A massive tail, like a wall, came rushing toward me.
Its movement was oddly slow.
But my own movements were slow too—I couldn’t move quickly.
This is… bad?
Death…
“Fate!!!”
“Whoa!?”
Suddenly, my body floated lightly into the air.
No—that’s not it. Sofia had picked me up.
She leapt high and landed gracefully.
Then she set me down on the ground.
“Are you alright!?”
“Y-yeah… thanks.”
“I’m glad… ngh.”
“Sofia!?”
She staggered slightly, and I hurried to support her.
Looking closer, I saw a laceration on her dominant right arm.
Her beautiful hand was stained with blood.
“Don’t tell me… when you saved me just now…”
“I’m fine.”
That’s what she said, but it was obvious she was just putting on a brave face.
“Damn…!”
I felt pathetic.
Instead of being her strength, I had only held her back.
But—regret can come later.
So can self-reflection.
Right now, I need to focus on the fight.
“Sofia, use a potion or something and heal yourself. I’ll buy us time in the meantime.”
“But…”
“It’s okay. I’ll give it a try!”
Without waiting for a reply, I charged forward.
Faster than before.
And with deeper, sharper focus…
All-out.
Body, mind, and soul—pouring everything into this battle.
“Uooooooaaaaaaaah!!!”
Fight.
Fight.
Fight.
Swinging my sword, racing across the ground, kicking off walls to leap, swinging again, thrusting, slashing, sweeping, striking, launching—
Unleashing every attack I had.
“This is…”
I could barely hear Sofia’s surprised voice.
But honestly, I was surprised too.
To think I could actually go toe-to-toe with the Purgatory Dragon.
I guess…
I had made up my mind.
I was determined to defeat it.
I had resolved not to lose.
But when I first faced the Purgatory Dragon, I’d been overwhelmed by its sheer presence—
Pathetically so.
So much that I’d slowed down without even realizing it, and made a mistake like the one earlier…
But that ends now.
I won’t repeat the same mistake again.
That resolve is what I believe has pushed my strength beyond its limits.
Stronger.
Faster.
“I won’t let Sofia get hurt anymore!”
“I won’t let Snowlake be attacked again!”
“I’ll fulfill the final request from Mr. Horn and Nonoka—no matter what!”
It might be greedy to want this and that…
But just for now—just for now!
“Grahhh!!!”
The Purgatory Dragon’s attention turned fully toward me.
Mr. Horn was also attacking, but it must have judged me as the greater threat.
But that’s a huge mistake.
“Hmph. Dragon or not, it’s still just a beast. Take this!”
Mr. Horn threw a sword.
The sword itself was a cheap one you could buy anywhere…
But tied to the tip was a specially made explosive.
The blade struck the dragon’s scales, and the impact triggered the explosive.
BOOM!!!
A thunderous blast shook the entire cavern.
And it didn’t happen just once.
Twice, three times—Mr. Horn kept throwing swords, and each time, another massive explosion rocked the area.
It was like getting hit by high-level magic at point-blank range.
Even a dragon couldn’t just shrug that off.
Of course, we didn’t expect to defeat it with this alone—
“Grrrrrr…”
But the Purgatory Dragon’s strength clearly started to wane.
It was visibly damaged—its movements were clearly slowing down.
Now’s the time to strike!
I stepped in further, raised my sword with all my strength, and brought it down—
CLANG!!
“Huh?”
My sword broke.
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