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We dismounted the cart at the tail end of the Volcano Dragon. This was directly opposite from where the raid was in full swing. What we saw there was the Volcano Dragon spewing lava, with Gideon weaving in and out of the flames in front of it.

“Phew—looks like we’re not late after all.”

“…We are late, though.”

“Aw, if we arrived before it ended, we wouldn’t be late, right?”

When you’re late to class, they mark you tardy, not absent, after all!

“By the way, what’s with these green specks?”

They had been falling from the sky like snow before we arrived. So, Evangelin, who was driving the cart, explained it for us.

“It’s the blessing of Yggdrasil.”

“Blessing?”

“It’s one of Yggdrasil’s abilities that provides various beneficial effects to our allies.”

Ah, so this green stuff I had only read about in novels was a buff. No wonder I felt such strength surging through me!

‘This buff is seriously awesome!’

I guess this explains why healers are always at the top of the rankings in games. The buff’s effectiveness is so impressive that I practically want to abduct Yggdrasil just to carry it around as a buff cover!

“By the way… can I go now?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Noticing that Evangelin was eager to get going, I let her leave. She had driven the cart and had taken care of everything for three days. Since she was no longer needed, I waved her off as she rushed towards the Volcano Dragon, using her magical power to speed up.

While I talked for a moment, the party’s eyes were fixed on the Volcano Dragon, looking more curious than afraid.

“Aren’t you guys scared?”

“…Remember what Luke has in his inventory? It makes the S-Rank Monster seem quite manageable.”

Following Luna’s words, both Yui and Riche nodded in agreement.

“Anyone would think you brought an S-Rank Monster in your inventory.”

Anyway, we headed toward the direction of the seal to join up. On the way, the Volcano Dragon’s lava breath came at us, but seeing the light green protective barrier from the World Tree, my heart swelled with pride. Of course, all the trees around it melted away regardless.

While we were sprinting for a while, Riche pointed out, “Luke, isn’t that Arthur?”

“Huh?”

Tilting my head 90 degrees to the left, I could see someone fighting, though obscured by trees.

Unable to resist the lure of a duel, I diverted my path and headed there, finding out Riche was right: the toilet guy was engaged in battle with a mysterious demon.

The toilet guy was drenched in blood. At this rate, he would bleed out any second. Yet, seeing that the demon was equally splattered with blood, it was clear he had been holding his own.

“You guys go ahead and help with the raid.”

“What about you, Luke?”

“Farming skills.”

Can’t resist the thrill of collecting skills!

*

With the trio sent toward the Volcano Dragon, I swaggered over to the demon’s location, stopping at a certain point to set up an ambush.

I wouldn’t make the foolish mistake of shouting something like, “Take this!” and ruining my surprise attack, so instead, I quietly pulled out my Greatsword from the inventory and launched myself at the demon.

Without making a sound, I swung my sword, but the demon seemed to sense the deadly threat and dodged to the side just in time. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the demon who was flustered, but the toilet guy.

“Kihick! Who are you?! Attacking out of the blue with a scary attack. I almost crapped myself!”

“No, I’m the normal one. Rather, I don’t get why everyone doesn’t start with a strong attack from the get-go?”

When lives are on the line in battle, where’s the fairness? Whether you’re spitting at them or ambushing from behind, as long as you win, that’s all that matters! Beating them and then tea bagging them afterward would be a real treat.

“You, where have you been until now?!”

While I exchanged brief words with the demon, the nearly dead toilet guy yelled from behind.

“And who are you?”

“Quit joking around!”

I pretended not to know him, but my act fell flat. Was he really curious about where I had been and what I was doing?

Was I supposed to have just waited until he died, then ambush?

“You don’t need me; we can win this on our own, so go off to the elves!”

“Really? Then I’ll take your help because I feel like I might need it. Of course, your wishes are irrelevant.”

“What the… Hwaaaack──?!”

“Go, Toilet Monster! You’re it!”

I grabbed the toilet guy’s legs and hurled him toward the demon. I followed right after.

With no chance to change direction mid-air, the toilet guy swung his sword wildly to survive against the demon in front of him, who backed up to avoid the blind strike. That was my cue to make my move and strike from the side.

“What do you think you’re looking at? That’s a toilet!”

“Kihick!”

I felt the satisfying sensation of a successful ambush, but seeing the demon pull away, I realized it wasn’t a deep cut.

There was a 5cm-deep gash in its side. For such a tight spot, it must have dodged quite well.

“Geez. If he just died easily, we could’ve gone our separate ways without suffering.”

Why do people always choose the hard way when an easy path is right in front of them? If both the toilet guy and the demon had just died from my last attack, it would have been a win-win!

“Hehehe— you messed up, didn’t you?”

The demon cackled, clearly relishing in some twisted amusement.

“Do you know what you just did?”

“Do I look like I’m bothered?”

“Then let me enlighten you── do you enjoy watching? If you can see, that is. Hehe.”

Honestly, I don’t understand why there are so many wannabe third-rate villains in this world. I know exactly what’s dangerous to say, so I keep quiet, but how can these clueless thugs casually set up plot flags left and right without realizing it?

After that, the demon darted at me, ignoring the toilet guy lying scattered on the ground. Its speed was far above what I had seen with Evangelin before.

I’m pretty sure there was no such speed prior, which means it must have some ability related to speed. I had intended to take it out before it could use its ability, but now it was too late and a nuisance.

“Sigh… I should have dealt with these pesky guys in one go.”

The demon dashed toward me like a ninja. I noticed it extending its right hand forward, which looked like it wanted to deal a shallow injury rather than a fatal hit.

‘What’s this guy’s deal?’

From what I saw with the elf corpses before, it seems like he’s into that sort of thing. A sadist who enjoys torturing others. But I could hold my own in that regard too. Swinging my sword, I struck the ground as hard as I could.

-BOOM!

The ground caved in, and rocks rose from where I had stood. The demon had no choice but to halt its charge, but that didn’t mean it was unable to attack.

The demon hopped on the rising rocks, coming and going to strike at me. As a result, I started to gain a few wounds.

Hit and run tactics from speedy opponents. That’s exactly what the demon was doing.

It attacked while dodging all my strikes, a cunning strategy to avoid any reprisal. I had used that tactic a few times in another life, only to be praised for how annoying it was.

And naturally, I knew exactly how to deal with such tactics. If anything, I had so many options to counter that I was unsure which to use. First, it looked like I needed to chug a potion since my wounds were stinging.

Pulling a potion from my inventory and drinking it made my wounds vanish without a trace. No wonder potions are expensive. Is this what a real health potion feels like?

“Kihihi! What?! You even have potions?! That’s the best, isn’t it?!”

The demon laughed in a high-pitched manner, its voice oozing with glee. I guess more bells just mean more fun for him.

The cycle happened again, and I drank another potion for the new injuries.

“Yeah~ Try and hit me for a hundred years~ I’ll just keep regenerating~”

“How long can you hold out though?”

For real. Even though potions are essentially water, they don’t get digested the moment you drink them, so no matter how many potions I have, there’s a limit to how many I can consume.

In that case, wouldn’t the best solution be to just let it all out? I unbuckled my pants and yanked them down.

“Unfolding domain. Public urination.”

Ah, that’s refreshing. After emptying my full bladder, a nice burp escaped, and my stomach felt a little lighter, making room for another potion.

“Kihick! Wow, you’re fun—! But how are you going to win then—?”

It’s true that what I was doing hardly resembled an attack. I wasn’t wearing spiky armor that reflected damage, nor was I enduring against an endless opponent.

“So now I’m done playing.”

“What?”

Potions are worth money, so using them just for amusement seems a waste. Though I hadn’t intended to use them on this guy, I figured I might as well since he’d inevitably get dragged into it.

“Water Element. Grand Waterfall’s Brew.”

 

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