Chapter 361: Uber Rex (6)
The dragon, composed of bone, muscle, and hide, versus the golem formed of earth. Though similar in size, the difference in durability between the two was clear.
The massive impact of the headbutt sent clods of earth flying as if exploding. The golem lost roughly twenty percent of its mass, looking as if chunks had been gnawed away.
SKRAWWW!!!!!!
The dragon roared in triumph. Every opponent it had faced before would have died from wounds of this magnitude.
“Oh no—!”
The subjugation force sighed at the sight of such damage from the very start, despite the golem’s magnificent entrance.
But both the dragon’s sense of victory and the subjugation force’s despair melted like snow. Earth from the ground was being absorbed fiercely through the golem’s feet. In an instant, its body was restored to its original state.
“Agricultural land is humanity’s greatest foundation!”
Alzhar shouted triumphantly. In this situation, backed by national support and wielding tremendous magic, it would have been strange for a seeker of mysteries not to be excited.
“Evil dragon! To challenge an earth mage on farmland, of all places! In His Majesty’s name, I shall punish your ignorance! O barley, lend your strength for the farmers who raised you with love!”
Clay golems were heavily influenced by terrain. On fertile land, the golem—now absorbing the ripening barley—was empowered.
The dragon charged with its ferocious teeth bared and jaws wide open. The golem’s fist flew toward its face.
Wham!!!
A face sculpted with all the world’s ferocity spun nearly ninety degrees. But a punch of this magnitude couldn’t knock the dragon down.
Like a boxer hit with a cheap shot in a street fight, the dragon’s face returned to its original position. Its eyes, turning back, burned with a fury it had never known before.
KYAOOOOO!!!!!!
The dragon’s forelimbs—capable of tearing apart ogres—raked the golem three times in succession. The deep gashes would have been fatal to any other creature. But the split earth healed immediately.
Boom!!!
In retaliation, the golem’s fist landed squarely on the dragon’s abdomen.
A body blow that knocked the wind out of it! The dragon no longer underestimated the golem. Instead of useless raking, it lowered its head and charged with a second headbutt.
Though their sizes were comparable, the golem possessed no semicircular canals, ligaments, or fresh muscle. In a contest of balance, the golem was naturally at a disadvantage.
Kuuung!!!
The golem staggered backward three full steps. It caught itself with its left hand to prevent falling, but the dragon closed in and prepared a third headbutt.
“Fire!”
“Support the summoner!”
But Alzhar was not alone. A volley from the Vindicator ballistas pummeled the dragon’s entire body.
KHAAAAH!!!
A scream of pain. Birds in the vicinity stopped eating barley and took flight en masse.
More than half the bolts failed to penetrate the dragon’s hide, but some left grazing wounds, and one embedded shallowly in its chest.
“It stuck! It works on the dragon!”
“The first bounty is ours!”
The artillery unit that delivered the hit cheered.
Since it wasn’t deeply embedded, the dragon quickly pulled the bolt out with its own claws. But the important thing was that they were dealing damage.
“I need a bigger fist.”
Alzhar, sweating profusely, formed complex hand seals. Earth began to be absorbed into the golem’s left fist, which was pressed to the ground.
Meanwhile, the dragon had acknowledged the ballistas as a clear threat and began responding. It rose like a primate, then pressed its palms together.
“Magic?”
“No—it’s something different.”
The summoners sensed the mystique surging violently from the dragon’s body.
The hexagonal patterns covering its hide divided and reconnected into smaller hexagons. It was strengthening its defenses to withstand the barrage.
The effect was immediate. The fiercely incoming bolts bounced off without leaving so much as a scratch.
“What is that thing made of?!”
“Captain! The attacks aren’t working!”
“Working or not—keep firing! We’re accumulating shock to its nerves and muscles!”
The dragon intended to punish the artillery unit that had dared to make it bleed. But this time, the clay golem took over.
“Where do you think you’re looking?!”
Alzhar, drenched in sweat, shouted.
The fist, now more than double its original size, sliced through the air aimed at the dragon’s face. Elves with keen eyesight witnessed a massive boulder embedded in the center of the golem’s fist.
Takwaaaang!
A perfect clean hit. The impact was so heavy that the sound of the previous punches was incomparable.
Before Alzhar’s ultimate Gaia Punch, even the dragon couldn’t endure.
Grruuuuuuu!!!
With a pitiful scream, its massive body toppled over.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
“Magnificent, Lord Summoner!”
“Kill it! Kill it!”
The subjugation force’s cheers spurred the golem forward. It mounted the rising dragon, pinning it down with its weight, and pressed the dragon’s neck to the ground with its right hand.
True to its clay golem nature, the right hand fused with the earth, fixing the dragon’s head to the ground. Then, silently, the reinforced left fist rose. It descended like a crusher.
Wham!!!
Wham!!!
Wham!!!
Inescapable blows landed. Though they lacked the thrust of a charge and the rotational force of a full-body swing, their power was diminished.
But it didn’t matter. Repeated blows were meant to continue until the opponent died. Each one infused with killing intent.
Wham!!!
“Waaaaah!”
Wham!!!
“Yaaaaah!”
Wham!!!
Each time the golem’s hammer fist struck, the subjugation force’s cheers shook the battlefield.
But the dragon wouldn’t allow more attacks. Suddenly, the golem’s head exploded.
GRRRHHHH……
The bone hammer at the end of the dragon’s tail had struck like a siege ram. The staggering golem was shoved away forcefully by both of the dragon’s hands.
The golem tried to regenerate its head, but the dragon gave it no chance. Its gaping maw clamped down on the golem.
“Ugh!”
“Lord Alzhar!”
Alzhar, linked to the golem, staggered.
The dragon’s teeth were not mere cold weapons that pierced flesh or broke bone. Each of its seventy-plus teeth was an artifact containing the power to destroy magic.
Being bitten caused the mystique constituting the golem to buckle, and the rebound struck Alzhar.
Kyaahh—!
Kiiii—!
Two mandrakes screamed in unison and crumbled to dust. Without those extra lives, Alzhar would have collapsed unconscious.
Kihiaaah—!
Two more mandrakes perished under the dragon’s tremendous bite force.
“This is dangerous! Sever the link!”
“Damn it! I still have more mandrakes! Let’s see which of us dies first!”
Despite his fellow summoners’ dissuasion, Alzhar persisted stubbornly.
He was not normally this brave, but the presence of the king and his reluctance to relinquish such a massive-scale ritual kept him going.
But the dragon had its own expertise in mounted combat. Escaping the dragon’s thrashing and biting was nearly impossible.
Shwaah—!
Another mandrake perished, and Alzhar felt a chill.
If he had been linked with other summoners as Ricardo had been with the watcher plants—without mandrakes as buffers—both Alzhar and several other summoners would have gone into shock and died.
“Fire faster!”
“Load until your muscles burst!”
Giant bolts flew from all directions, but they could only stun the dragon—stopping it was impossible.
“You damn cheater!”
“Open your eyes!”
The elves fired arrows with all their might, but the dragon never exposed its vitals.
With few mandrakes remaining, Alzhar hesitated over whether to release the summon as the dragon’s gaping mouth turned toward the golem.
At that moment, the dragon snapped its head up.
Thud thud thud thud!
From the dragon’s flanks, a single cavalryman charged at tremendous speed. Running alone, yet giving the impression of an entire cavalry charge—a small giant.
Lone and mounted, it should have been easy to dismiss, but the dragon’s instincts screamed: that is a predator on your level.
Krooar—!
The roar of Might preceded the long lance leveled before it. A treasure of Barcia that no other knight could wield—the Predator.
Eugene felt the owl soul dwelling within the lance trembling before the ultimate prey.
The dragon immediately abandoned the golem and turned. The tail swing generated from that rotational force swept toward Eugene with a terrifying scream.
But Might had sensed it in advance and launched itself with enough force to shatter the ground.
Shwaaaah!
The lance tip, capable of piercing rock, sliced through the dragon’s back hide. Though the wound was shallow, a four-meter red line had been drawn. Blood flowed from the split skin.
KRAAHAA!!!!!!
The dragon screamed at a pain it had never experienced before.
“Good dodge, Might.”
Grrrr—!
The evasive maneuver disrupted his aim, but if he had taken that tail swing, it would have been over for Eugene too.
“For its size, how is it so fast? I’ve never seen such a swift one.”
Grrr—!
“Of course, I’m excluding you.”
Eugene quickly added this at Might’s disgruntled reaction.
“Cease fire! Cease fire!”
“His Majesty has personally entered the fray!”
“That evil dragon’s end is nigh!”
“Aah… that man has done it again…”
“Your Majesty!”
“The royal knights—what were they doing?!”
“W-w-we couldn’t keep up—it was too fast…”
Confusion, respect, exhilaration, fear, and various other emotions swept through the subjugation force. Leaving without a word was inexcusable, but this was precisely the moment for Eugene to act.
‘Alzhar’s golem exceeded expectations. I can’t lose it so cheaply. If I don’t land a solid hit first…’
It was like an striker who could smell a goal at the penalty line. A single second’s delay rendered it futile—he had to charge on instinct.
Though this world’s soccer didn’t yet have a penalty box.
Thud thud thud thud!
Behind Might’s galloping hooves, barley stems erupted as if exploding.
The dragon was wary of the lance charge that concentrated all its force at a single point. A single clean hit, even through dragon hide, would surely penetrate.
The dragon’s eyes changed. It opened its true power of nature—something it had used only a handful of times in its life.
“…!”
Eugene sensed mystique rising from the colossal pterosaur’s body like heat shimmer.
The power was so vast it couldn’t belong to a single creature. It was closer to a natural disaster sealed in flesh. Perhaps that was the truest definition of what a dragon was.
“Smell of earth?”
Eugene grimaced. Not a scent perceived by the nose, but a fragrance that pierced the body and seared even the soul.
The mystique emanating from the dragon was the power of the earth. It gathered and concentrated in one place—toward the tail hammer capable of smashing even a gate.
Grrrr—!
Might stopped its charge half a beat faster than its master’s command, breaking away on its own initiative.
Simultaneously, the dragon’s tail struck the ground. In the direction Eugene had been running.
Wham!!!
A directional earthquake occurred. Not merely shaking the ground—a wave of earth and stone that would swallow everything in its path swept through where Eugene had been.
This was a technique you couldn’t dodge by reacting after the fact. You lost balance from the ground’s shaking, and the wave of earth overwhelmed you.
Even Might, who had dodged half a beat faster, couldn’t fully shake off the earthquake’s effects. While momentarily immobilized, the dragon charged, and Eugene attempted a javelin throw.
Puk!
The javelin, slicing through the air, embedded in the dragon’s chest. She screamed in pain but didn’t slow down.
“Your Majesty! I’m coming—!”
Just then, Alzhar’s restored clay golem intervened. It threw its weight against the dragon, then locked it in a headlock with both arms.
As the two titans locked in a struggle, Eugene seized the opportunity and charged with the lance leveled.
KYAAAOOO!!!!!!
Sensing a fatal blow, the dragon thrashed. The golem clung on with all its strength.
Puuuk!
The lance pierced the dragon’s body—but not through the torso. Sensing the inescapable, the dragon sacrificed its tail to absorb the blow.
Eugene abandoned the uncontrollable lance and drew Blackout, the axe strapped to his saddle.
“Up!”
Though his command was abbreviated, Might and Eugene were one. It understood immediately, leaping onto the dragon’s back and landing.
Spat!
When the black flash descended, the tough hide split open and blood gushed forth.
The dragon swung its tail at Eugene like a horse swatting a fly. But with the Predator lance lodged squarely in the middle, it couldn’t maneuver properly.
Shupat!
In its clumsy attempt at a tail strike, the tail was nearly cleaved in half by Blackout’s axe blade.
Everything had always gone the dragon’s way. That was why the stress it now endured was more terrifying than the pain itself.
Every attempt failed, and the wretches it should have killed a hundred times over continued to torment it.
After thrashing in what could only be described as a frenzy, the dragon finally threw off the golem.
“Go!”
Might pushed off the dragon’s back. Sharp claws raked empty air where Eugene had been a moment before—Might was already standing on the golem’s shoulder.
With the dragon’s attention divided, the golem rushed in and brought both fists down on its head.
“Go!”
Might pushed off the golem and landed on the dragon’s bowed head. Black lightning flashed as slashing began from the landing point.
GRAHAH!!!
Sensing death, the dragon reacted immediately.
Vwoom!
Eugene felt every hair on his body stand on end. Once again, vast mystique was surging from the dragon. This time it was wind.
In an instant, a storm’s worth of energy gathered at the dragon’s tail and struck the ground. A shockwave radiated in all directions, with no specific target—360 degrees—engulfing both Eugene and the golem.
Even the great Might was sent tumbling, and Eugene was no longer in its stirrups. He had dismounted beforehand, driving the sword in his left hand into the dragon’s skull.
Chiiik.
The dragon’s blood reacted with the Aether-forged blade of the Autumn, bubbling and boiling.
Whoooooosh!
A fierce wind tried to blow Eugene away, but it only widened the wound in the skull. Clinging to the sword he had driven in, Eugene held on desperately.
‘Doesn’t reach the brain?’
With a sword embedded in its head, the dragon thrashed but without a sense of mortal danger. The moment the storm ended, the dragon’s claw descended upon Eugene.
‘The force isn’t a swing—it’s a downward strike…’
Eugene chose to meet force with force rather than dodge. He raised Blackout’s axe blade upward and braced it with both hands beneath.
Tsuuuaah!
The dragon, intending to crush Eugene into paste, recoiled in horror, pulling back its bleeding hand.
[□□□□□!]
The hell spirit dwelling in Blackout screamed with joy before the most intense life force it had ever tasted.
Grrrrr—!
Might, rushing to save its master, kicked off both the dragon and golem before landing beside Eugene.
Eugene quickly remounted, dodging the dragon’s tail swing. He was growing accustomed to this pattern, and the dragon’s stamina was clearly depleted.
While evoking the tail, he swung again at the already-wounded area.
Chk!
Blood gushed from the tail, split nearly to the bone. About a third of the flesh remained attached, but with no strength to support it, it dangled uselessly.
Alzhar, barely clinging to consciousness, used his final reserves to hold the dragon with the golem.
‘One more time!’
The massive axe blade descended like lightning, completely severing the dangling tail. After spinning three times through the air and slamming into the ground, the subjugation force cheered at the dragon’s severed tail.
‘Done!’
The most threatening element in the dragon battle had been eliminated.
Eugene rode Might toward the rolling tail. After sheathing Blackout, he pulled the Predator—still embedded in the tail—free.
Meeting the dragon’s burning gaze, Eugene leveled the lance.
“…”
“…”
A staring contest lasting about five seconds.
The one who turned its head first was the dragon.
“Th-the dragon is running?”
KHAAAAAAA!!!!!
The dragon screamed in frustration and began fleeing toward the other side of the barley field. Unfortunately, Eugene couldn’t pursue.
“Lord Alzhar!”
His first reliable combat partner had collapsed unconscious.
“Don’t touch him recklessly!”
“The concentration state has ended, so he should be fine. We need to lay him down quickly.”
The finest mandrakes that had been placed before Alzhar were all exhausted. The quantity was equivalent to the annual budget of a mid-sized kingdom’s royal court.
Eugene, too, was not in normal condition. He dismounted Might and sat on the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Chase!”
At Sub-Chieftain Maya’s shout, the centauresses pursued the dragon.
In war, the moment of greatest casualties was when one side routed and the other pursued. In hunting, the true opportunity came when a wounded beast fled.
Britainia knights and high-elven chiefs on horseback also joined the pursuit. Naturally, they alone couldn’t kill the dragon.
“We must not let it escape!”
“Keep harassing it!”
“Knights! Should the dragon turn back, do not charge rashly! Always keep your king’s command in your hearts!”
But they could wound the dragon further, drain its stamina, and track where it fled. That alone was a tremendous gain.
While the world’s strongest creature was driven in a humiliating pursuit, Valda and her attendants surrounded Eugene.
“Your Majesty!”
“Eugene!”
Valda, so flustered that she used the name she called him when they were alone, spoke in front of others.
“I’m not injured—everyone, calm down.”
Drenched in sweat, Eugene roughly threw off his armor.
Throughout the fierce battle, he had been splattered with dragon blood multiple times. That blood was now burning through his body like fire.