Chapter 25

I landed near where everyone had gathered.

I immediately took out the necklace with the enchanted gem from my storage magic tool and put it around my neck.

"Selma, I'll handle this one. You and the other leaders, please protect the newbies with all your strength. The newbies might be scared, but just stay still. I'll definitely protect you all!"

"O-Orun—"

Selma was about to say something, but I ignored her.

The black dragon raised its head.

I slowly moved away from everyone, running counterclockwise around the black dragon.

The black dragon moved its head in sync with my running, keeping me in its sight and not letting me escape.

I was successfully drawing its aggro.

Without changing my leisurely pace, the black dragon started to move after I had run about a third of the way around it counterclockwise.

Impatient with my movements, it fired the same fireball it had used right after appearing.

"Such a simple attack won't work on me!"

I channeled mana into the spell formula I had already constructed, directing my left palm at the black dragon.

Then, my original magic activated.

"【Reflective Barrier】"

A gray, semi-transparent wall appeared in front of my left palm.

When the fireball touched the wall, it rebounded and flew back toward the black dragon.

【Reflective Barrier】 is a magic that forcibly changes the direction of any force that touches the wall to be perpendicular to it.

In other words, it creates a wall that bounces back anything that touches it.

The black dragon, caught off guard by the fireball returning, was unable to react in time and was hit in the face.

"Take your own fire!"

While the black dragon's vision was obscured by the explosion of the fireball, I placed my left hand on the ground.

I constructed another original spell formula and channeled mana into it.

"Whether or not I'll get a chance to use this is uncertain, but it's necessary as insurance."

I stood up, removing my left hand from the ground.

The smoke in front of me cleared, revealing the black dragon.

Its face was unscathed.

"I knew it, but shouldn't it at least be injured a bit? That's your signature attack, right? Ha... I need to make up my mind... Ah... I don't want to..."

While muttering, I constructed a spell formula, channeled mana, and activated the magic.

"【All Ability Boost】【Five Stacks】!"

【All Ability Boost】 is a support magic that simultaneously activates the six basic support magics: 【Strength Boost】, 【Vitality Boost】, 【Mana Boost】, 【Resistance Boost】, 【Skill Boost】, and 【Agility Boost】.

It's more of a name for when they are activated simultaneously rather than a specific magic name.

The difficulty of activation increases, but since they are activated simultaneously, the duration of all the buffs is the same, making management easier.

And then there's 【Stacking】.

This is a technique established through a bug exploit.

Normally, if you try to apply the same buff again while it's already active, the duration is just reset, and the effect is only about doubled with my support magic.

However, with 【Stacking】, you can double the already doubled ability, making it four times as strong.

With 【Five Stacks】, this process is repeated three more times, resulting in an increase of about thirty-two times.

In this state, even if Oliver had received support magic from Selma, I would be strong enough to handle him easily.

However, there are drawbacks.

For some reason, it can't be used on others.

I tried it several times during the Hero Party era, but it never worked on anyone other than me.

Another drawback is the high mental strain.

【Stacking】 is activated in parallel, and almost simultaneously.

So, I just constructed thirty spell formulas at once to buff myself.

Constructing spell formulas requires a lot of mental calculation.

Overusing magic is essentially overusing your brain.

If you overuse it, your brain will scream, causing a headache.

If you continue to use magic in that state, you might even have trouble standing up.

The duration of my support magic is exactly three minutes.

Since I need to repeat this every three minutes, it's not suitable for prolonged battles.

This fight must be resolved quickly.

Just as I finished buffing myself, the black dragon shifted its center of gravity forward, planting its front legs.

Seeing this, I immediately jumped straight up, moving several meters into the air.

...As expected. Even with my abilities increased by more than thirty times, I adapted immediately.

It felt so natural that I almost thought this was my true state.

Maybe this is thanks to my 'jack-of-all-trades' nature.

—But now, I need to focus on the battle.

Right after I jumped, a black shadow sped past the spot where I had been.

As expected, it was a tail attack.

The black dragon's tail attack is very fast, making it difficult to react and dodge after seeing it.

It's a troublesome attack, but it's easy to avoid if you don't miss the preparatory movements.

While I was unable to move in mid-air, the black dragon tried to follow up with a fireball.

I showed the black dragon my left palm.

Perhaps fearing the 【Reflective Barrier】 from earlier, it didn't fire a fireball.

It shifted its center of gravity forward again, preparing to attack with its tail as I landed.

"Correct. If it wasn't me, you'd be right!"

I used 【Mana Convergence】 to gather mana at my feet, creating an impromptu platform.

【Mana Convergence】 is a unique ability that only Oliver and I can use.

Unique abilities are generally considered to be exclusive to the individual, but for some reason, both Oliver and I have the same 【Mana Convergence】.

Oliver uses this as his ultimate move, but it has various applications.

Landing on the mana platform, I kicked off to charge at the black dragon.

The mana platform dispersed as I kicked off, creating a shockwave that further increased my speed.

The black dragon, thinking I was attacking, was slow to react.

In the brief moment before I crossed paths with the black dragon, I applied the buffs 【Sharpness Boost】 and 【Durability Boost】 to my sword.

As we passed each other, I added 【Instant Ability Super Boost】 and slashed at its neck.

My full-strength slash shattered the black dragon's scales and inflicted a cut.

Landing behind the black dragon, I slid to a stop and put some distance between us.

The black dragon roared.

Unlike when it first appeared on the 50th floor, it now radiated hostility.

It finally recognized me as an enemy.

A purple, ominous aura surrounded the black dragon, swirling around it.

"Damn! It doesn't seem to have taken much damage... I wanted to deal some damage at this stage."

While muttering, I put more distance between us.

Immediately after, the purple aura lashed out like a whip, striking the spot where I had been.

The black dragon, as its large body suggests, isn't particularly fast.

Its main attacks are fireballs and high-speed strikes with its tail, and using its massive body to attack with mass.

On their own, these attacks aren't that threatening.

However, its body is protected by tough scales, making it a troublesome opponent even with these attacks.

Additionally, the black dragon has this purple aura.

The aura can take various forms, sometimes like a whip, sometimes like a spear, and attack from all directions.

It's likely a magic that uses surrounding mana, similar to 【Mana Convergence】.

One is troublesome enough, but when we fought it in the Hero Party, it eventually used ten simultaneously.

In other words, the black dragon isn't even taking this seriously yet.

While attacking with the aura, the black dragon tried to turn its body to keep me in its sight.

I dodged the aura and activated an attack magic.

"【Fireball】!"

The 【Fireball】 I launched was easily blocked by the purple aura.

The small explosion of the 【Fireball】 created smoke, obscuring the black dragon's vision of me.

Escaping the black dragon's sight, I approached it again and slashed at its right front leg, creating a shallow wound.

The black dragon, not missing the opportunity as I slowed down to swing my sword, attacked with the aura again, this time like a whip.

Catching it in the corner of my eye, I dodged the aura and slipped under the black dragon's belly.

I tried to slash its belly, but it only resulted in a shallow cut.

"Really tough all over!"

On the black dragon's right side, the aura transformed into countless needles, heading toward me.

"【Earth Wall】!"

I made the ground rise, forming a pointed wall.

I attacked the black dragon's belly with the rising ground while blocking the needle attack.

I moved away from the black dragon in the opposite direction of the needles.

Just as I emerged from under the black dragon, its tail came at me with incredible speed.

"!? 【Reflective Barrier】!"

I activated the 【Reflective Barrier】 in an instant.

The tail, touching the 【Reflective Barrier】, rebounded in the opposite direction.

(That was close... I'm glad I had the 【Reflective Barrier】 spell formula constructed just in case.)

◇

The battle continued with several more exchanges.

I dodged the black dragon's attacks and repeatedly slashed at it, but only managed to inflict shallow wounds.

It was almost time to reset the buffs after three minutes.

I put some distance between myself and the black dragon and reactivated the thirty magics to reset the buff duration.

(I know the black dragon's movements from the last battle, so I can dodge its attacks. But I can't land a decisive blow. I might have to take more risks... Damn! I can't help but think how much easier it would be if they were here...)

In the last battle against the black dragon, Derrick and Luna handled the aura, while Oliver and Annelie took it down with their firepower.

However, none of those members are here now.

(There's no point in wishing for what isn't here. If I want to defeat the black dragon, I need to take on all the roles of the Hero Party by myself! That's my ideal image of a swordsman!)

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