The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

After fighting with Usato in another world, we returned to our original white space.

I was standing in the same place as before when I caught sight of a blonde-haired beastman --- Kannagi --- who was sitting down with his eyes clenched shut.

You can't change us. No matter what nightmare or ordeal you put us through, we will not be deceived again.

He says this to Kannagi, who is holding his eyes.

We don't know if he's an enemy of ours or not.

Kannagi, who had been silently holding his left eye, looked up at me as I stood alert, ready to fire my weapon at any moment.

"I was right to send you guys."

"...... what?"

Blood was flowing from the gap between the hand holding the left eye.

Could this be the price for strengthening the system?

"Oh, don't worry about this. It's just that I lost the use of my left eye from overworking it. I guess the magic power of these ruins wasn't enough after all.

Kannagi, who spoke as if he were talking about something else, snapped his fingers with his left eye closed.

Then, out of nowhere, a bandage-like object is wrapped around her head to cover her left eye, and a pattern similar to a magic spell is engraved on the bandage.

"It was not what I had planned, but I was able to change his future in a parallel time. For me, there is nothing more wonderful than this."

"...... what did they send us to that world for?"

"?　Same as the first time. I wanted you to leave your naivety behind. But it doesn't matter now that we've accomplished more than that."

Kannagi's cheeks relaxed with happiness.

"Ah, I knew he was still the same fundamental person in the other world. If you continue on into the future, you will be given one of the two heroic weapons you were supposed to get, and above all, you may even find me there.

"What are you talking about, ......?"

"Possibilities. Thanks to you, a man who should have been dying is now free to fulfill his destiny."

I can hardly understand what is spewed out of Kannagi's mouth, but does it mean that Usato in the other world would have lost his life if he had stayed in that world?

"The Fountain of Kureha. It was a mistake to leave it there, wasn't it?"

Is it in this world, too?

Of course. A poison that makes people go crazy runs through the underground of Mearaq. That's what the Fountain of Kureha is.

Mialak.

That's the city where Leona is.

If we don't know about it at this point, does that mean it's not used like that one ......?

Why do they still keep it?　It's just a thing that drives people crazy. Well, I don't even want to know what it's thinking, so it doesn't matter.

Kannagi is mumbling something.

Whatever he's saying, he's a mysterious being.

Is he on our side in the first place?

"Well, we're done with you now!　Now we'll just have to wait until the right time.

Waiting?　What are you waiting for?

"I can't tell you now. I can't tell you now, because... if you ask me, I'll try to stop you.

At that moment, the senior who had been questioning Kannagi with a wan smile on his face disappears.

The next person to appear was more than ten meters away from Kannagi, behind him, swinging his sword with an electric shock.

"Is the main body different? ......"

"They've definitely come for the head. It seems that the brave man over there has become more bold, but in a good way."

"...... thanks to you."

The senior sheathed his sword and glared at Kannagi reproachfully.

Kannagi, on the other hand, distorts his figure as if there is a noise running through it.

"Well then, this is the best part, bye.

Wait!

Kannagi calls out to him, but he ignores her and disappears in an instant.

With the place where Kannagi disappeared as the center, the surrounding landscape erodes back to the original ruins. However, the place where you are now is clearly a different room from the one where you were first sucked into the vortex.

"Senpai, what are you going to do now?"

"First, let's meet up with the others. ......Kannagi may be more troublesome than we expected.

An unidentified opponent who is neither friend nor foe.

We still can't even trust them, but our first priority is to join up with our friends.

I'm not sure if I trust them or not, but I'll join my friends first.

This evil dragon is as close to the evil dragon I know as possible, but it is far from the real thing.

That is my impression after fighting with it for a while.

Even though he has gained a lot of experience and is definitely stronger than when I fought him before, there is no way he can match the full power of a non-zombie Evil Dragon in his prime.

"I'm sure he is."

By any estimation, the opposing Evil Dragon is inferior to the Evil Dragons of the past in my memory.

No, is it harder than the zombies?

"Hey Usato. It's a little late for that. What the hell was that?"

"It's really too late for that. ......"

Koga, who had been forced to fight alongside me, is standing next to me asking me such a question.

......The evil dragon is asking us how we are going to fight, so I'll explain briefly while I'm at it.

"That is an evil dragon. It is a dragon that raged on this continent long ago. I believe my friends and I defeated a zombie who had risen from the dead some time ago. ...... Somehow, he is now in his prime in the past Samaritan."

"I see, so that means he's a strong guy."

Did you hear my explanation?

That's a very short summary, but is that the way you see it?

I think there was more to the story that surprised me.

"Did you fight such a scary monster, Usato?"

Keira, in the back, protected by Ciel, is more understanding.

I turn back to her to reassure her.

"We beat them together with our friends. Don't worry, we won't lose this time either.

Yes, yes!

For now, I'm fighting the battle, so I don't have any problems. ...... I was a little concerned about Ciel's suspicious look, or rather, the way he was pulling me away, but for now, let's focus on what's in front of us.

"Let's go, Koga!"

"Heh. Be careful not to get caught in my attack."

"......"

"Oh, sorry, I'm kidding. So don't try to hold my leg."

He sighs at Koga, who is still in a jokey posture at this stage, and confronts the evil dragon.

Black shiny scales and big wings.

The current threats are poison and attacks with claws and tails.

"Now we don't have Nair, Ferrum, or Amako ......, but that doesn't mean we can't do anything."

There is only so much I can do on my own.

I can only do so much on my own.

I have to combine them and apply them.

"Koga, I'll draw him away."

I'll just attack as I see fit. We'll deal with each other on the spot.

Even if we had a good plan, each of us would be moving around on our own, and we would be getting in the way of each other.

I understood that after our brief fight earlier.

I take a deep breath slowly, and after checking Keira and Ciel once more, I approach the evil dragon.

<>

"I told you I'm not a brave man. ....... But, well, let me pay you back for all the trouble you've caused me in the past. ......!"

A silver cage hand on his right arm.

He holds it in front of his face, which boasts unparalleled hardness, and clenches his fist tightly.

Covering the hand with the elasticity-imparting magic power I had generated by concentrating my consciousness, I faced the clawed and tail-snapping Evil Dragon head-on.

Come on!

>

With a roar, a claw much larger than my height is swung.

I see off the claw as if it is about to smash me, and I click my cage hand against the tip of the claw to change its trajectory.

I have seen that attack before.

>

The evil dragon unleashes the claws of both arms like a child throwing a tantrum.

Is it still the same low tolerance for agitation ......?　I think the vocabulary of words is too monotonous for a person who has a low tolerance for agitation.

Well, the more crude the attack is, the easier it is for me to do it too. ......!

"Hmph!　Hmm!　Sweet!"

I spot it with my eyes, step and pop it with my basket hand.

If you take it head-on, you will be crushed by its mass, but if you play it right, you can pass it off with minimal force.

And then...,

"That attack!"

A "sweet" attack, launched amidst the chaos.

He dodges it with a step, and then, to the side of his hand, which is knocked to the ground, he strikes a spinning kick with elasticity-imparting magic power by spinning magic power.

>

The evil dragon is knocked out of its position by the shot from my arm, but it tries to open its big mouth to bite me, taking advantage of its falling forward behavior.

The Evil Dragon's big mouth with sharp fangs is closing in.

"Slow ......!"

I stomp my right foot, which is transferred with elasticity-imparting magic. He moves instantly.

In my vision, I see the side of an evil dragon's face as its head hits the ground.

"Magic spinning!"

He instantly returns magic power to his right fist and releases a healing elastic fist.

However, despite the suspicion of weakening, the opponent is an evil dragon with a huge physique. Healing Elastic Fist alone will not be enough to overcome him.

Then, he must repeat the technique once more until ......!

"Healing Fist!"　

On top of the vertical fist that was slammed into the Evil Dragon, he unleashes more magic power.

At the same moment, another impact hit the Evil Dragon's cheek, shaking its huge head.

I myself recoil slightly from the recoil that ricochets off my right arm.

>

"Whoa ......!"

The fangs snapped, and the evil dragon stared at me with hatred... I was lightly shuddering at the technique, which showed more power than I had expected.

It was a combination of elasticity and outburst of magic power.

I tried it as soon as I saw it, but it's a dangerous technique.

"Blasting ...... elasticity---is a dan ...... yeah, it's a healing bullet-busting fist."

Healing Elastic Fist drives a wedge as a starting point, and Healing Rengou Fist passes the impact to the back of the body.

This is a less continuous fire than the Healing Rengage Fist, but it has more power to blow away the enemy.

"Oh! This is really good. You."

"......"

What is the second corps commander doing standing behind me instead of attacking the evil dragon?

"What is he doing?　Corga."

"What?　I was looking."

Did you see that?

"Yeah."

What?

You.

Me?

"Yes."

.......

"Okay, from now on your name is Cogarod, or Cogacalibur."

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm sorry!　I'm so sorry!　I'm so sorry!

What is he doing while we are desperately fighting the evil dragon?

Shouldn't we force him to fight or treat him as a weapon?

"Anyway, I know the secret of your incomprehensible technique."

"...... what?"

It's elasticity. The magic itself has elasticity to repel attacks, right?"

Was he observing my elasticity?

Koga, who had stepped forward while I was astonished, smiled angrily at the evil dragon who had gotten up.

"I see. Elasticity is an interesting thing. I was blindsided by the outburst of the system reinforcement.

>

As he spoke these words, Koga's robe of dark magic changed.

The robe that covers his body grows larger, changing from a slender appearance to a muscular one.

He aims his left fist at the evil dragon and strikes it like a whip with centrifugal force.

"Yeah!"

"Bachyynnn!　The blow is delivered with a resounding "ba-ching" sound, sending the dragon's huge body sprawling.

---The dark magic gives it elasticity.

I stare at Koga when I see this.

Koga gives me a friendly smile.

"What's your technique? It's like you're getting closer to us dark wizards.

"......!"

The dark system is a form of magic.

If you can manipulate its strength at will, you can do the same trick without having it elasticize like I can.

When he fought with Kazuki, he used my outburst of strengthening his lineage, so why does he keep using my tricks?

......It took me a lot of effort to learn this technique.

"Ha ha, I'm sorry about that."

"That sucks. The only way to get rid of the memory is to hit him from behind when the opportunity arises. ......

"You're not really a healer by any stretch of the imagination!"

We're in real trouble now.

This guy is more troublesome than the evil dragon in front of us, isn't he?

>

He's angry, isn't he?

"......, you better fight him this time."

I know, I know.

I can't trust him anymore unless I have him in my sights at all times.

The two of them run forward at the same time, with poisonous smoke spewing out of the corners of their mouths and the evil dragon screaming in anger.

Koga leaps first, drawing the Evil Dragon's attention, and then I flank him and kick him in the side of the head.

>>

"Did you forget I'm here?　Sad, man!"

<

As he turns his attention back to me, Koga slams his whip-like left arm into the side of the evil dragon.

As soon as its upper body tilts up, Koga runs up its back at once.

When he reached the head, he grabbed what looked like the horns of the head, and slammed his fist into the brain in rapid succession.

"Ha, you're not at your feet as usual!　Was I too small for you to see me?

>

"Oops."

He jumps up to avoid an arm swinging toward his head.

As I am about to fall to the ground, the tail of the evil dragon is coming at me.

As I immediately try to evade it with my healing acceleration fist, Koga's outstretched left arm wraps around my leg.

"Koga, thank God..."

"Ha ha!　I'll get you in return!

"Huh?"

Koga, who had forced me to avoid his tail, swung me around with all his strength and tried to slam my body into the Evil Dragon's brain again.

I guess he was trying to get back at me for what I did to him earlier, but... that's sweet!

"Stop laughing!　Healing Elastic Fist from Healing Magic Bursting Palm!

>

"What the hell?"

He then slams the Healing Elastic Fist into the head of the approaching Evil Dragon.

I landed on the frightened dragon's head and grabbed the koga's magic power entangled in its legs as if to wrap it around my cage---and pulled it up with a single fishing motion.

"You've got some nerve trying to attack me in the confusion!

"Huh?　Aren't you too much of a threat?　Hey, hey, hey, this is..."

Coga is flying in the air, pulled by me.

I leap in time with him and grab both of his legs tightly.

"Come on, KOGA!

"Not this again!

Coga, not wanting to be hurt, transforms himself into the shape of a weapon.

I land on the ground with him on my shoulder, and use my cohort to repel his tail as it swings for landing.

"We're going down together!"

"You're not with me, are you?　Basically, you're on your own!

"Shut up!　Eat our friendship power!

No!

While complaining, he repels the evil dragon's attacks with his koga.

"Oh, it's easy to repel thanks to its elasticity!"

"I didn't steal this technique from you for this!"

No, you're right, but...

With the elasticity-enhancing step, I quickly approach the Evil Dragon and slam the Koga into its torso.

"Here!

With Koga's voice, the tip of the club that Koga had transformed explodes, and several sharp thorns pierce the Evil Dragon's body.

Wow, is this what the outburst of the systemic reinforcement is like?

The speed of the thorns is not so fast, but it seems to hurt a lot when it sticks.

Let's check out Koga's techniques and stuff for the future while we're at it.

"Okay, do you have any more tricks?　Koga, you're not that strong yet!"

"Oh!　Let me go and I'll show you!"

What? ......

"Why do I have to look at you like that?

>

I stop in my tracks, and the evil dragon's poisonous mass closes in on me.

Realizing that I will not be able to hit back in time, I let go of the koga, avoid the mass of poison, and at the same time, fire a healing flying fist into its mouth.

>

"Koga, I'll throw it!　Come on!"

I'm ready for anything except being swung around!

He timed his jump to coincide with Koga's, and launched Koga at the evil dragon with his elastic palm.

It is a technique that is supposed to be used in conjunction with senpai (senpai), but ......!

Go!

I'll take care of it!

Koga approaches the Evil Dragon with several times the momentum due to their mutual elastic magic power.

With that, KOGA strikes the Evil Dragon with a body strike that changes its shape to that of a triangular pyramid, and then moves toward the Evil Dragon with a large deformation of its left arm.

I, who was breathing at a little distance from the Evil Dragon, casually observed Koga and saw what looked like a wound on the chest of the Evil Dragon.

"If I were to target it, it would be there..."

The wound was caused by the outburst of KOGA's system reinforcement earlier.

Although not a drop of blood has leaked out, it must have been gouged out quite deeply.

Then, if we aim at that place, we can probably defeat the evil dragon.

At the moment I gathered my thoughts and was about to take immediate action---someone was standing in front of me before I knew it.

"---"

A dark-haired man in light armor.

A figure I had seen many times in the memories of Samaritan's people.

His face was not clearly visible, but the way he stood was exactly..,

"Memories of the past of the previous generation, the brave ......?"

The man pulled a sword from his waist and thrust it into the ground.

It had a longer blade than the small sword I pulled from the heart of the evil dragon.

"...... sword?"

Why at this moment?

I wondered, and as I cautiously approached the sword, its beautiful blade reflected my face.

"......!"

The voice whispers in my ear from right behind me.

But there is no sign.

You look back, but there's no one there, and all you can hear is Koga's voice trying to keep up.

Is this really the sword that the brave man used to carry?

It looks just like the one in my memory, but somehow I don't think I should pick it up.

<>>

"No, thank you."

<<< What?　What? >>

No, I can't take such a monstrous thing in my hand!

I turn around and head straight for the chest of the evil dragon, holding my baskets at the ready.

"Koga!　Keep your attention on me!

"Oh, I'm over here! You lizard!　I haven't been hit yet!"

Coga is provoking them with an incredibly annoyed look on his face.

Evil Dragon, who has no tolerance for aggression, is furious, as expected.

He opens his mouth wide and tries to spit out his venom.

>

"You can open your big mouth all you want, but your chin's not here!"

Koga jumped as if bouncing at the same time as he landed, and he struck the Evil Dragon in the jaw while holding his head protectively.

The resilient magic power flipped the Evil Dragon backward.

Taking the chance, I land on the spot where the dragon's heart would be, and plunge my right arm into the crack that has formed in its chest.

It doesn't feel like a living thing. It feels like I'm sticking my hand into clay or the ground. ......!

"---Healing Fist"

Instantly, a series of impacts explode inside the evil dragon.

The body of the evil dragon twitches like a machine under the impact.

While the strange sensation baffles him, the Evil Dragon's movements are completely silenced.

"Oh, you did it, Usato! You took the best part."

"...... beat him?"

The evil dragon has stopped moving.

But what is this strange feeling?

Was I really fighting an evil dragon---creature?

Usato!

Mr. Koga!

While I was having such doubts about the evil dragon, Keira and Ciel came running up to me and Koga.

"Are you hurt?　Have you inhaled any poison?"

"No, I'm fine!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes."

Why are you keeping your distance?

Well, from their point of view, I'm an enemy.

But that doesn't mean I'm going to do anything about someone who doesn't have hostile intentions toward me.

"...... hmm?"

At that moment, the space around you changes.

The streets of Samaritan's past fade away.

The evil dragon we slayed is transformed into something else.

What?　What the hell is this? ......"

"...... golem?"

What appeared was a golem in the shape of a dragon, different from the large golem we had fought.

It was originally humanoid, but was forced to take the shape of an evil dragon. It was pieced together in places, and looked ugly.

On the chest of this rather creepy dragon golem is a jewel-like object with a crack in it, and I can see that the evil dragon has stopped moving because I broke it with my Healer's Rengeki Fist.

"What the hell, this is ......."

A large space.

In the middle of it, a white building and a broken dragon golem.

It is like a diorama of a past Samaria.

"I really wish I could have shown you a magic trick..."

"---!"

"But you. But you're too mentally powerful to hear my magic voice or see my illusions, so I had to make a few adjustments.

The one who appeared was Kannagi, the beast girl who had beheaded the evil dragon---Golem.

"Kannagi? ......"

"We went through a lot of trouble, you know?　We had to recreate their appearance with coloring magic and stuff. ...... but you've made it worth all the trouble."

She gives me a hostile smile and claps her hands.

"This golem may have been a piece of cake, but it was definitely stronger than the evil dragon you fought," she said. ...... unexpected, but the fact that you were able to defeat it without difficulty means that you are truly qualified to inherit its 'power'.

Kannagi creates a vortex of light in the space behind him that sucks us in.

She points out her hand to me, who looks at it and reveals her wariness.

"Come, come. I will give you the right power... the magic of the heroes who came before you, the spark of light.