Volume 4 - CH 8

The morning of the second day after entering the mountain.

I had reached my destination, the summit of the mountain.

It’s an open area with a gentle slope.

The mountain path had been forest all along, but only in this area were there unnaturally no trees, but instead there were a number of craggy rocks lying around.

It was clear that the dragons had burned down the trees, knocked them over, and carried away the boulders, as charred trunks could be seen here and there.

The lord of the dwelling place created in this way is now leaning his head back in front of my eyes.

There was a glint in the eye behind the stern scales.

I smiled as I was gazed by it.

“Hi”

A cheerful greeting to the huge dragon.

After all, it is huge.

It must have been more than ten meters long (about 30 feet) including its tail. The head alone is more than my height.

The dragon, which had been sleeping on top of a nest of rocks, stared at me with eyes that clearly looked at me as if i were the enemy.

“Gurururuoooooo — !!”

Suddenly, the dragon growled.

The jaw with the fangs is wide open, and the faint red light begins to flicker.

The next moment, a breath of fire was exhaled.

A flame that can swallow me whole creates a path of heat and light on the mountaintop.

“— Well, it doesn’t work on the barrier.”

Seeing me emerge unscathed from the flames, the dragon repeatedly exhaled his breath in frustration.

But, of course, it’s the same no matter how many times you do it.

“……oh?”

At that moment, the dragon suddenly spread its wings.

A faint flow of power. With a leisurely flap of its wings, its huge body floats in the air, as if by magic. I frown at the fierce gust of wind.

Normally, such a huge body would not be able to fly.

But the denser air makes takeoff easier. It seems that they can manipulate air pressure like a higher dragon. It’s much smaller in scale than that which causes storms, though.

I turned my head to look at the dragon as it flew off into the sky above the mountain.

I wonder what he’s going to do. I don’t think he’s going to run away. ……

And just then, the dragon circled in the air.

It swoops down with its eyes straight at me.

This time, unlike when I first encountered him, It doesn’t seem to be intimidated.

A huge body looms up close.

The moment I was caught by its thick claws that opened up—- I swapped positions with a nearby shikigami.

A shikigami slips between the dragon’s claws.

The limbs that had failed to grab me had instead hit a huge rock nearby, smashing the top half of it.

Oh wow, scary, scary.

The dragon, which seems to be wondering why it struck out, turns its huge body again in mid-air.

It’s time to get serious.

I open a portal with the shikigami that was flying right above the dragon.

《Summon: Kokyu-Konaki-jiji》

What emerged from the spatial distortion was a baby with the face of an old man.

The demon Ayakashi, who has an ugly appearance, clings to the back of the flying dragon as it is, distorting his wrinkled face and itching.

Then he began to cry loudly.

“Fungyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”

At that moment, the —- dragon’s body sank in mid-air.

The dragon flaps its wings repeatedly as if in a panic but each time the baby cries, it loses altitude.

“Gruaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

One loud cry went up and the —- dragon crashed to the top of the mountain.

The violent impact causes Kokyu Konakijiji to tumble off the dragon’s back.

“Ah……”

“Fugi!”

The youkai who sank into the ground from his face … screamed like a crushed frog and stopped moving.

…… I’m a little sorry for him.

He doesn’t attach to the opponent with supernatural power, he just clings to them with grip strength.

Was it indeed too much to ask him to deal with a flying dragon?

However, he did well.

Konaki-jiji is a demon that cries in the mountains disguised as a baby and crushes people who are carrying it on their backs in pity.

Each time it’s cries, they become heavier, up to a maximum weight of ten times the weight of the person carrying them.

Against that dragon, it would have been about 50,000 kan (*about 190 tons) if it was bad…….

As I was putting Konaki-jiji back into phase, the weighted-down dragon was about to spread its wings again.

There, I point at a Hitogata.

“No, no, no. Stay calm”

《Soil phase ――― The art of fire nets》

A cast net woven with white thick rope covered the dragon.

The resisting dragon rampages violently and exhales fire breath in all directions.

But the white cast net neither tears nor burns out.

Yuki looks up fearfully and says.

“… It’s a very sturdy net, isn’t it?”

“Because it is made of asbestos-woven rope.”

Asbestos is a very tough material and heat resistant.

Exposure to fire will only burn the dirt and clean it.

Eventually, perhaps tired, the dragon stopped rampaging.

However, it is still staring at me and making subtle snarling noises.

“Why didn’t you just catch him with this cast net and the art of the abyss instead of using a yokai?”

It would be dangerous if the wings suddenly stopped working in mid-air.”

…… it’s rare to see her ponder the core of things.

“Hmm… Well, this time I’m the uninvited guest.”

Also, I can’t afford to defeat it without permission.

Yuki says in a tone of voice that sounds like she’s disappointed.

“Hmm. However, the monsters in this world are weak.”

“Ah, but this guy is probably as strong as a regular dragon.”

“Oh … is that so?”

Yuki pulled back her outstretched neck.

I start walking.

“Well, let’s start by checking out this guy’s nest.”

As I approached a bed of rocks, the dragon began to howl and lash out. Ignoring it, I put my foot on the rock pile.

Then I looked into the nest.

It is blindingly obvious.

There was a pale yellow, oval sphere that was covered with sand.

Yuki, stretching her neck, mutters.

“ Seika-sama, I could it be……”

I touch the surface of the sphere lightly.

It’s smooth. It’s heavy and looks pretty hard, but … no doubt.

“―――― It’s an egg.”

The technique of capturing an object with a net made of asbestos. The tensile strength of asbestos (chrysotile) is 30,000 kg / m ^ 2. This is more than piano wire, and the strength of the twisted rope theoretically exceeds that of carbon steel wire. Furthermore, it is rich in flexibility, chemical resistance, and abrasion resistance, and when it comes to heat resistance, it boasts a decomposition temperature of 450 to 700 ° C, which far exceeds that of piano wire, and a melting point of 1,521 ° C.