Heroine-Saving System: Reborn In A Third-Rate Manga As The Protagonist-Chapter 91: Salamander’s Lair [III]
The force of the clash sent several shockwaves billowing all over the whole cavern, cracking the ground in spiderweb patterns and sending more smoke and steam into the air.
Ichinose held onto the bottom of the cavern wall despite being wounded for her dear life to avoid falling into the pit below.
Pieces of stone flew into the air like shrapnel from the impact and one large debris was even about to hit the drone but it moved out of the way at the last instant with impressive reflexes, still keeping its camera trained on the smoke.
Koya was sent flying from the smoke in several uncontrolled flips as he streaked across the air like a ragdoll, completely at the mercy of momentum.
The smoke cleared to reveal that the Alpha Salamander had not been harmed by the clash in the slightest and opened its massive jaws, letting a concentrated beam of white fire tear through the air at Koya with terrifying speed and intensity.
Koya flipped himself mid-air through sheer core strength and landed on the cavern wall with his legs before immediately moving to the side and dodging the flames that were blowing outward in a massive cone.
The heat from just being near the beam made his skin prickle and sweat.
He was not dumb enough to try and clash a spell with a Silver class monster head-on but he did run across the wall at full speed and the flames followed him from behind like a pursuing predator, scorching everything they touched.
’Hm, this is on stream too... I wonder how much attention I’ll get after this.’ He thought as he held the dagger properly and channeled Speed Blitz into it.
The weapon vibrated with compressed mana and Koya then shot it forward after covering it with even more mana and falling to the ground in a controlled descent.
The dagger produced a shockwave and impacted the Alpha Salamander in its eye, taking it completely. The monster let out a groan as it stopped its attack and threw its head around violently.
「Wait he actually damaged it??」
「That eye shot was clean」
「FIRST BLOOD」
「He’s actually landing hits on a silver-class」
「This is insane」
Koya landed on the ground with a heavy thud and reared his right hand backward before thrusting it outward with blue flames beginning to leak out from his palm, however instead of using a simple fireball, he decided to compress it into something far more dangerous.
It was a lance made entirely of condensed flames, burning with an intensity that made the air around it shimmer.
He took hold of the burning weapon with his bare hand and used his Spear Skills to throw the lance completely forward with perfect form and devastating force.
It streaked across the air leaving a blue trail before being slammed apart by one of the Alpha’s massive tails with brutal efficiency.
However the flames did not die upon impact, they merely spread across the tail like a living thing and attacked the white flame that was on the tip of the tail, the two fires warring for dominance before Koya’s blue flames dissipated completely, unable to overcome the superior heat
’Damn, it sure is strong. System, have you found a way to defeat it?’ He thought.
「Well, like the dumbass you are Host, you went ahead and challenged a monster far superior to you and you’re limiting yourself to only your flame affinity while facing against a monster that was quite literally born in flames」
Koya dodged a ball of white fire coming at him and it exploded in the ground, forming a crater and bringing out lava from the ground.
’Yeah, I know. What are we going to do now? I want to use its core as a supplement for the Dragon Egg...’ He thought with a deep breath.
「We? Host, you must be speaking french because there’s no WE but if you want to defeat this monster then you must outflame it and strike somewhere. I’d suggest more ideas but you’re on a livestream with several million viewers. Compose yourself Host.」
Koya let out a deep breath as the Alpha Salamander roared at him. Its wings spread out making the whole place tremble and its tails lashed around.
It was going to engage Koya in close combat.
’So I should outflame it?’ He thought. ’How hot are its flames?’
「The Alpha Salamander can reach a maximum of 2600-2800°C by using all five tails to attack, and on its death legs, it can even reach 3000°C. Do you understand your situation?」
’I guess.’ Koya thought as the Alpha Salamander began to move, soaring toward Koya and he moved as well with Speed Blitz.
The Alpha Salamander fired several beams of white flames that soared through the air and aimed for Koya.
The sheer heat from them made the air shimmer and distort even before they got close.
’These are way too hot.’ Koya thought as he proceeded to dodge several of them as the monster neared, his Speed Blitz keeping him just ahead of incineration.
The cavern walls where the beams struck began melting into molten stone but he wasn’t focused on that... he was aiming for the dagger that was buried in its eye.
As the monster reached close enough, it lashed out one of its massive tails at Koya with the force of a falling building.
Koya leaped backward and dodged by mere inches, letting it slam into the ground and send fragments of stones shooting everywhere with a deafening crash that made his ears ring.
The impact was so powerful the entire cavern shook violently.
Disguise Master had to dodge one sharp fragment coming straight for her head, her heart pounding as it whistled past and Ichinose full on dropped to the ground in terror.
The tail raised and Koya was nowhere to be seen in the cloud of dust, except he was on the monster’s tail, hanging onto one of the massive scales with both hands gripping for absolute dear life.
’Damn, these are digging into my hand.’ He thought.
He expected pain but he also had the resistance skill on so instead he focused on trying to get his footing on the thrashing appendage.
However the tail swooshed violently through the air at incredible speed, slamming into the wall and creating a massive crater with Koya still clinging to it.
The impact nearly knocked the breath completely out of him and stars exploded in his vision from the brutal collision, he tasted blood in his mouth.
「Ouch that looked painful af」
「How is he still holding on??」
「The tail just cratered a wall with him on it」
「His grip strength is insane」
「Is he even human」
The tail whipped back from the wall and Koya dragged himself up with a pained curse, his arms shaking from the effort but getting enough leverage to actually stand on the thick appendage.
Instead of running, he used Speed Blitz to rapidly climb onto the monster’s massive scaly back like a parkour master then he finally got his proper footing as the monster thrashed wildly in the air trying to shake him off.
’Fucking move...’ He sprinted across the broad back and reached the head.
The dagger was stuck deep in its bleeding eye, although he had the other dagger in storage however he didn’t want to lose this good weapon so he gripped the handle firmly and dragged it out from the ruined membrane with a wet squelching sound.
The monster let out another ear-splitting screech that sounded across the cavern as it decided it no longer wanted to limit the battle to here and soared powerfully through the air toward the surface with devastating speed.
The two guards at the entrance of Salamander’s Lair were having a nice conversation about their daughters.
"So Kenji, how’s your girl doing at middle school?" The first guard asked while leaning against the fence.
"Ah, she’s doing well. Top of her class in math, might even get into the prep academy next year." Kenji said proudly while adjusting his helmet. "What about yours?"
"Mine? She’s more into art and not awakened yet, but she’s only thirteen so she’s still got time." The guard shrugged with a small smile. "Not everyone needs to be a Crest user to be successful, you know?"
"That’s true. My wife keeps saying the same thing. Less dangerous too."
"Exactly. Let them be normal kids while they can..."
Suddenly the ground trembled and the Alpha Salamander burst out of the entrance, breaking it even more as the guards shrieked like school girls.
Koya held onto the head, his body was bruised but he was holding onto the dagger embedded between scales.
"Why don’t you fucking fall already?" He asked as he pushed away from the head.
Unfortunately the Drone was still following along... He wanted to get attention, yes, but not attract the mad scientists that would want to know why a human could use four affinities.
Koya could also feel the mana slowly draining from the pills wearing off.
As he was in the air, the Alpha Salamander whipped at him with the tail and he blocked it by gathering mana to create a barrier over his body.
The strike sent him shooting downward to the ground, leaving a crater and when the smoke cleared, he was standing there on one knee.
’I think my arm’s dislocated.’ However he cracked his arm back though it hurt like hell, even through the skill.
The sound of the bone popping back into place made even Disguise Master wince from her position.
「BRO JUST RELOCATED HIS OWN ARM」
「He’s built different」
「Just run away man」
「If he runs the Salamander riots and hurts innocent people, he started this so he’s gotta finish it..」 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
Koya took a deep breath as the monster charged its own strike, drawing upon the flames of the five tails that it had to produce flames.
The flames were more charged than usual and even from here, Koya could feel the heat searing against his face.
The temperature was climbing past anything he’d felt before and he placed both of his hands together.
’I have to outflame it, huh?’ He thought as he reached Mana Mode and focused the flames into the dagger in his hand, summoning it and pouring mana into it.
The enhanced mana from taking all those pills seeped into it and the flames were beginning to spark in silver at the edges and the monster unleashed the flames at him and Koya was consumed by them completely... only to reveal that he was a bit away with the help of Speed Blitz and now he threw his dagger at it once more, aiming for the center of the head with a bite of his lips.
His heat couldn’t reach that of the monster but the dagger soared through the air and the monster tried to defend it with its tail.
However the flesh of that specific tail had been weakened after Koya used his flames on it and the monster had even smashed it through the wall, so it tore through and went for the head.
The dagger pierced the skull however it didn’t do any real damage to it except a drip of blood.
The monster on the other hand was enraged and whipped down at enhanced speed, dropping its tail on Koya.
Koya tried to move however he was slow and the protection barrier that formed in front of him was broken through like glass... At the last moment he even tried to use Darkness Manifestation only to realize something critical.
His mana reserves were out and the tail came down with a sickening crunch.
CRUNCH!!!
The monster let out a roar of victory.
「NO WAY」
「Did it just kill him??」
「KOYA NO」
「Please tell me he’s okay」
「He died in front of 3.1 MILLION VIEWERS?!」
However the two guards had come back to their senses and tapped the gauntlets in synchronized panic, activating the powerful magnetic field that surrounded this area.
It suctioned the raging monster back toward the hole with the help of the specialized magnets they had placed throughout the lair entrance. The Alpha Salamander roared in fury as it was dragged back underground with its claws scraping stone.
Ichinose and the drone frantically looked for Koya around the battlefield... even in the massive crater where the tail had struck, there was no sign of him.
There was no body and just blood... which made her wonder if he had been completely flattened...
She turned off the stream with trembling fingers and collapsed to her knees, tears forming as she lamented losing her golden goose.
’Three million viewers,’ she thought desperately. ’Three million and now it’s all gone—’
She saw something glinting in the rubble and her tears stopped instantly.
She walked over with sudden purpose, only to find Koya’s legendary Hereto Dagger embedded in the ground, it was steaming hot but completely intact.
Her eyes widened and a slow grin spread across her face.
She remembered the stream comments when Koya first drew the weapon, one comment said a single Hereto Dagger could buy a mansion in the Luxury District and that was all she needed to hear.
’If one dagger is worth millions,’ she thought, hands shaking from greed as she carefully extracted it using her gloves, ’and this is one of only twenty-four in the entire world...’
"I’m rich," she whispered, then louder, clutching the priceless weapon. "I’m RICH!"
She started laughing. The guards stared like she’d lost her mind, but she didn’t care. Koya might be dead... he probably was but he’d left her the ultimate prize.
’Thank you Koya-kun,’ she thought with a smile that had equal parts gratitude and pure satisfaction. ’You were the best partner I could have asked for.’
[Five Days Later]
"Ma..."
Disguise Master didn’t know what to say.
Ever since his loss against the Alpha Salamander, which wasn’t completely his fault, he had been quite hard to talk to.
Sure he was the one that enraged the Salamander and sure they had to pay several millions in fees for enraging the monster and putting several Crest users in danger, however he was pretty quiet.
Plus he wasn’t fully healed yet.
The monster had struck him, but he had defended it with his right hand resulting in the bone being bent awkwardly and he had taken several days to heal with the help of the Healing Fluid.
Right now, they were in the Underground training room where he was currently raising his hand up and controlling several lances made of blue fire that circled around him in perfect synchronization.
"Master." It still irked her tongue to say however she could say it more comfortably now.
"Yo." He turned to her and dissipated the flames, showing off his toned upper body. "What’s going on?"
"My Lady said I should remind you that ALI is re-opening today and we’ll be going there. I’ll also be your personal maid during your time there. ALI allows nobles to have personal maids and they have their own classes." Disguise Master said.
She had quit her job to follow this man around.
It made her tongue bitter however her Boss cared for this man... while he was unconscious, she had dispatched several Order members including herself to kill the people that had placed bounties on his head and somehow he was now one of the people that was famous however didn’t have any bounty on his head.
"I see... Are we still going to be living in the dorms?" Koya asked while rolling his arm a bit.
"Yes, we can move freely on Saturdays and Sundays but for week-days we will be staying in the dorm." Disguise Master said while showing him her briefcase that she was holding. "I’ve packed everything I’ll need. Please do your best to be ready Master, you’ll need to be ready."
"Sure." Koya said and walked past her, taking a whiff of his armpits. "Damn, I smell like shit."
’Thank the White King you know.’ She thought while clicking her tongue. ’Take a damn shower.’
About an hour later, it was 8am and a cab stopped directly outside ALI like several other cabs and Disguise Master took a step out.
She looked like her real age now which was 20 and no longer looked like the older woman taking care of the mansion.
Her disguise had dirty blond hair similar to Koya’s coloring and crimson eyes as well as her real rack of breasts, which were B-cups so she wouldn’t attract any male attention.
’A new place, huh?’ She thought while looking at ALI which several other students were entering.
To use this disguise, she was forced to use more parts of her real body like her breasts and ass which she usually padded for missions... and honestly, she loved looking like the average flat maid.
Koya stepped out beside her. His left hand was bandaged and he was looking at the building with a strange expression that she didn’t know what to make of.
"Shall we?" He asked as the driver pulled away and she nodded as he started walking and she walked behind him.
The moment they stepped through the gates, the whole plan of laying low was completely thrown out of the roof as several people came up to him and asked him how he was doing.
Some had even seen the stream and were wondering if he had died.
"No, I didn’t die at all." He said, waving the questions off while trying to find a way to get through the crowd.
"Ah Koya-san, who is that cute maid behind you? Is she yours?" One boy asked and Koya waved him off.
"Yes she’s mine. Please don’t ask anymore questions."
However there were more questions and when he felt like punching someone’s head through, someone cut through the line.
It was a woman with black hair and glasses wearing the Class 3 uniform and tie.
"Ah Sir Amagi Koya. Professor Saki requests your presence at her office immediately." The girl said and took hold of his hand, dragging him along and Disguise Master ran after them.
It took several minutes to navigate through the Main Building and arrive at her office and even then, Koya hesitated for a moment while looking at the door.
"What?" The woman looked at him questioningly.
"The last time, I walked in on her changing." Koya admitted and looked away from the immense glare Disguise Master was giving him.
"Oh, Professor Saki usually does that... However she was fully clothed before I left here." She said while opening the door and presenting inside.
They looked at Saki who was currently in her bra, using a fan made of wind to propel against her face which in turn made her breasts shake and both of her legs were on her table, showing off her panties.
It was sexy... honestly.
Koya bit his lip and the student closed the door in the blink of an eye.
"PROFESORRRRRR!!!"
