Tanimaki and the Dragon Hunt (Part 8)

“What incredibly tough skin...! The Sword of Lido may not have much attack power, but I can’t believe it snapped that easily, like it was made of candy!”

Devil cried out in shock.

“This is bad! Tanimaki’s gotten way too close! He can’t use the Tanimakick either—it needs a running start!”

Mayutan shouted, his face turning pale.

Tanimaki’s life began flashing before his eyes—complete with subtitles.

And then, at that very moment—

Mashu shot toward Tanimaki faster than the eye could follow and rescued him just in the nick of time.

Without losing momentum, she immediately moved to attack the dragon.

But the instant she leaped high into the air with Tanimaki still in her arms, she suddenly froze in midair.

“S-She... stopped?”

Devil stared in disbelief.

“Th-That’s time-stopping magic! Could that be what I couldn’t decipher back at the library?!”

Mayutan’s eyebrows were practically wiggling in astonishment.

“With a body that huge... it can even use advanced magic like stopping time?! We don’t stand a chance if it can freeze time!”

Devil cried out in despair.

“It’s okay, Devil! That spell can only be used on one person at a time! And now is exactly when you need to use the Climax Series!”

“I can’t, Mayutan! I haven’t mastered the Climax Series yet...”

Devil forced the words out sadly.

“You have no choice! You’ve got to commit and do it! Otherwise, Tanimaki’s going to get killed!”

Mayutan was getting desperate too.

“Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!”

Still trapped in the arms of the time-frozen Mashu, Tanimaki flailed wildly in midair.

“Fine! To hell with it! Climax Series!”

With a mighty shout, Devil finally unleashed the ultimate spell.

It was like the birth of the universe itself—the Big Bang.

The world vanished beneath a blinding flash, a violent flood of white swallowing everything in sight.

As Devil roared, a pillar of light blasted straight through the dragon’s massive body and tore upward into the heavens.

The next instant, the dragon vanished into the light without a trace.

The impact erupted with a deafening blast that seemed to warp the very space around them, blowing an enormous hole through the depths of the cave.

Beyond it, across the open terrain, they could see that a huge section of a distant mountainside had been gouged away by the blast.