Ryuu Kusari no Ori

This chapter was brought to you by the collaboration between PolterGlast and Saekano Translations.

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Volume 1 Chapter 4.2

The Realization of the Escapism, and the First Step Part 2

Translator : PolterGlast

As the gigantic dragon's claw closed in on Nozomu, a shadow suddenly sprang forth from his side, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, and instantly broke away from the scene.

Immediately afterward, the giant dragon's claw slammed onto the ground, creating a thunderous sound and shockwave.

"What are you doing, you foolish disciple!"

"S-Shisho......"

What caught Nozomu's eye amidst the cloud of dust and smoke scattered by the shockwave was his master, who was supposed to be waiting for him in the hut.

Shino always kept an eye on him from a distance while Nozomu was jogging, so when Nozomu suddenly disappeared shortly after the fog appeared, she was in a hurry to find him.

Then she jumped into the strange light, which seemed impossible to appear within the fog, and saw her disciple being toyed around with by the monster in front of him.

"Suddenly, I lost sight of you in the fog, and when I went looking for you, I saw that you were in this dreadful mess."

With wrinkles etched on her forehead, Shino stared at the gigantic dragon in front of her.

"Five colors, six wings, and a jet-black body. It's no doubt the legendary Dragon King of Destruction. Gosh, I never thought that at my age, I would have to deal with such a legendary monster ......"

"The Dragon King of Destruction? ......"

"Yes, its name is Tiamat, an abominable black dragon that devoured its own race 5,000 years ago and should have been sealed by her own race."

[Tiamat, the Dragon King of Destruction]

The most heretical among heretics, devouring even her own race and feared by all living beings. Tiamat was a legendary dragon that was sealed more than 5,000 years ago and should have disappeared from the world long ago.

"How unlucky for us to come face to face with such a monster......"

"Shisho ...... *cough, cough*!"

As Nozomu coughed, red blood spattered along with his cough.

There was a high probability that his internal organs were damaged. Looking at her disciple's condition which seemed to be worse than expected, Shino gritted her teeth.

"Nozomu, listen to me. I'll distract it, so you should run away in the meantime."

"B-but Shisho, what about you?......"

"In any case, if we remain together, we won't be able to escape- ...... kuh~ !"

Ignoring the master and disciple who were in the middle of conversations, Tiamat's feet slammed into the ground right next to them.

Shino jumped as fast as she could, pulling Nozomu's body with her. At the same time, she drew her katana from her waist and with a quick movement, cut through the incoming shockwave and debris.

"Damn it, go! Run for your life and don't look back!"

"Shisho, -ughh!"

Throwing Nozomu away as soon as she landed, Shino immediately charged toward Tiamat. In the blink of an eye, Shino accelerated her body at once.

Shino, who had closed the distance in an instant, put all her strength into the katana and swung it without hesitation, but the [Phantom] that was released was blocked by the huge scales and fizzled out.

"Tch, I expected it, but to think that there's not even a scratch!"

In front of the unscathed Tiamat, Shino couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

On the other hand, in the face of Shino's resistance, Tiamat's gaze turned from Nozomu to her. Apparently, Tiamat is more interested in lively toys.

"Grrrr......"

With a delighted growling sound, Tiamat spread her wings and deployed countless light bullets, firing them simultaneously towards Shino.

The deployed light bullets moved together like schools of fish, charging from all directions toward their prey, Shino. There were more than a hundred of them.

"Mmmmmm!"

Pouring Qi into her blade, Shino kept dealing with the swarms of light bullets coming at her.

Her swordsmanship was truly worthy of being called a master, and she unleashed a barrage of blows that would have been unthinkable from an old woman's thin frame.

With a single slash, she slashed through more than five bullets, shattered ten bullets with a blast of her Qi blade, and then used the aftermath of the shattered bullets to cause chain explosion of more than 20 bullets. Since that wasn't enough, she even used her scabbard like a sword and continued to knock down a swarm of over a hundred approaching light bullets in the blink of an eye.

"Guooo...."

But the swarm of light bullets didn't stop.

The giant dragon kept firing light bullets, letting its inexhaustible power do the work for it. If the first wave was cut down, it would shoot the second wave. If the second wave was destroyed, it would shoot the third wave.

Tiamat was clearly enjoying herself. Even the highest-ranked swordsman was no threat to her.

Tiamat's mouth contorted into a sinister smile, wondering how much longer the toy in front of her eyes could withstand it.

"Oooooooo!"

Even in the face of Tiamat's never-ending wave of attacks, Shino kept slashing, smashing, and destroying the oncoming light bullets.

However, the power of the light bullets themselves that were fired was also gradually increasing.

The number of light bullets that could be slashed more than five in a single blow was gradually reduced to four, three, then two.

Finally, the situation had reached the point where even with all of Shino's strength, she could barely cut through one of them.

"I can barely hold out, damn you monster!"

Under the increasing pressure of the light bullets, Shino kept intercepting them, deliberately pushing her physical limits, but the effects of the rapid drain on her Qi began to appear on her body.

The muscles in both arms began to cramp, and she lost control of her body.

(Maybe if it’s the old me- …… no, it’s still impossible. Even in my prime, I cannot see any way I can win.)

The legs that had been holding on began to lose their strength, and an intense sense of fatigue arose as if all the blood in the body had been drained.

Shino bit her lip as her body became less mobile than she intended. The taste of rusty iron spread in her mouth.

"Damn, this is what I get for being so withered deep in the forest! I'm no better than my pitiful disciple!"

The severe fatigue eventually led to a complete loss of sensation.

Firs, the sense of taste and smell disappeared. The rusty iron taste that had spread in the mouth no longer could be felt, and the scattered burning smell from light bullets also vanished.

Then came the loss of hearing and sense of touch. As if paralyzed, the sensations in the skin and hands holding the katana became vague, and the sound of the explosion of light bullets at close range faded away.

Finally, the vision gradually darkened.

Nevertheless, Shino kept wielding her katana. If she were to be killed here, Nozomu would be the next target.

"Is this my end? ....... But it's okay, now that my foolish disciple has escaped- ......"

While accepting her own death, Shino strangely found her mind strangely calm.

(Ah, I see. I myself enjoyed living with that foolish disciple more than I thought I would ......)

At first, she felt repulsed by the depressed Nozomu, as if she was seeing her past self, but before she knew it, he had become a big part of Shino's life.

If she could protect him, then everything would be okay.

Just as she was about to accept her own death, a voice that shattered her wishes echoed clearly in her ears, which should not have been able to be heard.

"Shisho!"

Suddenly, her disciple's shout made Shino's already pale face turned even paler.

Shino involuntarily turned her head in the direction of the voice, only to find that her disciple, whom she had thrown far away and told to run away, remained where he was, defying her wishes.

"You fool, get the hell out of here!"

"Grrrr...."

In the face of Shino's pleas, Tiamat's gaze shifted again to Nozomu, and countless light bullets shot toward him.

"Crap!"

The current Nozomu had wounds all over his body.

Even with his remaining strength, he had no way to withstand Tiamat's attacks.

Shino concentrated all the Qi she had into her right hand. Then she slammed her Qi-enveloped right arm, which was compressed to the utmost limit and shining brightly, into the ground with all her might.

Qi-jutsu [Light of Annihilation].

A Qi-jutsu in which the Qi injected into the ground is released at the enemy's feet, launching the opponent into the air and destroying him with a torrent of Qi.

It is a Qi-jutsu specialized for annihilation and destruction, with the greatest area of effects and high annihilation power among the Qi-jutsus possessed by Shino.

The released light created a huge wall of light between Nozomu and the light bullets, blocking the swarm of bullets right in front of it.

However, Tiamat's light bullets quickly devoured Shino's Qi which was not long-lasting

Shino even poured out the last of her remaining Qi, literally burning even her life, as she desperately fought to withstand those light bullets.

But the reality was cruel.

Several light bullets went through the gaps in the Qi, which had been slightly weakened by the sudden depletion of Qi, and pierced through it easily.

With trailing tails of light, the voracious light bullets bared their fangs at Nozomu.

"Stop! ......"

As Shino's face was dyed with despair, the light bullets struck the immobile Nozomu, blowing his body away like a leaf falling from a tree.

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Nozomu's body was thrown into the air by a direct hit from the a light bullet, and after a few seconds in the air, he slammed into the ground.

"Gg-, uggghh......"

Unable to even let out a scream due to the immense pain, Nozomu writhed, letting out a pained cry of agony.

The light bullets that hit him, penetrated his body, and blood continued to flow unceasingly from the wound.

His body was rapidly losing heat, and instead, a dense presence of death enveloped his entire body.

He had experienced the presence of death when he was attacked by the Wild Dogs, but this time it was incomparably denser.

The massive blood loss had severely impaired Nozomu's brain function, depriving him of the ability to even think about escaping.

(I... will... die)

Nozomu's mind was filled with the reality that would surely befall him in the next moment.

The certainty of death was so strong that it could not be compared to anything he had ever experienced before.

(No, I don't want this......)

The first thing that came up was the rejection of reality that loomed in front of him.

The strong presence of death and the rejection of it expose the instinct that were normally hidden, instantly shattering the ice in his heart which had been stagnant due to the intense conflicts and cold treatment from his childhood friends.

(I don't want to die)

After all the excuses and escapism from reality had been erased, the next thing that emerged was a raging thirst for life.

The intense urge and vigor for life raged like an active volcano, burning away the last bit of life inside him.

(I don't want to give up!)

The radiance intensified when the light was about to be extinguished.

"Aaaaaaaa!”

The strong will to live ignited like a flash of light.

With an inhuman scream, Nozomu stood up and rushed at the giant dragon that was playing with his life.

"Grrrr ......"

The light in Tiamat's eyes grew stronger. Tiamat sensed that this was the last resistance Nozomu could put up, and the gigantic dragon loved the thought of crushing that resistance with all its might.

Five-colored flames lit up inside the gigantic dragon's mouth. It would breathe out an extreme breath of fire that would create a huge crater.

Nozomu ran towards Tiamat, but as he couldn't close even a tenth of the distance to the gigantic dragon, an extreme breath of fire was released.

(Slow ……)

Facing the incoming extreme flame, Nozomu's concentration was stretched to the limit, stretching his perception of time many times over.

Within the stagnant world, he became frustrated with his own slow movements.

(Why am I so slow!?)

It had always been that way. This slowness, this heaviness as if his entire body was bound by chains, had always prevented Nozomu's attempts to move forward.

And even now, it bound and restrained Nozomu's entire body.

There was no way to dodge the enormous flames of death that loomed before him.

When Nozomu looked down at his own body in impatience, he saw chains that he had never seen before entwined around his entire body.

Invisible chains that held a pale light. The chains, which at first glance did not seem heavy, bound Nozomu's body firmly as if trying not to let him escape.

(So it's your fault!)

Instinctively believing that these chains were his shackles all along, Nozomu put his hands on the chains that bound his entire body, trying to remove them.

Under normal circumstances, it would not be easy to break chains with one's hands. What's more, the sudden appearance of the glowing chains would be considered some kind of hallucination.

But for some reason, the current Nozomu was convinced that the chain was definitely existing there, and that it could be ripped off.

(Don't get- …… in my waaaaaaay!)

As Nozomu yanked the chain forcefully, it made a cracking sound and the chain rings broke apart.

The ripped invisible chain flew through the air and disappeared like a snowflakes.

In the next moment, he accelerated in an instant and ducked under the approaching Tiamat's flame breath.

Contrary to the seemingly unstoppable bleeding, Nozomu's body was filled with more power than ever before and readily responded to his thoughts.

The acceleration was so fast that Tiamat lost sight of Nozomu for a moment. Nozomu put all his strength into that one-thousandth of an opportunity.

Nozomu sheathed his katana as he ran under the extreme flames. He then sent all his Qi into the katana and compressed it into an extreme blade of Qi. He then drew out the katana from its sheath.

Qi-jutsu [Phantom]

The sharply compressed blade of Qi, which was thinner than hair, flew at the same speed as the drawn katana and landed on Tiamat's left eye.

"Grooaaarrr!"

Tiamat roared in response to the counterattack, which Tiamat hadn't even anticipated, and reflexively jerked its head up.

Nozomu's [Phantom] landed on Tiamat's left eye, but unfortunately, it couldn't even penetrate the cornea of Tiamat's eye. The legendary Dragon King of Destruction was an opponent on a whole different level of existence.

However, the attack on the eyeball made Tiamat irritated.

Although dragons are a type of spirit species, they do have physical bodies and also have biological aspects, even though they are a mass of source elements.

Therefore, they also perform reflexive defensive actions that humans and other animals often do, such as protecting its sensory organs from strong external stimuli.

"Ooooooooo!"

Tiamat, who had suddenly received a counterattack on her delicate sensory organ which was her eye, raised her forelegs and stomped the ground furiously.

The huge forelegs hit the ground over and over again, each time causing a local earthquake.

Nozomu rushed to get out of Tiamat's range of attack, but the tremors were so strong that he was caught in it.

In this situation, he was unable to make a move.

But the next moment, the ground collapsed, and Tiamat's huge body plunged into the pit.

"Guoooo!"

Apparently, Tiamat had stepped into a cavity that existed underground.

Tiamat struggled to get out of the pit, but its massive body slowed the dragon down.

The barrage of forelegs attacks stopped, and Nozomu stepped in to close the distance again.

"Guuuuu!"

Even so, the gigantic dragon was tenacious.

The moment Tiamat's right eye saw Nozomu, a swarm of light bullets formed at a speed of less than a second.

There were more than a thousand of them. The spirit king, who was using the supernatural power of spirit magic, commanded them to defeat the insolent human.

A thousand swarms of light bullets were fired. There was no time to dodge them, no time to intercept either.

The overwhelming force directed at one person rushed in to tear Nozomu's body apart.

"I won't let you!"

But the cluster of attacks was stopped by an unexpected person.

Shino, Nozomu's master, slammed her Qi-filled right arm into the ground again.

[Qi-jutsu・Light of Annihilation]

Once again, a torrent of Qi erupted from the ground, obliterating the first cluster of light bullets that rushed toward Nozomu and destroying the following ones one after another.

Furthermore, Shino's [Light of Annihilation] flexibly changed its point of impact in accordance with Nozomu's sprint, precisely breaking through the swarm of light bullets and creating a path between Nozomu and Tiamat.

"Haaaaaa!"

Nozomu sprinted along that path.

Nozomu, who had removed the shackles of [Ability Suppression], ran faster even than his master, Shino.

"Gugaaaaaa!"

However, he still couldn't reach Tiamat.

As Nozomu ran straight through a swarm of light bullets, the figure of Tiamat, who was in the process of generating a huge fireball in her mouth, jumped in front of his eyes.

Dragon's Breath is also basically spirit magic. Therefore it can be manifested without needing to cast a spell or formulate magic circles.

And Tiamat actually became unhinged, frustrated by the puny human's resistance.

Tiamat poured her power into the giant five-colored fireball that she had generated earlier as if to blow up the world itself.

However, this was the underlying cause of the Dragon's defeat.

The moment Tiamat's gigantic flame emitted its strongest radiance, *boom!* then the entire world trembled like a pounding heart.

"W-, What is that?"

The next moment, the desolate earth began to glow white, and a huge magic circle was drawn that seemed to cover the sky.

While Shino was perplexed, the magic circle painted in the sky emitted a pulsating white light, and a beam of light shot out from the center of the circle toward the ground.

At the end of the pillar of light that fell from the sky was Tiamat, a giant dragon with five-colored six wings.

"Grrooaaarrrr!"

A cry of anguish escaped from Tiamat's mouth. The gigantic fireball that had been generated in her mouth instantly lost its power and became smaller and smaller.

The sense of intimidation that overflowed from its entire body faded, and its huge scales lost their luster and power.

"No way! Is it possible that the world itself is trying to seal Tiamat's power away!?"

As if confirming Shino's words, Tiamat's power was significantly diminished with each beating of the pillar of light.

This is a world created to seal away Tiamat. It was only natural that there would be a mechanism to suppress the giant dragon's power when it was getting out of control.

At this moment, Tiamat, weakened by the sealing mechanism, had been reduced in power down to S rank in terms of adventurer rank.

"Go! My foolish disciple!"

"Haaaaaaaa!"

Nozomu hastened his move at the one in a thousand opportunity.

Once again, the katana was sheathed, and Qi was sent to it and compressed to the extreme. When he had closed the gap between the two, he drew out his katana and swung it.

The [Qi-jutsu・Phantom] that was unleashed slashed at the weakened scales on Tiamat's throat, and the compressed Qi exploded from the inside. The burst of Qi blasted the jet-black scales from the inside, exposing its soft skin.

"Ooooooo!"

Nozomu's follow-up attack was released.

As if tracing the previous attack's trajectory in reverse, a returning slash bared its fangs at the exposed skin.

Tiamat's neck was slashed deeply, and a large amount of blood gushed out like a stream.

"Groaarrr!"

Tiamat screamed due to the intense pain from the severe throat injury.

However, even a wound that would be fatal to an ordinary demonic beast was not enough to defeat the jet-black dragon.

Nozomu used his momentum of the returning slash to turn his body around. Utilizing the momentum of his leap, he thrust his katana into the wound he had just made.

The katana pierced deep into the giant dragon's neck, the blade completely buried deep inside the flesh.

But Nozomu ended up hanging in the air, supported by the katana he had thrust forth.

"Ggrrrroaaarrrr!"

Even so, the dragon did not fall.

It roared so loudly that it shook the ground and went berserk in an attempt to shake Nozomu off.

The katana was buried deep inside the flesh and could not be pushed or pulled.

Nozomu, using his last ounce of strength, fixed his posture with his feet and the hilt of his katana, which was firmly buried inside Tiamat's body, and concentrated all the remaining Qi into his right arm.

"It's over!"

He raised his right fist and slammed it down onto the katana hilt, releasing the Qi that had been concentrated.

In the next instant, [Qi-jutsu・Light of Annihilation] was activated.

With a dazzling light, a huge explosion of Qi gushed out. The burst of Qi, comparable to top-tier magic, passed through the katana blade and blew away all the nerves and the flesh of Tiamat's neck.

"Guuuu….”

The dragon's huge body fell to the ground, and the impact blew Nozomu's body away.

Although a lot of blood was oozing out of her neck, Tiamat's body twitched slightly, but her eyes no longer had any sign of life in them.

Shortly after that, the dragon's huge body dissipated, becoming particles of light that soared like a tidal wave.

Nozomu looked up with a stunned expression upon seeing the particles of light soaring into the sky.

Nozomu had already lost a lot of blood. His body could no longer move a single finger either.

He was injured all over his body. Fortunately, his limbs remained attached to his body, but not a single part of his body was unscathed.

Particles of light shot into the sky, gathered above Nozomu, and fell on him violently.

Wounded all over and unable to move, he was swallowed by the onrushing torrent of light.

"Oi, Foolish disciple!"

With the voice of his master calling in the distance, Nozomu, who had gone beyond the limit, finally lost consciousness and fell into darkness.

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He was dreaming. Nozomu had no idea where he was, but he at least knew that it was a dream.

The space was pitch black with no way to see the surroundings. He was the only one standing there, alone.

He could not feel the ground, and the ripples that emerged from under both of his feet made him realize that he was standing on the surface of water, which was an unusual situation.

The darkness that filled his vision seemed to last forever, and not even a breeze was blowing.

There was nothing but ripples spreading out, just a silent world.

Eventually, Nozomu checked his body and noticed invisible chains entangling his entire body.

The chain he had ripped off when he faced Tiamat in the sealed world.

Upon closer inspection, one end of the chain dived below the surface of the water.

He looked down under his feet and peered at the end of the chain that extended below the surface of the water and saw a huge shadow crouching at the bottom of the dark lake.

A huge jet-black body frame and five-colored six wings. It was unmistakably Tiamat, the Dragon King of Destruction.

Noticing Nozomu looking down at her, the giant dragon looked up at him, glaring at the surface of the water.

The invisible chains that extended from Nozomu's body entangled the huge dragon's entire body, restraining its entire body.

Tiamat's gaze intersected with Nozomu's, and the giant dragon's eyes turned into a strong color of resentment.

Tiamat didn't say anything.

Instead, through the connected chains, a freezing chill ran through Nozomu's entire body. It felt as if he were climbing up a precipice with a single unfastened rope.

As Nozomu and Tiamat kept looking at each other in silence, the surroundings gradually became brighter.

His time to wake up was near.

Nozomu, slightly relieved that he was still alive, shifted his gaze to the dragon once again.

The dragon was still glaring at Nozomu, and she still had that dark vindictive light in her eyes.

Eventually, a single powerful white light shone on the dark lake, enveloping one person and one dragon in a gentle light.

Enveloped by white light, Nozomu was about to wake up from his dream, with a twinge of anxiety about Tiamat who was chained to him with the same chains.

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