Dragon Bloodline Chapter 25

“Eh-”

The tenth floor. It was an open cave with a smooth stone floor.
Pale light emanated from the stone. The area was around ten meters wide, with a staircase that lead downward in the corner.

And there was a mirror at the end of the staircase.

It seemed they could return to the ninth floor right now. Judging from their previous exploration, it wouldn’t be difficult to go further back up either.

Though Ria muttered in doubt, she went along with it.

“There’s no signs of magical power. This is an ordinary place.”

“Before the final boss, I guess we’re meant to get ready to go here?”

“For now, let’s rest.”
Ria judged so. Though they had decided to advance, they originally planned to return right after, but it seemed they could sleep here.

Unfortunately, the stone floor was abnormally hard, so she was unable to dig a bath. They wiped down their equipment and bodies with water.

Laying out blankets, they laid down. The first to stand as lookouts were Maal and Ria. These two were best for the role because they were the least exhausted.

“I’m useless, aren’t I?”

Ria hugged Maal’s shoulder, slowly caressing her ear.

There were no lies in Ria’s words. If Maal weren’t there, the amount of time it took to explore the labyrinth would have been several times more. But, she knew that without it being said.

Towards Maal, Ria was always gentle. A gentleness that one wouldn’t associate with Ria-chan the Merciless.

It’s not that she didn’t understand that feeling.

Before, she was just a tool. Locate traps, release them, and pick the locks on treasure chests.

Here, she wasn’t a tool. She wanted to become a comrade that could fight together with them.

“Yes!”

Maal held her mouth shut in a hurry.

“Alright, let’s go!”
After sleeping, they didn’t feel mentally fatigued even though it didn’t appear in a numerical value. The group stepped onto the staircase leading down.

Rather than a labyrinth, this was like a passage.

“A spiral staircase~? It feels somewhat like DNA, doesn’t it…”

“Isn’t that a double helix? I think this is entirely different though.”

He was likely being talkative due to being anxious. Not that she didn’t understand how he was feeling.

“Ah, wait a second.”

“It’s alright, the path behind us wasn’t closed off.”

“Roger that.”

“The depth is… about five castle gates worth. There’s probably something like a door at the end. If there’s a room on the other side of the wall, wouldn’t it be the size of five town blocks?”

There was probably a guardian in such a large place.

Ria muttered. The group all looked reluctant.
What’s a Dragon? The strongest living creature in the world. It’s stronger than most demons.

After all, two thousand years ago and again a thousand years ago, there were large floods of demons. With the help of Darkness Dragon Valis’ strength, mankind finally won.

“Well, though I said a Dragon that doesn’t mean it’s one of the Five God Dragons.”

“If a Five God Dragon came out, even I would escape.”

“It’ll be fine if it’s an Earth Dragon though.”

Towards Lulu’s question, Ria threw her chest out and answered proudly this time.

Though Ria said such a terrifying thing as though it were normal, compared to the Ogre King, a large monitor lizard was nothing to be afraid of.

“Nee-chan, have you fought a true dragon?”

“Nope. But it should be stronger than a Hydra.”

It’s because they experienced a Dragon’s wrath.

While talking about such things, the group arrived at the bottom.

“That’s… it’s made of mithril.”

“It’s lucky.”

“Serge, collect the mithril.”
“Roger that, Nee-chan.”

Shrewdly, he collected the masses of metal that used to be doors.
The party walked into the room.

Their vision plunged into darkness.

Even Maal, whose eyes were good in the dark, couldn’t see.

Serge was able to understand what was inside.
It was time for a strategy meeting then.

“First of all, in case of an emergency, Maal will withdraw to defend Serge.”

Maal raised her voice in protest.
“All of the loot is kept in his storage space, so it’s fine even if I die.”

In their battles so far, they knew their opponent. So they were able to figure out about when they should retreat.

“The weapons and armor we’ve collected at great pains, all of it would be lost. That is why, excluding the minimum required goods, everything was given to Serge.”

“He has my things for the time being as well.”

“When push comes to shove, Maal, we’re relying on you.”

“Understood.”
Maal nodded with a resolute expression. It was a face that had realized the responsibility of the work left to her.

Lulu casted defensive magic on everyone. In addition to protection for physical and magical, she used magic that would prevent things from influencing their minds as well. That a Dragon’s roar could inflict panic in people was well known.

“Well then, let’s go.”
A ball of light emitted from Lulu’s cane, ripping apart the darkness as it traveled forward, then exploded.

At that moment, the huge room was illuminated.

Looking in, there was a huge chunk of rock.
No, not a rock, it looked more like a hill.

A giant.

With a maul in its hand, the giant stood up.

It was larger than Gig’s huge figure, easily twenty times larger.

It had just one eye. Horns sprouted from his head.

“A Cyclops…”

A descendant of the fallen gods.

With a savage appearance having just a loincloth and the maul, it evoked more than fear.

The giant inhaled, then bellowed.

If it weren’t for the defensive magic, it would have been impossible for some people to move with just that.

“Aaaaaah-!”
Ria also bellowed. She began to run towards the giant, nodachi in hand.

Then, the battle began.

Chapter end