Danmachi: A Despicable Stranger

Chapter 48: Everything in the sky moves!

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After swiftly adjusting his posture on the ground, Izzy immediately shifted his gaze back to the center of the cave, where the swirling smoke hung heavy in the air.

Amidst the thick dust cloud, the silhouette of a colossal creature became visible, its massive wings extending outward.

With a single powerful flap, the air was filled with the sound of wings slicing through it, scattering the dust and unveiling the monster in its entirety.

The pterosaur tilted its head slightly, casting a glance at its back. There, in the middle of its imposing wings, a patch of dark red scales had cracked open, blood seeping from the wound and dripping onto the ground below.

Though the injury was minor and posed no significant hindrance, the fact that its supposedly impenetrable scales had been breached enraged the beast. A mix of fury at being ambushed and the humiliation of having its defense broken burned in the pterosaur's glowing red eyes.

It flapped its wings again, rising steadily into the air, its predatory gaze locked onto the figure that had inflicted the damage.

In the meantime, Izzy moved once more, accelerating with remarkable speed. His spear cut through the air, creating a sharp gust of wind as he charged forward like a tempest.

The pterosaur, its anger now fully ignited, caught sight of his approach. Fueled by the challenge, it refused to retreat, instead lifting its massive body in preparation for a counterattack.

"ROOO..."

The roar began but was abruptly interrupted as the two clashed head-on.

If Izzy was a raging storm, then the pterosaur was the dense, immovable clouds that sought to smother it.

At first glance, the outcome of the collision seemed obvious: a mere human pitted against a beast towering over five meters tall.

But that was only conventional wisdom.

Izzy's ability values had already exceeded the limits of a typical Lv.1 adventurer. Armed with formidable magic and skills, he had reached a level where he could face the pterosaur head-on.

Magic, after all, was never something bound by the constraints of logic.

"——!"

The sharp spear and the dragon's impenetrable scales clashed, producing a grating, metallic sound that echoed through the cave.

Izzy held the two-meter-long silver-gray spear horizontally, its tip pressed firmly against the pterosaur's shoulder to keep its snapping jaws at bay. The veins in his arms bulged as he gritted his teeth, pouring every ounce of his strength into the struggle.

"Get down!!!"

Boom!

With a powerful thrust, Izzy drove the spear through the dragon's scaled defense, drawing a fresh stream of blood. He overpowered the beast momentarily, forcing it to crash to the ground once more.

The recoil from his attack pushed Izzy back slightly, but he quickly regained his footing and advanced again, spear at the ready.

As the pterosaur hit the ground, its massive body stiffened for a brief moment, needing time to recover from the impact.

Izzy seized this opportunity, his sharp, eagle-like eyes locking onto a critical point on the creature's body.

He aimed for the most effective way to disable a winged monster.

"Ha!!!"

With a mighty swing, Izzy slashed the spear downward, the blade wreathed in starlight flames. The weapon cut cleanly through the dragon's enormous wings, sending bright red blood spraying into the air.

His objective was clear: to destroy the opponent's primary means of movement—its wings.

By crippling one wing, he could exploit the opening to guide his magic and control the battle.

Before deploying control spells, it was best to inflict debuffs like "slow" on the target, a strategy often used in games to increase success rates.

Seizing the advantage of this moment, Izzy ignored the pterosaur's furious roars and launched into a relentless assault, his spear striking with the ferocity of a storm.

The sides, the back, the tendons, the wings—every vulnerable and exposed point was targeted.

Each time a flash of white light accompanied his strikes, fragments of dragon scales and splatters of blood filled the air, blending into a chaotic blur where it was impossible to discern whether the blood belonged to friend or foe.

"ROOO…"

But the pterosaur was no mere beast to be subdued so easily. Enraged by the relentless onslaught, its bloodshot eyes burned with fury.

With a sudden crazed determination, it gathered flames deep within its throat, then tilted its head downward and unleashed its fiery breath upon itself.

In an instant, a wave of blazing fire erupted outward, engulfing everything around it in an inferno with the pterosaur at its epicenter.

Faced with such an overwhelming, large-scale attack, Izzy had no choice but to retreat to a safer distance. He wasn't eager to experience being roasted alive by dragon fire.

Yet, the opportunity he had created earlier was enough—the pterosaur could no longer move swiftly, and both of its wings were shattered.

"Star Prison!"

Recognizing the moment to strike, Izzy raised one hand toward the injured beast.

A deep blue glow radiated from his palm, spreading rapidly to the location of the pterosaur.

A matching hue of light burst forth, dozens of shining dots appearing out of nowhere, gradually forming the framework of a three-dimensional magic array.

The glowing points connected one by one, and soon, a shimmering blue curtain began to manifest around the pterosaur.

The curtain was filled with twinkling stars, each dot joining together to form a breathtaking star map.

When the final connection was made, the magic circle fully formed.

Centered on the star map, everything within a ten-meter radius was instantly enveloped by the curtain of starlight.

And then, the real magic began.

Wave after wave of white, spherical energy radiated outward before quickly contracting, collapsing inward like an unseen force pulling everything into the center.

Rocks, air, the remnants of flames still clinging to life, and even the pterosaur at the heart of the star map were compressed and immobilized by the sheer force of the magic.

The beast struggled against the confinement, but its movements grew weaker under the relentless pressure.

As the magic took full effect, a smile crept across Izzy's face.

But he wasn't finished yet.

"——!"

Channeling the magical energy within his body, Izzy ignited the dark blue star flames that now surrounded him, their fierce glow intensifying as if responding to his unyielding will.

In the next instant, he roared with determination:

"Everything is moving!!"

The cave, once dim and cold, was suddenly bathed in brilliant light.

In response to Izzy's command, a colossal magic circle appeared above, covering nearly half of the cave ceiling.

The golden-yellow light of the circle illuminated every corner, dispelling shadows as its intricate patterns began to form.

The outer edges of the magic circle appeared first, its luminous borders radiating power as the inner lines slowly converged toward the center.

As the circle completed itself, the outline of a massive figure began to emerge from its core—a fragment of something immense and dark golden in color.

Using Izzy's magic as a medium, all the surrounding rock elements converged, forming a colossal Star Rock at the center of the magic circle.

As the massive star-shaped construct materialized, the once-brilliantly illuminated cave dimmed, its radiance overshadowed by the imposing presence of the Star Rock.

Without hesitation, the enormous Star Rock plummeted toward the pterosaur, its descent accompanied by a gale so powerful it seemed to rend the very air.

In the shadows of the cave, Ryuu watched the unfolding battle with mounting anxiety. The sight of the Star Rock's overwhelming momentum caused her to instinctively retreat into the tunnel from which she and Izzy had entered.

Not far behind her, the scarred man—his injuries miraculously healed by the panacea—scrambled into the tunnel as well, gasping for breath. His hasty movements bordered on desperation, each tumble echoing his disbelief at the sight before him.

After taking a moment to process the situation, the scarred man pieced together the obvious truth:

The masked figure and the young spear-wielding adventurer were undoubtedly high-class combatants.

He realized with no small amount of gratitude that his survival was entirely due to their benevolence.

Meanwhile, at other entrances to the cave, hidden adventurers quietly observing the chaos felt their scalps tingle at the overwhelming spectacle.

"Yaer… is this magic from the boss? Does it have to be this terrifying?"

They barely had time to voice their amazement before, in a matter of seconds, the Star Rock collided with the ground.

"————!!!"

A deafening explosion filled the cavern, accompanied by a blinding light that robbed everyone of their senses. The thunderous roar reverberated through the rock walls, shaking the entire structure as if the cave itself might collapse.

Amid the cacophony, faint echoes of the pterosaur's anguished howls could be heard.

The Star Rock, significantly larger than the pterosaur, completely engulfed the beast, crushing its resistance and silencing its cries beneath its weight.

The force of the impact shattered the ground into a series of concentric craters. Cracks resembling jagged lightning spread across the rock walls and ceiling, while shards of stone and dust erupted in every direction, blanketing the cavern in chaos.

When the storm of debris and gray smoke finally began to settle, the aftermath revealed the once-mighty pterosaur.

Its limbs and wings were broken, many of its once-imposing scales had fallen off, and it stood unsteadily, trembling in front of Izzy.

"Just a little bit more..." Izzy muttered, his voice weary but determined.

His face had turned deathly pale, his body showing clear signs of extreme fatigue. The mental and magical energy expended to summon and utilize the Star Rock had drained him almost entirely.

The Star Rock, his most powerful spell, had pushed him to the limit. Combined with the magic he had used earlier, his reserves of magic power were nearly depleted. He could barely maintain his Silver Star Advent.

Moreover, the Star Rock, while formidable, was ultimately a construct of elemental rock magic—not a true meteorite. Its form was impermanent, and it lacked the crushing weight of its celestial counterpart. Otherwise, the pterosaur would have been obliterated outright.

Upon landing and striking its target, the Star Rock disintegrated into countless tiny rock crystals that coated the area of impact.

These crystals adhered to the pterosaur's battered body, further hindering its movements and weighing it down. This additional burden made even the slightest effort an arduous task, effectively immobilizing the beast.

The result was clear: the pterosaur, once a formidable predator, was now a weakened, cornered creature with no chance of recovery.

Its health was critically low, its movements sluggish, and its defenses shattered.

Izzy could see it—the end was near.

"Just a few finishing blows left," he thought, gripping his spear tightly as he prepared to deliver the final strikes.

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