Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Two: Dealing with the Dragon
“Shall we go at it, Julius?”
“Not yet. We wait until it comes fully through the gate. It will be more weakened by then—easier to bring down.”
Julius said it with perfect composure, and Karen frowned. He had come to understand how to cross floors so that he could follow Karen. Which meant that if Julius ever "crossed floors" to follow her, he too would be broken, just like the black dragon.
Karen kept her tone carefully casual.
“You said the black dragon is weakened from crossing floors—does it ever recover?”
“What is broken fundamentally cannot be restored. So there’s nothing to worry about, Karen.”
“…I see.”
Julius probably assumed Karen was afraid the black dragon might recover. He had smiled to reassure her as he said it—and then, seeing Karen’s expression darken, his own face shifted to one of realization. What Karen had wanted to know was whether Julius, if he ever pushed himself too far to follow her and broke in the process, would be able to heal.
“It can’t be restored. I see… I see.”
“Karen. Let’s talk about it later. The black dragon has to come first.”
Julius covered things up with a smile and tried to redirect Karen’s attention to the dragon. Frowning, Karen nevertheless went along with Julius’s intention and looked toward the black dragon.
At first, the sight of the enormous dragon’s head barely squeezing through the jaw-shaped gate between the black pillars shocked her, but once she calmed down, it no longer seemed that frightening. That probably meant the black dragon had weakened that much. Its fangs were sharp, its red tongue was lined with barbs, and every black scale looked razor-edged—yet something the true black dragon should have possessed was missing from that body.
Julius looked down at it with a relaxed expression and said:
“If it doesn’t hurry up and come out, we’ll miss the award ceremony.”
“Mr. Julius, you’re still planning to win the hunting festival in the middle of all this?”
“Of course I am, Karen. Clearing a new dungeon on top of returning to the surface with the body of a black dragon—weakened though it may be—my victory would be beyond question. And when you receive my prize, you will become the Queen of the Hunt.”
Being named Queen of the Hunt was an honor in noble society. Karen didn’t quite feel the weight of it herself, but she could tell as much from Julius’s warm smile. It was his way of showing consideration—perhaps his engagement gift to Karen. And yet even before this heartfelt offering, only one thing kept turning over and over in her mind.
A broken soul could not be restored. If Karen stayed as she was, she might one day cause Julius to break his own soul.
She wondered if asking him to stop would make any difference, and a dry laugh escaped her. After all, Karen herself had never intended to listen to Julius’s pleas for her not to do such things anymore. No matter how dangerous the place Julius was in, if Karen wanted to go and bring him back, she would go.
“Should we drag it out?”
“…If you’re with me, that might actually work. Karen! Stay back!”
Licht and Julius faced the black dragon. Karen did as Julius said and retreated quietly to the wall. Ready to respond to whatever might happen, she took out an herb she had gathered and closed her fist around it inside her glove.
“Same as in the Great Collapse Stampede, right? Attacking a monster stuck in the gate draws it out?”
“Yes. Weakening it allows it to pass through the gate.”
“Got it. I’ll match your timing.”
“Then—three, two, one—now!”
Julius and Licht drove their swords simultaneously into the dragon’s neck from either side. The black dragon screamed and writhed, then slid its enormous body through the gate—through what should have been too narrow a passage—and into the tenth floor.
“Licht, don’t let your guard—”
Down, was how it was meant to end. Since Julius had said as much, he surely had not let his guard down himself.
But in the very next instant, the black dragon slithered between Julius and Licht with a speed too fast for the eye to follow.
“Karen!”
Julius was moving before the word had left his mouth. But if the black dragon had truly been targeting Karen and had been able to understand where she was, Julius likely would not have made it in time.
Except that Karen was no longer at the wall where the dragon had crashed.
She had already made her way over to Licht’s side, leaving Julius charging past her toward the dragon, and now she broke out in a cold sweat.
Julius was sweating even more than she was, and his voice trembled when he spoke:
“How… why are you over here?”
“I suppressed my presence and moved. Even you didn’t notice—I’m rather good at this, aren’t I?”
“You suppressed your… presence?”
“Julius, talk later—deal with the dragon first!”
Julius nodded, his face gone pale, and took his stance alongside Licht, sword raised toward the dragon.
“Even weakened from crossing floors, a dragon is still a dragon. It sure knows how to scare the hell out of us.”
“…Indeed. It seems I underestimated the achievements of my ancestors.”
Licht was making light of it, but Julius’s color was terrible.
“But your girlfriend surpasses even that dragon! What the hell does ‘concealing your presence’ mean!? Explain yourself, Karen! There’s no way I can concentrate on fighting until I understand!”
It was Julius who couldn’t focus, clearly. Karen nodded and raised her voice:
“I’ve been thinking for a while that if I used up every bit of magical power in my body and reached a state of zero magical power, maybe monsters would have trouble seeing me!”
“…You tried that for the first time just now?!”
Licht’s smile went rigid, and he turned just as pale as Julius. But she had been picking up hints for some time. The people who had once been active inside dungeons with little magical power—Horst and those like him—how had they managed it? The monster-repelling magical tool she had seen at Urgo’s Magical Tool Shop had worked by generating a film of zero magical power.
That was why she had been gripping a rooted medicinal herb inside her glove—and she had drained her magical power on purpose, timing it with Julius and Licht’s attack on the monster, just to be safe. Given how weak Karen was, even with her magical power full, she would never survive an attack from the black dragon anyway. She had figured the result would be the same either way, but it had been terrifying all the same.
Karen had already used a medium healing potion on herself. She had no idea when she would be able to use another. Besides, this was by no means a foolproof method of remaining undetected. After all, a pegasus had once located a zero-magical-power zone for the sake of its child.
“It might still be able to hear our voices, so that’s enough explanation for now!”
“Right! Now be quiet!”
Irritated by the unreasonable response, Karen nevertheless obeyed Licht and fell silent.
But why had the dragon targeted Karen in the first place? Had it simply recognized that she was the weakest in the party and gone for her—she had begun channeling magical power back into the herb to suppress her presence again and was starting to shift positions when the black dragon’s voice reached her ears.
‘Where… are… you…?’
Hearing the hoarse voice of what sounded like an old man, Karen stopped channeling magical power into the herb.
In that instant, the black dragon’s golden eyes swiveled and fixed directly on her.
Licht stepped in front of her. Julius pulled her close. This time, the defensive formation held firm.
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