On the third morning, low, cold mist still clung to the underbrush.
Our party moved at an easy pace through the dimly lit forest, winding between gaps in the trees.
“Kyiiiii…”
Ponta let out a mew mixed with a long, lazy yawn as it scratched the back of its neck with its hind leg.
The trees thinned, and we found ourselves standing on a hill overlooking a vast, grassy plain. I saw a large lake a little farther off.
Actually, if I hadn’t known it was a lake, I might have called it an ocean due to its sheer size. Behind the lake, mist obscured the Furyu Mountains, giving the impression that the water stretched on forever.
The whole party stared in awed silence, the mountain people taking in the wonder of their new home.
Chiyome stepped up beside me, cat ears twitching slightly. “It’s beautiful…”
Goemon nodded, striking an imposing figure.
“We should set our first village over there, where the land juts into the lake.” Pittah pointed to a small, round peninsula connected to the shore by a narrow strip of land. It almost looked like an island. A small wall would be more than enough to ward off intruders.
“That area’s shape will make it easy to defend, and difficult to attack,” I said.
Pittah’s menacing face twisted into a smile. “Indeed. It might not support many people, but it’s a good place to start.”
As we made our way through the vast field, I spotted a row of large boulders. No one else in the party, including Pittah, seemed to pay the boulders any mind, so I thought nothing of them. Just as we passed them, however, the earth shook and the boulders moved, a loud scraping filling the air.
We froze as a long, red tendril broke from the earth. It moved as if it had a mind of its own, lunging toward Rowze at the front of the group. Moving at a speed I would have thought impossible for someone so tall and massive, Rowze drew her battle axe and used it as a shield, deflecting the tendril.
“Nng!”
There was an awful crash at the moment of impact, like the sound of two semis colliding head-on. I felt the shockwave deep in my bones.
Rowze’s anguished cry showed just how powerful the blow was. That, and the fact that its force drove her feet into the ground.
The tendril twisted back into the earth, pulling the battle axe—and Rowze—with it.
Looking closer, I noticed a stringy substance, almost like glue, connecting the tendril tip to Rowze’s blade. It pulled her along, as though playing tug-of-war. She glared daggers at the bizarre, fungus-like tendril.
“Rowze!” I called.
Rowze cast a sidelong glance in my direction as she was slowly but surely dragged along the ground, her grip on her battle axe unyielding.
I teleported to her, drew my Holy Thunder Sword of Caladbolg, and slashed through the sticky, glossy tendril.
It was no match for my mystical blade. Blood sprayed from the gaping wound. The remainder of the tendril quickly vanished into the earth.
“Grwaaaawoooooooooooooon!”
A hollow, bone-chilling cry filled the air. It was followed by a loud explosion that threw the boulders upwards. The ground beneath us trembled, sending up great plumes of dirt. The boulders slammed into the ground, the shockwaves knocking us backward.
Ariane came running over. “It’s a grand dragon!”
I readied my blade and looked up at the massive creature that now blocked our path.
It was at least fifteen meters long and around five meters tall, counting the boulders growing from its shell-covered back. Spines covered its tail completely, like a porcupine. The dragon’s thick, tree-trunk hind legs, capable of propelling it through the air, were neatly folded beneath it. Its front legs looked puny in comparison. I suddenly remembered Ariane saying that her leather armor was made from a grand dragon’s hide.
“So, this is a grand dragon,” one soldier said.
The creature sitting in front of me, its huge eyes darting as it took in the scene, looked quite different from the ones I’d faced in the game. The grand dragon let loose another eerie growl.
“Grwaaaawoooooooooooooon!”
Ponta skittered backward and tumbled to my shoulders, wrapping itself around my neck. Its fur stood on end.
“It’s like a living, breathing Frog Rock from Hyogo!” I blurted out my first impression. The rows of sharp fangs lining the dragon’s mouth made it clear just how wrong my assessment was. However, despite its intimidating teeth, its oversized eyes gave it an adorable appearance.
The dragon’s pupils narrowed slightly. A moment later, the ground beneath us trembled, and it was gone.
Well, not gone, exactly. Rather, the dragon had used its massive hind legs to throw itself high into the air, and was hurtling back down straight toward me.
Despite the attack’s relative simplicity—and no matter how strong I was, or what armor I wore—I wasn’t in any hurry to take this creature head-on.
“Ariane, over here! Dimensional Step!”
I grabbed Ariane’s arm and teleported us away.
The grand dragon smashed the place where we’d just stood to pieces. Even this far away, I felt the ground tremble. Rocks and dirt filled the air as the monster continued to pummel the earth, obscuring my vision. Without a clear sightline, I couldn’t use Dimensional Step.
I’d teleported us behind the grand dragon. It was, fortunately, preoccupied with the ground at its feet, clearly annoyed at missing its target. It hadn’t spotted us yet. I looked around for the others as I weighed my options. Either I needed to use magic to clear the dust clouds, or close the distance and strike while I still had the element of surprise.
The outlines of three figures appeared in the haze: Rowze, Gin, and a soldier whose name I kept forgetting. The soldier struck the grand dragon’s shell with some sort of blunt, mace-like object. However, the shell was far too strong. Despite the soldier’s best efforts, he only scratched the surface.
The dragon let out an angry growl, swinging its body around to stomp out this new threat. It leaned over, tensing its powerful legs.
Rowze dove in from the dragon’s blind spot, striking one of its hind legs with her massive battle axe. “Take this!”
The blade sank deep into the grand dragon’s flesh, drenching Rowze with blood. She’d avoided the main shell and struck at one of the joints, where its armor was weaker.
“Grwaaaaaaaaaawooon!” The dragon roared in anguish, slumping to one side. Rowze ducked out of the way as its massive body hit the earth with a ground-shaking thud, sending more plumes of dirt into the air.
I spotted Pittah charging toward the dragon, scimitars at the ready. He jumped on top of the creature, hopping effortlessly between the boulders that lined its back. His twin swords glinted in the sunlight.
A devilish grin spread across Pittah’s rabbit-like face as he reached his target and drove his blades straight into the grand dragon’s eye.
“Grwaaaawoooooooooooooon!”
The bloodcurdling scream made my ears ring. Pittah pulled his scimitars free and retreated.
The grand dragon lay on its side, kicking its legs and spinning in slow circles on the ground.
The destruction the mountain people had wrought on this massive fifteen-meter beast was impressive. It was like watching a tornado of death.
Two more figures approached. The first was Goemon, rushing toward the grand dragon at incredible speed. The second was Chiyome, running at a slight distance from Goemon to come in on the dragon’s flank.
Goemon was unarmed, aside from the metal gauntlets on his fists. He struck them together with a loud clang, and his body began to glow, his deep voice echoing across the plain.
“Muscle to stone, exploding iron fist!”
Goemon’s arms turned to metal from fist to shoulder, giving off a dull gleam. He launched an onslaught of punches into the grand dragon’s stomach, timing each blow with the creature’s movements as it thrashed on the ground. I could practically feel the punches in my own gut as the dull thud of each blow resonated in the air. When the dragon curled up and stopped moving, Chiyome took that as her opportunity to strike. She leaped into the air, straight toward the dragon’s head.
“Body to water, aqua spear!”
Chiyome’s right hand glowed as water snaked around it, forming a spear. She twisted in midair and threw the spear with all her might at the beast’s remaining eye. It buried itself with a wet thud, spraying blood everywhere.