It frustrated her that she couldn’t express these words in Draconic. She was willing to give her soul for this conviction. She just learned when it was already too late for it to matter exactly how much of a sin it was to forsake yourself. She wasn’t about to do that again, and she wouldn’t let Kaphal do it.
That feeling, that conviction was firm. What could a person, the world, a dragon king even do?
“Was it wrong to call this a test?” she asked. “If so, then let me say this again: If you plan to take my life, I will find a way to defeat you, and to make you work with me.”
Lushera had learned from Kaphal’s example. Purpose is power. With unwavering will that no one can stop, the dragon roars!
“I determined live with Mom!” she exclaimed in draconic.
“Lushera!” Kaphal cried emotionally as she watched with bated breath.
Shurei remained unmoved. Or so Lushera thought for a moment, but then his face split into a grin that went from ear to ear. “How amusing! I was planning to watch you suffer until you were on the xxxx of death, but I’ve changed my mind!”
Lushera didn’t even have time to feel shocked by his reaction. The sea of lava encasing her pulsed then swirled upwards.
“Uwaah!”
It soared, like a vortex leaping into the sky. Heat struck Lushera, nearly sending her falling.
The pool of lava disappeared without a trace. The heat tormenting her body faded, the early summer breeze caressing her skin, feeling as cold as winter snow in comparison to the lava.
That lava that defied gravity slowly split into two streams and fell. The giant flows fell between Shurei and Lushera then turned into small objects. The glow of fire faded, leaving long, rugged lumps of stone pierced into the ground.
“Swords?” asked Lushera, evaluating the objects in front of her, covering her naked body whose sensations of anything other than pain felt undefined.
The objects were two lumps of stone shaped into crude swords.
“If you can land one strike on me with that sword, I will acknowledge that your xxxx is more than just xxxx, that it is true conviction.”
Shurei took his sword and fell into an odd stance, the puppet controlled by a red dragon king baring its teeth in laughter.
Lushera felt as tense as if a thousand swords pierced into her from every direction.
“Now then, come at me. No need for xxxx.”
Shurei was completely normal as he stood with his sword, but what was this pressure she felt?
Lushera was a complete beginner when it came to swordplay so she couldn’t read her opponent that well, but she got the feeling Shurei was confident he could handle any attack from any direction.
She drew her sword from the ground and rushed towards him. “Haaaaaaah!”
She couldn’t use any techniques requiring finesse. All she could do was swing her sword hard and fast.
Shurei stood there, waiting, unmoving. Four more steps, three, two…
“Agh!”
A gust of heat, or an explosion hit her.
Energy crashed into her, penetrating to the very marrow of her bones. She screamed as she was flung back.
What was that? He didn’t even move!
Pain racked her body. Patches of her white, delicate skin were singed to the point of turning black. A normal person on the receiving end of that would likely have died instantly, even their bones turned to charcoal.
“I said I would change the content of the test. I never said it would be easier,” said Shurei, looking at her with the same brown eyes with vertical pupils that she and Kaphal had. That gaze pierced her like a spear, pinning her to the ground.
“I’m just standing here,” he said. “Why don’t you try attacking me from behind?”
“Huh…?”
Shurei gave her a thin, ferocious smile and slowly turned so his back faced her as if trying to tell her something.
Even if he was a dragon, so long as he was in human form, it wouldn’t be easy to deal with an attack from behind. The body wasn’t built for it.
The fact that he said that means he’s completely confident he can handle it. I don’t like falling for his lure, but my first step is figuring him out!
Again, Lushera rushed towards him, closing in on the back of the old man who, despite looking like a human, didn’t seem very humanlike.
She closed the last step.
“Ah!”
“Oh, seems you saw it better that time than the first.”
She nearly thought a dragon wreathed in fire flew past her, skimming the tip of her nose.
Fire!
Lushera sensed power swirling around Shurei. She must have missed it before because Shurei himself contained immense energy. This power responded to his will, turning into fire to strike Lushera away.
This fire was far sharper and refined a weapon than the lava from before which had existed like it was nothing.
“It is xxx, dragon aura released from this measly human form that cannot contain it. Break through it. Even one lucky strike does it. I think this is far more xxx than waiting in a pool of lava until tomorrow morning.”
What he said sounded like a clever and provoking joke. He doesn’t look like he’s about to accept a lucky hit.
Hitting this dragon king through sheer good luck was a possibility as small as the hole in a needle. It wasn’t entirely hopeless, so it would be worth trying it when she really was out of options. A logical adventuring manager didn’t rely on luck from the start, though.
As Lushera observed Shurei, the wind began to howl, a pressure so great it made her shudder as it passed by her. There was a trail burnt into the ground.
“If you’re going to be so meek, then I shall xxxx.”
“Gah!”
Shurei wasn’t going to give her the time to think carefully.
There’s got to be a reason he changed the test. There’s got to be a way through this!
Lushera raised her sword and locked her eyes onto Shurei so she didn’t miss a single step, then went at him.