WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 102: Matchup
──────
The Serpent Dragon's overwhelming bulk carried devastating force, and the flames wrapped around its body scattered into a firestorm.
An attack that would have swept away an enormous area even under normal circumstances became a disaster in an environment like the tree-filled Great Forest.
Trees torn out by the Serpent Dragon's thrashing shot high into the sky, followed by chunks of the surrounding ground.
The debris that rose to such impossible heights all fell back down while burning.
That burning debris set other debris alight, eventually creating a spreading forest fire.
“Fuck...!”
The Serpent Dragon's attacks after it caught fire did not reach where I was, but that was still a huge problem.
The Magic Cannons positioned at the front were smashed apart, and the soldiers and Mages operating them were swept away in an instant.
The Magic Cannons were the greatest firepower we could bring to bear, and now half of them were gone.
Swoosh!
A huge shadow rose beside me, and numerous Elf and Human soldiers poured out of it.
It seemed someone capable of using Shadow Magic had hurriedly transferred them out of danger.
Then the burning Serpent Dragon looked at me. Its massive eyes locked clearly onto mine.
“There you are.”
Its voice rang in my head. At the same time, the Serpent Dragon stretched its burning body toward us again.
BOOM!
Ignoring everything in its path, it charged straight ahead. I activated buffs including [Hysterical Strength] and immediately leaped up.
The Serpent Dragon's huge body swept through the spot where I had been moments ago. Our allies nearby were crushed and burned away.
Had rampaging inside its body gotten on its nerves? It looked like I had properly drawn its aggro.
At that moment, I felt the tingling sensation unique to the [Intuition] skill and thrust my shield beneath my feet.
Bang!
A ridiculously huge arrow embedded itself in the shield. It was one of the arrows used by the Giant Elves, and it was on fire.
When I extended my senses with Mana Detection, I found Giants standing atop the back of the Serpent Dragon, which had flattened the place where I had been.
Then my vision lit up. An enormous number of Giants fired their arrows at once.
Fwoosh!
It was like the ground itself was spewing fire at me.
Too many flaming arrows to count shot toward me in midair.
I reacted quickly. I steadied myself in the air, cast Sword Charge, and used its charging effect to escape the arrows' path.
But Elf arrows did not miss. The flaming arrows curved at bizarre angles and came after me.
“Fuuuck!”
I pulled the largest shield from my Inventory, gripped it with both hands, and caught the arrows while covering as much of my body as possible.
I tried to block them all, but there were simply too many flaming arrows. Plenty of them lodged in my body.
The moment the arrows struck me, I realized that their tracking ability came from magic, not technique.
No wonder their homing ability had been so absurd. The arrows had been enchanted before they were fired.
Without Anti-Magic Resistance and Fire Resistance, I would have looked like an ashtray that had never been emptied.
“I will not let you escape.”
The Serpent Dragon spoke in my head again. Its head came at me once more as flaming arrows covered my body.
Unlike that thing, which could twist its body however it wanted, I could barely move in midair.
Rumble!
The Serpent Dragon's head surged up from the ground. Rather than striking me directly, it bent its neck and looked down at me.
Fuck. No way. It couldn't be, right?
As I pulled the flaming arrows out of my body, I raised my shield before me. The Serpent Dragon drove its head down at me.
It was like a burning skyscraper falling toward me. If I stayed like this, I would be slammed into the ground and crushed beneath that head.
I could plainly see that future, but there was no way to deal with it.
It was too large to escape with a charging skill. There was no way a shield could stop something like that either.
That left me with a gamble. I only had to survive once. I summoned every item I could from my Inventory in front of me.
Hoping those things would soften the impact even a little, I activated Mana Enhancement.
The next moment, I lost consciousness.
* * *
When I came to, a hazy sensation like being submerged in water covered my whole body.
Somehow, I had not died instantly. The faint HP bar I could see looked as though it had gone below zero and disappeared entirely.
I was alive, so it could not really be empty. Maybe I had one or two HP left?
First, I needed to check what had happened to my body. I used Mana Detection and Sensory Enhancement.
My fingertips moved. My shoulder moved a little. My arms and legs moved a little too, but only the ones on my right side.
Had the left half of my body been blown away? But if that had happened, I would be dead.
I operated my Inventory from memory, pulled out a potion, and roughly crushed it in my right hand.
Trickle...
I felt the potion pouring over my face. Thankfully, my neck did not seem to be broken.
“Ugh... Gah...!”
The sensation in the left half of my body slowly returned, and my ruined vision recovered as well. I pushed myself up and drank another potion.
Once I had fully recovered my senses, all I could see was the burning area around me.
I was embedded in the center of a crater-like pit. Flames burned around its edges.
It looked like the site of a meteor impact. Well, it was not a meteor, but a building-sized snake had crashed into the ground, so it made sense.
BOOM! CRASH!
As I struggled to stand, deafening booms sounded in the distance. The fight was not over yet.
I had been crushed by the Serpent Dragon's head and lost consciousness, but I could guess why I was still alive.
While I was lying here, the others had drawn its aggro and kept fighting. I owed them my life.
“Ugh... Urgh... Fuck, move. That's it.”
I forced my ragged body to move and dragged myself out of the pit. I could sense people fighting over there.
Eleanor. Mercedes too, probably, and that Kingdom Army Legion Commander guy.
Of our strongest fighters, I was the only one missing.
Damn it. I had talked so big about going for a perfect clear. What the hell was this?
I had decided that I would at least make your wish to protect this place come true perfectly.
You were fighting over there while I was crumpled up here. That wasn't right, was it?
“Huff... Huff...”
Something was wrong with the bones in my chest. Even breathing hurt. The mana inside my body was acting strangely too.
It was the backlash that came after using Mana Enhancement. Since my condition was so bad, it seemed worse than usual.
Since I could not use Mana Enhancement with my own power, I had no choice but to endure the backlash. I wouldn't die from it.
Rumble!
I clutched the Pendant, which had been torn up in the impact, and activated Mana Enhancement again.
Feeling both [Indomitable] and [Hysterical Strength] activate, I headed toward the battlefield where the three of them were fighting.
The Serpent Dragon waited there, visibly smaller than before, with arms growing from its body.
* * *
It seemed that rampaging around while on fire had been the opening pattern of Phase 2.
Because it had burned itself, the Serpent Dragon had shrunk considerably. In return, absurdly enough, arms had sprouted from its body, and it held a sword.
Honestly, it looked ridiculous for a snake, but I preferred it this way.
“You can move already!”
Mercedes shouted as she fought against the Serpent Dragon swinging its burning sword. The other two turned to look at me.
“If you move in that condition, you will die! Stay back!”
Unlike the Kingdom Army Legion Commander, who only looked impressed without saying anything, Eleanor went pale and shouted.
Even though I had declared that we were through, Eleanor still worried about me. What a joke.
She knew what kind of person I was. She knew what I had been through. She knew how I thought about death.
And she knew when I became strongest.
“Do you think you have anywhere left to retreat to? I told you that I would devour this entire planet!”
Whoosh!
The Serpent Dragon swung its burning sword, and massive flames surged along its path to engulf me.
Trusting my resistance, I charged straight through the flames and rushed at the Serpent Dragon.
The weapon in my hand was not my usual sword, but a spear better suited for thrusting.
Whoosh!
The Serpent Dragon twisted its body and easily avoided the spear.
But as always, I already held another weapon in my hand.
A heavy axe.
Crunch!
I closed the distance in an instant and brought the axe down on its body. My damage was still getting through just fine.
After allowing that attack, the Serpent Dragon breathed fire from its mouth. I ignored it again.
Slash!
I charged into the flames and slashed its body with my sword this time.
The Serpent Dragon's next pattern was its sword. Even if someone blocked the burning blade, the flames would still deal damage.
But maybe it worked on others. It did not work on me. It had been that way from the beginning.
Its flames had never dealt any serious damage to me.
Clang!
The sword strike was incredibly heavy. My arms shook on their own. But as long as I blocked the physical attack, that was enough.
“W-what? Humans don't burn...?”
The Serpent Dragon showed bewilderment for the first time when it saw me being seared by flames without reacting at all.
What a way to kill the mood. It made all that composed attitude it had shown until now feel fake.
“You really are that Prince bastard's ancestor, aren't you?”
All its elemental attacks were fire-based, its body had gotten smaller, and since it was a Mage, its swordsmanship was terrible.
Ha. After getting unfairly screwed over nonstop, I was being handed an absurd advantage in the most important World Boss Raid.
Running into the ultimate counter really made your head spin, did it, you bastard?
I knew how that felt.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
