Chapter 134
The scythe I swung after activating my skill met no resistance, allowing me to complete the swing effortlessly.
The lack of feedback made me think I'd missed entirely.
Yet my attack had undeniably connected at the perfect moment—an instant where the Wind Dragon couldn't possibly evade.
Calculating the implications of this, a grin spread across my face.
"Now, will it trigger?"
The chance of an instant-kill move working on a boss was nearly zero.
But this lack of resistance proved it wasn't completely impossible.
Normally, a being as powerful as the Wind Dragon would require repeated attacks to whittle down its health before even having a chance at defeating it.
Yet, its mighty life was cut short so abruptly that I could only call it pitiful—its head slid clean off before its body crashed to the ground.
Gradually, the Wind Dragon's body turned to ash.
Meaning its life had truly ended.
This was too perfect.
At this exact moment, I had somehow triggered an ultra-low-probability instant-kill attack.
Originally, I had planned to deal massive damage to its neck to gain a damage advantage.
But contrary to expectations, my decapitating strike—aimed at the vulnerable reverse scale—ended the Wind Dragon's life in a single blow.
The gruesome sight of its head separating from its body, followed by the dragon's fading form, sent the remaining wyverns into chaos.
『■■■■■■■！！』
If they had panicked completely, it would have been easier—but the remaining Wind Dragon roared, snapping them back to focus.
My gaze locked onto it as it bellowed, declaring my presence.
The Wind Dragon's glare held no arrogance—only sharp recognition.
In that instant, it acknowledged me, the child who had slain its kin, as its enemy.
For the briefest moment, we stared each other down, the flow of space itself seeming to freeze.
But that momentary pause was exactly what I needed.
A chance to contest the initiative—to seize the first strike.
Hungry for that advantage, I swiftly swapped my scythe-spear for a greatbow and fired another shot.
My target wasn’t the wyverns but the roaring Wind Dragon itself.
The wooden crate at my feet could wait—right now, every ounce of my focus was on taking them down.
The greatbow wasn’t suited for rapid fire, but its arrows flew fast.
The Wind Dragon, already watching me, moved to evade—and succeeded against the first arrow.
But I had already nocked a second.
A dual-shot.
An attack that forced a wider evasion.
Only possible thanks to the greatbow’s immense draw strength.
As expected, the Wind Dragon overcommitted to dodging, its movement too exaggerated to recover smoothly.
Seizing the opening, I advanced with the greatbow still in hand.
No breath attack came.
If anything, it would be either the quick-casting Wind Cutter or the hammer-like strike.
Downburst and Air Zero Field took too long to activate and had poor tracking.
That made its next move predictable.
It was recasting Wind Veil, wary of my next arrow—
But then I tilted my bow slightly upward, feigning a shot at the sky.
The Wind Dragon reacted dramatically, darting away at high speed.
The way its counterpart had been killed must have left an impression—it even used its glare to intimidate the wyverns, keeping them from interfering.
A boss’s command was absolute.
The wyverns immediately obeyed, encircling us from a distance.
Seems my habit of using them as shields or knocking them down as obstacles had made them wary.
At this range, even my greatbow couldn’t reach them.
But it also meant I was out of their breath attack range—a fair trade.
"That look says you think you can’t lose one-on-one, huh?"
The pride of a superior being.
The Wind Dragon truly believed that without interference, it couldn’t lose to me.
I couldn’t help but smirk.
From my perspective?
"That’s a bad move."
I knew the Wind Dragon’s capabilities.
Yes, this open space gave it the advantage of flight.
But that also meant it knew being knocked from the sky could mean defeat.
Its haste in driving the wyverns away left it unable to focus fully on the fight.
I dodged an incoming Wind Cutter, slipped into the gap between the blades, and fired back—only for the arrow to be blocked by Wind Veil.
The Wind Hammer came next, slower but with a wider area of effect.
Predictable enough to evade.
"Now, it’s just timing."
A gust of wind rushed past me as another Wind Cutter curved around.
A dragon that ruled the skies, wielding wind magic freely.
Most might assume dragons preferred close combat, but leveraging their physical prowess for ranged battles was just another fighting style.
Against it, I kept my movements tight, dodging in place while occasionally loosing arrows.
I kept mentally urging it—
"Not this."
The attack that came was Downburst—a crushing blow from above.
I evaded, having anticipated it.
But the move I was waiting for still didn’t come.
The impatience wasn’t just mine.
"Rare move, huh?"
It was avoiding its breath attack, knowing I’d strike during the opening.
Instead, it was chipping away with spells—but that wasn’t working either.
Frustrated, it suddenly shot upward, likely planning to unleash a vertical breath attack from above.
True, I couldn’t reach it there, and the open plaza offered no cover.
But I had a plan for that too.
The breath attack took about three seconds to charge.
A mage would cast a barrier. A tank would raise a shield.
But as an attacker, my move was—
"Glad I brought this light magic tool."
Useless in a chaotic fight, but perfect for one-on-one.
"Channeling mana to its limit."
A gadget I’d borrowed from the Duke.
Normally, it just emitted light—seemingly pointless in this bright dungeon.
But I’d modified it slightly.
"By focusing the light into a single beam—"
Aimed straight at the Wind Dragon’s face in midair—
"It’s a flashbang."
『■■■■■！？』
A concentrated blast of light to the eyes disrupted its breath attack entirely.
And this wasn’t just any light—it was a magically enhanced version, packed with spirit stones from young light spirits.
All those hours mining the Spirit Vein paid off.
The output was blinding, far beyond ordinary tools.
The mana efficiency was terrible, but that didn’t matter—the Wind Dragon’s vision was completely whited out.
A searing beam right to the face.
With its mouth fixed in position for the breath attack, it couldn’t even cover its eyes—short arms and a long neck made that impossible.
It couldn’t locate me.
I kept the beam trained on it while repositioning.
Closing its eyes wouldn’t help—this modified light pierced right through eyelids.
The longer this went on, the more its vision would burn away!
The downside? I couldn’t use my bow while holding this.
But against a long-range attacker like this, it was perfect.
Especially for airborne foes—losing vision risked a crash.
If it fell now, this would be easy.
Ah, it stopped the breath attack.
Unable to maintain it, the Wind Dragon fled the light, moving erratically.
I cut the beam, letting it regain sight—just as planned.
It immediately glared down, spotting me beneath it.
Holding my breath, I raised my bow, waiting for its next spell.
Then, sound vanished around me.
The air was gone.
This was what I’d been waiting for.
Air Zero Field—a dome-shaped void where all air ceased to exist.
A death zone for any living thing.
Seeing me trapped inside, the Wind Dragon began gathering mana for another breath attack, certain of victory.
But guess what?
I had just the item for this.
Originally meant to knock down wyverns, I’d saved this trump card until now.
I dropped the greatbow, pulling a round object from my magic bag.
Pressing its trigger, I loaded it into a slingshot and fired it skyward.
I hadn’t planned to use this.
Once deployed, it would reveal my location and cause collateral damage.
But cornered in an airless void, with enemies closing in?
No choice.
The projectile shot up, reaching the midpoint between us—
Then detonated before the Wind Dragon could unleash its breath.
A deafening shockwave erupted—a sound bomb.
A sonic weapon made by overloading a wind spirit stone.
Indiscriminate and brutal—it deafened friend and foe alike, requiring ear protection to avoid hours of tinnitus and vertigo.
But inside the soundproofed Air Zero Field, I was safe.
The Wind Dragon, however, went limp, eyes rolling back as it plummeted.
"Though for something this strong, the stun’ll only last seconds. And a Wind Dragon would minimize fall damage."
As it crashed down, I retrieved my greatbow, switched to my scythe-spear, and sprinted.
"Using arrows would’ve run me dry. Thank god I got the Neck Hunter skill."
Facing two Wind Dragons was unexpected—killing one at all was a fluke.
I wondered what excuse I’d give the Duke.
Forming the blade with Magic Edge, I broke into a full-speed charge.
The Wind Dragon stirred, its equilibrium shattered by the sound bomb.
"Thanks to this—!"
I lunged, no hesitation, activating my skill.
"NECK HUNTER!"
A dragon’s neck—especially a Wind Dragon’s—was long, making this skill easy to land.
No instant kill this time, but the spray of blood showed the damage was severe.
"Die! Die! Die!"
I planted my scythe-spear, then switched to my dragon-slaying flame greatbow, firing arrow after arrow into its face at point-blank range.
I kept shooting until the cooldown reset.
"NECK HUNTER!"
Then, another scythe strike to the neck.
Between neck wounds, facial damage, and vertigo, the Wind Dragon couldn’t fight back—just endure my onslaught.
"Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Neck Hunter! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Neck Hunter! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Neck Hunter! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Neck Hunter! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Neck Hunter!!"
I poured out every last arrow and ounce of mana.
"NOW DIIIIIIE!!"
With a final, savage cry, I unleashed the last Neck Hunter—severing its head.
The Wind Dragon’s body crumbled to ash.
"I WIIIIIN! ORAHHHHHH!!"
I threw my hands up in triumph as a second wooden crate appeared.
A victory clawed from relentless critical hits.
"I SURVIIIIIIVED!"
I’d achieved more than I’d planned—but right now, I was just overjoyed to be alive.
This time, I’d truly prepared for death.
Pushing beyond limits, I’d somehow won.
Never again.
"I can go home now."
I opened the crate, stepped onto the escape magic circle, and vanished.
But I’d forgotten something.
Exhausted and euphoric, I left carrying the Wind Dragon’s materials—abandoning the mask.
I had no idea how this "feat" would be perceived.