I tossed several magic stones from my storage toward the Hero, then put some distance between us.
The woman in the robe produced her own magic stones and ran in the opposite direction. As the Hero remained where he was, using his Ability to suspend the stones we’d given him in the air, the dragons' hate shifted entirely toward him.
The dragons launched long-range salvos from the sky, but none of their attacks could reach him through the shield of his Ability.
After applying buffs to himself, the Hero drove the tip of his reverse-gripped sword into the earth. Fissures radiated from the point of impact. As the ground trembled with a tremor like an earthquake, the shattered terrain rose into the air, coalescing into boulders of various sizes. He launched them skyward.
The rocks tore through the dragons with lethal momentum, reducing any they struck to black mist. It was as I suspected: these were man-made monsters, their durability nowhere near that of the genuine article. Had they been real, no single strike, no matter how powerful, would have downed them so easily.
High above, a sea of magic circles unfurled over the swarm, raining down a barrage of attack spells. The woman in the robe seemed to favor quantity over quality, blanketing the area in magic. While only a few were disintegrated into mist, the constant damage visibly slowed the others.
I conjured mana footholds in the air, weaving through the swarm while sidestepping falling debris and stray spells. I brandished Schwarzhase, my magic sword, carving through the dragons as I went. Once I’d thinned their numbers enough, a portion of the swarm redirected their hate toward me.
I ceased my assault and climbed higher, intentionally exposing myself as a target. Several dragons ascended to meet me, only for a massive magic circle to manifest beneath my feet. [Mjolnir]—the special-grade spell cast by the woman in the robe—descended upon them, reducing the pursuers to ash.
With that massive kill, the swarm’s hate shifted entirely back to the Hero and the woman on the ground.
"—Now then."
Leaving the small fry to them, I looked even higher. My eyes met the Black Dragon’s. For some reason, it had been observing the carnage from the highest point in the sky.
"Black Dragon, you’re mine. You’re just a fake, so you’ll likely fall short, but you’ll make a fine yardstick to measure how much I’ve grown over the last six months."
The Black Dragon let out a roar—perhaps my words had actually struck a nerve—and unleashed a fire bullet. I met it with a black slash from my blade. The two forces collided, the resulting explosion veiling the sky in smoke.
I didn't wait. Using a mana foothold to pivot and the shockwave of a mana diffusion burst to accelerate, I closed the gap in a heartbeat.
"—[Third Form: Mont Drei]."
With the magic sword held as a greatsword, I darted past the dragon’s head and swung at the joint of its wing. I triggered [Impact] at the moment of contact. The blade sliced through the base of the wing without a hint of resistance.
The Black Dragon shrieked, a sound closer to a human scream, and retaliated. Malignant masses of purple mana converged on my back while its tail whipped toward me from the front.
"[Reflective Wall]."
A translucent gray barrier appeared. The tail bounced off the wall with violent force, and I used the contact to flip my trajectory, diving downward. Dodging the purple projectiles, I severed the remaining wing.
I followed gravity to lower my altitude and put distance between myself and the dragon. I had hoped the creature would just fall to the earth, but it stayed aloft through the rough feat of using its own magic, the Mist, as a substitute for wings.
The Black Dragon let out a roar of pure rage. In response, a massive amount of Mist appeared around it, transforming into thousands of needle-sharp shards.
"Guess it won't be that easy," I muttered.
I dispelled my footholds and plummeted. The needles rained down, but I reached the dragon swarm first. My duel with the Black Dragon had lasted only seconds, and the swarm was so fixated on the Hero that none of them noticed me slipping into their ranks.
I used the lesser dragons as shields, maneuvering so the needles would shred their own kind while I continued to cut them down with my sword. Normally, magic beasts don't attack each other, but with a bit of clever hate management, you can force them into a war of attrition.
Exterminating this many dragons would be a grueling task even with the three of us cooperating. In that case, I might as well have the Black Dragon help.
As the Black Dragon's magic tore through the swarm, the woman in the robe went on the offensive again, activating attack magic that placed more emphasis on quality than her previous volleys.
◇
For a while, we whittled down the swarm with the Black Dragon's unintended help, but the creature eventually realized its magic was ineffective against me and began a steep dive.
"Hero!"
"Leave it to me!"
When I called out, a powerful reply came back immediately. We hadn't planned this, but in a situation like this, there was only one thing to do.
"Just fall already!!"
Under the combined pressure of our abilities, the Black Dragon tried to arrest its fall by flaring its mana wings, but it was futile. It slammed into the earth with a violent impact. We kept the pressure on, pinning it to the ground as we broke free from the swarm to reclaim the high ground.
Having neutralized the nuisance, the three of us concentrated on the remaining swarm. The woman in the robe, the Hero, and I unleashed a merciless barrage of slashes and special-grade spells.
From then on, it was a slaughter. The Black Dragon was sewn to the ground, and the swarm, unable to mount any significant counterattack against our wave attack, was rapidly thinned.
—However, just when I thought the matter was settled, another hole tore open in the sky. New dragons began pouring out.
"Hah... hah... Reinforcements? Now? What a pain..."
I’d let my guard down, thinking it was over. But the fatigue was catching up. Between the long battle, the constant Ki activation since the end of my duel with the Hero, maintaining the magic sword, and the recoil from countless spells... I was hitting my limit. I couldn't just bluff my way through with willpower anymore.
I checked the rock that had crushed the man in red, but I couldn't sense any change there. I didn't think the two humans in the distance had interfered either, so it was more likely the man in red had prepared a second wave from the start.
One more push. I know if I don't hold out here, I'll regret it. This is no time to be whining!
I fired myself up and glared at the newcomers, who immediately launched long-range fire and mana bullets. Wanting to avoid being sandwiched between the new arrivals and the surviving swarm, I returned to the ground.
"Orun, are you okay...?"
As soon as I landed, the woman in the robe hurried over. Her face was etched with genuine concern.
"I'm fine. Let's just finish these things off."
I was aware I was overextending myself, but I didn't want to show her any weakness. When I acted tough, her expression wavered with a hint of sorrow.
"You never change, do you? Always trying to do everything on your own..."
The sadness lasted only an instant. Her gaze sharpened, looking straight into my eyes.
"Orun, there is something I need your help with. In order to end this battle quickly."