Suddenly, Coppelia held her head due to a mysterious headache.
“——!?”
“Don’t get distracted, Coppelia! They are coming!”
She raised her head. And in the next moment, the head of the fire dragon she rode on was lobbed off.
The Three Headed Dragon was right before her eyes. Coppelia immediately crouched down, avoiding the tempest raised by the sharp claws. Suffering from a mysterious headache, she pressed her forehead while falling with the fire dragon’s corpse.
(Just now...as if there was someone else’s consciousness, entering my body…?)
A large amount of data and unfamiliar memories were inserted into Coppelia’s soul. The sudden event caused her to grip the fire dragon’s reins tightly and leave the front line.
Seeing her in this state, Asuka clenched her teeth and shouted.
“Just retreat like that for now, Coppelia, and regroup with Kasukabe-san! Look for a chance to take care of Jack!”
“...Very sorry. I...understand.”
Coppelia squeezed out her voice while bearing the headache.
The aerial battle was already in a total mess..
Salamandra and Draco Grief surrounding the Three Headed Dragon used high speed flight, firing altogether under Asuka’s command.
Swinging the Flute of Ratten, Asuka injected power into her words.
“Zengun[1], fire together!!!”
Clang, an elegant sound accompanied the swung flute.
Fire dragons’ fireballs, Stymphalian birds’ poison fog and hails of arrows shot out from all directions. Those attacks blessed by Asuka’s Gift to obtain temporal divinity were much more stronger than normal weapons.
The Three Headed Dragon wrapped himself with Dragon’s Shadow and performed high speed rotations to deflect the attacks, then transformed it into black bullets to intercept the enemy formation.
The fire dragons and the eudemons in the bullets’ line of fire were shredded up, raising desperate cries.
“GEYAAAAaaaa!!!”
“Uu, got hit again…!!!”
“Master, now is not the time to worry about your surroundings! Come here quickly!”
Almathea in her divine goat form morphed into a steel shield to wrap around the fire dragon Asuka was riding on. Nobody could leave even a scar on the invulnerable fortress Almathea morphed into.
However those that were not under her protection were a different matter altogether.
The Three Headed Dragon flitted past the Almathea-clad impenetrable fortress, using sharp claws to decapitate nearby fire dragons and Stymphalian birds.
Hearing the cries of agony while inside the protection, Asuka got so angry that her hair stood on ends as she shouted.
“Alma, release the protection now!”
“No! Please inquire about the situation from Lapko and issue orders from within the impenetrable fortress.”
“Are you telling me to hide in safety as I give orders!? That is something only the despicable would do!!!”
“But the front lines will collapse if you die!!! Please endure for now!!!”
Almathea desperately increased her defenses. Clearly understanding the situation outside, her voice was filled with never-before-seen anxiety.
Mandora understood Asuka’s condition, hence he infused all his power into his blood crystallized Dragon Horns and roared.
“Fire dragons retreat to the back! Demon-Dragons, follow me!”
UUuuuOOOoooo!!!
Roaring everywhere, the vampirized dragon fleet flew in a staggered formation.
Gliding while spewing flames from his blood crystal, Mandora crashed into the bosom of the Three Headed Dragon while raising his sword and then swinging it down.
He planned to cleave through the right head down to the shoulder but his blade was shattered by the Three Headed Dragon’s sharp teeth.
“Gu…!”
“Playing with brute force, eh? How childish!”
As if swatting away a mosquito, he swung his claw lightly.
Although Mandra became a Demon-Dragon, he was still no different from an insect before the Three Headed Dragon's attack. However, the fact that he was still able to slightly turn his body to evade, was probably due to the relentless training for a hundred years. The sharp claw that was supposed to cut through Mandora’s body into half only scraped past his arm, cutting off everything below his elbow.
“Ge...Gah ——!?”
“Mandora-sama!”
“How dare you, bastard!”
“Demon-Dragon team, keep it coming! Spread yourselves to stop him!”
The Demon-Dragons roared to raise morale. They were not the only ones barely holding on to the fight. The Three Headed Dragon’s rampage continued to rob the lives of fire dragons and eudemons.
Comrades decapitated by the sharp claws, throat torn by the sharp teeth...
Mandora pressed on his severed arm, as well as he bit his lips until it was bleeding.
“Abandoning bloodline...Abandoning comrades as tools...Even still, not even a single hit made through…!!!”
Spitting the feeling of anguish. He already gambled everything he had now. But blocking even for a single moment already wore him out. Compared to the pain from bleeding, the pain of regret made him even more mad. Despite this, as the clan of the Floor Master, as a protector of order, he could not shrink back here. Seeming to trace one after another comrade that lost his life, Mandora held his ground.
Almathea was protecting Asuka so she could only stand by at the sidelines.
That scene, although very majestic, could not be shown to Asuka, as directly confronting the Three Headed Dragon would probably shake her mind until she loses herself.
“Master...Please understand your own role. Your responsibility is to provide support to our comrades. If you cannot do it, our comrades will continue to die. If you have the time to be capricious, you should just focus on what you can do for now!”
“Uu…!!!”
Receiving scolding, Asuka clenched her teeth in regret.
—— A battle with life on the line, a battle that reduced lifespan.
Giving these kinds of order without mercy is your role, only this line remained. If this mission was given to her out of trust and loyalty towards her, then she would not be in such deep regret.
But reality was on the contrary. Kudo Asuka’s commands had the effects of raising combat powers. It was only because of this petty reason that they obeyed Asuka who’s barely acquainted with them as they gambled their lives to fight.
Putting it as “having the right person for the right job” might sound good, but Asuka was too immature for such decisiveness, and at the same time too gentle.
Lapko II sat on Asuka’s shoulder, awaiting command.
“Kudou Asuka, I will relay your voice. Please issue command.”
“...”
“Order now! A second’s delay will cause another life lost!”
“—— Uu, I know even if you don’t tell me!!!”
Wiping away her tears, she swung her Flute of Ratten.
Fire dragons and eudemons shrieked from the extreme pain from the mock divinity and it’s consequences. Several hundred fire dragons and eudemons possessing mock divinity spurred their body towards the Three Headed Dragon and simultaneously shot with all their strength.
With the Three Headed Dragon’s speed, he should have been able to avoid it, but the super gravity restriction from Saurian Demon King’s Gift Game was still in effect.
Understanding that he was unable to avoid everything, the Three Headed Dragon disengaged his defense and spewed out flames from the mouths of his three heads.
Flame spewed out by the Three Headed Dragon deflected the several hundreds bullets possessing mock divinity, dissolving into the force that divided London City.
The ground that was struck by the bullets radiated with blazing heat, melting into a molten surface and releasing nauseating heat waves.
Since Sala’s Gift Game was already solved, the Three Headed Dragon had no reason to hold back against the surroundings. He just needed to exhaust his power that was hailed as a natural disaster to devastate those ants that dared to defy him.
Like a hurricane; Like a tsunami; Like a thunderstorm.
The red jade eyes that discarded all feelings silently robbed away the Host’s lives.
(...But this is too inefficient.)
While spewing out flames, he observed below.
Like the air force, the ground force battle line also collapsed. But amongst them, a single female knight that could stop the two-headed dragon was there as she remained standing.
The Three Headed Dragon bared his fangs to reveal a crescent mouth, bursting in laughter.
(Is she the key player on the ground? If so, then it’s simple.)
The Three Headed Dragon raised his right hand, scratched his left arm and sprayed fresh blood.
Ten pure white two-headed dragons born out of the blood, fell onto the ground. If facing the dragon-horned two-headed dragon already took her all, then she should not be able to fend off this assault.
(That said, I already released a lot of Spiritual Power even before the Game began. Should I avoid further bloodshed?)
In a clash between two “Another Cosmology”, even the Three Headed Dragon would not be unscathed. Just from the aftermath of yesterday's fight, large amounts of blood were spilled and the soul status of hundreds of offsprings was already lost. Although spirit levels could be recovered over time, his massive loss of spirit status due to battle was just yesterday. Only a little soul status was left that could be spared for the offsprings.
(The winged underlings would consume a lot of soul status, but when gathering in masses, they take too much time)
Even if mock divinity could not be a match for the Three Headed Dragon, it should still not to be taken lightly. Being too arrogant might spell defeat regardless of how much advantage an individual has.
While injecting power into his right hand to make new clones —— the Three Headed Dragon noticed a huge Spiritual Power and stopped.
“This is as far as it goes, Azi Dahaka!”
With fluttering hair so beautiful that it could be mistaken for golden threads, Leticia assaulted with her dragon’s shadow.
The Three Headed Dragon wanted to shake her off like last night, but opened his eyes wide from that unexpected sharpness.
“Ugh…?”
Dracula's Dragon's shadow cut open the Dragon's Shadow of the Three Headed Dragon.
Shadow fangs transformed into thousands of spears aiming for the Three Headed Dragon. That heaviness from the impact could not be compared to last night. Although it was not enough deal damage to the Three Headed Dragon, the spirit level definitely increased.
Without waiting for the Three Headed Dragon to clear his doubts, Roc Demon Lord initiated an assault as well.
Roc Demon Lord shouted to the surrounding fire dragons.
“We will make him split his clones! You Fire dragons will take care of those then!”
“Sor...sorry! The Three Headed Dragon is all yours!”
Fire dragons reluctantly followed Roc demon Lord’s instructions.
The Three Headed Dragon mocked that clear-to-see naivety.
“Maybe I heard it wrong...With just the two of you, could you really make me bleed?”
“That is so, what of it? If a chance comes by, we will aim for your three heads. If the Great Demon Lord Azi Dahaka so requests, we could perform it for you right now.”
Roc Demon King hid her grinning mouth behind her hand. In her hand was the Geass Roll with the seal of the “Great Sage who Leaves Heaven in Disarray” flag.
The Three Headed Dragon trailed off with his mocking, his red jade eyes shone.
“Save me the boring bluff. I have already investigated the Host Authority that the Garuda holds. That cannot become the decisive blow to defeat me. So you purposely did not initiate the Game, only to make others feel you still have a trump card up your sleeves, right?”
“Uu…!”
With her plan seen through, Roc Demon Lord’s face was shaded red from embarrassment.
On the other hand, Leticia revealed a fearless smile.
“It is hard to say. Karyou-dono is a princess that left her clan at the age of 14 or 15. If you take it that her Host Authority is as traditional as it may seem, then you can keep on thinking that way.”
“...Hoh?”
Affirming the truth of Leticia’s speech deep within those red jade eyes.
But the Three Headed Dragon’s thoughts did not waver. Rather, the Three Headed Dragon felt the real trick lied within the reason Leticia not activating her Host Authority.
(Her spirit level is swelling. This can be recognized as satisfying the conditions to host the Game unconsciously...Then what I need to be aware of is not Garuda, but only this vampire’s Game?)
He recalled her actions after Leticia appeared.
Hypothesizing there existed some special hosting condition, complying to that, the game could be started after some time passed, or possibly triggered after the killing of comrades.
Satisfying the condition but not starting immediately should be some part of the plan. Then the Three Headed Dragon only had one course of action to take.
“Fine. I will play along with you, vampire. I will prove to you that just you two will not make me bleed a drop of blood.”
“That should be our line! We will prove to you that just the two of us are enough to take your head!!!”
Dragon’s shadow spread over the plane.
The lightless sky of shadows released countless two dimensional blades. Understanding that this was the same Gift system as his, the Three Headed Dragon daringly used the same Gift to counter.
Although Leticia knew her strength could not compete against him, she also understood that they could not carry out the final battle plan without making the Three Headed Dragon bleed.
(My Host Authority is one of the trump cards. It cannot be used yet…!)
The Sun Authority of Asclepius that Shiroyasha entrusted.
Using it as a medium, it was able to summon the huge dragon from a solar eclipse. Although the Game rules were not as complicated as before, it could become a huge combat strength to finish off the Three Headed Dragon.
Leticia continued to shoot out endless blades while competing in a melee battle with the Three Headed Dragon.
Roc Demon Lord took this chance to fly closer. Even though she already knew that Garuda flames could not beat him, she still wanted to try regardless.
Making the Three Headed Dragon bleed wasn’t their only objective.
Surrounding him with Garuda flames and dragon shadow, the two then made eye contact and initiated their attack.
(Even if the Three Headed Dragon can’t be killed ——)
(—— At least, we must destroy the wings on his back!!!)
Infusing all their soul status, they assaulted the Dragon's Shadow that turned into wings.
Originally planning to use the same Gift system to repel them, the Three Headed Dragon realized their objective at that moment.
“Your...real objective, is my wings!”
Prowess for prowess, wisdom for wisdom. As a Demon Lord, the Three Headed Dragon would crush his opponent’s speciality.
And because of that, the two of them predicted that if they challenged him with the Gift of the same system, then he would surely respond with the wing of Dragon's Shadow.
If he were to lose his wings for even just a moment, the rest could then be handled by the strong people on the ground.
Believing that martial arts experts like Saurian Demon King or Faceless would surely dig out Three Headed Dragon’s heart, the two of them then sacrificed themselves for the assault.
“Fall to the ground, Three Headed Dragon ——!!!”
Caught in the anti-dragon Garuda flame, Leticia’s dragon shadow shattered. But the Dragon’s shadow shattering was not only her’s.
The right dragon shadow wing of the three Headed Dragon also lost its form after shattering into countless fragments.
The three Headed Dragon went wide-eyed in astonishment after losing his balance —— then, revealed a ferocious smile.
“...Unexpectedly competent. This is a reward. Properly taste despair!”
What?! The panting duo tensed up. They were completely exhausted after exerting their full strength. They could be easily annihilated by a counterattack.
However the falling Three Headed Dragon ignored the two, setting his sights at another direction.
Within the jaws sharp enough to chew the earth, generated flames several times hotter than before, the target the Demon King aimed at was ——
“Don’t, don’t tell me…!”
“He wants to shoot down Airborne Citadel ——!?”
—— Keep your eyes peeled, foolish challengers.
This flame was the strongest Gift Demon King Azi Dahaka inherited.
The strongest attack from the fire system, able to destroy one third of the world according to the legends.
1 Zengun - To the whole army. ↩
0 comments: