Chapter 354 - Bone-Relic Dragon (1)
In her childhood, the demon who murdered Leira's parents left behind a colossal curse that upended her life, entirely.
Her hatred and thirst for vengeance against it defy any words, she has lived one whole lifetime to erase the curse.
That is why she never wished to lean on a demon's power, needless to say, it was far too ghastly and loathsome.
But if necessary, she would use it as much as needed.
She had no intention of throwing away her life, swayed by extreme emotions.
A minimal reason, that was Leira's strength.
Shraaaaa!
A crimson sword-aura slashed across Septa Horn's nape.
Blood spread beyond the torn hide.
Compared to before, when all she could do was leave mere scratches, the difference was overwhelming.
[Kroaaaaaa!!]
Septa Horn raged at the fact that its prey had made it feel pain.
Kwagwagwagwang!
The bellow it thrust out pierced through three buildings.
Knife-winds shot out in every direction and turned the streets into a wasteland.
The stage moved from the plaza to the outskirts of Sacrid.
'This should do.'
Then, Haldirn flashed his magic power and hurled a black spear.
Crack.
It struck precisely through the wound Leira had opened.
A heinous howl echoed.
It didn't fully penetrate, but that much was enough.
Mado,
The path Haldirn pioneered was a power that imbues his own and others' life force into curses to grant them particularity.
And the artifact he bears,
With the Lance of Flesh currently in place, the conditions were met.
They foul the blood, weaken physical ability, amplify the damage, and forcibly pry open the wounds.
All are high-tier curses at 6th tier.
Naturally, their potency was enhanced by Mado and black grimoires, and various magic items.
[Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!!!]
Septa Horn thrashed, yanked out the spear, and crushed it.
But the curse had already taken hold, albeit temporarily.
Blood Gale.
A storm of sword-aura and dozens of cursed spears whirled.
Upon Septa Horn's body, whose power was temporarily weakened, deeper scars began to form.
Realizing this, the creature increasingly relied on evasion.
It was landing cleanly.
Nothing could be more effective.
Even so, one could not deny it was a mighty entity.
Kwoooooom!
Leira, struck head-on, gagged blood.
She nearly blacked out for an instant.
Right after, a savage claw shredded Haldirn's robe and drew blood.
One mistake would be a mortal wound.
Fully aware of that, the two manifested sword-aura and black magic.
Kwang! Kwagwagwagwang!
Shweeee— Shraaaak!
[Kaaaaaaah!]
A slaughter-like, ferocious exchange.
Everything they passed through was thoroughly ravaged.
The debris of destroyed buildings filled the streets.
After a long battle that stretched on for dozens of minutes, the outskirts of Sacrid became a ruin.
And at last.
Death Blood.
The reverse-gripped sword in Leira's hand pierced through Septa Horn's abdomen.
She kicked off the ground at once and withdrew, blood heaving and gushing from the creature's wound.
At the same time, Haldirn focused all his power.
In an instant, a massive explosion erupted from the surging spheres of curse.
With a force that erased the area without a trace, Septa Horn was blown away.
Beyond the rampart, to the far side.
"Huff, huff...."
"...."
Exhausted, Leira dropped to one knee.
Haldirn did not show it, but his shoulders were heaving.
Fatigue was heavy.
Blood dripped from the many wounds they had taken.
At once, the two climbed the rampart and surveyed the battle lines.
[Grrrr....]
Septa Horn still was not dead.
Encircled by its kin, it bared its teeth at the two and glared.
Its killing intent and will to fight were still full to the brim.
"As expected of a special specimen... it really is a monster."
"So that was the special specimen? No wonder it was strong."
"...."
A brief lull.
If possible, they wanted to end it at once, but they needed at least a little time to catch their breath.
Especially Leira.
Meanwhile, Haldirn searched for Joseph's whereabouts.
"Fortunately, he's alive."
It seemed they had succeeded in rescuing him from the downed Lustrous.
He was unconscious, however.
He asked Shane, the paladin beside him.
Perhaps struck by the aftershock of the incident, Shane's left arm was gone.
"What on earth happened?"
"We did not grasp it. Other than that His Grace the Archbishop was suddenly in the middle of Spatial Teleportation when something ambushed him...."
An ambush.
"In that case, Joseph would know its identity."
He immediately intervened in Joseph's mind.
Shane reflexively tried to stop him, but soon held back.
For he knew Haldirn's intent and skill well.
"...Huff!"
Before long, Joseph opened his eyes.
He hurriedly raised himself and promptly took stock of the situation.
The battlefield of Sacrid, locked in a fierce struggle with the demi-humans.
Haldirn and Leira nearby, Bishop Lena, Shane grievously wounded, entered his sight.
This was no time to ask for the reasons.
There was a far more urgent matter.
"How long has it been since the Lustrous crashed?"
"Exactly twenty-eight minutes."
The distance between the base of Glory of the Dead and Sacrid.
The speed of the thing that attacked the Lustrous.
Twenty-eight minutes.
"...Haldirn, this is no time to be fighting those demi-humans and magical beasts."
"What?"
"It is coming. By now, it will almost have arrived───"
...?!
A suddenly perceived, vast deathly aura.
Eyes widening, Haldirn instinctively turned.
He looked to the sky.
Something beyond description was drawing closer with each passing moment.
"W-what is that?"
[Krrrk?]
In the next moment, not only Haldirn but everyone near the rampart, even the demi-humans and magical beasts including Septa Horn, reacted.
Silence fell in an instant.
In the heavy hush, a gigantic object was slantwise falling from the far reaches of the heavens.
And it reached the ground.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwa.
An Undead of immense size, scorching the nearby forest to ashes as it bled off speed.
And then, grinding the demi-humans and magical beasts to literal paste, it came to a halt.
"Why...."
Haldirn's voice was steeped in shock.
"...A dragon, here?"
An Undead born from a dragon's corpse, the Bone-Relic Dragon.
A transcendent existence had appeared upon this land.
***
It was as if time itself had stopped.
Neither humans, nor magical beasts, nor demi-humans... no living thing could move.
The overwhelming weight pressed upon their innermost being, so great that even breath could not be drawn.
[....]
Sssk.
The blue flames that formed the Bone-Relic Dragon's eyes slowly turned toward the gathered crowd.
Everywhere, the living, whom the Undead hated without end, teemed about. There were so many, it almost seemed difficult to choose whom to erase first.
Then, the Bone-Relic Dragon fixed its gaze upon Septa Horn standing before it.
[Ka... Kaaat....]
The special specimen, Septa Horn, trembled.
Fear is life's defense mechanism.
Instinctively, it realized it could not oppose. As if it had no will to resist, Septa Horn tucked its tail and backed away.
Yet the Bone-Relic Dragon paid it no heed.
Septa Horn was cunning.
But dragons were sly, shrewd, and wise.
The difference in the very order of existence.
Kwakjjijijik!
[Keeeeeeek?!]
The Bone-Relic Dragon's claw pierced Septa Horn.
It forced its way into the wound Leira had once pierced in its abdomen.
Then, extreme cold flowed into its organs.
No matter how high its resistance, the viscera could not withstand it.
And the chill of the Bone-Relic Dragon was, in magical terms, at the brink of the 7th tier.
[Kaaah! Kaaaaaah?!]
Jjjjjjeok.
Septa Horn, thrashing desperately, had its life slowly stilled.
After some time, it was wholly frozen. With a mere flick, the ice statue that had once been Septa Horn shattered into pieces.
"H-how...."
Leira let out her disbelief.
The special specimen they had struggled against so bitterly, erased in a single instant.
The very existence of an Undead Dragon did not feel real.
So sudden, it was like a dream. Not only her, but everyone felt the same.
[Keh, keeeeh!]
[Kirik, kirrrrk!]
[Kaaak!]
The demi-humans and magical beasts, bereft of their leader, began to edge backward, then fled.
They realized that if they remained still, they would be slain.
Yet the Bone-Relic Dragon showed no particular reaction.
For now, it was more interested in the stronger life forces... the few humans standing upon the rampart.
Pursuing life was the instinct of the Undead.
Haldirn clenched his fist tightly.
"Unthinkable. Glory of the Dead reviving the corpse of a transcendent race? Such a thing should be impossible!"
"But what lies before our eyes is truth."
Joseph spoke calmly.
From the darkness inside his robe, Haldirn bared his teeth.
"Even in this situation, you are composed. Is that just the Archbishop playing the dignified role, Joseph?"
"I have a countermeasure."
"...What?"
Everyone nearby turned their eyes upon Joseph.
"For the rarest of situations, Her Grace entrusted me with a hidden means."
"Her Grace?"
"The current 'Saintess' of the Luas Church."
At that, Haldirn calmed his emotions.
Certainly, the one who bore that name possessed the power to subdue even the Bone-Relic Dragon.
"But... to use it requires a preparatory ritual."
"So you want us to buy time?"
"That is correct."
"Then here is my answer. Impossible."
Dragons were, as a race, already in the realm of Transcendence. Born Transcendents, through and through.
"No matter that the Bone-Relic Dragon cannot wield even half the abilities and power a dragon held, if it stems from a transcendent race───"
Mid-sentence, his spine chilled.
At once, they darted aside, fleeing to the rampart's flanks.
Together with all nearby.
Kwoong.
Immediately after, a sound of tearing air shook the space.
An intangible shockwave obliterated the section of rampart where Joseph and Haldirn had stood.
"That, that's the Roar?!"
One of a dragon's innate abilities.
Haldirn had only ever known it as knowledge in books, but to witness its power firsthand, this was his first.
As it was for all others.
There was no leisure for talk.
"That ritual. How many minutes?"
"As many as you can grant me."
"The most difficult request of all."
But there was no other way.
No other choice to make.
Even that much seemed uncertain.
[Kuooooo.]
The Bone-Relic Dragon let out a low cry.
The cold flowing from its body soared skyward, manifesting an iceberg.
Its size nearly rivaled the gate of the rampart itself.
"Damn it."
Haldirn desperately drew together all his power.
Whether he could endure such sheer mass with his curses, he did not know, but he had no choice.
Among those present, he was the strongest.
"More than that, where has Asher gone?"
"To explain that is long...."
"Nothing is working. Forget it, just focus on the ritual."
Haldirn accelerated his thoughts, scheming how to withstand the iceberg without breaking, how to stall for time.
And at that moment.
Paaaaaaaat!
From above the clouds, a golden radiance burst forth.
It seemed, at a glance, akin to holy power, yet it was not. It lacked that distinctive sacredness.
Sensing the presence of two newly arrived figures, Haldirn exhaled.
"Impeccable timing."
Hwoooosh.
From the high heavens, Adrian descended.
Wielding the Demonic Sword Cadence, he spun as he fell, unleashing a massive violet sword-aura toward the Bone-Relic Dragon.
The iceberg was split in two and crashed to the ground.
And then.
[...!]
Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwang!
From the sky, a bombardment of elemental magic rained down.
In an instant, the Bone-Relic Dragon's form vanished from sight, engulfed in flames.
Slowly lowering altitude, the gray-haired Magus turned his gaze upon Sacrid's rampart.
Among those he knew, none were dead.
"Fortunately, I was not too late."
Verden had arrived.
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