“…… I didn’t think I’d be forced to use〖Summon〗here”

I know that it was for scouting reasons, which is why I only summoned a subspecies of a Lecherta since it doesn’t consume much magic, but I still don’t like the idea of wasting my magic now, even if only a little was used.

Hearing me quietly talk to myself, the mage beside me――Sherry, faces down apologetically.
She must be feeling down that her magic,〖Hidden〗, which we used on the Lecherta, was easily detected by one head of the Ouroboros.

“Sherry, you carry one of Norwell’s magical eyes with you, so your magic is boosted. …… That two-heads just has better perception”

Inside the cave are seven “Hungry Hunters” members, and positioned outside are me and Sherry, all of us selected as the force to take down the Ouroboros.
Ever since the Ouroboros arrived, Sherry has been constantly using〖Hidden〗on us.

With our limited number of strong and capable warriors we have available right now, they were all that’s left to choose from, considering that we still have to leave some behind to escort Lord Tallmann to safety.
Not that having more people will change anything.

Besides, I have no intention of fighting from the start.
If it really is a rank A Ouroboros, then it will act befitting of its rank.
It is often feared for its unparalleled physical and magical capacity; enough to create dozens of undead in a short amount of time. Although, we should count ourselves lucky that we only encountered the one undead Lithuvar child from before.
Even so, it is still not an opponent we can fight directly.
Even if we manage to weaken it by forcing it to humanize, it will not be an easy battle.

My plan is to lure the Ouroboros deep inside the cave, turn into a dragon, use〖Drago Flare〗to destroy the cave, and bury it alive.
This was my goal from the beginning.
I told His Excellency that I’d use〖Flare〗so that the others wouldn’t suspect that I intend to bury them alive as well.
I doubt〖Drago Flare〗is enough to finish it off, let alone〖Flare〗.
The way I see it, firing〖Drago Flare〗at the whole cave and burying it alive is the only way to surely incapacitate it.

“Azalea-sama…… um, when are you gonna signal Norwellsama and the others to escape the cave?”

“…………”

“Azalea-sama?”

“Tell His Excellency… that they fought against the ferocious Ouroboros valiantly until the very end”

“B-But, that’s…… A-, Azalea-sama, weren’t you very fond of that beastchild……?”

“Keep your voice down, we can’t let them notice us”

Sherry was about to say something again, but she shut her mouth.
We, the “Hungry Hunters”, have already suffered major losses on our side. Losing a few dozen more will hardly matter.
It is but a small sacrifice for His Excellency.

Shortly afterwards, loud rapid sword strikes can be heard from inside the cave.
Nell must’ve used his sword art. That means the situation inside has gotten dire.
It’ll only be a matter of time before he becomes exhausted and the enemy seizes the chance to kill him. The Ouroboros is more powerful than I feared.

“Sherry, you can go now. Return to Lord Tallmann’s side quickly”

“Azalea-sama, what are you……?”

It’s been a long time since I last used〖Dragon Transformation〗.
It makes my body heavy and hard to move.
But, I also can’t fire〖Drago Flare〗in a human body.
If I do, then its firepower will drastically decrease and my human body won’t be able to withstand the recoil of using a very high-level spell.

Magic spreads throughout my body, and the temperature of my body heat begins to rise.
I can feel the dragon’s blood flowing through my veins, and I picture my form as a dragon.

My body grows in size and a strong stimulation takes over my mind.
I’ve been conducting rigorous mental training in case I’m forced to use this transformation skill, but it seems that I still need to conduct more.
Everytime I transform into a dragon, I always get overwhelmed with the urge to destroy.

My field of vision has heightened.
Looking down, I see Sherry with an extremely surprised expression.
I thought Lord Tallmann already told a few members in the “Hungry Hunters” about my peculiar transformation while on a mission, but it looks like Sherry didn’t hear about it.

I take a big leap with my dragonified legs and land near the cave entrance.
I place a claw near the cave wall and peek inside.
There it is. They’re a bit further inside, but the Ouroboros who humanized and entered the cave a while ago is now a mutated lump of scales.
It must’ve partially transformed back to defend against Nell’s assault.
Our eyes meet.

“U~oo, ~o~ooo~oooooo……”

My roar comes out naturally. This body, this blood… it craves to battle that dragon.

I gather magic power into a ball of red light in front of my dragon snout.
Then, after it shone a scorching red glow, I open my mouth and fire it as a beam towards the humanized Ouroboros inside the cave.
It manages to avoid my〖Drago Flare〗, but the cave walls instantly chip away upon impact.
Avoiding it changes nothing, the cave will soon collapse.
The Ouroboros immediately makes a quick decision and cancels its〖Human Transformation〗as it runs outside the cave.

Its full size became cramped inside the cave.
Unable to move properly, my〖Drago Flare〗lands a direct hit on its chest.

Along with the synchronized roar of the double-headed Ouroboros, the cave starts to collapse.
The collapsed ceilings, walls, and many hardened rocks and earth fall on top of the trapped Ouroboros.
The Ouroboros opens its wings and covers itself from the collapsing cave, still trying to escape outside, but even more bigger rocks fall down on them, and they eventually disappear under all the rubble.
Their roar still echoes from the inside.

The mountain of earth and rocks from the collapsed cave show no signs of movement.
I was expecting the worst, but I guess even an Ouroboros can’t survive being buried alive.
…… Just to be sure.
It might be lying low while slowly recovering its magic power.

I open my mouth again and gather more magic power into a red-hot ball.
It would seem that Ouroboros is trying to escape from the back by breaking through the ceiling.
In that case…… I should aim at the back.
The ceiling bulges from the continuous slamming.

I swallow the glowing red ball, spread my wrinkly wings, and fly high.
I then fire a second shot of〖Drago Flare〗.
Rocks turn to dust and the collapsed cave shakes once again.

Below the opening my beam created, the Ouroboros is seen covered in dirt.
I’ve locked onto its position.
Several of its blue scales have been singed and are now charred black.
The areas of its body where its scales have loosened are being pierced by sharp rocks and blue blood is leaking out of it.
It can’t spread its wings in this cramped space, so it can’t rely on flight.

The Ouroboros isn’t moving.
Despite being wide open from enemy attacks and enduring unbearable pain from being pierced by the sharp rocks, it’s not moving at all.
It must finally be out of strength.
I don’t have any more magic power left to use〖Drago Flare〗, but I still have enough to lift that dragon up before I run out entirely.
I dive down the hole and aim my claws at the motionless Ouroboros’s back.

Suddenly, the Ouroboros opens its eyes, lifts both of its heads up, spreads its crumpled wings, and claws me away from them.

“Gru~o~a~a!”

After showing no signs of moving, it just got up all of a sudden.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a heavy blow.
But, why is it still staying in place?
I know it’s regarded as a monster with a limitless life force, but I didn’t expect it to have this much.
After two〖Drago Flare〗and a cave-in, it’s still alive.
And yet, why isn’t it trying to escape?

Looking closer, the Lithuvar children that we used as hostages are safely secured right under the Ouroboros.
Even Nell is there.

“…………”

So the reason it went to the back of the cave was not to escape, but to protect the children from harm.
But still, for them to be uninjured…… it must’ve used healing magic at them.
Now, this is a surprise.
I instilled Nell the notion that the Ouroboros is an evil existence with no heart, but who would’ve thought that it would act the exact opposite from how I described it.

Still, even though I cornered it to this point, I would’ve never guessed that it would prioritize the children first.
The body of the Ouroboros remains injured and unhealed.
That means it wasted most of its magic on healing the children, so it doesn’t have enough to heal itself.

Even that attack it did on me…… wasn’t that powerful.
I have to finish this quickly before I run out of magic power. I can’t afford to dragonize too long, or I might endanger my life.
…… But, I need to stay in this dragon body if I ever hope to deal a heavy damage on it.
The part of its body that was hit by my〖Drago Flare〗before the cave-in hasn’t regenerated yet, and it doesn’t have enough magic power to heal itself.
If I just attack those weakened areas repeatedly, I should be able to render it powerless.

“Gru~uuuu……”

The Ouroboros eyes me while maintaining a low posture.
Such a large body. It will be difficult to lift it up now.

“U~ooooooo~oo!”

I approach it again, slicing its charred chest with my claw.
Four scratch marks are formed.

“Gru~oo!” “Gra~a~a!”

Both heads pincer me from both sides.
I expected that and easily stepped back.
I can fight. Although it’s quite hard to move.
It’s in its last breath. It was close, but now my victory is assured.

“U~u, u~uuu……”

I was going to fly back up, but instead I fell on my knees.
I’m running out of magic power. At this rate, I’ll revert back to normal.
I tried to move my leg, but doing so caused a surge of pain around my body.
That reminds me, I’ve never dragonified this long before. I don’t know what will happen to my body if I keep this up any longer.
I can no longer fight properly anymore.

It’s best to just let my instincts take over.
This whole time, I’ve been fighting against the destructive instinct to keep myself from losing my mind.
But now, I’ll let it go.
I should just let my reason watch over my body.

“U~ooo~oooooooo!”

Strange, letting my instincts take over has made my body lighter and my movements smoother.
My vision is getting blurry. I don’t know if it’s because of the instinctual urge or if I’m already past my limit, but my heart is beating abnormally fast.
I could hear every beat it makes.

It’s as if I’m not the one moving my body.
The only thing I’m thinking right now is to continue thrusting my claws at the Ouroboros’ chest.

With its chest exposed and badly scarred, it will be easy to strike.
But, when I was about to attack, my instincts told me it was bound to get blocked.

The Ouroboros roars.
One head bites my right arm. I attempt to release myself, but before I knew it, the other head has bitten my shoulder off.
The Ouroboros has become desperate, and it wants to end this fight soon.
I’d rather receive a dull bite from a last resort rather than a direct strike of full concentration.
I then fly up and slice the Ouroboros with my left claw.

It should’ve hit.
I should’ve won.
But, I felt no contact. No. There was no feeling at all. Glancing down, I notice that my left arm didn’t move at all.
That’s when I remembered.
Ah, that’s right. I sacrificed my left arm, my dominant arm, against the battle with the undead in order to preserve more magic power.

I lift my head up.
Strangely, the Ouroboros has walked outside my line of sight.
Our eyes met before it disappeared.

“――――”

When I tried to speak, no words came out of my mouth.
In the next instance, I felt a strong impact hit my body. However, the pain didn’t bother me.

――――

【“Fuhahahaha, Azalea, brilliant job! You successfully took down the Ouroboros! You have been a big help to me in my road to becoming king! I am glad to have you by my side!”】

【“Even if Your Excellency…… no, even if Your Majesty had missed that chance, I believe you would still have become king, regardless”】

Noticing that I corrected myself, Lord Tallmann grins.
Today is the day of Lord Tallmann’s coronation.
I can’t keep calling him Your Excellency anymore.

【“You can drop the formality when you’re with me, Azalea. Fuhahahaha! You are my one and only trusty aide!”】 Nell appears before Tallmann.

【“Y-You look very magnificent today, Your Majesty”】

【“You as well. If it’s difficult to speak that way, no need to force yourself”】

【“M-My apologies……”】

【“No need to apologize either. Honestly…… you’re a member of the royal knights now, pull yourself together. You lack vigor. Here, let me show you how to make yourself look more dignifi-…… Azalea, what are you laughing at?”】

【“Nothing, I just find it funny that you chose Nell, of all people, to be a part of the royal knights, is all”】

【“Those who’ve proven themselves should be given the reward they deserve. I already said that before. Besides, I value the strong and the capable. Nell fought toe-to-toe with that Ouroboros and even cornered it, I heard, and that deserves respect. Although, I sort of doubted his capabilities when you first introduced him to me back in the underground arena”】

【“It’s just as Your Majesty said. You require a strong person to help you reach the place you intend to reach…… or so you say. I simply felt the same way when I first saw Nell fight in that arena”】

【“Do you still remember? That time when I won you over from that Govia noble into joining the “Hungry Hunters”? Actually, reminiscing about it feels like it wasn’t that long at all!”】

After King Tallmann laughed heartily, he looked at the time in the wall clock.

【“Now then, it’s about time. Let us go make our grand announcement. Come, Azalea, Nell”】

I then felt dizzy. ―― And, that was the end.