Manowa

「GuooOOOO!!」

The Berserk Ogre made a war cry of victory.

The vegetation armor covering his body had lost its vitality, and it made creaking sounds as he destroyed it to emerge outside.

『Not GuoO』

Kazane had an amazed expression, but without minding her, the Berserk Ogre reached toward the wreckage of the Dragon Eater he had slipped out of. Then the armor that had seemed like a collection of wood and gra.s.s rapidly shrunk, eventually turning into a black club, which the Berserk Ogre held in his hand. Furthermore, starting from the tip of the cudgel, claws (likely dragon claws) shot up one after the other. It looked like a huge bat with nails attached.

『What is that?』

Tiara"s eyes were wide as she watched with amazement, and Kazane muttered『Is that what it is?』before saying her own guess to Tiara.

『Since the Berserk Ogre ate the Core of the Dragon Eater, perhaps the body of the Dragon Eater itself is under his control?』

Kazane remembered that he was rampaging with a big wooden club when she first met the Berserk Ogre.

『Or perhaps I should say, both the body and Core were taken by the Berserk Ogre? There"s no part that can be taken as material.』

Kazane breathed a large sigh. However, the second Dragon Eater was destroyed with this. They didn"t know the welfare of the previously parasitized dragon, but he was still alive right now. However, since it seemed like he would be parasitized by seeds again, Kazane asked Tiara to burn the seeds, and after that, the Berserk Ogre and Tatsuyoshi-kun Dragoon partic.i.p.ated in the subjugation of the Dryad Lizards.

And the last one...

**********

「Let"s go, Yuuko-nee!!」

「Nya!」

Jinrai riding Yuuko-nee ran through the battlefield. He already knew through『Information Link』that Kazane"s group had won. He thought they should finish their own battle quickly in that case, so Jinrai encouraged Yuuko-nee.

And avoiding the Lightning Breath that the Adult dragon type Dragon Eater spat out, Yuuko-nee leapt in.

「Clever!」

So spitting out, Jinrai cut the flank of the Dragon Eater with his two spears as he pa.s.sed by.

The head of the Adult Dragon type Dragon Eater was destroyed by Jinrai with the initial Railgun barrage, but it still had the throat bag that produced Breath. Therefore, it seemed the Dragon Eater could construct a head as a launcher to spit out Breath.

「No matter how many times we cut at the throat bag, it"s blocked by the tree root like part.」

Wolf G.o.d Transformed Yumika said as she ran alongside Jinrai. The height of the Wolf G.o.d Transformation"s specs could be understood from her being able to keep up with Yuuko-nee"s speed, but Jinrai also had bouts with her every day. He was already familiar with that absurdity.

「Then there"s no choice but to crush the Core after all, Yuuko-nee. How is it?」

「Unyaa!!」

Yuuko-nee"s gaze turned towards two points after Jinrai "s question. Through the Aim Bracelet, Yuuko-nee could use Kazane"s『Ingredient Connoisseur』just like the Berserk Ogre. And Yuuko-nee was sensing two Cores from the Dragon Eater in front of her. In other words, it had two Cores, or perhaps there were two bodies inside. There was also the Dragon Heart. Even if they destroyed the Cores, its actions might continue if they didn"t do something about that.

「It seems that Ogre took the Core and all the materials over there. We have to leave some remaining over here.」

「No, let"s go with safety as the priority, master. If we can kill it we should promptly kill it.」

Even while having such a conversation, Yumika and Jinrai avoided the approaching tail attack and attacked the left leg at the same time. They penetrated the dragon scales, but the blows were shallow. Moreover, vegetation immediately covered the part that no longer had scales.

「As expected, the effect is weak. Master, let"s do THAT.」

「Hmm.」

So saying, Jinrai looked at the torn off right arm of the Adult Dragon type Dragon Eater.

As a matter of fact, this Adult Dragon type Dragon Eater had immediately fled after the Railgun barrage and Louise"s magic attack.

The Dragon Eater left behind had started fighting without escaping, so the individual that Kazane and the others fought was probably a sacrificial p.a.w.n. As a plant, it probably thought that it was okay as long as at least one of its strain escaped, but it couldn"t win against Yuuko-nee and Yumika"s leg strength, so it became a fight like this in the end. And immediately after catching up, Jinrai had fired a candy sized iron ball at its right shoulder and completely destroyed its right arm.

Although it was the Railgun"s reduced power mode, Jinrai had groaned from the impact, and Yuuko-nee had also almost bent backwards, but at least it could be safely fired without anchoring himself in place using the prosthetic arm"s legs.

「Hm. It can"t be helped.」

Jinrai decided. Yumika"s time limit was approaching; her Wolf G.o.d Transformation had around 5 minutes left.

Right now, Ao behind them was using blue flame magic to restrain the Adult Dragon type Dragon Eater while continuing to burn approaching seeds using the active defense of his Blue Flame Barrier. Because of this barrier, Ao could confront a Dragon Eater even though he was a dragon, but he couldn"t transform into a dragon due to the limited size of the barrier he could make, and it seemed he could still be parasitized by direct contact, so he had to be pa.s.sive and rely on magic.

Therefore, if Yumika ran out of time, their strength would drop. On the other hand, it would hurt Jinrai"s pride to ask for help from Kazane and the others after being entrusted.

「Ao-dono, can you do a slightly stronger attack for me?!!」

Ao shouted「Understood」after Jinrai spoke.

「I"ll act as a diversion!」

Then Yumika running beside him separated and headed toward the Dragon Eater.

「Yuuko-nee, I"ll be concentrating for a bit. I"m relying on you!」

After Jinrai spoke, Yuuko-nee agreed with「Unyan!」as she ran.

(Hmph)

Jinrai put his spears away on his back. He put his strength into his prosthetic arm, and a tube appeared from the palm. Then Jinrai"s arm stretched straight ahead and stopped moving, and Jinrai knew there was a tube from his shoulder to his palm. It was the same Railgun process as usual, but the caliber of the tube was smaller than before, since it was for firing candy sized iron b.a.l.l.s and not rocks or fist-sized bullets.

「I"m going. Skill・Last Magic・Plasma Halo!」

Then Ao"s magic was fired.

Many rings of blue light surrounded the Dragon Eater, then blue flames blazed.

(He said he couldn"t use powerful magic while using the barrier, but that looks『flashy』beyond expectation)

So thinking, Jinrai instructed Yuuko-nee to approach the Dragon Eater. Without minding the green mist the Dragon Eater was releasing from its entire body to repel the flames, Jinrai fired two bullets from his prosthetic arm.

「GUNUuoOO!!」

「Nya!?」

Jinrai and Yuuko-nee were blown away by the force, but the effect was tremendous.

Meki…… Pishkishi…… Baki

The Dragon Eater"s right leg was completely smashed, and the Dragon Eater collapsed.

「Rapid fire is tough, Yuuko-nee.」

Jinrai was thrown from Yuuko-nee and laughed as he looked at her, but Yuuko-nee was protesting「Nyanyanya.」A single shot was manageable, but it seemed two shots was too much for Yuuko-nee"s body. Yuuko-nee couldn"t help but protest about it being done without notice.

「Hmm, sorry. But please endure for just a little longer.」

「Nyaー」

Recognizing that it couldn"t be helped, Yuuko-nee cried「Nya」and turned to let Jinrai mount her.

And Ao was making a wowed expression after that series of events.

「Kazane-san, you REALLY don"t hold back.」

Ao thought the power of that Railgun was outrageous. The only saving grace was that Jinrai"s prosthetic arm was a fine product made solely of rare materials, so it probably couldn"t be ma.s.s-produced. If around 100 people were equipped with one, a city could be annihilated in 10 minutes, and a country could be easily destroyed.

In any case, the parasitized dragon had lost its mobility. Right when Ao thought that the only task remaining was surrounding and defeating it, the Dragon Eater"s plant body suddenly moved away from the possessed dragon"s body with creaking sounds. Then it also separated into two parts.

「There were two after all?」

「Master, one is running away!?」

Ao started running after Yumika"s words. In short, just like it ran away at the beginning to escape annihilation, one strain was trying to escape.  And the other one should take some measures to allow it to escape. It would probably be an attack putting its life on the line.

「Jinrai-san, Yumiksan, get away from it!」

Ao shouted. While one ran, the other one was gathering energy for something. However, Jinrai instantly headed toward the one gathering energy.

「Yumika, deal with the escaper!」

「Master!?」

Yumika hesitated for a moment, but it was only for a moment; she promptly ran after the escaping Dragon Eater. And while running, Jinrai looked at the Dragon Eater that was about to explode.

(The current me will be able to do it!!)

Among the two-spear techniques Jinrai had devised, there was one powerful technique that wasn"t fit for use in actual combat. Since it was a spear technique that ama.s.sed power in both arms and released it all at once, he would become full of weak points, so it was useless in a battle from the front. But Jinrai wasn"t using his own feet to run right now. He could leave the movement to Yuuko-nee as he refined the magical power throughout his body.

And before his eyes was the Dragon Eater"s real body. The position of its Core was known. Jinrai could also see it, since it was on the verge of exploding. In that case,

「Let"s go! Spear technique『Heart Hunting』!!」

Yuuko-nee charged, and Jinrai thrust his two spears forward and gouged.

It was a powerful technique that had extracted the Rainbow Heart from that Crystal Dragon. Each spear cut a semicircle and scooped out the Core. The spear technique was finally completed now that Jinrai had the partner named Yuuko-nee.

Then the Dragon Eater body that was about to explode rapidly lost heat. Now that its power source, the Core, had been s.n.a.t.c.hed away, the power for its action had already disappeared.

「Fuu, it looks like we did it.」

「Nyaー」

Jinrai said while holding the green Dragon Eater Core between his two spears, and Yuuko-nee agreed. Then Jinrai saw Yuuko-nee fleetingly glance toward the Core before hesitantly looking away.

「Yuuko-nee.」

Jinrai dismounted from Yuuko-nee, then held it before her.

「Nnya?」

Yuuko-nee was unable to understand Jinrai"s intention and tilted her head, but when she saw Jinrai present the Core, she stared in wonder.

「You want it, don"t you. Eat it!」

Yuuko-nee certainly gulped and purred at Jinrai"s proposal. But that was this time"s spoil of war. They weren"t sure if Yumika would be able to harvest the one from her foe, and would it really be okay for her to eat it...  Yuuko-nee was thinking her beast thoughts when

「This is yours and my victory. No one will object.」

Jinrai laughed like he had seen through her and threw it in Yuuko-nee"s mouth.

Then Yuuko-nee cried「U, unyaa」and hesitated to bite it, but the delicious flavor of the fruit promptly led to her chewing and swallowing it. Jinrai"s expression was unusually loose as he saw Yuuko-nee"s expression full of happiness from the delicious food, but then Yuuko-nee grew a fourth tail, and her fur became tinged with green, which made him raise his voice「Houu」when he saw it.

This would be confirmed later, but it seemed Yuuko-nee had gained a Skill called Photosynthesis. It was a useful skill that could generate Magic Power if the sun was out, and it wasn"t simply to the degree that she could be continually summoned with almost no burden on Kazane as long as she was under sunlight; it generated enough that she could even supply Magic Power to Kazane through the summoned beast Path.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Magic Swordswoman

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Spell Dagger Feather x2, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Eating Ogre King"s Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator, Rainbow Necklace, Rainbow Dragon Ring

Level : 33

Health: 135

Magic Power: 260+420

Strength: 57+20

Agility: 52+14

Endurance: 33

Wisdom : 65

Dexterity : 41

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』『Golden Dusk「Dragon Exclusive」』『Mirror Shield』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Warrior"s Memory』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog"s Sense of Smell: Lv2』『Golem Maker: Lv3』『Rush』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link』『Optical Camouflage』『Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Hand Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『St.u.r.dier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Fabricated Coercion』『Stone Minotaur』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『s.p.a.ce Expansion』『Pseudo-silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』『Arms Creation: Black Flame』『Ingredient Connoisseur』『Dragon Pheromone「Dragon」』

Yumika:「So then, next time is my activity?」

Kazane:「Umm. Sorry, but there"s already been enough with this time... Jinrai-san and Yuuko-nee make a tidy ending.」

Yumika:「No, that"s not good!?」

Kazane:「Well, then just a little bit. Yumika"s fight is basically too safe, so it"s not interesting, right?」

Yumika:「Stably winning is good, isn"t it?!!」