I landed near where everyone was gathered.
I immediately took out a necklace with a processed magic stone attached from my storage magic tool and hung it around my neck.
"Selma-san, I'll handle this guy. Leaders, focus everything on protecting the rookies. Rookies, I know you're scared, but stay put. I'll definitely keep you safe!"
"H-Hey! Orun—"
Selma-san tried to say something, but I ignored it.
The black dragon raised its head.
I slowly moved away from everyone, running counterclockwise around the black dragon.
The black dragon turned its head to follow my movement, keeping me centered in its vision.
Good—I've properly drawn its aggro.
Without changing my leisurely pace, after circling about a third of the way around counterclockwise, the black dragon finally moved.
Impatient with my running, it fired the same fireball as right after it appeared.
"A simple attack like that won't work on me!"
I pointed my left palm toward the black dragon and poured mana into the spell formula I'd already constructed.
My original magic activated.
"[Reflective Wall]!"
A gray, semi-transparent wall appeared in front of my left palm.
When the fireball touched the wall, it reversed course and flew straight back toward the black dragon.
[Reflective Wall] forcibly changes the direction of any force that touches it to be perpendicular to the wall.
In short, it creates a wall that bounces back whatever hits it.
Caught off guard by its own fireball coming back, the black dragon couldn't react—the fireball slammed directly into its face.
"Eat your own flames."
While the black dragon's vision was blocked by the explosion, I thrust my left hand into the ground.
I constructed another original spell formula and poured mana into it.
"Not sure if I'll even need it, but insurance is important."
I pulled my left hand from the ground and stood up.
The smoke in front of me cleared, revealing the black dragon.
Its face was completely unscathed.
"I knew it, but couldn't you at least take a little damage? That's your signature move, right? Haah... Guess I have to steel myself... Ugh, this sucks..."
Muttering to myself, I constructed a spell formula and poured mana to activate it.
"...[Status Up][Quintuple]!"
[Status Up] is the simultaneous parallel construction and activation of the six basic support magics: [Strength Up], [Vitality Up], [Magic Up], [Resistance Up], [Technical Up], and [Agility Up].
It's more of a designation for when they're cast together than a single magic name.
The activation difficulty rises, but since they're simultaneous, all buff durations match perfectly, making management easier.
And then [Layering].
This is the technique I established by exploiting that bug in the system.
Normally, applying the same support magic when a buff is already active just resets the duration.
My support magics roughly double the stats.
But with [Layering], I can literally double the already-doubled stats—making it four times.
With [Quintuple], I repeat this three more times, resulting in roughly thirty-two times the original stats.
In this state, even if Oliver had Selma-san's support magic, I could handle him easily.
However, there are downsides.
For some reason, this doesn't work on others.
I tried it multiple times back in the hero party, but it never succeeded on anyone but me.
Also, the strain on my brain is immense.
[Layering] involves parallel construction and near-simultaneous activation.
Just now, to apply buffs to myself, I constructed a total of thirty spell formulas at once.
Spell formula construction requires massive mental calculations.
Overusing magic basically means overusing your brain.
Push too far, and you get headaches; push further, and you can't even stand for a while.
My support magic lasts exactly three minutes.
I have to repeat this every three minutes, so it's unsuitable for long fights.
This battle has to end in a short, decisive clash.
Right as I finished applying the buffs, the black dragon shifted its center of gravity forward, bracing with its front legs.
The moment I saw that, I jumped straight up, moving several meters into the air.
...As expected. Even with my physical abilities boosted over thirty times, my body adapted instantly.
It felt so natural it was almost like this was my normal state—no discomfort at all.
Guess that's thanks to being a 'jack-of-all-trades, master of none.'
—Focus on the fight.
Right after I jumped, a black shadow streaked horizontally through where I'd been standing.
As predicted, it was a tail swipe.
Its tail attacks are extremely fast—dodging after seeing them is nearly impossible.
A major hassle, but if I don't miss the preliminary movement, evasion is easy.
With me unable to maneuver in midair, the black dragon prepared to follow up with another fireball.
I showed my left palm to the black dragon.
Perhaps fearing the [Reflective Wall] from before, it didn't fire the fireball.
It shifted its weight forward again, timing another tail attack for my landing.
"Correct—if I weren't the one fighting you!"
I used [Mana Convergence] to gather mana at my feet, creating an impromptu platform.
[Mana Convergence] is an ability only Oliver and I possess.
Normally, abilities are unique to the individual.
Yet for some reason, Oliver and I both have the same [Mana Convergence].
Oliver uses it as his ultimate move, but it has many applications.
I landed on the mana platform and kicked off it toward the black dragon.
The mana dispersed on impact, the shockwave becoming a tailwind that boosted my speed even further.
The black dragon, expecting to be the attacker, reacted slowly.
In the brief instant before crossing paths, I applied [Sharpness Up] and [Durable Up] to my sword.
As we passed, I added [Instant Capability Super Rise: Impact] and slashed at its neck.
The full-force swing shattered scales and left a cut.
I landed behind the black dragon, sliding to kill my momentum while putting distance between us.
The black dragon let out a roar.
Unlike when it first appeared on the 50th floor, I could feel clear hostility this time.
It finally recognized me as an enemy.
A purple, ominous aura-like mist appeared around the black dragon.
"Tch! Not much damage after all... I wanted to chip away a bit during the probing phase."
Muttering, I put more distance between us.
Right after, the purple mist whipped like a lash and struck where I'd been.
As its massive body suggests, the black dragon isn't particularly fast.
Its main attacks are fireballs, high-speed tail strikes, and body-weight slams using its size.
Normally, the attacks themselves aren't that threatening.
But its entire body is protected by tough scales, making even those plenty dangerous.
On top of that, the black dragon has this purple mist.
The mist changes shape—sometimes whips, sometimes spears—and attacks from all directions.
It's probably magic using ambient mana, like [Mana Convergence].
Even one is annoying, but when we subjugated it in the hero party before, it eventually used ten at once.
In other words, the black dragon still wasn't serious.
While attacking with the mist, it turned its body to try keeping me in sight.
Dodging the mist, I activated an attack magic.
"[Fire Bullet]!"
My [Fire Bullet] was easily blocked by the purple mist.
The small explosion created smoke that hid me from the black dragon's view.
Escaping its line of sight, I closed in again and slashed at its right foreleg, leaving a shallow wound.
The black dragon didn't miss the brief slowdown from swinging my sword—the mist whipped toward me again like a lash.
Catching it in my peripheral vision, I dodged the mist and slipped under the black dragon's belly.
I slashed at the belly too, but it only left another shallow cut.
"Seriously tough all over!"
From the black dragon's right side, the mist transformed into countless needles flying toward me.
"[Rock Wall]!"
I caused the ground to rise sharply, pointed at the tips.
The raised earth attacked the black dragon's underbelly while blocking the needles.
I moved away from the black dragon in the opposite direction from where the needles came.
As I emerged from under it, the tail came rushing at me with terrifying speed.
"!? [Reflective Wall]!"
I activated [Reflective Wall] on reflex.
The tail that touched the wall bounced back the opposite way like a rebound.
(That was close... Good thing I kept the [Reflective Wall] formula constructed just in case.)
◇
After that, our back-and-forth continued several more times.
I slipped through the black dragon's attacks and slashed it repeatedly, but I could only inflict shallow wounds.
Soon, three minutes since applying the buffs would pass.
I put significant distance between us, then reactivated the thirty magics to reset the buff duration.
(I already know its movements from the last fight, so I can dodge the attacks. But no decisive blow. Guess I have to push it even further... Damn it! I can't help thinking—if only they were here right now...!)
In the previous black dragon fight, Derrick and Luna handled the mist, while Oliver and Aneli provided the firepower to bring it down.
But right now, none of those members are here.
(Wishing for what's not here won't change anything. Then I'll just have to handle every single one of their roles myself to beat the black dragon! That's my ideal swordsman, isn't it!)