Isekai Nonbiri Sozai Saishu Seikatsu - Chapter 76

“Graaaah!”

“Too predictable!”

Rosca dodges Dvorak’s tail attack and swings her hammer to strike its abdomen.

“Oh, the flesh here is a bit softer!”

“Then, let’s aim for the belly with explosions as much as possible!”

While Rosca is drawing Dvorak’s attention, I select the most easily guided explosive stone from those scattered around the hall.

Then, I identify the ones that are most conducive to ignition by my fire magic.

“Rosca-san! Run towards me and lead it here!”

“Got it!”

Rosca nods at my instruction, evading Dvorak’s stomping attack with swift steps and running towards me as directed.

To Dvorak, it must have seemed like Rosca hurriedly retreated. It lowers its body and starts pursuing Rosca, pounding the ground as it goes.

As Rosca rushes past the explosive stones and exits the blast radius, Dvorak slows down to avoid them.

“Fireball!”

Taking advantage of that timing, I cast Fireball, hitting a nearby explosive stone next to Dvorak directly.

The explosive stone instantly detonates upon contact with the fire.

Dvorak, nearby, staggers back and lets out a muffled groan.

“It’s working!”

Looking at Dvorak’s body, the armored minerals covering its belly have shattered from the impact of the explosion, revealing what seems to be grayish skin underneath.

“GRAAAAHH!”

I thought it was another fireball coming at us, but what came out of its mouth was a profound storm of sounds.

“Ugh!?”

Rosca and I instinctively cover our ears due to the violent onslaught of sound.

The vibrations not only affect our eardrums but also resonate through our bodies, making us feel nauseous.

Perhaps because we’re in a cave, the sound echoes, making it louder than the roar of a Red Dragon.

Just when I think Dvorak’s roar has ended, it’s already lowering its body and charging towards us.

It seems it has figured out that I was responsible for the previous attack.

Despite feeling discomfort in my ears, I run to evacuate the area.

However, Dvorak also charges in response.

Perhaps due to the internal organs being shaken by the roar, my body isn’t moving properly.

While running at a sluggish pace, I guide Dvorak towards a route with explosive stones and, diving, cast a Fireball at a nearby explosive stone.

However, not only Dvorak but I also suffer from the impact of the explosion. I was too close to the explosive stone.

“Ugh!”

The explosion easily blows my body away. Fortunately, there were no explosive stones in front of me.

“Shuu-san! Run away!”

Despite enduring the pain all over my body, I manage to stand up, and Dvorak charges at me again.

Rosca’s scream echoes through the air.

Even if I try to move, the pain prevents me from doing so. Even if I try to erect a barrier with magic now, I would be crushed by its overwhelming mass.

As I desperately try to think of something to use as a barrier, something suddenly comes to mind.

I hastily take out my pickaxe made of hard magic stone from my magic bag.

Then, I immediately infuse it with magic, turning it into an extremely hard magic stone pickaxe, and hold it up towards Dvorak as it charges at me.

Suddenly, the pickaxe transformed into an extremely hard magic stone emits a faint light and deploys a barrier, deflecting Dvorak straight back.

Dvorak flips over beautifully, exposing the flesh on its abdomen wounded by the explosion.

Now’s the chance to strike.

“Now, Rosca!”

“Yes, got it!”

As I shout, Rosca, who was momentarily confused, quickly springs into action.

“Take this!”

Rosca swings her hammer and brings it down forcefully on Dvorak’s wounded abdomen.

Rosca’s beastly strike impressively caves in Dvorak’s soft abdomen.

Dvorak spits out blood with a muffled sound, convulsing and becoming immobile.

After confirming its lack of movement for about a minute, Rosca rushes over to me.

“Shuu-san! Are you okay!?”

“I’m fine. Just scratches and bruises.”

I wasn’t directly hit, just tossed around by the blast, so there are no burns or serious injuries.

It’s fortunate to have escaped with only minor injuries facing such a creature.

“I see. But, what happened at the end? Dvorak suddenly flipping over startled me!?”

It’s understandable to be startled when a creature of that size suddenly flips over.

I’m impressed by how quickly Rosca was able to transition to an attack in that situation.

“It’s thanks to the pickaxe Drogan-san made for me.”

“Oh! The barrier made of extremely hard magic stone!”

Showing the pickaxe again, Rosca nods in understanding.

With magic power pushed to its limits, the pickaxe made of extremely hard magic stone surpasses even orichalcum in hardness. When a certain level of impact is applied, the magic imbued in the stone forms a barrier and repels the force. That’s what I used.

“But it’s strange to use a pickaxe for defense, right?”

“I didn’t have anything else to use in the spur of the moment. Next time, I’ll have a shield or accessory made with hard magic stone.”

Using a pickaxe on the spur of the moment is just too impractical.

Equipping it properly as a shield or using it as an accessory to deploy a barrier by throwing it would be safer and more practical for self-defense.

“Wow, it sounds like that would be an amazing accessory.”

As she thinks about it, Rosca’s smile twitches a bit.

“If you can make it for me, I’ll make sure to infuse magic into one for you and Drogan-san, okay?”

“Definitely, please!”

It’s good to have at least one tool to protect oneself.

When it comes to those important to you, there’s no question about infusing them with magic.

“Now, shall we gather materials from Dvorak?”

“Yeah! Hopefully, its back crystal isn’t damaged…”

We take a breath and approach the fallen Dvorak.

“Wait, its back crystal can’t be harvested because it’s lying on its back!?”

Due to Dvorak being lying on its back, we’re unable to harvest the crucial material from its back.

“Wait a moment. Let me try flipping it over.”

I store Dvorak’s body in the magic bag and then imagine it coming out in a prone position this time.

Sure enough, Dvorak appears perfectly prone in front of me.

Now its back is facing up, so we can harvest the crystal.

“Wow! The magic bag is amazing!”

Without the magic bag, this would be quite a hassle. Although, normally, you wouldn’t be dealing with such a huge monster so soon.

Climbing up the prone Dvorak, Rosca and I inspect the crystal.

“…Looks like there are no scratches.”

“Well, that’s a relief!”

The crystal growing on its back seems quite sturdy; there are no signs of damage from being flipped over. It still shows the same clear transparency as when we first saw it.

“For now, let’s just harvest the crystal and dismantle the rest when we have time.”

“Yeah, good idea. The Adventurers Guild would be happy to help!”

“I-I’d rather not… It’s a bit… too soon to report another monster right after defeating a Red Dragon.”

“But, not reporting after defeating such a big one would be a bad move, right? If we sell the materials from this big guy, I’m sure it’ll attract a lot of attention.”

I couldn’t argue with Rosca’s logic, leaving me scratching my head for a while.