The coaster picked up speed as it plunged into the Rocky Mountain’s interior. It wasn't moving excessively fast, though—true to the word "adventure," it seemed to be the type of ride where passengers progressed while enjoying the surrounding scenery.
It felt like one of those immersive motion coasters found in theme parks, where the ride’s movements are synchronized with visuals shown on a screen.
『...The interior is quite vast. Large Dragon Species could easily pass through here... Wait, what’s that over there...?』
Just as Falcon, the Guide Cara, had noted, the mountain's interior felt like a wide, brightly lit cavern. Even from the perspective of the moving coaster, there was plenty of clearance in both the ceiling height and the width of the path.
...Still, making it this spacious suggested that a massive dragon would likely appear at some point.
While I was contemplating that, I followed Falcon’s gaze. There, I spotted a dragon that looked somewhat like an armadillo covered in shimmering ores, alongside an iron dragon with a tail shaped like a colossal axe.
"A variant of a Crystal Dragon and an Axetail Special Individual..."
『I’m impressed. That glowing dragon is a Crystal Dragon... and it appears to be a variant that has consumed a vast quantity of Light Crystals. I see, the reason the entire cavern is so bright is because it's rich in Light Crystals... But that’s not all. The other one is an Axetail, but the single-edged shape of its tail identifies it as a Special Individual. Both are exceptionally rare Dragon Species.』
Lilia-san’s voice drifted from behind me, sounding as if she were talking to herself. Immediately after, Falcon provided an explanation of the dragons ahead, confirming exactly what she had said.
To see them from this distance and identify them instantly... she’s the real deal. Now that I think about it, she always seemed to have a deep knowledge of even Special Individuals, once mentioning how the wing shapes of White Dragon Special Individuals were different.
『...How strange, though. Despite their appearance, both are docile species, but their habitats rarely overlap. As I thought, there must be something unusual about this Rocky Mountain... Regardless, let us push onward for now.』
I felt like I was beginning to grasp the attraction's story. We had come to the Rocky Mountain on an Investigation Request, only to find a mysterious situation where species that shouldn't coexist were gathered in one place. Our goal was to uncover the cause.
The coaster continued forward, passing several more dragons, until a subterranean Lake came into view.
『An underground Lake. It’s quite large, and there’s a current... Come to think of it, there was a massive Lake near the base of the Rocky Mountain. Perhaps it flows toward—!? Something is coming from the depths! Watch out!!』
Responding to Falcon’s warning, the water of the underground Lake surged, and a massive shape leaped out. It was a stout dragon with a frog-like build and deep blue scales, its body measuring about five meters long... Was it a dragon associated with water?
"A Vodavise? It should be a Dragon Species that lives in the ocean..."
『Impossible!? This is a Vodavise... a ferocious Dragon Species that dwells in the sea! Why would it be in an underground Lake...? No, there’s no time to think. Run! This way!』
Lilia-san really was far too knowledgeable about dragons. She had correctly identified it before Falcon even spoke, even mentioning its specific oceanic habitat.
Regardless, this was a coaster attraction, so actual Combat was out of the question. As Falcon shouted his warning, the coaster accelerated sharply, and the scenery began to blur.
The roar of what was likely the Vodavise echoed from behind us, sending a sudden surge of tension through the air. The coaster raced through the cavern at a much higher speed than before, and I could hear heavy, rhythmic thuds—footsteps—pursuing us from behind.
Judging purely by its appearance, the dragon didn't look particularly fast, and the sounds of its pursuit seemed to be gradually receding. It looked like we might actually get away—
『GUOOOOOOO!!』
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a tremendous roar shook the very air—one so powerful it couldn't even be compared to the Vodavise’s—and the coaster began to vibrate violently.
Then, without warning, the coaster performed a 180-degree rotation to face backward. I hadn't realized it had a feature like this; the production quality was incredible.
The first thing I saw behind us was the chasing Vodavise, which had indeed fallen quite a distance behind. But then, a pair of massive jaws lunged from a side path and clamped onto the Vodavise’s neck, effortlessly slamming its enormous body into the ground.
The newcomer radiated an obviously lethal aura... it was a ferocious-looking, bipedal dragon resembling a Tyrannosaurus. The Vodavise must have been killed instantly, as it lay motionless on the floor.
"A Miragaia? How rare! This is the first time I’ve seen one in motion!"
Judging by Lilia-san’s excitement, it was a very rare Dragon Species indeed. Its name was apparently Miragaia.
『A-A Miragaia...? Why would a monster with top-tier Combat Power even among Dragon Species be in a place like this...? This is bad. If it comes after us, we won't stand a chance...』
Of course, that was just the attraction's narrative setting. The reason I didn't feel much of a sense of danger was likely due to the overwhelming Combat Power of the group on this coaster.
Even if that Miragaia were real and actually attacked us, the only ones in actual danger would be me, Aoi, and Hina... the others could likely dispose of it with minimal effort.
Based on its appearance, atmosphere, and movements, it was certainly in the top tier of monsters, but in terms of actual strength, I suspected it would die if Bell gave it a simple cat punch.
Serious-senpai: "Well, in reality, Lilia is probably just happy to see a rare Dragon Species moving around, and even the Peerage-class group probably sees it as little more than a kitten playing. However, in the hypothetical scenario where it did attack, the absurdity is that from the Miragaia’s perspective, the one person it absolutely must not attack is the weakest one, Kaito..."
???: "...The Wyvern Ultimate Overkill was a nasty incident, wasn't it?"
Serious-senpai: "No, that wasn't an incident, it was more like something deliberate... though there's no doubt that Wyvern was pitiable..."