it up! Scorch it!!"

Upon attacking, the pine resin ignites and bursts into flames!!

Areadbhair's dragon-scorching flames and the combustion of the blunt pine resin. Turning these two flames into a dull slash, I strike Tomahawk's shin. I feel something strange in the feedback—it wasn't deflected. But this sensation of sinking in, like smashing a stick into tar or something...

"Okaaaaaaaay!!!"

I immediately knew the answer the moment I looked at the wound. Areadbhair's blade is ever so slightly burning and melting Tomahawk's outer shell! Nice, nice, nice! I am currently holding the "advantage" right in the palm of my hands!!

"I'll slash you a million times and turn you into sashimi!!"

Non-critical attacks, hence "Nitro" accumulates. And as "Nitro" accumulates, the expected value of its third ability goes up... "Flame SharpenTorque", which boosts Areadbhair's own performance in proportion to the accumulation of "Nitro".

Every time I swing the blunt dragon slayer, traces of melting are carved into Tomahawk's bladed outer shell. It seems it has finally realized that the sword held by the weakest-looking bug is actually the most dangerous. It launches a tackle making full use of our size difference, but... it's too late.

Besides, this is a party battle. If it's only focusing on me, then naturally...

"Ur Idim! Sync up!!"

"Understood."

The fate of bipedalism: it means relying on a mere two legs for the crucial role of supporting and standing the body up.

By staring straight at me, it freed up Ur Idim and Survival, who now rush toward Tomahawk's feet—or more specifically, its ankles.

The next instant, the sound of gunfire rings out, and the fired bullet lands squarely on the side of Tomahawk's face......... However, this time, it isn't deflected.

Splat!!

"Gyiriririri!!?"

Sticky birdlime covers half of Tomahawk's face. More than just being annoying, halving its field of vision creates a somewhat fatal opening. And the moment it reflexively turns its body toward the direction the birdlime bullet came from...

"Hit the dirt!!"

A strong impact strikes both of Tomahawk's ankles from different directions. Its legs and hips, having instinctively shifted into an offensive stance, lack the footing to brace themselves, and even a dragon cannot escape the fate of bipedalism───

"Survival!!"

"Yeah!!"

Tomahawk loses its balance and falls backward. At its feet, Survival, who had just swung his Great Iron Whip like a home run, turns his back to me in a posture like he's shouldering a log. Dashing over, I leap up and land on top of the iron whip......... here we go, human-powered catapult!!

"Oooooraaaaah!!"

Launched high into the air by this human-powered and forceful double jump, I use a mid-air jump from there to gain even more altitude.

Tomahawk is right below me, and I can see it glaring at me with its unblocked eye. But an Acceleration Impact Device with ThrustersJet Hammer thrown from somewhere lands a direct hit on the dragon's lower jaw... nice one, Saina. Teaching her to aim strikes at the jaw, the side of the head, or the solar plexus paid off... lately I've been teaching her the Shining Wizard.

The time of my rebellion against gravity via jumping ends, and my body begins to fall towards the earth. But amidst that, a wind blowing from somewhere wraps around my body, and furthermore, directly below me, a linear array of magical energy resembling a spider's web sews the Blade Dragon—who is sprawled out flat on its back—to the ground.

Good! Smooth! Superb!! It's an ideal series of moves. Everyone has already finished preparing to slam their massive firepower into Tomahawk, who is now exposing a huge opening. And I, too, dive towards Tomahawk's chest with Areadbhair at the ready, unconcerned about the danger of falling to my death thanks to 【Fall on Wind】, the superior magic to the fall-impact mitigation spell 【Air Cushion】, which Overwerke applied to me.

"Flame ExplosionNitro!!"

The effect of the blunt pine resin has worn off, which means Areadbhair regains its true sharpness... the pitch-black blade blazes crimson and shines with a hot Blue FlameBlue!!

"If I'm lucky, this'll pierce your heart!!"

A minigun, an iron fist, magic, a sky-piercer halberd, and the tip of a dragon slayer... all of it is slammed home in order to crush the dragon known as Tomahawk!! [*1]

If we can just keep it immobilized and repeat this all-out attack──────

"Emergency: Abnormal reaction. ContractorMaster... excuse me."

"Ogh,"

Wait, Saina, why are you suddenly grabbing a person by the scruff of the neck like a cat...?!

At that moment, I realized it.

Areadbhair, which was thrust into Tomahawk's chest, was vibrating with extraordinary force. At the very least, Areadbhair doesn't have an effect that causes it to vibrate like that. In that case, this is...

"Everyone, get away!!"

Did my voice actually reach the others? A shockwave is unleashed from Tomahawk's body, which is now raising a tremendous vibration without hiding it anymore, and both Saina, who is holding me, and I, grabbed by the scruff of the neck, are blown away together

Author's Afterword

Super-Sonic VibrationHyper Harmonics

Strictly speaking, Tomahawk's bladed shell plays a role closer to muscle rather than skin or carapace. By causing the bladed shell across its entire body to vibrate abnormally, it attracts and attaches the mana particles in the surrounding space, before releasing them all at once to unleash a wide-range shockwave.

Translator's Notes

• [1] sky-piercer halberd: 方天画戟 (Fāng tiān huà jǐ) is the iconic polearm of Lü Bu. It either means extreme martial strength or an actual halberd is used here, I don't really know which or whose.