7. Black Dragon

◇ ◇ ◇

It’s been half a year since I entered the Labyrinth of Time’s Lament, and today I will finally fight the Black Dragon.

Before entering the room with the black dragon, I check my status.

Name: Louis
Gender: Male Race: Human Age: 16
Level: 91 (Status and skills are being hidden) Title: Heaven Sent Child of Creation
ＨＰ：26760／26760 ＭＰ：33363／33363
Strength: 3645 Resistance: 3345 Agility: 3895 Dexterity: 3216
Magic: 3595 Spirit: 3925
Skills

【Special Skills】
Creation Lv7・Status Enhancement Lv8・Accelerated Skill Growth Lv7・Accelerated Status Growth Lv10・Accelerated Experience Growth Lv8

【Weapons・Physical Skills】
Weapon Master Lv8・Martial Arts Lv6・Body Strengthening Lv9・Raise Maximum HP Lv6・Accelerated HP Recovery Lv4・High-Speed Parallel Thinking Lv3・Regeneration Lv6・Airwalk Lv9・Blink Walk Lv7

【Magic Skills】
All Attribute Magic Lv8・Raise Maximum MP Lv7・Accelerated MP Recovery Lv7・Magic Power Manipulation Lv8・Chantless Lv6・MP Pool Revision Lv8

【Others】
Appraisal Lv10・Concealment Lv10・Crafting Master Lv4・Crisis Detection Lv7・Intuition Lv6・Detection Lv4・Dismantling Lv6・Service Lv5・Otherworldly Goods Trade Lv3・All Language Comprehension・Life Magic

【Accelerated Status Growth】
When I level up, I get better status growth. The amount of increase is skill level × 10%.

【Accelerated Experience Growth】
Increases the amount of experience gained when defeating monsters. The amount of increase is skill level × 10%.

【Weapon Master】
I can use any weapon at my disposal.
By using 〈Creation〉 combining the skills of〈Swordsmanship〉〈Dagger Arts〉〈Great Sword Arts〉〈Twin Sword Arts〉〈Shield Arts〉〈Axe Arts〉〈Spear Arts〉〈Martial Arts〉〈Staff Arts〉〈Archery〉〈Grappling Arts〉, I became a 〈Weapon Master〉
The skill level will be the average of the integrated skills.
Any skill out of the integrated ones will increase my proficiency, so it is easy to increase my skill level.

【Martial Arts】
Depending on the specific method of attack, it becomes a single technique and increases in power.

【High-Speed Parallel Thinking】
Thinking can be done in parallel at high speed.
When I integrated 〈Fast Thinking〉 and 〈Parallel Thinking〉 by using the skill 〈Creation〉, I got 〈High-Speed Parallel Thinking〉
Any skill out of the integrated ones will increase my proficiency, so it is easy to increase my skill level.

【Regeneration】
Gradual healing of all injuries, including regenerating missing parts.

【Blink Walk】
I can move instantaneously at a value higher than its status.

【All Attribute Magic】
I am able to use all kinds of magic.
What kind of magic it is and how powerful it is depends on the image and the MP consumed.
〈Light Magic〉〈Dark Magic〉〈Fire Magic〉〈Water Magic〉〈Wind Magic〉〈Earth Magic〉〈Lightning Magic〉〈Gravity Magic〉〈Space-Time Magic〉 has been combined with the skill 〈Creation〉 to form 〈All Attribute Magic〉
Since proficiency increases with any magic in integration, it is easy to increase your skill level.

【Chantless】
I can activate a spell with only its magic name.
The power of magic invoked by 〈Discard Chanting〉 is the power of the magic when invoked by chanting × skill level × 10%.

【MP Pool Revision】
Any amount of MP can be pooled and withdrawn at any time for use. The maximum MP you can pool is skill level × 100.

【Crafting Master】
I can make all kinds of things.
By combining the skills of 〈Blacksmithing〉, 〈Carving〉, 〈Crafting〉, 〈Woodworking〉, 〈Leatherworking〉, 〈Sewing〉, 〈Metalworking〉, 〈Smelting〉, and 〈Compounding〉, you become a 〈Crafting Master〉.
Any skill out of the integrated ones will increase my proficiency, so it is easy to increase my skill level.
What I can make depends on the image.
The quality of what I make depends on my skill level.

【Crisis Detection】
The ability to perceive danger.

【Intuition】
It makes it easier for my intuition to work.

【Detection】
Able to detect the presence of creatures and traps within a certain range (radius of skill level × 20 meters) centered on me.

【Dismantling】
I will be able to dismantle monsters and animals better and faster.

【Otherworldly Goods Trade】
I can order goods from other worlds with MP as the price.
The size that can be retrieved is skill level × 10 cm2. It is impossible to order the living organisms.
The MP consumption is skill level × 15000. Can be used once every 120 hours.

I can’t use〈Otherworldly Goods Trade〉without 〈MP Pool Revision〉 at the moment, but it’s very useful. I mainly order seasonings, without which I think my meals would have been terrible.

After obtaining 〈Crafting Master〉, I made equipment from materials of monsters I hunted in dungeons.

I’ve been updating them one after another, so my current equipment consists of a two-meter-long mithril sword made from mithril golem material, armor made from manticore fur and mithril, a breastplate, greaves and shin guards.

Due to the influence of time and space, I am now 16 years old and have grown to about 175 centimeters tall, so the size of the weapon is not an obstacle.

I tried full plate once, but it made a lot of noise and I had to go light to take advantage of my quickness.

The tent for camping is also made of Manticore leather, which is quite strong.

The level of 〈Space-Time Magic〉 has been raised, and thanks to the ability to use the 【Item Box】, my belongings are clean.

The first time I used it, I was quite impressed. A real four-dimensional thing! When I first became able to use it, I was so excited that I wasted a lot of time moving things in and out of it.

I was lucky that no one had seen it. If anyone had seen that, I think I would have squirmed to death in embarrassment. ……

I can’t put anything that is alive in the 【Item Box】, but I can put monsters in after I defeat them.

So much for confirmation, I opened the door to the 100th floor.

When I entered the boss’s room, I found a 30-meter-long black dragon standing in a grim atmosphere.

The black dragon roars with a heavy thunderous low roar. The volume of his voice was tremendous, and the shaking air reached me.

I decided that the first thing to do was to analyse the strength of the opposing force, so I used 〈Appraisal〉 on the black dragon in my sight.

Black Dragon
Level: 95
ＨＰ：95000／95000 ＭＰ：57000／57000
Strength: 3571 Resistance: 3526 Agility: 3922 Dexterity: 2900
Magic: 3610 Spirit: 4200
Skills
Bite Lv. 9・Flight Lv. 9・Breath Lv. 9・Seal Art Lv. 7: used to seal the spirit Kronos・Dark Magic Lv. 9・Regeneration Lv. 4

As I was looking at the results of Black Dragon’s appraisal, a laser-like black 〈Breath〉 flew at me.

I hastily switch my thoughts to combat mode and avoid it.

I sneaked around behind a black dragon with 〈Body Strengthening〉 and 〈Blink Walk〉 at the same time to avoid it, and 〈Crisis Detection〉 acted when I was just going to cut off its tail.

At once, I tried to keep my distance, but at the same time, a black sphere appeared near its tail.

Is that 〈Dark Magic〉? …… It looks like it’s a sphere with an object inside it?

「【Sunshine Laser】！」

I used my 〈Light Magic〉 to cancel out the black sphere and used my 〈Airwalk〉 to attack the wings. The black dragon was trying to evade, but I had read its movements and brought down my mithril sword accordingly, successfully slicing off one of its wings.

At the same time, however, I took a blow from its tail that it swiped to the side and was slammed against the wall.

I immediately checked my own body wounds and felt a severe pain in my ribs. This may be …… cracked.

However, I don’t have time to be in pain right now, so I put up with the pain and immediately start running while chanting【High Heal】.

The Black Dragon has 〈Regeneration〉, so if I don’t deal damage in succession, it will recover. While successfully fending off the black dragon’s 〈Bite〉 and tail attacks, I channelled magic power into my mithril sword to increase its sharpness.

I tried to slow down the black dragon by activating a 【Downburst】 that combined 〈Wind Magic〉 and 〈Gravity Magic〉, but it was offset by 〈Dark Magic〉.

「【Sunshine Ring】！」

I made over 30 rings of light using 〈Light Magic〉 and target the black dragon, that hindered the black dragon’s movement.

However, it still didn’t seem to be a decisive blow, and the black dragon easily broke through the ring of light by force.

I’ll have to try out my 〈Martial Arts〉 here. I decided to do so, and slightly lowered my waist and slightly strengthened my grip on my sword.

And so I roared as I approached black dragon――

「【Adamantine Speed Decapitation】！」

The slash from me approached the black dragon, and …… I thought to myself, 『Did I do it?!』 The moment I think that I have done it, it was already gone.

As soon as I moved my gaze to look for the missing black dragon, a tremendous shock hit me.

「Guuaaah」

The next thing I knew, I was plunged into a wall.

「Guu, when did this …… guha」

After my voice involuntarily leaks out, I vomit blood. Is this some kind of internal organ damage?

I’m in terrible pain all over my body, and I already can’t immediately identify which part of my body is injured. The 〈Martial Arts〉 are very powerful, but I’m not used to using them yet. After using it, there was a gap and it exploited it. ……

「I have to recover quickly… 【High Heal】―― guaaaaaaa」

As soon as I recovered from the magic, the 〈Breath〉 from the black dragon had landed on me. I can smell the unpleasant smell of my own flesh burning.

The pain and smell were unbearable, but I knew I had to check on it first, so I turned my gaze to the black dragon.――

Just a little further away, it opened its mouth again and was preparing to release 〈Breath〉―― This is bad!

I decide to do so and recover immediately.

「【Extra Heal】！」

A warm glow enveloped me, and my charred skin began to regenerate rapidly. And then the 〈Breath〉 came flying.

As I avoided it by using〈Blink Walk〉, I heard the sound of something flapping its wings. Then, the black dragon jumped up about 20 meters and released a 〈Breath〉 from the air.

The wings should have been sliced off. ……or so I thought and looked at the black dragon and saw that the wings had already regenerated.

I was able to avoid the flying 〈Breath〉 with time to spare, and I also stepped into the sky using my 〈Airwalk〉.

「Damn, I gotta get this thing on the ground.」

Muttering to myself, I swung my sword at the black dragon. However, as I’m not used to aerial combat, my slashes are inevitably half-hearted, and I’m unable to slash the wings that I should have been able to slash off earlier.

The Black Dragon was no stranger to aerial combat, and I was slowly being pushed into a corner and becoming defensive.

After all, it’s wrong for someone who acquired the ability to walk in the air to challenge a guy who originally had the ability to fly in an aerial battle.

After concluding that, I got down on the ground to check my condition.

I’ve already spent quite a bit of MP ……. My HP has just recovered, so I’m still fine.

It was a good thing I had a full stock of MP Pool Revision just in case. I immediately withdraw and replenish my MP.

I don’t know if the black dragon is a little tired, but it’s standing in midair, staring at me.

Giving it time to rest is a bad idea. After all, it has 〈Regeneration〉.

I accelerated my thoughts further to give the black dragon a decisive blow. In the end, I would like to use my 〈Martial Arts〉 skills to cut off its head, but I want to restrain it before that.

It’s a big guy, but it’s pretty quick, just like its status. And we need to get it down, because aerial combat is not good for me anyway.

I thought I had gotten used to fighting up to this point, but since I hadn’t faced an enemy as strong as this guy, I realized that my attacks had inevitably become a pattern. There’s so much I can do now that I’m still trying to figure out which is the best move.

I’ll have to draw out more to fight an opponent of this strength.

After thinking about it, I decided on a plan and started to take action. With the 〈MP Pool Revision〉, I have more endurance than it.

「I’m gonna go all out from here!」

I threw words at the black dragon that he couldn’t possibly understand, and I steeled myself.

「First I’ll bring you down to earth! Take this, with all the MP you’ve got!【Downburst】!!」

The black dragon is desperately trying to resist the downward flow that was generated with my words, but――

「Resistance is useless!!」

I kneaded my magic even more, increasing the power of my magic. And – finally – the black dragon fell to the ground.

「I’ve been waiting for this moment!【Warp】!」

I moved to the back of the black dragon at once, and swung my sword down at once with magic power flowing through it.

「Gugyaaa」

With such a scream, a spray of blood flew and one of the black dragon’s wings fell to the ground. I wanted to drop two of them, but did I have any left to spare?

Well, all right. From here on, it would be best not to use any major techniques until the very end. If I run out of MP, I’ll be in danger.

I’m going to take care of it exactly like a Tsume-shogi game. And so I swing my sword at the black dragon again――

◇ ◇ ◇

――Isn’t it about time? After a while of fighting, I felt the black dragon’s movements clearly slowing down.

「【Sunshine Ring】！」

The black dragon was struggling to get rid of the ring of light that clung to its body, but this time it seemed that it could not break through with force, and there was no sign of the restraints being removed.

And from there, as we fought more and more like a battle of endurance, the black dragon started to move less and less. The 〈Regeneration〉 is not yet complete.

And then, taking advantage of the momentary gap, I use the 〈Blink Walk〉.

After feinting, I use a short warp to move near the black dragon’s wing and cut off the other wing as well.

「Gugyaaa aa a」

The black dragon is screaming and flailing.

I thought this was my chance, so I used more 〈Earth Magic〉.

「【Rock Prison】」

A hard rock suddenly appeared, binding the black dragon’s head to the ground. I’ve put a lot of MP into it, and with its weakening power, it will be impossible to remove.

If I’ve restrained it this far, there should be no way to avoid it now.

「Black Dragon, this is the end.」

Then I flash my mithril sword.

「【Adamantine Speed Decapitation】！」

There was no way to avoid it, as it was fully restrained, and the sharp slash became an invisible blade that sliced off the black dragon’s head.

「Fuu, it’s done.」

I muttered a few words as soon as I had killed it, and my face relaxed involuntarily from relief.

I also spent a lot of my pooled MP, so the battle was a lot more close than I thought it would be.

But for now, I had achieved my goal, and I was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

《16 Each New Journey》

As soon as the black dragon was defeated, the heavy atmosphere in the area seemed to dissipate.

I quickly dismantled the corpse of the black dragon and put it in the 【Item Box】, then examined the boss room and found a transition zone that seemed to be for escape. I could also see another room further in the back, so I decided to check that one out.

There, I found the main body of Kronos trapped inside the crystalline body.

The crystalline body is emitting a vapor-like substance and appears to be melting rapidly.

It’s going to be a long time before the crystalline form is gone. So I decide to check out the various metals in the room and the shiny red gem embedded in the wall.

When I appraised the metals, I found that mithril was the most common, and there was also silver, gold, and a little bit of orichalcum, so I stored those in the 【Item Box】 as well.

The glowing red jewel looks like a dungeon core. In order to prevent the stampede from happening in the future in this dungeon, I pull the dungeon core out of the wall and put it in the【Item Box】.

This is a dungeon built by the Black Dragon. After I left Lisa and the others, I heard from the Kronos spirit that the stampede was caused by the Black Dragon.

In other words ―― the method of generation was different from that of a normal stampede.

The normal stampede is said to occur when the number of monsters in the dungeon increases too much.

For that matter, I don’t know if there will be a boss in this dungeon now that the black dragon is gone.

Well, I guess it doesn’t matter either way.

However, if it excites you, you may want to come and beat it eventually.

About 20 minutes later, the crystalline body seemed to have completely dissolved, and Kronos, who had regained consciousness, spoke to me.

「You must be Louis, thank you for this time. Now that the seal has been broken, my spirit body has become one with me. The memories of my mental body have also entered me, so I understand the situation. Thank you so much, you’ve been a big help.」
「No, don’t worry about it. I wanted to be strong, and I only helped you because it was in line with my goals.」
「I’d like to give you something in return, though, but I’m not sure what. I wonder if this is it?」

Kronos said, and pulled out a strange branch and leaf from the void that felt like some kind of power. Now that’s probably an【Item Box】, I know because I use it myself.

Anyway, what’s that thing Kronos is holding? I sense some kind of considerable power. ……

「Fufu, you look like you don’t know what this is, do you? These are the branches and leaves of the World Tree. Anything made from this material will be of considerable quality. There may come a time in the future when it will be useful in your life, Louis.」
「I was just helping out as a side note, how can I get something so nice?」
「Yeah, I’d appreciate it if you’d take that as a symbol of my gratefulness.」

I receive ten branches and ten leaves of the World Tree.

As I pondered whether I would eventually make something with it, Kronos looked at me with a satisfied look on his face.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I remove my gaze from him.

「I’ve been sealed up for so long that I’ve depleted a lot of my spiritual power, so I’m going back to the spirit world. If my spirit power decreases any further, I’ll become a minor spirit.」

When I was surprised to hear the fact for the first time, Kronos bailed out and then used【Warp】 to leave.

Thus, having finished everything I had to do in the Labyrinth of Time’s Lament, I decided to escape.

I could have escaped on my own, but I decided to give it a try, so I got on the transporter I had just found, and the scenery darkened for a moment after the surroundings glowed.

The next thing I saw was the entrance to the Labyrinth of Time’s Lament.

After escaping the labyrinth, I decided to set off for the capital of the Midogal Kingdom, where Airi and Lisa were waiting for me.

◆ ◆ ◆

Six months have passed since the tragedy in Dallas. Currently, I, Airi, and Lisa-sama are living together in a small house in Midoria, the capital of the Midogal Kingdom.

Life without Dan-sama, Sarah-sama, and Louis-sama……

Lisa-sama is taking care of me and letting me rest to stabilize my mind, but ……

As it is, I can’t meet Louis-sama with my heart on my chest. ……

If they could see me now, I’m sure Mom and Dad in heaven, as well as Dan-sama and Sarah-sama, would be scolding me. ……

All of them are now deceased, but all of them were very active in their lives.

I know that being an adventurer is a dangerous profession, but I want to become a great adventurer like the four of you.

On this day, I made the decision to become an adventurer, not as a maid as I had been, in order to survive the rest of my life.

◆ ◆ ◆

Since coming to Midoria, I, Lisa, have been mostly at home, although I sometimes take requests from the adventurer’s guild.

The reason for this was, after all, the deaths of Dan, Sarah and Galwin, who had been with us for many years, and Airi was still not well.

This day, as I was relaxing in my room and drinking tea, Airi knocked and came in.

「Lisa-sama, I need a favour. I know it’s dangerous, but I want to be an adventurer too. Could you please train me?」

She still has a little shadow on her face, but she seems to have blown it off.

It’s important to be committed to something, and it would help her feel better.

「Okay, I know the training can be tough at times, is that okay with you?」
「Yes!」
「So, first of all, since we’re going to be fellow adventurers from now on, can you please stop calling me ‘sama’?」
「Yes, I understand. Lisa-san!」

From now on, I’ll train Airi and register her with the Adventurer’s Guild, and we’ll form a party and start with simple requests.

As I thought about this, my expression seemed to clear up somewhat.