The reincarnated cheat space wizard wants to hide his true identity and stand out! ~I'm being sought out by a party of some of the country's most beautiful girls, but I can't say it's me. - Chapter 3 — Encounter with an earth dragon (First half)

“Kuhh …! W-We lost …! To think it would launch an ambush from within the earth …!”

“Aisha!”

In a certain forest, a knight in tattered armor was pointing a half-broken sword at the monster in front of her.

The Grail Kingdom is an area inhabited by humans. Boris is located at its easternmost point. Further east from the town lies the “Forest of No Return’’.

As the name suggests, it is rumored that once you go deep into this forest, you will never be able to return, and the deeper you go, the more threatening the monsters become.

For skilled adventurers, there should be no problem reaching up to the middle of the forest.

However, only a handful of high-ranking adventurers can go deeper than that.

In terms of stars that indicate an adventurer’s ability, only parties with a rating of six stars — the highest rank — are allowed by the guild to set foot past the middle point of the forest.

“Let’s retreat for now! If we go on like this, we’ll all get killed …! I’ll bring up the rear! You take the injured Marine and Saran and go!”

“But Lilitan! I am the leader of [Chalk Swords] …!? Kuh …!?”

“You can’t move a hand! Since you’re injured, just leave everything to me and retreat! Wiene is already standing by at the entrance of the forest so you have to reach her!”

When Aisha looked around, her two injured companions were lying there — the mage Marine and the Saran, the one in charge of scouting.

For the adventuring party known as the [Chalk Sword], the current situation was completely out of expectations.

Of course, they hadn’t meant to let down their guards. If you let your guard down in the depths of this “Forest of No Return”, you will lose your life in the blink of an eye.

Even though they had explored the depths of this forest many times, they were proceeding with their explorations with utmost caution as usual.

However, their response to the unexpected surprise attack from underground was delayed.

“Well, we’re out of luck! I never expected a day would come when we’d have to face something like this…!”

Holding her weapon, the spear called [Dragon Slayer], Lilitan swore and glared at the monster before her.

Its golden eyes, which were moving around busily, also caught sight of Lilitan at that moment.

“Come …! In the name of [Dragon Slayer], I’ll hunt you also …!”

On its giant body that surpassed even the 10 meters mark, pitch black scales laid — they were said to be impervious to even swords.

It has strong claws and limbs that allow it to easily dig underground, even through the hardest bedrock.

… It was an Earth Dragon.

Counted as a dragon species, it boasts the highest degree of danger among monsters, and is a monster that 6-star adventurers have to band together against and even so barely get a draw. Such an existence was now facing off against [Chalk Sword].

“Ha!”

Lilitan, wielding [Dragon Slayer] which boasted a length even more impressive than the height of its master, delivered a blow using all her might. As the one holding the greatest raw power in the party, one such an attack of hers was more than capable of blowing an average monster in smithereens.

… However, what she was dealing with now was … different from an average monster.

“Hard …!”

The blow ended up only slightly damaging the earth dragon’s scales. Instead, the shock that traveled up her arms was so strong that it almost caused the [Dragon Slayer] to fall out of her hands.

Lilitan couldn’t help but wince. However, as a rearguard, she couldn’t retreat now, so instead she forcibly grabbed the [Dragon Hunter] with her numb hands, and this time she aimed its tip at the monster’s scaleless eye.

“Lilitan!”

“!? K-!?”

Right after, the voice of Aisha, who was holding up their fallen comrades, echoed from behind.

As expected from a first class adventurer, Riritan reacted immediately to her friend’s voice and used her [Dragon Slayer] as a shield to block the blow from the earth dragon’s tail that came from her blind spot but … the difference between their physiques was too great.

Even though Lilitan had a physique comparable to that of a tall man, there was a difference that couldn’t be overcome when compared to a monster dragon.

… Even if it was just its tail, the truth couldn’t be changed.

The massive tail, covered in hard scales, slammed down with great force. Even if she used her spear as a shield to block it, she most likely wouldn’t escape unharmed.

Lilitan, who was caught while still in the air, was unable to maintain her balance and was slammed into the ground.

A small crater was created by the impact. When Aisha saw Lilitan collapsing in its center, she couldn’t help letting out a scream.

“So I have to do something in the end …!” Aisha stood up, leaving Marine and Saran on the spot, “Please wait a little.”

Her sword, forged by a famous blacksmith, was already broken, but her heart was still firm.

Her friends will definitely return alive from this place. For that, she had to defeat the earth dragon herself.

I wonder if I can do it…No, I have to try …! I have to do it…!

Holding her beloved sword, half broken already, with one hand, she glared at the earth dragon in front of her.

She didn’t know whether she could win or not. Rather, the chances of her losing were much higher.

Still, for the sake of her friends and as the leader of [Chalk Sword], she had to face the threat in front of her.

Even though it’s broken, the blade of the sword still remains. If the blade is gone, I will fight with these fists of mine. If even they end up crushed, I’ll bite you to death! No matter what, I will fight back…!

“Come! I am the leader of [Chalk Sword] and a noblewoman belonging to the Garden house. Even if it costs me my life, I won’t let you harm my—”

The pair of golden eyes got locked on Aisha.

At the same time, the earth dragon’s mouth opened wide towards Aisha. She saw an incredible amount of magical power beginning to converge inside it.

That’s not good …! I can’t allow it to let out a breath here …!

The first reason why the dragon subspecies such as the earth dragons are classified as one of the highest threats is because of their huge bodies and the robustness commensurate with their bodies. The bodies of dragon species are covered in hard scales, making them impenetrable to ordinary weapons. And a blow delivered with such physical strength is said to crush anything.

So, shouldn’t one just keep their distance and fight?

Some people think so, but dragons are monsters that have especially enormous magical power among monsters.

That magical power is used to strengthen their scales and allow them to use attribute magic.

Those, however, are not the only way they can make use of it …

The breath.

This is probably the reason why dragon species are considered a threat and also the reason why they are isolated from other monsters.

They converge the magical power within their bodies into their throats and then release it.

It is but a simple attack, but the amount of magical power emitted from a dragon species could easily destroy an entire city.

Legend has it that even a country was destroyed by the breath of several dragons.

Such a breath was now directed at her.

If it’s just me, I can somehow avoid it…but…!

When she glanced behind her, she could see her incapacitated friends, all of them unable to move. Even if she wanted to carry them and run away, her condition didn’t permit her to take more than one person.

And to leave her friends behind and escape by her lonesome … she could not do such a thing.

… This is as far as I go, hm? Now that I think about it, I’ve had a lot of freedom during my life since I was born into a noble family. Fu fu, father, mother. I’m sorry for being an incompetent girl who is only interested in swords.

She also apologized in her heart to her friends who were currently sprawled on the ground behind her. As a leader, she was disappointed that this was the result she led then to.

“Wiene…I wonder if she’s okay. That’s the only thing I’m worried about.”

The amount of magical power that could be sensed from the converged breath was tremendous. Should it be released, it would wipe them out without leaving a trace.

“That’s it for us. Hopefully, someone other than us will subdue this dragon.”

Muttering that, she … Aisha Garden gently closed her eyes.

Soon, a torrent of magical power will be released.

Except it never happened.

Aisha opened her closed eyes involuntarily as the sound of an explosion reverberated in her ears.

“!? Wh-What just happened!?”

What her eyes caught …was the form of the now upside down earth dragon who was vigorously spouting out smoke from its mouth. And standing in front of the earth dragon … was a figure wearing black robes.

She couldn’t feel the magic power making up the breath that she felt until just now.

Did it fail? A dragon species? It’s breath?

What’s going on? What just happened? And who’s that?

Questions swirled around in her head, but right then, she was brought back to reality by the earth dragon’s roar that echoed throughout the area.

Next, the earth dragon’s eyes turned towards the person clad in black robes.

“!? That’s dangerous! Quickly get away from there!”

She tried screaming with all her might, but the earth dragon’s roar drowned her out.

The earth dragon seemed to be trying to crush the black-robed person, as it lifted a foot that looked like it could easily flatten a human.

I have to help them!

Just as Aisha was about to take a step forward and dash to help the black robed person, they casually raised a hand and waved it down in a light gesture.

“—Ha?”

Then, Aisha witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Immediately after the black-robed person lowered their hand, the earth dragon’s head simply fell to the ground.

Unable to comprehend the unbelievable scene, she became rooted in place for a while.

It wasn’t until the figure cald in black robes appeared in front of her that she became able to move again.