The belated realization hit her when he asked her to handle the wings. Esperanza was now capable of aerial combat.
There was a reason Nidhogg had been the boss of the first SS-grade dungeon. Its mouth, claws, wings, and tail were all weapons. Moreover, it shot flas from high places, and seizing high ground in battle was absolutely advantageous. The sight of a giant dragon covering the sky and deflecting weapons with steel scales seed as if it had co to destroy the world.
But what if it was before the dragon could fly?
The black dragon of the SS-grade dungeon had appeared from the sky. But this one was sleeping here, so if Esperanza flew first and broke its wings the mont it spread them... even with two people, they had sufficient chances of victory.
And anyway, it wasn't like Esperanza was directly killing the dragon herself. She knew Cyrus was being considerate. But she didn't say thank you.
Esperanza spread the wings Cider had made for her and flew up to a position where the dragon's tail couldn't reach.
'A level up is still a level up.'
Once she got used to it, she could definitely feel her combat power had increased. She made one large circle in the air. Cold wind filled her lungs completely.
[00:09:44]
Not much ti left.
Combat mode was on. Even while despising herself, the Hunter's body honestly excited itself and kept its senses sharp to fully prepare for the approaching slaughter. Her heartbeat quickened. Biting her dry lips, she prepared for the mont when yellow irises would be revealed beneath steel eyelids.
[00:00:03]
[00:00:02]
[00:00:01]
[00:00:00]
[Dungeon boss, 'Nidhogg' awakens from slumber!]
The tir that had completely reached zero blinked bright red. Bright blue magic power gathered at the tip of the golden gun barrel.
[Dungeon boss, 'Nidhogg' has appeared!]
[The boss's location is marked on the map.]
[Lower monsters are affected by the boss. Attack power
90%, Defense
5%, HP
5%, Agility
80%]
[The boss is affected by lower monsters. Attack power
30%, Agility
10%, Critical damage
30%]
The crouching dragon spread its massive mbrane wings. Golden eyes like a reptile's flashed.
Cyrus standing before it looked small and insignificant even with his outstanding physique among humans. However, the predator seed to sense threat from the Hunter's presence alone and tensed its body completely. Without noticing the existence of another Hunter floating in the air.
Esperanza sniped both wings alternately without hesitation. Bang. Bang. The consecutive gunshots pierced through the mbranes.
Grrrrr! A sound of enduring pain ca from inside the black dragon's mouth. Cyrus quickly escaped from the range of the dragon that was stamping its feet so hard the ground caved in. Flas spurted from the dragon's mouth.
"Ah, but this is a forest."
Really, at this rate it looked like they'd cause a forest fire. They needed to finish quickly. Esperanza, who had swept up her hair, this ti radiated magic power in a wider range toward the tattered mbrane wings. Just as the bright blue magic power was about to engulf from behind, the dragon swung its wings to deflect the magic power.
Indeed, it wasn't to be taken lightly.
But the mont the dragon twisted its body to deflect the magic power, Cyrus's greatsword pierced between the scales. As the sword twisted at a right angle, the dragon scread and stamped its feet wildly. The flas that spurted from its mouth couldn't beco a powerful attack but splashed onto dry grass and leaves.
Ah, seriously.
If it were another forest, she wouldn't have cared. But this was Cider's forest. It couldn't catch fire.
"Cyrus, get out of the way!"
The mont Cyrus jumped, Esperanza pulled out a fire extinguisher from her inventory and sprayed it evenly on the grass and trees.
"...Esperanza-nim?"
"Watch the front!"
And Esperanza, who had flown up to avoid the next fireball, shot her gun again before the dragon could overco its pain and spread its wings.
The dragon writhed its entire body and rolled on the ground. Sharp claws scraped past where Cyrus had been. Cyrus pulled out a huge shield and blocked the flas the dragon poured out. A battle between flas and shield continued. Cyrus held firm without being pushed back by the dragon's montum, then split the flas with his magic-imbued sword and stabbed into the dragon's mouth.
Kraaaak! The dragon spilled black blood drop by drop and scread in agony. Its stiffly spread wings beca tattered from Esperanza's attacks, and the blood pooling in its mouth flowed endlessly due to Cyrus's sword that had habitually torn up the wounds.
The dragon's yellow eyes flashed. Its wounded mouth gaped open like a cave. Flas gathered inside. Even when Cyrus stabbed his sword into the scales, the flas inside its mouth only grew larger.
Esperanza, who had been glaring at the dragon with folded mbrane wings from the air, swallowed.
"This is bad..."
"Esperanza-nim, what will you do?"
The mont that exploded, the forest would beco chaos. Moreover, the wind was unfortunately westerly. The flas might even reach the laboratory.
She couldn't let that happen.
'Anyway, that's a dragon. Not a person. We can't communicate with it, and it'll attack us even if we stay still... so we have no choice but to kill it.'
If a dragon appeared in the real world, and if she had the power to defeat that dragon, she would naturally have done so. So this was different from 'murder.'
Once she made up her mind, putting it into action wasn't difficult.
"I'll do it. You handle the feet."
Esperanza gripped her gun and landed on the dragon's head in one go. The dragon bucked violently. Esperanza held on and stood. The power struggle with the dragon ended in Esperanza's narrow victory. Esperanza, who pulled out a dagger from her inventory, stabbed it into the dragon's head.
"Cyrus!"
"Coming!"
Cyrus struck down on the dragon's instep with his sword. Esperanza faced the dragon eye-to-eye from treetop height. She felt a dizzying thrill.
'Right, I'm inevitably this kind of person.'
So perhaps it was inevitable that she beca addicted to this ga. Even while condemning herself, the pleasure gained from legitimate violence and the danger of combat made her feel drowsy.
She aid her rifle with maximum magic power. Toward the dragon's vertically slit golden eyes.
The dragon's mouth was still blocked by incompletely ford flas, and its feet were fixed by Cyrus's sword. Its wings were tattered and its tail was far away. Esperanza grinned and quickly sniped both of the dragon's eyes.
The dragon scread while writhing its entire body. Trees were uprooted and fell. The sound filled the space and echoed. A flock of black birds flew up from the forest. Cyrus quickly pulled out his sword and retreated.
The massive mouth couldn't hold back and spat out the unripe flas. Cyrus blocked the black dragon's hot breath with a single shield.
"Block it properly!"
"Don't worry."
He too would normally have let the forest burn... but Count Avondale was an important person. He mustn't die or be injured.
There was a reason the first ti slip point had been 'Count Avondale's mansion.'
Heat that seed like it would crack her skin engulfed her body. Just that heat alone made her hands sting. Cyrus threw his shield toward Esperanza and leaped up. His eyes t with Esperanza in the air.
Briefly but intensely, as if their eye colors would mix.
They were long-ti comrades. In battle, they could move like each other's hands and feet.
Esperanza, standing on a tree branch, fired magic bullets at the blind dragon to restrain its movent. Cyrus drove his sword between those hard scales. With a sword larger than Esperanza and strong grip strength, he could create long, deep wounds. anwhile, Esperanza caught the shield Cyrus had thrown and dealt with the remaining flas.
Her leather gloves burned with a sizzling sound. Esperanza floated up into the air. The dragon's claws fiercely scratched the tree Esperanza had been standing on until just monts ago. The tree fell with a thud. It was the last tree within the dragon's attack range. Now the battlefield was no different from a spacious clearing.
The close combat continued for another hour after that.
The dragon had weakened but beco twice as ferocious as it writhed its tattered body. Esperanza, who had folded her wings, stepped on the wound Cyrus had made. With a shield heated from blocking the dragon's flas twice in her left hand.
When her eyes t Cyrus's, she nodded.
Cyrus's large longsword stabbed the dragon's belly. Esperanza set the shield horizontally and drove it into the wound.
The dragon shook its body savagely. Esperanza barely managed to support herself with her wings and fly up instead of falling. But she couldn't avoid being hit by the mbrane wing.
She just couldn't finish it in one go. Such a formidable enemy made her competitive spirit boil.
It seed like one more ti would do it. Esperanza massaged her numb arm and waited for another opportunity. The thick tail passed by dangerously several tis. She could have fled very far away, but she deliberately stayed close to catch the timing.
And Cyrus found another attack opportunity.
Esperanza aid her gun above the gaping wound. She lowered the output so she wouldn't hit Cyrus.
Three.
Two.
One.
The swordsman holding the massive sword leaped up and slashed the dragon's neck from bottom to top in a long cut. The sniper who had glided from near the tail to the neck aid at the gaping wound and pierced through.
It was simultaneous. The thrill of magic power piercing through the enemy's neck flowed through her entire body. Her shoulders rose and fell roughly.
The massive head rolled pathetically on the ground. The thicket was stained black with the dragon's blood.
[You have defeated dungeon boss, 'Nidhogg'! Rewards will be credited.]
It was over.
"See you later."
Leaving behind a farewell that wasn't really a farewell, Esperanza ran toward the laboratory. She didn't look back. Cyrus, who had been habitually collecting the black dragon's corpse and putting it in his inventory, widened his eyes at those words.
"Esperanza-nim?"
He tilted his head and muttered as he neatly rolled even the tail into his inventory.
"Don't you need it..."
??????°??☆????°??????
Cider, who had been in the research room inside the corridor, felt the outside brightening and got up from his seat. When he turned off the machines and simply organized the research he had just started and returned to the study, surprisingly, Esperanza was sitting on the sofa with an excited face.
Except for the leather pants wrapped around her legs and her sweat-soaked nape, she wasn't much different from when they usually hung around together in the laboratory.
"You ca back quickly. You should have looked for ."
There was no answer. Why? Cider approached Esperanza. He bent his waist and made eye contact. Her cheeks and neck, where curly hair had stuck, were flushed red, and her breath touching close was hot. Her heart was beating so busily it was noisy to the ears.
She was just panting, unable to control her remaining excitent. She had never been like this before.
"Are you alright?"
The answer ca back as shallow nods between labored breathing. She wasn't hurt, at least.
What to do about this? Cider, lost in thought, wiped her wet cheeks with a handkerchief.
Esperanza looked at Cider with blurred eyes. Leaning against the sofa, she only lifted her head to et his gaze. Her blurred gaze seed to be pulling him closer. Cider grasped Esperanza's chin and lifted it. Large hands cupped her cheeks. A long shadow fell over her blurred eyes.
Cyrus, who had put all the dragon's corpse and the surrounding monster corpses into his inventory, fell into brief contemplation in front of the laboratory.
Even if they talked later, it seed better to deliver the monster byproducts to the magical engineer. Since they had defeated it together, Esperanza also had a share in the dragon's corpse.
He entered the laboratory interior through the open door. Though both the entrance and reception room were empty, he could quickly tell where the two people were.
Middle of the corridor. Cyrus stopped walking. From Esperanza, who would normally notice a person's presence before anyone else, only intermittent panting sounds could be heard.
Long hair that had fallen behind the sofa swayed in soft curves. Cider, who had been facing the door crack, narrowed his eyes. After seeming surprised for a mont, eventually the corners of his eyes held mockery.
Cyrus felt his entire body burn hot. The sha of seeing what he shouldn't have seen. Humiliation. And when being caught doing what shouldn't be caught...
White arms pulled Cider's neck down. The two bodies collapsed onto the sofa. Low laughter and breathing mixed, and occasionally golden hair and a back wrapped in a white shirt appeared over the sofa back, then disappeared, pulled by arms wrapped around the neck. Cyrus stood frozen like stone, only watching that scene, then couldn't bear it and fled.
He hadn't seen anything. Nothing at all.
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