At night, there was a shadow flying over the kingdom of Tendo at super-high speed.
　It was the figure of a dragon.
　Of course a wild dragon would never fly here.
　Of course no wild dragon would fly here... the most powerful being and sky-dominant natural disaster, would cause a great panic if he appeared in the village.

　So the action took place at night.

Ooh, ...... I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be able to ride on the back of a dragon.

　Zeldo, the young chief of the lizardmen, was sobbing with tears.

Zeldo, you never get tired of it.

　The dryad that accompanied him looked at Zeldo in dismay.
　He was impressed to find out that he could ride on the dragon's back, then ride on the dragon's back, then ride on the dragon's seat, then see the dragon fly away, then see the dragon start to fly at high speed.
　It was truly a parade of emotions.

I heard that dragons are very special to Lizardmen.

　It is said that for a race of intelligent, scaled creatures, the dragon is the pinnacle of existence.
　They are called kings, gods, absolutes, founders, and so on, because it is said that all scaled things were born from dragons.
　I wonder how much of that is true...but at least that's what Lizardman believes.

Oooh, so this is the wind in the sky that comes from the dragon: ......

　So, Zerdo continued to be impressed to his heart's content.

"I honestly think it's amazing that you could be that impressed.

　◇

"So let me check before arriving at the Jujiki swamp.

　Lasse continues to be impressed, and after bringing Zerdo back to his senses, he begins to lecture him on the way forward.

Mmm.

First of all, the request is for the lizardmen to defeat the demons that have conquered the Juziki swamp by other forces, such as the army and the church, before they are defeated.　

That's right.

"And all the means to do so are available on the initiative of our monsters' delivery.

"Oh, I'm counting on you, Mister Reiss!

And the reward is all the gems in the lizardman's settlement of Juziki swamp, is that correct?

"Mm, the jewels are worthless to us. If it's of value to humans, we'll give it all away!　Because for us, the most important thing is to take back the pride of the warrior and the home!

"Yes, sir.

　Lasse, who pretends to be at work, but inside he is in a festive mood.

(Yessssss!　It's a jewelry festival!　More gems pledged than the previous babysitting rewards, and all that means more stockpiles!　(You can pay off your office debt in plenty of time and buy a new piece of land for the Kraken's to live in...?!)

　The dryads are watching the inner fever of Lasse calmly.

Oh, master's toned face, lovely. With dragons, there's nothing to fear from the devil. Nevertheless, keep your wits about you and be on your guard for just such an occasion. (That's my master!

　It's just a matter of being completely careless, but the dryad, who mistook the way she was holding back so as not to grin, for carelessness, was melancholy about Lasse's profile.

I'm not sure it's safe.

　Only the dragon was anxious about the passengers.

　.

"It's going to be a tjujiki swamp soon.

　The sight of a familiar sight tells Zeldo that the battle is near.

"So what do you plan to do, Mister Reiss?　Where is the armor that works for the devil?　You brought it, right?

　Zerdo asks for weapons to prepare for battle.

"No, I don't have any,

　But Lasse denied it outright.

"...... what!

　Gerd's eyes glaze over when he is told that there is no plan, and that he has nothing to offer.

So how do we defeat the demon?　Without a weapon that can understand a demon, how can they be defeated?

　Zeldo is baffled by the dragon's voice.

"Lord, I see the devil in you!

　At the sound of the dragon's voice, Lasse leans out of his seat and looks at the ground.
　Then a dryad supports his body with ivy to keep Lasse from falling off.

"There it is,

　As the dragon lowers in altitude, a figure can be seen on the ground in the moonlight.
　Because it is night, only the outline of the figure can be discerned, but the figure has a distinctly evil air about it.

What are you going to do, Mister Lasse?

　The dryad's ivy wraps around Zeldo, who is unable to read the situation.

"What's this?

Mr. Zeldo, we're going to be moving very hard now, so please stay in your seats and don't talk.

What ......?

　Zerdo is about to ask what's going on, but is stifled by the sudden acceleration of the dragon.

　The trees on the ground scream in the shockwave as the dragon gains speed while reducing its altitude.
　Then you arrive at the Jujiki swamp, and your body is already on the ground.
　In front of you is a cat-headed figure that spreads an evil presence around.

What?

　Zeldo's baffled voice drifts behind him.

"Go, dragon!

"Yes

　The dragon charges at the cat-man, the demon.
　The outline of the cat-man moves, taking an intercept stance against the dragon. Or was it trying to take evasive action?
　But either way, it's pointless.


　There is no way that an ordinary creature could cope with the speed of a dragon moving to capture its prey.
　Even if it was a demon incarnate in this world.

　The body of a human cat disappears in the dragon's shadow.
　Not that I missed it.
　The cat-man's body is opened for capture by the dragon's paws.
　Just as it's about to be captured, the cat-man's arm strikes the dragon's paw.
　But in front of the hulking body of the world's most powerfully scaled creature that charges at you at super-speed, even the demon's tough body is as strong as Jell-O.
　A striking arm snaps off more easily than a twig.
　Then the dragon grabs the demon with the ease of a rat and crushes it in its hands.
　The cat-man's whole body snaps off, and noxious fluids of an indescribable color flood from his mouth.

　As it does so, the dragon begins to rise at a steep angle.
　I don't want the sonic boom to devastate the jujiki swamp. It's already taken some hits.
　As the dragon begins its ascent at a steep angle, Lasse and his team's bodies rise unnaturally and are nearly thrown from their seats.
　The dryad ivy that had accompanied them grabs them and puts them in their seats.
　She has come with them to protect them from the dragon's acrobatic maneuvers.

　Then the dragon, having reached high enough into the sky, throws the demon in his grasp into the sky.
　Then it opens its mouth to the cat-man in midair and releases a high density of magical power from its mouth.
　It was a dragon breath.
　If you didn't know that the pure white light in the sky was a spark of violence unleashed to defeat the demon, those who saw it would have thought it was a very fantastic and beautiful sparkle.

...... You defeated it!

　After the dragon's acceleration has ended, Zeldo, who can finally speak, confirms that the demon is alive and dead.

No, I haven't killed it yet.

　In fact, just as Lasse said, the cat-man thrown into the sky was falling toward the ground with its form preserved.
　If the dragon's breath had hit it, the catman's body would have been turned into charcoal, just like the frog demons before it.
　In other words, it was added or subtracted. The dragon didn't let its breath hit the cat-man's body, but snatched it away.

You'll have to let Zeldo do the stabbing, sir.

　◇

　When they landed on the ground, Lasse and the others saw a demon half-grasped by the dragon, taking a breath, albeit not a direct hit, as well as the damage from the fall and becoming half-dead.

The Dragon.

"Mm

　The dragon obeyed Lasse's voice and placed its paw claws on the demon's chest.

"Come on, Mr. Zerdo, grab the dragon's paw.

"What, what?

"Just go ahead, go ahead.

　I don't understand," said Lasse, pushing Zerdo back and forcing him to stand in front of the dragon's paws.

How's this?

　Zeldo grabs the dragon's paw.

"Please hold on tight.

"Mm-hmm.

Now point that front foot down and push it in hard.

"Wow, I get it!　Huh!

　Then the claws of the paw pushed by Zerdo pierce deep into the demon's chest.
　The demon screams as its body is pierced.
　But because it is held down by the dragon's paws, the demon can only scream and scream, unable to do anything.

"Oh, oh?

　But hearing the exclamation of your mortal enemy that you had struggled so much against, Zeldo involuntarily cowered. 　
　How much time has passed since then?　For what seemed like an eternity for Zerdo, but in reality, in less than ten seconds, the catman's screaming stopped, his whole body's spasms disappeared, and finally his body began to turn to dust.

What is this?

Your body is beginning to die. Demons aren't originally from this world. They possess the bodies of creatures from this world and appear in this world, so when the demon perishes, the body that was rebuilt for the demon will also perish.

By the time Lasse's explanation was complete, the cat-man's body had turned completely to dust and finally disappeared into the wind.

"What ...... the monster that tormented us so much is so easily ......

　Or was it the fact that the corpse disappeared so easily, or was it the fact that it was easily defeated?

Our request is now complete. The demon has been defeated with Zeldo's help.

"Oh, oh, ...... is my stop!　What do you mean?

　Zeldo's tone of voice comes out again in surprise, or maybe it's just a plain tone.

"No, because you have to take it down by the hands of a lizardman, right?　Then you have to stop it, Mr. Zerdo,

No, but... The battle was only fought by the dragon master, and I only pushed the dragon's paw into the ground!

　Zeldo protests, unconvinced that he's done nothing of substance.

"Listen, Mr. Zerdo. To defeat a demon, you'll need a weapon that's demon proof or powerful magic. But there's no way I can get you that convenient on the spot.

　Lasse sits on the dragon's paw and strokes its claws.

That's why we lent Zeldo the dragon's claws to fulfill our request. Armor made from a dragon's body is the most powerful weapon. In other words, a dragon's claw is a weapon too!　So, after piercing the demon with the dragon's claws, Zeldo picked up his own weapon and defeated the demon!　Congratulations!　Yeah!

"What did you say!

　Zerdo screams out in a tremendous show of force.

"So we've accomplished our request!　Good job!



　A smiling Lasse.

"It's like a new kind of scam, isn't it?

　A giggling dryad.

"Whatever. I'm going home. Get back to town before dawn, or I'll be late for work.

　The dragon was murmuring, seemingly unimportant.