Our destination was a vast bowl-shaped room. Four human-sized crystals floated within, revolving slowly around the center.
“What’s that?” Kubota asked. “I sense mana in them.”
“Seems those stones are keeping the castle floating,” I answered, using the knowledge transmitted from the Misty Lodge.
“Seems like an awfully important place. They dangerous? I’d rather not go splat the moment we go in.”
“The defensive systems seem to be functioning, but nothing will happen as long as we leave the crystals alone.”
“Okay. Then let’s hurry ahead.”
We went down one of the four long staircases that stretched down to the center of the room from each side. Right in the center was a small stone shrine.
“This is our target, right?” Lily asked, coming to a stop at the door.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
This was the storage vault for the Dimensional Cornerstones that managed and maintained the whole world. This time, we’d had to force our way through fabricated worlds using the Misty Lodge, but when going through the proper procedures, it was apparently possible to teleport straight into this shrine.
“Seems Nakajima and Jinguuji aren’t here yet,” I muttered quietly. “We barely made it.”
In the next instant, the Evil Dragon flew into the room using a different entrance. An explosive amount of mana suddenly flooded the vast space. Immediately following that, an intense light shone behind the Evil Dragon.
“You think you’ll get away?!”
“Gaaaaah?!”
The Sword of Light came down and slammed into the Evil Dragon’s back. The exploration team’s leader had made it here too. How much destructive force did that elongated blade have concentrated within it? The Evil Dragon’s enormous body crashed into the ground, rumbling the entire room as it screamed.
“Amazing...”
I unintentionally raised my voice. The Evil Dragon was covered in wounds. What were supposed to be extremely sturdy scales were burned and torn off all over. Its right arm had been lopped off at the shoulder, and its tail was missing. The earlier attack had also cut off half of one of its wings. It was probably impossible for it to fly now. Perhaps having taken a vicious strike to the face, it was missing its right eye too.
In contrast, Nakajima wasn’t really hurt. His equipment was just a little frayed. It seemed the evil dragon hadn’t landed a clean hit with its breath, fangs, or claws. The sight of him jumping into this room swinging his sword down heartily was truly majestic. I knew how amazing the Evil Dragon was, so this totally one-sided outcome was a shock. Did that mean Kubota was right?
“Graaaah!”
Regardless, the Evil Dragon didn’t give up. Ignoring its wounds, it immediately kicked off the ground, charging toward the center of the room—to the shrine where we were standing. I’d predicted this, though. I immediately gave my orders.
“Fire!”
“Hyaaah!”
Lily held up her black spear. At the same time, both she and Shiran deployed glyphs. Both were using wind magic. Lily prioritized amplifying the power of her throw, while Shiran controlled its wild trajectory. The shrill sound of metal tearing through the air was followed by half of the Evil Dragon’s neck being torn away. All that power had been focused on the tip of the spear. These two had the strength to fight a visitor individually, so when they combined forces, a single spear transformed into a terrifying bullet. And that wasn’t all.
“All right! I’m joining in!”
It was Kubota. Having multiplied into three, he deployed three glyphs. They were all grade 4 magic. Having predicted the Evil Dragon’s arrival, he’d had enough time to prepare a triplex of blazes, burning the Evil Dragon’s body horribly. It lost its momentum and crashed into the ground with a tremendous thud.
“Right on! We won!”
Kubota pumped his fist as he watched the Evil Dragon crash. I also breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t going to be able to move around much after that. Even if it forced itself to get up, we could probably strike it right back down. Our pursuit operation had come to a safe end. All that was left was to decide what to do with the Evil Dragon. We did manage to capture it alive, so it was best to leave the decision to Nakajima. And just as that thought crossed my mind...
“G-Gaaah...”
I heard a bloodcurdling cry. Despite being wounded beyond recovery, the Evil Dragon hadn’t given up. Perhaps it was better to say it no longer possessed the capability to. In contrast, we weren’t being the least bit careless. If it spat out a torrent of mana, we could dodge it. Lily and Shiran could probably even block it. A second later, Nakajima would strike it down with his Sword of Light. That would end things.
I’d made a miscalculation, though. The wounded dragon was no longer thinking properly. Had it retained its sanity, it definitely wouldn’t have done something so foolish.
“Graaaah!”
“Wha?!”
Driven by some unknowable madness, the Evil Dragon did the unimaginable: it spat out a torrent of mana at the ceiling. There was no way such a meaningless attack would achieve anything. By all rights, that should have been the case. However, by sheer coincidence, the attack pierced one of the crystals floating above us. Fortune seemed dead set on depriving us of our victory. The crystals weren’t inherently dangerous. So long as we didn’t touch them, the castle would continue floating. Conversely, if we attacked them...
“Dammit!”
I felt goose bumps as the defense mechanism kicked in. The traps up to this point were meant to expel those who didn’t have the right qualifications. This one was meant to slaughter those who would bring harm to this world. It had far more lethal force behind it. I’d neutralized all the traps beforehand, but I hadn’t touched any traps that shouldn’t have been activated. I couldn’t interfere with the world fast enough to stop it.
“Master!”
“Takahiro!”
My companions screamed as they desperately tried to defend me in their own ways. And then, the tables turned utterly and completely.