Chapter 200
「Now then…」
After Earth leaves, Elibel organizes the current situation alone in the surveillance room.
The current situation is like this:
In the second area, the Eld Desert, the Emperor Beast Agil is confronting the Holy Dragon Harsha.
Ann has successfully retreated. She is currently headed this way.
However, the damage to the middle layer dungeon in the second area is devastating. We will likely have to abandon it until this battle ends.
In the eighth area, Rasetsu, Gonzo, Robun, and Othel are fighting desperately against Yamu the Celestial Dragon.
As reinforcements, Pururu and Ljung are headed that way.
The “Thunder Slash” Kirishima Aoba has invaded the sixth area.
Earth is responding to this.
At Earth’s request, the Holy Dragons have temporarily retreated.
He wants to have a one-on-one talk, it seems.
However, since this is being relayed to the surveillance room, we can still intervene immediately if anything happens.
「Besides leaving the Holy City to her, I wonder if ‘he’ can handle this well…」
The monitor shows each of their current situations.
While processing over forty combined large and small videos, Elibel operates the terminal at an astonishing speed.
「Haa… Not being able to use magic really is inconvenient. If I could use thought acceleration and parallel consciousness, I could easily process this amount of information, but my eyes hurt. What good is that fool…?」
Currently, due to the backlash of “Sanctuary Breach”, Elibel cannot use magic.
Therefore, all she can do is support the affiliates.
For her, a self-proclaimed and mutually recognized genius (though pervert), this is more vexing than anything.
But she has no choice but to do what she can.
「Well, it’s rare for that fool to be motivated, so I guess I’ll show my side as a subordinate for once.」
While using the shelled-out Earth’s belly as a backrest, she types away at the terminal.
Thanks to the pleasant sensation on her back, her work progresses smoothly. Yes, smoothly… Anyway, she has no ulterior motives for using Earth’s body as a backrest. None at all.
Incidentally, her current workload is like simultaneously doing over ten 8-digit flash mental calculations (including multiplication and division) on and on endlessly. You should understand just how outrageously superhuman her actions are.
「Now then, Gijie, Tsumugin, are you ready?」
She checks with the two who are the keys to this operation.
The replies come back immediately.
『Response, acknowledged.』
『I’m fine too!』
「Good, then let’s begin.」
And so, Elibel and the others started the operation.
◇◆◇◆◇
Meanwhile, in the Ford Desert―――
The Emperor Beast Agil is confronting the Holy Dragon Harsha.
Or rather, Agil has stepped in front of Harsha as he tries to ignore him and head towards the Eld Desert.
「It’s been a while, Harsha.」
One of his seven heads, the lion’s head, calls out in a carefree tone.
Just the vibration of his voice stirs up gusts of wind that blow Harsha’s green mane.
「…Move, Agil.」
Harsha responds, radiating not so much a grim determination as an extremely ominous bloodlust.
There is only one thought in his mind.
To cure his cursed daughter.
Nothing else matters.
「Hey now, that’s cold for our first reunion in five hundred years. We must have a lot to catch up on. I certainly do. After all, you and she sealed me easily five hundred years ago. But well, I don’t really hold a grudge or anything. What do you say, Harsha? It’s not too late. Why don’t we join forces…」
「Move」
Harsha cuts off Agil’s words with just four characters.
Agil realizes negotiation and conversation are useless and meaningless.
「…………」
Agil’s expression disappears, as if looking at something utterly boring.
「I see… Yeah, I get it…」
He heaves a sigh, unable to conceal his disappointment.
「I didn’t want to believe it… Hey, Harsha…」
And so he says it – with tremendous malice, the decisive words to wound Harsha deeply:
「Is she really that important to you? That ‘substitute’?」
In that instant, tremendous magical power and killing intent radiate from Harsha’s entire body.
「You… What did you just say?」
「I said ‘substitute.’ You heard me right? No mistake, right? That girl, Elja Lude, is just a ‘substitute’ to you, isn’t she?」
「…Basta…」
「It’s truly pitiful, Harsha. Once, you valued discipline above all, a strict and perfect guardian of the Stellar Veins. But then you met her – the ‘White Saintess’ Ariel, and you changed. What would the old you think, I wonder…」
「Silence!!!!」
Harsha roars as flames erupt from his entire body.
The flames spread in an instant, engulfing the entirety of the Eld Desert.
But Agil takes no damage at all from the flames.
On the contrary, he continues mocking Harsha:
「Shut me up by killing me, why don’t you. Getting angry means you’re self-aware, doesn’t it? Unlike Yamu who genuinely cares for his child, you’re just projecting the image of the ‘White Saintess’ Ariel onto your own daughter. It’s pathetic how attached you still are to the past.」
Agil deploys a barrier around them.
Not a containment barrier, but one for the two calamitous monsters to wield their full power without restraint.
Unleashed, the power of calamitous monsters could easily annihilate an entire continent.
「By now, thanks to Earth’s subordinates, life extension measures have probably been administered to that ‘substitute’ of yours. We have plenty of time to fight. And with this barrier, our power won’t leak outside. We can go all out. Now, shall we begin?」
And so the two, infamous as calamities, clashed.
◇◆◇◆◇
Agil makes the first move.
Numerous magic circles appear around him, unleashing countless magics – fire, water, ice, lightning, earth, metal – each boasting at least Pope-class.
But Harsha charges in undeterred.
A tremendous explosion occurs.
From within the blast of flames, a battered Harsha appears.
His scales are peeled off, and parts of his body are missing.
But in an instant, Harsha’s body shines, and those wounds quickly regenerate.
It’s the Holy Dragon’s innate spell, “Purification,” instantly restoring him.
Maintaining momentum, Harsha coils around Agil’s massive body.
Though Agil is gigantic, Harsha’s full length is also considerable.
Like a snake constricting its prey, Harsha wraps tightly around Agil.
「―――DIE!」
And in that coiled state, he unleashes his full-powered breath.
ZDOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!
A point-blank attack.
「GAH…!」
Agil can’t help but cry out.
「IT’S NOT OVER YET!」
Harsha focuses power in his mouth again.
Zdon! Zdon! Explosions occur again.
It’s a rapid-fire breath attack.
「Gaha… you’re really going at it…」
Unable to move, Agil looks at the coiled Harsha.
Even for Harsha with his instant regeneration, a point-blank suicide-bomb-like breath is an extremely powerful means of attack.
His already wounded body has already regenerated.
On the other hand, Agil’s body has wounds opened up all over.
Or rather, should it be surprising that this level of damage is all a breath from an awakened Dragon King inflicts?
「This isn’t enough. In that case―――」
Deeming his breath insufficient to finish it, Harsha bites into Agil’s body even more.
Blood sprays as sharp fangs pierce Agil’s massive body.
「Guh… That hurts… Gaaaaah!!!」
Not one to lose, Agil’s seven heads simultaneously bite into Harsha’s body.
「Guuuuu!」
「Gurururururu!」
Chomp, chomp, their fangs sink in deeper.
The first to let go is Harsha.
He also loosens his coiling and pulls away from Agil.
「Oh? What’s wrong?」
Seeing Harsha’s actions as inexplicable, Agil tilts his heads puzzledly.
But Harsha’s next words are even more baffling.
「……I have won, Agil.」
「Huh?」
Harsha declares victory unexpectedly.
Agil makes a suspicious expression, but then his body suddenly and unnaturally swells up.
「―――!?」
Bokobokobokobokobokobokoboko!
Agil’s body inflates like a balloon.
「Wha… Ga… Ooo, oooooooooo!」
「I infused your body with the power of my ‘Purification.’ Rejoice, Agil. Your body now possesses regenerative power to instantly heal any wound.」
As he watches that sight, Harsha calmly opens his mouth:
「However… the power of an awakened Holy Dragon’s ‘Purification’ is extremely potent. Without my magical core, it would be impossible to control. Uncontrolled infusion of Purification will continue cleansing endlessly, depleting the host’s magic ceaselessly. In other words, you will soon self-destruct through ‘over-regeneration.’」
「―――Gaaaaaaahhhh, bobobobobobobooooo….!!」
Agil making increasingly bizarre cries as his body swells more and more.
It has already inflated to several times its original size.
The excessively regenerated cells are multiplying without limit.
「Your sins of ridiculing my wife and daughter shall be atoned.」
As he watches that sorry state, Harshaa unleashes his breath.
Like pricking a balloon about to burst, it is the final blow.
「Gah… Har… HARSHAAA!!!」
Agil’s death wail.
And then――――
Unable to withstand the excessive regeneration, Agil’s body ruptures.
「Farewell, ancient beast.」
As flesh rains down in splatters, Harsha mutters softly.
「Now then, that took more time than expected. I must hurry to Elja…」
Harsha tries to move, but realizes Agil’s barrier has not yet dissipated.
「Why hasn’t the barrier been dispelled? Agil should be… dead…?」
In the next moment, fear races through Halsha’s entire body.
And his tail is grabbed by someone.
「!?」
「―――Too naive, Harsha.」
A voice speaks.
Turning his neck back, he sees a “hand” there. Just a bear-like hand floating in the air.
「Fool! Why… why are you still alive!?」
An arm slowly grows from the bear hand, expanding into a body.
And that’s not all.
Some kind of fleshy mouth also bites into Harsha’s body.
「―――Surprised?」
A jaw grows from the biting mouth, gradually forming a lion-like head.
All the scattered flesh pieces reversely regenerate back to normal.
「You wouldn’t understand.」
「Born from the Stellar Veins,」
「You gained power and grew strong,」
The disconnected heads continue speaking in relay:
「Unlike you all,」
「I alone was born a calamity on this land,」
「Unlike you, I did not receive the Stellar Veins’ blessings,」
「But because of that―――」
Eventually, his body is fully restored.
「―――I was able to become stronger than you all, with time and effort.」
Agil’s form is now even more ominous than before.
Most terrifying is―――
「You haven’t forgotten, have you? Who taught humans magic and spread it.」
One of the seven heads has changed.
Covered in red scales, swaying a green mane, that head is unmistakably―――
「…Fool.」
「You haven’t forgotten what Jibru did just to defeat me alone. What she created.」
The seven heads open their mouths in unison.
Power coalesces.
「I will never forgive the Stellar Veins’ dungeons… Jibru…」
「―――Agil… you―――」
Agil’s breath is unleashed before Harsha can finish speaking.
「Gah… Aaaaaaa!!!」
It incinerates Harsha’s entire body.
All that remains are scattered embers.
「It’s over, Harsha… old friend…」
Feeling somehow lonely, Agil gazes at the embers.
This day, one ancient dragon perished.
◇◆◇◆◇
Meanwhile, in the sixth area―――
He came straight at me.
『Yo』
I casually greet the one who appeared.
「To think the main dish would show up immediately…」
While surprised, he vigilantly takes a stance, glaring at me.
A young man wrapped in the traditional clothes of Wano Country- “Thunder Slash” Kirishima Aoba.
『I really need to talk to you about something』
「Talk? I have nothing to talk about with you.」
『Now now, wait. Even if you don’t, I do』
Maybe we can resolve this without fighting.
I raise both hands, but Aoba keeps his weapon at the ready, eyeing me warily.
「Trying to lower my guard by saying that is useless. I―――」
『I know your “true name”』
Aoba’s attack-ready hands stop in their tracks.
「…What did you say?」
『Your real name isn’t “Kirishima Aoba.” Right?』
「…………」
Aoba is silent.
That’s as good as affirmation.
Looks like he’s taken the bait.
『I heard you’re looking for others from your homeland』
「!?」
How does he know that? His expression says.
『I heard it from Léna-Lloyd』
Well, to be accurate, it wasn’t directly from her, but…
「That witch…」
Aoba makes a vexed face.
Léna-Lloyd, so unpopular.
Well, she would be. If she knew everything yet still made those remarks, she has quite the personality.
As expected after being isolated for ages.
『Let me make this clear. You will never find others from your homeland. Absolutely never』
At my words, Aoba’s face visibly changes.
It’s… an enraged expression.
「What was that? How can you say that so definitively…? What could you know about me!」
Unable to bear what I said, tremendous killing intent comes flying at me.
But my words are the truth.
Aoba can never meet others from his homeland.
『I understand. Because in a way, I’m in the same position as you…』
Because they’re all dead.
Many centuries ago now.
You can’t meet dead people.
There’s no way you could.
But Kirishima Aoba doesn’t know that.
No, to be precise, he’s lost those memories.
『Surely, deep down, you’ve thought it yourself. That there’s no one else from your homeland left in this world』
「……….」
Visibly, Aoba’s complexion changes.
Even without memories, instinct – the “soul” – cannot be fooled.
I speak directly to the soul reincarnated into this world by taking over my previous body.
To my fellow reincarnator.
『Isn’t that right――――Hero Cadias』
And I tell him his “true name.”
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