The Impersonating Daimaou Wants to be Hated (WN): Chapter 47

 

Chapter 47: Tragedy at the Top of the Mountain

 Its mouth, lined with huge fangs the size of an adult human, opens wide, and begins to eat people one after the other.

 Crunch*, crunch*. Crunch*, crunch*.

 Splatter*, splatter*. Splatter*, splatter*.

 With the sound of bone-crunching, a flesh-eating creature, the dragon's mouth overflows with blood, which pours down like rain on the heads of its next prey, who are waiting for their turn to be eaten.

 Crunch*, crunch*. Crunch*, crunch*.

 Splatter*, splatter*. Splatter*, splatter*.

 Their whole bodies are stained red with the blood of their own kind, and yet the long line did not disrupt, but simply wait for their turn. It is obvious from the deathly complexion that they are conscious, but no matter how strong the man or the woman mages is, they are being eaten without even a single scream, let alone resisting.

 Crunch*, crunch*. Crunch*, crunch*.

 Splatter*, splatter*. Splatter*, splatter*.

 Laura-san, who was at a loss for words as soon as we reached the top of the mountain, turned her pale face toward us as she saw the bizarre sight.

“A-Aquim-senpai. Don't tell me, this is..."

"It must be the work of that demon."

 It is no use lying to Laura-san and Mina-san, who have tasted Urnast's different power directly, so I admit it honestly. Yes, it was definitely Urnast who created this most bizarre scene of more than a hundred people standing in line waiting their turn to be eaten by the dragon.

 Fumu. But still, what on earth do they want to do? I don't think they went to the trouble of preparing a stage for Aquim-kun, and I don't understand the meaning of feeding a large amount of food to a dragon in a place like this. I could understand if Urnast suddenly got angry and decided to relieve her sorrow (although I wish she would stop doing that because it would make Arama lose its temper), but from her tone of voice, it seems to be a planned action. Umu. It's a mystery.

 ……Or rather, the meaning is not important in the first place. What is important is that if I saved the people of Northern Town, Aquim-kun's reputation is sure to rise up.

 A dragon slayer who directly saves more than a hundred people. It's a worthy achievement for the memorable first page of Aquim-kun's heroic tale. Good. Now that I've decided that, let's hurry up and do the right thing.

Oi. I'll take care of this and you guys can stay here and be quiet. You guys are not ready to slay a dragon yet......

 Nope. Before Aquim-kun could say anything, Elana-san and Mina-san jumped out.

"Whoaーー!? Where are you going, you twoo!!"

 Oi, oi!? What are you two doing at Aquim-kun's show?

 Without caring about my astonishment, Elana-san and Mina-san ran in a straight line to the dragon while chanting.

"The king of the burning flame. Wield your raging fury and burn away all mercy."

"The queen of the Frozen Snow. With a mournful lamentation, she lulls the living to sleep of despair."

 And so the two voices join together.

""Composite Magic [Five Elements of Contrition].""

 Fire and water. A huge explosion resulting from the successful repulsion of the two attributes blows away the dragon's huge body. I mean, I don't mind, but that thing is going to engulf anyone who was near the dragon with all its might, you know? What are they going to do? Don't tell me they are going to go with such a cliche way of thinking that a little sacrifice is inevitable for the sake of their goal.

 While I was watching the result of the big explosion with a bit of excitement, Aina-san, who had run out after the two of them, moved quickly to protect the people with her curse power.

"Tch…… What's up with those guys, they're syncing perfectly."

"Well, Aina-san is Elana-senpai's teacher, and Mina-san and Elana-senpai are always together. It's only natural."

 Laura-san, who was unable to keep up with the three, remained alone next to Aquim-kun, proudly puffing out her chest for some reason.

"Those guys, ignoring my words."

"Ah~. Well, that's, I think the three of them probably had a lot on their minds."

 I know that Elana-san and the others were angry in their hearts at their own powerlessness. I'd rather they didn't, since I purposefully led them that way, but I didn't think they'd let their pent-up anger explode in a place like this. They are very bold, or rather, they are suited for actual battle, and they really remind me of my disciples.

 While I was thinking about this, Aina-san wrapped the townspeople in chains of curse power, and then she gathered them in one place and set up a barrier around them. I think the townspeople will be okay if nothing serious happens to them.

 Elana-san and Mina-san, perhaps trusting Aina-san, continued to attack the dragon in a violent manner, without any regard for their surroundings.

 Crack*, crack*. Crash*, crash*.

 Crack*, crack*. Crash*, crash*.

 Ah. Dragon-san, what in the world are you doing? At this rate, Aquim-kun won't have a chance to play, you know? Even though you can't move your body freely, the people of the northern town are watching you. If this is the case, the people of the town will only be thankful to Elana-san and Mina-san. Fight back. Fight back. And blow away the humans.

 Perhaps my heartfelt support was conveyed, for the dragon, who had been confused by the surprise attack, began to counterattack.

"GAAAAAAA!!"

 With a cry of rage that shook the atmosphere, the dragon's claws, which could cut through even iron, swung out.

Swishhh*!!

 Elana-san barely dodges it while exhaling a sharp breath, and quickly slashed at the dragon's body with her flaming sword.

"GAAAAAAA!!"

 Dragon-san raises its angry cry again...... but maybe it's my imagination, but its voice sounds more like "NOOOOOO!" rather than "GAAAAAAAAAA!".

 However, whether it is anguish or not, the attacks of a body as big as a dragon are lethal for Elana-san and Mina-san. If they were to take even one bite, they would die easily.

"Haaaaa!!"

 Despite the certainty of death, there is not the slightest bit of fear in Mina-san's movements. Mina-san evaded the blow from the dragon's tail with slight movement and created a huge ice sword with her magic.

"With this, die."

 The sword swung down with a chilling air. The scales of a mature dragon are harder than iron and repel ordinary weapons, but Mina-san's blow shattered the dragon's scales.

"GAAAAAAA!!"

 The dragon, which boasts of its iron-clad walls, rampaged when its scales were broken, but the two of them calmly handled the dragon's attack and applied their own attacks. It seemed as if they might really win, but that would be difficult to say. It is true that Dragon-san is young and immature, having lived at most 200 years. But even so, it would not be easy to defeat with Elana-san and Mina-san's current power. They seem to have succeeded in drawing out a part of their latent abilities through their anger toward themselves, but if they lose their concentration even for a moment, it will be the end for them.

 Even if they continue to attack at that rate, Elana-san and Mina-san will still need to apply more than several hundred attacks to kill Dragon-san, but one blow will be enough for Dragon-san to kill Elana-san and Mina-san...... Umu. Humans are really fragile. I don't need my disciple to be a human, so when this job is done, let's change them to a different race, okay? The quickest way is to have Kasadora turn them all into vampires, but I don't think it would be very interesting to have them all be the same races.

"The king of the burning flame. The blessing of heat, the lifeblood of everything [Speed]."

"The queen of the Frozen Snow. A blow of ice and snow that never shatters [Hailstorm]."

 They must have realized that they could not win if they continued as they were. The two of them drew out more mana and increased the power and speed of their attacks.

 What is interesting is that Elana-san's fighting style up until now has been to rely on firepower and emphasize one-hit strikes, but perhaps the experience of her attack that she risked everything being defeated by Kasadora for an attack has had an effect, and now she is making an effort to increase the number of moves she can make. Change in fighting style. It is the same with Mina-san, who preferred a speed-oriented fighting style centered on daggers and ice magic, but she seems to be struggling to increase the power of each blow, perhaps because of the shock of being tormented by Urnast without being able to do anything.

 Umu. When I see this kind of effort, I still think that I should not change their race so easily. I don't want to give them a body that is too strong and let them drown in it. I think it would be better to let them try a little more trial-and-error here without making any unnecessary changes......

"Uwaa~ Those two are really amazing. It seems they would be able to slay a dragon with just the two of them."

 While I was wondering about the educational policy for my two (prospective) disciples, Laura-san made a voice next to me. I could have told her that it was very doubtful that they would win if this continues, but I kept my mouth shut. This is because, in addition to Elana-san and Mina-san, there is a "demon" here who was truly ashamed of her powerlessness.

"Alright. I guess I should join in."

 Aina-san hit her palm with her fist. Her eyes were bright red, indicating that she had already begun to master her body as a vampire.

 Run away, Dragon-san. Run away!

 As if mocking me, Aina-san, who had stepped on the ground, came close to the dragon in a single step and struck it with a blow from her fist, which was covered with a curse, without using any weapon.

 Booom*!!

 The huge body of Dragon-san sinks to the earth with a ridiculously loud sound...... Ah, this is not good.

 After confirming the impact of Aina's fist on the body of Dragon-san, I gave up on the delicious development of Dragon-san kicking out Elana-san and Mina-san. After all, Aina-san's participation in the battle more than made up for the lack of firepower that Elana-san and Mina-san lacked. But since these three seemed to be able to combine their attacks, there was no way for Dragon-san to win.

 Even so, even with the benefit of curse power, she still manages to overwhelm the dragon with her bare hand. Kasadora must have put a lot of effort into remodeling Aina-san's body. The experience accumulated in her missions, the strongest spellcaster in the Kingdom of Light, and a body that was given by Kasadora, the strongest vampire.

 Umu. Although she is slightly inferior to Elana-san and Mina-san in terms of talent, depending on how she is raised, she may turn out to be a good one. Shall I raise Aina-san while I'm at it with Elana-san and Mina-san?

 While I was wondering whether I should seriously consider Aina-san as my third disciple, the attacks on the dragons centering on Aina-san continued.

 Crack*, crack*. Crash*, crash*.

 Crack*, crack*. Crash*, crash*.

 Yare, yare. It seems that the first page of this memorable heroic tale will not be about Aquim-kun's extraordinary abilities, but about how he and his friends joined forces to conquer the dragon. It's a little less impactful, but it's the first page, and it's not a bad idea to start with a story about friendship...

"PEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

 Dragon-san's roar rose again. It was not filled with anger, but quite different to be called a desperate cry. The three who had been attacking Dragon-san without expression quickly moved away from the sound, which had something eerie in it.

"PEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

 Then the strange sound went up again. Laura-san, who was standing beside Aquim-kun, held her ear.

"W-what is this sound?"

"A resonance... I think."

"Eh? Resonance, as I recall, is like a signal that you send to someone with whom you have a particular connection?"

“Yeah. In addition, some species, including dragons, use resonance to warn the others of danger, a kind of synchronization that occurs between creatures who are close in physical and mental material, such as twins, and is not affected by distance…… but.”

"But, what is it? Are we in a dangerous situation by any chance?"

 Laura-san looks around anxiously.

"No, if there's one more dragon in the area, as long as I'm around, there's nothing to be worried about, but dragons don't usually flock together."

"Eh? But it's calling something right now, right?"

"That's why it's odd. Usually, dragons only use resonance when they're in their infancy stage, when they're not yet fully developed as a ryu."

"So, is that dragon actually a child?"

"No, it's not that old, but it's an adult. If an adult dragon were to use resonance, it would be...... ah, I see."

"What? What is it? I'd like to know if you've figured something out."

 I finally guessed what Kasadora and the others were trying to do here. If I look at it with my "eye", I could see that it is here. It's here. One of the most powerful creatures in the world is coming across space to save its cute little henchman who has formed a "bond" with it.

 The influence was immediately felt on this side as well.

"...What is? This?"

 The first to notice the abnormality was Aina-san, who has the most experience in actual battle. After that, Elana-san and Mina-san looked up above Dragon-san's head.

"Eh!? What is it? What is it? Something came here after all?"

 Sensitive to the changes in her surroundings, Laura-san's voice began to sound frightened. A few hundred meters above the dragon's head, something like a black crack suddenly appeared in the space. And thenーーーBam*!! An invisible weight was placed on our entire bodies, or rather, on the bodies of all of the people who reside in the kingdom of light.

"Hyuu!?"

 Laura-san sat down from too much pressure that hit her whole body. Elana-san screamed.

“Mina!! Take Laura and the townspeople and leave this place as soon as possible. Something...... something...... an incredible monster is coming!"

 Aina-san clenched her fists and groaned.

“What a day. There are so many non-standard monsters in this place... it's here. It's coming. Something as monstrous as that vampire."

 The black cracks that run through the space, attracting the gazes of Elana-san and the others, expand their territory rapidly and eventually reach their limits.

 The concept of distance collapses. Breaking through the space like a shell, a silvery creature appeared. Its total length is about ten meters, and if you were to look at it as a dragon, it would be classified as petite, but that doesn't mean there is anyone here, except me, who would underestimate the thing in front of us.

"What is that... a dragon?"

 Mina-san, who was the only one who kept a poker face, frowned. I was about to tell her the correct answer, but Aina-san shook her head before I could. Then said.

"No, wrong. It's wrong! Shit! That's... that's... the fourth-ranked disaster-class monster [The beast that bears a blade]... a ryu!!"

 A being that could rival their own king. The name of one of the nine beings that rule the Dark Continent.