Chapter 438 – Mystery Ambush

I wonder how long I slept.

I got up and reacted to a hostile force by shooting a magic bolt at it.

It was far away, but I could feel the hostility.

However, it was able to knock it away with a magical barrier.

There was no damage, but I could feel that it now sensed me.

It stopped and looked in my direction.

It seems that this hostile force was coming towards us from the opposite direction we had come into the dungeon from.

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The hostile force cried out, and the dungeon reverberated.

「Alra! An ambush!」

「Seems like it.」

Cruz and Yureena were surrounding those sleeping to protect them.

Femm had already awoken and was ready to fight.

Moofy was up too.

「Hm, what’s happening?」

Luka said, waking up right after me, and then springing up instantly.

She had Chel on her shoulder now and her sword was out.

「Eeep! What the?!」

Vi-Vi said, springing up on top of Moofy.

She was quite relaxed after that loud enemy cry.

This again was probably due to Timi having trained her.

「An enemy?」

Ecces said, getting up quickly.

「E, e, e, enemy? A, a, a, attack?!」

Belda said, springing up after sleeping next to Moofy.

She looked pretty confused.

A cry like that would make anyone confused, however, but you couldn’t let it get you scared.

「It looks like it could be a dragon…what do you think, Alra?」

Timi said, pointing in the direction of the hostile force.

Whatever it was had stopped and was now looking at us.

I could feel a strong hostility, and if it found a way to strike, it would immediately do so.

「Is…that a dragon?」

It had much more magic than a great dragon. But I couldn’t tell if it was a dragon yet.

It had no wings, so it had to be an earth dragon.

「You don’t know either, Alra? I have no idea.」

「ryaa」

After hearing it was a dragon, Shiggy peaked from my pouch.

She really loved other dragons.

But it was sad for me to have to kill one in front of Shiggy.

「Go back to sleep, Shiggy.」

「ryaa?」

「Just sleep back in my pouch again.」

「..rya」

It was still too soon for a baby like Shiggy to wake up, so it squirmed around inside the pouch.

I patted Shiggy from top of the pouch, while Timi said,

「Wait, could this be someone you know, Timi?」

I couldn’t tell if it was a dragon, but it did have a similarity to the duchesses that just visited.

There was no doubt that it was somewhat near that strong.

And if it was a dragon, then it is certain that Timi would know about it.

「No, this is a dragon I had no idea existed. It’s hard to even think a dragon like this exists.」

However, there was no way there was a THING this big and stronger than a dragon. That’s why we were both confused.

「Timi, forget that it’s a dragon and explain.」

Dragons have high intellect, but this thing probably was in the same range as it was stronger than most dragons.

A monster’s intelligence was often closely linked to its power.

If it was this strong and this intelligent, then it could probably be reasoned with.

「Let’s see, you want to drop it to the ground first, Alra?」

「Let’s try it.」

If it was a dragon, I could see why she wouldn’t want it destroyed right away. If it wasn’t a dragon, then it would be different. But it was clear that this enemy wasn’t ready to talk.

And it wasn’t just because it had shot a magic bolt while I was sleeping. I had reacted because I had felt such a strong hostile force from it. That’s why I shot that bolt.

If I used my force to crush it to the ground, it was possible to talk to, and then the hostility might go away.

「Luka, do you know what that thing is?」

「…no idea.」

「You don’t know either…」

Kind of odd for a student of magical beasts not to know.

「I thought Timi would know if it were a type of dragon.」

「I don’t know if it is one!」

Both girls were lost.

「Chel, is it undead?」

『No.』

「I see.」

And if Chel said so, then that was that, so no one knew what it was .

If we fought it though, I bet we could find out. But if not, maybe we could speak to it.

「Cruz, Luka, Yureena, leave this to me.」

「Go head, Alra.」

「Get him.」

「Sure.」

So they trusted me as usual.

「Femm, wait. I’m going to try talking to it.」

『Understood.』

We were in the middle of a dungeon walkway.

It was quite wide, but there was no way the thing could move around quickly.

It could shoot breath down on us, but then I would have to stop it with a magical barrier.