Chapter 895: December 20th: The One Who Slays Dragons, and the Thing That Slew a Dragon
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The True Dragon Species V Gulliver…… no, its true name is "Departure from Darkness".
One of the True Dragon Species lurking in the depths of the Sanshisuimei Subterranean Labyrinth. A terrifying dragon that alternates between four forms inside a dark, narrow cave. [*1]
A balloon art sculpture with pointy ends, or perhaps a wire-frame skeleton mimicking a dragon's body type. Garunose's encounter with that dragon, whose appearance was a far cry from any standard dragon, was truly a coincidence.
Since it's called an underground labyrinth, shouldn't there be more to it than just an exit? Harboring the same question that every player challenging the Sanshisuimei Subterranean Labyrinth would have, Garunose once explored it with a private group of friends—not on stream—aiming for the depths below rather than the exit.
To put it simply, they found little of note besides that "encounter"……… but that "encounter" alone gave them not only change to spare, but a bonus and even first prize in the lottery.
One could only say that Garunose was lucky to have successfully defeated Gulliver.
The fact that Garunose accidentally stepped on the kitten-sized Gulliver hiding in the dark, initiating the battle.
The fact that their private party included a high-level player who had returned from the New Continent.
The fact that its HP was set relatively low due to the terrible combat environment of a dark, narrow cave, compared to its "full-metal kin whose combat field was an open plain."
Garunose himself certainly did not perform well enough to be called the MVP, but through his substantial contribution and the fierce battle, he nevertheless helped bring down the fifth True Dragon Species.
What he obtained through that was the title of True Dragon Destroyer—or, put another way, the job of the same name.
(There's no way a swing thiiiiiis massive…… is gonna hit…… but!)
As the mace grew, its weight naturally increased with it; moreover, while bracing a grip nearly as thick as a log with both arms as though hugging a log to his chest, Garunose swung the gigantified mace without letting that strain show—not in his expression…… or rather, in his movements.
True Dragon Destroyer is an extremely special job.
It could be described as a job specialized in using both the Dragon Destroyer Gear—the evolved form of the weapon used when the True Dragon Species was slain—and the "armor worn at the time of the slaying," and the moment the Dragon Destroyer Gear is lost, the job itself reverts to a past glory.
However, the true strength of a True Dragon Destroyer wielding their Dragon Destroyer Gear is nothing short of extraordinary. When the hero who slew the dragon and the weapon that slew the dragon are together, it can truly be called the manifestation of the great feat itself.
The "Supreme Trampling Dragon Hoof" was what the mace "Trampling Bull Hoof," which Garunose had used against Gulliver, became when it evolved into Dragon Destroyer Gear.
Furthermore, the other piece…… the "Dragon Shield of Strange Tales," was the Dragon Destroyer Gear form of the "Wrought Iron Tower Shield" that had saved Garunose's life time and again during the Gulliver battle; together, the mace and shield formed a pair bearing the glory of having slain a dragon.
The abilities of the Supreme Trampling Dragon Hoof are 【Scale of the Little People】, which enlarges the mace itself, and its opposite, 【Scale of the Giants】, which shrinks it.
This magic consumes MP to vary the mace's size and, when combined with the True Dragon Destroyer job, can enlarge it to dimensions far exceeding the wielder's height.
However, the larger it becomes, the more its weight increases. At its current size, its perceived weight is like a log with a huge stone mortar fixed to the end.
The only reason he can swing it around and even handle it as an armament…… as an "attack," is the overlapping use of STR-boosting skills, the modifiers from his armor, and, above all, the good fortune that none of those have been rendered unusable by the drawback of Beautiful Memory Form Loss.
(I don't expect it to hit…… but he can't ignore it either.)
If an attack with such a massive wind-up could easily land, Garunose wouldn't have struggled this much in the first place. But considering the sudden scale-up and the speed of its gigantification, Sunraku would definitely choose to infight. He would be forced to.
(Here he comes!)
"You should've saved a shocking surprise like that for later!"
Sunraku as the attacker and Garunose as the victim had both experienced firsthand that a single strike from the golden sword, armed with a needle that sucks in metal, carried enough power to halve Garunose's HP in one blow.
If Sunraku could land that blow, he could seize the advantage over Garunose; even if the sword itself was only a bluff, it remained the axis of his strategy as a "decoy."
(───Now.)
His mental focus was not directed at the Supreme Trampling Dragon Hoof…… but at the Dragon Shield of Strange Tales.
The True Dragon Species "Gulliver" takes its name from the strange record of travels of the protagonist who bears that same name.
Since its abilities corresponded to the countries he visited───
"……【Providence of Excitation】!"
That shield, too, housed a power.
"………Huh!?"
CLANG!! The metallic sound of the Imperial Gold Sword colliding with the Dragon Shield of Strange Tales rang out—but not because Sunraku had attacked the shield……
The Imperial Gold Sword itself was ripped right out of Sunraku's hand and stuck fast to the Dragon Shield of Strange Tales.
"The gamble is───"
mine. Before Garunose could finish declaring his victory, he swung the Supreme Trampling Dragon Hoof through with full force.
The power of the Dragon Shield of Strange Tales's 【Providence of Excitation】 is, put bluntly, almost excessively banal……… merely a spell that uses powerful magnetism to attract or repel metal.
He chose adhesion over repulsion because he was wary of the "weapon-grabbing beam" extending from Sunraku's left arm.
Garunose's only gamble was whether the sword would react to magnetism…… but from Sunraku's perspective, the fact that he had thrown together the Mixed-Rigid Alloy from whatever materials in his inventory "looked strong" came back to bite him.
The Supreme Trampling Dragon Hoof aimed straight for the side of Sunraku's head. That eerie mask gave him pause, but Garunose judged that if he wanted the greatest possible damage from a single blow, the side of the head was his only target.
(The Deadly Decapitation Technique is still active, at this rate───!?)
In an instant, Garunose's vision was dyed in gold.
Was it the "sword of light" from earlier? Or the "flamethrower" from his opening move? Or,
An instantaneous judgment, a calculation based on an intuitive memory of his own specs telling him, "I can endure about this much." At this distance, and with Sunraku's sword trapped by his shield, he could endure whatever came next. At the very least, he could force a mutual kill.
Convinced of this, Garunose, in the very next moment───
"……It only lasts about a second; is guaranteeing its performance for one full action supposed to count as merciful?"
A tremendous impact struck his chest, and before the damage could shatter his armor, his insides were pulverized, bringing him to his second death.
Author's Afterword
That single blow represents a great lingering regret………… mainly Katarina's.
I had meant to include it, but ended up making a huge blunder in the past where, "after it was all over, I realized I simply forgot to put it in"…… so this is my revenge for that.
・【Providence of Excitation】
It simply generates a powerful magnetic force on the front of the shield to attract or repel metals that react to magnetism.
Since its performance is entirely dependent on the True Dragon Destroyer job, without the job it can do little more than "reduce damage from attacks made of magnetically responsive metal by repelling them," and its pulling force is only strong enough that someone gripping the object with both hands and hauling with all their strength can break free.
Dragon Destroyer Gear comes in two types: gear that remains fairly capable even without the True Dragon Destroyer job, and gear whose performance is honestly useless without it; naturally, the latter shows a far greater performance gap.
By the way, without the True Dragon Destroyer job, the mace only grows to about the size of a two-handed axe.
The manga version of Shangri-La Frontier goes on sale October 17th!
The manga is on the 17th! The anime is currently airing every Sunday at 5:00 PM!
I'm sure you intelligent folks have already noticed, but the second episode is already streaming. Well…… you know, in various places.
Translator's Notes
- [1] Sanshisuimei: The dungeon name 参姿翠冥 is pronounced identically to 山紫水明, a four-character idiom describing exceptionally beautiful natural scenery and literally evoking purple mountains and clear, shimmering waters. The name replaces all four kanji: 山, "mountain," becomes 参, "three" or "participation"; 紫, "purple," becomes 姿, "form" or "figure"; 水, "water," becomes 翠, "emerald green"; and 明, "bright" or "clear," becomes 冥, "darkness" or "the realm of the dead."
- [2] : Brobdingnag is the land of giants in Gulliver's Travels, while Lilliput is the land of tiny people. The readings are deliberately paired with the opposite kanji meanings: Brobdingnag enlarges the mace, while Lilliput shrinks it.
- [3] : Laputa is a floating island whose movement is controlled by an enormous lodestone with attractive and repulsive properties, forming the basis of the shield's magnetic ability.
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