Chapter 141 - The Limestone Cave Tea Party Incident and the Nosediving Summer Bird (Part 2)
The strong scent of black tea filled my nose. I opened my eyes to find Fam giving me some, mouth-to-mouth.
I'd been resting with my head in her lap. We were still inside the same dim cavern. The air felt heavy, oppressive. I wanted to get outside, to breathe fresh air.
With Fam's help, I pushed myself up into a sitting position.
"The Earth Dragon King…"
"Levante and the Earth Dragon soldiers are fighting it."
It seemed they had carried me to the south side of the cavern while I was unconscious, closer to the tunnel leading to the farming settlement.
I could hear the din of battle, but from here, I couldn't see how it was going.
"Why didn't you run…"
The plan had clearly failed. This was an enemy the Earth Dragon warriors couldn't defeat even if they fought together. What's more, this second king had managed to evade their sensors and hide its presence.
"Master, you told Lady Racshell you wanted to save the Earth Dragon people."
"…I am deeply regretting trying to act cool."
The fight with the Earth Dragon King was still raging. I took the mana potion Fam offered and downed it in one go.
Then, I got to my feet. I stumbled slightly, but with each step, my footing and my mind grew steadier.
I gripped my katana and started toward the Earth Dragon King. Fam, her crescent blades in hand, followed me.
"Fam… I'm scared. Aren't you?"
"I…" she murmured, her gaze falling. "I will follow you, Master."
I couldn't summon Racshell again. But we could still escape.
"Master."
Fam's voice was quiet.
"What is it?"
"Mizuki and the others… they think it would be best if I took you and escaped."
"I figured as much."
The fact that they'd moved me closer to the farm told me that's what they wanted. And yet, I was walking right back toward them.
"Running away requires great strength of will. For me, staying here was the only choice I could make."
Was she talking about now? Or about the day her village was attacked?
I still didn't have the courage to ask. Instead, I took her hand.
In the northern part of the cavern, the battle against the Earth Dragon King raged on.
There was one King, and maybe ten or so smaller Earth Dragons. The primary attackers were the Earth Dragon warriors. I could see their knight-captain, Yanan. There were about thirty of them in total. Several warriors lay fallen on the ground.
They fought with their own elongated claws. It seemed they could change their length at will; some were no longer than their fingers, while others had extended them to the length of their arms.
The Dog-Eared people were very similar to humans, but the Earth Dragon people seemed to possess more beast-like abilities. There were clearly differences in power between the races.
The Earth Dragons didn't seem to have a strong sense of group tactics. Yanan wasn't giving orders; each warrior seemed to be attacking the King or the smaller dragons based on their own judgment. They probably weren't used to fighting in formations like this.
Mizuki and Maira were fighting among them. They raised their weapons and challenged the Earth Dragon King, but they didn't seem to be doing any damage.
The King reared up, swiping its claws. Each blow tore through the ground, sending sprays of dirt and water flying. The debris effectively became a long-range barrage, a wall of projectiles.
Mizuki and the others tried to find an opening, but they couldn't easily get within range.
Cecily and Aira were further back. Cecily used fire magic while Aira used support magic to aid the Earth Dragons, Mizuki, and Maira.
We headed toward them.
"Showing up on the battlefield holding hands. You've got some nerve," Cecily said when she saw Fam and me.
Mizuki and Maira spotted us too and broke away from the fight to come over.
"I'm glad you're all safe," I said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"It's good that we're safe, but…" Maira sighed. "The situation is not looking good."
"Are you having a tough time?"
"This isn't even a fight. Cecily's magic doesn't work on the Earth Dragon King. Neither does Mizuki's sword or my strikes."
I watched the battle between the King and the Earth Dragon warriors. The King had almost no openings, and the smaller dragons acted as a protective screen, making it hard to get close. Still, some of the warriors had managed to surround it, darting in to slash at its back when they found the slightest chance. Their attacks seemed to be doing at least some damage.
"If we focus all our attack opportunities on Mizuki, couldn't we take it down?"
I was relying on her again, but if her special skill activated, couldn't she defeat the Earth Dragon King?
"It'll be difficult if her attacks can't even reach it," Mizuki answered.
"It's because of the fur covering its body," Maira added, picking up where Mizuki left off. "It's heat-resistant, water-resistant, it absorbs shock, and it's resistant to being cut."
"So it's invincible, then."
A weak laugh escaped my lips.
I observed the Earth Dragon King again. It looked like it was swinging its claws randomly, but it was actually reacting to the attacks of the Earth Dragon people. And it was doing all this relying only on its senses of smell, sound, and temperature.
It was hard to believe it was blind.
"…Instead of slashing, we'll have to stab. In any case, we need to create more openings for Mizuki. Mizuki… I'm counting on you."
"Leave it to me. But how?" Mizuki asked after nodding.
"Cecily and I will create an opening by blasting it with magic."
"I just told you magic doesn't work," Cecily said.
"I want to take out its hearing. We won't aim the magic at the enemy, but at the surrounding walls. We'll keep moving so we don't become targets, run around making a racket, and keep firing magic. Fam and Mizuki will handle the attack, but the main attacker is Mizuki. Fam, I need you to support her. Maira and Aira, you provide backup and heal the fallen. We'll have Yanan and her people take care of the small fry."
"So we're fighting?" Cecily asked. Just as I was about to say, "Please," she pressed a finger to my lips.
"I understand."
She nodded, and so did Fam and the others.
I splashed the water from the pool over myself to lower my body temperature.
The cold was so intense my body shivered, and I was enveloped in the scent of black tea. Hopefully, this would be enough to mess with its sense of smell.
Cecily and I started running around, unleashing magic. We aimed not at the monsters, but at the walls, the ground, the ceiling.
But we couldn't create the kind of noise I'd hoped for. The sound of the Earth Dragon King clawing at the earth was louder. This wouldn't be enough to cover Fam and Mizuki's movements.
Not giving up, I began to form a rock sphere with my earth magic. I tried to make it as large as possible, but my feet wavered.
"Whoa!"
I stumbled, and the effort to stay upright caused the rock sphere to dissipate before it was complete.
I had used up all my mana summoning the goddess earlier. A single potion wasn't enough to recover from such a massive expenditure.
I looked at Cecily. She was also running around, creating fireballs and launching them at the ceiling. She shattered some stalactites, raining fragments down on the King, but the monster didn't even flinch. That fur was acting as a cushion.
She was breathing heavily as she started running again, unleashing another fire spell.
"Pant… pant… Is this even… doing anything?!"
She was already out of breath. It seemed running was taking a greater toll on her than casting magic.
Her magic alone wasn't enough to overwhelm the monster's hearing. Mizuki and Fam couldn't even get close to the Earth Dragon King.
I needed to keep casting magic. As I pulled a mana potion from my storage, a chunk of debris thrown by the King flew straight at me.
I tried to dodge, but my body wouldn't move as I wanted.
I braced for impact, but Yanan leaped in front of me, deflecting the projectile with her claws.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I nodded. She didn't return to the fight, instead watching me drink the mana potion.
"You want to make a lot of noise, right?"
"That's right. I want to block the Earth Dragon King's hearing."
"Then I have an idea. Leave it to me."
Yanan gave an order to a nearby warrior, who immediately fell back.
"What are you planning?"
"The power of the gods has reached even our subterranean world. Now is the time to show you the true strength of the Earth Dragon people."
Soon, Earth Dragon people began to appear in the tunnels carved into the cavern walls. They lined up at equal intervals, completely filling the passages.
So many had stayed behind instead of evacuating.
Each one held something made of iron—a pot, a plate—and something to strike it with.
It was a spectacular sight.
"You didn't escape to the farms…"
"We sent the children away. But you said you would fight."
They couldn't just leave everything to us and run away. Here, too, were people who couldn't bring themselves to flee.
Yanan raised her hand. At the same time, the Earth Dragon people let out a collective shout and began to raise a deafening clamor.
She was saying something, but I couldn't hear a thing anymore.
I looked at the Earth Dragon King. It had stopped moving, its head twitching as it tried to scan its surroundings.
Cecily looked at me. She was still breathing heavily, just as before. She was exhausted, but her eyes still held the will to fight.
I pointed at the Earth Dragon King and yelled, "Aim for the nose!" but she probably couldn't hear me.
However, as if she understood my words, she raised her staff and began to create an enormous fireball.
The King reacted to the heat and charged toward her, claws raised. At the same time, she unleashed her spell, and the fireball struck the monster square in the face.
"GISHAAAAaaa!"
The Earth Dragon King let out a scream-like roar. That, too, was swallowed by the vortex of noise created by the Earth Dragon people.
But the monster didn't stop. From behind it, Mizuki and Fam slashed at it, but they couldn't halt its advance.
A claw descended toward Cecily. She was at her limit, dazed from either exhaustion or mana depletion, and could only watch the approaching claw with a look of frustration.
"Cecily!"
I dove to shield her, and at the same moment, another shadow moved to protect her.
It was Aira.
Together, we shoved Cecily out of the claw's path, all three of us tumbling into the pool of water. A searing pain shot through my back.
"Gah!"
Fresh crimson bloomed in the red-stained water, spreading outward. I hadn't managed to dodge the claw completely.
I looked back to check for a follow-up attack, but the Earth Dragon King was just swinging its claws blindly at empty space. The part of its nose not covered by fur was scorched black.
As I caught my breath, Aira grabbed my clothes and dragged me out of the water. Cecily had already crawled out on her own.
"Glad you're both okay."
When I said that, they both looked at me and said something. I couldn't hear them well. They looked angry.
Aira pulled me into an embrace, my face buried in the soft swell of her chest. Her hand pressed against my back.
She was casting healing magic. The softness of her chest was more comforting than the fading pain in my back.
I noticed Fam standing in the pool, right where I had fallen. She picked up the katana I had dropped and gripped it tightly.
"Master, I'm borrowing this."
That's what I thought she said.
She took a formal, middle-guard stance, facing the monster. Her form was far more perfect than mine.
The monster had been swinging its claws blindly while on its hind legs, but perhaps tiring, it began to lower its forelegs to return to all fours.
Seizing that moment, Fam lunged forward. Her movements were natural, stripped of any excess force. The white blade flashed, slicing across the monster's neck. Fresh blood gushed from the wound.
It was the beautiful, ideal strike I always aimed for.
After landing the blow, she back-stepped out of the monster's range.
As if swapping places, Mizuki rushed in. Her sword stabbed into the monster's ear.
The monster roared again and swung its claws wildly. But it was a blind attack, not aimed at them, and the two easily dodged it.
Mizuki thrust her sword again, this time into the opposite ear.
This time, the Earth Dragon King pinpointed Mizuki's location and swung its claw.
"Mizuki!"
I let out a scream, but it couldn't reach her ears.
Fam leaped toward the descending claw. And she sliced it clean off.
Thank you for reading. To those who have liked and bookmarked this story, your support is my motivation.