Chapter 35: Gearing Up
I resolved to fight the Demon Lord Army Executive, Delormeria.
That fiend has established a base on Dragon’s Peak.
But before that, I needed to get various pieces of equipment in order.
After all, the enemy is a monster from an unknown, different world.
“Dragon’s Peak, huh… Besides that one, I might end up fighting a lot of dragon-type monsters…”
With that in mind, I decided to craft equipment with resistance to the Dragon attribute.
“Alright Claris, we’re heading to Death Ruler Volcano again! Teleport—!”
Red Dragons inhabited Death Ruler Volcano.
I had already reported this to the Guild, but it seems the number of Red Dragons was greater than expected, and they were still behind on dealing with them.
So, this was perfect. If I hunted them down indiscriminately, it would also help them out.
“If it’s Red Dragons, we’ve beaten them before, so it’ll be a piece of cake!”
“Yeah, but… there’s something I want to try this time.”
I made a suggestion to Claris.
“When we defeated the Red Dragon before, we aimed for the base of its leg, right?”
“I believe that was the case, yes.”
“And the Rare Drop item at that time was the Dragon Orb.”
Exactly. In other words, my hypothesis was that the condition for acquiring a Dragon Orb might be destroying a part of its leg.
So, this time, I decided to try attacking a different part.
If I did, it might drop some other material.
—GROOOOAAAAAR!
“One’s appeared right away…!”
I aimed for the Red Dragon’s torso and unleashed my attack!
“Air Slash!”
—ZBA!
—CLANG!
However, the Red Dragon’s belly was protected by thick scales, and my attack was deflected.
“Damn, it’s tough…!”
It looks like I have no choice but to hit it with a Charged Slash…
But landing a Charged Slash on a powerful dragon… and on its belly, no less, would be an extremely difficult feat.
“Loin! I’ll draw its aggro like always!”
“Yeah, please do…!”
Claris unleashed Provocation (Appeal)!
The dragon charged towards Claris…!
Could even Claris’s greatshield withstand the dragon’s massive body…!?
—DODODODODODODO!!!!
The dragon, having lost itself, was trying to ram into Claris.
Damn… Isn’t this really bad!?
I instinctively tried to rush towards Claris, but…
“I’m fine, Loin! Shield Beam—!”
“…………!?”
Claris, without flinching at all, held her shield straight.
And then, she fired a Shield Beam from her shield—!
The dragon, which had been advancing straight towards her shield, couldn’t change its course in time…
—SHUUUUUUUUU.
—KYUINKYUINKYUIIIIN.
—DOGOON!!!!
—GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?
An intense beam of light exploded on the dragon’s face…!
The dragon, its face seared, lost its balance on the spot and collapsed.
It was writhing in agony from the immense pain and brightness.
“Alright! I got it down! Loin, now’s your chance!”
“As expected of Claris! UOOOOOOOOH!”
I hurriedly circled to the dragon’s belly—
“Charged Slash (Sword Burst), layered with Lightning Strike Sword (Thunder Sword)—!!!!”
I unleashed a lightning-infused Charged Slash…!
Furthermore, I always cast Power Up before battle, so its power becomes immense…!
—BARIRIRI!!!!
—ZDOOOOOOOOON!!!!
—GUSHAAAAAAA!!!!
My sword shattered the dragon’s hard scales!
And then, the sword reached its innards…
Electricity rampaged throughout the dragon’s body!
“We did it…!”
Claris and I high-fived.
Previously, our strategy was to aim for its weak point, its legs…
But this time, we defeated it by destroying the dragon’s toughest part.
Hopefully, this will yield a different material than before…
“Now then, for the drop item…”
I searched the dragon’s belly.
“Found it…!”
《Dragonite》
Rarity ★×11
Drop Rate 0.03% (Acquired by destroying the abdomen)
Description: A stone formed inside a dragon’s belly.
“Th-This stone… I’ve never seen anything like it…!”
It was a rugged stone, but it shone brilliantly and was very beautiful.
This must surely be usable as a material for special equipment.
“So, it seems dragons also have various drop items depending on which part is destroyed…”
This was a new discovery.
If that’s the case, let’s try defeating Red Dragons in various ways!
We gathered a ton of dragon materials from all sorts of parts.
And then, we steadily stored them in the Item Box.
“Alright… This should be enough.”
Having dealt with most of the parts, we returned to town.
And the place we headed to was the usual armor shop.
“Welcome… W-W-W-W-What in the world is that stone…!?”
The old man at the armor shop’s eyes went wide with surprise at the Dragonite I brought.
“Well, I’ll be… Isn’t that Dragonite!”
“You know about it…!?”
To think it was a material that had already been discovered…
So there are other people besides me who go out of their way to destroy a dragon’s tough belly to defeat it…
“Yeah, but… you don’t see this stuff often… This is only the second time I’ve seen one in person. Just you wait… I’m gonna forge you the best armor right now.”
“Ah, that’d be great. But wait a sec. Can I ask you to use these materials too…? You can use all of them. For now, just give me the best armor you can make. I’ll pay whatever it costs.”
I took out my Item Box.
And then…
I dumped out all the Red Dragon materials I had gathered today.
—DODODODODODODO.
“…Hey, hey…! What kind of festival is this…!?”
“Well, you know. We worked hard today.”
“Now this gets my blood pumping! I’ve never used so many materials so lavishly! This is a craftsman’s dream come true!”
The old man had his apprentice store the materials in the back warehouse.
It seemed that even for an armor shop, a job blessed with this many materials was rare.
Basically, an armorer’s job is to figure out how to differentiate their products from existing armor using limited materials.
“With this many materials and this kind of budget, I can make the greatest armor in history. I promise you! This is gonna shake the world…!”
The old man had eyes like a child who’d just gotten a new toy.
To see him that motivated was reassuring for me, the one who made the request.
“Well then, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“You got it! I’ll drop all my other work and make this my top priority!”
“O-Oh…”
Half-thinking, “Is that… really okay…?” I left the armor shop.
Once the armor is finished, it’ll finally be time to raid the Demon Lord Army Executive!
Before that idiot hero does, I’m going to save the world from this threat…!