Chapter 6 – First Battle

“Dragon, you say?”

Even I, who hardly knows anything about this world, can tell: dragons are absolutely dangerous! In a game, this would be the worst-case scenario—a guaranteed bad ending.

“Isn’t Liluria’s luck just too bad…?”
“Hey, don’t pin it on me! Ever since the day I was born, dragons have been coming!”

Whether it’s Liluria’s fault or mere coincidence doesn’t matter. The real problem is whether anyone besides me can survive this dragon attack.

“Do you think that adventurer can beat a dragon?”
“Absolutely impossible! Only a handful—like, a single-digit number—of adventurers could ever defeat one!”

Single-digit numbers? Are they ranking their strength or something?

“When a dragon shows up, there’s nothing ordinary humans can do. All we can do is hope it peacefully goes away.”

I see. Apparently, dragons are treated much like earthquakes or typhoons in Japan. Though, being living creatures, their danger is on a whole other level.

GUGYAAAAAHHHH!

When I looked up, I saw a colossal figure flying across the sky, as if covering it entirely. That was the dragon… Yeah, there’s absolutely no way I could beat this.

I’m pretty sure everyone except me will be wiped out. It makes me a little sad, but this is fate—we have no choice but to accept it. Amen.

“Hey, is there anyone in here who can actually fight? I’m going to take on the dragon, so I need someone to handle that horde of monsters for me.”

Unlike me, who had completely given up, the gyaru adventurer battling monsters outside still seemed determined to find a way to survive.

“This one can fight!”

I immediately recommended Liluria to the gyaru adventurer. After all, she can use magic—I’m sure she’ll be able to handle the monsters.

“Hah?! Hey, Ao! Why aren’t you fighting?!”
“Because I’m just an ordinary commoner.”

If this world had a scouter like in Dragon Ball, my combat power would probably be around 3. I’m less than an average person.

“Then, I’ll leave the monsters to you, okay?”

With that, the gyaru adventurer dashed off into the sky.
Whoa, amazing! That gyaru is flying! Is that magic too? Flying and charging at a dragon all by herself—she’s far more capable than she looks.

“Now, Liluria, you get moving! I’ll be here praying for your safety!”
“You come too, you come too!”

I shouted, channeling my inner shut-in, that I didn’t want to go out into that dangerous world—but Liluria didn’t seem to hear me. She dragged me out of the carriage and tossed me right into the middle of a monster horde.

Whoa, monsters are actually pretty grotesque.

“Come on, hurry up and fight!”

Liluria really goes over the top sometimes.
If I didn’t have this cheat ability, this would be downright murder, wouldn’t it?

Monsters suddenly appeared before me and lunged at me—fists, fangs, clubs, you name it, everything was flying straight at me. But I didn’t run.
…Or rather, I couldn’t run.

It happened so suddenly that my body didn’t even react, and even if it had, I had no idea where to run.

“Hey, Ao!? What are you doing!?”

Liluria must have never expected that I wouldn’t attack or dodge. With a panicked expression and tone, she worried about me.

Clang!

But I’ve got this cheat ability. When it comes to defense, no one can match me. Despite taking all those attacks head-on, I didn’t take any damage at all. Phew, that’s a relief.

Though, considering I absorbed all those blows, I’d have expected some fangs to break or an arm to fracture. Yet, judging by the monsters’ condition, they didn’t suffer any damage whatsoever.
They don’t seem to be enduring pain, nor do they appear to be terrified by my absolute defense—they just look puzzled, wondering why their attacks aren’t working. As usual, my cheat doesn’t offer any offensive capability.

“Well, as expected of the hero. You managed to deflect all those attacks without a scratch.”

I didn’t really deflect them; I took every hit head-on and still ended up unharmed. And I’m not a hero.

“Come on, just use magic to take them out—even if it means using me as a target!”
“Eh, but Ao, you’ll take damage…”
“Don’t worry. Trust me.”

Not me—trust my cheat. I’m sure it will nullify any magic.

“Alright then. And don’t hold it against me later, okay?”
With that, Liluria drew a deep breath and focused. Then, pointing her right hand at me, she shouted:

“Bam!!”

At that command, every single one of the monsters exploded from the inside out. Ugh, guts and innards were flying everywhere—so gross. In an instant, the scene turned into a catastrophic massacre.

“Phew, I’m glad that worked.”
“There was a chance it wouldn’t have worked, right?”
“…About fifty percent, I guess.”

That’s a pretty high chance. I wonder what would have happened if it had failed.

“I mean, that incantation—doesn’t it look kinda lame? Bam, bam! I was expecting a long, cool incantation instead.”

“Shut up already. I’m all about the vibes! That ‘Bam!’ is the clearest way to visualize the spell, so leave me alone!”

Judging by Liluria’s words, it seems that magic in this world doesn’t require the recitation of a specific spell to activate. Instead, it’s all about the image of the technique—each person uses their own incantation that best fits that image.

“Man, Liluria, you were really strong there.”
“Hmph, I guess so! And Ao, you even managed to nullify my magic—nicely done!”

We exchanged light banter and gave each other a fist bump. My magic-nullifying ability comes from my cheat, so it’s not like I’m amazing or anything…

Even though the two of us put on a “we got this” act, the situation was still dire. The gyaru adventurer who had gone off to take on the dragon was still fighting.

Gigyāoooooo!

“That adventurer is amazing. She’s taking on a dragon all by herself.”

Her display of unarmed combat and magic—fighting a dragon hundreds of times her size—reminded me once again that this is truly another world. From what I could see, the gyaru adventurer was holding her own against the dragon—in fact, she was even slightly on top. The dragon had already lost its right eye, while she remained unscathed. Could this possibly be a major upset?

“Hey, you two over there! Would you listen to my request?”
While we were all spaced out watching the battle, the gyaru adventurer came over to talk to us.

“What is it?”
“I want to unleash my special move, but this dragon isn’t giving me an opening. So, could you two handle it for a moment?”
“Huh?! No way, no way, no way. With my abilities, I wouldn’t last even a second!”

I’m in the same boat. Even though my cheat can withstand a dragon’s power, I don’t want to face such a dangerous creature. My heart is as small as a flea, after all.

“And what about you? According to my estimation, you’re pretty strong—you’ve got that calm confidence only a true fighter possesses. Just one minute is all I need. Please, pretty please.”
The gyaru adventurer, having been turned down by Liluria, now directed her request at me.

“I don’t think I could last even a second either.”
What do you mean by “that calm confidence of the strong”? There’s no way a pitiful weakling like me could possibly exude something like that!

“Well then, pretty please!”
But whether my words were unheard or deliberately ignored, the gyaru adventurer quickly put some distance between herself and the dragon and started chanting to herself.

“Hey, what are you doing now?!”
Liluria looked at me in panic. But even if you told me to do something…

The dragon, suddenly left without a target, started looking around in confusion. But soon, it spotted us and locked onto its target, charging straight at us.

“This is bad, bad, bad! Hey, Ao! You’re the hero—do something about it already!”
Liluria panicked, flustered by the sight of the dragon barreling toward us at an astonishing speed, completely unbefitting its massive size.

I told you, I’m not a hero. I mean, even a hero would have a hard time with this… if not for my cheat.

Reluctantly, I stood in front of Liluria and extended my left hand in a defensive stance. If Liluria were to die here, it would really ruin my day.

DOOOOOOOOOM!!!

And in the next moment, as if being sucked into my left hand, the dragon rammed into me.

“D-did I just deflect a dragon’s charge with one hand…?”