Chapter 74: The Flying Home Garden
We transferred once again, this time directly behind the Red Dragon we had moved earlier with Anii.
It seemed to still be asleep—completely motionless, as if unaware of our presence.
“Sarassa… please.”
“I-I’m going…!”
At that instant, Sarassa unleashed a spell of immense power, pouring every ounce of her strength into it.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
The flash was so blinding it felt as if the sun itself had fallen from the sky, exploding right in front of us. Even though I was looking away, the light stung my eyes painfully. My ears, supposedly covered by my hands, rang with a sharp, piercing resonance.
“GRAAAAH!?”
“! It’s… still alive!?”
The roar of agony made me widen my eyes. One strike alone wasn’t enough to fell the Red Dragon—it had survived.
Still, there was no doubt it had suffered a tremendous blow. It writhed in pain, thrashing violently, but its movements were clearly sluggish, slowed as if paralyzed by some residual effect of the lightning.
Seizing this opportunity to deliver the finishing blow, Shifa and the others readied their weapons.
“!?”
The Red Dragon noticed us, apparently shocked. It had probably assumed that the previous fire breath had been fatal.
“Here I go!”
Sena was the first to leap from the garden, charging straight at the beast.
“Bow down!”
“~~~~!?”
The Red Dragon extended its neck, aiming to crush Sena in its jaws—but Shifa’s command froze it for a brief moment. Taking advantage of the opening, Sena darted under its jaw, swinging her sword upward in a decisive arc.
SLASH!
The blade cut cleanly into the underside of the dragon’s jaw, as effortlessly as if slicing through practice straw.
“As expected of a Mithril sword! It cuts through Red Dragon scales like they’re nothing!”
“Papa’s pride and joy.”
“…A masterwork born of muscle and skill…!”
“~~~~~~~!?”
The Red Dragon’s wail of pain was stifled, unable even to form a proper scream. It had clearly never experienced its armored jaw being sliced open before.
Sena didn’t relent. She continued raining blows across the dragon’s massive body with blinding speed, faster than my eyes could track. Yet its size made delivering a lethal strike difficult.
Worse, the paralysis from the earlier lightning seemed to be fading. With a powerful kick against the ground, the Red Dragon launched itself into the air, slowly gaining altitude despite its injuries.
“If it escapes into the sky again…!”
“Sarassa! Can you fire another one?”
“I-I’ll try…!”
Once again, Sarassa unleashed her lightning.
“AAAAH!”
“! It’s no good…! I still need to focus more magical energy…!”
Even as it suffered damage, the Red Dragon desperately climbed higher, trying to escape. We had it cornered, yet if this continued, we’d be repeating the same mistake as last time.
Is there… no way to stop it? If only we could fly…!
No, that’s pointless. We don’t have wings.
〈Move the garden?〉
Huh? Move it…? But it can only go forward, back, left, or right, right?
Wait… could this—this three-dimensional movement—mean…?
“! A breath attack’s coming!”
“Fine. We’ll retreat.”
I snapped back to attention at Shifa’s warning and looked up just in time to see the Red Dragon preparing another fiery breath. Everyone scrambled toward me as a massive stream of flames erupted.
“Geo, teleport us!”
“Y-Yes!”
I nodded, but just before acting, I decided to try something… one experiment.
〈Move the garden?〉
“Yes—upward!”
In the next instant, a heavy force pressed against my legs. The garden lifted into the air, flying straight upward.
“““W-WE’RE FLYING!?”””
Our shocked cries echoed into the sky as the Red Dragon’s breath passed just beneath the garden. The scorching wind threatened to burn our skin, but we were untouched. We had dodged the fire attack perfectly.
“Onii-chan! How are we flying!?”
“Wha-what’s happening here!?”
“Well… I just tried something, and it worked.”
“A flying garden…”
“…This is utter madness.”
But there was no time for that. The Red Dragon was still a threat.
“GRRR!?”
It hesitated, clearly disoriented, having just been dodged and now forced to confront us at the same altitude.
“Geo, can we move forward from here?”
“I think so!”
Maintaining our height, I moved the garden forward.
“~~~~!?”
The Red Dragon attempted to turn, startled, but its pride would not allow retreat. It faced us again, clearly panicked.
“It can’t fire its breath again immediately! We end this now! Geo, get us closer!”
“Y-Yes!”
I braced myself and accelerated the garden toward the Red Dragon, as if aiming for a direct collision.
“GRRRRRAAAAH!”
The dragon lunged in return, unwilling to back down.
“Lightning…!”
Sarassa struck swiftly with another bolt, hitting the dragon squarely in the face. As we closed the final few meters, Sena sprinted forward and leaped.
She vaulted over the dragon’s head, still shaking from the pain of her earlier strike, and landed on its back. Like she had with the wyvern before, she plunged her sword deep into the base of its neck.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?”
The Red Dragon screamed louder than ever, thrashing violently. Sena was thrown off its back mid-struggle.
“Whoa! She’s falling!”
“Sena!”
I maneuvered the garden, catching my sister just in time. The Red Dragon, though faltering in flight, summoned every ounce of strength and lunged again.
“Mega Golem!”
“!?”
The five-meter-tall golem I had conjured met the Red Dragon head-on. It bit and clawed at the earthen figure, but the solid body of the golem remained unharmed.
In return, the golem’s fists slammed into the Red Dragon’s skull.
“Gweh…”
With that final sound, the Red Dragon collapsed, unconscious, and plummeted to the ground with a bone-shaking crash.
“Did we… do it…?”