Gacha System: Reborn In The Hardest World
Chapter 36: A True Dragon

Chapter 36: A True Dragon

The way she spoke didn’t entirely ignite confidence as he felt he was truly walking towards his own grace, looking at the edge of the stone plains in the distance. Between the jagged, lifeless mountains, the sight of the crater was only seen by the edge in which the monuments overlooked.

"Shouldn’t we have declined the Monarch then? I mean...I get we need Galios’ help, but it doesn’t matter if we’re dead, does it?" Gael questioned.

"The Monarch is a coarse man, but he’s not cruel nor unreasonable in his expectations. If he believed it was guaranteed you’d die on this mission, he wouldn’t have given it to you," Blythe reasoned.

"That’s nice and all, but...Is that enough to place our lives on the line for/" Gael asked worriedly.

Blythe had a look about her as if knowing more than she was letting on, "...I won’t speak on it more. However, if you wish to retreat, that’s an option as well."

"Not after coming this far," Gael assured her. "Though, if things get bad, we’re bolting."

"That’s quite agreeable," Blythe accepted.

Traversing the plain-gray plains, passing between hollow mountains, he arrived at the edge of the crater, standing at its precipice.

In the center of the colossal dip in the region, it laid: snow-white scales that glimmered in the sunlight, sleeping without a care as the most powerful creature in its lifeless land.

"That’s one of the Four Calamities of The Sky, Blair? Well, it’s as beautiful as it is frightening," Matteo said as he noted the creature.

"That’s it?" Florentine observed from the edge of the crater. "Doesn’t look all that big to me."

"It doesn’t?" Gael asked, finding it rather large even from a distance.

"Looks smaller than even an average dragon to me. Thing is a whelp!" Florentine laughed, caressing the handle of her hammer with anticipation.

Blythe intercepted any ill-perceived confidence gained from looking upon the slumbering beast, "Do not judge Blair by her size. Each of the Four Calamities are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of adventurers. I will remain here and support you with defensive magic," Blythe calmly claimed.

"Right. I’m counting on it," Gael said before sliding down the edge of the crater, descending the steep slope.

As he slid towards the base of the dome-shaped crater, he kept his eyes on the slumbering calamity. With his feet reaching the bottom, he breathed out, hearing his familiars descend right after him.

It was no more than twenty meters away, sleeping right in the center of the crater; the dragon of glistening, white scales seemed almost too majestic to disturb. Somehow, staring at the mythical creature, fear didn’t take hold of his body; excitement surged through him.

["If I want a place in this world, I have to earn it. If that means slaying a legendary dragon, I guess that’s the price."]

"So, what’s the plan here?" Matteo asked him.

"Well...I’ve never fought a dragon. Never seen one for that matter. My guess is, aim for the head?" Gael said.

Florentine laughed, "Can’t go wrong there!"

Without any further discussion, the warrior rushed on ahead, carrying her hammer as she sprinted right towards the slumbering beast.

"Wait–!" Gael called out.

The noise coaxed the dragon from its sleep as its eyelids peeled open, revealing its crystalline, emerald gaze as it picked itself up. It parted its jaws, unleashing a roar that caused the entire crater to tremble; the winds howled, picking up into a ferocious storm within moments.

"Woah!--"

Before Florentine could reach the beast, she gasped as she was pushed back by an unseen wind, thrown right back towards the others.

"What the hell is this–?" Gael questioned, summoning his scythe into his hand as he held his arm up to shield himself from the unruly wind.

"Well, that’s a surprise!" Matteo remarked, protecting himself from the ferocious storm as well as his coat flapped. "--This dragon, it’s using wind magic! The most potent I’ve ever felt!"

From the edge of the crater, the voice of Blythe echoed like a heavenly blessing, "Great Sylph, shield my allies with the essence of your authority: Luft Sanctuary!"

At the call of the invocation, Gael felt a secondary wind swirling around his body, keeping close to his form. As a slash of air came from the direction of the awakened dragon, it collided with the wind that swirled around his own body, rejecting it.

"Ah–what was that?" Gael questioned.

Matteo chimed in, "It’s a wind protection blessing. Worth about a million gold in a situation like this!"

As he stood there, he watched the ground be eviscerated by wild cuts of wind that cleaved through the crater, all erupting from the roaring dragon as its majestic form loomed over the unwelcome guests.

["Blair, Calamity of The Sky"] [Lv: 30] [!!RETREAT ADVISED!!]

’We’d be mincemeat without this...I see what you meant, Blythe–thanks for the support,’ he thought. ’Damn Monarch...This is a "sink or swim" scenario, isn’t it?’

"Temporary Summon: Skill!" He invoked.

[Temporary Skill Summoning Initiated.]

As the process began, he vanished into the unseen, cutting around the dragon as he aimed to flank it. It didn’t move from the spot it woke from, instead standing on its hind legs as it swung its claws at the air. Every swing issues a number of wind slashes, carving wildly through the crater.

’If I can get behind it, I can get its tail–that should ruin its balance,’ he planned, racing around the rampaging beast.

As he got within distance of its rear limb, he expanded the muscles in his legs before dashing towards it—

[Skill temporarily obtained: (B) "Rock"]

"Boss!" Matteo shouted from across the crater.

—The pristine dragon spun around swiftly, turning to face him directly. It snapped its jaws down towards him, forcing his legs to flip him back.

’It noticed me–?! How?!’ He questioned, catching himself on his feet.

Facing down the calamity, its low growl vibrated the air around him before it unleashed a roar right in front of him. From its mouth, wind erupted like a thousand blades. There was no avoiding it; the slashes marked his body, leaving lacerations around his torso as blood spilled.

"Master!" Florentine shouted, rushing over.

"Dammit–!" Matteo shared the same reaction.

While he was cut up, Gael could only be thankful for the blessing given by Blythe as he was left in one piece.

’If I didn’t have this protection, I’d be chunks of meat...This thing is on another level,’ he thought, exhaling carefully.

As he found himself being looked down upon by the wind-shearing dragon, multiple explosions set off against its left side–BOOM. It gave him the chance to move out of the way, glancing over to find the aid coming from Matteo, who chucked out more of the explosive runes.

"Are you alright?!" The glasses-wearing man shouted while staying on the move.

Gael slid back, witnessing another set of small explosions rumble through the crater, stirring a perturbed cry from the dragon as it cast the fire and sparks away with wind.

"Yeah, I’m good!" Gael yelled.

As many of the runes were used, the explosions hardly seemed to do much but anger the beast as it slammed its claws down, cutting up the ground. All he could do was keep his distance, avoiding the plentiful slashes of wind that passed by.

He watched the warrior rush in, only to be rejected as the dragon’s tail slapped her away. As Matteo went in, he ducked beneath a swing of the dragon’s claws, tossing a brown rune down–

The magical stone broke, spawning forth rapidly-growing roots that wrapped around the beast’s body.

"Nice!" Gael called out, moving in while the dragon was bound.

As he ran with everything placed into his legs, by the time he got close enough, the dragon ripped the magic-grown roots away, shredding its bindings with visceral wind. He pushed forward without stopping, aiming to use his scythe on its neck though–

Its jaws parted right in front of him, witnessing an emerald grow bubbling up in its throat as its inner flesh pulsed:

’Shit!...’ He thought.

Dismissing his scythe, he instead pushed both hands forward as the fire-and-lightning summons erupted from his arms. He guided the scarlet projection to slam against the top of the dragon’s mouth, while using the lightning half to ram its chin, forcing its mouth shut.

"I can’t hold it!" Gael struggled.

As it fought against the ethereal grip, he bolstered his arms, doing the same for his legs as he anchored himself to the ground.

The raw strength of the dragon was monstrous; it felt as though his muscles were being torn from within. It thrashed, stomping its legs as the wind around it sharply spiraled.

"Master! Get back!" Matteo shouted.

Right then, the ethereal beasts were torn to shreds in the wind as the dragon’s mouth parted. As its jawed separated, once more, the visceral element ran rampant—

The shredding storm expanded, through him back as he forced his feet to the ground. Ahead of him, he saw a wall of cutting wind coming right for him, ripping at the ground in its path.

’Even with the blessing—I’ll be diced to pieces!’ He realized.