CHAPTER 63: THE HYDRA’S REAWAKENING

The dragon had been slumbering for eons.

How much time had passed since this vexing seal was placed onto it?

Release me! Release me from here!

The dragon thrashed and struggled countless times over.

However, the seal didn’t bulge in the slightest, stubbornly imprisoning the dragon’s massive body.

Even so, the dragon thrashed and struggled.

Then, one day, it realized.

The seal was weakening, little by little.

…HAHAHAHAHA! MERE HUMANS COULD NEVER IMPRISON A DRAGON SUCH AS I! YOU DAMNED HUMANS, I’LL RETURN THE FAVOR A HUNDREDFOLD FOR THIS!

The thought of that day made the dragon feel slightly better.

Slowly but surely, the seal became looser and looser.

The dragon knew.

This seal was seal in name only. The day of its collapse grew closer by the day.

Aah, how exciting, how exciting. How many humans shall I feast on? How much land shall I drench with poison? I’ll crunch down on their bones and turn this world into one where flowers never bloom.

The dragon spent its days fantasizing about such things.

The dragon’s prediction was—

completely off the mark.

The seal… is falling apart…!?

The seal began collapsing much faster than the dragon had predicted.

The seal, which the dragon had thought it would destroy with its own power, dissolved and faded away like mist.

…What’s going on…?

The dragon was suspicious, but it mattered not.

If its prison was gone, then all that was left was to step outside.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MEASLY HUMANS SHAN’T CONTAIN MY WRATH SO EASILY! I’LL SHOW YOU THE END OF THIS WORLD!

The dragon ascended to the surface from the depths of the lake.

After an eternity of being held prisoner—

The nine heads of the dragon imposed themselves upon the world anew.

Raising its eyes to the sky, the dragon saw the night sky. Not even the moon could be seen as the darkness of the night stretched across the horizon.

…So this is the current world…

The 18 eyes of the dragon’s nine heads glared at its surroundings with contempt.

…Now then, I suppose I shall start here. The beginning of my revenge, that is! You humans shan’t beat me as easily as last time!

Just then—

The dragon’s acute sense of hearing picked up a small voice.

“Magic Arrow—”

Then, the voice continued like so:

“All Cannons Released: Full Burst.”

Moments after—

A massive amount of something resembling flashes of light flew at the dragon from far below.  

Wha-

The dragon didn’t even have the time to think.

An all-devouring energy violently detonated on the dragon’s body at the moment of impact.

GUOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

A scream erupted from the back of the dragon’s throat.

The resilient scales that covered the dragon’s body were torn asunder, and the flesh thereunder was relentlessly ripped apart. It wasn’t just one spot, either; it was the dragon’s entire body. Every imaginable part of its body was host to a festival of white flowers in full bloom.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME!? SOMETHING IS INJURING ME TO THIS EXTENT!?

The dragon, having just awoken from its eternal slumber, writhed intense pain without any clue as to what was happening.

This was damage greater than anything the dragon ever experienced, even including the time before it was sealed, but—

The dragon didn’t die.

However, it didn’t come out unscathed. Two of the nine heads that the dragon took pride in lost strength and crumbled to the ground; the remaining seven heads sustained grave injuries.

…WHO WAS IT!? WHO DID THIS TO ME—!?

The reply was swift.

White arrows directly hit the brows of the dragon’s remaining heads. The dragon was tormented by pain so intense, it felt as though its heads were about to split in two.

…W-WHAT!?

The dragon turned its heads and looked towards the source of the white arrows.

—!

The dragon held its breath.

WHITE ARROWS ARE CONTINUOUSLY FLYING AT ME FROM THAT DARK MOUNTAINSIDE!

The white arrows pierced every corner of the dragon’s body, spreading violent energy of mass destruction and destroying its flesh.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The dragon bellowed. However, it wasn’t because of the pain.

It was out of fury.

A surge of vehement wrath flared within the dragon.

THERE’S SOMETHING THERE!

SOMETHING I CAN’T IGNORE!

The dragon understood.

This was a trap. Those humans decided to kill the dragon and released it from the seal.

YOU IMPUDENT HUMANS! YOU DARE MAKE LIGHT OF A DRAGON SUCH AS I!?

I’LL SMASH THIS SHORT-SIGHTED SCHEME TO PIECES!

Without faltering, the dragon stepped toward the arrows that assailed it and began its advance.

“…I couldn’t bring it down in one go, huh…”

Even after driving 10,000 Magic Arrows into the dragon all at once, it still didn’t fall.

“…I don’t really know how I should go about defeating it, but if I bring down all nine of its heads, then maybe I’ll manage…”

It already lost two.

Seven remained. Those seven heads weren’t unscathed, either.

Can I do it?

I pointed my right hand forward.

“Magic Arrow.”

The single arrow I shot managed to strike the Hydra.

The dragon took it, but it didn’t even flinch. All seven heads turned in the direction I was in and glared at me.

Something like that wouldn’t give me cold feet.

“Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow.”

I fired six consecutive Magic Arrows.

As long as I was firing Magic Arrows, it was only obvious that the dragon would notice me. All I had to do was make sure it never broke through my line of absolute defense. 

The only thing I could do—

was shoot Magic Arrows.

The Hydra probably recognized me as a threat.

It leaped forward in my direction with great momentum.

Whoa!

It covered that much distance with just a single step!?

“Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow—”

I began rapid-firing Magic Arrows once more.

This time, without pause, I shot endlessly.

Looks like giving it the opportunity to move freely was considerably dangerous. It covered the distance between us in the blink of an eye.

The only choice I had was to suppress it with my Magic Arrow’s firepower.

However, it looked like things wouldn’t go so smoothly.

Even if I went all out and hit it repeatedly with my Magic Arrows, the Hydra didn’t stop. Even if the scales covering its enormous, mountain-sized body were blown away; even if it continued to shed blood, it never ceased its advance.

Slowly but surely, it got closer and closer.

…I suppose it’s filled with fighting spirit.

In that case, how about we play a little game of attrition, o Hydra?

I can’t afford to lose, either.

“Magic Arrow.”

Until your spirit breaks, I’ll just keep blasting you with Magic Arrows.