"Whoa—"
Raizel tugged on the reins, and the Redflame Horses immediately came to a stop.
The group had arrived at a mountain range.
Although half a month had passed without them finding any clues about Kurnugi, the request had no time limit.
On top of that, Raizel had been staying in contact with Makarov and Ur.
Alvarez was still carrying out military exercises, but there had been no major movements yet, so there was no need to rush.
Ultear and the others were not discouraged either.
Back when they had gone with Raizel to complete a Ten-Year Quest, they had spent more than half a year just searching for their target.
Half a month was nothing.
This was still far too early to worry.
Raizel jumped down from the carriage first, placed the movable steps beneath the carriage door, and reached out to help Mira down.
Then came Wendy, Ultear, Erza...
And finally, Kagura.
The reason they had come here was simply because they had heard the moon-viewing was excellent.
Tonight, they planned to find a flat area on the mountain and set up camp.
"Feels sooo good~~~"
After getting off the carriage, Lucy raised both arms, closed her eyes, and stretched while breathing in the fresh air.
The carriage was very comfortable, yes, but the space inside was still too limited.
The group soon arrived at a flat area halfway up the mountain.
Raizel pointed ahead.
"Here should be fine. It's fairly flat, and there aren't any claw marks or traces of magical beasts."
Before long, everyone split up their tasks.
Ultear and Lucy handled the ingredients.
Erza was responsible for slicing the meat.
Kagura, Wendy, and Carla skewered the meat.
The reason it took two people and one Exceed to handle the skewers was because Erza sliced meat too quickly. She was practically a merciless meat-slicing machine.
Mira cooked and stir-fried the dishes.
Raizel was in charge of grilling the skewers.
The marinated lamb and beef were arranged in a ratio of three lean pieces to one fatty piece, then sprinkled with the freshly stir-fried spices and seasoning Mira had just prepared.
Even shoe leather would probably taste good with that seasoning.
Smoke curled upward from the cooking fire, and saying the fragrance spread for miles would not be much of an exaggeration.
Wendy, who was still skewering meat, accidentally sucked in a bit of drool.
Her little face instantly turned red, and she hurriedly wiped her mouth with her arm.
Fortunately, Kagura and Carla were fully focused on skewering meat and did not notice her expression.
A full moon hung overhead.
A picnic blanket had been spread over the ground, and everyone sat around the skewers and the dishes Mira had just prepared, chatting while drinking beverages.
While eating, Lucy asked, "I have a question. To complete this request, do we have to kill the dragon?"
In truth, Wendy also cared deeply about that question.
After all, she had been raised by Grandeeney, so she naturally felt close to dragons.
If possible, Wendy did not want to become enemies with any dragon.
Mira shook her head and explained, "The Council's request only seems to ask us to defeat the Sword Saint Dragon. It never said we had to take his life."
Raizel thought for a moment before saying, "We'll judge based on the situation. If he's a dragon close to humans like Igneel or Grandeeney, then we'll just teach him a lesson and make him understand there's always someone stronger."
"But if it's the opposite, if he's committed too many evils—for example, eating humans—then we'll kill him if we have to."
Although the war between humans and dragons was a racial war, eating humans was still something Raizel could not accept.
A light breeze brushed past.
Wendy, who had been very relaxed a moment ago, suddenly froze. Her pupils shrank sharply.
Then she cried out, "The scent of a dragon!"
Everyone shifted from chatting mode to battle mode in an instant.
Raizel and Mira had already completed their Take Over.
Erza had already Requipped, and Kagura's hand had already settled on Archenemy.
"ROAAAAAR—!"
The dragon had yet to arrive, but its voice came first.
A dragon's roar powerful enough to shake the valley thundered down from the sky.
Everyone looked up.
A pale golden dragon was flying toward them, radiating terrifying Magic Power and pressure.
Its nose and forehead bore giant sword-like horns. Blades grew at the joints between its limbs and body.
The end of its tail was also a metal blade, similar to Jesmon's tail.
Its wings beat down and stirred up a violent gale as it slowly landed.
First, it took a deep breath.
Then it stared at the skewers on the picnic blanket.
The first words out of its mouth nearly made Raizel's entire group fall over.
"That smells amazing! Lord Kurnugi wants to eat it!"
"You Mages over there! Hand over the skewers, and Lord Kurnugi may allow you to leave."
"A Dragon Slayer Mage?! Too small..."
Kurnugi's words immediately stabbed Wendy right in the heart.
Small in every sense.
And Wendy was still at an age where she had not started growing yet.
Maybe in this lifetime, she would...
"Hm? Wait... no. Such strong Magic Power... You all look pretty strong. Fight me first, then leave!"
Kurnugi spoke one line after another like a chatterbox, completely ignoring what Raizel, Ultear, and the others thought.
Kurnugi stared hard at Raizel.
Raizel, who had taken over Jesmon, looked somewhat similar to him.
The difference was that Kurnugi's metallic body was covered in a layer of pale golden fur, and blades covered his entire form.
Of course, Raizel had more crystals on him, and he seemed slightly more handsome.
Kurnugi could think that in his heart, but there was no way he would admit it out loud.
Raizel was also observing Kurnugi.
Including his tail, Kurnugi's body length was just over ten meters.
His height was average, and his voice had a youthful tone.
He did indeed seem like a young dragon.
Kurnugi had curved blade-like edges on his arms, and as his name suggested, his back also had sword-like plates similar to a stegosaurus.
"What a small dragon. Are you even fully grown?" Erza had always been blunt.
And Erza was not wrong.
Kurnugi was much smaller than the five dragons they had seen before.
He was even far smaller than Grandeeney, who had been the smallest among them.
The atmosphere instantly froze awkwardly.
"Lord Kurnugi is angry!"
Kurnugi first inhaled sharply, then roared furiously at Erza.
The air blasting from his mouth surged forward like a storm.
Then everyone silently pinched their noses.
There was no helping it.
Did anyone really expect a dragon to rinse its mouth?
This guy Kurnugi had bad breath!
"I'm washing myself twice tonight." Ultear sniffed her clothes, then frowned.
"Here, everyone, spray this to remove the smell." Erza had already started distributing deodorizing spray.
Seeing Raizel, Ultear, and the others remain completely calm before his roar—and even pinch their noses—Kurnugi grew even angrier!
Kurnugi's Magic Power surged violently, his aura climbing higher and higher.
With one flap of his wings, he charged straight toward Raizel's group.
He did not use any Magic.
After flying in, he simply swept his arm blade across.
"Requip: Adamantine Armor!"
A green Magic Circle appeared before the Adamantine Shield, directly blocking Kurnugi's enraged strike.
"Let me test him first!"
Seeing that Ultear and Mira were about to help, Erza quickly spoke up.
"All right!"
Everyone retreated from the battle circle, though they all remained ready to act at any moment.
"Hah! Lord Kurnugi refuses to believe this!"
Five purple-black sword waves shot from Kurnugi's limbs and the blade on his head.
At the same time, countless smaller sword waves burst from the armor plates on his back, all flying toward Erza.
Erza immediately Requipped into Heaven's Wheel Armor.
"Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt!"
Hundreds of light swords appeared behind her in an instant.
The storm of blades shot toward the purple-black sword waves, colliding rapidly in midair.