I'm Not an Earthworm, I'm an Earth Dragon

Although I was rated Gold, my actual skills fell far short of that. Honestly, even if I was in the middle of the Silver rank, I would be scared.

If I had the title of hero, the ability to influence others, the ability to communicate with intelligence, and leadership, I could barely make it.

So, my place was not among the adventurers carrying weapons below, but above the wall.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be of any help in dealing with the giant turtle. The moment I touched another being, I would lose magic power proportional to the difference in rank, strength, and size. If I were to touch the giant turtle…

…Well. I would immediately faint from magic exhaustion and then be trampled into a stain on the ground. Or I might be trampled by the adventurers and die more painfully.

The reason I could touch Altera was because she was of similar size and somewhat weakened, and even then, I thought I would faint for a moment.

So, I should just fire the fixed large crossbows or cannons from above. Many others besides me were adjusting cannons and crossbows from above, waiting for the giant turtle to appear.

Rather, it was the monsters beyond common sense who could fight below. How could humans wield such a greatsword and not fall?

I could understand Altera since she wasn’t human, but how could a human body do that?

“…Yuna. Do you think Altera will be able to do it right?”

Yuna was also adjusting her arm and bow, preparing to shower the soon-to-appear giant turtle with arrows, and answered my question readily.

“She will do it right. It’s Altera, after all. But… yes. I’m worried that she might just go and catch it alone in the middle, thinking ‘somehow it will work’.”

Perhaps she was thinking the same thing, Yuna also showed a bit of anxiety. Altera was so strong that no one even thought she would fail or get hurt.

The fact that she could wield the ground as she pleased was already beyond common sense, and she was strong and sturdy without armor.

If the one who made this world was a god, her abilities were so absurd that it seemed like Altera was being favored too much.

Of course, it seemed like the god was trying to balance the scales with her complicated and unfortunate past and her hatred for the god, but we had no way of directly experiencing that.

“I agree. By the way… I wonder if it’s right to help Altera with her revenge. No matter how strong she is, I don’t think she can handle a dragon…”

And I didn’t know if we, who were caught up in it, would survive. Well, if Akash screamed that he wanted to live, I could just go along with it…

“I think so too. Even if she is strong, she only inherited half of the power, so she can’t deal with a full dragon. Still, one should be free to dream.”

“Even if we might die?”

At the moment Yuna was about to answer, a shout that the giant turtle had appeared echoed from somewhere on the wall.

“Let’s get ready. Myungho. It seems she did it right.”

Yes, I answered and loaded a cannonball into the cannon, then adjusted the angle. This was no small matter, so I had to praise her after it was over.

There was still plenty of time to talk about revenge, so I could do it later. It was just a hunch, but the thing in the elves’ forest probably wasn’t Altera’s father.

The huge hill crawling from beyond the horizon was raising dust and rushing fiercely toward us.

How much would such a mass eat in a day? So that’s why they named it the tree exterminator. I didn’t know why there were no trees around here, but seeing it in person, I understood the reason.

The hill approached the lure point at high speed. When the distance between the turtle and the wall was about 1 km, the cannons fired at the commander’s order.

The cannonballs, leaving trails, hit the giant turtle’s shell directly, causing large explosions, but that was it.

At best, it only peeled off some of the stones and dirt piled on its back. The giant turtle didn’t seem to care at all and continued to rush blindly toward us.

And I saw Altera. I could see her endlessly throwing stones at the turtle’s head, teasing it as if she was about to touch it.

I was momentarily lost in thought looking at her running without a scratch, but when another fire order came, I startled and fired the cannon again.

It still didn’t even make a scratch, so I wondered if it could be caught, but looking at Altera, that thought disappeared.

It will work. There’s nothing I can do, though. Yuna also started pulling her bow with all her might and releasing it, adding strength among the cannons.

The cannonballs raining down eventually blew away the soil on the turtle’s shell, revealing the rock layer underneath.

A rock layer, not a shell. The shell was still far away. In the end, the giant turtle reached almost the 100-meter mark.

“Everyone! Prepare for impact!”

The person who seemed to be the commander also hurriedly grabbed the flagpole, lowered his posture, and lay down.

I also grabbed something because I thought I would be thrown off if I didn’t, and Yuna used her bow as a support by sticking it into the ground.

Altera lay down and half-buried herself by rolling around.

Wait, why is Altera here?

Before I could even think, a sound that seemed to shake the heavens and earth rang out, and my body shook. The shock was so great that it felt like my internal organs were shaking, and I thought I would lose consciousness.

I couldn’t show such a disgraceful appearance in front of Altera. As she said, I had to endure it ‘like a man’. Of course, I couldn’t even stand up straight and was staggering, but…

“…Altera, when did you… come up here…”

“I just arrived too. Ugh, my insides are all shaken up. This is good, right? I brought it without a scratch. Well, I couldn’t make one, but…”

Wait a minute. She didn’t hold back? When I asked her in surprise, she said that attacks while running were not enough.

“…It seems I underestimated it too much. This might be a tough fight. Then I’ll go down! Do your best up there!”

Altera conjured her greatsword and jumped down the wall. I tried to call her back, saying, “Wait,” but I let her go. She would surely do well.

Besides, the power she used while running might not have caused damage, but the power she used while standing still could cause great damage.

“…Let’s do our best, Yuna. Be careful not to fall.”

“Ha. Are you worried about me now? You should take care of yourself first. Didn’t you almost lose consciousness just now?”

I was caught.

Embarrassed for a moment, I tried to adjust the angle of the scattered cannon again to aim at the turtle’s head.

The reason I tried was that it had no head. The turtle had tucked its head inside its shell.

…If I shoot the shell, will it even break? I turned the angle to shoot the legs instead, and suddenly the turtle’s body moved back again.

And then, having slowly gained enough distance, the turtle used its head like a battering ram and slammed its massive body into the wall again.

– – – –

Why is this thing so hard…!

“Haaaaaa!!”

No matter how hard I swung the greatsword with all my might, or launched sharp rocks from below, I could only make scratches on the turtle.

Even when I fiercely attacked with my scaled hands, feet, and tail, it was like digging a mountain of clay with my hands.

I was definitely dealing damage, but it was far from enough to bring it down.

Other humans were all clinging to its feet, which were the only parts they could injure, and attacking with all their might, but the most they could do was make it bleed a little.

Even that was just picking at the wounds I had made. The only wounds they made themselves were a few broken toenail fragments.

It wasn’t falling down because it was broken, it was just bleeding a little because the outer shell was scratched.

Moreover, this guy, as if its target had changed from me to the wall, was fiercely using its size to smash the wall as if trying to destroy it.

I was already using so much magic power that my consciousness was fading…

If I didn’t care and just tried to kill it, I could. But then, everyone around here would be caught up in it too.

…When did I ever care about humans, I thought, but Myungho could be swept away too. Besides, Akash wasn’t here to stop me.

There were roughly three body slams left until the wall collapsed.

If I reinforced the wall, it might be possible to hold out longer, but if I did that now, when almost my entire body was covered in scales, I would definitely go berserk.

I didn’t expect it to be this troublesome.

As I was struggling with the turtle’s unexpectedly strong durability, I heard Myungho calling me from above with all his might.

The turtle wasn’t attacking those below. Nothing would happen if I stepped away for a bit. It was enough that those guys had a wound to dig into.

I kicked off the cliff and jumped up vertically, and I saw Myungho and Yuna, who looked a bit haggard.

“Altera!! The turtle is going to ram into this wall again soon!! When it does, can you create the hardest and sharpest spear possible where it will hit?!!!”

It was hard to hear over the noise of the cannons, the mages, and the large crossbows firing incessantly, but Myungho shouted to me and somehow conveyed his idea.

When the turtle rammed its head again, we would create a large spear in the turtle’s head at the right moment.

I looked at my body. There were scales on my chest and belly, and my arms and legs had long been covered in scales.

I wondered if my eyes were… not black. My horns had also spread, so maybe even the whites of my eyes had turned black. My neck was probably covered in scales too.

“Alright. I’ll try.”

If he asked, I had to do it. His words made sense. It was about making the turtle ram into a sharp spike instead of a flat surface when it rammed its head.

How would its head, which was fine on a flat surface, fare against a spike?

It was a gamble worth taking. I went next to Myungho, knelt down, and put my hand on the ground to make it easier to shape as I pleased.

“…Altera! Get ready!! It’s probably going to ram soon!”

I could see it even if he didn’t say it. The creature was pulling its body back again, preparing to break the wall.

The moment it rammed its body into the wall again, I raised the hardest and sharpest rock spear I could create where its head would emerge.

Then, instead of the earth-shattering sound of rock against rock, a deafening shriek pierced my eardrums.

I checked to see if it was successful, and part of my spear was stuck in what could be called the turtle’s philtrum. The rest of the base was still raised from the wall.

“Is it a success?!!”

“…No, it’s not enough!”

The turtle tucked its bleeding head into its body and turned to run away.

Well. It can’t be helped.

“Myungho. With that brush, can you put me to sleep or calm me down?”

“With the brush?! Why all of a sudden?”

“I think if I use even a little more magic power here… I’ll completely lose control. But I don’t want to see that turtle running away. So, I’m going to detonate what’s stuck in its face. If you can’t do it, I won’t.”

Myungho seemed to be agonizing, holding his head, but then he resolutely gripped the brush, as if he had made up his mind.

Good, a man should have this kind of spirit.

I extended my magic power widely to reach the spear stuck in the turtle’s philtrum. It was stuck quite deep, in a position where detonating it from the inside could turn its brain to mush.

“Write it in advance now. The moment you write the last letter, I’ll immediately fall unconscious.”

Myungho took a deep breath and touched my body with the brush. I felt a cold and slightly unpleasant sensation, and heard him groaning as he tried to hold onto his consciousness.

I wondered if he could hold on. But he endured and wrote on my body.

That’s right. Clenching my fist, I detonated the spear stuck in the turtle’s head.

And with that, my consciousness was cut off.