Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu

It seemed to notice them too as its knees bent and its wings spread out.

“Maple. How’s Bizzare Eater?”

“I used it in the last group...so that’s five more uses!”

“You should save them for now!”

If it was effective on these guys, then it was best to save it for the boss. Bizarre Eater was a valuable form of firepower for Maple. And it was directly linked to their attack ability. It should not be wasted.

“If their speed and moves are the same... Haa!”

Sally ran up to intercept the flying dragonewt. In reply, the dragonewt opened its mouth and bathed the hallway in flames that burned everything. Even if it was Sally, there was not enough space to dodge this attack. She had no choice but to move back.

“I’m fine! You can go, Sally!”

“Okay!”

They saw that it was the same kind of breath they had seen at the gate. And so they knew how to react. Sally made use of Dedicated Affection to nullify the flames and then used Leap to get above the dragonewt’s head.

“‘Power Attack’!”

Sally’s body twisted as she swung both daggers towards the monster’s head. And even though the armor softened the blow, damage wasn’t her goal. She had learned at the gate, that if you damage them while they are flying, you could slam them down to the ground.

Just as she wanted, the dragonewt fell to the ground and the armor smashed.

“Syrup! ‘Mother Nature’!”

While they were unable to move, she had Syrup create vines to bind them. Now all Sally had to do was cut through them.

“Phew. Nice one, Maple!”

“While the armor looked cool, it didn’t change much.”

“That’s true. But I guess it shows we’ve been making progress?”

“Do you think the rooms will change?”

“Maybe. Let’s check for treasure chests as we go.”

And so they checked all of the rooms connected to the hallway, occasionally stopping to take photos while sitting on expensive-looking sofas. And then they found stairs that took them to the next floor.

Like this, they reached the part of the castle that was on the outside of the mountain. From the windows, they could see the forest they had walked through and the endless sea of clouds. They were quite high up now.

“Ah, Sally! There’s a real dragon flying!”

“Maybe it’s just part of the scenery? Or maybe it’s to prevent players from flying on things like Syrup...”

“Right, people on the fifth layer wouldn’t have monsters yet.”

Flying wasn’t exactly rare now, but it was different when this floating castle was first made. And so they must have wanted to avoid any rare invasions through the air that would allow people to skip most of the castle.

“So, let’s go then. We should be close to the top.”

“Yes! Phew. I’m getting excited.”

After killing many monsters and wandering around the castle, the two finally stopped in front of the entrance to a tall tower. There was a spiral staircase leading up, and it seemed to be the final destination of this floating castle.

“At the top, maybe?”

“Ohh! We finally made it.”

The tower’s diameter was about 20 meters. It wasn’t hard to imagine the size of the boss that would surely be at the top.

“Well, let’s go and find out.”

“Go! Go!”

Maple and Sally rushed up the stairs. There was a door at the top that allowed them to go inside. They nodded to each other to show that they were ready and then pushed the door open.

It was dark, as there were no windows inside. The only light came from the effect of Maple’s Dedicated Affection.

Once they were completely inside of the room, the door shut behind them. And a roar boomed from the darkness and shook the air.

“!”

“Woah! So loud!”

As the two brandished their weapons, flames that almost looked white began to burst from the darkness. And then the thing revealed itself in a surprising way.

The vibrations of it kicking the ground, the echoing roar. And the thrashing in the wind. The large moving presence and the sudden destruction of the tower’s roof.

“Sally!”

“Maple!”

They braved the wind so they would not get blown away. The walls and ceiling were gone, and the boss room was like a hurricane. Then they looked up at the thing that had caused this destruction.

The thing that was flying in the sky was a giant dragon that was covered in scales so red they looked like fire. Flames burst from its mouth, and the wind that beat down from its wings threatened to knock them off of their feet. Its tail was large enough to make most of the room dangerous to be in.

It spread out its wings wide. However, its eyes were fixed to them as if to say they would not even be allowed to fight.

“It must have been really cramped.”

“It-it looks so strong!?”

“It probably is strong. Now, be careful so you don’t fall off!”

“Yes, let’s kill it!”

They held their weapons ready once again and faced the red dragon in the sky.