The Strongest Villain Sets Out: Reincarnated into a Merit-Based Clan, I Become the World's Strongest Swordsman - Chapter 46: Fall

A dragon appeared before me, Lucia, and Sheila. Though it was a juvenile, it was truly a dragon species renowned as the strongest. Its size far exceeded that of humans. Even as a juvenile, tremendous aura emanated from it.

“Is that the dragon the academy director mentioned that took residence in the mine?”

“I-it’s huge… is that really not an adult?”

Behind me, Sheila let out a trembling voice. She was completely terrified.

That was understandable. Even I was overwhelmed by the opponent’s fighting spirit. I was so excited my chest felt like it might burst.

“I never thought you’d come to us. That saves me the trouble of searching.”

Lucia turned her back to me and aimed at the dragon. When she refined her magic power, she constructed powerful magic.

“Sorry, but I’m taking the first move!”

A massive ball of flame was hurled toward the dragon. It was a sphere large enough to cover one’s field of vision. I thought even the dragon would take damage, but—

“Grurururu… Gugaaaaa!”

The dragon breathed fire from its mouth to intercept Lucia’s magic. The dragon’s power was completely superior. It erased Lucia’s magic, and wave-like flames approached Lucia.

“What?!”

She hastily constructed water-attribute magic for defense.

“My magic has less power than that?!”

“Heh, interesting.”

Lucia’s magic wasn’t ordinary magic. It had power that even I acknowledged.

That meant the breath released by the dragon juvenile was difficult to defend against even with my aura.

A direct hit would be troublesome.

But having that much of a power difference was more exciting. Raising the corner of my mouth in a grin, I constructed magic.

—Composite magic.

I mixed water and wind to generate cold air. The ice became sharp like icicles, and I made countless ones float around me.

If I could hit with these, I could freeze the dragon’s body. If I hit its wings, I could rob it of flight ability. Though I didn’t think those wings had enough power to make that massive body fly in the first place.

Even so, I would do what needed to be done. I continuously fired the icicles. Attacks made with magic could have their trajectories changed through magic power manipulation.

Avoiding my magic was an extremely difficult task.

“I-ice?! Such magic shouldn’t exist…!”

I could tell that Lucia, having seen my composite magic, was astonished while ignoring the dragon.

The fire-attribute magic you took earlier was also composite magic combining wind attributes… if I told you that, would it make for an interesting conversation?

Well, that could wait. Right now I would kill the enemy before me. In the end, it seemed I would be cooperating with Lucia. I’d have to knock out Lucia’s consciousness at an appropriate moment.

“Gruaaaaaaah!”

While I was thinking about such things, the dragon avoided my magic with agile movements. It was melting the ice by releasing small amounts of breath. Clever creature. And highly intelligent too. It was moving with understanding that my attacks were weak against heat.

“Tch! A mere flying lizard!”

Seeing the dragon that wouldn’t take damage easily, Lucia grew impatient. She constructed multiple wind-attribute spells, going after the opponent’s mobility. However, the dragon targeted Lucia. It probably judged her easier to defeat than me. It approached Lucia with tremendous speed.

Even taking Lucia’s magic head-on, it received almost no damage. It charged straight ahead, aiming for a quick victory.

“Tch!”

I moved before thinking. I kicked off the ground and hurried toward Lucia. If Lucia died now, the forbidden designation magic would be ruined. I needed to at least extract information about the magic from her.

Lucia, with her low physical abilities, probably never imagined the opponent would charge in prepared to take damage. Her reaction was completely delayed.

Just before the attack hit—I scooped her up and jumped.

“That was close.”

I barely avoided the attack. The dragon crashed into the ground, generating tremendous impact.

The ground beneath our feet shattered. The dragon was sturdy, so it immediately raised its head, but at the same time the ground beneath crumbled further.

“?”

What was this? Just as I thought that.

A hole opened in the ground. Apparently there had been a space beneath our feet. The dragon had broken through it, and the ground disappeared. Currently, I was floating in midair. Strictly speaking, I was falling faster and faster according to gravity.

Meanwhile, the dragon had wings. It flapped up into the sky before falling.

“Luka-sama!”

Sheila, who had been watching the battle from a distance, reached out her hand though it couldn’t possibly reach.

I shook my head. I conveyed “don’t worry” to her. Even mastering magic didn’t mean I could fly through the sky, but with aura and prayer, I’d probably be fine.

Thinking that, I fell into the pitch-black hole. Finally, I shouted toward Sheila:

“Run away quickly, Sheila—!”

And my vision was dyed in darkness.