Chapter 127 Those who aren’t Afraid of the Sky
What we should give top priority in this battle was to rescue Mea.
Next was not to let Belford to run away. It was too dangerous to let such an insane guy get away.
The enemies fire power were Belford and Dragloss whose strength was unknown and nearly twenty Lindworms. It was troublesome since all of them were flying in the sky.
Furthermore, there were Isabella and Keith who thought of us as enemies due to implication.
Well, let’s leave those two to Reus and the Beast King as discussed earlier.
Since Grethe was still tired because of the fight against Emilia, she would focus on rescuing Mea.
Anyhow, the ones who were going to fight Belford would be me, the ladies and Hokuto.
Even though the difference in number was large, there was nothing to worry about if we weren’t careless, but that would only work if there was no time limit.
The other side was obviously going to escape, so it would be tough to do battle while blocking his retreat.
Nevertheless… we had no choice but to do it.
“Are you going to run away!?” (Reus)
“You know, I’m not interested with battle junkies like you guys.” (Belford)
While he was talking to Reus, I put together the strategy and informed the disciples through [Call] and secretly whispered the instructions to the Beast King. After that, we were prepared for the battle.
I waited until the time when the conversation between Reus and Belford ended…
“Well then, the King of the beastkin, I will fully utilize your daughter…” (Belford)
“Deploy!” (Sirius)
I started running while shooting [Magnum].
However, the magical bullet shot was easily prevented by Dragloss arm. It seemed that Belford was wary of [Magnum] since it was also due to its range, so it was an obvious result.
If I used [Anti-Materiel], it would surely shot Belfort through its arm for sure, but it would be too strong since it could kill McDatt. Moreover, it was dangerous to Mea. Let’s set it aside as a last resort.
First off, when I tried to close the distance while creating diversion, Isabella and Keith were standing in the way as expected.
“Keith, I’m here! Bear the pain!” (Reus)
“Do not move, Isabella!” (Eisen)
As for exchanging blows, Reus swung down his favorite sword at Keith while the Beast King extended his body to restrain Isabella.
I ran through those two on the side. I leaped from the destroyed walls and flew in the sky. As I drew closer to Belford, the surrounding Lindworms were attacking to stop my approach.
“Awoooo—-!” (Hokuto)
Hokuto easily surpassed from my side and loudly howled. It blew away the approaching Lindwords with a shock wave caused by the roar.
“Woof!” (Hokuto)
“Let me borrow you!” (Sirius)
When the path was possible, Hokuto extended his tail as much as he could, and I leaped further by using it as a foothold.
Since Hokuto flew along with the momentum of tail swing, I was getting closer to Belford just like an arrow.
“Don’t get in my way, Reus! I have to support McDatt for Mary’s sake!” (Keith)
“Stop it! Are you really think you’re doing this for Mea’s sake in this kind of situation!?” (Reus)
On the other hand, Reus seemed to be struggling for a bit.
Unlike the match during the midday earlier, they didn’t have to worry about breaking each other’s weapon. However, they were using favorite weapon to each other now. Since the ability difference was small, it seemed difficult to adjust blows to hold Keith back.
While exchanging blows, they shouted at each other.
“I will protect that girl. Move!” (Keith)
“Quit it! You’ll regret if you are doing whatever you want now! You need to wake up soon!” (Reus)
I entrusted Isabella to the Beast King, but I was a bit uneasy if he could suppress Isabella’s speed.
However, he should know her tendency since she was his wife. When I noticed, he stopped Isabella’s movement by hugging her.
Even so, Isabella unleashed punches and kicks, but the Beast King was persuading her without hesitation even though he received all attacks. It was probably that the force of the attack wasn’t good because of the hug, or perhaps, the Beast King was simply sturdy.
In other words, Isabella was more on speed while the Beast King on defend?
The Beast King occasionally did headbutt but it was easily avoided by Isabella. However, there seemed to be no problem even if he did it in that situation.
‘Let’s give undivided attention to that guy.’
“Are you serious? You know, you are challenging an air battle against these dragons.” (Belford)
“I understand that they aren’t human, but this is something that I need to do.” (Sirius)
A single Lindworm approached from the side in the meantime, but Emilia who came late released an [Air Shot] against its face to repel it.
Emilia couldn’t fly through the sky like Fia, but she could freely move to certain extent by receiving the wind. She avoided the approaching Lindworms by using that movement, and on the contrary, she was able to fly in the air as a footpath to reduce the number of Lindworms.
Belford understood that it was dangerous to turn his back on me. So, Dragloss was trying to leave the castle while facing the front, but I was stopping them with a higher speed.
I confirmed the appearance of Dragloss again as I got closer, but it was more strange than expected.
It had three necks with red, blue and green colors and six arms. And six wings of each color on its back… no, it seemed like those wings were sewed. Since the body part was the only noticeable part with black scales, that would probably be a different kind of dragon.
To put it simply, it was like binding four different colors dragons together. There were manastones buried here and there around the body and a complicated magic formation was drawn. Perhaps, Dragloss was moving according to that magic formation. Moreover, it was controlling the Lindworms that were flying nearby.
“Damn… he is quicker than expected. Dragloss!” (Belford)
Even if the weapon couldn’t reach, [Magnum] was likely to reach at that distance, but breath of fire and wind was released from the three heads of Dragloss.
The range of the breath was wide, so I used [Air Step] and avoided while greatly descended. The breath, then, hit multiple Lindworms. It seemed that he didn’t care about the damage to the surroundings at all.
Although Emilia was within the range of the breath, she succeeded avoiding it. However, the range of the breath was longer than expected and it seemed that it reached the castle.
“I will not let you! Everyone, please!” (Reese)
However, when Reese activated Spirit Magic, the water from nearby fountain shot out and it became a shield to hold the breath.
Although the breath had a tremendous firepower, Reese seemed to have compressed the water considerably and the shield was able to withstand with some evaporation.
Moreover, after enduring the breath, when people thought that the water that stood in the air started to move as if it had a will, a violent water blew out and it was striking the Lindworms that were approaching the castle and blew them away.
“It is good if there is a river, but if that’s their number, I guess that it is alright with the fountain here.” (Reese)
The Lindworms were pushed back by the water and the damage seemed to be small, but at least, that was good enough as a support power.
Since the water of the fountain gushed out again and was being replenished as it was decreased, that side should be fine until Reese ran out of mana.
“It is my first time to see someone who can freely handle water to that extent. That seems to be an interesting experiment.” (Belford)
“Do you have time to spare?” (Sirius)
I descended and came around from under Dragloss and rose in a single stretch. I stopped in the air to block Belford’s escape path.
I was in a state of keeping [Air Step] activated at my feet, but as expected, Belford couldn’t hide surprises since I was like standing in the air.
“Ooh!? How did you do that!?” (Belford)
“Well… I’ll tell you if you return that girl.” (Sirius)
“That’s impossible. Hmm, is that a kind of magic? Aah, you guys are really interesting! I’ve decided, the next experimental bodies will be you guys!” (Belford)
“…Is it find to be calm? Look around you.” (Sirius)
Dragloss turned around and made Belford faced me with the castle behind me, but he wasn’t panic as ever.
When he turned around, Emilia was cutting the throat of the Lindworms with knife and magic. As for Hokuto, he reached to mid air by biting the tail of a Lindworm and he was displaying a splendid battle by attacking other Lindworms.
By the way, Belford noticed that his support power was decreasing, but it made me concern when he was still calm.
It might be because there was a hostage or he had prepared something.
“What’s wrong if the Lindworms is decreasing? My masterpiece, Dragloss, has no weakness, you know.” (Belford)
“If that’s the case, shall I try it?” (Sirius)
First off, I aimed for Dragloss wings with [Magnum] to stop the movement, but like before, it was shielded with the arms and tail. And the wound shot was immediately blocked and regenerated.
The reaction speed was also a threat, but that reaction speed to guard itself from this distance was considerably troublesome. That guy was really confident, was it?
However, to worry about this much was…
“…It is not exploding, huh?” (Sirius)
The [Magnum] just now was a bullet that released [Impact] upon landing, but for some reason, that didn’t happened.
Whether Belford noticed my doubt, he was stroking Dragloss while laughing.
“Well, thanks. This child favorite food is mana, you know?” (Belford)
“Could it be… absorption?” (Sirius)
“Although it is a compression of mana, your blow was a threat. When I created measure against it, the result was more than expected.” (Belford)
Dragloss had the characteristic of absorbing mana. Perhaps, the bullet earlier was absorbed by the body before it could emit impact.
It seemed to be almost a countermeasure against me. Thus, I had to accept this condition and I couldn’t ignore its existence since it could directly accept it.
Although he was insane, he had the ability to create a monster that could use implication, and he was an enemy who might overturn a country as well. Should he feel honored… for me to be wary of such an opponent?
Anyhow, the effect of [Magnum] that was directly shot at it was light.
Since my priority was to rescue Mea, instead of approaching Belford, I…
“I worked hard on the defense. But, of course, defense is not everything.” (Belford)
“As expected of dragon species, is it?” (Sirius)
Since there were three heads on Dragloss, if I got a direct hit, it seemed I would be burned black in an instant, or being frozen to the body core, or blown away if got caught with the gust of wind… so it was hard to approach because three kinds of breaths were released constantly.
None of them was too difficult to break through. Anyhow, I flew around Dragloss and kept looking for opening while avoiding its wings that occasionally attacked me.
I shot [Magnum] several times while flying around, but even though I also aimed for Belford, it was all prevented by Dragloss and it didn’t become a decisive blow.
I somehow succeeded to hold it because I was around, so should I wait until Emilia and Hokuto settled the Lindworms?
“Hey, what are you doing? You have been avoiding from a while ago, are you thinking for your companions to come?” (Belford)
But, Dragloss summoned Lindworms, right? That was because more of them appeared from above.
There were few others remained after Emilia and Hokuto took care of them, but… the number of the Lindworms returned to the original. I had no problem with the battle itself, but wasn’t this a bit unfavorable situation?
As I moved in big way to avoid being caught by the breath, Belford was sighing as if he was too free.
“You are too persistent. I want to tell you this, but I don’t have business with you now. Why don’t you get out of my way?” (Belford)
“I refuse. I don’t intend to let you escape and I have to get that girl back.” (Sirius)
“You are so stubborn. I certainly think that it is bad to kill you, but neither this country nor the experimental body should be related to you who are adventurers, right? Why are you going this far?” (Belford)
“It’s true that there is no relationship, but that girl is likely to be one of my disciples. More importantly, I don’t feel good if I let you get away.” (Sirius)
“That can’t be helped. Well, if you die, it’s also good for me to have your corpse.” (Belford)
Then, I avoided breath of fire that was release to block my escape path, but I missed a bit the breath of ice that was released subsequently after, and the sense of left hand was a bit paralyzed.
Since it was a light frostbite, it would heal if I left it for a while. After that, I took a distance for a fresh start while restraining it with [Magnum].
“…I am a bit disappointed. Are you thinking of a countermeasure?” (Belford)
“…” (Sirius)
“No, is Dragloss too good? Anyhow, it had been hard for me to secure the dragons.” (Belford)
“…I forgot to mention one thing.” (Sirius)
“Hmm?” (Belford)
“Is it fine to only focus on me?” (Sirius)
“That’s obvious, isn’t it? Your range attacks are a threat… ooh!?” (Belford)
At that time, suddenly Dragloss body shook violently.
Belford, who was about to fall down from its back due to the shock, verified the surrounding and found that a wooden arrow was stuck in Dragloss body.
It was fine for him to be prepared for my long range attack, but unfortunately, we…
“We have one more sniper.” (Sirius)
When I turned toward the Arbitray castle, I could see Fia who caught up on the top of the castle and finished shooting arrows from the bow, Archerion.
Yup… my role wasn’t only to close off the way he could escape, I was also a decoy so that she could snipe from behind.
In addition to the ability of Archerion, the distance of the arrow Fia shot just now was greatly extended by the help of the Wind Spirits. Furthermore, since the tip of the arrow rotated like a drill due to wind wrapped around it, it gave a considerable impact and penetrating power.
Such an arrow stuck in one of the Dragloss neck, and two on its body, but… it didn’t fall from the air.
“Phew, that’s dangerous. I was about to drop the experimental body, you know. I was surprised to get hit by arrows at that distance, but for Dragloss to fall with these three arrows is–…” (Belford)
“It’s not really necessary to make you fall, you know? Our aim is to confine you.” (Sirius)
“What did you say… Dragloss!?” (Belford)
Suddenly, Dragloss couldn’t keep still in the air and it violently shook Belford on its back.
When he looked at it, numerous branches started to grow from the stabbed arrow, and that begin to hinder the movement by entangling Dragloss body.
“What’s this!? Where these branches coming from…” (Belford)
“You should look well. It is branches of a tree, and the stabbed arrow is a wooden arrow.” (Sirius)
The arrow Fia shot was close to a stick with a pointed tip, and it wasn’t an ordinary arrow with wings and feathers.
That was a special arrow born from Archerion. It absorbed mana from the enemies stabbed, and it would grow and the branches would spread to restrain movement.
Since it consumed mana as it sealed the movement, it was very handy, but since it was created from the bow itself, the advantage was that it took some time to produce one. By the way, as time went by, the efficacy went down, so it couldn’t be produced.
If it was a person, a single arrow would be good enough. However, the opponent this time was huge. Therefore, I had to earn a bit more time for her to produce more than one.
Although I was amazed at the countermeasure against [Magnum], I was concentrating on avoiding without serious attacking Dragloss for this reason.
Anyhow, the movement of Dragloss was sealed, and this was a chance as Belford attention swayed greatly.
It tried to turn to attack me, but… apparently, I made it in time.
“…I’m getting back Mary-sama.” (Grethe)
The only person who stealthily moved was Grethe and she jumped on Dragloss and stabbed a knife at Belford.
I was going to do that if Grethe didn’t come, but it seemed she was able to do it by stepping on Lindworms as footholds.
However…
“Ooh… you manage to come this far, huh.” (Belford)
“I can do it if it is this much. More importantly, return Mary-sama soon. Otherwise…” (Grethe)
“‘Otherwise’… what will happen then? Aren’t you planning to stab me with that knife? This McDatt is your employer, and he is a replacement of your parent.” (Belford)
“You’re wrong. You are… not McDatt-sama. The man who tries to kidnap Mary-sama is… my enemy!” (Grethe)
“He-help me, Grethe! I am… just being manipulated. It’s not my real intention!” (Belford)
“… The real McDatt-sama will never say such thing, and if it is him, he would tell it himself.” (Grethe)
“Oh my, is that so? But I can see you are trembling inside. Even though it was short, I’d been watching you through this guy… Come!” (Belford)
“!?” (Grethe)
“Hmm… eh? Grethe… are you nearby?” (Mea)
The moment Mea, who was sleeping due to drug and held by Belford, woke up, various tentacles jumped out of the flesh of the restrained Dragloss and attacked Grethe.
That slight opening creating from the disturbance was fatal. Grethe had no choice but to leap and escaped without looking aside.
It seemed that she managed to avoid the worst situation by that judgment, but Grethe fell to the ground while scattering blood all over. That might be due to the tentacles slightly injured her flanks.
It was a bit delayed, but by the time Mea strengthened her eyesight and saw that disastrous scene… that young girl’s cry reverberated around.
“Aa…aah!? Grethe–!?” (Mea)
Mea began to struggle while screaming, but she was put back to sleep when Belford sprayed a powder at her mouth.
“A… uu…” (Mea)
“Phew… it’s troublesome if you make a noise. With that, can you leave us alone?” (Belford)
{Sirius-sama! Leave Grethe-san to me!} (Emilia)
Since I heard the [Call] from Emilia, I left the falling Grethe to her and she would be fine.
At that time Dragloss started to shred hard the branches that entangled it. I guessed I should attack it now.
I tried to leave the situation to Grethe who seemed to have a relationship with McDatt, but… did the cunning part of him and the gentle part of him made her hesitated? From their conversation, I understood that McDatt was someone who liked a replacement of her parent, but… that was fatal, wasn’t it?
At the time when I thought whether I should decide to harm Mea soon… I shot [Magnum] at the neck of Dragloss.
“Oh my, what a wasteful struggle.” (Belford)
However, it didn’t only avoid the shot by moving the neck, it also prevent it by extending its arm and tail.
It seemed like a trivial attack, just like what he said, but my role was a decoy after all.
And the attack just now was…
“Oraaa–!” (Reus)
“Ma-maryy–!” (Keith)
… to turn its eyes away from Reus and Keith who were coming down from the sky. Their whole body was soaked. Apparently, they came flying by Reese’s water.
I couldn’t see sign where Keith was beaten, but it seemed that he had returned to a sane state as he was wielding weapon against Dragloss.
It seemed that he was brought back by her sister’s scream.
“Cheh! What a troublesome bunch!” (Belford)
Dragloss turned its head toward the sky to intercept them with breath attack, but a common arrow shot by Fia was sucked into its mouth and blocked it.
My [Magnum] looked weakened due to the countermeasures, but it was still a good thing if it received the hit.
The [Magnum] shot after Fia’s attack gave a shock wave just before the impact, and since the neck greatly swayed, it had no time to unleash breath attack.
Even so… despite being desperate, those two were excessive. If it wasn’t due to our backing, they would be burned black.
“Dorashaaaa–!” (Reus)
“Let’s do it–!” (Keith)
Then, when the two fell, they swung their weapons together with the momentum of the fall, and they split the neck and wings of Dragloss.
There was one neck left, but it seemed that two of its wings were sliced at the root part. That caused Dragloss to greatly lost it balance and had finally begun to fall from the air.
“That’s bad! Hurry up, regenerate the wings–…” (Belford)
“There!” (Sirius)
I was waiting for that moment when Belford completely lost focus from me.
With the image of a rubber bullet, I shot [Magnum] that emphasized on speed over power. The bullet directly struck on Belford arm that carried Mea.
As the shock and the unstable condition due to the descend overlapped, Belford finally let go Mea.
While preventing him from catching Mea again with [Magnum], I tried to extend [String] to get her, but… apparently, it wasn’t necessary.
“Mary!” (Isabella)
Isabella flew completely like a falling meteor and she rescued Mea who was falling down. If Keith returned to sanity, I assumed that Isabella might as well the same.
She flew with tremendous acceleration, but… there was no problem especially when she had a suitable physical ability. Isabella flew too far and hit the forest. While she was hurt by branches, she kicked the trees to reduce the momentum. It seemed that the burden on Mea was kept to a minimum.
Goodness… her mother was strong. Well, I also understood that.
Dragloss that was falling down finally regenerated its wings. It remained airborne just before it hit the ground surface.
Belford who was relieved of that situation had a shadow approaching him.
“McDatt–!” (Eisen)
The identity of the shadow was the Beast King. He wielded his fists while coming down from the sky.
He seemed to be blown off by Fia’s wind, but still, he was falling from the height of more than three stories building. Seriously, each and every one of them didn’t mind about altitude.
As Belford was distracted by the situation of Dragloss, the countermeasure against the Beast King who came down as if he already anticipated it was completely delayed.
“That will definitely kill me–…” (Belford)
“Nuaaahhh–!” (Eisen)
It seemed that he was trying to appeal with the same desperate feelings like he did to Grethe, but that didn’t work to the Beast King.
However… the Beast King was aiming for Dragloss.
The stroke of the whole body with the moment of the fall and the force created by a destructive power as if a meteor descended caused a shock wave that deal huge damage to the surroundings.
At least, the point of falling was at the castle battleground area.
As a result, the damage to the castle was minimal, but all walls of the audience seats were destroyed and a large crater appeared at the place where the Beast King hit it. That was a blow of fury.
“Ooh… that looks like Lior-Jiichan.” (Reus)
“Old man, you’re overdoing it.” (Keith)
The beast king quietly stood at the center of the crater and there were only meat pieces that were thought to be Dragloss scattered around.
After a while, the piece of meat began to melt and the figure of Dragloss lost its shadow and shape.
Since I couldn’t feel the reaction any more when I looked for it through [Search], it seemed that Dragloss had been completely knocked by the Beast King assault.
Isabella was also strong, but the Beast King held an equal strength… what a scary couple.
When I turned sideways, Reus and Keith had safely landed on the ground.
Well, Reus can used [Air Step] for several times, and Keith was lucky because he caught a Lindworm while falling down.
Keith, who looked sad, quietly muttered as he approached the Beast King.
“McDatt… I don’t really understand the situation, but you should be satisfied if you were killed by father. Rest in peace–…” (Keith)
“You got it wrong, Keith. You should look at that direction.” (Eisen)
“Eh?” (Keith)
It was bad for Keith who was in the mood, but I caught Belford with [String] before he was struck by the Beast King.
“He is safe, is it? That’s good… hmm.” (Keith)
“What? What is that bashful reaction for?” (Eisen)
“Uh, you’re noisy!” (Keith)
“What? Do you want to have a go!?” (Eisen)
I left the two who started fighting each other. Despite many miscalculations and changes in circumstances, everyone worked well.
Especially the Beast King. Even though he was higher status than me, it really helped since he moved according to my instruction.
If the Beast King wasn’t going to kill Dragloss, I doubt that I could secure Belford as I was going to use [Anti Materiel].
I overlooked Belford who was stunned while being bound by [String]. He was probably received the shock wave of the Beast King blow.
“Now, the rest is what to do with you…” (Sirius)
There were many things to be settled, but I finally saw the end of this incident.
Next was the last bit of work.
—
Presenting Hokuto – Unparalleled Compilation
There was one thing after another, and this time Hokuto-kun was fighting along his Master at the Arbitray castle.
Standing in front of Hokuto was a flock of Lindworms and there were around twenty of them.
“Hokuto… I leave the small fries to you.” (Sirius)
“Woof!” (Hokuto)
Leaving the rescue of Mea to the Master, Hokuto-kun was entrusted with the Lindworms.
There was absolutely no dissatisfaction.
The side job was a job for the subordinates.
He was rather motivated because he was entrusted by the Master. Should he do this with an intention to kill?
It would be a difficult aerial battle, but Hokuto-kun leaped out without hesitation.
As the battle began, Hokuto-kun howled in order to make way for the Master.
He secured the front with a shock wave caused by the howl, used his tail as the foothold of the Master and set him off to fly toward the Boss.
From there, Hokuto-kun full-scale battle began.
No, it was trampling rather than battle.
It was more advantageous for the Lindworms in mid air, so he had to approach them to attack.
He twisted his body and avoided attack. He countered with claws and fangs, and sometimes like the Master, he made a foothold with mana and attack from there.
He completely tore the Lindworms one after another like tearing a dragonfly.
Originally, the Lindworms would run away due to Hokuto-kun’s bloodlust and the difference in power, but it seemed that it were not able to do so due to the mana released by the Boss.
However, Hokuto-kun didn’t show any mercy.
This was also a survival of the fittest.
Although it was in the mid air, Hokuto-kun bit the tail of a Lindworm and swung it away.
The Lindworm had teary eyes because of that intense giant swing. He didn’t know the detail on how dragons spilled tears, but that was the feeling.
Of course, he swung around couple of times, threw it and it hit another Lindword. He also hit the ground like a body slam while biting its neck.
From the side, it looked like a pro wrestling.
If Isabella-san had a free time, she might feel very excited.
An additional Lindworm joined mid way, but it didn’t change what Hokuto-kun was doing.
Bit, clawed, rotated and threw it.
It was a strange sight where a wolf flew in mid air, but Hokuto-kun was doing his best to do the side job.
