Third Outer World Story Series: Pumpkin Sorcerer - Chapter 49
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
“Grr!”
“Hyulololoo! [Resonance Spell?Branch Shot].”
Avoiding the sweeping sideways claw of the Entdragon’s right front leg, at the very brink of the edge, Pumpkin activated [Resonance Spell?Branch Shot] by injecting magic power into the various types of tree branches that had been planted in the form of ivy that made up its arms while passing by.
“Grgh!?”
“As expected, it looks like the branches will pierce the dragon at point-blank range!”
From Pumpkin’s arm, the hardened tree branches were launched towards the Entdragon’s scales, puncturing them and momentarily ceasing the Entdragon’s movement.
“Grrrrrrr!”
“!? But this has almost no effect.”
Yet, the Entdragon immediately struck again, this time with their claws, and he hurriedly moved out of the way to avoid it.
After all, it would seem that [Resonance Spell?Branch Shot], which can be employed with any kind of tree branch but its effect itself was reduced, can only injure the flesh just below the scales to a small extent, and it can scarcely even hinder the victim.
Well, [Resonance Spell?Branch Shot] is a general-purpose magic. It’s the type of magic that originally relies heavily on numbers, so this is inevitable.
“Penetrate!”
“Ggh!?”
“Tsk… you’re such a huge figure, yet moving around restlessly…”
At this instant, Mizuki unexpectedly shot a jousting javelin-like object made of water at Entdragon, but the latter dodged the shot by tumbling to the side at a speed out of proportion to their enormous size.
But still, isn’t Mizuki’s character undergoing a subtle transition? Well, I don’t want her to lose her cool, but it looks like she’s simply too worked up, so I won’t bother her.
Pumpkin looked around once before saying, “Even so, it’s a battle between two individuals and one animal, and yet it’s like a war.”
Since the commencement of the battle, roughly an hour has already passed, and yet neither side has made a definite breakthrough. Instead, the surrounding forest abounded with fallen trees, even the appearance of a few craters.
It was a fortunate thing that Entdragon had been induced to distance themself from the village at the beginning, otherwise, it would have ensured a catastrophe should the battle have been initiated near the village.
“Grrrrrrr!!”
“Ah, not this again! This breath of yours is so obnoxious!”
“Hyulololoo! Wait!? Please be considerate of where I am and avoid hitting me!”
“As if we would have time for that!”
And at this point, the Entdragon fired a thunder breath, and in a panic, Mizuki and Pumpkin flew at high speed to avoid it.
During the past hour’s battle, they had learned that the utmost threat of the Entdragon was this breath of theirs after all. The claws, tail, fangs, and body blow were all fatal if struck directly, but the breath was especially vicious owing to its speed.
“But this is also an opportunity. Align, Mizuki! [Resonance Spell?Snail Net]!”
“I know what to do! Fire away!”
“Grr!? Gah!?”
After picking up some snails near the ground, Pumpkin instantly disposed of the main body of the snail, leaving only the shell, and then imbued it with blue-based magic power which he hurled at the Entdragon. A sticky liquid flowed out from the shell of the snail that made contact with the Entdragon like a net, interfering with the Entdragon’s movement then.
And Mizuki’s water bullets impacted the Entdragon, causing them to be thrown back.
“Now for the main blow…”
But the wounds on the dragon were still far from life-threatening.
That was why Pumpkin aimed at the neck of the Entdragon and started to channel the magic power into it, which was suspended from his waist in an iai-like pose[i], in the sequence prescribed and at just the right level not to trigger an [Overburst].
“Guu! Gah!”
“You won’t be able to escape!”
The Entdragon, seemingly conscious of what Pumpkin was on the verge of executing, was forcibly trying to rip the snail net off through sheer strength, whereas Mizuki, in an effort to thwart the Entdragon’s attempt to escape, was firing innumerable water bullets at them, slowing their movement.
It was uncertain whether Pumpkin could pull it off in time due to the strength of the snail net, but even if he was pressed for time, this magic would not work. So, without being hasty, he loaded the correct attribute of magic power in the proper order and at the very edge of the line where it would not be saturated.
“Gah!”
“Pumpkin!”
The Entragon burst through the snail net.
But things were still under control.
“Guruaaaahhh!”
“Damn!?”
A thunder breath was unleashed from the Entdragon’s mouth, forcing Mizuki to retreat, leaving a water barrier behind. However, the Entdragon’s breath effortlessly broke through Mizuki’s barrier and made its way towards Pumpkin, who was just beyond it.
Once its breath hit him, a fatal blow was imminent. But his spell will be completed within a few moments.
“[Resonance Spell]…”
And the moment the breath reached in front of him, Pumpikn’s posture returned to the initial iai stance again and he unleashed it.
“[Cucumber Blade]!”
“!? Guruaaahh!!?”
Not only did the magic from his waist sever the Entdragon’s breath and seamlessly cut off their wings, but it even ripped off the thunderclouds that were supposed to be far away in the sky, exposing the night sky before them.
The name of the magic Pumpkin just wielded was [Resonance Spell?Cucumber Blade], which was the second most potent and longest-range resonance spell he currently possessed. However, it also had the drawback of taking too much time for preparation.
“Grrrr….”
“Hah hah… the dragon’s will to fight never wanes huh. What a total hassle…”
The Entdragon was casting a resentful glare in Pumpkin’s direction.
The fact that Pumpkin’s earlier spell was mainly water-based and demanded substantial consumption of magic power would naturally drain him by an order of magnitude.
As a matter of fact, he was hoping to end the battle by chopping off their head with a single blow, but this result was inevitable. Despite not having conducted the experiment yet, Pumpkin had another special surprise in store for the dragon.
“Pumpkin, are you okay!?”
“I’m fine! Just buy me some time! I am sorry, but I need you to stall for one minute!!”
“One minute… I get it!”
He asked the concerned Mizuki to do him a favor and immediately proceeded with his preparations.
“Guraaaaaah!!”
“I’m not letting you through here!”
Mizuki was apparently using all of her magic to attack, retaining only what she needed to sustain herself, and the multitudinous water bullets were trapping the Entdragon in place, even if they didn’t wish to remain stationary.
Then, in the midst of this, Pumpkin sent the magic power of his entire body into the tip of his own vine, amplifying it with [Resonance].
“Ugh…”
However, the fundamental amount of magic power was not adequate.
As expected, [Resonance Spell?Cucumber Blade] has depleted me of a fair amount of magic power. What a pain in the neck.
But there is nothing in the vicinity now that can quickly replenish my magic power…
“Huh!?”
It was then that he remembered the bottle of honey that Hunting Bee had given him and, in order to utilize the magic power contained in the bottle, he stuck a root into the bottle and absorbed the magic power with the honey.
The absorbed magic power was immediately transmitted into the root.
“Alright! Mizuki! Get out of there!!”
“Aren’t you too late!!”
As soon as a reaction began to occur as he had planned, he let Mizuki slip away behind him with a smile on his face.
“Grrrrrrrrr!!”
The Entragon came towards them with their huge mouth opened while Mizuki was fleeing.
“Take this!!”
“Ngh!?”
And there the root was flung into the Entdragon’s mouth… right before he applied all his magic power into the root which was part of his pumpkin’s body to cause [Overburst].
The Entdragon swallowed that oblivious to it.
“Mizuki!”
“I know what to do!”
“!?”
Pumpkin and Mizuki, therefore, made their way to the sky with all of their vigors when a subtle alteration in the Entdragon’s magic power that they were clad in manifested.
Why are we doing this? That, of course, is…
“Gah!?”
And the moment they fled into the sky, the Entdragon’s abdomen swelled up at once, and just as they thought there was a hint of light leaking from the dragon’s mouth…
[[!!?]]
In a powerful burst, Pumpkin and Mizuki were swept away by the immense amount of light, the sound that had now changed into a shock wave, and the heat.
————–
T/N:
[i] Iai is an abbreviation of Iaido, a martial art