“Failnote, aim for the head!! Maximum power!”
At my order, the golems moved immediately.
The Failnote-types loaded bolts one after another and took aim.
——Thwoom!!
The bolt sliced through the air and struck the Great Serpent’s body dead on.
But it just rang off with a hard metallic sound, unable to pierce.
“Damn, bouncing right off!”
“SHAAAAAAAAAH!!“
“This is bad! Lancelots, shield everyone!!”
Something black and liquid shot out of the Great Serpent’s mouth.
A bad feeling hit me, and I instantly ordered the Lancelot-types to act as shields.
——Sizzle!!
The moment the black liquid struck the Lancelots’ bodies, it made a sound like flesh burning.
White smoke began to rise at the same time.
Acid — and exceptionally potent acid at that.
The Lancelot-types, covered in what should have been solid iron plate, were visibly dissolving before my eyes.
“Makina!!”
“Leave it to me.”
Dodging the rain of acid as she went, Makina closed the distance on the Great Serpent.
She drew her fist back low, then let it go in one burst.
——BOOM!!
The blow that had flattened a Red Dragon detonated on impact.
The Great Serpent’s enormous body lurched and slid from the force.
But it didn’t go down that easily.
The Serpent kept its footing even as it staggered, fixed Makina with a glare, and opened its mouth wide.
“SHAAAAAAAAAH!!“
“Tch——!”
A concentrated mass of acid blasted outward.
Makina threw her arm up instinctively to shield her body.
The acid clung to her arm immediately, and white smoke began rising from it.
“Unavoidable.”
Before the corrosion could spread, Makina severed the arm herself.
She managed to land and immediately put distance between herself and the Serpent.
“Makina, are you alright!?”
“Losing the arm has reduced my mobility by approximately twenty percent. At my current attack power, the only way to deal fatal damage is to attack from inside its mouth.”
“Inside its mouth……”
So damage would get through if she attacked from inside where the scales weren’t protecting it.
But that meant someone else would have to draw the Serpent’s attention first……
“……Let us create the opening.”
“No — it’s too dangerous!”
“We’ll be fine. This armor can withstand that acid, at least to a degree!”
With that, Alicia slapped her own armor with a solid thwack.
She had a point — dragon scales wouldn’t dissolve that easily.
But the armor didn’t cover every inch of them without gaps.
If it got on exposed skin — her face, for instance — it could be fatal.
Yet Alicia and the others were smiling as they said it.
“A risk like this is nothing new for adventurers. Ganz, Misha — cover me!”
“Got it!”
“Here we go!!”
Misha and Ganz led the charge.
At this point there was nothing to do but commit to the plan.
I caught Makina’s eye again.
“I’m going.”
“Right!”
When I said that, Makina suddenly leaned her face in toward mine.
And pressed her lips gently to my cheek.
——I never taught her to do that!?
I was still reeling from the unexpected gesture when Makina launched herself toward the Great Serpent in one bound.
“Fireball!!”
“Raaaaahhh!! Grand Smash!!”
Misha and Ganz struck at the same moment.
The ball of flame engulfed the Serpent’s field of vision, and Ganz drove a full-powered blow into it immediately after.
——A glimmer.
The Serpent’s golden eyes snapped wide open.
Acid came raining down on the two of them at once, but they danced aside and narrowly avoided the worst of it.
The drops that did catch them, the dragon scale armor somehow held against.
In that window, Alicia unleashed her follow-up.
“Blade, shine — Holy Slash!!”
Her mithril blade took on a charge of magical energy.
A silver-white aura, imbued with power to destroy evil, rose from the sword like mist.
I had no idea Alicia had a technique like this.
The refined way she was building up magical power — it was on par with a holy knight.
And then——
“KISHAAAA!“
Blade and scale clashed.
Sparks flew intensely, and the Great Serpent reared its massive head.
Its eyes blazed with ferocious hatred, glaring at its impudent attackers.
——A chill ran through me.
The overwhelming killing intent reached even me, and my spine went cold.
Then the Serpent opened its mouth to the absolute limit, lunging forward to swallow everything in front of it whole.
But that was exactly the moment we’d been waiting for.
“SHAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!“
The Great Serpent came surging toward us, fangs dripping with acid.
In that instant, Makina dove straight into its mouth.
The moment she disappeared from view, the Serpent’s upper jaw was violently thrown upward from within.
——CRRRRUNCH!!
A sound rang out that had no business coming from a blow against flesh.
“GUOOGYAAAAAAAHHHH!!??“
A thundering death cry.
Fractionally behind it, the Serpent’s skull cracked open.
Blood sprayed upward, and Makina’s body burst out through it in the same instant.
She flew up into the air, flipped once, and landed.
But——
“This is a problem.”
White smoke began rising from Makina’s body.
What — that couldn’t be right, she hadn’t been hit by the acid!
I was reeling from the unexpected development when Makina spoke.
“……Careless of me. It appears the blood itself contained corrosive compounds.”
“Hold on, I’ll wipe it off right now!”
I pulled off my jacket and used it to wipe the blood from Makina’s body as a stopgap measure.
The armor, corroded black by the acid, looked painful to see.
……This meant Makina’s body would need to be completely rebuilt.
I hoped the Great Serpent had a magic stone large enough for Makina’s upgrade……
I was thinking exactly that when Alicia’s voice reached me.
“Oh wow! I’ve never seen one this big!”
“Be careful taking it out! If you damage it that’s a disaster!”
“Yeah, yeah, I know!”
Before I’d noticed, Alicia and the others had made their way up onto the Serpent’s head.
Something seemed to be visible through the wound in its skull, and they were digging away at the spot with their weapons.
Then a red glow came into view.
Could that possibly be——!!
“A magic stone!?”
A red stone cradled in Alicia’s arms, as large as a newborn baby’s head.
Giving off an eerie light — unmistakably a magic stone.
“We did it……we actually did it……!!!!!”
Now I could build Makina a new body!!
At last I let the victory sink in, and the joy just exploded out of me.