The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 172: More of Those Two

Chapter 172: More of Those Two

“Hah… hah… hah… ugh! Damn it! …Gah?!”

How long have I even been fighting?

Most of them should be gone by now… right?

The Blazing Dragons are being so loud that I can’t tell what the dude is up to.

These oversized lizards look like they’re losing their strength, too, but I’ll probably go down before them…

Well, if I’m gonna die here, I’d like the others to live through this somehow-

“AWOOOOO!!”

That just now… that must be the wolf-dog. She’s back already…?!

Then, right after that, the edge of my vision turned red. The Blazing Dragons’ Purgatory Breaths…

So bright… and so many of them. Are those two all right?

“Whoa?! …Ngh, Pochi Pad Bomb!”

The dude’s yell… and an explosion right after. Heh, looks like he’s doing a good job.

Well, can’t let him hog all the glory, then. Not that I think I can keep up for long…

“Ugh… rah! Haah!”

Crap, I’m so damn tired now, my eyes are getting blurry…

Yeah… can’t last… much longer…

“Rise, Cross Wind!”

That’s… the dude’s magic?

…Damn, he’s got perfect timing. The wolf-dog, too.

And this means… we’ll all be all right now!

“Great work, you two!”

“Thank you!”

I leap up with the last ounce of strength I can muster and cut off the head of one Blazing Dragon.

And then I feel something… warm… on my back.

The next thing I know, I’m smiling. My body just did that on its own.

A man stronger than me, holding me up with his gentle, warm hands and even giving me a look of respect.

Really, I don’t even know why I’m smiling.

He’s always looking out for me, even though we’re relatively safe on the wolf-dog’s back… I think. These two are quite a rarity in this day and age, really.

That one spell he just used… the hell is up with that? A dog-paw-shaped bomb… looked pretty goofy, but it wiped out a bunch of those Dragons instantly.

And the wolf-dog’s Freeze Breath perfectly countered the Dragons’ Purgatory Breaths. She’s clearly stronger than her Master. Man, this pair just keeps getting funnier.

Well then, let’s toughen up and thank them some – wait, no…

“Gah! Hah… hah… Hey, long time… no see…”

On second thought, I probably shouldn’t have joked around like that.

“High Cure Adjust!”

Dude, talk about overreacting.

Well, I AM at my limit, though. My wounds are all patched up now, but I’m still out of energy.

They should have just thrown me off somewhere and save themselves…

“Master, give him the thing!”

With the wolf-dog saying that, the dude passes me a vial of some weird juice.

It smells pretty damn nice – totally not fitting for the current situation.

“Hah hah… what? The hell’s this, orange juice?”

“Poison, I guess! Just hurry and drink it!”

Hmph, always ready to make me laugh, huh?

My hand still trembling from fatigue, I push myself to open the vial and chug that ‘poison’ down.

…It IS orange juice!

“Forty incoming!”

“A hundred meters away, sir!”

“No need to aim! Zenith Breath at the middle of the flock!”

Good – he can make decisions on the fly, too.

He doesn’t seem to worry about the shot missing; I guess that’s his way of helping the wolf-dog relax.

“Huuuuu… GAAAHHHH!!”

-?! No, I got that wrong.

That was an incredible shot. Took out at least ten of the Blazing Dragons, just like that.

Seeing these two hold up so well, now I’m thinking I might be able to keep fighting as well.

…’Think’? No, this isn’t it.

I’m not… tired anymore? What the-!

I turn around to the dude. Now I know what that ‘poison’ actually was.

…What? What the hell is he doing this time? Looks like he’s drawing Spell Circles onto the emblem of his staff.

“Rise! Rise, A-rise! Rise! Rise, Arise, A-rise… Rise!”

Drawing at an incredible speed, and perfectly calm while doing so. Seriously, how much training did this dude go through?

Now that I’m no longer tired, I’m able to think straight… which is why I’m fast to realize that the next wave of despair is coming up.

“Oh c’mon… really? They really don’t wanna let us go, huh…”

That’s at least a hundred of them.

The wolf-dog has been running non-stop for a while now, and is looking to be in quite a bit of pain.

“H-hey! You have any more of that juice?!”

“You need a break, Shiro?!”

“Hah hah… this is… nothing…!”

…Damn it! THAT was the last one?!

“We’ve got to gather them around somehow!”

“I would already have if I could!”

“I know! Let’s give this a try! Gravity Road & Remote Control!”

My body instantly becomes heavy.

“Ngh?! W-what made you think it’s a good idea to joke around NOW?!”

“Gah! …T-the hell is this spell?!”

Is this what his spell does? It feels like I’m being pinned down by a giant rock. What is he planning to achieve by taking away our own movement?

The dude and the wolf-dog are in the same state as mine.

“Ngh… and… here! Rise! Magic Colors!”

Another new spell?

Right then, the wolf-dog’s ears perk up. What? Does she get what the dude is going for now?

Now that I see the effect of the latest spell, I feel like I understand it a bit, too.

The wolf-dog has already started running again. She’s desperately pushing through the path shown by the now-color-marked vortex of arcane energy.

But for what?

The vortex’s center is practically a dead end… what does the dude want there?

The very moment the Blazing Dragons surround us, I hear the sound of the wolf-dog gritting her teeth, like she’s holding back a ton of pain.

It’s just like the sound my teeth made when I was fighting the Dragons myself.

The wolf-dog leaps up. That’s probably the last ounce of her strength – I can clearly see the color on her face change.

This Familiar sure is something else.

The dude proceeds to whip out a combo of spells, all in an instant.

“Whirlwind!”

That extends the height of the wolf-dog jump.

“Gravity Stamp!”

I don’t know how, but the Blazing Dragons’ aren’t able to fly up any higher…

“Earth Control!”

The exits of the vortex are now sealed off by strong earthen walls…

“Pochi Pad Breath!!”

I don’t know what that last spell is, but the sheer energy it contains is giving me goosebumps.

That’s probably why the dude saved it as the last shot. It must be extremely powerful.

“Hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry!!”

The wolf-dog keeps mumbling that over and over in the air before she lands.

…Then she collapses as soon as she hit the ground.

“Ack… ack…!”

“Hey… are you al- whoa?!”

Before I can call out to the wolf-dog, the dude pulls me and her up, and carry the latter on his shoulders.

Then we run – far away from the Blazing Dragons, or at least as far as we can.

The dude’s eyes are bloodshot, tears streaming, tongue lashing out, snot and sweat all over… let’s just say that almost every kind of water in his body is bursting out.

“RUN, RUN, RUN!!”

Why is someone as strong as HIM in such a panic?

Just when I think that, something ridiculous happens behind us – A flash of light, then a blast of wind.

Just like that, all our bodies float up… and are blown away.

“NWAHHHHH?!”

“OOOOHHHH?!”

“Ack-!”

“AAAHHH! WHIRLWIND!”

Another spell cast without drawing a Circle first. Maybe there’s a secret function in his staff.

At any rate, the dude’s spell really saved our lives there.

Upon landing, I turn to look behind me – and shudder at the sight.

…There’s NOTHING there anymore.

Although the mountain was barren, at least it had SOMETHING. Rocks, boulders, some grass, some trees…

Hell, even animal and monster bones. But now they’re all gone.

But above all those, the Blazing Dragons are also gone. The fifty or so Dragons that were on us, the few that almost got to us – all gone.

I can’t even control myself – my mouth opens, and bursts out a weird laugh.

“Ha, hahaha… hahahaha….”

I have no words to describe the power of that spell.

But I guess my mouth just wants to – which results in that weird response.

I’m still scared as all hell, but I force myself to turn around and look at the dude.

“Thank God we survived… thank God… thank God… thank God…!”

“Whew… whew… ack-!”

Man… these two really are something else.