The final battle broke out.
The angel monster by Stolas’s side began chanting. She was probably trying to strengthen her side via support magic.
Should her spell succeed, the already troublesome Emerald Dragon would be strengthened further and there probably won’t be anything we could do against it.
However…
“Nn. I won’t let you.”
Elder Dwarf opened fire with her M&K MK417 a.s.sault rifle on full auto. Her magazine contained 20 bullets but it didn’t even take a second to empty it, with each one of them flying at twice the speed of sound.
(Note: its rate of fire is 600rounds per minute so it should take more than a second to empty it all out. It’s fast, but not that fast.)
The MK417 used the larger 7.62mm caliber bullet.
Even at the best of times, firing at full auto would cause the gun to shake further off the mark the longer it was fired. Normally, emptying the magazine at full auto would just be a plain waste of bullets.
However, the same couldn’t be said for Elder Dwarf. She forcibly stabilized the shaking gun barrel with her mineral magic, thus raising the gun’s bullet efficiency.
The enemy received all the bullets in the magazine while it was defenseless as it chanted its spell. No matter how much of an A rank monster it was, if it was to receive an attack while it was defenseless, it would be like b.u.t.ter under a hot knife.
“I’m… sorry… Stolas… sama…”
The angel monster was by no means weak.
It was just that it was incompatible with our attack. For those that focused on magic as their main a.r.s.enal, the gun was their natural predator.
After leaving those words behind, the angel turned into particles of light and vanished.
Stolas then grinded her teeth.
But she didn’t have any time for such grief. My ace was upon her.
By ace, I meant Tenko. Right at the start of the fight, Tenko, much like a fox, moved swiftly and stealthily.
She moved to attack Stolas from her back all while avoiding the Emerald Dragon. Stolas hasn’t noticed Tenko yet.
Oh yeah, I issued out three commands.
Elder Dwarf was to hinder the angel monster on its casting of support magic.
Tenko was to launch a surprise attack on Stolas.
While Wight was to draw the attention of the Emerald Dragon.
There was no way they could directly confront a monstrosity like the Emerald Dragon. Elder Dwarf wasn’t ordered to prioritize it since I was convinced she couldn’t bring it down in one fell swoop due to a lack of firepower. Neither could we afford to do a half-hearted hit and run.
“Everyone, it’s time to fight!”
“I’ll back you up.”
The Skeleton legion led by Wight, and Elder Dwarf who just finished changing her magazine, focused fire on the dragon.
I then let out a voice of surprise.
The dragon’s scales repelled not only the Skeletons’ 5.56mm bullets but even Elder Dwarf’s 7.62mm bullets.
But even though it didn’t receive any damage, it looked irritated. It closed in on the Skeletons and then turned around.
It probably intended to mow down its surrounding using its tail full of centrifugal force.
Wight and Elder Dwarf quickly jumped back but the Skeletons were slow and thus half of them didn’t make it in time. Their bodies broke and smashed apart.
Wight looked sad and mourned for their deaths.
Their deaths were not meaningless though.
Wight’s group had obtained the Emerald Dragon’s undivided attention. Meanwhile, Tenko got close enough to strike Stolas from her blind spot.
“It ends now!”
Tenko held her silver shotgun… the Remilton (Custom) ED-01S.
It was equipped with a semi-automatic mechanism. Its sh.e.l.ls was changed from 12 gauge to the larger caliber 4 gauge. Magic Power also added further to the sh.e.l.ls’ explosiveness via the Mithril Powder it used.
The four times more powerful demonic gun was then fired.
Stolas was caught completely unaware and received a direct hit from the fired slug sh.e.l.l. Even a Demon Lord shouldn’t be able to endure that.
And so, her body was torn apart.
With this, this [War] was over.
Or so it should have.
“Sorry to disappoint you but that one there was just an imitation of myself that I made using [Wind].”
A voice resounded somewhere and I grinded my teeth.
Calmly thinking about it, wasn’t it only natural? For her to summon such a monstrosity at close range, she got to have had some form of insurance.
Most probably, at the same time as she had summoned the Emerald Dragon from her [Storage], she created that copy and used [Transfer] to relocate her real body.
“My lord, we can’t hold it any longer.”
Wight whose group drew the attention of the dragon raised his voice, almost like a scream.
Ever since a while ago, the Skeletons have been continuously firing but it really had no effect on the Emerald Dragon.
The dragon then roared and plunged head first.
A Skeleton came in contact with the dragon’s head and was smashed to pieces the moment after. The dragon then twisted its head, felling another Skeleton.
Another two Skeletons have fallen.
“Tenko, I’m counting on you.”
“Understood, Oto-san.”
Due to the dragon plunging in head first, it stopped moving for a few moments.
And in those moments, Tenko dashed forward with all her might.
The Emerald Dragon then turned towards Tenko.
It must have instinctively realized that Tenko was going to be a threat so it made wind twirl and coil around it, forming an armor of wind.
Tenko got close enough to shoot at point blank range in order to penetrate the dragon’s wind armor and tough scales.
“Eat this!”
She said so and fired.
The silver shotgun let loose a thunderous roar and spitted out sparks.
Of course, what came out was a power-focused slug sh.e.l.l.
Infused with her own offensive abilities, her shotgun had more firepower than the heavy machine guns fired by the Mithril Golems.
However…
“Wha—!? No way!”
…the slug’s firepower was greatly diminished by the wind. The slug was then deflected by the dragon’s tough scales.
Aside from the few scales that repelled the slug, the Emerald Dragon was mostly unhurt.
Tenko crossed both of her arms in disbelief. But then, the dragon threw its claws at her.
“Kyaa!”
Blood gushed from both of her arms. Unfortunately, that wasn’t all. She was then thrown to ground and bounced over and over, much like a temari ball.
“Tenko!”
I called out to her.
She rolled and tumbled for about twenty meters.
“I messed up a bit.”
She said so as blood flowed from both her arms and mouth. She then tried to stand up but only failed.
The Emerald Dragon glared at the injured Tenko.
It then extended its neck forward and opened its mouth.
Wind magic power gathered within its mouth frighteningly fast.
Without a doubt, that was a wind breath.
c.r.a.p. Tenko has taken too much damage and won’t be able to move.
“Tenko-sama won’t make it. Go, my minions!”
The bird monsters that turned to all bones and were under Wight’s command jumped into the Emerald Dragon’s mouth all at once. The wind magic power within rose to critical levels and then exploded.
The Emerald Dragon was greatly surprised.
“Good job, Wight.”
“It’s a one-time-only surprise attack. The real fight starts now.”
The Emerald Dragon turned our way.
It was must have been pretty p.i.s.sed off for the attack just then.
Elder Dwarf readied her gun.
Looking closely, her gun wasn’t on full auto anymore but rather on single fire mode.
“Now that its wind protection’s gone… I’ll snipe it.”
After shortly saying so, she carefully shot at the enemy.
Due to the use of the high-powered breath attack, the armor of wind was no more.
Aside from those covered in scales, its vital spots could be pierced.
And so, that bullet directly hit the Emerald Dragon’s right eye.
Despite bleeding from its right eye, however, it didn’t stop moving.
“The bullet only gave it a shallow wound!? What a monster.”
“GYUAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Elder Dwarf then placed her hands on the ground. And when she did so, a wall made of stone was built.
Not giving a care about it, the dragon slapped the wall with its right hand. As though it was made of paper, the stone wall crumbled.
And then, something under my feet rose.
“Master, that was dangerous.”
“You’ve saved me, Elder Dwarf-sama.”
Yes, Elder Dwarf built the stone wall as a distraction, carried Wight, and then went under the ground.
“Master, we won’t be able to damage it with our current equipment. I ask for more firepower.”
“Understood.”
I activated my [Creation].
“I’ve given this to you before for your research so you should know how to use it.”
“I do. Leave it up to me.”
I had given this weapon to Elder Dwarf back when she was just born.
The weapon I made was the most in-demand anti-tank rocket.
USSL RRG-7
Overall length: 950mm
Weight: 6.3Kg
Caliber: 85mm
Magazine size: 1
Muzzle velocity: 115m/s
It was a weapon that arguably gave the highest firepower a foot soldier could have.
Its appearance was that of a simple iron rod and only becomes aerodynamic in shape at the tip.
The mechanism called rocket booster that launches the Highly Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) rounds was, at the time, ground-breaking.
The HEAT rounds could penetrate even armored vehicles.
It was disposable so I made three of it via [Creation].
The Emerald Dragon looked our way.
It had already put on its armor of wind again.
Elder Dwarf placed the USSL RRG-7 on her shoulder and fired it.
I don’t know if it was carelessness but the Emerald Dragon didn’t even try to avoid it.
The HEAT warhead accelerated by its rocket motor continued to fly in the air.
And flew it did on a perfectly direct course as if it was sucked into the center of the dragon’s belly.
But I grinded my teeth instead.
The HEAT warhead then hit the dragon. The fuze activated and a directional explosion happened.
The overwhelming energy that could pierce even through tanks a.s.saulted the dragon.
Such was the Munroe/Neumann effect. A HEAT warhead would converge the blast energy into a single point and then punch a deep hole into that point by means of the ultra-hot and ultra-fast jet of metal particles.
“GYUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
The Emerald Dragon screamed.
Around a third of its right arm was ripped off.
However, conversely, it could be said that the damage it received was only that much.
“How!? That power should have pierced right through it!”
Elder Dwarf raised a voice of surprise.
“Two reasons. First, the warhead deviated from the target because of the wind. So instead of the center of its body which we aimed at, it hit its right arm. Second, that guy’s wind armor is just too thick. The fuze activated way before it hit the body and caused the blast energy to dissipate.”
Yes, those were why I grinded my teeth.
With those reasons, no matter how much we fired at it, we wouldn’t be able to inflict any fatal wounds.
Elder Dwarf quickly shot another warhead.
However, this time, it didn’t even hit the dragon. Despite its large build, the dragon managed to avoid the warhead.
Such was the second weakness of the rocket: the slowness of its projectile due to its construction.
Its muzzle or initial velocity was roughly just a third of the speed of sound and less than a sixth of an a.s.sault rifle’s bullets.
As long as there was that much of a difference in their performance, the warhead could be avoided by the dragon.
That guy has known the power of our rockets, we wouldn’t ever be able land one on him again.
“GYUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
The Emerald Dragon roared.
The already strong winds blew harder and its thickness grew.
Now, we really won’t be able to hit it.
The wind around the Emerald Dragon grew stronger and stronger, its area of effect expanding further.
Perhaps the dragon was planning to stay in there as the winds grew even stronger and take us all out with it.
In truth, those winds were now like blades, easily cutting the surrounding rocks as though those were b.u.t.ter.
“What should we do, Master?”
“Use our trump card, I guess.”
I didn’t have any other choice anymore.
I had determined beforehand how much of my fighting force I was willing to reveal in this [War].
The Mithril Golems and the heavy machineguns.
Tenko’s shotgun and Elder Dwarf’s a.s.sault rifle. The RRG7 too.
I was willing to show this much.
Showing more beyond this, however, was troubling.
“We seem to no longer have the time to hesitate.”
Our chance of escaping the whirlwind of blades was more and more slipping away.
Upon thinking so, Tenko approached.
Her wounds haven’t recovered yet. Her steps were heavy.
“Leave it to Tenko. It might ruin the gun El-chan made but I’ll do it.”
“Tenko, you’ll really use that?”
“Yeah, I can pierce through the dragon as long as I use the true power of the shotgun, El-chan’s ED-01S.”
Tenko smiled.
But her smile was stiff and lasted for only a little while.
…this might just turn out to be a pretty bad gamble.
“Tenko, are you sure you can do it?”
“Leave it to Tenko, Oto-san’s number one monster. I also have sweet El-chan’s weapon so, there’s no way Tenko’s gonna lose.”
Tenko’s words were unwavering.
I then took a deep breath.
And then, I decided.
“Alright, we’re counting on you, Tenko.”
“Okay, Oto-san. I’m off.”
Tenko took out a different kind of magazine from her pouch and loaded it in her shotgun. It was a size larger than usual. She then switched the lever on her shotgun from S to F. (Semi-auto to Full auto)
And so, the a.s.sault full of resolve began.