Deep Darkness Was One-Shotted
Higashino Makoto emerged from the spatial rift and landed deep underground in the desert.
All around was endless darkness, the air thick with the smell of dampness and decay, mixed with an indescribable odor, like the stench of an ancient beast. Each step on the soft sand made a soft rustling sound.
"Muninn. Where is it?"
"Still asleep 300 meters ahead."
Higashino Makoto nodded.
Without hesitation, they used "Space Lockdown" and deployed "Garden".
He didn't want the meat in his mouth to slip away.
He raised his hand and took a deep breath.
Then, golden, crimson, and yellowish-green light alternated in his palm, and the fine grains of sand on the ground trembled gently in the energy fluctuations.
"Great Catastrophe".
There was no chanting.
As time went by, I was able to cast most of my skills without casting a spell!
A torrent of crimson-black energy surged from his palm, roaring like an angry dragon toward the location of the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord.
At the same instant, he raised his other hand.
"The Wrath of the Salt King"
Unfortunately, Higashino Makoto himself is not yet able to skip the incantation in his Super-Tier Magic.
So far, the only thing that can be done is to reduce the casting time by more than half.
To be on the safe side, it's best to use in-game purchases to skip the incantation.
Crushing the premium item skips the incantation, and a yellowish-green sulfurous light pours down from the sky, piercing through hundreds of meters of earth and intertwining with the crimson-black torrent.
Two destructive energies raged through the underground space, causing the Wall of Stone to crumble, the sand to vitrify under the high temperature, and the air to be displaced by the shockwave, creating a brief vacuum.
Then, everything fell silent.
Higashino Makoto stood still, maintaining the posture of releasing magic, his golden eyes gazing at the space ahead shrouded in smoke and light.
His body was enveloped in layers of light, and magic was still flowing within him; a life-saving spell he had prepared was ready to be triggered at any moment.
He waited a long time, long enough for the smoke and dust to begin to settle, long enough for the light to begin to fade.
There was no counterattack, no roar, no figure rushing out of the ruins.
There was nothing there.
"... ran away?"
He frowned and extended his senses in all directions.
There were no signs of movement, no escaping magical fluctuations, and no signs of life.
Unless the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord has some kind of hidden means that can deceive Huginn and Muninn, it should still be in the same place.
"Huginn, track him down."
"Yes, sir."
Huginn flew out from the tattoo beside his ear, transforming into a raven, its eyes gleaming in the darkness.
The magical fluctuations of intelligence gathering spread in all directions, seeping into every inch of soil, every rock, and every grain of sand.
A few seconds later, Huginn spoke.
"Grown ups."
"Explain."
"The Deep Darkness Dragon Lord is dead."
Higashino Makoto's fingers paused for a moment.
"... What did you say?"
"The target is dead. Intelligence confirmed. No vital signs, no magical fluctuations."
Higashino Makoto fell silent.
He stood there, the lingering effects of the "Great Catastrophe" still present in his hands, the air still thick with the sulfurous scent of the "Wrath of the Salt King."
He spent several minutes buffing himself, gathered most of his belongings, and prepared for a tough battle.
He even prepared himself for the possibility that if this didn't work, he would bring the Guardians next time to gang up on him.
And then, the other person just died.
He died after two spells.
He hadn't even had a chance to use that "twenty" item yet.
"Grown ups?"
Huginn's voice carried a hint of confusion.
"Does this require further confirmation?"
"... Let me confirm."
Huginn closed his eyes again, and the magical fluctuations of his intelligence-gathering magic were stronger and deeper than before.
A few seconds later it opened its eyes.
"Confirmed, deceased."
"Could it be a case of feigned death? Or perhaps it was the effect of some kind of World Item?"
"My subordinates detected the spatial fluctuations but found no trace of any World Item being activated."
Higashino Makoto fell silent again.
"Sir, are you unhappy?"
It's not that I'm unhappy.
"Then you--?"
"I prepared for almost an hour."
"... yes."
"He brought several World Item."
"... yes."
"We are prepared for a protracted battle."
"... yes."
"As a result, two spells were enough to kill the opponent."
Huginn fell silent.
It didn't know whether it should say it or not, but actually, the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord was killed instantly by "Great Catastrophe" before "The Wrath of the Salt King" could even deal damage.
Hmm, let's talk to the adults about it in a couple of days.
Muninn flew over from the other side and landed on his shoulder, its golden eyes also looking at him.
"My lord, isn't this a good thing?"
"That's a good thing. But--"
He paused, unsure how to describe it.
It feels like One Punch Man cotton with all your might.
Muninn and Huginn exchanged a glance but remained silent.
Higashino Makoto sighed, released his defensive stance, and withdrew the remaining magic power from his hands.
Step forward.
The sand beneath our feet had been vitrified by the high temperature, making a crisp cracking sound when we stepped on it.
Ahead lay a huge, deep pit.
Its diameter exceeds ten kilometers, and its depth cannot be determined visually.
The pit walls were made of a smooth, glassy substance that gleamed dimly in the darkness.
There seemed to be nothing at the bottom of the pit.
There was no corpse, no bones, no scales, no blood.
Only a patch of sand, burned to glass, and remnants in the air remain.
That was the rapidly dissipating magical aura belonging to the True Dragon Lords.
"He's really dead."
He crouched by the pit, his golden eyes gazing into the bottomless darkness.
"Huginn about its World Item?"
"At the bottom of the pit. Undamaged, buried by sand."
"Take it out."
"Yes, sir."
Huginn flew down into the deep pit, and a moment later flew back up with a shield-shaped ring in its mouth, placing it in Higashino Makoto's palm.
The ring is made of metal, with a shield-shaped colored gemstone set on the face.
Something was flowing inside the gemstone, like a trapped night sky, or like solidified stars.
World Item.
The "Twenty" item that the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord took from the player.
Higashino Makoto looked at the ring, remained silent for a moment, and then put it into his backpack.
Let's go.
"My lord, aren't you going to collect the Dragon King's corpse?"
"Hmm, take two bones back with you. Maybe one day you can resurrect him and let him keep the Platinum Dragon Lord company."
What about the rest?
"They've basically all turned to ash, what's the point of collecting them? I should have known better than to add so many buffs."
He turned around and gently made a gesture in the air.
A dark spatial rift appeared silently before him, and through the other end of the rift came Novas Etier's artificial sunlight and the faintly visible floating islands in the distance.
"Let's go. Shinano is still waiting."
He paused.
"Rem too."