Riot Grasper

「OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!」

A yell echoed through the air. It was a roar that made me question whether or not he could be a demon, but it seemed to have maintained some reason, and I could hear a muffled voice from deep within the outer shell.

「….. At best, give me a leg up.」

No longer was Belga's entire body completely covered in jade-colored scales. As soon as the legs, which look like a mass of muscle fibers reinforced by the outer shell, seem to swell even more, his figure disappeared in an instant.

No, it looked like they disappeared.

It took a moment for my consciousness to catch up to the fact that I had leapt into the air in a preliminary movement. The tension of knowing that I could be killed if I let my guard down even a little bit made me brace myself once again.

「Destroy—!!!!」

The voice was as loud as ever, and a blow was delivered from above, trying to make me disappear. As it was unlikely that I would be able to intercept it in time, I sidestepped to the left to get as far away from it as possible. How much had the attack power been strengthened…?

The moment Belga's fist reached the ground, the soil on the ground turned over as if he had thrown a rock into water, with earth and sand rising up like a splash of water, only to come falling back down.

….. Wow. It's more destructive than I imagined.

I took a second look at the gear I was currently wearing. My armor is supposed to be impact resistant. It was made by the master craftsman Zig Saruman, and is woven from black steel threads that are stronger than any metal. It will not leave you unscathed, but it will heavily reduce the damage you may have otherwise taken.

Anyway, running around is not going to get us anywhere. Now — it's my turn. I kicked off the ground as soon as I landed, closing the distance between me and my enemy, as if playing the situation in reverse. I used wind magic to assist my body and move as fast as possible, but it still wasn't enough.

Fast.

Just be fast.

Faster…

「Haaaaahhhh!」

I held my sword in the uppermost position, ready to slash Belga head-on.

— One swipe.

I put all of my strength into the pit of my stomach and swung my sword down. It may sound cool to say that it was a full force blow, but in other words, it was just swinging the sword head-on without thinking. It was not possible for me to get through, and he caught me by the arm.

I had cut into the flash slightly earlier, but his new outer shell was not going to allow me to do even that. I can't tell if it is my lack of ability or if my sword is not sharp enough.

Since I had no complaints about the sword that Zig made, I am completely out of my depth. A magical sword whose sharpness increases as its wearer cuts down the lives of their own kind. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but I think it's a great idea.

Oh the horror… That's why I prepared another way. I could predict that even if I slashed at him head on, he would stop me.

「It's from here!」

I switched my sword to one-handed thrust my palm out in front of my opponents eyes, and activated the light magic I had prepared.

— Light Burst

Blinding at close range. I have chosen magic that will be effective even if the opponent is covered by an outer shell.

「Guh… ugh.」

Belga twisted his body, creating a small opening. As expected, I'm not so naïve as to miss the opportunity. I tried to active the skill by reaching into his outer shell, but the result was that it didn't work. I was able to transfer skills to Rook through her outer shell, so I guess it's better to think of this outer shell as a kind of armor.

Well, then—

「Oooooohhhhh!」

I swung a single, focused sword strike toward his torso, where the target was the largest and easiest to aim. If the scales, like green jade emeralds, are impervious to the blade – just peel them off.

Even hard scales can be peeled off if pressure is applied from the right direction. I have fond memories of playing with Rook's scales during a break because they were so beautiful and they flaked off.

….. she was seriously pissed off about that one. I thought she'd never let me ride her again. Well, it wasn't a total waste of time if that experience comes in handy here.

I definitely need to feed him something nice later. I stabbed my sword into the gap between his scales, splitting the flesh attached to it.

ギャリギィッ。(TL: This translates to Garrighiy. I have no idea what it means.)

With a sound similar to scraping metal, a hard object tumbled to the ground.

— One piece.

— Two pieces.

— Three pieces.

— More! More! (TL: DeepL translated this literally to Mada Mada! and I thought it was funny)

The scales shattered at my feet, covering the ground with tiny green emeralds. And after several scales were peeled off, the flesh on the surface of his body was exposed.

Alright, if I slash through here, I can reach Belga's body–

「Geh… Don't get carried away!」

That's what I thought, but Belga whose eyesight had recovered, glared at me and swung his fist. I suddenly tried to turn my attacking motion into defense and parry it with my sword.

「Geh…」

I succeeded in changing the direction of his attack, but the recoil blew my body away. It's not easy to experience floating in the air for more than a few meters, but this is not the time to be worried about that. After positioning myself in the air, I slid across the ground eventually coming to a stop.

Damn. I was so close. Belga muttered a few words in frustration.

「Sorry about…」

What? What are you talking about? This guy. I don't remember doing anything to deserve an apology.

「I guess I was still underestimating you.」

「No, I'm rather close to my limit now.」

I have a very bad feeling about this. It should be pretty obvious what is going to happen when someone utters such a line.

「From the beginning — I should have gone all out.」

「Please don't do that. It's not funny.」

「I can't afford to laugh, and neither can you. You should be flattered. It's been a long time since I've taken myself seriously.」

Apparently, it's true that he meant it. Can I go home now? This is the exact kind of development that makes you want to ask such questions.

Belga's Elder Dragon's Scales, which summon the outer scales of an ancient dragon, has been trained to Lv. 3. I was afraid that Belga's skill would also change the form of the scales at each level, as my skill, Riot Grasper, grants benefits such as skill transfer with each level increase.

The first level makes the body rigid.

The second level is the current form.

What's the third level?

It's not that I'm not excited about further morphological changes, but I'd like to believe that the pounding in my chest right now is due to nervousness. How nervous am I?

「Uaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!」

With a fierce roar, Belga's body swelled even more. His tail became longer and thicker, the shape of his head changed, and fang-like teeth began to peek out of the outer shell. He put both of his hands on the ground and changed his form from humanoid to full dragon by switching from 2 legs to 4.

The ironclad rule is that during such a transformation, the hero is defenseless, yet somehow doesn't attack. This is because even if the hero defeats the villain during the transformation, he will just be bashed….

But I'm not a hero.

— I don't care about that.

I sprinted from the area where Belga had started to roar, using the changing body of my opponent as a spring board to leap high into the sky. With the help of wind magic, I think I was able to jump pretty high. And, at the top of peak, I eventually began to fall, straight towards Belga.

「I found… here it is.」

In the air, I took out from my tool bag – a white magic crystal. Inside is a magic ball that combines the six attributes I'm good at. This is the first time I've ever used a magic sphere in my life.

The target is… the spot where I just peeled off the scales of his outer shell. It seems to be repairing itself quite quickly, perhaps due to the life-enhancement skill, but it is not yet complete.

Sorry that it's during your transformation.

「Now were done!」

– Extreme Sword Symphonic Rave

Normally, I would unleash a sword wave that combines all of my attributes at the enemy but this time, I'm going to unleash the sword strike directly at the target. All of my weight and falling energy will also be added to this strike.

「Oooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!!!!」

I can feel the blade cutting into flesh. The sword squeaks in reaction to forcibly tearing through the thick outer shell like an idiot. For a moment, I was worried that my sword might break, but I had to trust Zig here.

「Yikes!!」

Relieved at the sensation of being able to swing my sword out safely, I fell to the ground with great force. At the same time, the spot where my technique had hit exploded. A six-colored explosion radiated as bright as the emerald dragon scales, and scattered.

Blown away by the blast after falling from a height, I slowly stood up, putting all my strength into my legs as I checked my physical condition. Although I am sore in several places, there does not seem to be any noticeable trauma.

「Did you… or…?」

I looked to the center of the explosion and said a few words.

— Instantly, my vision flipped.

First, I felt a sharp pain in my side, and then, like a ripple, the nerves that control pain sensations throughout my body were stimulated. I didn't have time to comprehend what had happened to me, and finally I felt a strong shock on my back.

「Gah… What is…」

Behind me, a wall.

Then, far ahead, I saw Belga in full dragon form. This is the first time I understand what he had done to me, as I saw him in a frozen posture where he was swinging out his extremely thick whip-like tails.

In other words, I was shivved. I was slightly caught off guard by the flames of the explosion, and it hit me in the side of the head. It hit me over ten meters.

「Ah…. guh…」

What is…? A slightly viscous red liquid spills onto the dry ground. From where…?

Ah ha… ha ha

That's nothing. It's from me. The disgusting feeling of warm liquid trickling down my tactilely sensitive lips. It seems like a lie that I have such an iron-smelling liquid flowing through my body.

Yikes…

If it wasn't for Zig's armor, I would seriously died. Even so, several of my ribs are broken, and my internal organs may be damaged as well. I guess I was lucky that my limbs were still intact though.

However, when I stood up, I felt a creaking pain all over my body. I tried to use my sword as a walking stick, but my sword was gone.

「Haha… this could be really, really bad.」

If he attacked me now, I wouldn't be able to deal with it, but it's not like he was left unscathed by my all-out blow either. I'm sure that damage was done to Belga himself. The fact that he's sitting still and not moving suggests that he's waiting for his wounds to heal.

I'd like to stick my arm in and take the original skill away from Belga's body before the severely damaged scales heal, but my body can't move that fast.

「Where's my sword?」

The recovery spell and self-healing from the life-force enhancement skill apparently allowed me to walk, and I slowly looked around.

「This is… yours, right?」

I was suddenly approached, and when I looked over, I saw Rei sitting there. I remember carrying her to the edge of the field so that he wouldn't become collateral damage in the battle after he lost consciousness.

「Did you notice….? Are you okay?」

Rei was still in a daze, but he picked up my sword and clutched it.

「At least I think I'm safer than you are now.」

「Maybe. By the way, that sword. Can you hand it over to me?」

While talking with Rei, I did not neglect to check on my own recovery and Belga's condition.

「Tell me one thing.」

「….what?」

「Why did you save me? Did Ren's story make you feel sorry for me?」

I don't think it's fair to ask such a difficult question to someone in such a bloody state.

「Do you need a reason to help someone?」

「Of course you do.」

Wow…. That was pretty much my favorite line. What a mess…

「I don't know what's going on with me either. That's enough. I don't have a lot of time to spare.」

「That's not an answer.」

With an expression of unconvinced satisfaction, Rei calmly held out the sword to me.

「You think you can win against that monster? You'll die.」

Monster, huh?

Surely that thing is much more threatening than a demon.

But… hmm?

Is that….?

「Haha, haha….」

I let out a chuckle as I found it funny, and Rei stared daggers at me, as if she was looking at a madman.

「No, maybe, but I think you're worried about me….」

Oh, that was a little weird of me to say.

「Huh? That was a warning. I'm saying it's stupid to die unwillingly.」

「I see. But… advice isn't for people you don't care about, is it?」

「……」

Some things can only be said with bloody tension. If I think about it later, I might regret saying some of them.

「Maybe that's the reason I helped you, Rei?」

— A moment of silence.

Her face is downcast, and I can't see it.

Okay, that's enough conversation for now.

My wounds haven't completely healed, but I've managed to get to the point where I can wield a sword.

「… I told you not call me by name so casually.」

I thought I heard such a voice as I ran back towards Belga.

TN: I have decided that Belga is a guy. Also, I have taken a few more liberties with my interpretations of the MTL. For example, I have combined certain sentences and strongly reworded others to make them more in line with what I believe the author was trying to convey. So, if anything seems off, let me know, and I will adjust in my future translations.

Future me here: Belga wasn't a guy.

Even further future me here: Belga was a guy