There were three enemy dragons that were taken out of the line of fire due to an aerial battle over the royal palace. All were defeated by Sir Buster. Laila and the other dragons, as well as those killed by General Lucas, were all recovered by other members of the team. Dragons can change into human bodies at will, so recovering injuries is no hassle at all. It would be very difficult for any other species to leave the front line with a wounded man of the same size as themselves.
“Even though you can kill them by aiming at their heart organs, it’s not easy to hit them in the air the way you want to”
General Lucas said grimly, perhaps because of my presence.
“I don’t think it would still be a force to be reckoned with even with its wings clipped off”
“A dragon can regenerate itself even if it loses organs. Of course, it will consume a certain amount of strength……”
“……They are truly enviable creatures”
After being explained by Mr. Broll, General Lucas blurted out with his eyes closed. It may be true.
“The rest of Rainer´s group are probably about ten. Including Shario and the others”
Lado told us the number of remaining troops, calculated from the number of the Palace’s friends and the dragons who had been sacrificed.
“The dragons on our side?”
“5 blue dragons, 1 black, 1 yellow and 1 red dragon each. 14 silver. 22 in total. This includes the hatchlings, but they will not be a problem if the objective is to defend against breath”
“Five colors. It’s like a trade fair. If you have white dragons, you have all the dragon species on the continent”
As Irina said, it’s pretty spectacular. The fact that Bauz and Sahul joined the fair is almost a coincidence. In response, Dianne shows a list of names written on a piece of parchment.
“We decided to break the whole thing up into smaller groups for the raid. The anti-breath defense will be done by the dragon’s body, but there is a limit to how much protection a single head can provide on the spur of the moment. Besides, the knights here have enough offensive power to fight dragons if two or three of each of them team up. It would be most efficient from an operational standpoint to move in units of that size”
“We will escort each of these small groups individually, or in an emergency, we will serve as the transportation wing”
Dianne nodded at Lado’s words.
“The three Gold Arm members, who are particularly good at attacking alone, as well as Bonaparte, Lucas and Vincent, will each be assigned a team leader. The members of the Sword Saint Brigade will support them from behind”
“Dianne. I don’t see my name”
“Almeida will work with Becker and Dingil to avoid dragon battles. We’re going to secure Queen Stana”
“……Is that the kind of operation you’re going to be running here?”
Almeida looks complicated. However, 100-man special duty commander Becker and Abel Dingil, who were to team up with her, seemed to be somewhat happy.
“Well, if we want to take advantage of our speed, it would be a mismatch if we were on a mission with someone else”
“Let’s show you the fastest speed ever recorded in the Three Kingdoms of the Northwestern Plains”
“What we’re going to do is kidnap people”
That’s the part that’s stuck. Well, Almeida was bold enough to attack Maia from the first time she saw her, so she might have wanted to have a serious fight with a dragon.
“No, really, that’s fine. I don’t want to be a murderer or a dragon slayer”
“You’ve been playing the Red Arm well at that rate, Naris……”
“The main mission of the Red Arm is to hunt monsters! If you were asking me to fight humans, I wouldn’t have joined the Renfangas Army! And you can’t fight dragons in a normal army either!”
Come to think of it, yes. But I don’t normally want to fight monsters. Even the mad wolves around here are so strong that even a well-trained soldier can’t easily defeat them alone.
“I and Tetes-san are under Dianne’s command, right?”
“I’m looking forward to working with you♪”
Aurora and Tetes are under Dianne’s direct command. And Neia, Brian, Anzeros and Sharon, along with Laila, Maia and Lada, are supposed to protect me, the former king Ulysses and Irina.
“I thought I was supposed to be with Aurora”
“Ho. You are the owner’s dueling agent. And you can’t afford to be separated from him when the time comes. And Aurora’s skills are not suited to being an escort”
“She’s quite skillful though……but I’m sure you want to use the slashing wave in the vanguard……”
Also, considering that Sharon’s earth drive is aimed indoors, it cannot be used proactively. Although she was strong in normal fighting, Sharon was better suited for defensive battles.
“If Berga and my older brother had been there, we could have used Tempest”
“Is that too much for one person to do?”
“If you are as strong as my older brother, you can activate it alone with enough range and power, but with me, it would be faster to slash normally……”
I haven’t actually seen it used myself, but the secret of earth drive seemed to be difficult for Sharon. Still, she is no match for the Great Sword Saints here in normal swordsmanship, which, conversely, shows how strong Felios is. ……Dianne-san’s ability to look down on that is even more unfathomable.
“We too would like to fight on the front lines if we could”
“It’s a matter of our homeland, you know”
Neia and Brian say so, but when it comes to fighting dragons, it’s more a matter of aptitude than that. Neia, who does not release her flash sword, cannot match the strongest knights here in terms of explosive power and the same goes for Brian.
“You will have a better role to play after this battle is over”
“Umm. If it is a matter of homeland, the battles that truly matter to the nation are those where swords are not used”
Irina and the previous king admonished them in this way. And Luna is incorporated into this rear group in case of emergency. In case of emergency, she would carry Irina and they would escape. As for me, Naris is in charge and Ector is in charge of the former king. Yes. I’m sorry for being so slow.
There was no ceremony to prepare for the assault (in a normal war, there would be an instruction, but it would be meaningless in the face of continuous scouts and ambushes, so I skipped it) and we flew straight to the palace indicated by Neia and Brian. Even without carriages, the transportation capacity is sufficient. Rather, we left the carriages at the royal palace this time because they reduce the freedom of flight in an emergency. Everyone rides on the hands or backs of the dragons and flies toward the old palace beyond the wilderness.
“……It’s bigger than I thought it would be. It must be bigger than the palace”
“No matter how big it is, it’s still a place. We can’t live there”
Neia, who is standing next to me, says so. A magnificent palace is meaningless……if it is not connected to other cultivated areas and water sources.
“Besides, they don’t even clean the inside. It’s in disrepair. There are more than one or two places where the pillars and floors have collapsed and are impassable”
“……That’s true. The building is three hundred years old”
The fact that it has remained intact for such a long period of time in such an uninhabited place is rather amazing. It’s quite north here so there will probably be a lot of snow.
“There have been no interceptions so far, but don’t let your guard down. You never know what trump card they are hiding”
Anzeros’ warning made me brace myself. This time it’s on Laila’s hand, which is bigger than Maia’s, so there’s even more room than when we went to the Crystal Palace and there’s still room for me, Naris, Anzeros, Neia and Sharon to grab on to it as well. In her other hand it’s the former king, Irina, Luna, Ector and Brian. Dianne´s group are ahead of us on Asti. Maia is empty-handed but flying under Laila in case of a surprise attack.
“I wonder if Laina and the others will stick around”
Naris muttered in a whisper.
“Yeah?”
“If they surrender here, how will they end up with this force? I’m not sure if it’s possible that 100-man commander Dianne, will not allow them to give up.
“Yes……that’s not…… a no-brainer or not”
I also end up being a lack of clarity. If the situation reached this point, Rainer would not be able to win. There’s no doubt about it. No matter where you look at dragons or people, Rainer doesn’t have an advantage in any way and even if he had a weapon like the Dragon Slayer, I also had the flash sword. But surrender? I wonder if Dianne-san will hold back if she is told this head-on. ……For Rainer and the others, unexpectedly, this might be a realistic option. However, as for where the point lies after that……umm. I feel like banishing Rainer and Queen Stana from the country is actually a reward.
“Umm……it would be realistic to do so……but that would leave us with a form of settlement…….”
“I’m sure we can think of something like that later. There are plenty of general staffs out there”
That’s what Anzeros tells me, but it’s not like I should leave this to others……. While I was worrying about this, the spearhead unit was about to land on the ground and begin a frontal assault on the detached palace. The first to descend was the squad of Grand Knight Chief Annette. They pushed and pulled the door in front of them and when they confirmed that it was not going to open, with a light snap, they entered into a serious form, clad in electric shocks all over their bodies and with a running start, they hit the door with their bodies. The door and the surrounding walls are all blown inward.
“……Oh, I think that was a steel door nearly a meter thick”
“She’s still a one-man siege weapon…….”
I had to nod at Neia and Sharon’s mutterings. And from the roof of the detached palace, Lister and Bonaparte teams get in. The defense here cannot be as tight as the front door, so of course they should be able to enter easily.
“You guys come slowly! I’ll take care of it first!”
Sir Buster loudly announced from Bauz’s hand as he went down next to him. Then an avalanche of dragons and people begin to pour in and the sounds of battle cries and sword fights begin to echo from within.
“It’s about time, isn’t it?”
It must have been ten minutes since the raid began. We got off the perch on Laila’s finger and started to move inside.
“Laila, do you think we’ll be okay?”
“……This could be a set-up”
“Eh?”
The dragon and the heroes are in a state of confusion. There were a few dragons and a band of heroes, but the important thing is that Rainer is missing”
“……How far does he plan to run?”
“……No”
Laila (in dragon form) slowly turns her head to the left and right and mutters.
“If such a plan has any meaning, then you are the target, owner. There is no value in just getting through this. Taking you hostage is the only way for him to get out of this crisis. Well then. but……”
“Where’s the opening? There are dragons that have invaded and Laila and Maia are there too. No matter how I think about it, they are targeting me……”
“Do you think it’s impossible? ……It’s not that difficult though”
“!?”
The voice came from close by.
“There it is!”
Laila stepped out on all fours onto a nearby rock and swung her arm down……but the arm was cut off.
“Guu!?”
“Dragons are sensitive to the presence and sound of magic, but that’s it. It does not turn its attention to simple hidden form of music. ……At this distance, there is no breath”
Rainer emerges from behind a rock.
“You’ve got to be a lot more clever than that……”
“You are a master of concealed weapons”
Rainer swings his sword and starts running towards me.
“Own, ne…….!!”
“Laila, you’re at a disadvantage with your dragon body! I want you to lower Irina and the others down!”
Still, I used his remaining arm to stop Laila, who was about to throw a blow and Anzeros, Neia and Sharon stood in front of me. It won’t be easy to defeat these three……!
“Get out of my way!”
“You’re getting in my way!”
“Rainer!”
It’s not that easy!
But I shudder when I see a familiar bracelet on Rainer’s arm. It’s……Beatrice’s!
“Don’t take it seriously! That guy, that bracelet……!”
“Eh!? U, Uwaaaa!?”
The flash of the sword that Rainer unleashed blasted Anzelos high into the air. Next, he flung Sharon, who was hit by the sword, several dozen meters to the side, and finally struck Neia with the sword as well. Neia, however, was the only one who understood the meaning of the 「Bracelet」 and she narrowly avoided the slash.
“The Sea King’s bracelet……!”
“She was too cocky to give it to me. I forced myself to take it from her. ……Oops, that blue dragon over there. Don’t think you can stand in my way”
“Shut up!”
The dragon Maia runs and jumps on the ground with a resounding thud. From there, Rainer unleashes a blow at Maia and Neia runs to cover it with her flash sword. And the blow, as expected, bounces off Neia and slams into Maia’s breastplate, horrifyingly stopping the giant dragon’s momentum. Is this such a fearsome treasured weapon when used by a perfected heroic Rainer……?
“Well, now they’re out of the way. Andy Smithson. No more tricks like last time”
“………”
The three of them, Shario, Corti and Leyla, also appeared out of nowhere to check on Laila and Maia. The rush team seems to have noticed this movement now, but since they’ve gotten close to Rainer to the point where they could take my life in an instant, there’s no way they can move. The only one left here……is Naris. Naris was also hugging me from behind and was trembling, so there was nothing she could do about it.
“……If you kill me, you’re done”
“I know. A hostage is only meaningful if he is alive. There is no better hostage than you”
“……Are you planning to keep me like this forever? No matter how long it takes, the War God Dianne will have her vengeance”
“That’s a terrible thing”
Rainer said that in a voice without much emotion and walked up to me.
“Well, if I missed this opportunity, I’m sure the same thing will happen”
“Maybe…….”
Oh. It’s true, there’s nothing left for Rainer to do. Even if they keep quiet, they will be destroyed. The only thing they will probably take is the head of Rainer even if he gives up. In that case, I guess he has no choice but to struggle.
“……Ten dragons. No, more than twenty. They were all gathered together just for you. And there are human monsters with even more hidden power”
“I enjoy making friends”
I turn my head while speaking lightly. What should we do? Is there a way out of this?
“With that power, it would be easy to become king. Do you know the Geo lord?”
“……Ah, the Geo Kingdom……”
“It would not be difficult for us to rule this continent like those countries. Thats right. Even a single dragon is too much for most nations to handle. Just as you did when you faced me, even a dragon rider would have to be silenced in the face of that many and my fighting strength……”
“……?”
“Then why don’t you think about getting it all?”
Rainer. I look into his eyes and ask him that question with all seriousness.
“I find you strange. Your presence can gather that much strength. The dragons will accept you as king. Why do you live so poorly with one little girl like Neia as your cause? ……Have you never thought of becoming a king?”
“……What are you asking me for?”
“You have the right to have it all. The dragon will not blame you for following it. You have the popularity I do not and I have the power over other dragon riders. And this situation. ……Don’t you think we don’t have many options left for each other, Andy Smithson?”
“……You”
“……Why don’t we get a continent. With everything we have here, it’s easy”
Rainer Exeliza chooses to embrace me. It was a mind-boggling……but, if you ask me, it was the only way to go.