Chapter 171: Facing Fear

One of Hekab’s front legs got hit directly and snapped, the broken parts flying into the air while the joint that connected the leg and the body drooped. Due to the tremendous pressure, some of its internal organs got pushed out through the dislocated joint, and Hekab was sent flying tens of meters away.

Mazdari crawled out from under the debris while dusting himself off.

“Damn it…Vasen? Are you okay?”

"Fairly...not great."

Mazdari turned around in surprise. Vasen was getting up, but his foot was twisted.

"Shit. Did it break?"

Mazdari bent down and reached for his bag, but Vasen shook his head.

"Mazdari, there's something you need to do."

"Right, it's better to carry you and run than to try and heal you."

"That's not it."

"Then what?"

Vasen looked at Ashurada as the Dragon wielded its sword at the expedition members that couldn’t yet escape.

Then he said, “The situation has changed.”

“I can see that too.”

"No, you don't understand. We're not losing."

"Then?"

"It's just...a change in circumstances. It means that the plan needs adjustments."

Mazdari allowed Vasen to speak first and then called over the nearby expedition member. The Troll quickly came over to help Vasen, and Mazdari moved to the opposite side, providing support as they retreated.

"Whatever we do, we should relocate first."

"It's your job."

"Me?"

"Yes, Mazdari."

Mazdari furrowed his eyebrows.

“What does that mean?”

"Originally, I intended to do it, but things got complicated with my foot like this. Actually, it doesn't matter who does it, but you're fully qualified. You speak well and you're fast on your feet."

"What exactly are you thinking of asking me to do..."

Vasen limped along while he explained his plan, and Mazdari realized what the plan was even before Vasen finished explaining.

"Are you crazy?"

Vasen didn't say anything.

"You're not crazy."

"Will you do it?"

Mazdari didn’t answer and let go of the hand supporting Vasen. Then he looked at Vasen's back for a moment before running in the opposite direction.

Vasen said to the expedition member helping him, “We just need to make it up to the top of that hill. I'll walk on my own from there."

"Team Leader, your foot is injured."

"I know. So help me just a bit, please."

But it seemed Ashurada had no intention of conceding even that much. Except for the few who managed to run away earlier, many of the expedition members were swept up in the natural disaster caused by Ashurada.

-If your civilization were more developed, things could’ve been different.

Ashurada gripped the sword with both of its front feet and raised it high.

-But if you were a little wiser, you'd be grateful that you wouldn’t survive long enough to be swept away by such a curse in the future.

As if trying to achieve maximum acceleration, Ashurada swung the sword back as far as it could.

-To me!

However, Ashurada couldn't swing the sword. It was firmly fixed in place.

When Ashurada turned around, it saw that the white spider, Hillove, had wrapped the sword and tied it to a massive rock with its webs.

-...Right, there’s one more.

Ashurada tried to break the spider web with force, but before the web broke, it realized that was difficult to do. Thus it put down the sword, turned around, and went toward Hillove.

Hillove watched Ashurada carefully and quickly walked in a circle.

As Ashurada reached out to grab Hillove’s leg, Hillove jumped onto Ashurada's arm and crawled up Ashurada's nape.

-How dare you get on my body!

Hillove inserted its legs into Ashurada's body while climbing up, aiming for the cervical vertebrae. However, Ashurada's front foot wrapped around its own neck before Hillove could strike. Hillove then attempted to raise its leg to aim for the spot below where Ashurada was covering, but one of its legs got stuck between Ashurada's finger bones.

-Don't be annoying, bug.

Ashurada then grabbed a few of Hillove’s legs with its other front foot and brought Hillove in front of itself, using the foot that was around its neck to grab onto the remaining spider legs. That alone caused several of Hillove’s legs to snap with a cracking sound.

-Did you think you would live forever if you lived according to the gods’ will? Ha, I’m the counterevidence.

Hillove said.

-Do you know what my eight eyes see?

-What do they see?

-An ignorant lizard that believes it knows something.

-That’s pathetic for a dying wish.

Ashurada opened its mouth wide and lowered its head down. It seemed like it intended to bite and tear apart Hillove.

-Stop, Dragon!

Ashurada felt a burning sensation at the tip of its tail.

Certainly, the beetle had flown away, and Ashurada thought it had killed the thing that was inside Koprik, so Ashurada became curious.

What was holding onto the end of Ashurada's tail was a large anteater.

-...You are?

-I am Katuru! I have come to help my friends!

Katuru yanked the tail as hard as it could. Ashurada lost its balance and stumbled, letting go of Hillove as it fell over.

-You! I remember now. Weren’t you my sacrifice?

-That day will never come!

Ashurada crawled with all four legs and turned itself around to face Katuru.

A small voice shouted from a distance. "Fire!"

Ashurada turned to look up the hill.

A thousand Pangolins were lined up, pointing matchlocks at Ashurada. At the front was Margo, who held a sword and commanded everyone.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ashurada couldn’t help but collapse at the pain of its whole body being hit. The white smoke blocked its vision, and an intense gunpowder smell assaulted its senses.

Katuru came running and wound its arm around Ashurada's neck.

Ashurada soon opened its eyes again and tried to raise its neck but only managed to raise its body.

-You impure hybrid!

-You’re the hybrid since you’re a Dragon!

Katuru growled back.

Ashurada then threateningly revealed its upper teeth to refute.

"Fire!"

Again, there was an explosion, and Ashurada cried out in pain as the explosion hit its side. The rapid gunfires came from the 500 members of Black Scale’s expedition team.

Theone Itimo ordered them to reload and helped Vasen.

"We were a bit late dealing with the Rakshasas, but we should have come faster. It doesn't look good.”

“It’s okay. We’re not falling behind that much."

“I was talking about your foot."

Ashurada bent its body, then swung its long tail from the distance.

Katuru was startled by the impact on the back of its head and had no choice but to release its grip.

Ashurada didn't miss the opportunity.

-I’ll show you that numbers don’t matter.

Ashurada stood up and grabbed its sword again.

As soon as the Pangolins, who had reloaded in a two-line firing form, were about to shoot, Ashurada made a sign with its other front foot.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

There were sounds of explosions, but the transparent protective barrier that Ashurada created blocked both the bullets and smoke.

Margo urgently shouted, "Roll back!"

Ashurada's sword swept across the hill.

What was left of the inner walls of the Moving Castle crumbled, along with the heaps of soil that formed the hills, and the Pangolins that didn’t roll fast enough got caught up in the debris. At this sight, Theone commanded the expedition team to retreat rather than fire.

Ashurada looked down at Katuru.

-First, I’ll finish you off.

***

"How to deal with a dragon, step three."

Lunda said, “There are three steps?”

"It's a method acknowledged by other players too. How did you usually defeat Dragons in the game?"

"I usually just suffered some losses, then used Hierophany or sent an apostle..."

Sung-Woon said nothing and just stared at Lunda for a moment.

Lunda met his eyes and was briefly taken aback. Then she turned to other players and said, “He just cursed at me, right? He didn't say anything, but with his eyes, he seems to be saying, 'That’s why you lost to me, you idiot.'"

"I didn't say a word."

"Then is what I said wrong?”

"Hm."

"This is when you should deny it, you idiot who destroys interpersonal relationships."

Wisdom raised his hand.

"I’ll say it.”

Sung-Woon pointed out, "You've been silent."

“I wanted to concentrate because I’m curious how things will end.”

"So the answer is?"

Wisdom said, "Stay one step ahead of the Dragon."

At first glance, it might seem like nothing but a wordplay, but Sung-Woon thought this third piece of advice had real value. In The Lost World, Dragons were one of the few individuals that acted strategically. Not only were they smart, they also competed with players, even luring them into traps. But Dragons and players had different viewpoints and methods of exerting influence.

The traps that Dragons set up could be used against them, or the traps that the Dragons thought they avoided could be used again.

***

The area around Ashurada's mouth turned red again.

Katuru tensed, ready to spring away at a moment's notice.

-...Hm.

Even if it dodged the breath spell, Katuru still had to dodge Ashurada's sword, and then it also had to dodge Ashurada’s foot as it tried to stomp on Katuru. All that were necessary steps before Katuru could attempt to scratch Ashurada’s thighs.

-...But I, Katuru, am not an ungrateful beast.

Just before Ashurada could exhale its breath of fire, Ashurada coughed again and spat out a fireball onto the ground.

-...You Wizard! You’re disrupting me again!

Katuru knew someone was running behind itself. It was the Garuda Wizard.

Mazdari said, "Go!"

Katuru decided not to miss this opportunity. Due to Ashurada's breath being interrupted by its cough, its sword swings were sloppy, and the stomp missed its target.

Katuru then used its long claws to pierce deeply into the Dragon's thigh.

-Ridiculous!

However, Katuru's claws weren’t sharp enough.

Ashurada swiped its tail above the hill to threaten the gunners from shooting, then it pinned Katuru down with its left front foot.

-Die!

It tried to choke Katuru to death.

-And you too!

With its right front foot, Ashurada swung down on Mazdari. No, it tried to. But a massive hand similar in size to the Great Ashurada's foot shot up and caught it.

Ashurada recognized this magic.

-A Talajin!

“I’ll make you regret this, Dragon.”

-Do you think I’ll be defeated by a Wizard that only knows how to use his hands?

Mazdari hurriedly drew magic with his staff.

-Do you think you’re safe because both my feet are tied?

Ashurada didn't release Katuru with its left foot or break free of Talajin’s grip with its right. Instead, it extended its long neck.

"...!"

Ashurada swallowed Mazdari whole.

***

Mazdari heard a voice coming from inside him.

-Are you not afraid of me? To you, what I am must be incomprehensible.

‘I am afraid.’

-Then what made you forget about your fear? Is it the courage of a Garuda, or the arrogance of a Wizard?

After a brief moment of thought, Mazdari replied.

‘It is faith.’

-Faith.

‘Faith in Night Sky, and you, the child of Night Sky. Also faith in my teammates.’

The voice remained silent for a moment and then said.

-...That’s a topic to think about.

‘And I, even in my daily life, get along well with another friend inside my body. So there’s no reason for me to hesitate accepting another one.’

Mazdari’s rotten hand said.

-You idiot. If you die like this, who will appreciate it?

’I’m not going to die.’

The third voice within Mazdari's body, Gordius, said.

-Yes, you’re not going to die.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

***

Mazdari opened his eyes.

He was inside Ashurada's moist mouth. It smelled burnt.

Before the wildly moving tongue could push him back into the throat, Mazdari had grabbed onto the flesh of the tongue and used his staff to hold the mouth open for a moment, preventing it from closing. Then, he quickly raised his right hand and pressed it against the roof of Ashurada's mouth.

-Thank you for lending me your body, Mazdari.

Gordius, who had burrowed into the palm of Mazdari's hand, stretched itself out and dug into Ashurada’s palate.