When the heroes had taken their breaks, and Dusk Bringar regained consciousness and stabilized.
It was five days before the start of the stage. I had summoned all the heroes.
"The final battle is upon us."
I surveyed the heroes, huddled together in the drawing room of the lord's mansion.
Surrounded by the knights, I confirmed the presence of Dusk Bringar and then smiled faintly.
"You might be tired of hearing this, but I want to go over the strategy for this subjugation once more."
The better you understand, the better.
I leaned on my staff, pointing at the scribble of a black dragon on the chalkboard... though it looked more like a wriggling worm I had drawn.
It was somewhat gigantic for a worm, with several wings and tails attached, and not to mention, it had seven heads.
"First and foremost."
I took a deep breath and then said as if to confirm,
"The Black Dragon cannot be felled by conventional means."
Despite hearing this multiple times, the overwhelming statement made the heroes shudder again.
"This creature is an anomaly even by the standards of the King of Flies. It's virtually impossible to bring down with the ordinary raid tactics used against dragons of the Black Dragon Legion."
Conventional means – that is, the typical boss monster raid tactics won't work.
'Not that the tactics used in the game disappear.'
Tactics in the game – in essence, a Gimmick.
That's all there is. Because there's only one path, it's clearer even if it's narrower.
"I will explain about it once more."
I lightly tapped the chalkboard with my staff.
"Night Bringer of the Black Dragon Legion. A being that can be considered the main body, having all the unique characteristics of every monster we've faced from the Black Dragon Legion."
In other words.
'Claws' Parekian's hard body, mobility.
'Fangs' Tustivian's massiveness, breath.
'Wings' Wingian's flight, feather bombardment, mind control.
'Eyes' Ipian's dark magic eyes. And multiple heads too-
It's a total collection of the patterns we've faced from the evil dragons. It's actually more than that.
'The last two, Kilitian and Scalian, have rather subtle characteristics...'
'Blood Drop' Kilitian's vitality.
'Pure Scale' Scalian's... cunningness? What even is this creature...?
Anyway, it has all that too.
"The main issue aside from the intuitive abilities is the dark magic eyes. And the multiple heads."
I randomly poked at the seven heads drawn on the chalkboard with the tip of my staff.
"You all know that it's called the Septdragon? The middle head is Night Bringer himself, and the other six heads..."
I gestured across my neck with one hand.
"Night Bringer beheaded them himself."
"Ugh..."
Evangeline, always expressive, stuck out her tongue in disgust. That's a good reaction. I nodded and continued my explanation.
"The necks were annihilated, and only six heads were left... Usually, they're attached around the middle neck, and during battle, they 'wake up' to assist him."
"That's really a bizarre taste..."
Just as Evangeline said, it's a grotesque sense indeed.
Night Bringer is such a dragon.
It's a Septdragon, but the middle head completely dominates, and the other six heads float around the main body like drones, assisting in battle.
These six heads are already dead, so they have no will of their own. They're just artifacts that do as the leader commands, breathing fire and casting spells.
Evangeline tilted her head in confusion.
"But how do the floating heads breathe fire?"
"Don't make me explain. If we start picking it apart, none of it makes sense, this bastard."
The floating heads are connected to the main body by darkness, probably supplying whatever through that dark conduit.
Pop!
I flicked my staff in my palm and concluded.
"So to sum up... it's an incredibly vital creature, extremely tough, incredibly huge, moves incredibly fast and flies, uses breaths, dragon roars, magic, feather bombardments, mind control, dark magic eyes, and whatnot, and six floating heads that assist the main body too."
Sighs erupted from the crowd. I felt like sighing too.
At this point, how on earth were we supposed to kill it? No, it seems like it was made so we couldn't in the first place.
"Moreover, the typical weakness of a dragon, the 'reverse scale', is absent. Precisely speaking, its entire body is made up of reverse scales, with no vulnerable part."
It is said that every scale composing the body of the True Black Dragon Night Bringer is a reverse scale.
True to a dragon that defies the heavens, even the direction of the scales is completely opposite to that of ordinary dragons.
And just as a typical dragon harbors a single reverse scale in its body, Night Bringer harbored just one scale of the correct orientation.
"This single correctly oriented scale, the 'Pure Scale', is speculated to be its only weakness, but he ripped it out and threw it away."
And that's how Scalian was born...
I wonder how it could be used, still unsure of its full potential. It might turn out to be an advantage for the enemy, so let's set this creature aside.
We'll have to use the same strategies that we used in the game.
"If that's all you hear, it sounds hopeless."
I chuckled and looked around at the heroes.
"But if there really were no answer, I wouldn't be so relaxed, would I?"
They all smiled nervously as they met my gaze. I nodded emphatically.
"What I'm aiming to exploit is the only thing that darkness is inherently weak against... Yes, 'light'."
Just like in the game.
The sole weakness of darkness. I intend to actively use the gimmick known as 'light'.
In the game, as the battle with Night Bringer drew near, new research could begin in the production workshop.
This research pertained to 'light', the natural predator of darkness.
I was aware of this research in advance, so I had instructed it to be carried out long ago. And it has already borne fruit.
"This is the result of the past two months of work by our production guild and many mages, diligently researched and created."
I took out a special device from my cloak and placed it on the table in front of me.
"It's a Magic Condenser."
"...!"
"Wow...!"
The heroes who saw the real thing for the first time exclaimed in admiration.
It was a long, hexagonal, pristine white artifact worn on the arm.
"Its effect is simple. It converts the wearer's magic power into light. Watch, but be careful with your eyes."
As a demonstration, I injected magic power into the device, and immediately, a grey light that mirrored the color of my magic shot forth from the end of the condenser.
"Argh!"
"It's blinding!"
"Lord, you should have warned us about the bright flash!"
"I did warn you, you brats..."
Everyone except Nobody, who was blind, and Damian, who had already covered his eyes, screamed and collapsed.
Didn't I tell you to be careful... Even though I emitted it gently with reduced output. Maybe it's more intense because it's dark around.
"Magic Condensers will be distributed to everyone. You'll see when you use it, but it's not very fuel-efficient, so only use it when necessary."
I turned off the light and nodded towards the priests.
"Ordinary magic power can produce enough light, but divine power systems are particularly effective. That means, priests, you'll need to work extra hard."
And the good efficiency of divine power means...
"Those who wield the power of gods, especially, will be very effective. I'm counting on your performance."
The powers of other gods also have similar efficacy.
The representatives of the different species nodded their heads. I gestured to the side.
"This is the first means by which 'light' can counter it. And the second is this."
Lilly and the alchemists, who had been waiting, pulled a cart loaded with three artifacts into the room.
"We'll also use 'darkness'."
"...!"
The heroes swallowed dryly.
The three artifacts were all shaped like black glass spheres.
"This is the Dragon and Nightmare Slayer made from Ipian's magic core. Artifact [Shining Dark]. Its ability is 'darkness' generation."
Ipian had inherited her father's dark magic eyes and the ability to emit darkness.
This artifact can replicate that ability.
"There is substance to the darkness of the Black Dragon Legion."
Ordinarily, darkness is said to be the absence of light. But the darkness emitted by these evil dragons... and the darkness under that lake is different.
Honestly, it's questionable whether it can even be called darkness.
This malicious darkness has substance.
"And the fact that it has substance means that it can be countered."
"...!"
"Using our light to counter it is one way, but there's no need to go to such lengths. We've painstakingly extracted the enemy's eyes and heart."
I thumped the artifact with my hand.
"Well, that was a long premise! Now, let's discuss the strategy. It's simple. When Night Bringer spews darkness, we will activate this artifact and counter it with our own darkness."
While blocking darkness with darkness,
"In the meantime, using the condensers issued to each of you, emit light to sever the connections between his other six heads and the main body."
Cutting off the darkness between the drone heads and the main body will shoot them down,
"Every time a connection to another head is severed, Night Bringer's main body is also temporarily stunned. We'll use this to sever all head connections and then... fire all our light at the middle head simultaneously."
The beings of the mythic era can be said to embody the natural order that living creatures fear.
The natural order that Night Bringer represents is 'night'.
Therefore, by its very nature being infinitely close to darkness, it must be vulnerable to light.
'That was the case in the game.'
When the heroes concentrated and shot their light at him, Night Bringer initially resisted.
But after reducing the darkness gauge sufficiently, he struggled and exposed vulnerabilities.
The scales in the area where the light gathered peeled away, forcibly creating a weakness that wasn't there before.
"At that moment, we shove in all the offensive means we have."
Nameless's light slash, Dusk Bringer's maximum output breath, Damian's sniping, the combined magic of the mages, and so on...
We'll unleash all our firepower in that instant.
Evangeline, who had been rubbing her eyes from my previous flash of light, asked cautiously.
"What if, it doesn't fall with that?"
"We repeat."
I said calmly.
"We repeat the entire process. Until he dies."
"..."
I didn't need to say it, but they all understood.
'The entire process' includes enduring the breaths, magic, feather bombardments, mental control, melee, and aerial attacks he launches.
And the fact that we, too, will suffer tremendous damage during the process.
We have to kill him before we are all wiped out—this battle is a kind of Chicken Game.
"This is the basic framework for this Black Dragon subjugation."
It was also the only tactic I established in the game.
Of course, it won't be easy.
But even if it's like a camel passing through the eye of a needle, if that's the only way, we have no choice but to charge through.
"So, the code name for this operation is... since we all have to emit light hard..."
I scribbled something on the chalkboard with chalk and shouted powerfully.
"Operation Firefly! In other words, the Firefly Operation!" (TL Note: The first one was in English, with the second one being in Korean)
If we were to call it in a down-to-earth Korean way, it would be something like 'Operation Firefly Larvae.'
"Don't go, don't go, please don't leave~ Sing a song just for me~" (TL Note: Firefly by Shin Hyeong-won [개똥벌레 - 신형원])
As I broke into song, everyone made a dumbfounded expression.
Evangeline murmured with a pitying look on her face.
"Senior, you've gone off the deep end again..."
No, this is a classic... you wouldn't understand...
"If we leverage all our past battle experiences, I believe we can certainly do it."
I said forcefully, returning to a serious expression.
Just as we have overcome Parekian, Tustivian, Wingian, and Ipian in the past. Just as we have deciphered their patterns and methods of attack.
...No, not just that.
Over the years, we've survived thirty-five defenses. Including the tutorial, that's thirty-six defenses.
I truly believe we can overcome this. Sincerely.
"The Magic Condensers will be completed and distributed to everyone by tomorrow, and we will immediately begin training to fire the light."
I looked around at the heroes and smiled lightly.
"Wait comfortably."
Then I clapped my hands sharply.
"Alright, that concludes today's strategy meeting! Everyone take a break, have some food, and then head out!"
The heroes responded in unison with a "Yes!" and began to gather in small groups to discuss among themselves.
About the Black Dragon Legion they had faced, and about Night Bringer, stronger than all of them combined...
As I watched my fellow comrades discuss,
"You've never even met father, yet you've planned this far. Player."
A voice came from beside me.
"But... are you really sure it'll be okay?"
Turning around, there was Scalian, who had willingly allowed itself to be captured, smirking meaningfully.
"If this strategy doesn't bring down father, what will you do?"