[Vol. 8] Chapter 30: A Powerful Enemy and Strong Allies
“Demon dragon… Hmph, of course I know that attack can’t hurt you,” came the calm and steady voice of the queen from inside the crater.
“But… didn't you think I was deliberately stalling for time?”
“Whoosh!!!”
Right as she finished speaking, the wind blade that Tarillin had caught in her claws suddenly shook slightly, then split into a faster and sharper second blade!
Even with Tarillin’s power, she hadn’t expected it, and was too late to stop it. She could only watch as it flew through the air and struck the main door of the room!
“Ssshhhkk!”
Strangely, even though the door was made of metal and wood, the blade cut through it with a soft tearing sound, like cloth being ripped. At the same time, Tarillin’s expression suddenly changed. Her energy shifted, and she turned her head toward the door with shock and anger.
“You! You’re just a mortal! How could you so quickly—”
“BOOM!!!!!”
Before she could finish, a blast of ice-blue frost magic exploded through the door from outside, rushing straight at the mysterious assassin, Tarillin!
“Huh?!”
Sensing the dangerous power in this attack, Tarillin didn’t dare ignore it. She gave up on attacking the queen for now, turned around, and blocked the icy blast with one of her claws, like a wall holding back a flood. But even while defending, her eyes remained alert, watching the crater carefully, as if still calculating her next move...
But right at that moment, a flash of crimson red light shot out like a blooming lotus flower. It pierced through the frost in front of her, moving so fast that even Tarillin’s eyes widened in shock. It stabbed right through her claw, going straight for the center of her forehead!
“!?”
She hadn’t expected a surprise attack to be hidden inside the frost blast. The arrow’s strong wind even blew back her hood, revealing her true face for the first time. A young, non-human woman with dark dragon horns and small scales along her cheeks. Her expression was one of pure shock!
At the last moment, the single gem-like scale on her forehead glowed with powerful light. Her body, once close to human size, suddenly expanded with a roar. She transformed into a massive black dragon, crashing through the roof and bursting out of the building, her total length now nearly 100 meters long!
“Splat!!!”
The fiery arrow, which seemed unstoppable, still pierced through her scales as if they were paper. But because her body had grown so much, the attack that was meant to hit her forehead only pierced her left wing instead. It shot out the other side and flew off into the night sky, trailing a glowing red tail like a shooting star.
“ROAAARRR!!!!!!”
The black dragon roared in pain and, acting on instinct, flew upward, flapping her injured wing to gain distance. Only then did Tarillin finally see clearly who had broken through the door and entered the shadow-covered room to help the queen.
There were two women.
One of them wore what looked like a uniform from the Adventurers’ Guild. Her dark blue hair was tied back, and though her face was delicate and gentle, the two curved horns on her head added a quiet pressure. With just one look, Tarillin could tell, this woman had the same dragon blood as her. She was clearly a dragon too, maybe pure-blooded, though strangely… there was also a trace of human energy mixed in.
The other young woman had shoulder-length red hair and wore light gear like a ranger. She held a short bow, and a new arrow was already set on the string, aiming at the black dragon that had just burst through the roof and flown into the sky. Her sharp eyes were like lightning.
Thinking back to that earlier surprise attack, the red flame arrow that had almost seriously hurt her, Tarillin roared in disbelief, speaking in a clear voice.
“Raaahhh!!! One after another... You’re all just weak mortals who haven’t even broken free from the limits of your species! How could you possibly hurt me?! What kind of attack was that just now?!”
“......”
The red-haired woman said nothing. She just calmly pulled back her bowstring again, and the tip of her arrow lit up with crimson fire.
“D-Damn it!”
Realizing that the assassination today had most likely failed, and that she was already slightly hurt while still not knowing the full strength of her enemies, the black dragon finally backed down.
“Foolish mortals! Don’t think you’re safe just because of this small victory! In the name of the [Keepers of the World], anyone who dares to stand in our way will disappear screaming, under the shadow of the serpent! Just wait, this kingdom’s fall is very close!!!”
After shouting this strange and threatening message, the giant dragon didn’t stay any longer. She turned quickly and flew off into the night sky, disappearing within a few breaths.
“[Keepers of the World]... What’s that supposed to mean?”
The queen leapt out of the crater and looked up as the dragon flew away. She gently held the small frightened pet in her arms, which was squeaking nonstop in panic, while thinking about the words that dragon named Tarillin had shouted before leaving. Her face showed confusion.
But she quickly stopped thinking about it, and hurried over to the two girls who had broken through the door to help her. She reached out to take the red-haired ranger, who had collapsed from exhaustion, from the arms of the blue-haired girl. Supporting her, the queen gave her a slightly helpless look.
“Sister Flora, why did you use that move again? Didn’t you say you’d only use the last three arrows of the Red Lotus Style if it was absolutely necessary, because they hurt your body?”
“...It was absolutely necessary.”
Leaning on the queen’s slim but surprisingly strong shoulder, the legendary adventurer known as Scarlet Flame Flora took a few deep breaths to calm her pale face, which showed signs of extreme energy use. She shook her head and said:
“Lilya, you saw it too, right? That black dragon wasn’t a normal enemy. Her power is almost at the level of a pseudo-god. If I didn’t use the sixth technique, Red Lotus, then even with Rebecca’s help, we wouldn’t have been able to deal with a creature like that. Even if we somehow forced her to retreat, the capital would have been destroyed in the battle.”
“It’s just… I’m not strong enough on my own. I can only use some tricks to mimic the rules behind Red Lotus, so I couldn’t unleash its full power. Otherwise, that surprise arrow might have truly killed her… Anyway, forget that, Lilya, are you okay?”
Though her elegant royal gown was now torn and showing lots of pale skin, the queen still looked calm. She shook her head, then reached into the deep folds of her dress and pulled out a small glowing box hanging by a thin string.
“I’m fine. Thanks to this treasure she left me, things didn’t go terribly wrong.”
She quickly moved past the topic and didn’t ignore the other girl who had helped her. Miss Lilya turned her head and gave the blue-haired girl a gentle smile and a small nod, though her face also showed a bit of curiosity.
“Thank you for helping, Miss Rebecca. But… why were you here with Sister Flora? Even if you noticed something strange in the palace, it shouldn't have been possible to arrive this quickly…”