The Dragon's Breath

The Dragon's Breath

I slowly advanced over the rough, rocky ground.

As I walked, I checked the distances to the walls and ceiling. They hadn't changed much since we entered. They weren't perfectly uniform, but this place was clearly different from a naturally formed cave.

It was about four meters high and roughly twelve meters wide, just as the Anti-Spirit Agency's information had indicated. There was enough room to swing a sword, but the footing was poor.

The ground was so uneven that I could easily trip if I focused too much on watching our surroundings. In some places, I had to force my feet between the rocks jutting up from the ground just to walk.

Apparently, dungeons recreated the habitats where monsters had lived during their lives. Had the monsters here really lived in a place like this?

As I wondered about that, I noticed that the flow of mana had changed.

"An enemy is approaching. One target. Ahead, from the right side of the dead end."

"Understood."

'Got it, gao~'

The light attached to the tip of Miyu-san's wand illuminated the area far ahead.

About fifteen meters ahead of us was a T-junction. From its right side, a light appeared that rivaled the artificial illumination.

A mass of flame shone brilliantly in the dark cave. It had a silhouette resembling a lizard.

However, its size was completely different.

It was as large as a horse. Its legs, which clung to the uneven ground, were as thick as logs.

Its neck was as long as its torso, and golden eyes looked down at us.

The flames enveloping its entire body intensified.

'Salamander'

It was a spirit of fire, counted among alchemy's four great elements. This monster possessed flammable mana, and wherever it walked, it left behind scorching footprints like magma.

The salamander's mouth snapped open. It was wide enough to swallow a human whole, and rows of equally blazing fangs lined it.

I could feel mana surging up from the back of its throat.

────That 'attack' required no incantation. It wasn't magic.

'Flame Breath'

Only one second after its jaws opened, a blast of searing fire erupted.

The fifteen-meter distance meant nothing as a crimson torrent rushed toward us. Even before the flames reached us, they were scorching the air and searing my skin.

In response to the breath of death the monster unleashed, Tatsumin-san calmly raised her shield.

'It won't work on me, gao~'

A wall of mana appeared across the shield's surface. Her Ability, 'Mana Barrier.'

The wall had been built with a mana density that easily surpassed my own 'Psychokinetic Shield,' and it forced the oncoming flames aside to the left and right.

I withstood it behind her for three seconds. The moment the breath stopped, Miyu-san cautiously leaned out from behind Tatsumin-san.

Without missing a beat, she fired a spell. As the trigger was pulled, a mass of water about the size of a human head shot from the wand's gun-barrel-like tip.

It was slower than a bullet, but not slow enough to dodge easily. The 'Water Bullet' spell struck the base of the salamander's left foreleg.

'Gwo...!?'

As steam rose, a cry of agony escaped the monster's mouth.

Taking advantage of the opening, Tatsumin-san lowered her shield slightly.

With a light clank, part of her helmet opened even though nothing had touched it. Beneath the design resembling a dragon's mouth, pale pink lips appeared.

Immediately afterward, she drew in a deep breath.

"Fuuuuuuuu...!"

'Ice Breath'

Her Ability was unleashed.

It was a breath with the opposite attribute from the salamander's. Even from behind her, I was struck by cold that stabbed into my skin.

The heated air rapidly cooled, and a breath mixed with ice particles reached the salamander in an instant.

The flames covering the monster's body flickered and shrank by a full size. That wasn't all. The flames had gone out completely where the 'Water Bullet' struck, revealing cracked black scales beneath.

'Go, ooooooooooooooooo!?'

The salamander twisted its long neck and raised its tail like a shield as it cried out.

Once her helmet had closed with another clank, I moved ahead in her place.

I crossed the space, cold enough to turn my breath white, in a single step.

I closed the distance in an instant and got right up beside the salamander. The monster immediately drew back its right foreleg and swung at my skull.

But I was faster. I slipped around to the side of its left foreleg to evade the claws and swung my sword at its neck.

The thick blade parted the weakened flames and smashed through the scales beneath them. Its momentum didn't stop there; it tore through flesh and reached the bone.

"Whoa...!"

Hard, but cuttable.

I gripped the hilt with both hands, twisted my hips, and forced the sword through. It severed the bone, and the flames clinging to the blade scattered like blood.

Two-thirds of the salamander's neck had been severed. It staggered unsteadily, then collapsed.

Keeping its entire body in view, I took a step back and readied my sword again. A few seconds later, the flames vanished from the monster's body, transforming into black mist.

I sighed in relief when I saw the magic stone lying on the ground. Perhaps because of the Flame and Ice Breaths, the air in this spot was strangely lukewarm.

I picked up the magic stone and looked around as I returned to Tatsumin-san and Miyu-san.

"Good work. There don't seem to be any other monsters around."

'Good work, gao~. It's easier when there's another strong one around, gao~'

"Good work. Is everyone all right?"

"I'm fine."

'I'm unhurt too, gao~'

Tatsumin-san raised her shield with one hand as she said that, and she really did look energetic. She had taken heat hot enough to melt iron—or at least hot enough to reduce an ordinary person to a charred corpse—and apparently hadn't been injured at all.

Even allowing for her Ability, I felt she had stopped being human in some respects.

"What about you, Miyu-san? Are you all right?"

"Yes. My wand is fine as well."

As Miyu-san answered, she looked toward her wand.

She pulled back the bolt and removed the empty scroll case. Then she loaded the next scroll, which she had been holding between the fingers of her left hand.

Seeing the scroll case inside the bolt-action rifle-shaped wand, Tatsumin-san tilted her entire body to the side.

'I'd heard about it, but Kota-kun, your scrolls really are tiny, gao~. What fraction of the one I saw during the training session is this, gao?'

"Ah, no. This is the enlarged version—or rather, it's 'two connected together.' This is what I normally use."

'...Huh?'

When I showed her an ordinary scroll, Tatsumin-san let out her genuine voice.

'Connect them? Wait, you can? ...You can, gao?'

"Not ordinary scrolls. This one is a little unusual, though."

The scroll case Miyu-san was using this time contained an ordinary scroll in the front section and a mana supply scroll in the rear section.

Since mana would flow automatically when the two touched, a spring had been placed between them. There was a hole in the center of the back of the case; pressing it firmly compressed the spring and made the scrolls touch through Spirit Wood.

The mana from the supply scroll flowed in, activating the ordinary scroll. The spell was released.

"────So, that's how it works."

'...Yeah. I understand for now, gao'

Even through her helmet, I could tell she had something she desperately wanted to say.

The mechanism itself wasn't particularly complicated.

Incidentally, the reason we were doing this was simply that I had managed to reproduce that 'recipe that doesn't require mana to be adjusted partway through.'

I had confirmed it with my Demon Eye, so there was no doubt about it. Besides, Miyu-san had considerably less mana than Riko-senpai and me. That made it very easy to tell whether her mana had decreased.

I would have preferred to have a non-Ability user help us, but it couldn't be helped.

Once mass production of the paper succeeded, we planned to use the supply scrolls in a toilet-paper-roll setup. However, after discussing it with the others, we concluded that it would be better to gather operational data in another format as well.

But there was one more reason.

The scrolls for mass production—the 'simplified version,' that is—produced only about half the output of ordinary scrolls when activated normally, at least in theory.

Then why not just connect two of them? A simple, elementary-school-level idea had occurred to me.

Because they were simple, the scrolls contained some 'surplus.' So I wanted to try making it possible to create 'resonance' with other scrolls, as long as doing so didn't make the process more complicated.

This was an operational test using a case for two scrolls. Since the case was at least twice as long, we would scrap this plan if it proved too difficult to use.

When I looked at Miyu-san to convey that intention, she gave a small nod. Apparently, even with the scrolls enlarged, they weren't causing her much trouble to use.

...But in doing so, the area below her neck also entered my field of vision.

Delicate shoulders, with breasts each larger than my head. A waist so slender that it seemed incapable of supporting them, along with voluptuous buttocks and thighs. Yet her legs grew slimmer below the knees, and taken as a whole, they were long and slender.

All of it was wrapped in a skin-tight bodysuit. Even without exposing any skin, it revealed every line of her body. On top of that, the areas around her breasts and thighs were see-through.

If not for the metal object resembling an adhesive bra, I might have seen all the way to the tips of those giant grapes. My gaze was about to be drawn into her deep, endless cleavage.

"Hmph!"

"!?"

I reflexively punched myself in the forehead and came to my senses.

That was close. A famous saying by a great man of old flashed through my mind: "When you peer into a woman's cleavage, the cleavage peers back into you."

Hmm. Something about that seemed off. Well, close enough, probably.

"K-Kota-san? What's wrong? Surely you haven't been hit by some kind of mind-control magic...!"

"Don't worry, Miyu-san. The enemy is merely myself."

"...? Is that what they call a Zen koan?"

'Miyu-chan, don't worry about it, gao. Boys have all sorts of things going on, gao'

"What do you mean by 'all sorts of things'? Is it an Ability that activates only for a specific sex...?"

'Sorry, gao. I can't explain any further, gao. Even this line is pushing the limits of how it can be interpreted, gao'

"I-I see...?"

She didn't seem convinced, but apparently she was willing to let it go. Miyu-san furrowed her brow and tilted her head before gripping the rifle-shaped wand again.

I'm really sorry.

Despite the problems my own brain kept causing, we resumed exploring. We turned at the T-junction where the salamander had appeared and continued onward.

The footing was just as bad as before, but Tatsumin-san, who was dressed in the least suitable outfit for walking, moved with the greatest stability.

She must have visited this dungeon countless times. There was no hesitation in her stride.

'Left at the next bend, gao-nee~'

"Ah, yes. That's right."

'OK, gao~'

As Miyu-san answered while looking at the map on her smartphone, Tatsumin-san rocked her body back and forth. Presumably, she was nodding.

Just as she had said, we turned left and found ourselves on a gently sloping path.

Apparently, we would be walking straight up this slope for a while. As we climbed it, I sensed the flow of mana change once again.

"One target ahead. It's approaching us."

'Understood, gao~!'

The slope itself should have been shallow, but the uneven ground made it feel steeper than it really was. Even so, Tatsumin-san planted her feet firmly and raised her shield.

A few seconds later, a salamander appeared at the top of the slope.

'Gaa!'

A Flame Breath erupted with its roar. Just after Tatsumin-san caught it on her shield, I sensed the flow of mana change behind us as well.

"Another one's coming from behind!"

'Leave that one to the two of you, gao~'

"Understood!"

I answered briefly as I ran back.

A salamander slowly poked its head out from where we had turned, its mouth opening with a wet gape.

It was too late to stop it from firing. Miyu-san should have been barely outside its range, but I...!

"Damn you!"

I leaped diagonally forward at the oncoming flames. The raging breath seemed to fill the passage, but there were still gaps in it.

I twisted in midair and struck the wall feet-first. I kicked off it and drew my wand from its holster.

I fired the loaded 'Water Bullet.' The flying mass of water struck the salamander squarely in the face.

'Gwoah!?'

With a tremendous cloud of steam, the flames vanished from the monster's face.

For the salamander, the blow was equivalent to having its hide peeled off. I landed and tried to close the remaining distance, but my Demon Eye warned me that I was about to fall.

"Damn...!"

The footing really was terrible!

My feet nearly caught on the uneven ground, but I forced them to move and avoided falling.

However, my next movement was a beat too slow. The second breath was coming. I had to interfere with it using magic...

Just as I thought that, a mass of water skimmed past my ear and flew toward the salamander.

The shot must have come from Miyu-san; it struck the monster in the face, snapping its neck back, and I charged.

With the momentum of my charge, I slammed my sword into its head. The thick blade shattered the black scales and tore through even the bone beneath them.

But the poor footing was a problem here too. My step was shallow, and the blade stopped when it reached the brain.

'Ga, gi...!'

The salamander's golden eyes glinted, and its right foreleg rose.

But before it could reach my side—

"Hmph...!"

I pushed the sword in with my right arm and struck the spine of the blade with the butt of the wand in my left hand.

The impact accelerated the blade, smashing through the brain in one motion and cutting halfway down the neck. I kicked the still-burning monster's body and retreated while pulling out my hand-and-a-half sword.

The salamander collapsed as though slamming its torn head into the ground. I worked the bolt on my wand to load the next scroll and moved with my right foot as a pivot, keeping my back toward the wall.

As I watched the individual I had just felled transform into black mist, I looked toward the top of the slope.

I saw Miyu-san from behind, already aiming her rifle-shaped wand toward the other monster, with Tatsumin-san beyond her.

At Tatsumin-san's feet, the salamander lay with its head crushed, twitching. Its enormous body soon transformed into black mist as well.

'Looks like you two are done too, gao~. Impressive work, gao~'

Tatsumin-san casually raised her right hand, speaking as though nothing had happened. Apparently, her shoulder armor was so large that she couldn't raise her arm very far.

Had she really defeated that enemy in such a short time while wearing that armor?

I answered with a bow, my cheek twitching beneath my visor.

I felt the mana flowing into me, along with my spiritual rank rising another level. Salamanders were certainly not weak monsters.

This woman really was a battle-hardened veteran.