Starting with Frieren

The dark dragon began gathering its most potent breath attack, channeling the bulk of its mana and fuel into a devastating Dragon Flame meant to incinerate the pesky humans in one sweep.

But it wouldn't get the chance.

Above, a certain madman descended like a shooting star.

Five hundred meters.

Three hundred meters.

 One hundred meters.

Locking onto his target, Ivan held his breath. The timing was perfect.

"Scatter now!" he roared.

"Taste my steamroller—Takizawa Laura style!"

A massive boulder suddenly appeared overhead, casting a shadow that completely enveloped the Dark Dragon. Everything happened too quickly for the beast to react. Against the boulder's terrifying speed, it couldn't evade and was forced to rely on its tough scales and defensive barrier to withstand the blow.

BOOM!

The boulder slammed into the Dark Dragon's enormous body with a deafening crash, forcing it deep into the ground and causing a minor earthquake. The shockwave sent everyone nearby staggering, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

However, even such a devastating attack wasn't enough to kill the Dark Dragon, whose defenses were notoriously formidable. Ivan hadn't placed all his hopes on the boulder alone. As he neared the ground, he used spatial magic to redirect his momentum and descended with surgical precision.

The borrowed longsword in his hand flashed like lightning as it plunged deep into the weak spot beneath the Dark Dragon's scales at its neck!

The beast, entirely focused on countering the boulder, had no time to reinforce the defensive barrier at its vulnerable reverse scale. The result was catastrophic—its neck was sliced open like tofu, leaving a massive wound.

Splat.

Fresh, crimson dragon blood gushed forth. The Dark Dragon let out a mournful cry before collapsing entirely, its vitality quickly fading.

Did we win?

Snowflakes drifted gently through the air. The young man, drenched in dragon blood and clutching his sword, stood amidst the carnage, forming a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

The adventurers and villagers from the Village of the Sword all turned their gazes to him. For a moment, silence reigned, but it was soon shattered by an earth-shaking roar of cheers.

"Dragon slayer! We actually witnessed a dragon slaying!"

"Amazing! Absolutely incredible!"

"This moment will be a story I tell for the rest of my life!"

Despite the villagers' ecstatic celebrations, Ivan remained vigilant. He had fought with everything he had, but he knew better than to relax too soon. Dragging his injured arm—dislocated due to the tremendous force of piercing the dragon's reverse scale—he unleashed a wind blade, severing the Dark Dragon's head entirely. Only then did he finally allow himself to breathe a little easier.

This was, without a doubt, the strongest enemy Ivan had faced so far, surpassing even the battle against Serie. After a brief wave of exhaustion, a sense of accomplishment began to settle in.

At last, he was no longer the useless weakling who needed Flamme's constant protection.

Now, he was terrifyingly strong.

Taking a deep breath, Ivan called out, his voice booming like thunder. "Those hiding in the shadows, aren't you done watching yet? After such a thrilling dragon-slaying spectacle, isn't it time to offer a round of applause?"

Clap, clap, clap...

The slow, deliberate clapping echoed through the clearing. Two female demons emerged from the mist—one tall, the other short. To any human observer, both were stunning beauties of the highest caliber.

But as soon as the adventurers caught sight of them, their hearts sank. Despite their injuries and exhaustion, they struggled to pick up their weapons and assume defensive stances against the two demons.

The demons, however, paid no attention to the adventurers. Their focus was solely on Ivan.

"Incredible," said the taller demon, her voice calm yet admiring. "To think you could detect us within this perception-obscuring mist. How did you manage it?"

"I guessed," Ivan replied with a smirk. "I figured the Dark Dragon's unusual appearance here must have been orchestrated by someone, so I simply took a gamble to confirm my theory. Lucky me—it worked."

"..."

An awkward silence hung in the air. Both the demons and the adventurers seemed at a loss for how to respond to such audacious reasoning.

"Luck is a form of strength, human. You're impressive—so skilled in both flight and spatial magic. Tell us your name. We'll make sure it's remembered when we deliver your head to our lord."

"When asking for someone's name, shouldn't you introduce yourselves first?" Ivan quipped, stalling for time.

Both demons exuded mana equivalent to second-class human mages. In his injured state, taking on both of them would be challenging. By delaying, he hoped not only to buy the adventurers time to recover but also to covertly heal himself.

He silently cast the necromancy flesh-repair spell, its dark mana subtly knitting his wounds together. No divine healing light gave away the process, but the pain was unbearable. It felt as though thousands of tiny insects were gnawing at his flesh, each bite a searing reminder of his broken body.

"Dead men don't need to know our names," the shorter demon said coldly. "Since you've ruined our master's plans, we'll just have to kill all of you ourselves."

Ivan speculated, "A mission? Let me guess… You demons encountered this Dark Dragon long ago and took one of its horns. This time, you used that broken horn to lure the dragon here, intending to destroy Village of the Sword. Since your kind cannot enter the village due to its barrier, you came up with this elaborate plan, didn't you?"

The tall demon woman raised her staff and sneered. "Impressive. Your deduction is almost spot on. It seems you're quite the clever human. Which is all the more reason you must not be allowed to live."

"A clever human?"

The shorter demon's eyes lit up as she drew a massive double-bladed axe, licking her lips. "I love eating clever humans the most."

The tension in the air became palpable, the confrontation on the verge of erupting into chaos. Yet, Ivan remained utterly composed. Leaning against the Dark Dragon's corpse in a relaxed, throne-like posture, he exuded the air of an emperor surveying his domain.

"Why are you both so confident that you can easily kill me?" he asked, his voice dripping with an unsettling calmness.