Surviving in a World Teeming with Monsters with the Useless Skill 【Everyday Items Master】! I Was Just Hunting Wild Animals with a Crowbar, So Why Is Everyone Screaming It's an S-Rank Monster? - 106

Chapter 106: Water Dragon

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Shachimaru’s water dragon came flying at me with incredible force.

“Whoa, that was close!”

I instinctively jumped to the side and dodged the charge.

But the water dragon didn’t stop—it crashed straight through the gate of the Ferocious Shark Gang and charged inside, tearing it apart in a dramatic display.

“What the hell!? No, this is bad!”

I hurriedly ran after it. The water dragon had broken through the gate, then smashed through the doors of the main building where the banquet was being held, and now seemed to have entered the interior.

Pale-faced, I rushed inside. It was total chaos.

“What was that!?” 

“It took a few people with it!” 

“All the food is soaked!”

A rampaging, sentient torrent had torn through the party venue without warning. The entire place was flooded, everything soaked and ruined in an instant.

“Taku!”

While I stood stunned, Botan came running over.

“What is that? An enemy attack? Don’t tell me—it’s Ashura?”

“No. That’s… Shachimaru.”

“Huh? Shachimaru? The leader here? What do you mean…?”

“I’ll explain later. Tell me about Angel and Rick.”

As I dodged the question, Botan asked sharply.

“What about Luna? Is Luna safe?”

Hearing that name, I grit my teeth.

“…Don’t worry about that right now. We have to do something about Shachimaru first, or nothing else matters. But you can rest easy. She’s safe, at the very least.”

“Got it. I believe you, Taku. …So don’t make that face.”

Botan touched my cheek. Just that was enough to make me feel a bit relieved. She then said.

“Angel passed out over there. She got caught in the water, but I pulled her back. Same with Rick. He swallowed a ton of water and collapsed. They’re both okay, but I don’t think they can fight.”

“Understood. Let’s evacuate them first. I was counting on them as part of our fighting force, but with you here, we can win.”

Botan looked at my face.

“You mean…You’ve got enough preparation this time?”

My usual phrase when retreating: “We’re not ready yet.” Hearing her recall that made me feel a little embarrassed as I answered.

“Yeah, we’re ready. As long as you and I are here, we can take down that water dragon right now.”

We laid Angel and Rick down in a room, locked the door, and set off.

“Same plan as before. First, we find the water dragon. Once we spot it, that’s when the fight really begins.”

“It’s big but fast. That’s a tough combo. What do we do?”

“Got any ideas, Botan?”

“If it’s just me, I can catch up. So I’ll princess-carry you and run.”

“…You don’t have any other ideas?”

I gave her a look, and she answered with a hint of disappointment.

“The water dragon is moving crazy fast inside the building, so if we wait, I think it’ll come to us. If we read its presence, we should know when it’s close.”

At that moment, Botan and I both turned our heads.

“Speak of the devil! Here it comes!”

“Yeah!”

Down the hallway, a sentient torrent—Shachimaru’s water dragon—was coming straight at us.

I went with Plan A. I readied my measuring tape.

【Infinite Tape Measure】

I wrapped the tape around my hand and hurled the main body forward. My target was Shachimaru. The plan was to forcibly extract him from the water dragon. But—damn it.

“No good! The tape is getting dragged by the current! I can’t reach Shachimaru!”

“Understood. Evacuating!”

Botan picked me up princess-style and leapt into the air, kicking through the ceiling. We escaped through the hole, narrowly dodging the water dragon’s charge. Peering down from the hole, we saw the corridor completely filled with the torrent, roaring past with a loud GOOOOOOOOHH!.

“If that hits you head-on, you’re done. I doubt even slamming knives into it would help. Botan might be the only one who’d survive being swallowed up.”

“Not really. Vampires are weak to running water, so I’d be weaker too.”

“But you gobble down garlic dishes.”

“Your food is tasty, so I endure the stomachaches.”

“You’re one to talk, always dumping garlic into the ramen I make.”

“Don’t say stuff like that, it’s embarrassing.”

Even as we bantered, we watched the water dragon’s movements. From what we could see, it didn’t seem to be specifically targeting us. It was just rampaging randomly around the Ferocious Shark Gang’s base.

We waited until the torrent below passed, then dropped back into the now-soaked corridor. Water splashed at our feet with a splash.

“Well, that was a bust. I guess it’s time for Plan B. The more annoying one.”

“We should lure it outside. Or at least to a wide-open space.”

“But can we even lure it? We don’t know what its goal is. That’s the problem.”

And Shachimaru’s mental state was all over the place. It had to be the result of something Luna did…But still.

“…”

While I was lost in thought, Botan touched my hand.

“Taku, it’s okay. I’m here.”

“…Yeah. You’re right.”

Just knowing Botan was there calmed me a little.

“We could fight it in the dining hall, but the damage would be massive. We should lure it outside.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. For now, let’s wait for it in the dining hall—somewhere we can move easily.”

“Got it. Let’s go.”

We headed down the corridor opposite the dragon’s path and entered the dining hall. It had already been trashed by the water dragon. Tables and chairs were everywhere, the back kitchen was flooded, and half the furniture was broken.

For a second I thought, maybe we could fight here, but I shook my head. If we went with Plan B here, we wouldn’t just lose furniture—the building itself might collapse. Not an option.

I thought hard. How could we lure Shachimaru—currently in a berserk state—outside? If Angel were here, we could use her provocation skill and be done. But without that, I had to think of another method.

“Provocation, huh…”

If we said something he hated, the water dragon might come attack us in retaliation and the thing Shachimaru hated most right now…

“Botan, head outside. If the water dragon comes, provoke it. I’ll start Plan B once the timing is right.”

“Okay. But what should I say to provoke it?”

“Oh, that would be—”

I told her. She tilted her head, but trusted me. 

“Here I go.”

She said before opening the doors and stepping outside. We waited a moment. The water dragon naturally came around to the dining hall again.

I gave Botan the signal. At that exact moment, the dragon entered the dining hall. Botan took a deep breath. I prepared a cold spray and my knife. Then Botan shouted.

“――Over here! Bill the Lizard!”

I watched the water dragon carefully. Would it work? I worried—but there was no problem.

The water dragon slowly…

“Enough already…!”

…turned to Botan with murderous rage in its eyes.

“Don’t call me that naaaaaameeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

The next instant, the water dragon rushed toward Botan outside. I hurled the cold spray into its body and nailed the kitchen knife to my crowbar using 【Nail Drive】. Inside the dragon’s body, the knife punctured the cold spray. The skill activated.

【Ice Mist Explosion】

The water dragon’s body turned to solid ice—but without losing momentum—it continued charging at Botan. Facing it, Botan smiled.

“Yep. I’m glad Plan B worked. I couldn’t punch it when it was in water state, but if it’s frozen, I can hit and shatter it.”

She ripped a street sign out of the ground. And with that, she uppercutted the now-ice dragon—formerly a water dragon—sending it flying skyward from the chin.

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