Have we put it on guard? Or is it just not hungry enough? I can’t tell. Please, just land already. My plea fell on deaf ears, and the dragon continued circling. In fact, its circles got wider with each pass. At this rate, it might actually fly off somewhere.
The original plan had been to lure it to the magesteel spot on foot, but as always, things never went as planned. I had no choice but to improvise now. Fortunately, I had one strengthening magic spell up my sleeve that could help. The most basic of all strengthening magic spells.
“Come on! Fall already!”
I channeled all of my mana into a weight-increasing spell and made myself as heavy as possible. This was the simplest spell I knew, and because I was casting it on myself, the dragon’s ability to absorb mana was irrelevant. Naturally, there was no way I’d fail such a simple spell, and it went off without a hitch.
“Graaah?!” The dragon suddenly slowed. Right now, I weighed about as much as it did. This is as heavy as I can get, so you better drop down. The dragon activated all the mana circulating within its body, creating a shimmering pair of wings made of pure mana, and forced itself to speed up again.
“Graaaaaaaaaah!”
Why you— Now it’s definitely on guard! There’s no way I’ll be able to get it to the hunting ground now!
“Godsdammit!”
Even with all of my mana increasing my weight, it wasn’t enough. The dragon just had that much more mana than me. It made sense, considering it was halfway to becoming a Valkaan.
“Nraaaah!” Shouting didn’t do anything to increase my mana, sadly. Is this just too much for me?
I was about ready to give up. Unlike my dad, I wasn’t a legendary hero. I was just a half-baked cross between a werewolf and a human. Even when it came to magic, all I was good at was basic spells, and I had barely any combat experience.
No, that doesn’t matter right now! I’m the only one here, which means I’m the only one who can do anything. If I give up, it’s all over! I have to do this. I’m the only one who can!
With all of my might, I shouted, “SOUL SHAKERRRRRRR!”
This was the ultimate technique that I’d inherited from my dad. Normally, only a werewolf mage could use this move. But even though I couldn’t transform, I was capable of using Soul Shaker in my human form.
Activating my own vortex power, I started gathering all of the nearby mana to me. That included the dragon’s mana as well. All of the mana it was shooting out to keep itself aloft was now being sucked in. As a result, the dragon’s ascent slowed. Meanwhile, I used all the mana I was sucking up to further increase my weight. I’m sending you down whether you like it or not!
“Come oooooooooon!” With this much weight bearing down on it once, if the dragon started to fall, it would hit the ground hard.
“Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Panicking, the dragon started firing off its breath in every direction. It looked like it was trying to hit me, but since I was hiding behind its own wings, it couldn’t. Still, the light was bright enough to obscure my vision.
“Hey, stop that!” I shouted.
If any of those stray beams hit Doneiks, the city would be in big trouble. Unfortunately, it seemed even with all the extra mana I’d absorbed, we were evenly matched. The dragon wasn’t rising any higher, but it wasn’t falling either. We’d reached a perfect equilibrium. I weighed more than the dragon at this point, but it seemed I was missing one last push. Since I was using its own mana to fuel my spell, there was no way it would be able to increase its output. If I could just get one other source of mana, no matter how small, it’d be enough.
“Friede!” I heard my dad’s voice from right beside me.
“Huh?!”
How’s he doing that? Oh, wait, strengthening magic. He’s probably using it on his voice. Looking down, I saw that Firnir was running right below the dragon, with dad on her back. Well, I assumed it was dad, since it was actually so far below I couldn’t make him out clearly.
A second later, dad shouted up at me again, “Use this mana!”
I reflexively directed my vortex downwards, and it caught a massive bullet of light. Dad must have shot that out of his Blast Rifle. As soon as the bullet was absorbed, I felt strength fill every inch of me.
“All right!”
At this point, I had a good 1,000 kites of mana. Instead of using it in a contest of strength against the dragon though, I had a better idea in mind. I used dad’s mana to increase my own strength, then grabbed the dragon’s wing joint.
“Take this, you flying monster!”
The wing was too big for me to break on my own, but I was able to twist it a little and ruin the dragon’s balance. The dragon had been resisting my downwards pressure by propelling itself upwards, but now, that force was being aimed slightly diagonally rather than straight up. In that instant, the equilibrium shattered.
“Gryaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” The dragon let out a pained roar, and the two of us started spiraling towards the ground.
“Oh noooooooo!”
Everything was spinning, and I couldn’t tell up from down. Fortunately, even if I couldn’t figure it out with my eyes, my mana had already been set to go straight downwards. This way’s down, right?! I hurriedly braced myself for impact, a second before we hit the ground.
“Oww!”
My world was still spinning, but I’d finally managed to get the dragon to the hunting grounds. Does that count as a crash or a landing? Or a crash landing? Eh, who cares, someone else can figure that out. My job is to make sure Meraldia lasts long enough that someone else gets to figure it out!
“The dragon’s fallen!”
“Look! It’s Friede!”
“Veight was right!”
I get that you’re all happy, guys, but the dragon’s still alive. It was only pinned down thanks to my weight. Also, with how much it was struggling, it was only a matter of time before I got knocked off.
Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice. “Don’t panic! Prepare the cannons!”
Wait, that’s Micha! What’s she doing here on the front lines? In the distance, I could see the cannons from Wa being loaded.
“Aim for the relatively immobile torso! All cannons, fire!”
Wa’s cannons were being fired for the first time in Meraldia, with a Rolmundian princess commanding the cannoneers. This was the most international force I’d seen yet. And it seemed there were no issues with the chain of command, as all the cannons fired on cue.
Cannonballs careened towards the dragon’s torso, which I was sitting right on top of.
“Whoa!” I shouted, hurriedly hiding behind the dragon’s head to avoid getting killed by my best friend. I couldn’t actually get off the dragon or it would escape.
The smell of blood and gunpowder filled my nostrils. It didn’t smell like human or demon blood, so it was probably dragon blood. With how thick the smell was, the dragon was likely in bad shape.
A few seconds after the barrage, the dragon’s mana dropped considerably. With less mana to work with, the dragon was more susceptible to my weight, and its scales started to crack. Not just its scales either—I could hear its bones breaking as well.
“Gryaaaaaaah!” The dragon let out another scream, but I didn’t stop holding it down.
“I’m sorry!” I said. I know you don’t want to die, but neither do we. I’m sorry, but we have to kill you.
I continued pressing down on the dragon’s spine with everything I had. “Oneee...mooore...puuuuuush!”
There was an extremely sharp crack, and the dragon suddenly went limp. Its neck and tail hit the ground with twin thuds. Its wings fell as well, the streams of mana disappearing.
“Stop firing! Hey! I said stop! Are you trying to kill Friede?!” Micha shouted, her voice carrying over the boom of the cannons. The cannoneers stopped immediately, and suddenly all was silent.
“Friede?! Friede, where are you?!” Micha shouted. “Friede, say something! Are you okay?!”
Upon hearing my name, I slowly staggered to my feet. I’d used up so much mana that I was dizzy. Even though I wasn’t making myself heavier anymore, my body still felt heavy.
Leaning against one of the dragon’s wings, I shouted, “I’m... I’m over here!”
“Friede!”
In seconds, everyone surrounded me. Dad, Shirin, Joshua, Iori, Firnir, Micha, Ryuunie, all the werewolves and soldiers of Wa, Kuwol’s werecats, and all the others.
I smiled bashfully at everyone and said, “We did it, guys!”