Chapter 141
The strongest Transparent Dragon roared.
“Luke-sama…?”
Luna called out to Luke in the direction of the roar. What kind of bizarre transformation made him invisible?
The sky was completely empty. The answer that returned was,
“Heh, can you see me?”
“What’s with that weird line?”
It sounded like something a boy in the midst of believing he had a black flame dragon on his right arm would say.
“Transparent Dragon.”
What kind of ridiculous monster is that?
Luna held back the urge to voice her frustration, despite it almost bursting from her throat.
“I tried it just in case, and it worked?”
Sure enough, it’s a fantasy world!
In stark contrast to the carefree Luke, Amy was fuming.
“Ahh! If you do that, we can’t see whether it succeeded or not!”
“……”
The two, including Luna, thought that whether it was the creator or the consumer, they were practically the same.
“Alright, I’m off to take care of the last request.”
With those words, Luke headed straight for where the Colossal Machine was. Though he couldn’t be seen, the ground thudded heavily with each of his steps, rumbling from the size of his presence.
“What kind of world does Luke-sama live in?”
Trying to connect the descriptions Luke had given of Earth with the Transparent Dragon made it impossible for Luna to imagine, so she gave up on thinking.
“It’s better not to think too deeply about it, Luna-chan. When has any of us been able to understand Luke?”
“That’s true…”
It might still be a long way off for humanity to understand such things. The three decided to watch with peace of mind as Luke defeated the Colossal Machine.
At that moment, Luke had moved right up to the Colossal Machine. The ground shook with every step he took, but Hassan remained unaware. The Colossal Machine he was piloting also shook the earth with its movements.
Besides, they were currently in the middle of a fierce battle between the Colossal Machine and Dwarves. There was no way he could recognize Luke just from the ground shaking.
Sneaking around behind the Colossal Machine, Luke latched onto its massive front and back legs.
“W-What?!”
Naturally, it was the operator of the Colossal Machine, Hassan, who was shocked. The giant machine had suddenly stopped obeying despite not being attacked.
But that wasn’t all. When Hassan turned the head to check behind, three arms on the left side—two of the upper and lower arms were suddenly missing as if they had been torn off.
“Give me a hug~”
Then came a voice ringing in his ears. Knowing nothing else could be responsible for the Colossal Machine’s lack of movement, Hassan instinctively thought,
“Kuuh! No matter who you are, you can’t stop me with just this!”
He tried to use the arms to attack whatever was lurking behind him.
The Colossal Machine wasn’t made of flesh but of mineral. So, having its arms twist 180 degrees backward wasn’t strange at all.
Hassan controlled the four remaining arms, twisting them back around. And with those, unleashed four types of magic at the Luke behind him.
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
Watching this unfold, Hassan laughed out loud.
“Hahaha! I don’t know if you’re the last resort the old men prepared, but it’s all useless before the Colossal Machine!”
Just as he said that, the two arms crumpled before getting ripped off.
“……?!”
How?! That last attack should have hit directly; how could it remain unscathed? And to effortlessly rip apart a Colossal Machine that should have been tough enough to withstand damage?
“Whoa, that’s intense.”
Immediately after, a voice resonated. It was the same as the one he had heard just a moment ago. What Hassan had overlooked was that even transformed into a dragon, skills remained intact.
In the first place, Hassan didn’t even know who Luke was, let alone what abilities he possessed. However, as the Transparent Dragon, Luke was currently benefiting from various skills, including superstrength.
In other words, Luke’s strength and defense were now far superior to that of the Colossal Machine.
“Who the heck are you?! What bastard is interfering with my revenge?!!”
Something transparent instead of iron. Clearly, this wasn’t the Dwarves’ method. Therefore, this weapon or being in front of him was that of an outsider.
Rushing to conclusions in mere moments, Hassan couldn’t comprehend why an outsider would interfere with his revenge and expressed his frustration.
“Take this, Iron Tail!”
Every dragon has a tail. That tail crashed down on the Colossal Machine from the right side to the left. Under normal circumstances, being invisible should have made it impossible to react, but…
A tail suddenly sprouted where there had been none before, and Luke, unfamiliar with moving it skillfully, dragged his tail along the ground for the attack. As a result, it left marks on the ground, revealing the trajectory of his strike.
“Did you think I couldn’t block this?!”
Of course, the Colossal Machine wasn’t just a machine with attack capabilities. If it had neglected its defense against attacks from Dwarves, it would have been obliterated.
A light blue barrier emerged from the Colossal Machine and then soon formed into a large sphere wrapping it up.
-Boom─!
The barrier collided with the tail. Although there was a strong impact that pushed the Colossal Machine back slightly, the barrier remained unscathed.
However, contrary to this intact barrier, Hassan was aghast.
“W-What kind of force is this…?!”
Barriers work by using stored magical power to block an opponent’s attack. They completely shield it by consuming magical power proportional to the attack’s intensity.
In other words, the magical power used by the barrier correlates with the strength of the attack being thwarted.
Just one swat of Luke’s tail had noticeably decreased the magical power stored away. An amount gathered over three entire years was diminished by a single blow.
‘If it continues like this, I will lose…!’
Blocking attacks quickly drained his magical power. If he ran out of the magical power in reserve, the Colossal Machine would cease to function. That would directly mean defeat. However, if he dragged things out, even if he defeated the opponent before him, he would still lose to the Dwarves.
Ultimately, the plan was to expend a bit of magical power but take them out in one hit. Having reached his conclusion, Hassan began gathering magical power.
However, unlike the troubled Hassan, Luke felt a sense of disappointment.
‘I wanted to try using the breath attack…’
Even if he was invisible, being transformed into a dragon meant he wanted to unleash a breath attack at least once. It was a dream and a fantasy after all.
But Luke’s body was pathetic, possessing not even a speck of magical power. There was no way he could release something like a breath attack.
“B-but this is infuriating! Just because I can’t use it, you think you can do whatever you want?!”
Not a chance. If I can’t do it, you can’t either.
Luke dashed to attack the Colossal Machine. Naturally, it was blocked at the barrier, but…
“Stop it, you crazy bastard!!”
Not everything could be resolved merely by being blocked. Each time Luke struck the barrier, the magical power within the storage began to diminish rapidly.
Hassan tried to gather the magical power quickly, but that was not something he could manage at will. There was a process and time required to fire the magic cannon. He could only hope it wouldn’t be used up before then.
“Hey, you’re blatantly advertising you’ll attack right before my eyes; what do you think I am, an idiot waiting for that?!”
Oblivious to Hassan’s impatience, Luke struck the barrier even more rapidly, hoping it would eventually shatter.
Bang! Crash! Bang! Crash!
As he began rhythmically pounding on the barrier like a drum…
“Oh no…!”
The magical power reserve hit rock bottom. With all the magical power that powered the Colossal Machine extinguished, naturally, it slumped down like a marionette with its strings cut.
Ah… it’s over.
The instant that thought crossed Hassan’s mind, a solid punch landed directly, creating a hole in the Colossal Machine’s torso. That was the end of the Colossal Machine.
“Ah~ done and dusted.”
Now, shall I collect my reward? Just as Luke was about to return to Marquina…
“But how do I untransform?”
Thinking back, he realized he was so distracted by the notion of transformation that he hadn’t asked how it worked or whether he could revert.
-SCRATCH! RAWH!
In that moment, Luke’s body made a spine-tingling sound. He felt his vision fading.
As Luke’s form gradually shrank, he began to regain his human shape. Not long after, he returned to his body from before the transformation.
“Ah… It seems time will revert me back to my original state.”
He almost ended up living as a Transparent Dragon for eternity.
“Isn’t that actually a good thing?”
Once everything was over, the spot where the colossal machine had stood was left with the wreckage of the fallen Colossal Machine and a short Dwarf. He knelt on the ground, head bowed, muttering something to himself.
“It’s all over now… it’s all…”
Despite the ruckus, he hadn’t gained any experience points. If the Colossal Machine had been a monster, he would have at least gained 5 levels, but machines do not yield experience points. What kind of garbage was designed this way?
“Now then, you need to become a good Dwarf.”
Good people are only the dead. Just as Luke raised his sword to rehabilitate the Dwarf.
“Wait just a moment.”
A Dwarf, shining in golden armor and wearing a crown, stepped in. It radiated the aura of “I am the King,” but unfortunately, his short stature undermined all sense of majesty.
“Who are you?”
“I am Dragoyle, the King of Marquina.”
Given the seriousness of the situation, it was no surprise a king appeared without a prior negotiation. This personality suited royalty even more than the Emperor of the Empire.
“I’m curious how you managed to enter Marquina, but given the circumstances, I’ll set that aside. Since you have saved Marquina, you hold a commendable deed.”
That was a relief. In the grand scheme of things, he had entered using a teleportation stone, akin to being an illegal immigrant.
“So, what do you want from me, Your Majesty?”
“Though he has been exiled, he was once part of our Dwarf kin. Moreover, his invasion is an invasion against Marquina itself. We wish to seize his person according to our laws.”
In the end, the victims were themselves, and it seemed they wanted to impose their laws for punishment. There’s a saying that when in Rome, do as the Romans do, so under normal conditions, one would hand them over without a second thought, but…
“I’d rather not.”
This one is my catch. The Dwarves tried their best, but they had inflicted no meaningful damage whatsoever. So now, trying to ride on my hard work? Absolutely not.
“……What do you want?”
“You’ll have to figure that out on your own.”
In negotiations, one must show the willingness to balance the scales without asking.
“How about money? We’ll provide you with a financial compensation on the condition that you hand over his person to us. The Dwarves have an excess of cash.”
“Hmm…”
Considering Dwarves neither count as Demons nor unique types, capturing one grants minimal experience points. So if I could receive money in exchange, I’m all for it.
“I can agree to that.”
*
Three days after the Colossal Machine incident.
With Amy leading the way, we headed towards the Blacksmith we had visited before. We were told by an unknown Dwarf to return for our weapons three days later.
Back at the Blacksmith, Amy shouted “Uncle!” loudly as she opened the door.
-WHOOSH!
Just like last time, a tremendous heat engulfed us. It felt even hotter than the last time we visited; I could barely breathe even before stepping inside.
A Dwarf emerged from the scorching space. However, he wasn’t holding anything.
“Where’s my weapon?”
“Come inside.”
Unlike last time, when they merely took the request and shooed us away, why were they asking us to come in today?
Regardless, since he asked us in, I followed without question. The other three seemed hesitant to enter due to the heat, so they stayed outside.
The interior of the blacksmith was not vastly different from what I remembered. There were a furnace and an anvil, along with tools I didn’t recognize.
However, the sizes of the forge and anvil were remarkably different—seemingly uncomfortable for such a small Dwarf to use.
“This is your sword.”
The Dwarf pointed to a large sword wrapped in cloth atop the anvil. The excitement was reminiscent of when I received my first sword.
With a racing heart, I picked up the sword. But… once I held it, I understood why he asked me to come in. This thing is ridiculously heavy. It was heavy even as raw material, and now it’s even heavier as a weapon.
It wouldn’t be a problem for me to use it, but if a Dwarf had trouble lifting a heavy iron hammer every day, it’s hard to imagine how much it weighed.
“How on earth did you make this?”
I hadn’t even asked him to make anything.
“You’ll figure it out when you see.”
So he must have figured out what kind of weapon I used when he scanned my body last time?
‘Impressive.’
It seems I’ve witnessed the peak of craftsmanship. I thought the blacksmith back in the Empire was quite skilled, but the Dwarf in front of me surpassed that.
‘There sure are many astounding people in the world.’
Now to check the real deal. I peeled back the cloth from the sword. It was black, etched with red streaks that ran like lava, and the handle had a brown hue from being crafted with branches of the World Tree.
As I held the sword with both hands, it fit perfectly; it felt immensely comfortable. Next, it seemed time to give this sword a name.
“Heh… good. Then your name is…”
“Volcano Giant Sword.”
“What did you say?!”
The Dwarf behind me murmured softly.
◈ Item Information
Name: Volcano Giant Sword (火山巨劍)
Grade: S
Description: A weapon crafted with all the effort by Asero, the blacksmith of Marquina. The handle, made from the branches of the World Tree, provides an excellent grip. Due to the material of the blade, it cannot be wielded by just anyone.
An information window appeared.
“Shit?! What the hell! Give me back my Hell Grappler!”
