Chapter 90

In the midst of cherry blossom petals dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

---

The boss in the dungeon "Dragon's Bed" is the "Black Dragon." With pitch-black eyes and pitch-black wings, its body is about twice as large as other dragons, and its mere presence exudes an overwhelming aura.

Of course, the experience points are plentiful, but I really want the drop items. Therefore, once I've leveled up to a certain extent, hunting the "Black Dragon" is a must.

The wind whistling through the gorge seems to sound like a scream. In reality, it is often described as "like a dragon's roar" or "like a dragon's lullaby," but seeing Kent and the others' miserable faces, it's impossible not to hear it as a scream.

"Um, it's okay, right? Look, we leveled up a lot yesterday, didn't we?"

"......Yeah. We did reach level 80 just yesterday, which is hard to believe."

After saying "hard to believe" again, Kent looked into the distance.

...If this were a game, we would level up much faster.

"Alright... Tarte, can you distribute the potion we talked about?"

"Sure thing, nya!"

When I called out, Tarte took out a new potion from her bag with a "nya-nya-nya☆."

"Is that the new potion made from the dragon's drop items?"

"Yes, nya. Tia and Roi helped me, nya."

Tarte smiled at Tia, who nodded happily. Tia offered to help because she thought it wasn't as difficult for her compared to the others.

"It's the 'Roar Potion,' nya!"

The bottle, designed with a dragon motif, contains a red liquid. The ingredients are "Dragon's Living Blood," "Dragon's Fang," "Dragon's Scale," and "Fire Flower." The "Fire Flower" was something I got from the dungeon "Elnath's Paradise," and the other materials are drop items from the dragon.

I wanted to make this potion sooner, but I couldn't get the materials. The reason is that there are almost no adventurers who can hunt dragons. Therefore, dragon-related materials are very precious in this reality.

"Drinking this will increase your attack power by 10% for 10 minutes, nya!"

"I heard that yesterday, but it's still amazing..."

Kent swallowed hard and looked at the bottle Tarte was holding. Kent is the tank, but he is also supposed to attack when he has the chance.

I'm probably the only one who doesn't attack at all, right? Roi is also a support, but he has attack skills. I think I can manage the support on my own to some extent, so I really hope he can join in the attack.

...Of course, if something happens, I'll follow up immediately!

Tarte distributed the "Roar Potion" to everyone.

"The effect lasts for 10 minutes, so don't forget to drink it, nya."

"I'll try to give a signal, but prioritize your own judgment. It's hard to drink it exactly at 10 minutes, so some margin of error is expected."

"Understood."

Seeing Kent and the others nod, we started our warm-up while heading towards the "Black Dragon," defeating dragons along the way.

---

I explained the method to defeat the "Black Dragon" to everyone this morning. It's a tough opponent, but with proper defense, we won't lose. We've leveled up, and our combat options have expanded.

...I miss the days when we could use items freely in the game.

"Ah, that's the 'Black Dragon,' nya!?"

"Wow, it's huge..."

Tarte and Tia, who saw the "Black Dragon" from a distance, spoke with a hint of fear. Indeed, compared to the dragons we've faced before, this one is much stronger.

But we're not going to lose either.

While I and Roi were reapplying support, Kent was taking deep breaths to calm himself. Blitz and Mimosa followed suit, and before we knew it, everyone was taking deep breaths.

"Phew! It's better to have time to calm down compared to when we were thrown into 'Luluyé' right away, nya."

"...We should be grateful to be alive now."

Tarte and Tia seemed to have calmed down and nodded at me. Roi, seeing Tia, nodded and said, "As expected."

---

Kent kicked the ground hard and charged at the "Black Dragon."

"Let's go! 'Provocation' followed by 'One-Hit Kill'!!"

*Gruaaaaa!!*

--- Good!

"From here, we'll attack all at once!"

At my signal, everyone used their skills simultaneously. While reprimanding our trembling legs from the "Black Dragon's" roar, we fought.

"Throw the potion, nya!"

"O Light Arrows, scatter and clear our path!"

Tarte's attack caused a huge explosion, and Cacao, equipped with a staff and a spellbook, chanted and released light arrows with mana. Good attack power. Following that, Blitz, Mimosa, Tia, and Roi attacked.

The start is perfect.

"Divine Strike! And then—Divine Protection, Cure!"

I cast "Divine Strike" on Cacao and support on Kent. I cast "Cure" to remove the status ailment caused by the miasma emitted by the "Black Dragon."

The majestic "Black Dragon" is enveloped in miasma. This black fog-like miasma obscures vision and causes status ailments. It might be a tough fight for first-timers.

"Divine Hammer, Mana Rationing!"

"Going well—Area Heal!"

Roi attacked and provided support. I also healed everyone and observed the "Black Dragon." The "Black Dragon" took a deep breath.

"Breath attack coming! Everyone except Kent, fall back to my position!!"

"Okay!!"

When I shouted, Blitz and the others who were fighting at the front retreated. If everyone were to take the breath attack directly, it would be impossible to heal in time.

With thorough support on Kent, the "Black Dragon" released a black smoke breath. It felt like a cold sweat rather than heat, making me shiver.

...It's not a hot attack, which is a relief, but it's not something I want to take multiple times.

"Divine Protection, Resistance Boost, Unyielding Power"

Just as the breath attack stopped, I layered the almost expiring support on Kent. Now that the breath attack is over, it's time to attack.

"Drink the Roar Potion and resume the attack!!"

"Alright, Provocation!!"

After confirming that Kent had the "Black Dragon" in his grasp, everyone attacked. Midway through, the "Black Dragon" swung its tail, but Kent took the hit.

...Kent's growth is incredible!

*Gwooooo, Oooooo!!*

"Meow!? This is the final death cry Master talked about, nya—!?"

Hearing the "Black Dragon's" voice, Tarte instinctively took a step back. However, we don't have the luxury to retreat now. I reassured everyone, "It's okay."

"Final death cry—The 'Black Dragon' will attack with its scales, but you can handle it!"

"It would have been better to defeat it without giving it a chance to use the death cry... Divine Hammer."

I encouraged everyone, and they recharged their spirits.

"Yah!"

Mimosa deflected the flying scales with her sword and stood in front of Tia and the other back-line members. The number of flying scales was in the hundreds, and even Mimosa couldn't handle all of them. Sharp scales grazed her arm, and blood splattered.

"Heal, Divine Protection!"

As I cast support, the "Black Dragon" swung its tail with a *thud*. Seeing this, Kent shouted, "Immovable Ruler!" and withstood the attack. This skill, which nullifies all attacks directed at him for 60 seconds, was planned in advance.

"Let's go, One, Ten, Hundred, Thousand—Weave countless threads to bind his wings and bring down the hammer!!"

The long words Cacao wove were imbued with all her mana. Cacao, glowing with the effect of the skill, looked like a true powerhouse.

With a *thud* that shook the ground, the mana threads bound the "Black Dragon," immobilizing it, and a massive mana hammer was dropped. The "Black Dragon" let out its final roar and disintegrated into particles of light.

"Whoa... We really defeated it."

Swallowing hard, Kent's voice echoed, and everyone murmured, "Amazing," "We really did it," "Defeating a dungeon boss..."

"Area Heal, Body Strengthening—everyone! That's right, we defeated the 'Black Dragon'! So, let's pick up the drop items and move forward!"

"O-Okay!!"

Kent, who was closest, picked up the drop items and tilted his head, "Move forward?"