Chapter 34: The Otaku Fights a Drake (And Learns What "Tier 2" Actually Means)
The drake lunged.
Not clumsy.
Not wild.
Precise.
Its foreclaw tore through the air where Meliodas's head had been a fraction earlier.
{Battle Prediction} had already shifted his weight.
He twisted, boots skidding across dirt, Moonsing flashing upward in a diagonal cut aimed for the exposed shoulder joint.
Steel met scale.
Sparks exploded.
The blade bit.
Barely.
Not enough.
The drake's tail came next.
Meliodas saw it through {Hyperawareness}—grass bending before impact.
He ducked low.
The tail passed over him with enough force to uproot a fence post ten meters behind.
Kaelen stared from the roadside, pale but holding position.
He did not interfere.
He understood.
This wasn't something he could trade blows with.
The mage crouched behind an overturned cart wheel, whispering defensive incantations that barely formed.
Bud's claws pressed into Meliodas's collar.
Not fear.
Not panic.
Intensity.
The drake pivoted with shocking agility for its mass.
Its jaws snapped forward—
Meliodas triggered {Rush}.
Time slowed.
The world thickened.
Dust hung suspended.
The drake's teeth hovered inches from his shoulder.
Meliodas stepped sideways within the frozen moment, driving Moonsing's edge into the thinner scale beneath the jaw hinge.
Full force.
Full leverage.
{Rush ended.}
Time snapped back.
The drake recoiled with a deep, resonant snarl.
Blood—not much—spattered the dirt.
Good.
Not invincible.
Just durable.
The drake's eyes changed.
The curiosity sharpened.
Playtime was ending.
The ground vibrated.
Energy gathered again in its throat—but not compressed this time.
Wider.
Broader.
Area attack.
Meliodas immediately repositioned.
Between drake and wagon.
The hidden survivors inside the wrecked caravan whimpered.
He didn't look at them.
He didn't need to.
{Danger Sense} pulsed sharply.
He raised {Reflection}—
The breath attack exploded outward in a wide cone.
He angled the blade—
Reflected only a portion.
The rest scattered around him, scorching earth in a crescent.
Heat rippled.
Dust ignited.
The drake absorbed the reflected core again—
But this time it braced.
It was learning.
Good.
So was he.
Meliodas lowered {Reflection} slowly.
The drake crouched again.
This wasn't going to be a ranged duel.
It wanted physical dominance.
Meliodas shifted his grip.
Moonsing shortened—mid-motion—into a faster blade form.
He stepped in.
Not charging blindly.
Measured.
Precise.
He targeted joints.
Elbow equivalent.
Knee equivalent.
Wing base.
Scale Ward reduced impact, but precision accumulated damage.
The drake retaliated with claw strikes that cratered the ground.
One clipped Meliodas's shoulder.
Scale tore cloth.
Pain flared.
Skin split.
But {Regeneration} immediately began knitting the damage.
The drake noticed.
Its eyes narrowed.
Interesting.
Meliodas exhaled.
Fine.
Escalation then.
He formed a thin {Energy Constructs} blade overlay along Moonsing's edge.
Not flashy.
Just reinforcement.
He dashed forward with {Chitin Slayer} acceleration and drove the enhanced strike into the forelimb joint again.
This time—
The blade penetrated deeper.
The drake roared.
It leapt backward, wings flaring instinctively.
Wind exploded outward.
Kaelen shielded his face.
The mage was thrown sideways into dirt.
Bud flared brighter—offended at the audacity.
The drake lifted briefly—
Not full flight.
Testing lift.
That was bad.
If it took to the air, this became different.
Meliodas didn't allow it.
He threw a compact {Energy Constructs} spear mid-air.
Not dramatic.
Just sharp.
It struck the drake's wing membrane.
Not enough to cripple.
Enough to disrupt.
The drake crashed back down heavily.
Now it was angry.
Good.
Angry made mistakes.
It lunged again—
Meliodas pivoted.
Sidestepped.
Slashed.
Then—
He did something new.
He didn't aim to cut.
He aimed to redirect.
Using the drake's own forward momentum, he angled Moonsing and triggered a brief energy discharge from {Sun Fruit}—
Not a miniature sun.
Just concentrated heat along the blade.
The edge burned as it cut.
Scale hissed.
The drake screamed properly this time.
Not annoyance.
Pain.
It staggered.
Meliodas didn't press recklessly.
He stepped back instead.
Breathing steady.
Watching.
The drake stared at him.
Not hatred.
Recognition.
This was no longer prey.
It lowered its body slowly.
Not attacking.
Not retreating.
Evaluating.
Then—
It exhaled once.
A low rumble.
And stepped backward.
One step.
Two.
Maintaining eye contact.
Then turned.
And leapt into the treeline.
Not fleeing in panic.
Withdrawing.
Choosing to live.
Silence fell over the field.
Kaelen blinked.
"…It left."
Meliodas didn't lower his guard immediately.
He extended {Observation Haki} outward.
The presence retreated steadily.
No circling.
No ambush.
Gone.
He finally relaxed.
The survivors inside the wagon began sobbing quietly.
Alive.
Good.
He turned toward the wreck.
Kaelen rushed to help the survivors out.
Two merchants.
Shaken.
Unharmed physically.
Saved by overturned timber and luck.
Village guards from the farmstead arrived minutes later—four this time.
Spears ready.
They stared at the torn earth.
At the blood.
At the scale fragments.
At Meliodas.
One guard swallowed.
"You fought it."
Meliodas shrugged slightly.
"It lost interest."
Technically true.
They helped secure the area.
Bodies of the fallen guards were recovered respectfully.
The survivors were escorted back toward the farmstead under protection.
As the guards organized, one of them looked at Meliodas again.
"You're F-rank?"
Meliodas reached into his pouch and held up the iron plate briefly.
"Yes."
The guard stared at it.
Then at the destroyed field.
"…We'll be reporting this."
Meliodas nodded.
"That's fair."
No bragging.
No boasting.
No performance.
Just fact.
They walked back toward Southval at dusk.
Kaelen was quiet.
Processing.
The mage walked in stunned silence.
Bud settled again on Meliodas's shoulder.
Not tired.
Thinking.
Meliodas kept his expression neutral.
Inside—
The system flickered again.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Drake Encounter Logged
Combat Performance: Exceptional
+5 Hero Shards
+3 Destiny Shards
[UPDATED BALANCE]
Hero Shards: 74
Destiny Shards: 44
Broken Shards: 12
Then—
[SYSTEM UPDATE CONFIRMATION]
Unpurchased Devil Fruits → 50 HS
SP Currency Removed
{Sky Dragon Slayer} Available (40 HS)
The catalog opened silently in his vision.
Sky Dragon Slayer.
Wind manipulation.
Enhanced speed.
Aerial dominance.
Wind consumption.
Affordable.
Very affordable.
And extremely relevant.
Meliodas felt the temptation.
He also felt the warning.
Drakes on farm roads.
Ogres near villages.
Escalation was not random.
Escalation was patterned.
He closed the catalog.
Not yet.
Kaelen glanced at him.
"Master… are you alright?"
Meliodas looked up at the darkening sky.
"Yes," he said calmly.
Then added quietly—
"We just moved up the food chain."
And somewhere deep in the forest—
The drake watched the road one last time.
Then disappeared fully into shadow.
[END OF CHAPTER 34]