Tanimaki and the Dragon Hunt (Part 7)

Tanimaki and the others held their breath and cautiously peeked out from behind a boulder toward the deepest part of the cave.

There, a dragon far larger than anything they had imagined lay sleeping, its deep, heavy breathing rumbling as though it were shaking the very bedrock.

Behind the dragon was a deep hollow gouged into the ground, where the kidnapped townspeople had been crammed together.

“A-A-Aaah! It’s at least ten times bigger than I expected, meow!”

Tanimaki wet himself on the spot.

“Whoa! What are you doing, Tanimaki?!”

Debiru barely managed to stifle his scream as he slowly edged backward.

“Get a grip, Tanimaki! Don’t you want to impress Bianca?”

Mayutan’s words snapped him back to his senses, and a fighting spirit worthy of a true hero flared in Tanimaki’s eyes.

“Meow! I’ll strike first, meow!”

Without even waiting for Mayutan’s signal, Tanimaki raised The Sword of Lido and charged at the sleeping dragon.

“Ah! I haven’t even told you the plan yet!”

Mayutan exclaimed in a frantic whisper.

Sure enough, The Sword of Lido bounced harmlessly off the dragon’s tough hide—and snapped in two.

Awakened by Tanimaki’s reckless attack, the dragon slowly opened its eyes—

A deep roar like the rumbling of the earth shook the entire cave.

The air trembled. The ground groaned beneath them. The roar echoed through the cavern like an alarm bell heralding the end of the world.

“A-Aaaah...”

Tanimaki wet himself again.