I Became an Illegal Cheat User

110 – Greed Raid (4)

Dragon.

Or, as it is called, the apex predator known as the “Yong” (龍).

True to its name, each individual dragon possesses immense power.

Scales that can easily deflect even the sharpest blades.

Claws so sharp they can tear through anything.

Fangs so terrifying they can shatter even the strongest mineral, orichalcum.

The unique power of dragons, a force of annihilation that can obliterate everything, known as breath.

It was this overwhelming strength that earned dragons the title of apex predator and the strongest species.

Yet, perhaps because they were born with such formidable power,

Dragons all shared a greed and arrogance that rivaled even the most notorious named corruptors.

Because of this nature, all beings living on Earth—humans, superhumans, and corruptors alike—were not only plundered of their treasures by dragons but also treated as livestock.

If anything displeased them or if someone acted in a way they found bothersome, they would kill without hesitation.

And this was true even for the Radiant Dragon, known as the guardian dragon of the Shuhei clan in Japan.

However, this reign began to wane when the Radiant Dragon was slain.

The first generation of transcendent beings, or more precisely, the gods, marked the end of an era.

Naturally, the dragons opposed these first-generation transcendent beings, including the gods.

But at that time, the transcendent beings were far stronger than those of the current age.

Once, they had reigned over all living creatures, yet they were swiftly driven to extinction, a fate unworthy of their infamous reputation.

No, to be precise, 99% were slaughtered, and the mere 1% that survived fled to the hidden world.

Thus, in this current age, the term “dragon” refers to a name from a past that can no longer be seen.

A creature that exists only in games, novels, comic books, and history texts.

Of course, it’s not that they can never be seen again.

The 1% that escaped to the hidden world.

In the future, when the named corruptors and apostles begin to rampage.

When foreign entities start to influence Earth.

They will reappear.

Corrupted by magic.

…But.

Krrrrrrrrrrrrr…….

That dragon is right in front of me now.

‘…Grid’s second phase has changed.’

Originally, Grid’s second phase was not a complete dragon form, but rather a half-human, half-dragon.

As I had seen before at the outpost, its eyes transformed like those of a reptile, scales sprouted across its body, yet it still maintained a humanoid shape.

That was how it should have appeared.

But what I see before me now.

Showing its massive teeth and growling at me and Arthur.

The greed and malice glimmering in its vertical pupils.

A gigantic body resembling a lizard.

Scales of a dark red hue and six pairs of bat-like wings on its back.

It is undoubtedly the form of a dragon.

‘How?’

Why has the phase, the form, changed?

As questions surged in my mind,

Memories of the past and present began to unveil the answer.

In the past, when I fought against Grid at the outpost.

He claimed to have extorted.

The soul of a giant.

The flame of a phoenix.

The heart of a dragon.

Three sources.

And now, with Grid and three named ones, they have launched an assault on the academy.

Currently, the fourth apostle is battling the god in the dimensional rift.

That apostle must have granted power to Grid.

Because of that power, the three sources have fused, their phase forms altered.

There is no other answer.

‘…I thought many things had twisted since the apostle got involved in the raid.’

I never expected Grid’s phase form to change as well.

I clicked my tongue at the sharply increased difficulty and activated Astra’s mimicry effect.

As Astra surged upward, the void that had occupied the space transformed into a universe filled with stars instead of a red sky.

In response to that change, both Arthur and Grid, whose greed and murderous intent were intensifying, looked up at the sky, their jaws gradually widening.

“What is that…?”

…Grrr?

The sudden shift in space and the magnificent sight left Arthur and Grid astonished.

‘I thought the mimicry change effect was useless.’

But seeing those two now, it seems it’s not entirely without merit.

As I briefly diverted my gaze, I thought, isn’t this actually quite nice? and gave a small kick to a stone near my foot.

The stone I kicked rolled away, tumbling down. And then it fell into the void.

Seeing that scene, I realized that the landscape wasn’t just empty; the space was truly hollow.

‘…This is troublesome.’

There aren’t many places to step.

No, to be precise, there’s only the ground where Arthur and I are standing—it’s extremely narrow.

As soon as I recognized that my space to move was severely limited, I quickly racked my brain.

How should I fight against Grid, who has transformed into a dragon and can now fly?

‘I can leap through the air with telekinesis, so that’s fine…, but Arthur is the problem.’

As far as I remember, Arthur does not have the ability to fly through the air.

That said, it’s not like I can lay down a telekinetic foundation for her; my magical energy depletes too quickly.

Without the ability to read thoughts like her fairy, I have no idea where she might extend her foot.

So, just like the ground I’m standing on, it’s essential for Arthur to have a place to land… Wait, a place to land?

‘Come to think of it, with Arthur’s movements, doesn’t she not need solid ground?’

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I asked Terra.

“Terra, I need to control about four to five drones; do we have enough processing power?”

– Yes, we have enough processing power for that.

“Then what if we do it this way?”

I conveyed my idea.

– …According to the calculations, four should be feasible.

Relieved by Terra’s affirmative response, I nudged Arthur, who was beside me.

Then, I slightly opened my mental barrier, Strong Mind (A), and looked into her eyes.

“……!”

As my thoughts were read differently than usual, Arthur’s eyes widened slightly.

But that was only for a moment.

Nod.

Having read what I was thinking, Arthur nodded, indicating that it was possible.

“Alright, then let’s start preparing.”

As I said this, I opened my inventory and pulled out an iron golem.

Thud.

The car-shaped iron golem fell to the ground.

At the sound, Grid, who had been staring blankly at the sky transformed into a grand cosmos, lowered his head.

…Grrrrrrrr.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing, but Grid seemed to sense that I was preparing for something and opened his mouth wide.

Seeing that, I realized he was about to unleash a breath attack.

I hurriedly executed what I had been contemplating.

Boom─.

The space trembled violently.

I could feel immense energy gathering in Grid’s maw.

Feeling that phenomenon, I extracted the inactive core of the golem through a transmission.

Vwooo─.

I poured a swarm of drones onto the floor.

As each drone emerged from my inventory, it was seized by the Grid’s steel.

However, as the quantity pouring out increased, the rate at which they disappeared began to slow.

Vwooo─.

I extracted a grenade from one of the drones via transmission.

At the same time, I inserted the golem’s core that I was holding into it.

Thus, the drone, now attached to the core, transformed into a non-biological entity—a type of golem.

Consequently, I placed the drone, which would no longer vanish into the steel, back into my inventory.

Vwooo──.

I stopped pouring drones onto the floor.

Then, I transmitted the four drone golems, copied as infinite items, near Arthur.

– I will now begin supporting Arthur.

Wiiiiiing.

With Terra’s words, the four drone golems activated and soared into the sky.

As soon as I saw that, Arthur kicked off the ground.

I too kicked off the ground, creating a telekinetic platform in mid-air.

And the moment she and I stepped on the platform to jump even higher.

──.

The rippling of space came to a halt.

The sound of energy gathering vanished.

And shortly after.

Fwooosh──!!

A tremendous surge of magic energy erupted from the Grid’s maw.

The dragon’s power, its breath, was unleashed toward the very ground where Arthur and I had just stood.

───!!

The ground vanished without a trace.

Without a sound of destruction, it was obliterated, leaving not a speck behind.

Seeing that spectacle, I swallowed hard.

“Ugh… I can’t block the breath, can I?”

Even though my stats had dropped by 40% due to the Demon Slayer’s ‘contempt for the weak’ and ‘demon hunting’ passives.

The energy emanating from the breath was overwhelmingly immense, to the point where it felt utterly impossible to block.

It seemed that, rather than spreading out like a bomb that had turned this world into emptiness, the energy was concentrated in a linear form.

In other words, whether it was lined up in a row or whatever, it meant that I would be pierced through and obliterated.

So, without a doubt, no matter what happened, I had to avoid that breath.

Of course, aside from the breath, its claws and teeth, everything about it was equally threatening.

Krrrrrrrrr…!!

“yy…”

Perhaps Grid was displeased that Arthur and I had dodged the breath.

With a furious roar, it swung its hand at me.

Buuuh─!

With the sound of the wind being crushed, a massive hand came flying toward me.

“……!”

The sound was so heavy that I thought it was slow, but its hand closed the distance in an instant.

Incredibly fast for such a large body!

I hurriedly kicked off the telekinetic floor and retreated.

Thump, thump, thump, thump…!

With each sound of the telekinetic floor bouncing, my speed of retreat increased.

As a result, the distance between me and the creature rapidly widened.

When I had created a certain amount of space.

Swooosh─!

Its hand, its claws, brushed perilously close to me.

…Indeed, dragons are a threat in every aspect.

“I’m not just unable to block the breath; I can’t even block its claws?”

I had thought that while I couldn’t block the breath, I could at least defend against its claws or teeth with Aigis.

But the moment the claw grazed past me, my thoughts shifted from “I think I can block it” to “If I try to block it, I’ll die.”

So, not just the breath, but I had to avoid the claws and the teeth as well… the thought was terrifying.

Kaaah─!

The creature’s maw, lined with sharp teeth, surged toward me.

“Ah, crazy…!”

The gaping maw seemed as if a mountain was approaching.

At the same time, it felt like an endless darkness was coming to swallow me whole.

In the face of such a terrifying sight, I clenched my teeth and stomped my feet hard.

Thwack!

With the sound of the telekinetic floor bouncing strongly, I was flung backward.

Thwack! Thwack!

The more I bounced off the ground, the faster I flew back.

But in proportion to that.

「Iiiiiiiyuuujin……!!」

The creature’s maw closing in on me also quickened.

No, it was closing the distance at a speed even faster than mine.

“Yoojin──!!”

I heard Arthur calling my name.

Turning my head, I caught sight of her.

She was running towards me, stepping on the drone golem.

And I saw Arthur unleashing a massive sword energy at Grid to divert his attention.

But Grid seemed completely unfazed.

「Khiihihihihihihihihihihih……!!」

With a laugh filled with greed and madness, it flew towards me.

「Yooouuu

“Ah, it’s really slow.”

But since it arrived just in time, I’ll let it slide.

I added that thought as I grasped a beam of light, Astra, in my hand.

Flash!

Light burst forth from Astra.

And within that light, a shape emerged.

“Wow, is this really happening?”

With a mix of surprise and exhilaration, I shouted and swung with all my might the thing I held in my hand.

Whoosh!

From what I held, white flames erupted with tremendous force.

And it incinerated all the darkness that sought to engulf me.

Kraaah─!

「Kraaahhh……!!」

The dragon’s body and Grid’s spirit both recoiled in the same agony.

The maw of the creature that had tried to devour me quickly retreated.

“Lee Yu-jin!”

Arthur, flying in on a drone golem, looked at me with a shocked expression.

No, to be precise, he was staring at the massive sword, two meters long, that I held.

A magnificent greatsword made of platinum, adorned with a cross.

I couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction at the shape of the sword.

– Congratulations, Master. You’ve won.

‘Indeed, I’ve won.’

As Terra said, the weapon I now held in my hand, having pierced through countless probabilities, was a mimicry of—

The sword said to have been wielded by Saint George.

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– Form: 「Mimicry」

[Mimicking Form: Ascalon]

[Items Offered: 0 / 100,000]

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It was the Dragon Slayer Sword.