Chapter 19 | The Assassin Searches for a Means of Victory
My first encounter with the earth dragon went pretty roughly. I couldn’t find anything that gave me an edge.
It wasn’t entirely fruitless, though. First off, I’d discovered that the enemy was the earth dragon from legend. Knowing this, I was reasonably certain it possessed other abilities I had yet to witness but were described in stories.
Secondly, I had collected some of its severed tentacles, which were currently squirming inside my special bottle. More specifically, they were ones that had sprouted from other tentacles.
Those two things alone hardly guaranteed victory, but it was a start.
“Um, why are you filling those Fahr Stones with mana? You have plenty of prepared ones already,” said Tarte, looking confused.
“I’m putting different combinations of elements into these. I brought Fahr Stones filled with non-elemental mana to use as rechargeable batteries and others filled with a mix of fire, earth, and wind mana for bombing. These stones are going to serve a different purpose.”
A large amount of magic power could be poured into a Fahr Stone, and changing the composition inside altered the Fahr Stone’s nature.
“Oh, I see. You’re going to cause a storm,” observed Dia.
“That’s right. Using the wind and water mana of three hundred mages will allow me to cause a storm, which will directly lower the earth dragon’s strength. I’ve never tried this before, but legend has it that rain slowed this demon, so it’s worth a shot,” I explained, continuing to fill the Fahr Stones with mana.
“Hey, that’s an interesting idea. But not even you can prime all those Fahr Stones in such a short amount of time,” Dia said.
That would’ve been true with normal methods. My Rapid Recovery skill only multiplied my mana recovery by a little over a hundred. If I poured magic power into the Fahr Stones with full strength, I would deplete myself before I finished.
“That’s why I’m gripping the Fahr Stones filled with non-elemental mana in my right hand to draw power out of them, then converting it within my body and channeling it into empty Fahr Stones. That allows me to fill them without exhausting my strength. I want at least five Fahr Stones capable of summoning a storm.”
“I’ve never even thought of doing that before…but it should work. Want some help?” offered Dia.
“No, I’m good. This is only working because the mana in these Fahr Stones is mine. Your control over magic is elite, but it would be hard even for you to convert someone else’s mana.”
“That’s true… I could do it, but it would take a lot out of me. Sorry.”
She had no idea how outrageous even the thought of being able to do that was.
“I have something else I want to ask of you. I’m gonna explain my plan, so listen up. You too, Tarte.”
They both approached me and sat down. There was no way I could pull this off alone. I needed both of them.
After gathering my thoughts, I began talking.
“I noticed a number of strange things when I encountered the earth dragon. You both saw the wormlike tentacles extending from its giant body and its mouth, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, they were big enough for us to see from here,” answered Dia.
“I severed one of them using a WASP knife, but it regenerated immediately.”
“There’s nothing strange about that. Demons always revive endlessly unless you break the Crimson Heart,” Dia reminded me.
“Yeah, that’s why defeating them has been so difficult,” agreed Tarte.
“You’re right, but it looked different. While the cut-off part of the tentacle was still in the air, the remaining part that was still attached to its body swelled until the tentacle returned to its original length. What’s more, the severed tentacle remained whole.”
Dia seemed to catch on, but Tarte looked confused.
“Ah, I get it… That’s not very demon-like.”
“Sorry, I don’t understand.”
“A demon’s regeneration resembles turning back time. Everything goes back to its original state. That’s not how the earth dragon recovered. Its flesh bulged and regrew to create a new limb, while the severed flesh remained separate from its body.”
Demons’ absurd healing power was their greatest weapon. All the demons I’d defeated previously—the orc, beetle, and lion—had rewound to their original state when injured, and any amputated limbs disappeared almost immediately. The earth dragon’s regeneration worked differently, resembling something found in natural creatures.
“So are you saying it’s not a demon?” asked Dia.
“No, it was making a Fruit of Life. Only a demon can desecrate souls like that. That means it’s a demon. But it may not all be a demon.”
“…Ah, you think the exterior and interior are different beings.”
“Yeah, that’s the only way to explain it. The demon is probably in the belly of that beast. That follows with the legend. The notion that the hero killed the demon from within is only half-right. It’s likely that the hero encountered the actual demon while inside the earth dragon… Here, I have proof. I didn’t realize this during the fight, but bottling up a part of a demon’s body like this and taking it with you should be impossible.”
I pointed at the tentacles in the bottle, all of which were still jumping around energetically. If the earth dragon was a demon, the severed tentacles would have disappeared.
Things were moving fast when I’d cut off the tentacle with the WASP knife, and it was possible that I overlooked something. This, however, was definitive proof the giant creature wasn’t a demon.
I couldn’t yet decide for sure that the interior and exterior were separate entities, but if my theory was correct, we had a chance of winning.
“You said you had something to ask of us,” stated Dia.
“That’s right. If the outside is not a demon, it shouldn’t be able to keep up if we deal it enough damage. Unlike the hero, I can’t brave the mucus and search inside the earth dragon safely. That’s why we’re going to kill the external beast to draw the demon out. We should then be able to kill the demon. Here’s what I want from you two. When I force the earth dragon out of its burrow, overwhelm it with firepower and kill it for good. Use these to do it.”
I gave Tarte and Dia nearly all of the Fahr Stones I had filled with earth, fire, and wind mana to use as bombs.
That left me two big cards to play.
“My job will be to fish the earth dragon from its burrow. No amount of raw strength will kill it if it just dives underground. Once it emerges from the hole, use all of these to hit it with the biggest blast you can,” I instructed.
Dia frowned. “Hmm, how are you going to get that giant thing out of the hole?”
“I’m gonna use the Fahr Stones I’m filling now for that.”
This strategy would put me in mortal danger, but I had already confronted the earth dragon once, and my gut was telling me I could pull this off.
“So Lady Dia and I will… Ah, I understand,” said Tarte.
“Me too. I’ll fill the Fahr Stones beyond their capacity and calculate how to position them for the most effective bombing, and Tarte will use wind to position the stones as I order her to,” reasoned Dia.
“Exactly.”
Fahr Stone blasts were strong, but the way to get the most effect out of them was to inundate and crush the target.
The force from explosions traveled outward radially. If we used the Fahr Stones without any thought to placement, most of the energy would travel away from the target. We could prevent that by surrounding the target with Fahr Stones and triggering multiple bursts at once. The force would all travel inward, giving no room for escape.
Determining the most effective deployment of the Fahr Stones, quickly filling them past their capacity, and timing the explosions all at once should not be humanly possible. Given Dia’s smarts and sense for magic, though, I knew she was up to the task. The problem was Dia wouldn’t be able to throw the stones where they needed to go.
That was where Tarte came in. She had trained very hard with her wind magic, and her control was extremely precise. I was sure she would be able to deliver the Fahr Stones to the exact positions Dia indicated.
“That’s going to be really hard. I’ll have to make three-dimensional calculations the moment it emerges from the hole,” said Dia.
Tarte nodded. “That sounds really difficult.”
“You’ll have only a few seconds, and then Tarte will have to position those stones immediately… This is the hardest thing I’ve ever asked of either of you.”
Tarte and Dia exchanged a look. I understood that what I was asking for was unreasonable. I wouldn’t be able to support them, either, as sending the earth dragon flying was going to take all of my attention.
“I’ll do it,” Dia stated.
“…Me too. Um, Lord Lugh, do you think we can do it?” asked Tarte.
“Yes, of course. I decided that your present capabilities are sufficient,” I answered affirmatively.
“Then I’ll definitely succeed!”
That reply was very like Tarte.
I wasn’t ready yet. I needed to prepare for this operation and think of a backup strategy in case it failed.
My plan was built on a number of assumptions. I needed to bear in mind the possibility that it might not work.
A few hours later, I had all the Fahr Stones I’d prepared for this mission ready to go. I grabbed them, jumped into the hole, and used wind magic to maintain my altitude to an extent.
Before the descent, I’d performed a test on the severed tentacles to determine why storms bothered the earth dragon in the legends. The result turned out to be very simple—the creature was just bad with water. Its reddish-brown skin repelled the liquid, but the tentacle mucus washed away when cleaned.
Mucus was very important to the earth dragon. Everything the secretions touched melted and then evaporated into the pink fog, and it also served defensive purposes, as it was slippery enough for blades to slide off without cutting its flesh.
The creature also had a habit of expelling mucus from its innards when its external coat was rinsed off, suggesting that flooding the earth dragon with water would cause it to dry up and weaken.
Understanding that left me with one course of action.
The Fahr Stones I was holding were not the ones filled with wind and water mana; instead, they contained 100 percent water mana. I filled two of the dangerous little spheres past their capacity and tossed them into the hole.
What would happen if a Fahr Stone filled with the water mana of three hundred mages exploded? The answer turned out to be quite simple.
I watched the result play out in front of me. An incredible waterfall surged into the hole, filling it with violently turbulent water.
Drainage in the crater must have been poor; the water level rose quickly. It was as if the liquid had run up against a dam.
If my hypothesis was incorrect and the entire earth dragon was the demon, it should’ve been content to stay below. If it died, it would just revive immediately. Nothing was keeping it from waiting for the water to slowly diminish.
However, if the exterior was not a demon but a monster birthed from a demon, it would have to surface. A regular creature would not be able to return from death. I didn’t know if it would die from losing all of its mucus or from suffocation, but it would perish eventually.
The earth dragon could not take the third option of leaving. According to Mina, once a demon began making a Fruit of Life, it would break if abandoned for too long.
Surely the demon wouldn’t want all of its hard work to go to waste. That meant it only had a single option.
“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! You’re making me so mad, so mad!”
The earth dragon’s giant figure leaped out of the hole, which had become a full-fledged pool.
Unlike last time, it was out to kill, not to play. I could feel its bloodlust. Flooding its lair must have upset it.
My hypothesis was correct. Now we had a chance of winning.
It was time to remove its ridiculously large armor and get a look at the real demon.
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