Chapter 47

5 HERO VS. DRAGON Zell often found themselves a witness to historic moments. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that everything Zell has seen so far has been history-worthy. But this… This was the biggie. This one would truly go down in history. It would become legend. Zell thought that each time they saw Bash fight, but today that conviction was stronger than ever. The Orc Hero. And a dragon. Zell watched from a distance as the two strongest beasts on the continent faced off against each other. “Roooarrr!” “Graaagh!!!” In terms of sheer roar volume, the dragon had the edge, slightly. Still, the dragon did seem somewhat surprised by the loud noise coming from the small creature in front of it. Yes… Up until now, one roar from the dragon was enough to have any enemy turn tail and run. It probably never imagined that someone would roar back at him. Still, this didn’t change anything for the dragon. So what if he did encounter someone with a bigger roar than his? One breath from him, and the puny creature would become charcoal! One swing of the claw, and it would be torn limb from limb! One bite, and its flesh would fall apart on the bone in his mouth! And his hunger would be satisfied! The puny creature was no different from any other! So the dragon must have thought. Thus, it charged straight ahead, keeping low and slashing sideways at Bash with its thick right paw. Defenses down. Quite careless. Just another day. Still, the dragon’s moves were fast. Its massive body low to the ground, rushing with catlike speed. Who could imagine that such a big body could move that fast? Not even a fairy’s vivid imagination could dream that up. The moment the dragon moved, Zell squeaked in alarm, unable to flee… All the fairy could do was freeze. If a relatively puny being was hit by something as gigantic and fast-moving as that rushing dragon… Well, its fate was obvious. They would be crushed to pieces. Demon or ogre… It didn’t matter. That’s how fast, heavy, and deadly the dragon was. But Zell knew… The dragon was not facing an ordinary being. Ting! A metallic sound resounded. It was a satisfying noise, like a hard cannonball rebounding against something. The sound made when two hard metals collided and one of them shattered. The dragon’s mighty feet stomped against the ground. The right paw dragged through the ground, having failed to shred its target. The upper body slid, dust flying up, until it landed sharply on its elbow and rolled. “…?!” The dragon struggled to regain balance. It spun around, resting low on its elbows, and looked down at its paw in astonishment. The claws, said to be far harder than dwarven steel, were cracked. “…?!” Then it looked at Bash. Shock writ large on its scaly face. Though it was as impossible to understand a dragon’s facial expressions as it was a lizardman’s, still, Zell understood. There was no one in the dragon’s line of sight. Bash had already circled around to the side. Out from the blind spot of the eye that had been crushed earlier, toward the neck. Bash drove his powerful blade right into the dragon’s neck. It caused a dull sound… Not the splorshing or the glorping sound Bash was so used to hearing in a fight… This was the sound of his sword hitting something solid…and the blade not going through properly. “Gah…!” Bash had landed the blow… No doubt about that. But his fatal blow, destined to slice everything in half… …had failed to slice the dragon’s head from its neck. Instead, it only knocked a few scales flying and caused merely a shallow cut on the neck. “What?!” Zell did a double take. Bash’s strike… Failed? Impossible. His blow could even split a rock in two. How on Vastonia could a living being survive that? “Groooar!” The dragon roared ferociously. Perhaps for this dragon, coated in hard scales from birth, it was the first pain it had ever felt. His eyes widened at the sight of his own fresh blood splattering everywhere, and he roared with rage. Then the dragon moved faster. It breathed its fiery breath, swung its broken claws, gnashed its teeth, and slammed its massive body toward the puny thing. The movement of its giant body created a wind slipstream, and a violent storm buffeted through the cave. Zell watched the battle, desperately clinging to a rock to avoid being blown away. The dragon’s rampage was the act of a crazed beast. It looked like it was moving wildly, uncontrollably, but Zell knew better. The dragon’s movements were not random but aimed toward Bash. Was this pure animal instinct? Or was it actually calmer than its crazed appearance would seem? In contrast, Bash was composed. When the claws came at him, he struck back, dodging the breath and shattering the fangs with his sword. When the giant creature charged straight at him, he stabbed his sword into its joints. Each blow sent scales flying, damaging the dragon and making it roar with pain. What a contrast. The dragon and the orc. As creatures, they were as different in scale as an elephant and a mouse. Bash, a warrior considered to have a monstrous strength, was only able to inflict shallow wounds on the dragon. But no doubt one good blow from the dragon would be enough to insta-kill Bash. Instinct tells us that no mere bipedal race can slay a mighty dragon. But the difference in skill was the vital thing here. Bash dodged all the dragon’s attacks. Despite the extensive, full-body burns he’d suffered, Bash managed to avoid every one of the dragon’s insta-kill blows. Indeed… Bash overpowered the dragon, slashing at it over and over again in a way that seemed completely unreal. And Bash’s aim was clear. He was aiming for the neck. The neck had been cut by the first blow, and blood was still flowing. Bash had been looking for an opportunity to land another blow there. The scales on its neck had already crumbled away. If Bash hit him with all his might again, the next blow would likely slice through the flesh, tear the blood vessels, or even shatter the bone.