But then there was Luke, a boy who laughed in the face of this desperate situation, who didn’t hesitate to put his own life on the line to save others. It was evident to everyone that “hero” was the only word that fit—though, of course, they had no idea that Luke himself had no noble reason for taking action.
Abel hated monsters. Even if they had been controlled by someone else that day, there was no denying their inherent sadism. More importantly, monsters had taken everything from Abel, and he could not help but hate them for that.
As a result, the only thought he could focus on was about how he would kill the ice dragon. Those dark, vengeful emotions were all he had…at least, that was, until he saw Luke standing there proudly and declaring he would face off against the ice dragon to protect his people.
Luke…you really are incredible. I’m so proud to call myself your friend. But if things really get dangerous, I’m coming in to help you. I know how much that’s going to annoy you, though.
“You’re going to go and save him if he gets in real danger, aren’t you?” asked Lily.
“Yeah.” Abel nodded.
“To be honest, I think if Luke can’t beat that dragon, not even all of our strength combined could take it down…” Lily said. “But you’d still go to try to save him, wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Heh heh. I knew you’d say that, Abel.”
Lily didn’t question him any further, but went on, “What’s he playing it all cool for, anyway? I mean, what’d be the harm in letting us fight alongside him?”
“You’re right,” answered Abel. “But this is…well, it’s just like him.”
Completely unaware of his soaring reputation, Luke activated his spells.
“Armor of Darkness. Wings of Darkness. Apply: Dark.”
“Oho, the Dark element?” the dragon remarked, its interest piqued. “That’s quite uncommon. I appreciate that you are sacrificing yourself in the service of others. So, how about we make a deal? If you’d prefer, I will spare you, and you alone, on the cond—”
“Shut your damn mouth, you overgrown lizard.”
“What did you just say to me?”
The ice dragon’s demeanor flipped. The rage and mana emanating from its body literally froze the area around it.
“Mwa ha…didn’t you hear me? I asked why some flying lizard would ever presume to speak down to me?” Luke said boldly. “Know your place.”
“Y-you cretin!! I won’t grant you an easy death!”
Thus began the battle between Luke and the ice dragon, with neither in particular definitively firing the first shot.
4
“GRAAAAAAAAAHH!!”
The ice dragon collected a terrifying volume of mana in the back of its throat, then blew it forth in an icy breath attack. Luke knew that for all his talent and ability, a direct hit would kill him instantly. He gazed in silence at the cloud of death moving toward him, as if it were just some unremarkable aspect of his everyday life. With a cocky, lopsided smirk, he activated a spell in response:
“Dark Sun.”
There was less than a second before the breath hit him, but Luke measured the amount of mana behind the attack to a rather astounding degree of accuracy and felt that he would be capable of absorbing it without issue. The dark sun in his right hand slowly rose up into the air, and the ice dragon’s breath made an unnatural jerk toward it, shifting its course to be swallowed whole by the blackness.
“The insolence!”
The ice dragon let out another icy breath, but this time, it was not directed at Luke. Instead, it rushed at the black sun that had swallowed the first. This time, though, the attack was somewhat narrower and more focused than the last.
In the next moment, the dark sun was frozen over. Luke’s magic had been defeated.
“…Brilliant.”
Was it due to this creature’s wisdom, deep and vast as the ocean, that no human could ever hope to achieve? Was it the dragon’s outstanding insight?
In either case, the ice dragon knew the weakness of Dark magic—that there was an upper limit to the amount of mana it was capable of absorbing at any one time. That was precisely why the ice dragon had concentrated its mana during its second breath attack.
“So the intensity of one’s mana is truly vital, then. I see. Mwa ha…Lloyd really is talented.”
“What are you say—”
“Then I will concentrate my own mana as well. Behold, the smaller, deeper core of my…Ultimate Dark Sun!”
This is bad, the ice dragon instinctively sensed. That should be the same spell, but there is no magic at my disposal and, of course, no breath that could break it.
The feeling was only instinctual, but the ice dragon was almost completely sure of its accuracy. Moreover, there was also the fact that Luke had worked up so much mana in such a short span of time. There had been almost no delay between Luke’s first spell activation and his second.
I must be decisive, then. I must act immediately, before this Dark Sun grows large enough to suck every drop of mana from the air.
“Augh!”
Dragons were strong creatures with terrifyingly high resistances to both physical and magical attacks, as well as phenomenal regenerative abilities. As living creatures, they were truly in a league all their own, which was why the ice dragon chose to break Luke’s magic using its own body. It whipped its powerful, flexible tail toward the dark sun as sharp and as fast as the thrust of a spear.
The dragon howled as its tail pierced into the dark sun, only to find its mana being rapidly sucked away. The creature was stunned.
How could so much of my strength be sapped with such minimal contact? I must absolutely avoid any direct attacks.
“I see. You dragons really do have incredible resistance, and that also plays to your advantage in your own attacks as well. Hm, yes, and your high resistance to physical threats assists you in dealing damage…or maybe it’s more due to the magic resistance, I suppose. Having both makes you much more powerful, eh?”
“…Gah!”
Luke gave the dragon a fearless smile, and it was in that moment that the creature finally understood.
This human standing before me is an inferior being, yet he truly intends on killing me.
The ice dragon had no knowledge of what human facial expressions might indicate, but it was highly perceptive. Its senses were keenly honed and far more sensitive than that of the average human. It didn’t know what Luke’s smile meant, but it felt his intent. Once it understood, an uneasy haze clouded the dragon’s mind, and it felt an emotion it had not felt in a long time.
It cannot be. Am I…afraid…?
The fear, however, was quickly overtaken by another emotion: burning rage. The ice dragon was completely unable to accept that a mere human had, even for the briefest of moments, caused it to experience genuine fear.
“Yoooouuu!! A mere human!”
The dragon flapped its wings, accelerating in speed.
“Mwa ha…aha ha ha ha!! Oh, this is so much fun!”
The dragon had given in to its rage, but knew that it could not let Luke use his magic again. That was the reasoning behind its decision to close the distance between them as quickly as possible. Luke flapped his black magic wings and surged up into the air to meet the dragon’s charge. The ice dragon’s claws and teeth clashed against Luke’s sword, again and again. In terms of pure strength, it was clear that neither human nor dragon had the upper hand. This battle was a surprisingly even match.
Scratch, bite, or tail swipe—any one of these blows was lethal to a human…but only if those attacks landed. Luke managed to dodge every blow at the last second. No matter how fast or how heavy the ice dragon’s hits, Luke remained untouchable. And of course, it was a simple matter for him to cancel out every breath and magic attack that the dragon used, thanks to his Dark magic. The stalemate clearly irritated the ice dragon, who seemed annoyed that a mere human was taking up any of its time. However, the longer the fight went on, the more precise Luke’s sword attacks became, and the dragon’s feelings of annoyance faded into something more dire.
“…Ugh!”
The ice dragon had realized it from Luke’s very first attack. The anger had overwhelmed it, and it had tried to avert its eyes from the facts—but that was no longer possible.
I cannot look down upon this “Luke” any longer…cannot disregard him as a worthless human. If I continue to underestimate him, I will be the one to die this day.
The ice dragon sensed that instinctively, and it finally accepted Luke as an equal. It decided then and there to stake its life in the fight to come.