by Takehaya
“Most likely. Whether or not we can return to our own world all depends on this fight.”
Clan believed that Koutarou was the actual Blue Knight, but she had no real proof to back up her theory. In Theia’s script, the Blue Knight won against Alunaya, but Clan had no way of knowing if she and Koutarou could do the same.
And if they lost, history would greatly change. Once that happened, their chances of being able to return home would be next to nothing. Granted, there was a possibility that it wouldn’t even matter. There was no guarantee they would survive this fight.
“What was your god called again?”
“The Goddess of Dawn.”
“Then please pray to her for our victory.”
“I don’t mind, but... why now, all of a sudden?”
Koutarou didn’t strike Clan as very religious, so him suddenly turning to prayer struck her as quite odd.
“I feel like we should do whatever we can, even if it’s praying.”
If it was just his fate at stake, Koutarou might not have been so desperate. But since this was to protect Alaia and the others, he was intent to do whatever he could. That was just how much he treasured them.
“I understand how you feel. I will pray for us, but please keep it together in front of the soldiers.”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m counting on you, Clan.”
“I’m not sure if that means that you trust me or if you don’t...”
They flashed slight smiles at each other and hurried out of the barracks. The Fire Dragon Emperor Alunaya was almost upon them.
Once Koutarou and Clan stepped outside, the dragon was already close enough to be seen by the naked eye.
“So that’s the Fire Dragon Emperor, huh?”
“He really is huge...”
They both instinctively gasped as they saw Alunaya’s massive figure on the horizon.
That’s nothing like Yurika’s costume...
The real deal was on a completely different level from the dragon the drama club had created for the play. Koutarou could now see why they called him an emperor of dragons, and he couldn’t escape the feeling that the coming battle would be intense.
“Veltlion, there’s no telling if the weapons in this fort will have any effect on him.”
There were ballistas and catapults installed around the fort. They were intended to keep attacking soldiers at bay and destroy siege weapons before they could be deployed, but they were untested against a gigantic flying dragon.
“We don’t have any time to waste. We’ll just have to do things ourselves.”
“And as fast as possible at that.”
Fitting of the title “Fire Dragon Emperor,” Alunaya could spew scorching hot flames. If not stopped, he would burn down both the fort and the town. And if that happened, any victory the Reborn Forthorthian Army managed would be a hollow one. They had to bring down Alunaya before he could reach them.
“Kou... No, Layous-sama!”
“Blue Knight!”
That was when Alaia appeared outside of the headquarters. With her were Charl, Mary the maid, and Fauna the priestess.
“Your Highness! What are you doing here?!”
“With that thing here, it won’t matter where we are! More importantly, Layous-sama, I want you to position the soldiers closer to the town!”
There was no way to block a dragon’s breath attack. But as a princess, Alaia couldn’t just sit idly by as her people were destroyed. Aware it may lead to serious casualties in her troops, Alaia wanted the soldiers to try and protect the town. Anything they could do to help the townspeople.
“Got it! I’ll let Lady Flairan know! Hey!”
“Yes, sir?”
Koutarou called for his young adjutant and asked him to convey a message to Flair. She was currently busy mobilizing troops, so as long as she was informed of Alaia’s wishes, she’d be able to move the soldiers accordingly. After seeing the adjutant run off to find Flair, Koutarou looked up towards Alunaya with a serious expression once more.
“Clan, how long can this armor fly?”
“There’s no limit while using the standard flight module, but there’s only a certain amount of propellant for the emergency boosters. You’ll only be able to fly at max speed for about ten minutes that way, so please be careful.”
While answering Koutarou, Clan readied the rifle she was carrying on her shoulder. It was the one she normally used, but this time it was loaded with different ammunition. It was something she had prepared ahead of time, knowing that Alunaya would appear sooner or later. They were high-penetration rounds that exploded on direct hits. It was a forward-facing charge, giving it extra power to blast through even the thickest armor. She wasn’t sure what it would do against a dragon’s hide, but it was far better than trying to attack using normal bullets.
“Ten minutes, huh? Not sure if that’ll be enough...”
With such a massive opponent, Koutarou knew that if he was really out of his league, things would be over in an instant. And even if he could win—if he really stood a chance—there was no telling how long it would take to defeat Alunaya. But now that had been decided for him. He only had ten minutes before the propellant ran out. Koutarou and Clan were armed with extremely advanced technology, but it was still just the two of them against an elder dragon. The odds weren’t in their favor. But since the Cradle hadn’t been fully repaired yet, they had no choice but to defeat Alunaya in the allotted time with the weapons they already had on hand.
“All right!”
Koutarou steeled himself. There was no time for weakness, doubt, or hesitation. There was no question about what he had to do. He simply had to do it.
“Princess Alaia, please take Princess Charl with you and take cover somewhere safe.”
“Blue Knight, what will you do?” Charl asked, looking up at Koutarou with a worried expression.
“We’re going to keep that thing from getting any closer.”
“Please leave it to us, Princess Charl.”
Koutarou and Clan smiled at Charl. They were both ready for what was to come.
“Blue Knight...”
However, Charl’s expression didn’t change. Thanks to her good intuition and her keen ability to read people, she could tell that Koutarou and Clan were preparing to take part in a dangerous battle.
“No! You can’t, Blue Knight! You and your servant can’t win against that thing on your own! You can’t go!” Charl pleaded, grabbing the hem of Koutarou’s mantle and shaking her head.
“Your Highness, if I don’t go, a lot of people will die.”
The best case scenario would be defeating Alunaya right away, but they had to at least buy enough time for the soldiers to position themselves around the town. If they didn’t, it would be the citizens who suffered.
“I know that! But I don’t want you to go!”
Tears began forming in Charl’s eyes as she clenched Koutarou’s mantle in her tiny hands. She didn’t want to let him go, and she didn’t know what else to do. Charl was desperate. She didn’t want Koutarou to die.
“Charl, you mustn’t trouble Layous-sama any more.”
“Sister! Don’t you care if Blue Knight dies?!”
Alaia smiled at Charl and gently wrapped her hands around Charl’s, still clutching Koutarou’s mantle.
“Of course I do.”
Alaia then gently uncurled her fingers one by one.
“But Layous-sama swore an oath to protect us. If he died here, he wouldn’t be able to uphold that. Charl, your Blue Knight isn’t the kind of man to go back on his word, is he?”
Alaia was well aware how dangerous this fight was going to be. There was an undeniable possibility that Koutarou might die. But as a princess, Alaia had to trust in the oath her knight had sworn to her. And as a woman, she believed in the man she loved. If she had no faith in him and his promises, then who would?
“Sister...”
Understanding how her sister must feel, Charl let go of Koutarou�
��s mantle. Having been released, Koutarou smiled at her.
“Your Highness, I will return victorious. I haven’t let you ride a horse yet after all.”
“You better! You better return!”
“I swear it.”
Koutarou nodded at Charl and turned towards Alaia.
“I’m going now, Princess Alaia.”
“I scorn the part of me that won’t let me say ‘don’t go,’ Layous-sama...”
Alaia was smiling courageously, but her eyes were moist with tears. Though she believed in him, it wasn’t like she wasn’t worried. In reality, she wanted to stop Koutarou more than anyone.
“Don’t. That’s how my princess should be.”
Koutarou himself was nervous, but he wanted to repay her trust in him more than anything else.
What let Koutarou and Clan float in the air was the localized ability to manipulate gravity. Because of that, it made no noise like a jet engine or even the flapping of wings would. They flew through the sky in silence.
It was nearing the end of the fall season in Forthorthe. Winter was approaching and the cold, dry wind felt even colder to Clan and Koutarou at the speed they were moving. However, neither one of them paid it any mind. All of their attention was focused on the gigantic red dragon in front of them.
“You often see dragons in movies and things, but seeing one in real life like this... It’s almost like a joke.”
“Look at how mobile it is despite its size. This is no laughing matter.”
Alunaya seemed to have noticed Koutarou and Clan as well. He’d turned his head towards them and changed his course. Despite being over twenty meters long, he maneuvered through the air like a deft bird of prey. Clan had seen Forthorthian movies about the Blue Knight, but Alunaya was never this big or quick. Koutarou and Clan trembled more before this threat that was beyond all imagination than they did from the bitter pre-winter cold.
“I’ll be lending a hand too, Blue Knight.”
Someone had followed Koutarou and Clan into the fray. She was sitting on a long staff, flying quietly alongside them.
“Caris...”
It was indeed none other than Caris. She was using her own magic to make her staff fly, which was child’s play for a magician like her.
When Caris’s eyes met with Koutarou’s, she smiled as her black clothes fluttered in the wind.
“To think you’d go without telling me first... You must not trust me at all.”
“I wouldn’t ask you for help in a situation like this where I’m unsure we can win.”
Caris used to be one of the court magicians under Grevanas. She defected after Grevanas tried to kill her along with Alaia at the harvest festival, but she had no real obligation to help Alaia or Koutarou. She had been working with them along the way to repay them for curing her when she was sick, but Koutarou wasn’t willing to ask her to fight against Alunaya for that.
“But with me here, we might have a better chance of winning.”
“...Are you sure about this?”
“Not really, but... after this is over, you’ll treat me to a ton of delicious food, won’t you?”
Caris, an orphan, had thought of the court magicians as her family. But after being betrayed, she had nowhere to go and nothing left to lose. All she really had was Koutarou and the others. To Caris who had lived a rough life since she was a child, they were nice people. She thought of them fondly, and after everything she’d been through, being with them was nice. That’s why she was willing to fight to protect them. Deep inside, she hoped these kind, accepting people might become her new family.
“Leave it to me. I’ll ask Her Highness about it once we’re done.”
“All right! Now I’m getting all fired up.”
As Caris cheerfully nodded, Alunaya, who was closing in fast, let out a roar so loud that it made even the air around Koutarou and the girls tremble. It was intense enough to make them all instinctively recoil.
“Well, aren’t you something? To think anyone would go up against that thing of their own free will,” Clan sighed with a shake of her head.
Clan herself was still steeling her nerves. She was as calm as she could be, but she was still afraid. They were fighting a beast of legend, after all.
“You two were going to fight it on your own, weren’t you? I think that makes you much more eccentric than me.”
Caris smiled wryly as she spoke, but she secretly felt like she may have been too rash. Her opponent was said to be the strongest elder dragon in the area. No other dragon of its kind dared to come near Forthorthe because Alunaya was there. Caris now realized that she must be some kind of crazy to want to fight something like that.
“That’s enough chatting.”
Koutarou flew up ahead of Clan and Caris. He was frightened by Alunaya as well, but he had the strength of the promises he’d made driving him forward.
“He’s almost here.”
Thanks to Sanae’s powers, Koutarou could feel Alunaya’s bloodlust. His handle on the power was weakening as time passed, but he had no trouble telling when something so strong was directed his way. Alunaya was clearly targeting the three of them, particularly Koutarou who was in the lead.
Koutarou pulled Saguratin from its sheath and pointed it at Alunaya. As he did, the blade reflected the morning sun. It was almost as if his determination to keep his promises was making the sword shine.
“We don’t have much time, so let’s just settle this for now by saying we’re all eccentric.”
“Yes, let’s. We can save the matter of who’s more eccentric for lunch.”
Clan readied her rifle and Caris began incanting a spell. Even though they were preparing for battle, just one look at the giant dragon in front of them made them both tremble.
“I’m counting on you two.”
But there was also a young man wearing blue armor in front of him.
“Please leave it to me.”
“I know. Don’t you forget your promise.”
Watching him, their trembling settled down. In its place, they were filled with a strong fighting spirit.
Alunaya made the first move. The crimson dragon took a deep breath and exhaled flames from his mouth. But it wasn’t like an ordinary flamethrower. No, this was a giant pillar of fire. It was a strong opener, even for a declaration of war.
“Spread out!”
Since Koutarou could see Alunaya’s intent to attack, he knew where he was aiming. And thanks to Caris’s spell creating a mental connection between the three of them, he was able to let everyone else know to get out of the way.
“ROOOAAAAAAARRR!”
Yet even though they had all dodged the flames, they could still feel the flickering waves of heat and the shockwave the blast created. The pillar of white flame continued flying through the sky and vanished across the horizon.
“That’s practically a plasma cannon. We won’t stand a chance if we’re hit by that.”
“Make sure you don’t eat that, Caris.”
“As if I would!”
The flames of Alunaya’s breath attack were so hot and condensed that they came out in plasma form. The only other weapon Clan knew that was capable of producing such a blast was the kind of plasma cannon mounted on large spaceships. She was honestly staggered at Alunaya’s power.
“Blue Knight, dragons only use magic to fly and breathe fire, but their bodies are large enough to store a great deal of mana! Be very careful!”
Alunaya had used magic to change his breath to flames, but based on the power of the effect, Caris could tell just how massive the dragon’s mana reserves were.
“I’ll take the front! Cover me!”
Koutarou had used his emergency boosters to dodge the flame pillar, and he now set them to full thrust to accelerate forward in an instant. Cutting an arc across the sky, he approached Alunaya at top speed. He was getting closer to the dragon so he could attack and to make it harder for Alunaya to use his breath weapon against him.
“G
rrrrr...”
Alunaya responded by turning his head and opening his mouth once more. He was planning on frying Koutarou before he could get close.
“I won’t let you do that!”
However, before Alunaya could bellow flames again, a small explosion occurred near his face. The barrel of Clan’s rifle was smoking. The explosion was the result of a bullet she fired. Both Koutarou and Alunaya were moving at several hundred kilometers per hour, but Clan’s firearm control system allowed her to accurately snipe at those speeds.
“ROOOAAAAAAARRR!”
Because of the shockwave and the fire from the explosion, Alunaya temporarily lost sight of Koutarou. He shook his large head, shaking off the smoke and scanning for his target, but during that time, Koutarou closed in on him.
“ROOOAAAAAAARRR!”
Alunaya was quick to recover and swung his giant claws at the approaching Koutarou. The force behind such a blow from a twenty-meter giant was equivalent to a car smashing into something at high speeds. It would inevitably obliterate Koutarou if it hit, and it was currently approaching him dead on. Since Koutarou was moving forward at high speed too, dodging the attack would be difficult.
“Too bad that Blue Knight is a fake!”
However, the moment the dragon’s giant claws touched Koutarou, he vanished like a mirage. At the same time, a second Koutarou appeared behind Alunaya, aiming right for his neck.
The first Koutarou was an illusion that Caris had created while Alunaya was distracted by the explosion from Clan’s bullet. Alunaya then targeted the fake Koutarou while the real one got into position to attack the dragon from behind.
“Haaaaaaaah!”
Koutarou’s sword struck Alunaya’s neck exactly where he’d been aiming, but his sword bounced right off his hide like it was rubber. It was similar to trying to strike Dextro’s magic soldier.
“It didn’t work?! These scales are tough!”
Despite the distance between them, Koutarou’s thoughts were directly transmitted to Clan and Caris’s minds thanks to Caris’s magic. Hearing Koutarou’s concern, Clan shook her head.
“You’re wrong, Veltlion! He’s being protected by a powerful barrier!”
