In the instant the word left his lips, he found himself blinded by an impossible bright light, feeling a weightlessness overtake his body as he was no doubt sucked from the bounds of the Guild.
‘This is…a transport? It’s different from [Blink],’ he thought.
It felt as though he was floating through a stream of swirling light, feeling himself move through the bright space before suddenly–
He arrived at the anchored location, finding himself now standing in a torch-lit cavern from a seamless transition.
“Huh?”
‘I’m here? This is the spot?’ He thought.
As he glanced around, he found Gunter and Edith appearing beside him as well, finding another Transport Crystal stationed in the cave as well as other things: there were other adventurers occupying the isolated cave.
“Nnngh…”
“Ghh…”
“Agh!”
–It was a total shift in environment; adventurers laid in the cave, laying on mats and groaning in pain from their various injuries; some were covered in lacerations while the majority were inflicted with agonizing burn wounds.
There were only so many medics stationed there, doing their best to help, but the number of wounded surpassed a couple dozen.
It could be heard from beyond the cave; the periodic tremors and the monstrous roars in the distance–the dragon in question was still at large, and still laying waste to the forces of the adventurers.
“This is from the dragon?” He audibly wondered.
Gunter quietly remarked, “It’s not surprising. This is what it means to face a dragon; they came here knowing what could happen.”
“I have to agree with him,” Edith added, “Facing a dragon does not come without such risks.”
Jett was taken aback by just how lethal the presence of the Abyss Dragon felt now, but it didn’t shake his confidence.
“Edith, can you help them?” He asked.
The spellblade looked at him, “I can, but…If I tend to their wounds, I won’t be able to help in a fight.”
“That’s fine,” he interjected, “Gunter and I can handle it, right?”
Gunter was quick to give a thumbs-up, agreeing to the plan without hesitation, “No problem!”
Though there was no doubt that Edith seldom liked the idea of staying behind from the real battle, there was a clear part of her expression when confronted with the idea of the suffering adventurers in the impromptu base; she wanted to help.
“Alright. I will do what I can here to help, then I will regroup with you in battle,” Edith nodded, “Be safe, Master. Gunter, I am entrusting Master’s wellbeing to you–do not fail.”
“Of course I won’t! Who do ya think I am?!” Gunter beamed.
“I’ll be fine!” Jett assured.
There was little time to waste as he led the way out of the cave, hearing the not-so-distant roars of the dragon looming in the area, along with the sounds of flames and volatile explosions.
“Ever fought a dragon before?” He asked while running alongside the booze-loving warrior.
Gunter smiled, “Only whelps! This will be a first! Ga-ha-ha!”
“...Not reassuring,” he muttered.
The exit to the cave led to a vast, open field that served as a basin valley that was surrounded by walls of mountains, seeming to exist on a colossal mountain itself as the air was brisk and clouds neighbored the trees.
“Where the hell are we?” He audibly let out.
“No clue!” Gunter quickly responded.
As they raced towards where the lethal battle was taking place, a group of adventurers could be seen holding their ground in a clearing, though some were clearly hurt.
A youthful adventurer of sharp, amethyst eyes and brown hair, dressed in steel armor, wielding a gold-hilted greatsword glanced back in relief upon seeing the two arrive as reinforcements, “Backup? Great–”
“What’s the situation–”
Just as he tried to ask for information, the only info he needed presented itself as a large shadow cast itself over the group, followed by an inexplicable pressure.
As he looked up, he found his words caught in his throat like a lump; there it was–a magnificent, but terrifying creature of gargantuan size, spreading its wings out and bearing its teeth and claws. It was covered in pitch-black scales with glowing, violet eyes, breathing out a malignant breath of miasma.
‘That’s…an Abyss Dragon?’ He thought.
[BOSS |Abyss Dragon | Lv: 25]
Seeing it with his own eyes, he realized just how such a dreadful sight in the cave of wounded adventurers came to be; it landed upon the skyhigh field amidst the mountains, curving its nefarious wings with a deathly wind following.
As soon as it touched down, digging its gargantuan claws into the soil, the booming propulsion of air from its weight landing caused the frail fighters among the group to be pushed back. Some even were knocked off their feet completely.
‘Something like this…It really reminds me of where I am–this is a whole different world. I’d never see anything like this on Earth,’ he thought.
“Ga-ha-ha! So, that’s the beast we’re slaying today?!” Gunter held his axe up before slamming it against his shield as if beating a drum.
The immutable passion for battle displayed by the scruffy-bearded companion of his drew gazes from the worn-and-torn adventurers as if Gunter was a madman.
There was an adventurer with light-orange hair, wearing a burgundy banana and black-leather gear with a chipped shortsword in hand, who rolled back from the Abyss Dragon’s landing, stopping near Jett.
“Ghh…This sucks, this really sucks!” The youthful adventurer complained, “All I wanted was to be promoted from silver, but now I’m just going to die…!”
Jett definitely understood such motivations, opting to give a helping hand to the fighter of similar age to himself, hoisting him to his feet.
“Jett,” he introduced himself.
“Thanks,” the bandana-wearing adventurer said, “I’m Johannes. Guess names hardly matter when we’re about to die, though.”
Jett chuckled with a confident smile, “Die? Just leave it to me. I’ll slay that dragon and shoot up the ranks–no problem.”
“Huh?! What rank are you, anyway? I’ve never seen you around,” Johannes asked.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Bronze,” he answered.
“B…Bronze?! You’re crazy if you think you stand a chance! I’m a rank higher than you and I can’t even get close to that thing, let alone scratch it! Urgh–they couldn’t at least transport a platinum-rank here?!” Johannes panicked.
Gunter laughed at the frantic adventurer’s words, “Just watch and learn–my Master is on a whole ‘nother level than his rank shows.”
“Huh? ‘Master’?” Johannes was left perplexed.
While they spoke, the battle had already resumed, if it could be called so; adventurers tossed basic fireball spells and charged in with swords, yet the Abyss Dragon shrugged off their puny magic and repelled their offense with a single roar.
“Are there no adventurers capable of slaying this thing or what?” Jett remarked.
Johannes responded, “...There are! A platinum-rank alone should be able to handle this! It should be easy! The thing is…all the adventurers in Merdlum that could fight this thing are out on other quests!”
“Really? Talk about crappy timing,” Jett said.
“Take this seriously!” Johannes said, already having spilled tears as the young man certainly felt his life was in danger.
It was no doubt a dire situation.
Jett opened [Void Inventory], calling upon [Nature’s Wrath], manifesting the leaf-bladed longsword into his grip. Beginning to walk towards the source of the hectic battle, “Jugu, to me.”
From the simple invocation, he called upon one of his familiars dormant within the [Void Inventory], summoning the cyclopian warrior to his side.
“What’s that?!” Johannes witnessed.
Jett spoke to the cyclops familiar of his, “Jugu, make sure to keep that guy from dying, alright?” He said, pointing over to Johannes, who was still knelt on the grass.
The cyclops grumbled, “Hrm. As you command, Master.”
Johannes was left stunned as the cyclopian warrior stood guard beside him while both Jett and Gunter engaged the enemy at hand, rushing in whilst it swiped its claws at the adventurers, terraforming the valley with its limbs alone.
There were a dozen or so adventurers in the mix, with a third of them being mages who kept their distance, yet hardly phased the dragon with their spells, a healer who was injured themselves, a couple shield-bearers, and the last third being warriors.
“Gunter, focus on getting the injured away from the fight!” He called out as he sprinted in.
“Aye, aye!” Gunter agreed.
The adventurer dressed in steel-armor with the golden-hilted sword led the offense, holding his own well, managing to deflect the massive swipes from the Abyss Dragon multiple times before it let out a shock wave of a roar, stunning the man momentarily.
“Ngh–!” He winced.
Incoming, those lethal claws came in at vicious speeds, intending to slice the man in half right then and there before–
“Burst!”
In that moment, Jett called upon the innate skill he had acquired, causing a magical surge throughout his body that amplified all of his physical attributes momentarily. A single dash cracked the wind as he cut the distance between himself and the Abyss Dragon.
[Power Air Shield]
Just before the giant claws could eviscerate the knightly adventurer, he intervened, summoning the air-forged shield just in time as it intercepted the dragon’s mighty claws.
The armor-wearing man was surprised that his life had not been ended, looking over at the bronze-ranked recruit in shock, “...You saved my life!”
Jett held a strained smile, struggling to hold back the nefarious claws of the beast, “Yeah, well, you owe me one!”
“Without a doubt!” The heavy-armored adventurer wore a smile of reignited courage, flashing a gold-plated adventurer necklace as he moved, “--What’s your name, my friend? I must know the name of the brave warrior who saved my life!”
The passion and complete sense of honor was palpable from the gold-ranked adventurer, though at the moment, Jett was just glad to have somebody seemingly capable around.
“Jett Levine! Bronze!”
“Bronze?” The man’s eyes widened, “Nonsense! I’ll personally vouch for your promotion! I, Vildren Sirmonthy!”
“Really?! Thanks!”
–Distracted by the prospect of promotion, he was suddenly forced to jump back alongside Vildren as the Abyss Dragon shattered the air shield, slamming its claws down with an impact that sent cracks through the soil.
Just as they properly landed, the Abyss Dragon spread its pitch-black maw, gathering a swirling force of darkness in its mouth that sent vibrations through the air.
“Incoming!” Vildren called out.
Before whatever sort of attack the dragon was preparing to unleash could be finished, Jett raised his hand, “Jiao, you’re up!”
Out from the depths of [Void Inventory], the red-haired, greatsword-wielding familiar of [Rare] class quality appeared, already leaping towards the dragon with his bright-red weapon taking to a fiery glow.
“A dragon?! Hah, you know my strength, Master!” Jiao beamed with boundless confidence.
A moment before the dragon could unleash the abyssal breath from its maw, Jiao spun rapidly, gathering a wheel of fire from his mystical greatsword before slamming it down atop the beast’s head.
THUNK
It proved to be incredibly sturdy, as its scales were shattered and a gash was left, though the sword fell short of cutting into the dragon’s skull.
“Tch–” Jiao clicked his tongue.
Retaliation came from the great beast as it lunged forward, swinging its claws towards the crimson-haired figure.
“Jiao!” Jett yelled out.
Even whilst in midair, Jiao showcased a surprising method of agility as he summoned a burst of flames beneath his boots, propelling himself to the side to evade the incoming swipe from the dragon.
“Who is that?! I’ve never seen that adventurer,” Vildren asked.
“Err, don’t worry about it!” Jett answered.
“It doesn’t matter either way, they’re an ally!” Vildren responded.
This time, the offense was launched more potent than ever against the dragon of black scales; Vildren, Gunter, Jett, and Jiao rushed forth, closing in rapidly.
“Take this–!”
Jett swung the leaf-forged blade from a distance, testing its mystical properties for the first time–
FWOOM
Shooting out from the verdant sword, its sharp edge extended without any regard for range as a cut of wind, swiftly shooting forward and cutting straight into the dragon’s eye.
“RAAAAAGH–!” The great beast howled in pain as crimson fluid escaped its wounded eye.
‘This sword is great!’ He realized.
“Ga-ha-ha!” Nice one, Jett!” Gunter boisterously complimented.
Though it seemed inflicting tangible damage upon the black-scaled dragon only enraged it as it slammed its front legs down, spewing out a miasma from its maw that shot forward.
“Get back! If its breath reaches you, you’ll become diseased!” Vildren warned.
It was through a combination of Jett’s wind-cutting sword, Jiao’s ability to conjure a heaping amount of flames from his greatsword, and Vildren’s overall physical might that they repelled the miasma, buying some time.
Many still lived, laying on the fields with injuries and worn bodies, yet with one breath sucked in, it was Vildred that called out to them:
“Go! Go! Go! Mages, brothers, fight!” Vildren took command, “Remain on the ground if you’d prefer to die helplessly! However! Stand if you wish to fight! Keep fighting! This is our chance–! We can still win—!”
The courageous gold-ranked adventurer’s yelled words brought the exhausted mages to their feet; they struggled to stand, though with the sight of those still fighting, it was a sight of reignited hope.
‘Woah, that even got me pumped up!’ Jett thought.
Vildren held his sword high like a pillar of courage for the others, holding a determined glow to his amethyst eyes as his unkempt hair was tugged by the wind, “Charge! We’re the last line of defense, adventurers of Merdlum! Should we fall, innocents will die, homes will be destroyed—we will not fall!”
Jett was in disbelief at the affect Vildren’s words had on the others; despite most of them previously being wounded physically or mentally to their morale, they now stand and even charged in, yelling at as their own screams deafened their hesitation.
“Aaaaaah—!”
—Perhaps screaming loudest of them all was the once seemingly cowardly silver-rank, Johannes, who gripped his chipped sword and sprinted towards the Abyss Dragon alongside his comrades.
“Alright! Let’s not get shown up!” Jett raised his own sword, “Everyone, to me—!”
[Silent-Footed Khan] [Demonkin Youth Alex] [Blue Slime]
Every familiar of his that was kept within the subspace inventory phased into existence by his side. The cyclopian warrior, Jiao, and Gunter reunited with him as well, preparing for their united offense.
“Let’s slay a dragon!” Jett ignited their charge.
“I’m right there with you!” Alex enthusiastically added.
“Here I come!” Jiao announced, bursting forward.
There were now over a dozen fighters rushing towards the Abyss Dragon; even better, before it could repel their charge with its lethal breath, the mages from afar pelted the beast with a barrage of fireballs.
“Raaaaaargh–!” The dragon howled.
Explosions of majestic, orange flames burst from the fireballs against the dragon’s scales, interrupting it whilst the others got closer.
“Ahh!”
“Raaa!”
“Chaaaaarge–!”
Together, the assault reached the Abyss Dragon, leading every fighter present to swing their weapons against the sturdy scales of the great fiend. They hacked away, swinging their blades desperately.
“Keep it up!” Vildren shouted, swinging away as well.
Gunter laughed almost maniacally as he swung his axe wildly, standing on the dragon’s arm as he hacked away at it.
It was unable to properly fight back in those pivotal moments, overwhelmed by attacks both physical and magical.
The system-wielding reincarnator rushed beneath the dragon’s belly, seeing an opportunity to strike it where it surely couldn’t defend.
‘I’ve got it!’ He thought.