843: Gazzol

On our way back from the bar.

『Fran. Urushi.』

「…!」

「Arf!」

When I called out their names, Fran and Urushi shivered at the same time.

Fran turned around worriedly, looking at me on her back. I could see a hint of fear in her eyes, as well as a bit of remorse.

I think she knew that she had been a little out of control.

Looking into those abandoned kitten-like eyes, I could understand just how much she regretted her actions.

『…This entire city is like enemy territory. Let’s be very careful when we act here.』

「Nn.」

「Arf.」

They nodded firmly. Now it’s unlikely that they’ll act rashly under any normal circumstances.

『You seem to be sorry, but you still need to receive your punishment. You’re only allowed one plate of curry, okay?』

「Nn. Punishment is necessary.」

「Arf.」

She nodded instantly without the slightest argument… Maybe she regretted her actions more than I thought.

『Anyway――Hmm!』

「Nn!」

「Grrrr!」

As soon as we were about to discuss what to do next, we quickly assumed a battle stance.

A sharp hostile intent was emitted from the back of the dark alley, clearly targeting us.

（What do we do?）

『We need to find out who they are first. If it comes to it, we can always teleport and run.』

（Got it.）

We waited ten seconds for the approaching hostile entity to appear.

Out of the darkness emerged a huge dragonkin with a strange appearance.

Normal dragonkin had a human body with a few dragon-like features. For example, they generally had horns on their heads, and scales covering parts of their face and arms.

However, the dragonkin in front of us looked exactly like a dragon walking bipedally.

His head was completely dragon-like, with no human parts at all. Scales covered his entire body, so we couldn’t see any of his skin.

A long tail protruded from the back of his cloak, and he basically wore nothing on his feet aside from some leg guards. I imagine the scales on those feet were sturdier than any shoes.

The long sword at his waist looked more like a short sword, since the dragonkin was nearly three meters tall.

Even through his loose-fitting gray cloak, we could see that he wore metal armor.

While the sound of his armor clanking against itself echoed through the air, the dragonkin slowly moved toward us as if he was wary. Then he paused right in front of Fran,

「…Who are you?」

「…」

Without responding to Fran’s words, the dragonkin stared down at her, his gaze filled with strong hostility.

After an appraisal, I found the dragonkin was quite strong. His name was Gazzol, and his race was Wind Dragonkin.

He had Holy Sword Mastery Lv4, Holy Sword Arts Lv3, as well high levels in Brawling and Wind Magic. He also possessed an Innate Skill called Wind Dragon Form.

However, his defensive and physical enhancement skills were even more remarkable.

In addition to the skills like Toughness, Muscle Hardening, Hard Spirit, Vitality Boost, Perseverance, and Pain Nullification, he also had skills such as Superspeed Regeneration and Life Absorption. All of them at high levels.

The Innate Skill “Dragon Scales” was also pretty powerful. It apparently let him infuse his scales with mana to create a second layer of armor around himself.

In addition to his skills, Gazzol wore an armor made of magisteel. In terms of defense, he might be one of the toughest people we’ve encountered on this continent.

『Seems like a really durable guy. Be careful.』

（Nn.）

The dragonkin man then reached for the hilt of his sword without saying a word.

Fran also gripped my hilt over her shoulder.

「You’re a bandit?」

「…!」

『Still not talking?!』

The man ignored our question again, and suddenly slashed at us.

He delivered a sharp blow from the top. Fran calmly parried the strike and crouched.

Just as she crouched down, the dragonkin’s huge leg shot through the air above Fran’s head. It was a two-stage attack, using his sword and a kick.

Well, Fran had seen it all coming.

Perhaps he chose this unpopular alley as the place to strike since he didn’t want any witnesses, but this was clearly not his preferred battlefield.

He would be better suited in an open area where he could take advantage of his size. Being in such a narrow alley only restricted his movements.

As a result, his attacks were easy to see coming.

Fran, on the other hand, could freely move around in a place like this.

「Shhh!」

「Gah!」

Fran avoided Gazzol’s front kick and swung me upwards, severing the tendon in Gazzol’s leg. She had intended to cut off Gazzol’s foot, but our opponent’s defenses exceeded her estimations.

It seems Gazzol’s mana-powered Dragon Scales actually ended up being tougher than the magisteel armor.

However, Fran had considered that case too. That’s probably why she targeted the Achilles’ tendon, so she could further limit our opponent’s movements as long as it was damaged.

Right after, Fran leapt up from her crouching position, jumping off the walls on both sides, and flew over the head of the dragonkin.

Of course, Gazzol tried to stop her. His fist must have had quite a bit of force behind it, but it still got repelled by my telekinesis.

He hurriedly turned around, but was unable to because of his huge body combined with the wound on his leg. That delayed his reaction for a split second.

This guy apparently had little combat experience in an urban environment, so his movements were quite poor for a man of his stature. I bet he was accustomed to hunting antidemons outside of the city.

Moreover, his attacks lacked any killing power. He seemed to be aiming to hurt Fran, and was even holding back so as not to kill her. Maybe this assault was meant to be a warning.

Fran on the other hand, showed zero restraint.

「Haah!」

「Gwah!」

No matter how tough his scales were, he couldn’t take a direct hit from our Sheathes of Wind. We severed Gazzol’s right leg at the knee, and his huge body collapsed to the side.

「My leg…! By a black cat…?」

Gazzol’s wide-eyed face didn’t look angry. It was more of an expression of astonishment, I guess?

Well, it’s kinda hard to tell because of his dragony head. Meanwhile, Fran pointed her sword at the stunned Gazzol.

「Who are you? Why target me?」

「…Damn. No one told me the helper of the Beastmen Union would be this powerful…」

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