"Roar—!!"
The dragon bellowed, rampaging furiously.
It felt as though the earth itself was wailing in agony.
A flash of a sword cut through the air. The seemingly impenetrable dragon scales, renowned as the toughest of all monster materials, offered no defense against Nero's blade. Crimson dragon blood gushed from the wounds.
Holding her massive sword in front of her, Nero braced herself as the golden dragon lunged forward, its jaws wide open to snap at her.
Using her sword to wedge against the dragon's teeth, Nero fought valiantly, but the beast's overwhelming strength still sent her sliding back nearly a hundred meters. Her feet dug deep trenches into the ground before she finally came to a halt.
Thus began a seemingly one-sided clash between a colossal dragon and a comparatively diminutive human.
The corners of Nero's lips curled into a grin, though the effort of exerting her entire body made her expression look slightly menacing. "What's wrong, big guy? Didn't have your breakfast? Feels like you're holding back…"
The dragon's razor-sharp fangs clenched tightly on Nero's greatsword, its blood-gold slit pupils gleaming with savage intensity.
Suddenly, Nero sensed an overwhelming surge of magical energy gathering.
The golden dragon's body began to radiate an intense heat, the magic within it roiling like molten lava, brimming with untamed, destructive power.
Even the dragon's breath, brushing against Nero's face, caused a faint burning sensation on her skin.
Realizing what was about to happen, Nero's expression shifted to alarm. She couldn't help but let out a curse.
"#$@%@#%!"
Dragons, in addition to their superior physical capabilities, were notorious for their devastating breath attacks.
The most common was fiery breath, but variations like icy breath, water breath, or even atomic breath existed—an arsenal as varied as it was deadly.
A suffocating wave of scorching heat surged toward Nero, accompanied by a massive, compressed build-up of magical energy preparing to erupt right in front of her.
In this moment of crisis, a metallic sheen suddenly coated Nero's calf. At the very last second before the dragon unleashed its breath, Nero delivered a powerful kick upward.
Her right leg, gleaming with a metallic luster, struck the golden dragon's lower jaw with tremendous force. Scales of gold shattered and scattered in every direction as the dragon's jaw caved inward under the blow.
The resulting shockwave rippled outward, obliterating nearby fragments of wood and stone into fine dust.
Despite the sudden assault, the golden dragon unleashed its breath.
A searing beam of golden heat tore through the air, grazing Nero's head and shooting diagonally into the sky, painting the heavens in golden hues.
Though she wasn't struck directly, the inferno-like temperatures left Nero feeling as though she were engulfed in flames, a sensation that reminded her of her previous battle with Karna.
The golden dragon staggered, disoriented by Nero's kick. She wasn't about to let this chance slip away.
Stomping the ground with enough force to crack it, Nero propelled herself high into the air. Her clenched fist, now similarly coated in a metallic sheen, descended with crushing force onto the dragon's skull.
The compressed air around her fist exploded outward in a translucent shockwave.
Fragments of shattered dragon scales mingled with droplets of pale golden blood as the dragon, roaring in pain, retaliated with a powerful swipe of its claw. Nero was flung back once again.
Her body slammed into a mountainside, embedding her deep within the rock.
"Ugh… Was that… [Armament Haki] just now?"
Clearing away the rubble around her, Nero glanced down at her left hand, where the metallic luster had yet to completely fade.
"I always thought that move looked cool, so I'd fantasize about pulling it off myself… Did I just do that instinctively under pressure?"
Piecing things together, Nero couldn't help but take a sharp breath.
"This [Imperial Privilege] is ridiculously overpowered, isn't it? It even lets me use abilities from completely different worlds? So it's really just the ultimate 'Because I Said So' power. If I want to, then I can—is that it?"
"Hmm… The only downside is that using [Armament Haki] seems to disable my dragon-slaying, beast-hunting, and colossus-killer skills… Is this a conflict between abilities from different universes or something? Actually, thinking about it, that punch earlier might have been a mistake. If I'd relied on those specialized skills, I'd probably have done more damage."
Although her punch had shattered scales and drawn blood, the injury was superficial at best. Using her triple-specialized attacks, she might have been able to deal far more significant harm.
After all, the Type-Moon world's specialized attack modifiers were notoriously overpowered. "Special modifiers are supreme" wasn't just an empty boast.
Take Surtur Fenrir, for example—the being who devoured Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and nearly annihilated the gods of Asgard, leaving only Skadi alive. In spite of his overwhelming power, once he gained dragon attributes, he was defeated by the dragon-slaying hero Siegfried.
Sure, Ophelia's sacrifice to weaken Surtur played a role, but it was still absurd.
Only now did Nero realize she had yet to fully tap into the potential of her [Imperial Privilege]. She'd been in this world for so long, and there was still so much to explore.
After all, combat was the quickest way to familiarize oneself with one's skills.
"Too bad I don't have any beam attacks. If I could stack a dragon-slaying modifier on a beam, I'd have vaporized this dragon in one shot. No need for all this back-and-forth nonsense… It's so unfair. I'm a Saber, but I don't have a beam attack? Blue's going to laugh her head off at me for this!"
At that moment, a massive shadow loomed over Nero's position. The dragon's colossal tail came crashing down with the force of a falling mountain.
But before it could land, Nero activated her [Reduced Earth] technique, vanishing from the spot and leaving only an afterimage behind.
"Hmm! Too slow, far too slow! No matter how powerful an attack is, if it doesn't land, it's meaningless!"
Gripping her sword with both hands, Nero angled the blade downward, the sharp gleam of its edge glinting with lethal intent.
As though understanding Nero's provocation, the golden dragon roared in fury, lifting its head to charge another breath attack.
Its draconic heart pounded, greedily absorbing the ambient magical energy around it like a bottomless pit. The energy was condensed, transformed into the purest heat capable of incinerating everything in its path.
Despite the overwhelming spectacle, Nero remained unperturbed.
At this distance, her agility and [Reduced Earth] technique guaranteed she could dodge the attack with ease.
But then, a voice abruptly interrupted the battle.
"[Light of Saber]!"
Three golden blades of light shot through the air, radiating with razor-sharp intensity, and slashed into the golden dragon's back.
Blood sprayed everywhere in torrents.
[Light of Saber]—an advanced magic in the world of Konosuba, famed for its ability to cut through anything as long as sufficient mana was supplied. Theoretically, it could even pierce the barrier around the Demon King's castle.
Even the dragon's incredibly high magic resistance wasn't enough to fully block this spell.
Startled, Nero turned to see Yunyun in the distance, her staff raised as she cast the spell.
---
...
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