Somehow, I’d found myself standing before a mountain-like giant turtle monster. I was preoccupied by a very pressing question—that being, “How the hell are we supposed to take this thing down?”—but my familiars were all brimming with enthusiasm for the task ahead.
Why is it that whenever we go out hunting or end up in a dungeon, those four instantly turn into battle-crazed killing machines?
《Okay, Sui and I get the first one! You two are good with that, right?》 Dora-chan asked.
“Hmph. Very well,” Fel said.
“Yes, I don’t see why not!” Gon agreed.
《Then let’s do this, Sui!》
《Yeah!》
Dora-chan and Sui took off in the direction of the turtle.
《Let’s see how you like this!》 Dora-chan shouted as he let loose one of his signature ice magic spells. Thick, keen-pointed pillars of ice—more of them than I could count—materialized in the air and flew straight toward the dragon turtle...but they all simply bounced off its shell with a series of sharp, earsplitting clangs. Dora-chan clicked his tongue with irritation and scowled.
《Sui’s next! Taaake this!》
Pew! Pew! Pew!
Sui shot off a series of Acid Bullets. It seemed to be trying to melt through a large chunk of the turtle’s shell all at once using projectiles that looked like they were pretty sizable. They slammed into their target, and I could see the shell begin to dissolve with a sizzling noise...
《Huuuh?》
...but only its surface. Sui had barely damaged the turtle at all, in the end.
《Damn it, seriously? Sui can’t get through either?》 Dora-chan grumbled as he flew circles around the turtle. 《Guess Fel and Gon were right. Those shells are some serious business.》
It really is impressive that it managed to shrug off multiple attacks from those two, yeah. Just how tough is that shell? The fact that the turtle hadn’t so much as budged, even after weathering their attacks, told me that it must have had absolute confidence in its shell’s ability to keep it safe. It was under the impression that as long as it was hidden inside, it was invincible.
《Boo! Why isn’t it melting?》 Sui huffed, irritated by its failure. 《Take this!》
Pew! Pew! Pew!
It doubled down, launching even bigger Acid Bullets than last time. The shell withstood the assault, though—once again, the acid only melted through a tiny amount of its surface.
At that point, Dora-chan landed next to Sui. 《Hey, Sui, let’s switch up our game plan,》 he said. 《I don’t think we’re gonna blow through that shell anytime soon, so we’d better try something else.》
《Awww! But Sui’s so strong!》
《Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re super strong, but sometimes even people like us run into something tough enough that our best attacks just don’t work on ’em. You gotta accept that, or you’ll never find a way to beat ’em,》 Dora-chan said as he flashed Sui an ominous grin. 《See, that thing’s shell is crazy hard, but what about the rest of it? Watch this!》
That very instant, the ground directly beneath the dragon turtle began to swell. An immense column of earth shot up with a massive fwoom, lifting the dragon turtle up and flipping it over on its back! Suddenly, its impenetrable shell was facing the ground and its underbelly was left completely exposed. Even then, however, the monster kept its head and legs firmly ensconced within its shell.
《All right! The top of its shell was way too hard for me to break through, but let’s see if its belly’s got that sorta resilience too! Heh heh heh!》 Dora-chan said, laughing like a genuine TV villain before unleashing a merciless burst of ice magic, launching a spear-like pillar of ice straight at the monster’s underbelly.
“Graaahhhhhh!”
A booming but muffled roar of pain rang out from within the turtle’s shell as Dora-chan’s ice pillar sunk about halfway into it.
《Don’t think that’s gonna finish it off, but at least we’re getting somewhere now! Let’s see if it can take another one!》 Dora-chan said before immediately unleashing another spell. A second ice pillar joined the first, and the dragon turtle howled once more.
《Wooow! You’re amazing, Dora-chan!》 Sui cooed with an excited bounce.
“He is putting on an impressive showing,” Fel admitted.
“True indeed,” Gon said. “Flipping it over to target the softer portion of its shell was a shrewd maneuver.”
I mean, sure...but am I the only one who thinks that the way he’s going after its weak point without a hint of mercy is making Dora-chan look downright devilish? He looks so cute when he’s not killing things too.
《Oh, hey! I think it’s coming out!》 Dora-chan shouted. The dragon turtle had had enough, apparently, and had extended its head and limbs, which it was now flailing wildly in an effort to right itself. 《Now’s your chance, Sui! Aim for its neck!》
《Okaaay!》
Sui fired a concentrated stream of water this time. It sliced into the turtle with a mighty shwick...
“Graaaugh!”
...and after one brief, final scream, the monster fell silent.
《Huuuh? Sui thought its head was gonna fall all the way off!》
《Meh, whatever. You beat it, and that’s what matters! It’s our win!》
《Yaaay! We won, we won!》
Dora-chan and Sui gleefully celebrated their victory over the dragon turtle. I, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as enthused.
“Oh, jeez. Its head’s hanging on by a literal flap of skin.” Talk about nasty...
“Now then, I shall fight the next one! And I have already located it!” Fel excitedly declared.
“Really? Isn’t one enough?” I asked. I mean, look at the size of that thing! Just how long do you think it’d take to eat it? One should be plenty!
“What precisely do you believe we came here for?” Fel asked. “We are here to hunt. Are you truly telling me not to hunt on a hunt?”
“That’s not really the angle I’m coming at this from at all, actually.”
“Dragon turtle meat is not as delectable as that of a leviathan, but it is pleasing in its own right nevertheless. It will not hurt to have it available.”
“Okay, okay, I get the picture! We’re done after you take one down, though.”
“I’m afraid not, my liege! I’ll be hunting one as well.”
“Wait, you too, Gon? Seriously?”
“Indeed. I brought us to this hunting ground, did I not? How could I leave without partaking?”
Is that really how this works? And more importantly... “Okay, but there are still enough dragon turtles left, right? I really don’t want to be responsible for a species’ extinction!”