Chapter 26: The Killing Curse
The Dragon Mother and the dragon men were both perplexed by Seiya"s words. Besides them, Mash and Elle were speechless as well. All of them seemed petrified.
Yet, I had become immune to Seiya"s hasty remarks after my long arduous experience with him. I spoke calmly with him afterwards.
「Seiya…What you said earlier…Do you really mean that…? 」
「Of course. I said that those two dragons would be the ones to carry my luggage. I do not intend to change my decision. 」
「Well, I see…but… the world won"t be saved if Elle doesn"t turn into Egzation, right?」
Seiya sighed slightly.
「I wonder if this sword named Egzation can really defeat the Demon King in the first place.」
The Dragon Mother couldn"t keep her angriness and screamed loudly.
「How dare you doubt us!! With the fresh blood from that girl, the strongest and invincible holy sword Egzation will emerge from the dragon abyss and will thereupon defeat the Demon King!! 」
「How can you be so sure? 」
「The Dragon Emperor prophesied this event a hundred years ago!! His words are absolute!!」
「That"s not logical. 」
After a deep sigh, Seiya looked at the Dragon Mother with disgusting eyes.
「…This lizard is absurd. 」
「What!? Who are you to profess those words!! Even if you"re a hero, such rudeness will not be tolerated!!」
Did he say the "lizard is absurd"…? I was feeling troubled, Elle was in despair and Mash was so angry at this horrifying event… But, was Seiya feeling the same way as we did?
I looked amazed at Seiya"s strong presence.
…Really…This hero never changed even on times like these…
During that time, I felt an unexpected s.h.i.+ver run through my body. The Dragon Mother opened her mouth then.
「Ah…Ahah!! 」
I heard a loud laugh.
「What!? Why are you laughing like that!? 」
The Dragon Mother moved her eyes away from Seiya and she stared closely at me.
「Oh my! Don"t look at me like that! 」
「I don"t believe it…Don"t tell me that the G.o.ddess has the same ideals as the hero? To defeat the Demon King and save the world…isn"t that what you told us before? 」
I spoke to the Dragon Mother who threatened me just now.
「Certainly. It is my wish to defeat the Demon King and save this world from his menace. However… 」
I gathered my courage to go against the power of the Dragon Mother and I declared to her.
「However, I won"t sacrifice a comrade"s life because of that!! We will look for other options to subst.i.tute the Egzation and kill the Demon King!! 」
Everyone around us were silent. Eventually, the Dragon Mother gazed fiercely at me once again and said the following words.
「…That"s the G.o.ddess" final decision. I see, so the G.o.ddess ended up having the same thoughts as that hero. 」
Then, she sighed as she pointed on Elle"s direction.
「You are just like that child"s parents. They could only think about their baby just like you think about your comrade. What mattered to them was their "little world". Their self-righteous ideas cost them their lives. 」
Elle was perplexed by the story that she was not supposed to hear. However, Mash reacted faster than Elle.
「What do you mean!! Didn"t our parents die of a disease!? 」
「Ten years ago, I sent Elle to the bottom of the abyss to be born as Egzation"s vessel. During that time, Elle"s relatives opposed greatly against us. Your parents were very close to Elle"s, so they opposed as well. In conclusion… 」
The Dragon Mother showed her long red tongue and licked around her mouth.
「In conclusion, I killed them. 」
Elle looked disturbed by those facts as she covered her mouth with her hands.
「Te…Terrible…!! That"s terrible…!! 」
「How could you…! 」
I was also looking at the Dragon Mother with blaming eyes, but she didn"t feel any kind of remorse towards her murderous actions.
「It was unavoidable in order to save the world. 」
「…Whoa!! 」
Mash screamed in agony as he dragonized his form. His tremendous force defeated two of the dragon soldiers easily. In a second, he switched his anger towards the Dragon Mother.
「Screw you, you d.a.m.n witch!! How dare you call yourself a mother!! You murderer!! 」
Mash ran and tried to strike the Dragon Mother with his fist, however, his legs went numb and he fainted on the ground, apparently intoxicated.
「What…!? 」
「Mas.h.!.+? 」
The moment I tried to approach the fallen Mash, my legs went numb as well and I fell to the ground just like him.
「Wha…What…is going on? 」
The Dragon Mother stared Mash and I laid on the ground as she laughed wickedly.
「*laughs continuously* I got cautious with age. When I saw your fearful faces when I said that Elle was going to be the Egzation, I predicted that something like this would happen eventually. I ordered my subordinates to put some numbness medicine on the banquet"s food. It is a powerful medicine that cannot be undone by spells or other remedies. Even if you"re a G.o.ddess, you won"t be able to move for a while. 」
*looks irritated* Numbness medicine she said…!! This lizard woman became a complete villain…!! But we have Seiya with us!! I"m sure he"ll do something about this situation!!
Suddenly, the dragon children surrounded both Mash and I and started to laugh mischievously.
「*children giggles* Actually, those cookies were made with that medicine too!」
How could they do that to us!! Seiya ate one of those cookies too!! That means that none of us can"t move right now!!
「…Okay then. Since they won"t be moving anytime soon, let"s continue with the Holy Sword Ceremony. Guards, quickly push Elle into the abyss. 」
Three of the dragon men approached a frightened Elle per the Dragon Mother instructions. Mash, Seiya and I, won"t have any choice but to see Elle be pushed into the bottom of the valley. I gritted my teeth with frustration…It was inevitable.
And yet…My mouth became wide open because of the spectacle that was unfolding right in front of my eyes.
A usual-looking Seiya was throwing away with one hand the dragon men that approached Elle!
The Dragon Mother"s blood pressure went high and she screamed loudly.
「How…How can he move!? Why didn"t the medicine work on him!? 」
「It"s obvious it won"t work on me because I didn"t eat anything in the first place.」
The dragon children started shouting right after he spoke.
「Tha…That"s a lie!! You were eating the cookies we made a while ago!! 」
「Even though you"re children, there"s no way I would eat something made by lizards. That"s too disgusting. I ended up throwing up afterwards. 」
「That"s too cruel!! 」
「Who"s the cruel one here. You are very bad kids. All of your food contained poison. Besides that…」
Seiya pointed to me all of a sudden.
「I only eat the things that this woman makes. 」
… My heart became fl.u.s.tered even though this was not the right moment.
Wait a second, Seiya!! If you speak it like that, I"ll get happy, you know!? Ah…I feel happiness as if I were a wife!! Well, but I"m no one"s wife though!! But, Seiya…I"ll make you steak tonight!!
The Dragon Mother was surprised by not only for the failed medicine, but also by Seiya"s impetuously behavior. On that moment, she regained her posture and exhaled a big breath.
「This is getting troublesome. A conflict would be unavoidable if this keeps going on. There won"t be mercy for you Hero, even if you are the person who will be the bearer of the holy sword. The sacred ceremony must be completed without fail. Step aside if you don"t want to get hurt. 」
「Oh. Bring it on. 」
「You sure are annoying. I did warn you, so don"t come crying to me afterwards…」
As soon as the Dragon Mother finished talking, her dress tore apart and she greatly expanded!
「Let me show you!! Only I, the one who governs the Dragon Tribe, can change into the "Almighty Dragon"!!」
「Oh my G.o.d!? 」
Even though I took the numbness medicine, I managed to move my body slightly. I tried to move away from the Dragon Mother as soon as possible. I thought that I would be crushed if I did not move away from her.
Her dramatic change stopped. The Dragon Mother transformed from the ridiculed lizard from before to a huge dragon with ochre-colored scales. If I were to measure her, she would be around ten meters high counting from her long and thick tail. She spread her large wings on her back and showed a ferocious face. She opened her mouth with visible fangs as if they were lined-up knives and roared fiercely.
While I was laying on the ground, I somehow activated my clairvoyance ability. I wanted to know the opponent"s status.
The Dragon Mother
Level - 66
HP - 563290
MP - 5533
Attack - 43898
Defense - 3881
Agility - 5679
Resistance - Fire, Water, Lightening, Poison, Paralysis, Sleep, Curse, Instant Death, Condition Abnormality
Special skills - Almighty Dragon (Lv MAX) *Disable attacks other than anti-dragon weapons
Skills - Dragon Claw, Dragon Breath, Ultimate Wall
Personality - Self-confident
…The HP is unusually high! However, compared to Dark Fires capabilities, the other stats are not a big deal!
Still, there was one ability to be worried about.
「Disable attacks other than anti-dragon weapons…!? 」
I became startled when the Dragon Mother started laughing increasingly high.
「Do you really think you can fight against real dragons here? Dragon"s scales are much stronger than any metal! Regular swords won"t be able to even do tiny scratches! In other words, hero! You can"t defeat me! 」
…She said that Seiya can"t defeat dragons…Didn"t she?
I did not feel much fear after I heard the Dragon Mother self-victory words. Besides that, I had great expectations from the hero standing right in front of me.
Seiya called Mash while looking directly at the Dragon Mother.
「Hey, Mash. Can you move? 」
「Ye…Yes…a little… 」
「Then, take the sword of the black sheath from inside your baggage. 」
Mash used his only strength left and took the sword of his baggage. Somehow, he managed to successfully throw the sword to Seiya. Seiya received the sword with one hand without looking back. He pulled the sword out of the black sheath and pointed towards the Dragon Mother.
…The blade that appeared was not the usual platinum sword.
The sword, which s.h.i.+ned red like vivid blood, was mysterious. Seiya swung the blade as if he was cutting the wind. That reminded me of a sword dance. He made a perfect stance and stopped middle ways.
The Dragon Mother, who was much larger and taller than human beings, was s.h.i.+vering throughout her body.
「It can"t be. Don"t tell me that sword is…the "Dragon Killer"!? How can you have such weapon!? You"ve got to be kidding!! 」
As usual, Seiya spoke with a bored expression.
「Since the time we decided to go to a dubious place such as the Dragon"s Cave, I thought that the possibility of fighting a Dragon was extremely high. 」
I raised my arms as I screamed to the Dragon Mother.
「Hey!! Seiya is always Perfectly Ready anytime and anywhere!! You won"t find a flawlessly cautious hero like him!! 」
Mash"s eyes were sparkling as he looked at Seiya with admiration.
「As expected of my great Master!! But, where on earth did you get that weapon!?」
「Of course, I synthesized it. I used the material compound from the platinum sword and used Mash and Elle"s hair because I needed a dragon element. Finally, Lista"s curly hair was added as well and the sword was completed. 」
I was astonished at the synthesized material of the Dragon Killer.
…Don"t tell me that you used only hair again!! And why are you still using my curly hair!? It sounded as if my hair was the "hidden element used in cooking"!! Just like the yogurt in the curry!? But, well…I suppose Seiya used my hair without bad intentions…am I right!?
I guess I"ll call it an emergency resource. However, as a woman, I had to ask Seiya about something peculiar.
「Listen to me, Seiya!! Where did you get my curly hair this time!? 」
The reason I asked was because since the last time he used my hair, I"ve been carefully combing my hair and made sure that none of my curly hair fell on the floor.
「Well. Recently, I didn"t see any of your hair strings fallen over. That"s why I had no choice but to get some of your hair directly when you were sleeping. 」
「Eh… 」
What? Excuse me? What? Directly? What? When I was asleep? What?
「…Ryuguuin Seiya…Whatever…I will talk to you about this matter later on…!!」
Yet, he was not listening to me as usual. He was paying careful attention to any instant movements that the Dragon Mother could make.
Yes, that"s true. The battle was more important right now. Okay, I understood. For now, he needs to focus for this battle. But…But…I will definitely put an inquisition afterwards!! (EN: No one is ready for the Spanish Inquisition!) That was s.e.xual hara.s.sment!! That depraved hero!!
…Meanwhile, I stared at Seiya and the Dragon Mother. Both of them were confronting each other until the Dragon Mother moved first. A tremendous roaring sound echoed as the Dragon Mother advanced quickly with her big paws. On that moment, she tried to attack Seiya with her black claws. However, Seiya was closely watching her movements as he dodged the dangerous strike without problems. He turned instantly and pointed the Dragon Killer Sword directly at the Dragon Mother.
「…Atomic Split Slash. 」
He aimed with the Dragon Killer at her foremost paw. An iron sound roared intensively as it echoed extensively throughout the surrounding area. The Dragon Mother groaned.
「*looking startled* That was a terrifying power! You are well equipped with the Dragon Killer and if you use it properly again, I could receive a great deal of damage in one blow! Nevertheless… 」
The Dragon Mother used both her forepaws on Seiya"s direction.
「Dragon Claw… 」
The claws from her paws extended in length. The Dragon Mother suddenly attacked Seiya with her extended claws like if they were swords. We could feel the wind pressure every time she swung. That was a tremendous force, but none of her offensive strikes could touch the hero. She was only cutting through the air.
Yes! I could see that her movements were not that fast! She is not a fearsome enemy for Seiya!
Although I was feeling relieved…
*looks baffled*
Suddenly, Seiya went in Elle"s direction to avoid the claw attacks. He grabbed Elle"s hand as he kept running. He raised a smoke trail from his running speed and finally stopped at a distant position.
「Wh…What!? 」
Elle was confused by what had just happened. I didn"t know what went wrong, but soon, I understood the meaning of Seiya"s rushed actions. The Dragon Mother"s claw attacks were aimed deliberately at the area where Elle was standing previously.
The Dragon Mother was looking impressed.
「Oh my. I was pretending to attack you during all this time. In reality, I tried to attack Elle with my claws…It seems that you quickly understood my true intentions. I"ll get serious now. 」
Seiya sensed the impending attack from the Dragon Mother aimed towards Elle!! …Still, her lethal stance looked a bit odd to me…
「Why are you planning on attacking her with your claws!? Are you really trying to kill Elle!? Didn"t you want to turn Elle into Egzation before!? 」
The Dragon Mother answered.
「It doesn"t matter if she dies from the fall of the abyss or if she dies right here. What matters is the blood of the chosen child of the Dragon Tribe. Her blood is necessary to enlighten the magic enchantment chart. 」
「You"re cruel!! 」
However, Seiya held Elle firmly. The Dragon Mother won"t be able to strike her that easily.
Even so…
「I told you before. I got cautious with age… 」
After her calculating words…
*agonizing screams*
Elle grasped a painful voice while she pressed her chest intensely.
「Eh…Elle!? 」
On that moment, I saw that a part of Elle"s necklace was emitting a black light.
「What did you do to Elle!? 」
「*laughs naughtily* I gave a "Death Countdown Necklace" for Elle to use. I just activated that necklace with a spell. Elle"s life will expire once the black light consumes the entire necklace. This will end in just three minutes. 」
Want to know how to fail a quest? Listen to what Lista says.
>.<>
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