Chapter Ten: Dragon of Ultimate Magic
It was a few more days after the trouble at Seya’s restaurant. Now that a solid baseline of enhancements had been achieved, we had decided to put our next strategy into action. That said, there was little chance of success if we just charged recklessly in. So we were discussing the best way to do it.
“You said that so long as we had Lady Kizuna back, we’d be able to take the harpoon guy down, right, kiddo?” L’Arc asked me.
“That was before we paid such a pleasant visit to Miyaji. Now that we know that S’yne’s sister and her forces are involved in this, just having Kizuna back might not be enough. Even if she revokes his authority, if the weapon itself has been bound to him, then it might not work at all.” They also had seven star weapons from our world, after all. Thinking that simply revoking their authority to wield the weapons would be enough was naive at this point.
Then there was the fact that S’yne’s sister had enough power to quite easily send us all flying in an instant. If we went in without a plan, as we currently stood, it was highly unlikely we could win. Another issue was that S’yne’s sister was one of their key leaders, but not the actual boss. If they had someone even stronger waiting in the wings, we really would struggle to win. That meant in this time during which they hadn’t showed themselves, we had to increase our own firepower.
“I really wanted to try revoking his authority,” Kizuna said.
“I’m not saying not to try it. There’s nothing wrong with giving it a try,” I told her. We had Kizuna back now, so it was definitely worth trying. “What’s more important, though, is dealing with whatever it is they are using that blocks Itsuki’s and my weapons and magic,” I said.
“Easy enough to say, but how do we do that?” Kizuna asked.
“Based on what S’yne’s sister said about everything, they sealed off the weapons and magic from other worlds by capturing three of the four holies from this world. In other words, if we can release them, then maybe our weapons and magic will be released too,” I reasoned. Everyone nodded at my suggestion. “To be honest, I was kind of hoping that bringing Kizuna back would be enough. Any word on that?” I looked hopefully at her.
“Hmmm . . . not likely. I’m not sure how to put this . . . From what I’m feeling from the hunting tool, it’s outnumbered and so can’t make the change over,” she explained.
“It sounds like we need to release at least one more of the holy weapons, then, before Itsuki and I will be able to use our weapons and magic,” I concluded. It seemed like an accessory could cancel the effects out, but I had no idea how to make it. If I could get a sample, then I might be able to do something about it . . . It really was an inconvenience. I hoped we could do something about it soon.
“Fehhh!” Then Rishia raised her hand with a troubled look on her face. That stupid noise was completely unnecessary, especially in this instance. It actually made me want to shout at her.
“Is there nothing that can be done using support buffs via the skills inside the seven star weapons?” she asked. It normally fell to magic to handle buffing abilities, but if weapons also had that kind of support ability, then Rishia in particular would be able to apply some pretty powerful effects.
“If you think you can do something like that, I’d love it if you gave it a try,” I said. There were a lot of skills that still remained tantalizingly out of reach. I didn’t have many buffing skills. Of course, this approach would mean we had to lean heavily on Rishia.
“I’m sorry. I don’t actually have any skills like that . . . but I’ll search for some and help you out, I promise!” Rishia replied.
“Sure, but the problem we’re always going to run into is the use of magic that cancels the buffs. It just turns into tit-for-tat,” I commented. This was another issue that S’yne’s sister had annoyingly raised.
“How about going into the Ancient Labyrinth Library and searching for some clues? Ethnobalt, can you help us find what we are after?” Kizuna asked.
“That is another idea . . . but that presumes the information we want exists in book format. Information relating to technology from other worlds might be a high hurdle,” Ethnobalt replied.
“To put it more simply, then, we want passages about nullifying magic that removes buffs,” I broke it down.
“I’ll take a look. Please don’t expect too much,” he said.
“I won’t,” I replied to him. We just didn’t have many moves we could make right now. “We also can’t just stand around wringing our hands. We can at least level up a little and try to turn this difficult situation around. The one thing we do have going for us is that Kizuna’s weapon seems to be able to deal with this so-called illegitimate power we have been facing.” The best thing we could do right then was increase our levels and try to supplement our lack of enhancement in other areas. “We might—and I mean might—get an advantage if we can thoroughly raise the levels of everyone other than the vassal weapon and holy weapon holders, in a kind of limit break fashion. But if the enemy takes advantage of that to create a powerful force, that would be pretty terrifying.” In fact, that was the issue I was the most scared of. Perhaps the biggest piece of luck when we fought Miyaji had been that Bitch and Armor didn’t have levels as high as I had been expecting. “This would be a lot easier if the holy weapon and vassal weapon holders could just fight it out alone, but we would be naive to believe that will be the case. L’Arc, you and your other allies are moving on this by considering it will escalate into a full-blown war, correct?”
“That’s right,” L’Arc confirmed.
“In your world, Naofumi, people other than holy weapon or vassal weapon holders can also break the level cap, can’t they?” Kizuna asked.
“That’s right,” I replied. “Sadeena, you must be getting close to the cap in this world. Well?” Whenever they could find time, everyone had been working on raising their levels pretty much every day. Training had been particularly focused on Kizuna, so it was probably about time she overtook us. Raising levels in this world was pretty quick too.
“Oh my. You’re right. Our levels have already crossed the cap,” Sadeena confirmed.
“Which means having performed the ritual in another world allows you to break the cap here,” I commented. “That said . . .” We couldn’t exactly take everyone to our world, get Gaelion to perform it, and then come back. We’d be stuck waiting for a wave. Once the limit break was performed, we didn’t have many options in terms of getting back. Maybe using the transmission of a wave was the best we could hope for. While we were messing about with all that, the enemy wouldn’t be sitting around waiting for us to return.
“Raph-chan,” I called.
“Raph?” she responded.
“Can you perform the same limit break ritual that Gaelion performed for us?” I asked her. When we crossed over to this world, Gaelion had been looking at Raph-chan with resentment in his eyes. I’d been thinking Raph-chan could probably perform the ritual too, so it was worth asking and actually finding out.
“Raph, raph, raph!” said Raph-chan excitedly, making a circle with her paws to indicate that she could do it but then pointing at the ground and shaking her head. There was a moment of silence.
“She says she can do it, but not here in this world,” Filo translated.
“Raph!” Raph-chan confirmed. Maybe there were some subtle differences in what was needed for the ritual in this world. It felt so close and yet just out of reach, like an itch between my shoulder blades.
“Sorry, but I have to ask . . . how is Raph-chan able to do such a thing?” Raphtalia asked, but I chose to ignore her question. One of the best things about Raph-chan was how multitalented she was.
Then Therese raised her hand.
“Kizuna, do you remember that one enemy? The one who gave us a lecture on the means of dispelling buff-based magic? If we could talk to him, we might be able to find a way forward,” Therese said.
“Huh? I’m not sure I do . . .” Kizuna said. I personally had no idea who she was talking about. It had to be a foe from back before we met or during the period we were back in our world.
“Therese, who are you talking about?” L’Arc asked, furrowing his own brow in thought. I wanted her to drop the guessing games and get to the point.
“It was the reason Kizuna was summoned to this world in the first place, L’Arc. When we fought him, he kept on nullifying our magic buffs, remember? I think he knows a lot about that side of things,” Therese said.
“You don’t mean . . .” L’Arc said, voice quivering.
“I do. It sounds like the Master Craftsman has also fought him, and I also know how to revive him. This could be a lot faster than having Ethnobalt investigate,” she suggested. A deeply disturbed expression proceeded to appear on the faces of Kizuna, Glass, and L’Arc. It sounded like they were talking about someone very dangerous. I had my own idea on who it might be, and I didn’t like it. The things she was saying were starting to sound familiar to me too.
“No way!” Filo knew who they were talking about. She had been a victim at his hands, after all. Still, this wasn’t such a bad idea, at least in terms of expediency, but I really wasn’t keen on it.
“If there’s a problem, we can just have Kizuna mop him up again. It’s highly likely he won’t listen to what we have to say though,” I commented. Still, it was important to give things a go.
We were talking about the primary reason why Kizuna was summoned here in the first place. To put it simply, the idea was to revive the Demon Dragon. If he talked about taking me over again, I’d simply kick his ass. That much was for sure.
“Are you sure about this?” Raphtalia asked, a concerned look on her face.
“We don’t exactly have many options open to us . . . and even if we take care of this problem and deal with Bitch and the others, taking Kizuna and her allies across to our world and breaking the level cap for all of them will be such a pain,” I said. It would be better to find someone who could handle that at the local level, and that led us straight to the Demon Dragon. If the setup was similar to our world, then we should at least get some intelligence from this move. And in the worst-case scenario, we could raise a dragon into a Dragon Emperor and then have it extract the information we needed from the Demon Dragon fragments.
The fact that the method for breaking the level cap in this world remained unknown was actually to our advantage. It would make it easier to fight those that S’yne’s sister wasn’t involved with, such as the harpoon vassal weapon holder and his allies. And if we could apply it just to those we trusted, then we would be able to physically overpower these vanguards of the waves. Experimenting with that was all part of this.
“We don’t have time to search for other methods, do we, kiddo?” L’Arc asked.
“That’s right. Kizuna loves talking things out so much we’ll let her try that first. But after that, it just depends on the Demon Dragon,” I said. Betrayal would not be permitted, but we had to start from a place of negotiation. Of course, the dragon hated Kizuna and her allies pretty intensely, so he might not listen to anything they had to say at all. Kizuna gave a sigh.
“Very well. I didn’t expect to have to revive the Demon Dragon myself . . .” she muttered sadly. Glass looked like she felt much the same way.
L’Arc therefore ordered us a dragon’s egg from a monster stable within his nation. In this world they didn’t use a monster seal to make monsters subservient, but rather a sealing ofuda. In Filo’s case, she already had a monster seal and so the sealing ofuda didn’t work on her. I recalled the tragic incident when she had been captured alive and put on show.
Then Kizuna came in with the Demon Dragon core that Romina had returned to me in her store. We made all the necessary preparations. The egg was going to be hatched in the garden of L’Arc’s castle. In our world, I had been forced to carry the egg around for a while, but things seemed different here.
“Who will become the owner?” Kizuna asked.
“You do it,” I told her. “That will be the most humiliating for him.”
I thought we should let him experience the humiliation of becoming the property of his most hated enemy. “When the dragon hatches, we get to choose the gender too, right?” I asked Ethnobalt, who happened to glance in my direction. As the holder of the knowledge about this world, he was preparing the ritual. So I decided to confirm this point with him.
“You’ve clearly conducted research in your world too,” he remarked.
“What about over here?” I pressed him.
“It depends on the type of dragon,” he replied.
“Aren’t they all pretty similar? I thought dragons were creatures that caused the pollution of a region?” I confirmed.
“That’s right . . . That side of things is probably the same,” Ethnobalt replied. That side of things sounded the same, certainly.
“Kizuna, if we can choose the gender of the Demon Dragon, which would you prefer?” I asked her.
“Huh? Well . . . what do you think, Naofumi?” she asked. “A girl, right?”
“Why do you think I would want a girl? And call it ‘female,’ please!” I retorted.
“Your response tells me everything,” she replied.
“Gaelion is male. Apparently, that is what Naofumi selected,” Itsuki said to Kizuna, stepping in.
“We already had one super-noisy creature. I was worried about further troubles it might cause if I select the opposite gender from me again, so I made sure to pick male,” I explained.
“Who are you talking about?” Filo asked. You, I almost told her. I’m talking about you! She had caused all sorts of issues for us, including the ping-pong dash and the whole Demon Dragon fiasco. But on the flip side of that, in the end we had been able to teach the Way of the Dragon Vein to Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu and achieved class-ups that broke the level cap, so all was well that ended well. Maybe.
Filo herself was standing a little way apart, ready to run for it if required. She could hold her own against Gaelion but obviously wasn’t keen on the Demon Dragon.
“Indeed . . . in case the negotiations do go well, it might be better to choose the same gender as the owner in order to avoid any annoying issues,” Glass proposed to Kizuna, based on my information.
“What does that mean, Glass?” Kizuna asked.
“Annoying issues, huh? You don’t have it easy either, do you, Glass?” I said.
“I have a lot of questions about that comment!” Glass replied.
“Nothing to it. Leave me out of this,” I replied. I’d seen the jealousy in Glass’s eyes when Tsugumi was playing around with Kizuna.
“Fehhh . . .” Rishia made another highly useful contribution.
“Mr. Naofumi, please don’t rile Glass up too much. You are upsetting Rishia,” Raphtalia said.
“Sure, whatever,” I replied. In this case, I decided to accept Raphtalia’s warning and ignore the issue for now. Tsugumi herself was off helping clean up the town where Seya’s restaurant had been. I’d told her to call us for help if she needed it. Yomogi was back in her home nation, preparing for the next wave.
“It seems a little late to bring this up, but monsters don’t really like me,” Kizuna said.
“Pen?” said Chris. She used the hunting tool, after all; it would have been pretty crazy if monsters did take a liking to a hero who specialized in fighting them. “Monsters always seem to like you, Naofumi,” she added.
“It’s just because of my weapon. I could do with less of the licking though,” I told her.
“Raph!” said Raph-chan. I had nothing else to do while they were getting set up, so I was stroking her.
My work on modifying the accessory for Therese had also seen some good progress. With a little more work, I would be able to complete an exclusive accessory for her, which sure sounded romantic.
Sadeena and Shildina were helping with the ceremony. They had both served as priestess of the water dragon, so they likely knew a bit about rituals.
“Divine liquor, ah, divine liquor! The little Demon Dragon loves drinking, correct?” Sadeena said.
“If not, we’ll drink it,” Shildina replied. It looked like they were only helping out in order to get their hands on some booze.
“Right, shall we get started?” Ethnobalt finally said, all the preparations finished. “If you are to be the owner, Kizuna . . . I’ll need some of your blood on this sealing ofuda.”
“Okay,” Kizuna replied, a little uncertainly. Kizuna followed Ethnobalt’s directions over to the ofuda attached to the egg. As instructed, she cut the tip of her finger and pressed it to the ofuda. So far, the ritual was similar to the one our world.
“That should be enough to hatch a normal dragon’s egg . . .” Ethnobalt said.
“But this is a Dragon Emperor. Let’s do everything we can before it hatches,” I said. Kizuna was carrying the Demon Dragon core and placed it on top of the egg. Things would be a lot easier if that caused a change . . . but even as I thought that, the Demon Dragon core slipped inside the egg. The egg looked like it had successfully managed to absorb the Demon Dragon core.
“Now we’ll start the egg hatching. Everyone, please take a step back,” Ethnobalt said. He knew what he was doing with this stuff. Even when he didn’t have sufficient combat abilities, he still was a big help at times like this. Now he could also fight, so he was quite the significant asset for Kizuna’s allies. Quite honestly, I wanted to trade him for Filo.
“Hey! Master, you’re thinking something rude!” Filo chirped up. Bah! Her instincts were on the money, I’d give her that.
Itsuki was playing music to provide support to Ethnobalt. It looked pretty effective. Itsuki had been playing a lot recently, and it was showing in his playing. Practice really did make perfect.
Even as I thought about Itsuki’s music, the egg started to crackle and spark, floating up into the air.
“Is this all okay?” I asked.
“Yes. It should be . . .” Ethnobalt said. I hoped he was right. I had everyone ready with their weapons, just in case we had to respond quickly to whatever happened next. The egg floated for a while, and then wind gathered around it before it created some water. The earth beneath the stand below rose upward, and fire erupted from the divine liquor placed on it. The killer whale sisters looked a bit displeased with that particular development.
After a blinding light, darkness gathered around the egg . . . and a faint shadow started to appear from within. Something formed into a shape inside, and the egg cracked. With a splitting sound, a female baby dragon—a purple palette-swap of Gaelion—poked out her face. After keeping just her head outside the egg and blinking a few times, she looked around. Spotting me caused her to make a noise for some reason.
“Kwaa!” She sounded exactly like Gaelion. What did this mean? Maybe we had messed up somewhere along the way. I was overcome by a feeling of disappointment and despair . . . “Bah! Damn you! How dare you do this to me!” The dragon proceeded to speak. They were real words, but with a squealy dragon voice. She said this while breaking out of the rest of the shell. Seeing everyone arrayed around her, weapons ready, the dragon proceeded to raise her two front paws. “You seem prepared for the worst given how small and weak I am,” the dragon commented. “Hunting Hero.”
“Are you the Demon Dragon?” Kizuna confirmed, speaking for all of us.
“I am. Allow me to ask you what prompted the insanity of reviving me. I only know the background to the Shield Hero’s side of things,” she told us.
“The background of my side?” I asked.
“Yes. The Emperor Dragon from the Shield Hero’s side was being unreasonably stubborn in his attempts to do something to this body. I was almost overwritten,” she explained. Overwritten, huh? I wondered what Gaelion had tried to do too, but whatever it was, it was probably at least somewhat deserved. “I’ve been somewhat influenced by that. From what remained of the core, I was able to perceive facts about the shield, so I have some memories from the Shield Hero’s side of things. Like the fight with these ‘vanguards of the waves’ and the power of the Dragon Emperor on their side.”
“What did Gaelion do?” I asked.
“Let me see. When you were coming over to this side, you had to select your party members, correct? The Dragon Emperor was displeased with being left behind. Predicting that this current situation may come about, he attempted to overwrite the fragments that were meant to return to me,” the baby dragon explained. I shook my head in surprise. I hadn’t realized Gaelion had wanted to come that badly! He must have disliked the fact that Filo got to come while he got left behind. He had been glaring intently at Raph-chan too.
“It sounds like that might have been for the best,” Glass muttered, glaring at the Demon Dragon with a pretty foul look.
“Don’t get too full of yourself, holder of the fan vassal weapon!” the Demon Dragon retorted, giving a glare back that was just as fierce. That seemed justified, given she had almost been wiped from existence. Still, appearance-wise, she was just a Gaelion palette-swap. But from the look in her eyes, she seemed to have a pretty bad attitude. She had a different aspect again from daddy Gaelion, but you could tell at a glance that both of them harbored a lot of ill will. On that point alone, it could be said that daddy Gaelion was actually doing pretty well to not fall out with us completely. I’d never seen him turn such a look of disrespect onto a human, not like this.
“Tell me, Shield Hero. Why have you awoken me?” the dragon asked.
“Why are you only talking to Naofumi?” Kizuna questioned.
“Because I’ll never get straight answers out of the rest of you,” the dragon responded. It was such a pain to get caught in the middle of this, and I was impressed by the gall of her thinking that she could have any kind of discussion with me she wanted. She was treating everything she had done to us like it was water under the bridge.
“I don’t like your attitude. You attacked me and even tried to take me over,” I said.
“Hah, Shield Hero. I understand a little of your ways. If you just destroy me now, what will all of this have achieved? I will listen to what you have to say, at least,” she said.
“Still, I’m not sure I like her attitude,” Raphtalia said. I strongly agreed. This dragon really seemed to think she had my number, and I both didn’t like it and wasn’t sure why . . . but standing around bickering about it wasn’t going to solve anything.
“This doesn’t mean I trust you, and in light of your past deeds, I don’t really want to rely on you either,” I said. I proceeded, however, to explain to the Demon Dragon everything that had come to pass and proposed our strategy for the future. Once I was finished . . .
“Seriously . . . it brings dragon tears to my dragon eyes to see you, the great Shield Hero who defeated me, now reduced to this.” The Demon Dragon placed her front paws against her head and muttered sadly to herself.
“I hope you aren’t looking for sympathy,” I said harshly.
“Just think about it for a moment. The same bunch who shouted about defeating me and saving the world are now back, having screwed everything up, relying on me—their sworn enemy—to save them! Take a look around. Does this world look like it’s at peace to you? Well?” the dragon said, really coming for me now. What was worse, I didn’t really have a reply. This world was still plagued by humans fighting each other and had been ravaged by the vanguards of the waves. Everything the dragon had said so far had been so on the money that Kizuna and Glass probably didn’t have any response either. “Can you see how this might feel like something from your own past? Having been chased as a criminal, and then having to clean up after those very weaklings who were chasing you after they had been beaten down by the waves and people from another world?” That punch really landed hard. I wanted to call it a low blow, but she was basically providing a stunningly succinct summary of my life in these other worlds.
“So, Demon Dragon, just what do you actually want to do?” I asked.
“A good question. If I simply turn you down, I can tell you are prepared to kill me pretty quickly,” the dragon responded. No shit. That’s why all these weapons are pointed at you. “More than anything else, though, I do hate the idea of becoming the plaything in a world I should have obtained for myself.”
“If you are about to propose we split the world in half or something, we’re not going for that,” Kizuna muttered. The dragon would probably need a mustache to twirl if she was going to go that hard into a traditional villain. Or did she fancy herself the queen of the monsters? The Dragon Emperor in our world called himself the King of the Monsters, but it was a title he had applied to himself.
“Hah, I don’t expect you to agree to anything so obvious. I will give you a hundred years before I act. In that span of time, all of you should die out anyway. Then I will realize my world of monsters,” the dragon said.
“Those still don’t sound like conditions we can accept . . .” Ethnobalt said, somewhat distressed. The Demon Dragon looked over at him and her eyes widened.
“What? That cursed library rabbit has been revived too? I can imagine a situation no worse! Not to mention, this flow of power I feel . . . the sworn enemy of my lifeblood!” the dragon exclaimed. Of course, the dragon was sensing the potion that Ethnobalt drank. “That said”—the dragon calmed herself—“you originate on the monster side, and if you live that long, then you will surely come to realize the foolishness of humans.”
“You need to watch what you say,” L’Arc growled. For once, even he had his hackles up. As fine an indication as any of the bad blood between these two groups.
“What did this dragon try to do in this world, anyway? I’m still not really following this,” Sadeena asked.
“He commanded monsters within his own area of influence and used humans like slaves, basically,” I told her. Thinking about that now—
“That’s it? Just a race war?” Sadeena replied. “Just” might be pushing it a little, but sure, it could be boiled down to a pretty simple conflict: monsters versus humans. Quite honestly, I admitted to myself, I was a little jealous of how simple that all sounded. We had our hands full with a far more convoluted mess.
“Are we sure the goals of that war are to be rejected out of hand?” Kizuna said.
“It sounds pretty bizarre to say it, doesn’t it?” Raphtalia replied in agreement.
“Indeed. I’d expect no less from a hero from a therianthrope nation,” the dragon said. “I was pretty sure you would display a higher understanding of culture and awareness.”
The Demon Dragon seemed pretty friendly toward me. So I decided to capitalize on that.
“In our world, the humans see demi-humans and therianthropes almost like monsters, due to religious reasons,” I explained. “That’s why they treat them like enemies. From the human perspective, I’m basically a hero on the side of the monsters, and I’ve been through my fair share of trouble because of it.” More than my fair share, when I thought back on it all.
“There are also conflicts between races,” Raphtalia pointed out.
“That’s true, but if you consider ‘monster’ to be a race, then those are just conflicts between their leaders,” I said. The issue that Kizuna and her allies had here, as I saw it, was the monsters having used humans like slaves in the past. That would certainly look evil to Kizuna and her allies, but in our world, you could find examples of that everywhere; just take Siltvelt. The opposite was also true. The relationship between Filo and myself, strictly speaking, was that of owner and slave.
“I’m not going to get all friendly with those who promote the arrogant idea that humans are the leaders of the world,” the dragon stated.
“So? What do you want to do?” I asked.
“Like I told you. I will concede that you can have a hundred years before we take dominion over the humans,” the dragon replied.
“Meaning you’ll do whatever you like in a hundred years, but until then you’ll play nice?” I asked.
“Stop making me repeat myself. What can any of us gain if this world gets destroyed? We need to prioritize overcoming the waves. Do not place things out of order,” the dragon admonished. I hated to admit it, but the dragon was right. It sounded like she wasn’t ready to let the ill feeling between her and Kizuna’s faction go for the time being and was also willing to cooperate when it came to the waves.
“That should do for now,” the dragon said. “Hmmm, and this is a female body. Excellent. Shield Hero, under the condition that you will ultimately mate with me, I shall provide even greater cooperation.” So that was how long it took for things to take a crazy turn.
“Right, sounds like we’re done here. Kill the Demon Dragon,” I said, gripping my mirror as I curtly gave the order to Kizuna and her allies. They all just looked confused.
“You lack skill in negotiation, Shield Hero. Look at the concessions I have already made. Why do you flinch now?” the dragon asked. I was happy she seemed to have given up on the idea of taking me over completely, but I wasn’t sure where bestiality fit into this.
“What kind of sick joke is this?” Raphtalia exclaimed.
“Sick! That’s not allowed!” Filo chirped in.
“Raph!” Raph-chan was bristling with anger too.
“Why are you trying to do . . . that with Naofumi?” Kizuna asked. The dragon crossed her paws and looked back with condescending eyes.
“Don’t you understand how good that raging anger that boils so deep inside the Shield Hero felt when I was inside his shield?” she asked. Of course, none of us understood that! Kizuna and the others had looks on their faces signaling they didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. “That was fine indeed. Bottomless anger, a blazing hatred directed at everything in the world. You can see why it might get me hot and bothered, no?” She had a longing expression on her face, even as she said it.
“Oh my!” said Sadeena.
“Oh dear!” said Shildina. It sounded like Itsuki was keeping them in the loop.
“Looks like you’ve picked up a dangerous new admirer, kiddo,” L’Arc jibed.
“That’s why our negotiations end here. Just kill her, nice and quick,” I said.
“Indeed. We can’t accept this.” Raphtalia was on my side. I was in the right here. Hatching this egg had clearly been a big mistake. We made Kizuna her owner and she didn’t care about her at all. She was still just coming after me! That didn’t solve anything! “We should have hatched a male,” I said.
“You are so naive, Shield Hero. You think you can control me using my gender?” The Demon Dragon smirked. “You’ll have to do better than that against a dragon.” I remained impassive. That kind of love-conquers-all phrase wasn’t going to have any effect on me.
She continued. “First and foremost . . . no, I think I’ll keep that to myself. It will be more fun as a surprise.”
“What are you talking about? What are you hiding?” I asked.
“If you want to know, you’ll have to agree to my conditions,” the dragon shot back.
“Never,” I snapped.
“Either way suits me.” She chuckled. I wanted to just end this by taking the dragon out. I’d had enough of all this sexual harassment focused entirely on me.
“Rat said that dragons pollute the environment, but now this one is even trying to pollute Mr. Naofumi,” Raphtalia bemoaned.
“Hah. I’m not aiming to take the virginity of the Shield Hero. Young lady—Katana Hero and Heavenly Emperor, if that’s who you are—you may foster your love first. Is that your intent?” the dragon replied.
“Twist my words all you like. We won’t accept your conditions,” Raphtalia said.
“That’s right! That’s right!” Filo shouted. These happy-go-lucky fools!
“How intensely stupid you humans are. If you see an excellent partner, isn’t it your natural-born instinct to allure them and seek to leave children? There is no question that a pairing with the Shield Hero would leave powerful progeny,” the dragon said. I’d almost been caught up in this kind of “breeding” issue in Siltvelt. I certainly didn’t need it again now.
“Can’t you make do with Kizuna? She’s one of the four holies from this world. You’ll just have to overcome the gender barrier,” I said.
“Why me?!” Kizuna exclaimed.
“What are you planning on doing to Kizuna?” Now Glass turned a hostile gaze on me too. I’d had more than enough of all this. The Demon Dragon had already caused more than enough trouble!
“Hmmm . . . I do understand the nature of the Shield Hero. For now, then . . . I can give a little on this matter. I certainly don’t want to talk myself into getting killed,” the dragon said. She didn’t look happy about it, but she seemed to have decided to back down. “Right. Let’s get things back on track. I will help you. What exactly is it you want to do?” I didn’t really feel like we’d achieved much with our negotiations, but the Demon Dragon seemed willing to cooperate and so it felt like we had no choice but to press on. Personally, I still hoped it would end up with us killing her.
“Do you know the method to break the level cap in this world?” I asked.
“I do. Among the Demon Dragon fragments that the Hunting Hero once shattered, there is one that contains that information,” the dragon confirmed. I shook my head, wondering if I was the only one pissed off by hearing this. In our world, that information had been held by Takt’s Emperor Dragon, but here it had been in our hands the whole time. I can’t believe the key to raising all non-heroes’ levels past the cap was just sitting there . . .
“Seeing you make that face, Shield Hero, it really gives me a thrill! I am enjoying this immensely!” the dragon crowed.
“I’m gonna rip your stinking wings off!” I raged. It was rare to encounter a creature so capable of causing such direct damage to my mind. What pissed me off even more was that her approach wasn’t based in anger or hostility, but more like . . . lust. She reminded me of the killer whale sisters a little. If the influence of the Water Dragon had brought that out in them, it might mean all dragons were a crazy, sexy bunch. That meant educating Wyndia carefully or there could be trouble. Ren and Rat would need to be warned too . . . but I was moving off topic again.
“So you wish to use the limit break to overcome some hazard in this world. Or maybe it’s just to control the flow of information. In any case, give me my remaining fragments,” the dragon said.
“We still don’t fully trust you, okay? As soon as we hand the fragments over, you might get all big and nasty and attack us,” L’Arc said, pretty aggressively. The Demon Dragon shrugged her shoulders and gave a sigh, eyes half closed.
“Like I already told you, I have no plans to fight with you heroes at the moment. What do you think I could even do with this freshly born weak little body and so few of my fragments?” she asked. There was some truth in what she was saying, but I didn’t feel like sticking up for her. “You heroes are about to fight me with weapons that came from my fragments, are you not? I would like a little respect for that, if nothing else.” That was another reasonable point. There were quite a few decent weapons among those that used Demon Dragon materials, and Kizuna and her allies were generally using Demon Dragon weapons. Thinking about things like that, she was the source of some pretty nasty weapons for me too.
“I won’t accept you relying on me completely,” the dragon said. I just grunted. “Think about it for a moment, anyway. You have the Hunting Hero on your side, one who boasts unmatched strength when fighting monsters. If you can’t overcome any little tricks I might try to pull, how can you call yourselves heroes?” she asked. I really hated her condescending attitude.
“How about we just kill you, raise a new dragon, and let that one get overwritten?” I suggested.
“Like I said, naive. That won’t change the potential for you to get your head bitten off while you sleep. There’s no monster-sealing ofuda for an Emperor Dragon, not when you get down to it. No matter how kind you are, once it has all the information, it will reach the same conclusion,” she said. I wondered how she could be so sure of that. She probably had her reasons, but she was definitely spending too much energy hating humans. “Shield Hero, the reason Dragon Emperors like you is because of your innate good nature. You should be proud of that.” I didn’t feel especially proud. It wasn’t even something that made me happy.
“Look, this is all getting a bit too much for me,” I said, shaking my head. “Let’s not get too jumpy, but be ready for the worst and give this a try. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll just kill her. Again.”
“Excellent, Shield Hero. Your ability to prioritize so easily is surely another reason I have taken such a liking to you,” the dragon said.
“Sure, sure, whatever,” I replied, just brushing her off.
“I guess that’s the approach to take, Naofumi, but I can’t say I like it,” Kizuna said and looked at the Demon Dragon with hatred still in her eyes but sounding half resolved to the plan.
“Will this really be okay?” Raphtalia asked.
“Fighting here won’t solve anything, that’s for sure. And haven’t you heard about this kind of thing in stories? A punishment that falls on humans due to their arrogance. We’ve a grace period of a hundred years, so we just have to create a world that the Demon Dragon won’t have to attack,” I said.
“You’re making a lot of trouble for us, or maybe for our kids,” L’Arc said.
“Maybe, but it’s also a fact that we never knew when the scattered Demon Dragon fragments might cause her to revive. Even if we collected them up and sealed them in your castle, L’Arc, one day they may eventually pass back into circulation . . . Ultimately it might prove more productive to make use of her now, while she is here offering her neck for the collar, than wait for a rampage in the future,” I reasoned. I recalled the Tyrant Dragon Rex and the monsters that had been sealed in Q’ten Lo. Botching the sealing and having to deal with a revived monster somewhere down the line would really suck.
“You’ll find me quite giving,” the dragon said, “but I need to take as well. Hurry up and get them ready for me.”
“That said, Romina and other blacksmiths have been using them when making all sorts of gear,” I mentioned.
“I’m impressed you even thought of using the fragments from such a beast,” Kizuna said.
“That’s just how great a material they are,” I replied. With that, we set about collecting the Demon Dragon fragments that were in the possession of Kizuna and her allies. The Demon Dragon proceeded to absorb her fragments that Kizuna and the others had gathered and regain her powers.
“I also want the fragments in the heroes’ weapons,” she said. “Heroes, hold out your weapons. That will allow me to just take the fragments from inside.” As requested, all the heroes present who had a weapon using Demon Dragon materials held them up to the Demon Dragon. The weapons started to glow, and then a sparkling droplet from them flew over to the Demon Dragon.
“Hmmm . . . now I can perceive most of what has been happening. I’ve achieved common intent between all the fragments too. No more issues. I am reborn!” the dragon proclaimed, throwing both paws up in front of her with a look on her face like she’d just answered a quiz question correctly. I really needed her to stop doing stuff like that, or I was going to burst out laughing. I wondered for a moment if she was observing my memories.
“Well, simply taking so much from you will affect my reputation. Here is something of a thank-you.” With that, the Demon Dragon clicked her . . . claws, I presumed. Upon doing so, all of the heroes’ weapons—including mine—started to glow.
True Demon Dragon Mirror conditions met!
True Demon Dragon Mirror
<abilities unlocked> equip bonus: skill: “ Multiplying Mirror Fragment ,” enhance power of combination skills, dragon magic disposition awakened, dragon growth adjustment (massive), enhance power of curse weapons.
special effect: Dragon Scale (large), C Demon Bullet, all resistances (medium), magic power consumption reduction (medium), SP consumption reduction (medium), power-up success rate up, magic incantation shortening (large), Demon Dragon’s protection, growth power.
Exclusive attached soul: Demon Dragon.
“Wow, this is incredible! It’s made my trusty old Demon Dragon weapon easier to use and stronger too!” L’Arc said, immediately sounding happy.
“Dragon magic disposition awakened? It sounds like we’ve got something new to use,” Kizuna said, also sounding pretty enthusiastic.
“Use it to your heart’s content . . . the power of monsters . . .” the dragon said. She made it sound like we’d been given permission to use some kind of forbidden technique. The vassal weapon holders seemed pleased with it, so I wasn’t going to complain.
“These properties could make quite a difference, Glass,” Kizuna said.
“Indeed . . . but should we really be using them?” Glass replied.
“I share your concerns, believe me,” Raphtalia sympathized. I could understand where the two of them were coming from.
“This looks so easy to use that I should be able to handle most of the upcoming combat with this alone,” Kizuna said. She seemed very pleased with her new weapon, happily swinging it around. In my case . . . the Spirit Tortoise Carapace Mirror had better stats. It was like the Mirror of Compassion, the transformation of the Shield of Compassion, was auto-mixed in.
“Bleh. It’s not like the horrible feeling I get from Gaelion in the other world, a different . . . strange feeling,” Filo said, upset about something.
“Humming fairies don’t have the whole racial hatred of dragons, after all,” I said. Filolials didn’t exist in this world, making it hard for her to draw out her innate hatred. It sounded like Filo was being affected by some emotions other than her genetic hatred.
It was worth noting that putting some of Filo’s feathers from this world into our weapons had turned out a lot of gear with musical abilities, none of which was really useable for anyone apart from maybe for Itsuki.
“Shield Hero, I can add some rage if you desire it. The mercy within you is not well matched with my power, after all,” the dragon said.
“Sorry to break it to you, but I can’t use the Shield of Rage at all due to the Shield of Compassion,” I told her.
“And I’m telling you that I can let you use it again. I showed reasonable control of your rage, did I not?” the dragon said.
“Stop trying to allure Mr. Naofumi in strange ways!” Raphtalia chided.
“Raph!” agreed Raph-chan. I did want to avoid that if possible.
“If that is your wish, Shield Hero, very well. I’ve also boosted the stats of your favorite Spirit Tortoise gear. If you encounter a need for it, then you may turn to my power,” the dragon said. That was a nasty proposal—and it sounded like foreshadowing too. Forcibly activating my sealed rage, perhaps. I really hoped I’d never have to rely on that overly enhanced shield ever again.
“Well then . . . it feels like I’ve recovered a sufficient volume of my intelligence and strength. Now I just need to increase my level and I should be reasonably powerful.” The Demon Dragon lifted up into the air and crossed her paws, as though she was thinking, while choosing to land—without permission—on my shoulder. I swatted at her with my hand, but she nimbly dodged it!
“Get off me! That’s Raph-chan’s spot!” I said.
“I’m not sure I agree with that either!” Raphtalia commented.
“Raph!” said Raph-chan.
“Boy, I wish I could ride up there,” Filo complained. I shook my head, really wishing they would pick their moments better.
“We can use the limit break now. What we also really need is a way of dealing with having our support enhancement magic removed,” I said.
“That’s right,” Kizuna chimed in. “When we fought, you removed the magic Therese cast on us, right? How did you do that?”
“I am the Demon Dragon, the master of all magic in this world. You would think that I know about dispel magic, but . . . in any case, I sense that even if I shared it with you, it would not lead to a complete resolution of your problem,” the dragon stated.
“Why not?” I asked.
“There’s something from a memory of a Dragon Emperor who fought a hero long ago—a technique that denies dispel magic . . .” the dragon replied. That sounded like something that might be useful in our situation.
“So do you know which weapon it comes from?” I asked.
“We only fought, I’m afraid. So I don’t know that much. That said, if you search, then I’m sure you can find more information. Holder of the fan vassal weapon . . . it was something used by those who originated your style,” the dragon revealed.
“My style?” she replied. Fighting as she did with a fan, Glass did seem suited to that kind of delicate work.
“I don’t know if it is simply a technique or if it is a skill, but if it originated with your style, then there might be some hints for you there,” the dragon said.
“I see where you’re coming from,” Glass agreed.
“We will investigate it later. It could become a trump card for defeating our enemies,” Ethnobalt said.
“Still, Shield Hero. If you mix that technique you called ‘life force’ with magic, aren’t you capable of achieving a similar effect?” the dragon suggested.
“Life force, huh?” I replied. I looked over at S’yne and she shook her head. So she didn’t know anything. Fair enough . . . but it also looked to me like she was making a stuffed doll of the Demon Dragon. It seemed nothing more—again—than a palette-swap of Gaelion. I wondered if it would be useful for anything.
“With all your intellect, do you know anything about the power-up methods for heroes’ weapons?” I asked.
“There are lots of gaps in my memory around there, so I can’t provide anything useful,” the dragon responded. I had expected as much. “In any case, for the sake of our hundred-year treaty, I will now lend you my strength for the sake of this world. Make sure to give your all to raising me up nice and strong, heroes.” With that, a really nasty piece of work joined the party.
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