VS Corpse Dragon

I had come at the request of the water spirits to help them suffering from illness.

After administering the special cure and finishing the treatment, just as I was about to head back—

the source that brought sickness upon the spirits, the Corpse Dragon, appeared.

“UROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

The Corpse Dragon let out a roar.

If I judged by size, about two meters or so.

A bit smaller than a normal dragon, probably a young one.

Its flesh had rotted away, and no eyeballs could be seen in the sockets.

Green rotten pus dripped heavily from its body.

The nose-stinging irritating smell must be because of this.

“Auuu… it’s scaary…”

Daphne-chan trembled shakily.

Sui-chan tightly hugged Daphne-chan.

Toka-chan and Zenith-chan wore tense expressions.

It looked impossible to leave the fighting to these girls.

“Cherge. Snipe.”

“Understood. End of statement.”

I took out two pistols from storage and fired at the Corpse Dragon.

The bullets fired with a dodu! sound, however melted before hitting the enemy.

“Oh my. The bullets aren’t working.”

“Analysis complete. The corrosive gas exhaled by the enemy has the effect of melting ordinary attacks. End of statement.”

The robo-maid had an analysis function.

If what Cherge said was true, physical attacks were meaningless.

Meanwhile Undine, queen of the water spirits, gave orders to her subordinates.

Intercept it with magic!

The spirits nodded and thrust out both hands.

When they held out their hands, a gigantic sphere of water formed.

Cherge grabbed my collar while Toka-chan took Zenith-chan and the others and retreated temporarily.

Release!

A tremendous torrent of water rushed toward the Corpse Dragon.

“…It is the grand magic Tidal Wave. To release it without chanting… as expected of water spirits.”

Zenith-chan, knowledgeable about magic, was astonished.

So, well, they must have fired some amazing magic.

The flow of water gathered and transformed into a dragon, swallowing the Corpse Dragon.

Did it work!?

“Nope, doesn’t seem so.”

“UROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

That zombie was still lively even after taking a direct hit from the magic.

The queen widened her eyes and staggered.

It took an immense water current and received no damage… what sort of trick is this!?

“Hm. Zenith-chan. Attack with fire. It doesn’t need much power.”

Though confused, Zenith-chan quickly nodded.

An obedient child is lovely.

“Fireball!”

Zenith-chan attacked using chantless magic I taught at master’s tower.

However the fireball vanished with a sizzle before reaching the zombie.

“Just as I thought. Taking that huge amount of water with no damage was unnatural, and above all… there’s the question of where all that water went.”

The answer was simple.

“It means the corrosion nullifies not only physical but even magical attacks. End of statement.”

“That’s right.”

“…No way. All our attacks are nullified. And if we approach, we become dragon food. It’s invincible.”

The slave-chans and the spirits trembled.

Well, after attacking this much and it still not falling, it’s natural to get scared.

“Undine. And the water spirits stay back and deploy a water barrier.”

“What will you do, Master!?”

“I’ll go knock that thing down. Can’t be helped.”

This isn’t included in my salary, but well, it’s service.

Haa… unpaid overtime… nostalgic and not something I want to remember… I really hate this, such a pain…

Sui-chan approached me and tugged my arm.

“Oh? What’s wrong?”

“Please stop. You will die.”

Daphne-chan came along and conveyed the spirit’s words.

“Thanks, you’re kind. But don’t worry about me, protect Daphne-chan.”

“But…”

“Hmm…”

I want to settle this quickly because it’s troublesome though.

Then Daphne-chan held Sui-chan’s hand and spoke.

“It’s okay! Big sister is really strong! When big sister says it’s okay, it’s okay! So believe and wait!”

Oh, nice persuasion Daphne-chan.

Being trusted makes me happy.

Though Sui-chan hesitated, she nodded.

Good good.

“Then, Undine. Barrier please. Especially that robo-maid over there is weak to corrosion, so protect her well.”

I walked straight toward the Corpse Dragon.

Scared? No, not really…

When I was apprenticing under master, I often encountered monsters like this.

I didn’t really feel afraid.

“UROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

Whoosh…! The Corpse Dragon released breath.

“Caution. Compressed corrosive breath. End of statement.”

It releases the gas that melts physical and magic attacks as the dragon’s specialty breath.

But I don’t dodge. No, rather, I should say there’s no need to dodge.

BOOOOM!

Child of man! Ah… it is the end… a frail body cannot endure a dragon’s breath…

“No, I’m alive though.”

What did you saaaaaaay!?

My my, Your Majesty, that’s unbecoming.

“U… uroo…”

“Oh? What’s wrong? Unexpected your ultimate move didn’t work? Too bad, your corrosion doesn’t work on me.”

The cause of the spirits’ illness was the influence of this zombie’s breath.

The special cure had already been administered inside everyone, including me.

“Corrosive attacks are ineffective against those treated. Gas without corrosion is nothing but wind.”

Well, I almost got blown away by the wind pressure, but I scattered Fixation Potion at my feet.

Since my feet were stuck to the ground, I didn’t get blown away.

I dissolved it with solvent and approached the Corpse Dragon.

“Alright, my turn now.”

I took out two potion bottles Cherge had been holding.

Floated them with magic and took out a third bottle.

I mixed the liquids midair and poured them into the third bottle.

“Here, take this!”

I threw the bottle at the zombie.

The bottle was struck by corrosion and its contents splashed.

Splash…!

“U, GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Steam rose from the zombie’s body.

With a thud, the zombie collapsed.

We… defeated it… amazing…

“No, it’s alive.”

What!?

The muddy Corpse Dragon’s body rapidly returned to normal.

The rotten flesh restored, transforming into a dragon with a beautiful diamond body.

“W-what did you just do?”

Oh, Zenith-chan and the others were safe.

Thanks to the spirits’ water barrier there seemed to be no problem. Though since they took the cure, they were guaranteed safe anyway.

“I used a Purification Potion.”

“Even if the corrosive gas were purified, it’s hard to believe the zombie would revive like that.”

“Right. So I mixed in the spirit medicine — the illness cure — to boost the purification potion’s effect.”

That zombie also showed infection of the pathogen.

So I figured if the spirit medicine removed the pathogen, purification would work.

“Wow! Wow! Amazing amazing! Big sister is amaaazing!”

Daphne-chan and Sui-chan approached and hugged me.

Ohh, cool and feels nice.

Unbelievable… to think you would heal the dragon instead of slaying it…

“My order was only to cure your illness. There’s no need to kill this dragon.”

The Diamond Dragon stood and deeply lowered its head.

“Big sister! The dragon says ‘Thank you, Saintess!’”

Daphne-chan who understands animal language interpreted…

No no, that’s wrong.

“I’m not a saintess, I’m an alchemist.”

The spirits, and even the dragon, all stared blankly.

What’s with that look?

Well, anyway, problem solved.