*Docha!*
*Gusha!*
The Five Dragon Warriors crashed to the ground along with their mounts.
"G-Gueee—…!?"
The dragons let out crushed, agonized cries.
Every one of them was drenched in blood.
They had probably kept flying while blood sprayed from their bodies.
Forcing movement while paralyzed caused violent hemorrhaging.
"As expected of the dragons ridden by the order that claims to be the strongest in the world…"
During the conversation with Shibito.
The dragons had glared at me with drool dripping from their jaws.
Brimming with killing intent.
"You really wanted to kill me, didn't you?"
Even when the Five Dragon Warriors prepared to leave, the dragons had looked dissatisfied.
I gave an order.
"Pigi-maru."
"Pigi!"
"Get that thing ready."
"Pi!"
I started to speak to the stunned Seras.
But then—
"What… did you do!? Toukaaa!?"
Shibito, sprawled on the ground, raised his voice.
He was trying to lift his body.
[Sleep] was still out of range…
Approaching too closely here carried too much risk.
"I told you, didn't I?"
I answered while keeping my distance.
"My power is apparently exceptional."
I thrust out my arm.
"[Poison]."
Against the Five Dragon Warriors, there was no room for caution.
No non-lethal probing.
Lethal setting—certain kill.
"Ngh!? Gu, aaah…!?"
Schweitz groaned in agony.
Oban followed.
"A-Aguah!? No way, this is…? Paralysis status abnormality…? A status-effect… formula!? Impossible! How can it hit all of us in succession…!? Guaah!?"
*Bushuu!*
Blood erupted from the bandaged man's body.
"—Gu, nuh!?"
The white bandages stained crimson.
He had tried to force movement.
All five Dragon Warriors now lay prone on the ground.
How long until death was unclear.
I could wait for them to weaken, then combo with [Sleep]…
Putting them to sleep would be more certain.
"T-Toukaa…!"
The sound of a spear butt striking the ground.
"…As expected, the title 'strongest human' isn't for show."
Shibito stood up.
The other three showed no sign of movement anymore.
They seemed to have given up.
But Shibito was in a league of his own.
His entire body trembled faintly.
He braced himself with the spear to keep from collapsing.
And in the process of standing, Shibito had bled profusely.
"Gob…!"
He spat a clot of blood from his mouth.
*Splatch*
The clot hit the ground and burst dully.
Blood streamed from his eyes as well.
The soul-eater had tried to move but couldn't.
Shibito, however, had forced it through.
Shibito raised his spear.
Visibly straining.
Pure brute force.
*Bushuuu!*
Violent bleeding from the right arm holding the spear.
Even as blood sprayed, Shibito prepared to throw.
"—"
That was close.
If I had carelessly approached earlier, my heart might have been pierced by now.
"…"
All or nothing.
Rush in and hit him with [Sleep]?
Pigi-maru's "that" wouldn't make it in time.
I started to dash forward.
*Zash!*
Just as I stepped, a figure slid in front of me.
"Seras…?"
"With Shibito in his current state, even I might be able to deflect a thrown spear… If not, at least my body can serve as a shield."
"Seras, are you okay mentally after—"
"We made a deal, didn't we?"
Seras cut off the question.
"Right now, I am your bodyguard, Lord Touka."
"…Sorry."
"You're too quick, Lord Touka."
"Hm?"
"Save the thanks for after we survive—"
*Bushuu!*
"Gu, uh…!?"
Shibito spurted more blood.
In the end, Shibito's counterattack—
"Goha… a—!?"
Ended in vain worry.
He never completed the throw.
The "strongest human," down on one knee, finally ceased all movement.
A pool of blood spread beneath Shibito's eyes.
The pool slowly expanded in area.
I let out an admiring breath.
"No one in the past has moved that much after taking a paralysis-and-poison combo."
In other words, Shibito possessed truly extraordinary strength.
"Under normal circumstances, I probably couldn't have won."
Maximizing certainty for landing [Paralyze] had indeed been the right call.
*Crack, crack—*
I felt "roots" creeping around my neck and temples.
Still no room for carelessness.
Until I confirmed their deaths, I would remain fully vigilant.
Waiting for a poisoned target to perish.
That was combat with [Poison].
It did not end with one massive blow.
"Gu, uh… gu, ga—uh—"
The first to give out was the bandaged man.
His earlier forced movement had accelerated his death.
Hm?
"What the…?"
Suddenly, the bandaged man's body glowed intensely.
Immediately after,
*Bashuu!*
A thick beam of light shot skyward.
But the emitted light vanished in an instant.
Seras voiced her suspicion.
"What was that just now…?"
I offered my guess.
"A signal, maybe."
"A signal?"
For example—a signal conveying death.
Or perhaps indicating the location of the one who killed him.
Beneath those bandages…
There might have been some kind of automatically activated technique seal.
Similar to the cloth that had wrapped the black egg found in the ruins.
A seal that revealed the enemy's position upon death.
Its original purpose—to summon Shibito?
To ensure Shibito would never let an enemy who killed a Five Dragon Warrior escape.
"So in this case, the one being summoned is—"
A cry echoed from the distant sky.
Multiple ceaseless cries approaching.
Dragon roars.
Several—no, at least twenty.
Perhaps more.
Another unit stationed elsewhere by the Five Dragon Warriors.
The reason for keeping them separate was easy to guess.
Likely Shibito's decision to avoid spoiling the stage's tension.
"…"
So that pillar of light had become a beacon.
"Lord Touka, w-what should we do? Hiding in the forest and fleeing is one option, but…"
*Crack, creak—*
"If word spreads that the Five Dragon Warriors are dead, they might not approach carelessly…"
I didn't want to leave this spot just yet.
If there was something like recovery magic among them.
If the arriving dragon knights saved Shibito and the others, it would be a problem.
"At the very least, I'm staying to confirm the Five Dragon Warriors' deaths."
Approaching Shibito was still dangerous.
A cornered rat demanded the utmost caution.
I recalled my time in the Abandoned Ruins.
People sometimes displayed unbelievable power precisely when truly cornered.
If Seras could use her精式霊装, I might have asked her to deliver the finishing blow, but…
"Seras, you can flee if you want. And sorry for not explaining earlier—"
"I'm staying too."
Seras spoke with firm resolve.
Then, in a slightly joking tone,
"But in exchange, I'll be taking that azure dragon stone reward properly."
She might actually have quite the nerve.
Or perhaps she recovered faster than I thought?
"Got it. I'll pay the reward in full."
The black dragons drew near.
"Lord Schweitz!?"
The lead black dragon halted overhead.
"What has happened!?"
The dragon knight called out loudly.
That distance was still out of range…
They wouldn't descend carelessly.
But the called-upon Schweitz could not shout back.
"Azuran…!"
Instead, it was Shibito's voice that rose.
The addressed dragon knight showed confusion.
"Wha!? L-Lord Shibito…!? Eh!? No way!? Are you injured!?"
Merely being injured seemed an unbelievable event to his subordinates.
Spitting blood from his mouth, Shibito shouted skyward.
"Kill those two… gaha!? From above! Don't approach carelessly…! Kill them from a distance—!!"
He could no longer move.
But he still had strength to shout.
"No matter what it takes! Kill those two…!!"
Forcing action against paralysis brought him closer to death.
At this rate, he might die before the gauge even emptied.
The paralysis gauge still remained…
*Crack—*
"Pi!"
Pigi-maru's signal.
I could feel "roots" had reached the sides of my eyes.
The identity of these "roots" was part of Pigi-maru.
Good.
Connected.
This ability had two major drawbacks.
One was the time required to reach this state.
The other was that it constantly devoured my MP while active.
The fact that "roots" encroached up to the face would also heighten an enemy's alertness once noticed.
That was why I couldn't use it during the conversation with Shibito.
I had already confirmed that MP visibly drained.
Activating it before the talk would have been impossible.
In the worst case, MP could run out mid-conversation, causing me to faint.
In short, this power gained from the monster enhancement drug was suited only for ultra-short decisive battles.
Seras glanced over, questioning.
"Lord Touka, th-that appearance…?"
"Don't worry. I'm just borrowing Pigi-maru's power. Nothing to fear."
The reinforcing black dragons were gathering overhead.
I snorted.
"Hmph… Looks like they're getting worked up up there…"
The arriving dragon knights were frantically being briefed by the first group.
The fact that the supposedly invincible Five Dragon Warriors lay on the ground only fueled the chaos.
Well, naturally…
Shibito Gaitland kneeling in a pool of blood was far beyond anything they could have imagined.
"What are you… waiting for…? Hurry… and kill… them…"
Shibito was too weakened to shout loudly anymore.
He had pushed himself far too much while paralyzed.
Exhausted beyond measure.
His voice no longer reached the dragon knights above.
From the looks of it, he could no longer move at all.
"…"
Now then—
"I'm going to drop them, Pigi-maru."
"Pigi!"
"Seras."
"Y-Yes!"
"If anything gets thrown from above, please cut it down. And keep an eye on any of the Five Dragon Warriors who might still be alive, just in case?"
"Yes!"
Seras looked up at the sky and readied her sword.
"Leave it to me."
*Nyuru, nyuru, nyoro—*
Several protrusions emerged one after another from the back of my neck.
To anyone watching, it probably looked as though wings were sprouting from my body.
I gazed upward at the Black Dragon Knights' reinforcements now gathered in the sky.
"All right then—"
I began supplying mana.
"Let's finish this for good."
Here we go.
The battle begins now.