Hero Audition Ch. 77

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It felt like the second stage’s performance came around much quicker than the first’s. In order to allow us ample room to fight such dangerous monsters, all the contestants boarded a carriage to travel to the suburbs.

There were several large cages lined up around a flat, empty plain that I could only assume would be our venue. There were monsters rampaging in each one, like they were just begging to get this thing started.

And of course, among those cages, I was able to spot the one with a dragon in it right away. At this point, I feel more surprised that they were able capture something as dangerous as that more than anything else.

Since it had been a couple weeks since I was able to spend any time with Melia, we decided to take a look around the venue together. For some reason I always feel calm whenever I’m with her, maybe because she’s the first friend I managed to make in this place.

“I wonder how they managed to capture a dragon. I can’t imagine it.”

“I hear they hired a famous guild for help, and this kind of thing is easy for them. It wouldn’t be funny if it managed to escape after a team wasn’t able to kill it though, so they’re on standby somewhere nearby just in case.”

“I certainly can’t blame them. What about your team Melia? Do you think you can win?”

“We’re fine! Ren-san and Olive-san are really strong!”

In the end, every team other than our own has at least one mage on their team. Melia will get her time to shine if someone ends up with a nearly fatal injury, but there’s no chance anyone is going to willingly give her that opportunity.

“How is Lily-chan? Have you, is that a dragon fang? That’s amazing! How many have you defeated!?”

Melia jumped at the fang I had hanging around my neck. Since nobody else wanted it, I drilled a hole into the base and wrapped a string through it so it can double as a necklace and a good luck charm.

“We’ve beat two of them. If everything goes okay, today will make three.”

“It definitely will! Let’s do our best together!”

We heard Olive calling Melia’s name soon after. It was about time for us to get into our positions, so we shared a high five and parted ways.

♠

Our team of popular contestants would be battling a dragon. It promised to be an amazing spectacle for the audience, even despite the criticism that it would just end up as a show for the might mage Nerine to show off her skills.

Considering that background, I figured from the beginning that our turn would come last. Currently, Olive and Melia’s team were up to bat.

There opponents were three trolls, each one twice as tall as any human. The mages worked together to focus them down one by one, and Melia ended up serving as a simple cheerleader for them from behind.

Did the whole fight take about half a minute? If we take too long, we may actually lose to Melia’s team.

“Stick to the same strategy as practice, and we will make it through. Let’s go.”

Lily quietly encouraged me from the side as if she could read my mind. It felt like a small weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Each of us moved to our positions. Lily and Ran, who would be taking the vanguard, steadily walked forward with little thought. Peony meanwhile would hopefully just work as a cheerleader like her sister, and she took a middle position a short distance behind them.

Inevitably, I was pulling up the rear right next to Nerine.

“Liffy-san, I…. once this round is over, I’m going to tell Lily-san how I feel. Then I’ll give up completely and live my life.”

“W-What?”

It’s the kind of sudden topic I wouldn’t expect to hear right before a life threatening battle.

“I know I’ll get dumped, but the piercings look good on you.”

Lily and I are wearing the same earrings. We both hide them behind our hair, but if you’ve spent a decent enough time with us, you’ll have more and more opportunities to notice them. It isn’t weird for any keen observers to eventually pick them out. It’s not like we’re going too far out of our way to hide it too.

So Nerine is aware of the relationship Lily and I share with each other, but I guess she wants to properly put an end to her feelings.

“Nerine, good luck.”

Knowing everything, Nerine is determined to walk towards an honorable death, and the only thing I can do is give her a fake smile and cheer her on.

“Thanks”

And Nerine returned back to her usual, troubled grin.

♠

We stood at the ready in front of the large, cage-held dragon resting in the middle of the vast venue set up on the open plains.

Just like all the previous teams, there would be a signal given before the cage would be opened.

We’ll need to dive straight in as soon as that happened. It would be majorly embarrassing if it ended up just flying away before we could fight it.

Lily and Ran stood close to the cage, ready to take on the beast’s immediate rage after it gains its freedom. It’s the most dangerous position to take, but neither of them had made any complaints, embodying the spirit of an advance guard.

Since Peony hopefully wouldn’t have a role here, and Nerine had already finished her role in the battle by creating the magic tool, they were both standing near me.

“And now, the final monster subjugation of the event. The fearsome dragon. Begins!”

As the commanders voice echoed across the area, a corner of the cage came open.

At the same time, Ran and Lily ran forward while hardening the dragon’s wings with ice magic, making it unable to fly. Ran said before that once we’ve hit this point, a dragon is no different than a slightly strong lizard.

But things aren’t that easy, so I support them with my dancing. Lily was slightly ahead of Ran, so I began with the Sword Dance.

However, our strategy wasn’t foolproof. Lily slashed through the body, creating a deep gash that spouted blood, yet the dragon didn’t stop running. It kept moving past Ran and Lily, gaining distance from them as it charged towards us.

“Liffy, we need to run.”

“You two go first. If I change the dance, Lily can catch up.”

It was a quick decision on my part, but if we’re going to be chased anyway, I figured it would be safer to have the two vanguards catch up instead. I switched to the Step Dance to help Nerine and Peony escape while also speeding up Lily and Ran’s chase.

The ground shakes more and more with each step the dragon takes towards me. It must have set its sights on me after I caught its eyes with my beautiful and charming dancing.

I could see Lily and Ran quickly closing the distance from behind the dragon. It will only be a matter of time before they catch up.

I need to think about the plan ahead. First, when the dragon is right in front of me, I’ll need to jump to the side to avoid it. Ran will probably arrive first, so I need to immediately stand up and perform the Kata. When Ran rips off its leg like she is wont to do, the fight will be basically over.

It’s a rough plan, but it is what I can come up with. I continued the Step Dance, thinking that Lily and Ran would be able to figure out what I want, and everything would go well.

The dragon’s towering form loomed in front of me. It was close enough that I could directly see into its eyes. There was hate smoldering in the depths of its pupils. For some reason, the thought that this dragon was female crossed my mind.

Dragons aren’t able to speak the human language, and it should be impossible to communicate with them. And yet, I could hear her thoughts. “I hate her.” “I’m going to kill her.” For some reason, a vengeful hatred was crashing down on me.

I remember, Lily and I saw two dragons dancing over the volcano from Lily’s window. Maybe one of those dragons was the one-eyed beast we killed during our training. And maybe the other one…. is right in front of me.

Meanwhile I’m wearing One-eyed’s fang around my neck. Meaning, I’m her enemy.

A chain of hatred and revenge. But One-eye started this chain when he burned down Koha and Sawa’s village. Somehow I ended up getting caught up in this chain, and it’s chased me here.

If I get eaten by this dragon, Lily will take her revenge. Knowing her personality, she might just grow to hate all dragons to the point of wanting to drive them into extinction. She’ll end it all.

It’s because my legs got tangled up that I’m having those grim thoughts. I wanted to jump to the side, but I tripped over my own two feet and fell towards the ground.

I could see the fierce looking men of the guild chatting away with my descending, slanted view. They don’t look concerned at all, probably thinking that Nerine will immediately end it all with a spot of magic.

So I can’t expect any extra help coming my way. As long as I am able to cling to life, Melia should be able to heal me, so I should focus on avoiding dying outright.

While I allowed myself to fall just like that, someone suddenly pushed me out of the way.

My vision dimmed for a moment, but my eyes flew open as soon as I realized what was going on. I was unconscious for only a few seconds. The cheers coming from the audience had turned to screams, and something fell in front of me with a wet thud.

It was the lower half of a person’s waist. With nothing but empty space and blood above it. It looked like some kind of bad joke. After all, why else would it be wearing the same clothes as Nerine?

When I timidly looked up, I saw the dragon’s throat slowly rise and fall, as if it had just swallowed something.

“Nerine? Nerine! Where are you!?”

No matter how many times I shouted, “I’m over here!” never came out.

Peony was staring at the dragon’s face dumbfounded.

Lily and Ran had just caught up to the dragon.

Then Heath arrived, ahead of all the other guild members who were rushing over, and cut down the dragon with a single swing of his sword without anyone else’s help.

Chapter 76 ⊥ Chapter 78