The punch he threw with all his might pierced the Evil Dragon's chest.

In fact, I don't even know how powerful my serious blow is. But it's a fist that's enough to blow a zombie's shoulder off with a punch without any effort. It is certain that it is something that can never be used against ordinary humans.

But-,

 

「...... It's hard...... Whew!"

 

The response transmitted from the fist was surprisingly absent.

It feels like a hard, thick piece of rubber has been punched. It's not like the armor that Nea cast her magic on, it's the feeling that the impact is taken as it is and disappears as if it were being released somewhere.

The moment those words crossed my mind, a sentence from a notebook in my pocket came to mind.

[The attack made no sense in front of the powerful scales of the Evil Dragon]

I didn't forget.

However, there was such an optimistic idea that there was no reason why creatures hundreds of years ago had not deteriorated. In fact, it must have deteriorated. But even so, the body of the evil dragon was so hard that my fists could not pierce it.

 

「...... Hmm?"

 

I was unexpectedly upset, but when I tried to pull out my fist to get down before Nea recovered, I felt something like a heartbeat running down my fist.

I wondered if it was because of my mind, but when I tried to check again, the moonlight shining on me was suddenly blocked by "something".

...... Nea is still moaning in agony.

There's no way the zombies she's supposed to be controlling will move on their own.

As if to tell himself why, he clenches his fists and looks up at what must be blocking the moonlight.

 

「...... Huh?"

 

Our eyes met.

The evil dragon, who was turning his head to the side and looking up from above with his uncrushed eyes, and my gaze intersected as I looked up.

There is a certain intention in the dry, cracked eyeballs, and the breath that escapes from the corners of the mouth has an unpleasant smell of death and rot, and the corners of the wide-split mouth are slashed into distorted shapes, giving me the illusion that they are mocking me.

 

「......」

 

Dangerous.

I don't know what it is, but it's dangerous.

Even more dangerous than that snake is a creature more dangerous than I imagined -- no, it would be presumptuous to even describe it as a creature. I don't have a vocabulary, so I don't know how to describe this.

But I think it's often said that a frog is glared at by a snake.

Because that's exactly what I'm doing now. Just being stared down at with these horrible eyes, I can't move my body as if I was tied up.

It's bad as it is, and I'm completely snatched. Regardless of whether this guy has the will or not, if Nea gets up, I, who is in front of me, will be crushed by the evil dragon without any way to do it.

 

"Ugh...... Hmmm!!"

 

Pull out the fist that is still stuck and hit the fist on the forehead.

I lost consciousness for a moment, but my body and mind, which had been tense, returned to normal.

 

"Okay!!"

 

Perhaps because it was a rough treatment, fresh blood flowed from his forehead, and it was dyed bright red from between his eyebrows to his chin, but there was no problem if he was cured with healing magic.

I wiped the blood away with my hand and distanced myself from the evil dragon who was looking at me without even a slight movement.

 

"Well, what are we going to do?"

 

The poison is bad, the claws are bad, and the tail is probably sore.

The all-important fist doesn't seem to work either, and it's safe to say that it's hopeless for me to beat him.

―――, Then you will defeat Nea.

She's right, if this guy is really "under her control as a zombie," she can slap him in the face and end this fight.

Also, unlike Aluk, this guy has a lot of power in his attacks, but not as fast. If you try to attack Nea, you won't be thwarted.

With that in mind, I was about to shift my fighting style from a tie-in with the evil dragon to a way to discipline Nea to just the right degree, when the evil dragon who had been watching me unnaturally turned his head in a different direction.

 

"Vu, ha, ay--chi, ni, ku-......, min-ra, ho-o, bo, v, v-v-v."

"Haai, Chiniku......, Minra, Horobobu? What are you talking about?"

 

I don't know if it's just a zombie-specific moan, but it's diagonally behind me, facing in the direction where the road leading to the Western-style building is.

...... Homing instinct? Or are you looking in the direction where there is a place of connection with the hero?

Is there such a thing in zombies?

But according to the notebook, the last place where he died was Samaria. In terms of direction, it's the exact opposite, and the only village where Tetra lives is there.

 

"Well, fine, let's ignore this one. I don't think I can do anything about it."

 

I started running lightly from the spot and started running to the half-destroyed Western-style building.

For the time being, I crossed next to it while being wary of the evil dragon zombie.

Since he doesn't react to anything in particular, you might think that he's really following Nea's orders. With a sense of relief, I jumped up on a run to go up to the second floor of the Western-style building at once.

At that moment...

 

"Whew."

 

At the same time as hearing a hoarse laugh, the evil dragon's throat swelled greatly.

 

"Oh, I got it...... Whew."

 

Was it a trap?!

He tried to get away from the place, wondering if he was trying to spit out that corroding sludge nearby, but for some reason, the evil dragon wasn't looking at him.

My throat is puffed out and I breathe air as if I wasn't in sight.

The wind was raging around the evil dragon, and I couldn't understand why while I was exposed to it, and I could only hold on to the edge of the second floor and be confused.

Then I heard Amako's voice, which I had evacuated to a remote place.

If you look in the direction from which her voice came from, you can see her desperately trying to convey something in the place where the miasma is faint and where Brooklyn and Alc are.

 

「―――!!　―――!!」

「...... Oh my God, it's windy and ......."

 

I don't know what you're talking about with wind noise.

I also protect my eyes with my arms to prevent sand from getting into my eyes, and I pay close attention to the movement of her mouth.

Hmmm...... Doku ......... Oh, Chiru...... Villages, poisons, falls...... Huh?

......, it's a lie!

 

"Do you want to do this!!"

 

The moment he understood her words, he was kicking the wall and slamming into the face of the evil dragon.

Despite the raging wind, I clenched my left fist and punched the lower jaw of the one with the evil dragon's crushed eyes, with a clear hostility that was different from the previous fist.

With a dogwaa, the lower jaw shifted to the left, and a purple miasma leaked out of the mouth of the evil dragon and enveloped me.

 

"U......"

 

Despite being poisoned, he uses healing magic and lands on the ground.

However, there is no reason to heal immediately, and it will stick as it is. He spits out the blood that comes out of the cough on the ground and wipes his mouth

 

"Well, even though I'm used to it, the poison is still painful......

 

I complained while healing my poisoned body and injured parts, and I looked at the evil dragon that I had beaten while sitting down.

The evil dragon, which was punched in the lower jaw, held its mouth with its arm, and crashed into the Western-style building behind it and fell to the ground.

I haven't been able to beat it. He just punched his chin and shook his head, and he got up immediately.

 

"I need to get up early, too......

 

I couldn't let him go unchecked.

At this point, I had to take it down no matter what.

Heal the poison and stand up. Then, Amako, who had left Bulllin, changed his blood and ran towards us.

 

"I'm glad I got it......!"

"Oh, thank you, I would have missed you if it weren't for you. ...... Anyway, that bastard ......."

 

In spite of my presence, he targeted the village where Mr. Tetra and the village chief were.

He had been looking behind me for a moment because he could see the village lit up in the darkness.

I don't know why I aimed it. But it's certainly not Nea's doing.

There is no way she would want to kill the people of the village she is using for no reason. Rather, she's just a pity, except for her strong attachment to what she wants.

 

"Evil dragon on the path of evil, it seems that I underestimated him too much, hey, Amako, I finally understand what he was talking about earlier."

 

The words he uttered while looking at the village.

I didn't know it at the time, but when I saw the evil nature of this evil dragon, I completely understood what it meant.

 

"Destruction, flesh and blood, destroy all, I mean, he's a mass of destructive impulses. Until now, I was watching to see if I could use me as a plaything. But I found a better toy, so I went for it."

 

I didn't attack at all, so apparently I wasn't suitable for his glasses.

 

"It looks like Nair has brought him back to life...... Fortunately or unfortunately, she still doesn't seem to understand the situation with her face pressed down."

 

Really, you did a lot of extra stuff.

In this case, it can be said that it is a nair, or it can be said that it is a previous hero who did not completely bury such a nasty person. Anyway, running away from this guy was no longer an option.

 

"It's not that my fist isn't completely ineffective, look at it, his temporomandibular joint has come off and he can't close it. The outer shell is hard, but the bones inside are not. It's a level that even I can break."

「...... Usato, let's run away."

「...... Huh?"

 

Amako pulls at the hem of my uniform to stop me from going to the evil dragon who clenches her fists and suppresses her jaw and groans.

 

"What do you mean by running away, if you leave him like this, you might be in trouble. Besides...... We can't get out with the sludge that that bastard spewed."

"The tree in the back hasn't rotted yet, so maybe we can escape, Usato, I'm worried about the people in the village, but I can't manage everything ......."

「......」

"That's not normal, no matter how great Usato is, he's not someone you can manage ......."

 

It is true that the power of the evil dragon is unknown.

I think it's foolish to deal with them. But I don't have the idea of leaving it alone.

You see, Amako, he didn't hesitate to drop a lump of poison on the village. It's so poisonous that even I can't move for a while, and if a child or woman inhales it, it will kill me in a matter of minutes.

Moreover, sludge is so harmful that it can rot vegetation.

I was going to drop it in the village earlier, but what if it was dropped by Luxvis or the Kingdom of Lingle? Aside from the kingdom of Lingle, where the rescue team is located, Luxvis, who has many children, can't do anything about it.

 

"What if such a poisonous creature goes out of control and attacks a nearby country, and if that evil dragon is the same as the one I know, it will bring endless destruction. That's not even the eyes of the Demon King's Army."

「...... Oh, but Usato is going to die......"

 

I didn't say the easy words that I wouldn't die. Or rather, I couldn't find the words to reassure her in this situation.

Instead, I thought to myself, at least, and put my hand on Amako's head once.

―――It doesn't mean anything in particular. However, I also feel that my fear of that evil dragon has eased a little.

 

"I'm going to get caught up in this."

 

Her expression changed to one of somber as she nodded her head and ran towards where Bullyn was.

Well, my heart is much lighter, and I will do it.

 

"Hmm?"

 

Turning towards the evil dragon, he sees a man standing in an unnatural state.

Her body is shaking slightly...... Is something blocking your movement? As I tilted my head, I spotted Nea on the roof with a bright red face and glaring at me.

She holds her nose and sticks her index finger at you.

 

"I won't forgive you anymore! What kind of grudge do you have for targeting me over and over again!?"

 

I have nothing but resentment.

Well, I understand the feeling of wanting to say that, but if you shift your attention from Nea to the evil dragon who has regained his composure, the evil dragon seems to be unable to move.

I see, is it true that Nea is being manipulated? It's like I confused her and loosened her grip as a zombie, so the control of her body has shifted to the evil dragon.

...... If so, if I can still manage to convince her, I might be able to do something.

 

"Nea, it has a soul, a monster that you can't handle. You'd better put it back to its original corpse while you can give it your orders."

 

It's pretty precarious.

If the Evil Dragon's consciousness could easily be revealed just because she was upset, there was no way she could attack Nea in a bad way.

Maybe it's slowly moving away from the zombies she controls.

 

"Do you think you can be fooled by such a lie?"

"Earlier, he tried to poison the village, not me, and if he hadn't stopped, Tetra and the others would have died from the poison by now."

「...... Well, it doesn't matter to me if it's true. I'm a monster who has lived for 300 years, so why should I worry about humans? Or rather, did you think that such words would upset me?"

"Huh......"

 

I'm really upset.

- I'm a troublesome child. I don't think I'm very old.

 

"Are you done talking? Then go then."

"We didn't even talk about it......

 

Following Nea's orders, the evil dragon glares at you with its jaw off.

Then he began to take a deep breath on the spot, wondering what he was thinking. If you can't even try to breathe, your jaw will come off, what are you going to do?

As he braces himself to stay away from the detour, the evil dragon raises his head and looks upward.

 

「...... Oh, no way!!"

 

The order given by Nair was an attack on me.

Then, in the end, if the attack on us passes, it doesn't matter what happens in the process.

I understood what he was about to do as he inhaled and opened his lower jaw lazily.

 

"Nea!! Get out of there right now!!"

"What?"

 

At the same time as wearing the full power of healing magic, he rushes out of the place.

In an instant, a purple miasma overflowed from the mouth of the evil dragon like a volcano erupting, enveloping the surroundings.

It doesn't matter if it's an enemy or whatever.

If something happens to her now, the shackles that hold back that evil dragon will be removed.

In order to get to her, I plunge into the miasma without hesitation.

However, as soon as I entered the miasma, a tremendous shock hit my body.

 

"--...... Huh!?"

 

What I saw was a tail wriggling like a snake.

...... lured in? It's impossible to capture it normally, so narrow your field of view and look at me...... Whew.

The miasma makes it difficult to see, and it blows away without any way to deal with a devastating blow in the midst of being poisoned.

In addition, the tail, which has been bent like a whip in succession, slams again against me as I roll on the ground.

 

"Ouch...... Whew!!"

 

, I managed to defend in time, but I can't concentrate well due to poison and injury...... Whew!

Escaping from Nea's curse and at the same time matching her attacks on me is not normal. I need to get out of his range as soon as possible.

I try to get up while continuing to cast healing spells, but the evil dragon comes close enough to look down on me and holds me down with its large arms.

 

"Ku......"

"Damn it, Kakaka...... Kakaka"

 

The evil dragon can't speak well because his jaw is off, but he knows that he's being made fun of.

However, he didn't seem to like the fact that he couldn't speak well, so he pressed down on his dislodged chin with the opposite arm to the one holding me down, and with a gurgling sound, his chin snapped back into place.

 

"Goroz"

「...... What, did you have a head that could speak, you?"

 

A hoarse, hoarse voice emanates from the mouth of the evil dragon.

I replied sarcastically, even though I was uncomfortable with his voice, and the evil dragon with the corners of his mouth twisted into a twist brought his face closer to mine.

 

"--Yusha, Ha, Gorozu, Sono Blood, One Drop, Zanrazu."

 

Huh? Hero? It's about the previous hero, right?

Why do you ...... say that to me? Do you think I'm a hero?

 

「...... Oh, no...... I'm not a brave person."

"You, Brave, Jingai"

 

It's a misunderstanding!

I'm not a hero, I'm just an ordinary person who was involved!

Is Jingai an outsider? Based on that criterion, they are certified as heroes, and all the rescue teams are brave!

I can't hide my shock at the misunderstanding that is too unreasonable than what the evil dragon was able to say.

 

"Dakara, Golos"

 

But this situation is pretty bad.

Holding down the paws that have been trying to crush me for a while, I desperately think about how to get out of this situation.

But before that, I realized that I couldn't stay relaxed because the evil dragon grabbed me and lifted me into a position where I threw my arms up wide, so I prepared for the shock that was to come.

 

"Oh, I might die--"

 

The next moment, a shock that was equal to or greater than that of being beaten by the leader of the group struck his whole body.

_____________________________________

Floor Don (Physics) to Wall Don (Physics)