kscans

Chapter 138 - The Battle with the Tyrant Dragon

On the day of the battle with the Tyrant Dragon Agres Berion, Hayato and his allies gathered early in the morning on Boboda Mountain.

Boboda Mountain was a place of coppery rock, entirely devoid of greenery. On the northern side, where Agres Berion would appear, the midslope spread out into a flat, circular area one kilometer in diameter, as if it had been prepared for battle. To the south was a sheer cliff, while the other sides were open, offering a decent view.

The people who happened to be in the hunting ground, unaware of the situation, wore expressions of surprise. They stared at Hayato's large assembly, wondering what was about to begin.

The largest force present was the Bandit clan, led by Jolth, one hundred members strong. However, only about fifty of them were actual combatants. The remaining fifty were non-combat personnel who handled analysis, investigation, and production, so they were merely present on-site.

The next largest group was from the Demon Lord's Castle, led by Lunaria. There were ten members of the Ten Black Rose Saints led by Rosalie, and ten knights clad in black armor. Additionally, four individuals wearing distinctly unique equipment stood by Lunaria's side. There were a dozen or so others, but their equipment did not look particularly powerful.

As Hayato observed the members, Esha approached him.

"Are you curious about the members near Lunaria-sama? You are familiar with the Black Rose, correct? The knights in black are members of the 'Ten Dark Knights.' They used to be called 'Nightmare.' And those four strong-looking individuals were members of Lunaria-sama's clan. Their former clan name was 'Ambrosia.' As you can see, they are quite powerful."

"I can sort of tell. Their weapons and armor look strong. But since they're not our enemies, it's reassuring. By the way, how is the Maid Guild doing?"

"We are ready. A total of twenty combat-oriented maids, including the Maid Chief. We can go at any time. However, I will be acting separately, so I am leaving command to the Maid Chief."

"Understood. Um, in that case, the Butler Guild..."

"We are also fully prepared, Hayato-sama."

This time, Relic approached and bowed to Hayato.

"Relic-san, can I leave the members of the Butler Guild to you?"

"Yes, you may. We have assembled the most skilled members of the Butler Guild. We shall undoubtedly be of service."

"I understand. I'm counting on you. Um, and then—"

"Hayato-san!"

Maris came flying through the sky, riding her Griffon, Lancelot. Behind her were others mounted on various flying monsters.

"I've brought people from the Tamer Guild who are willing to lend a hand. They're all very strong!"

"Thank you. By the way, is a reward of ten servings of Nekomanma Deluxe really enough?"

"Yes, it's no problem. Actually, I've prepared a reward from my end as well. I'll be training their pets later on."

"Is that so? I'm causing you a lot of trouble, Maris."

"It's quite all right. You're always helping us out, so this is the least I can do. Well then, we'll be attacking from the sky, so we'll be counting on you down there."

With that, Maris flew up into the sky on Lancelot. A group of fifteen, including Maris, circled overhead on Pegasuses, Griffons, and Wyverns.

Then, another unit that had been flying similarly descended near Hayato. They were unmistakably giant bats. In other words, Mist's squad of vampires.

After they all landed in front of Hayato, they transformed into their human forms. Mist, at the very front, smiled at him.

"We shall also participate in the subjugation, though our power is meager."

"It is I who has the meager power here."

"You made a large quantity of sunscreen and tomato juice for us, Hayato-san, so your power is anything but meager. And thank you for the coffins for everyone. We plan to coordinate with the Demon Summoning Research Association for a zombie attack. Even though we are vampires."

Mist and Adrian's Demon Summoning Research Association seemed to have hit it off, and they had apparently been conducting various experiments at Mist's mansion recently.

A short distance away stood Adrian and his group, with coffins at the ready. When Mist raised her hand, Adrian's group raised their hands in response.

"Oh, by the way, I contacted my former comrades, but I was turned down. My apologies."

"You mean the Ten Undead Elites, right? No, it can't be helped. If they are deep within a dungeon, it would be quite an ordeal for them to come all this way."

Mist had contacted her old friends to ask for their help in this battle, but no one had given her a favorable reply. Hayato would have appreciated any extra fighting power, but the vampire NPCs standing before him also looked strong. So, he figured it would be fine.

Mist and her group bowed to Hayato, then transformed back into bats and flew into the sky. Perhaps due to a rivalry with Maris's Tamer squad, it seemed they would fight separately without any coordination.

"You've gathered quite a crowd."

This time, it was the Hero, Ivan, who approached, accompanied by Cecil and Noat.

Cecil stepped right up in front of Hayato.

"Make me that Excalibur Replica when this is over. You promised."

"Not when this is over, when the event is over."

"Huh? It's over once we collect the four artifact fragments, right?"

"Ah, no, that's not quite it. There's one more thing. Well, I told you from the start it would take half a year or a year, so please look forward to it. I'll make it as fast as I can."

"Can't be helped. I'm getting it for free, so I'll be patient. You already gave me a Dragon Eater Replica, so I can wait that long!"

Once Cecil had spoken, Noat stood before Hayato with her usual sleepy expression.

"Then, after the event is over, you will support me as promised."

"...I made no such promise, did I?"

"...Having a good memory is a problem. It would have been better if you were more forgetful."

"I'm thankful for my memory. Anyway, I'm really counting on you three, okay? I'm expecting great things from your extraordinary strength."

"Don't worry. I'll take him down with my Excalibur... I hope some lady falls for my gallant figure, a graceful one, perhaps."

Ivan got a faraway look in his eyes.

Looking at Esha, Cecil, and Noat, Hayato thought it was only natural for Ivan's affections to turn toward a more graceful type of woman. The three of them each had their charms, but they were, in a way, exhausting.

As Hayato was thinking this, Esha aimed her Beelzebub at him.

"I sense you were thinking something rude just now?"

"I wasn't thinking anything. Oh, looks like Ney and the others are ready too."

"You changed the subject so blatantly. Well, I shall let it slide."

Ney and her group had noticed Hayato and were approaching with smiles.

"It's amazing that you can gather this many people. During a Stampede we fight with even more players and NPCs, but it's a fresh feeling and very exciting when everyone is an acquaintance."

"I agree. I'm counting on you all, Ney. I can't fight, after all."

"What are you talking about? You're the one who prepared the weapons and armor effective against Agres Berion. That's a greater contribution than fighting. If you ask me, today's MVP isn't the Hero or the Demon Lord, it's you, Hayato."

The equipment for Ney's group and the NPCs had almost all been prepared by Hayato. He hadn't prepared any for the Bandit or Demon Summoning Research Association clans, but nearly every NPC was wearing gear he had made.

"I'd be happy if that were true."

"Of course it is!" Ney declared, tapping Hayato's left arm with her right hand. The other members of the Kokuryu clan did the same with smiles before moving away.

They moved away because another group was approaching Hayato.

It was the mercenary group "Crescent Moon Beast," led by Ash.

Ash, Ren, and thirty of their members. As a mercenary group specializing in hunting dragons, it was safe to say they were the most dependable force present.

"It seems Agres hasn't appeared yet?"

"It should be soon. I think it's been almost two hours."

Ash nodded and then looked toward Esha.

"We won't be coordinating, but you're still firing the first shot, right, Esha?"

"Yes, as planned, I will fire Destroy first. That will be the signal to start the battle. After that, I will be guarding my master."

"Right, thanks. There's a chance they'll try to snatch Hayato even while we're fighting Agres."

Currently, Agres Berion was the only hardline dragon remaining. The others had been defeated and would not return for a month. However, they had never defeated the moderate faction's Pat, Randa, or Od in a Stampede.

Veru had told Hayato to stay near Ash and the others, so he wouldn't order those three to kidnap him, but Ash and Ren didn't know that, so it was natural for them to want to protect Hayato.

They had concluded that it would be impossible to fight while protecting Hayato, so they had asked Esha to be his guard. However, other members had requested that she at least fire Destroy, so it was planned for her to shoot at the beginning of the fight and again thirty minutes later when the cooldown ended.

"By the way, what about Diite?"

"She hasn't arrived yet."

Diite was also scheduled to participate in this battle. But there had been no contact from her, and she wasn't here.

Just as Hayato began to worry, a voice from behind said, "I'm late."

He turned around to see Diite standing there in her usual nun's habit.

"My apologies. I am late. I was engrossed in some research and simply lost track of time."

"Lost track of time, huh. Then you must be the real Diite-chan."

"Hayato-kun, that's a rather troubling way to identify me, you know?"

"Both of you, stop that. It's almost time, so get serious."

Ash said this and stared at the northern sky. Assuming Agres Berion would come from that direction, Hayato also looked toward the north.

"Well then, I suppose I should get ready."

Esha knelt on one knee, raised her Beelzebub, and peered through the scope.

Immediately after, a great roar echoed from the north.

Everyone looked in that direction and saw a black dragon flying in the sky.

"Here it comes! It's Agres Berion! Prepare for battle!"

As Ash shouted, everyone readied their weapons.

Agres Berion flew toward them at considerable speed and landed on the ground before them in an instant. At fifteen meters in length, it was larger than a typical Genesis Dragon, and the ground trembled as if from an earthquake.

Then it roared. It unleashed a Dragon Roar that spread the Stun effect.

However, it was ineffective against most of the members here, thanks to the Stun Immunity rings and bracelets Hayato had made. Of course, it had no effect on Esha either.

"Destroy."

Ten magic circles lined up from the muzzle of her gun, pointing toward Agres Berion. A moment later, a bullet of light shot from the muzzle, shattering the magic circles as it advanced, growing to the thickness of a laser as it hurtled toward Agres Berion.

The attack scored a direct hit.

When Hayato looked at its HP bar, he saw that it had decreased by about a fifth. It must have been an incredibly powerful attack.

Taking that as the signal to begin, the members present let out a war cry and charged forward.

"High Healing-ssu!"

But a woman's voice echoed across the area, and everyone stopped.

High Healing. It was a Holy Magic spell that restored HP. It was more potent than regular healing, capable of restoring 50% of a target's HP.

It had been used on Agres Berion. The HP bar that Destroy had depleted was now restored.

"As long as I'm here, Agres-chan won't lose-ssu! Any wound is a piece of cake-ssu!"

"You shouldn't have come out. You'll be targeted."

The woman in a cleric's attire on Agres Berion's back, Randa, had used recovery magic on him. Furthermore, she was drinking some kind of juice.

Everyone present judged that they would have to defeat Randa first before they could defeat Agres Berion.