The Strongest Villain Sets Out: Reincarnated into a Merit-Based Clan, I Become the World's Strongest Swordsman - Chapter 49: Rematch

Clack clack. Clack clack.

Light footsteps echoed multiple times inside the cave. Now, several skeletons had gathered in front of Lucia and me. Skeletons were weak enemies. They were no trouble to defeat. However, if there was a problem, it was that skeletons were here at all.

Perhaps a dungeon had formed.

“Heh heh heh. Nice. Dragon slaying… maybe I’ll tackle it after the colosseum.”

Dungeons were good. They spawned lots of treasure and monsters.

It took considerable effort to clear them, but for someone like me who actually wanted that kind of challenge, it was perfect.

I grabbed Lucia’s hand.

“L-Luka-sama? What are you…”

“Ignore them. Right now our priority is getting out of here.”

“I-I understand.”

Together with Lucia, who obediently followed, I leaped over the skeletons’ heads. Clad in aura, I ran at full speed. Naturally, Lucia couldn’t keep up with my pace. So I ran while carrying her.

“Oh, hehe, mmm?!”

“You’ll bite your tongue.”

I warned Lucia against her incomprehensible strange noises as we ran deeper into the cave.

Judging by the amount of aura I’d recovered, it would be tough if we didn’t find the exit soon. But if a dungeon had formed and skeletons were spawning… the exit couldn’t be too far.

Skeletons were weak enemies. It was established that weak enemies spawned in the shallow layers of dungeons. Ignoring efficiency of consumption, I refined my aura and ran even faster.

Then, in about a minute, I found the exit. The stairs along the way were a big help. Climbing them led straight to the surface.

☆

“S-so bright…”

Receiving sunlight after a while, Lucia covered her eyes with her hand. I also slightly winced. There was no sign of the dragon outside. No sounds either. Sheila had probably managed to escape successfully. After confirming that, I set Lucia down and sat on the spot.

“Luka-sama? What are you doing?”

“Resting, as you can see. Focusing on recovering my aura.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m going to defeat the dragon next. I’ll need aura for that.”

“Y-you’re still going?!”

“Of course. I originally came here to kill that thing. Just because I fell into a hole doesn’t mean I’ll tuck my tail and run.”

That’s something the dragon would do. Humans don’t have tails anyway (smug face).

“B-but… even you still can’t beat that dragon…”

“Do you think I can’t win?”

“To be honest…”

She really was honest. She seemed mentally shaken because her attacks hadn’t worked at all. But that was an unpleasant opinion. Me not being able to beat the dragon? A dragon that wasn’t even an adult? She needed to change that way of thinking.

I didn’t challenge fights I couldn’t win.

“Then you can run away. I’ll be fighting alone anyway.”

“Luka-sama…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll win. I’ll win and return to you. Then, training.”

I told Lucia that with a grin. She froze with her face flushed red. After a while, she replied to me as I tilted my head.

“…I see. Then I’ll watch over you too. Your victory.”

“Leave it to me.”

I would definitely win. Winning had to mean something.

☆

After resting for several hours. My aura had fully recovered. I stood up and made a final request to Lucia, who also stood.

“Hey, Lucia.”

“What?”

“Cast a spell. A flashy one with high power.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere. As long as it can draw the dragon.”

“I understand. I’ll start right away.”

Saying that, Lucia released lightning from her hands. Lightning streaked across the sky. A tremendous sound echoed, and immediately after, a roar that seemed to come from deep underground followed.

“GRUAAAAAAH!”

The dragon’s roar.

Had it been resting its wings? Looking quite angry, a single red dragon rose into the sky. Looking up at it, I drew my sword.

“Hey there, been a while, you lizard bastard. I’ve come to repay you for what you did to me.”

I clad my entire body in aura. The dragon roared again with an angry expression, then charged down at me vigorously from the sky. It intended to finish me with a single frontal strike. I decided to answer that fighting spirit.

“L-Luka!”

“Shut up and watch. I’ll finish this quickly.”

I refined my magic power. I constructed fire-attribute and wind-attribute magic and combined them. I generated a massive ball of flame and—struck the dragon with it.

Thunderous sound and shockwaves filled the surroundings. Thanks to the dragon charging straight at me, it couldn’t dodge the magic. Since I didn’t need to aim, I could simply boost the power. As a result, the dragon took massive damage, including from its own kinetic energy. It fell to the ground, and about thirty percent of its mouth burst open and flew off.

“N-no way…”

Lucia was astonished seeing the fallen dragon. It was too early to be surprised. The dragon was still alive. The strongest species wasn’t just for show.

“That was also composite magic I plan to teach you. You’ll be able to produce this much power soon. You have talent.”

Saying that, I readied my sword and kicked off the ground before the dragon could stand up. Time to finish off the lizard that had fallen to the ground!