We hadn't even found Samidoride yet—when it revealed itself first.
"Samidoride?!"
I turned toward the voice. Black scales, a massive body several times larger than Dokamir's—exactly as described on the commission paper. There was no doubt. It was the Black Flame Dragon.
"It matters not if ye learn this before death. Indeed! I am the one thy kind calls the Black Flame Dragon—Samidoride Bulaethar Infinoris. I permit ye to address me by my nickname… Sabuin."
What an absurdly long name—and it even wanted us to use a nickname. Shameless. The way it spoke made it clear it looked down on us.
"Human, take my daughter and leave at once. I shall hold it back."
At that moment, Dokamir rose to his feet. He didn't take Lanivia with him—instead, he told us to leave with her.
But why should we leave with Lanivia? Our objective was to hunt down Samidoride. How could we run?
And "hold it back"? That was basically a death sentence. I drew my sword in panic and shouted at Dokamir.
"We're here to hunt it down. You're the ones who should leave!"
"Why the haste? None of ye shall escape. Though it will be futile, I shall grant ye the honor of the first strike."
Samidorid was absurdly confident. To it, the exchange between me and Dokamir was nothing more than a laughable attempt to buy time for others to flee.
Worse still, it looked down on us enough to give us the initiative. Unforgivable. It would regret this. I pointed my sword at Samidoride.
"Hey! Samidoride—how old are you?"
All I needed to know was whether it was over 3,100 years old. If it not, Lina could wipe it out effortlessly with ancient magic from 3,160 years ago.
"I told thee to call me Sabuin. Ask again."
I was speechless. Forcing its prey to call its nickname—how bored did it have to be? Then again, living too long probably made it this carefree.
"...Fine. Sabuin, how old are you?"
"Humans do ask amusing questions. Very well, I shall answer thy curiosity. I am roughly three thousand… three hundred… no, four hundred… five hundred… ahh. I have lived far too long. I no longer recall such trivialities."
Sabuin counted on its fingers. The moment it started at three thousand three hundred, I gave up entirely.
"Dokamir, should we fight together?"
Since no one was getting out anyway, it made sense to join forces. But when I suggested it, Dokamir shook his head.
"Do not be foolish. Take my daughter and leave. I beg of thee—please, let her stay alive. GRAAAH!"
After entrusting Lanivia to us, Dokamir beat his wings and charged straight at Sabuin. I cried out his name in panic.
"Dokamir!"
Flames burst from Dokamir's mouth, blasting toward Sabuin. Sabuin didn't even move—it took the fire head-on, then casually struck back with a single swing of its claw, smashing Dokamir into the ground.
I clearly heard the sound of bones breaking. With his last breath, Dokamir forced out a warning.
"Run…"
"The chance I granted thee is now lost. It is my turn."
Sabuin placed its hand on Dokamir's head. As it spoke, it pressed down—and crushed his skull.
Only after Dokamir was dead did my mind finally catch up. I spun around and shouted to Lina.
"Lina, run!"
But Lina hadn't reacted yet. She stared toward Dokamir's body, her face twisted with grief and fear. Lanivia was already crying. I grabbed Lina, forcibly turned her around, and shoved her forward.
"Don't be afraid—run!"
We fled into the forest. Above us, Sabuin beat its wings and gave chase, flying over the treetops. I glanced upward again and again—it wasn't attacking at all.
It was enjoying the hunt.
As I stared at Sabuin's white underbelly, an idea struck me. While running, I absorbed mana and quickly explained the plan to Lina.
"Lina, I'll draw Sabuin's attention. Find a chance and attack its wings."
"Mm! I'll protect little Lani as well."
Lina answered with a strong sense of responsibility, saying she would protect Lanivia, and that made me relieved. I'd been worried she might collapse from grief over Dokamir's death—but she pulled herself together far faster than I expected.
"Strength, Speed, Defense, Sharpness, Durability"
For the first time in a long while, I unleashed my enhancement magic at full power. After this, both my body and mind would be left in unbearable agony.
Once the enhancements were complete, I split up with Lina. Locking onto Sabuin's position, I sprinted toward a tree, leapt onto the trunk, kicked off, and jumped to another tree—repeating the motion again and again until I reached the treetops.
I then bent my knees deeply and launched myself onto Sabuin's back. Raising my sword, I swung down with all my strength—
Only a few of its scales were knocked loose.
My sword was extremely sharp, ordinary weapons like as soft as mud for my sword. Yet even with sharpness multiplied thirty-three times, I still couldn't cut through them. Just how hard were those scales?
There was no time to dwell on it. I raised my sword again and again, striking relentlessly, battering its scales loose one after another.
My blade was inlaid with a magic core over two thousand years old. Even if it couldn't cut, with a thirty-three-fold multiplier it was more than capable of functioning as an unbreakable blunt weapon. Still, the repeated collisions between two incredibly hard objects made my hands go numb.
I couldn't stop. I hadn't yet reached the flesh beneath the scales. If possible, I wanted to avoid having Lina step in—she needed to stay focused on protecting Lanivia.
That was when Sabuin spoke.
"When did thou climb upon my back?"
Sabuin had finally noticed me—though only a few seconds had passed since I attacked. It then rolled sharply to the right in midair, trying to throw me off.
I fell, exactly as it intended.
But in that very instant, I activated plant magic.
"Tree Bind"
As Sabuin completed its rotation, countless thick branches burst forth, seizing its limbs midair. At the same time, I caused branches to grow beneath me, giving me footholds as I fell.
"Hahaha, what an amusing human—GRAAAAH?!"
Sabuin began to struggle violently against the Tree Bind. At that moment, its left wing—and the branches around it—were suddenly severed.
The cut was clean. Too clean. As if sliced straight through.
Sabuin screamed as its wing was cut off—an immensely satisfying sound. Immediately after, its right wing was severed as well.
Now wingless, Sabuin plummeted into the forest. Its massive body crushed trees on impact, and the shockwave alone snapped countless others around it.
"Karen!"
Lina's voice rang out. I turned toward the sound and saw her standing far away from Sabuin, holding Lanivia in one arm while raising her staff with the other and waving at me.
Lina really was amazing—she seized the perfect moment. The very second I bound Sabuin with "Tree Bind", she used her magic to sever its wings.
"Lina, well done!"
I waved back and shouted my praise. Then I turned my gaze to Sabuin. It lay motionless on the ground. I jumped down from the branches and approached it. To prevent it from moving, I severed the tendons in all four of its limbs.
I started with the forelegs, then moved on to the hind legs. Just as I finished cutting the tendons in its back legs, Sabuin woke up. I immediately leapt back and took a fighting stance.
"You dare sever the pride of dragonkind. Do you truly believe that cutting off my wings is enough to win?"
That was the first thing Sabuin said after waking up. It seemed to be waiting for an answer, so I replied.
"...No."
Since Sabuin could fly and we couldn't, keeping it grounded was simply the smart move. Sabuin then asked another question.
"Then do you believe that crippling my limbs while I slept will allow you to win?"
"...No."
We had no idea what other tricks Sabuin might still have, which was exactly why I had disabled its joints first.
"Then what do you believe constitutes victory?"
"When I kill you."
Our goal was to hunt down Sabuin. Only its death could be called a victory. After hearing this, Sabuin burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Just as I expected. Then please, kill me."
"...What?"
I was so shocked by Sabuin's words that I couldn't react in time. Surrender? A walking natural disaster was surrendering?