Chapter 355 - Bone-Relic Dragon (2)
Geltone Rodni.
A veteran Mage from the Gentir Magic Tower, specialized in the water-flow series, who handles water and ice magic up to the 4th tier.
But now, he is merely an adventurer.
A man who carries out requests with his companions and lives day by day.
He discarded the fancy background called the Gentir Magic Tower last year.
Now he neither introduces himself to others as, nor calls himself, a Mage of the magic tower.
That was all thanks to one person.
The Mage, Asher.
A man as rare as rare can be, with ashen hair and wall-blue eyes.
A Genius who, despite possessing talent incomparable to Geltone himself, neither grows conceited nor intoxicated with himself.
Geltone received instruction from him regarding the Multi-dimensional Continuity Theory.
Not only that, he had the various magic theories he had misunderstood until now corrected, and thus gained a new perspective.
It was by no means an easy process.
Unable to endure the discouragement midway, he drowned himself in drink.
He also devoted himself to exercise he was not used to.
Looking back, it was disgraceful.
Not Mage-like at all... and yet, precisely because of that, he believes he was able to grow.
'A man who could handle nothing but water and ice managed to grasp fire-element magic.'
Even if the tier is far lower, what does it matter.
He can light a campfire for his companions, and in the future as well.
But then.
"A dragon...."
In Geltone's eyes, standing atop a blood-smeared rampart, appeared an Undead of a size he had never seen.
One he had only seen in illustrations, a Transcendent species that barely exists in the world.
A being last discovered roughly a hundred years ago, practically regarded as legend.
Did he perhaps die earlier when the Septa Horn pounced on him?
So he was seeing things?
On impulse he pinched the back of his hand.
It was terribly hard to accept, yet pain flared.
There was no panic.
More resignation than fear.
Geltone acknowledged that none of them, himself included, would leave Sacrid alive.
All of them felt the same.
His companions Skald, Rubina, and Vermin, the soldiers and knights who had been fighting with all their might, and even the mercenaries, all lost their will.
Before a Transcendent existence, that was only natural.
At that moment.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwang!
Right after a burst of golden light, countless fireballs fell from above the clouds.
What poured down like a downpour struck the Undead dragon and turned the ground into a sea of flame.
A scene as if a massive army had conducted a bombardment.
Geltone blankly lifted his head.
"...Sir Asher?"
***
He had recognized that the Glory of the Dead was hiding its true might.
With the dying Kessilus, some sort of conviction had been felt.
'But a Transcendent species.'
Outwardly he did not show emotion, but now he could not help it.
Especially since Verden brushed against Transcendence, he could sense that existence more than anyone.
More than any foe he had faced thus far, that Bone-Relic Dragon clearly stood on a plane above.
While keenly watching and vigilantly guarding against the vast conflagration burning hot, Haldirn flew up from below.
Verden asked.
"The Glory of the Dead was hiding something absurd. Do you have any separate way to deal with that Bone-Relic Dragon?"
The Bone-Relic Dragon belongs to the Undead line.
Then, as the successor to DarkWarton, he might have a way.
The answer was negative.
"With black magic at my level it's not enough. But Joseph has a method, it seems he received something from the Saintess."
Verden did not know much about the internal affairs of the Luas Church.
Even so, about the power the Saintess holds, he knew as much as anyone.
Particularly the Saintess of this generation.
"What do we need to do?"
"Buy time until Joseph completes the preparatory ritual. He asked us to drag it out as much as possible."
"That's the hardest request."
"Agreed."
Yet that was the most plausible answer to this situation.
Verden subtly dropped his gaze below and nodded.
Facing him, Joseph at once clutched a necklace bearing a special righteous cross and sank to both knees.
"We will now commence the rite. Paladin, Shane. Paladin, Railver. We must finish as quickly as possible, I ask your aid."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Shane, whose one arm had been severed, and Railver, who until just now had been facing the magical beasts that had climbed the rampart, gathered.
They knelt at the left and right diagonal front of Joseph.
Fwaaahhhhh.
Holy power emanated from Joseph.
It resonated with, and became one with, the holy power of the two Paladins.
The rite began.
And the Bone-Relic Dragon also began to move.
The flames filling the surroundings froze over whole, then turned to powder and vanished.
Receiving no damage whatsoever, the Bone-Relic Dragon lifted its head and fixed Verden with its gaze.
The objective was set.
Until the rite ends, protect Joseph from the Bone-Relic Dragon.
Verden steadied Orient.
He must give everything he has.
One misstep and they would be annihilated here.
***
A subjugation battle, or perhaps a defensive battle, with the plain between Sacrid's ramparts and the forest as the backdrop.
"...."
Romer, fallen into shock with his mouth agape, stared ahead.
The earth swaying irregularly.
In a scene where explosions and shocks continued to erupt overturning every side, the four who were facing the rampaging Bone-Relic Dragon came into view.
Shyuuuk───!
Verden, performing an evasive maneuver, skimmed past a gigantic icicle spear.
At the same time, he recalled the objective.
'By any means necessary, we must keep the Bone-Relic Dragon from flying.'
If that massive body starts flying, there will be no way to restrain it.
Even just ramming down in a fall would be the end of Joseph.
They had to remove the medium of flight.
Aiming for the wings, he swung Orient.
Quadra Casting.
Four large flame orbs struck squarely upon its back. Explosions blossomed, and with the flames, black smoke billowed up.
Still far to go.
Kwagwagwagwag! Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwang!
Composite magic and focused magic belonging to the flame branch poured down without rest.
Those watching hid their bodies from the light and heat that reached even to the rampart.
In a chained sequence, Haldirn scattered an acidic rain.
A material-type black magic that corrodes bone.
The moment it met the flames, an acidic mist formed and wrapped the creature.
Thud.
The Bone-Relic Dragon stamped its foot once.
The flames and smoke that had been vexing it vanished all at once.
Immediately afterward, dozens of spears of cold that formed in midair rushed at Verden and Haldirn.
Far too many.
And fast besides.
Sensing he could not evade, Verden unfolded Mado at full power.
Countless flame lances cast upon the air collided with the Bone-Relic Dragon's power, but were outmatched in force.
The interception was nullified.
In that instant Haldirn stepped forward and thrust out both arms.
A black curtain that protected the two.
Soon, unable to endure it whole, part of it shattered.
The dragon's ice grazed his shoulder.
"Are you alright?"
"No problem."
In the meantime, the Bone-Relic Dragon spread its wings wide.
A sign of flight.
Adrian Chambers and Leira, who had been on the ground, at once charged.
Kwoooaaang! Kwooaang!
Technique and martial art.
A fierce assault that disregarded stamina consumption.
The two swordsmen thoroughly targeted the Bone-Relic Dragon's wings and checked its actions.
As it shifted position, the creature swung foreclaws and tail, turning irritable.
A hair's-breadth battle where taking even a single hit could mean instant death.
In a sliver of a moment, Verden exercised insight.
'At our current level, it's hard to inflict great damage on the Bone-Relic Dragon.'
Obvious, if obvious.
A dragon's scales and bones and all the rest are ultimate materials.
Its physical resistance and elemental resistance are second to none.
Ainber, the robe of the Demon King, was made based on them to begin with.
'But it's not absolute.'
There was no meaningful damage visible on the surface.
Instead, the Bone-Relic Dragon reacted faintly to 6th-tier flame.
In the current situation, what could inflict the greatest damage upon the Bone-Relic Dragon is 7th-tier elemental magic, or pure mana.
There are a total of three methods regarding that.
But one cannot be used.
Surely the shock would reach all the way to Sacrid. The Archbishop must be protected.
'Then we have no choice but to go for the other two.'
All backlash will be ignored.
We may need to buy time, but we must not face it halfheartedly.
Verden spoke.
"Can you hold the Bone-Relic Dragon for a moment?"
"I'll give it a try."
Haldirn dropped at high speed.
From him, who thrust himself into the lethal melee, a baleful darkness flowed.
At the same time Verden activated the Mystic Eye.
The air currents twisted, and a massive sphere of mana rose into the sky.
The first star of Celestial Magic.
If this falls, the aftershocks will reach the rampart immediately, just like the method he had ruled out.
So he will invert it.
He cannot alter the magic itself, but if external, it is possible.
Mado
Verden used the remaining allocation of his mana circuits to manifest space and gravity attributes.
Slowly, he curled his fingers.
"Ghk...."
What he wanted was a size that would affect exactly the Bone-Relic Dragon, and nothing else.
As the sphere compressed according to his will, an immense rebound force swept in.
Gleaming in his eyes with his teeth clenched, Verden yanked it straight down.
Mana falling, accelerating by degrees.
[...!]
It was the instant the Bone-Relic Dragon reacted, and tried to respond.
From the shadow cast upon the ground, Haldirn's darkness surged up.
A curse formed by Mado.
Haldirn's trump measure that suppresses all phenomena, including magic.
Since the curse does not work directly on the Bone-Relic Dragon, he laid the curse upon the ground.
Whirrrip.
The rippling darkness bound the Bone-Relic Dragon.
While this is in effect, the Bone-Relic Dragon can neither take flight, nor handle cold.
Kugugugugugu...!
In an instant grasping the cause, the dragon's foreclaw plowed the earth and came crashing down.
A direct hit meant instant death, or crippling injury.
Haldirn on the ground could not move, because he had to maintain the spell.
Leira and Adrian filled that opening.
Linked Light.
Cinnabar Cycle.
Two fierce sword-lights met it.
"Ghk...!"
"Krrgh...!"
The two let out deep groans.
A weight as if their whole bodies would be smashed, in the instant of impact their inner blood vessels burst.
Eyes and mouth, nose and ears.
Blood burst from every part of their faces, and from skin torn where they could not endure, fresh blood streamed down.
If they yielded even a little, it was the end.
Yet by sheer will, they endured to the bitter end, and twisted their bodies.
The Bone-Relic Dragon's strike was deflected, and barely glanced past.
And then.
Flowing star, meteor.
The vertically falling star of mana slammed the Bone-Relic Dragon's back.
The destructive force of heat and weight, of mana compressed to the utmost limit, was overwhelming in truth.
The Bone-Relic Dragon, which had been bracing by driving its massive foreclaws into the ground, was soon crushed down.
───Kwagwagwagwagwag!
A bluish flash blazed.
As the world-eraser meteor sank downward it carved a crater, even the ensuing backblast was focused inward.
In due time, the light of mana subsided.
'This won't kill it....'
At least, it will not be unscathed.
By sheer power alone, that meteor ranked second among the magics Verden could manifest.
...Thud.
The Bone-Relic Dragon set a foot outside the pit.
White steam from mana-heat rose off the creature now revealed.
Most conspicuous were a few warped wing-bones and ribs, and the damaged wing membrane.
'Did it block with its wings at the end?'
If anything, that was what he wanted.
Along with that, everyone understood.
If it defended against Verden's magic, then a direct hit is indeed threatening to the Bone-Relic Dragon as well.
'I can use a meteor like that, maybe twice.'
Objectively judged, so it was.
Even so, that would suffice, for what they needed was time.
But there was something they overlooked.
Dragons are cunning.
The Bone-Relic Dragon's head, which had been fixed on Verden, tilted ever so slightly.
Just as he was about to resume the battle, the creature's blue-flamed eyes turned elsewhere.
Straight to where Joseph was praying.
"...! Don't tell me...!"
It had seen through what they were guarding.
The very moment Verden moved at once and blocked the airspace before the rampart.
Dragon Roar.
From the mouth that suddenly opened, a colorless shockwave rushed in.
He had to dodge.
But, if he fell back, the Archbishop would be in danger.
Ignoring instinct, Verden manifested Mado on the spot.
KwaaAAAAAAANG!
The wind and shock he raised physically collided with the wave.
Barely offset, the shockwave scattered before it could reach Joseph.
In other words, Verden did not evade.
"Khugh...."
For a moment, his mind went distant.
It was an impact that even Ainber could not fully block.
Some of his organs were damaged.
Verden spat a breath and, reeling, plummeted down.
"My lord!"
"Asher!"
All gazes converged.
They had to aid Verden, but this was no time.
The Bone-Relic Dragon sprang forward, spun, and lashed its tail.
He leapt, predicting the path on reflex, and the tail twisted in that instant.
TchyeoooOOOORIP!
Struck head-on, Leira pierced the rampart and slammed down somewhere on the outskirts.
Life or death unknown.
To erase the gap, Adrian and Haldirn immediately threw themselves in.
That was the best they could do.
They had to draw the Bone-Relic Dragon's gaze.
But from the strain that had continued, their skill began to dip ever so slightly.
At that moment, the Bone-Relic Dragon once again looked toward where Joseph was.
Adrian, kicking the ground with all his strength, gripped his blade in midair.
Whatever came, he would divert it, or cut it.
Yet the Bone-Relic Dragon's aim lay elsewhere.
Adrian himself.
If suspended in midair, he would not be able to evade with quick footwork.
The dragon swung its left foot.
With a sound of the air being torn, Adrian was flung and driven into the ground before the rampart.
From his hand, unable to stand right up, the demonic sword fell.
Then, the Bone-Relic Dragon stamped its foot down.
The ground began to freeze, Haldirn met it with cold to collide.
"Krrrrrrgh...!"
He endured, but it was only a matter of time.
Soon even his groans began to freeze, and Haldirn was buried under ice.
KWA-AANG!
A gigantic talon struck Haldirn.
His body fell among the corpses of demi-humans and magical beasts.
He did not shatter like the Septa Horn, but it was a critical blow, compounded shock and a broken clavicle and torn muscle wounds.
He tried to rise, but his body would not obey.
In an instant, the formation collapsed.
Catching his breath and barely regaining composure, Verden lifted his head.
'This is a dragon....'
It was not lacking in mana like an Administrator, nor incomplete like Leonil.
This is the strength of a being situated in Transcendence, a power that even a Quasi-Transcendent like Verden cannot face head-on.
[Gwoooooooo.]
The Bone-Relic Dragon raised its upper body.
With a violent sweep of its fully spread wings, a storm of cold rushed in.
Not only Verden, but even Joseph behind him, it targeted.
There was no choice.
Verden thrust out Orient.
Quadra Casting.
Flame ranked in the upper 6th tier extended out from Orient.
Kwagwagwagwag!
Clashing with the polar-cold vortex, it locked in a struggle.
His trump measure following the meteor.
What he chose was flame.
From Verden, who had become the temporary Ruler of Flame, a mighty blaze erupted.
An inferno that devoured the blizzard in reverse swallowed the Bone-Relic Dragon.
At present, that heat should be nearing the 7th tier.
The Bone-Relic Dragon sheltered itself with its wings, and took the flames.
'We have to keep this going.'
KwoaAAAAAAAA───!
Without stopping, Verden maintained the magic.
The duration of
The price, a mana consumption ten times that of standard magic.
He could feel his mana reserves, comparable to a Transcendent's, rapidly dropping, the burden on his mana circuits mounting exponentially.
Even so, he held on to the end.
And so, at the point three minutes had passed,
Blood and sweat ran down.
Verden heaved his shoulders, showing signs of fatigue.
Along the straight line turned to ash, white bones came into view.
The Bone-Relic Dragon, wings thrown back, lifted its head.
The blue flame within its body looked considerably diminished.
Verden's magic had sufficiently worked on the Bone-Relic Dragon, even if it was not a perfect dragon, it could surely be called an achievement.
If, and only if, they survived.
The Bone-Relic Dragon opened its jaws.
Blue fire flared rough.
It was clear.
One of the abilities akin to the Roar, Breath.
'This is....'
He might be able to dodge, but there was no answer if he faced it head-on.
A moment's hesitation arose.
And just when the breath of ultra-cold was about to sweep in.
...Fwaak.
From one side of the rampart, a small flame flew and struck the skull.
To the Bone-Relic Dragon, it was a force less than a gnat, and thus, its attention was drawn.
Verden turned his gaze to the side.
There, was a face he knew well.
'...Geltone?'
The adventurer to whom Verden had taught magic theory.
He was trembling, thrusting out his staff, with flame-branch magic that he had mastered through Verden's instruction.
It was little different from suicide.
Even so... it was not without meaning.
"Everyone, thank you for holding out until now."
Joseph opened his eyes.
At the same time, a vast holiness illuminated all of Sacrid.
He whispered to the necklace.
"Saintess, I ask this of you."
It was a plea full of trust.
Immediately, an answer was heard.
───Coordinates confirmed, Archbishop Joseph.
A woman's voice resounded over the whole of Sacrid.
From the Saintess, the Transcendent of the Luas Church, a miracle began.
...Something is coming.
Verden reflexively turned his head west.
And then.
From the Western Continent to the Central, from the Central Continent to the Eastern.
A light that crossed the world reached Sacrid, and then, the sky above the Bone-Relic Dragon opened like a new heaven, and holiness fell.
One of the four sacred relics of the Luas Church.
The holy spear, Gran-ter.
A gigantic spear of light, the size of a mountain, came stabbing down upon the Bone-Relic Dragon.
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