Published at 17th of August 2019 8:10 am

Volume 8.5, Chapter 3: The Fire Dragon Emperor, Alunaya

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 1

Like on Earth, various creatures existed on Forthorthe.

But they were only similar to the ones on Earth at first glance. Because of the environment of the planet, while there were creatures that might have similar shapes, the details were completely different. A good example would be the horse. The ones on Forthorthe had horns and its hair grew in different places.

There were also large beasts that grew over ten meters. Though their numbers had diminished over the years thanks to the climate change, they were active under the surface, and would sometimes threaten the lives of the people.

But the creatures that people feared the most out of those giant beasts were probably the dragons. Like the dinosaurs on Earth, the dragons were on the top of the food chain. Dragons were large reptiles that got bigger for each year that passed, and in many cases exceeded ten meters in height. There were plenty of dragons of the species known as the elder dragons, those of which that exceeded even 30 meters in height. They could freely move their gigantic bodies, and accompanied with sharp fangs and claws, destroy any enemy and devour them.

However, the dragons weren't feared for just their sizes. Creatures larger than that existed. No, there were two other reasons for why the dragons were so feared. The first was that they could fly despite their massive size. And the second was that they could spew out a special kind of breath.

Dragons had large wings on their backs, the shape of which was very similar to the pterosaurs’ on Earth. Using those wings, they could freely fly across the sky. They were very mobile despite their size. Of course, wings alone wouldn't be enough to allow them to fly with that massive body of theirs, so they used the magic power in their bodies as well. In other words, though limited, they were also magicians.

There was also another scenario where dragons used magic. That was when they used their special breath to attack. Thanks to their massive figures, they were able to exhale their breaths at unbelievable speeds. The dragons used magic power to change the quality of that breath and then use it as an attack. In most cases they spewed flames, but there were also dragons that could spew ice, poison gas and even acid. There were all kinds of variations to the breath, and there were also dragons that would spew something surprising out from time to time. It was possible to guess what a dragon would spew based on the color of its body. If its body was red it would tend to spew flames, if it was white it would spew out ice and so on.

Dragons were feared thanks to these two special abilities. They were next to impossible to run from thanks to their ability to fly, and there was no way to protect oneself from their breath. Amongst the dragons were highly intelligent and peaceful individuals as well, but many of them were brutal predators. When faced with a dragon, anyone would have to make peace with their fate. So until the climate changes reduced the number of dragons even further, they would continue to stand on the top of the food chain.

The Fire Dragon Emperor, Alunaya, mentioned in the legend of the Blue Knight was one of those dragons.

Its giant red body easily surpassed 20 meters, and it took to the sky like a jet plane. However, its movements weren't as sluggish as a jet, instead it was as quick and as agile as a hawk or eagle. On top of that, this elder dragon could spew flames so hot they could almost be considered as plasma.

As a result, when this dragon appeared on the horizon seemingly flying towards Raustor, the fort got noisy fast. The reborn Forthorthe army consisted mostly of volunteers. Lacking any proper training, they were shaking in their boots. They all knew just how frightening a dragon was, and weapons of this age weren't quite able to bring down a dragon. Like a storm, once a dragon appeared, they had to hide until it passed.

“Bertorion, this is bad!”

Having received a report from the soldiers on lookout, Flair burst into Koutarou's quarter in the barracks. The sun had just risen, and Koutarou who had just woken up was in the middle of changing.

“Lord Flairhan!?”

As Flair burst in, Koutarou's upper half was naked, and he was just about to put on a shirt. The surprisingly bashful Flair would normally have run back out of the room with a blushing face after seeing this. However, this wasn't the time for that, and she was panicking.

“It's a dragon! A dragon is attacking! At this rate we'll be destroyed before we even reach the coup d'état army!”

“A dragon!? That kind of thing―no, that's right, if it's coming now it must be Alunaya!!”

Koutarou had been confused about hearing that a dragon had appeared, but he quickly remembered that it had also appeared in Theia's manuscript. The Fire Dragon Emperor, Alunaya. It was the crimson dragon that Yurika had been acting as.

“What's the situation!?”

Koutarou forcibly put on his shirt and asked Flair. Now wasn't the time to casually get clothed; he had to quickly prepare for battle.

“The soldiers on lookout spotted a red dragon coming this way! Because of the distance they can't tell just how big it is, but with the dragon’s speed it'll be here any moment!”

From the lookout tower, the horizon lied several tens of kilometers away. If the dragon was as fast as an eagle or hawk, or even faster, it would reach the fort within only a few minutes.

“I got it! You go on ahead, Lord Flairhan, prepare the soldiers to intercept it! I'll be there as soon as I'm ready!”

“Good! Get out here as quickly as possible!”

Flair quickly dashed out of the quarters without saying anything else. With a dragon approaching, there was no time to spare.

“Did you get that, Clan!?”

After changing his clothes, Koutarou called out to Clan on the other side of the screen. As he did, he ran up to the armor standing by the wall. He touched the right arm of the armor and it opened up, as if welcoming him.

“Yes! I knew it'd be coming, but this timing is quite a pain!”

Clan was also hurriedly preparing her outfit on the other side of the screen. If Alunaya was as powerful as the legends say, it would be too much for normal soldiers. The only effective way of intercepting Alunaya was for Koutarou and Clan to come to the front.

“We just took this fort after all...”

Koutarou entered the open armor and showed a bitter expression.

The reborn Forthorthe army had just captured the fort of Raustor the day before yesterday. They were currently in the middle of transporting men and supplies for the next battle. Because of that, the soldiers hadn't properly rested since they took the fort. This was the worst timing for an attack to happen. And what's worse, their enemy was what the people of Forthorthe feared the most, a dragon. If they were delayed, there would be a massive amount of casualties.

“Hey, Clan.”

As Koutarou closed up the armor and locked the various parts in place, he brought up the system. As he ordered it to scan for the enemy, he called out to Clan.

“Do you think this armor will be a match for a dragon?”

“I'm not sure.”

Clan answered Koutarou as she stepped out from the screen. She was already holding a large rifle, and she approached Koutarou after picking up Saguratin, which was leaning against the screen.

“The dragon population steadily declined as the climate changed, so in our age there's no record of any battles with an elder dragon. There are records of battles won against smaller dragons that survived, but―”

“That won't be of any help when dealing with this monster, huh...”

The armor created a 3D image in the air and displayed information. Combined with the information from Clan's observation device, the armor reported on the details flying towards them.

‘26 meters long, flying at 198 km/h. Warning, high-density energy reaction detected, be wary of energy weapons. Space distortion detected. Take care when attacking.’

The report gave nothing but bad news. According to the artificial intelligence in the armor, everything except the speed was at the level of a fighter. Their chances of victory were not high at all; this wasn't an opponent they could go easy on.

“That's right, sadly.”

Clan nodded and handed Saguratin to Koutarou. Both of their expressions were serious.

“Thanks.”

Koutarou hung Saguratin down from his waist and headed towards the exit with Clan right behind him.

“This is the moment of truth.”

“Whether we can return to our own world or not is all on this fight.”

Clan believed that Koutarou was the real Blue Knight, but it's not like she had any proof of this. In Theia's manuscript, the Blue Knight won against Alunaya, but she didn't know if she and Koutarou could do the same.

And if they lost, history would greatly change. If that happened, chances of Koutarou and Clan being able to return home would be next to nothing. Of course, there was a chance that they would die in this battle and not be able to try in the first place.

“...What was your god called again?”

“The goddess of dawn.”

“Then please pray for our victory to that goddess.”

“I don't mind, but... why now, all of a sudden?”

Koutarou didn't seem very religious to Clan. So him praying for god's help came as a big surprise for her.

“I feel like we should do whatever we can, even if it is praying.”

If only their own fate was on the line, Koutarou might not have relied on prayers. However, if it was to protect Alaia and the others, he would do whatever he could. That was just how much he valued Alaia and her companions.

“...I understand how you feel. I will pray for us. But please keep yourself together in front of the soldiers.”

“Yeah. That's why I asked you, Clan.”

“I'm not sure if that means if you trust me or if you don't...”

The two showed each other slight smiles and hurried out of the barracks. The Fire Dragon Emperor Alunaya was almost upon them.

Part 2

Once Koutarou and Clan stepped outside, the dragon was already close enough to be seen with the naked eye.

“So that's the Fire Dragon Emperor, Alunaya, huh...”

“It really is huge...”

They both instinctively held their breaths as they saw Alunaya's massive figure.

That thing's completely different from Yurika's disguise...

The real deal was on a completely different level from the dragon that appeared in the play. Fitting of the name of Fire Dragon Emperor, Koutarou could feel that the coming battle would be intense.

“Bertorion, it's hard to tell if the weapons on this fort will have any effect on it.”

There were ballistae and catapults installed in the fort, which were intended to keep attacking soldiers at bay and to destroy siege weapons before they could be deployed. However, they weren't very effective against a flying enemy.

“So we have to do it on our own, huh...”

“And that's as fast as possible.”

Fitting of its name, Alunaya spewed scorching hot flames. If left alone, it would burn down the fort and town. If that happened, any victory gained would be hollow. They had to bring down Alunaya before it could reach them.

“Kou... no, Reios-sama!”

“Blue Knight!”

That was when Alaia appeared outside of the headquarters. Beside her were Charl, Mary and Fauna.

“Your highness!? What are you doing here!?”

“With that thing here, it won't matter where we are! More importantly, Reios-sama, I want you to position the men closer to the town!”

She might not be able to prevent the dragon from attacking, but as this country's royalty, she couldn't just watch the attack happen. Aware of the possibly massive casualties, Alaia wanted the soldiers to protect the town. Anything that would allow for the people of the town to take shelter.

“Got it! I'll let Lord Flairhan know! Hey!”

“Yes.”

Koutarou called for his young adjutant and asked him to convey a message to Flair. Meanwhile, Flair was currently busy moving the soldiers. If she heard of Alaia's wish, she would be able to move the soldiers that way.

After seeing the adjutant run off towards Flair, Koutarou looked up at Alunaya with a serious expression once more.

“Clan, how far can this armor fly?”

“There's no limit using the standard flight module, but there's a limit on the propellant for the emergency boosters, so you'll only be able to fly at max speed for about ten minutes. Please be careful.”

While responding to Koutarou, Clan readied the rifle she was carrying on her shoulder. It was the large rifle she was always using, but the bullets she was using this time were different. They were bullets that she had prepared ahead of time as she knew that Alunaya would appear sooner or later. These bullets had high penetration and exploded on direct hits. Since the explosion was a shaped charge facing the object it hits, it would be able to pierce even the thickest of armors. She wasn't sure if that would be enough to blast through Alunaya's scales, but it was far better than trying to attack using normal bullets.

“Ten minutes, huh... not sure if that'll be enough...”

The problem for Koutarou was whether he had enough time to defeat something as massive as that dragon. He was wearing extremely advanced technology, but in the end that was just for personal use. His chances of winning weren't all that high. However, since the Cradle had not been repaired yet, he had to defeat Alunaya with the weapons at hand and the time allotted to him.

“Alright!”

Koutarou steeled himself. This was no time to be weak. This wasn't a question of if he could do it or not, he had no choice but to do it.

“Princess Alaia, please take princess Charl with you and hide somewhere safe.”

“Blue Knight, what will you do?”

Charl looked up at Koutarou with a worried look on her face.

“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's to come.

“Blue Knight...”

However, Charl's expression didn't change. Thanks to her good intuition, she could tell that Koutarou and Clan were about to take part in a dangerous battle.

“You can't, Blue Knight! You and your underling can't win against that thing on your own! You can't go!”

Charl grabbed a hold of the hems of Koutarou's mantle and shook her head.

“Your highness, if I don't go, a lot of people will die.”

The best case scenario would be if they could defeat Alunaya, but they had to at least buy enough time for the soldiers to be positioned around the town. If they didn't, there would be a lot of casualties.

“I know that! But, I don't want you to go!”

Tears began forming in Charl's eyes and she strongly held the hem of Koutarou's mantle. She would never release it, or let him go. Charl was desperate as she didn't want Koutarou to die.

“Charl, you mustn't trouble Reios-sama anymore.”

“Sister!! You don't care if Blue Knight dies!?”

Alaia smiled at Charl and gentle wrapped her hands around the hand holding the mantle.

“Of course I do.”

Alaia then removed finger after finger from the mantle.

“But Reios-sama made an oath that he would definitely protect us. If he died here, he wouldn't be able to uphold that oath. Charl, your Blue Knight isn't the kind to lie, is he?”

Alaia was well aware of how dangerous this fight was going to be. There was even a chance that Koutarou might die. But as a princess, Alaia trusted in the oath her knight had sworn. And as a woman, she believed in the oath the man she loved had sworn. She repeatedly told herself that if she didn't believe in Koutarou, then who else would?

“Sister...”

Understanding how her sister must feel, Charl let go of the mantle. Having been set free, Koutarou smiled at her.

“Your highness, I will definitely return victorious. I haven't let you ride on a horse yet after all.”

“You better! You better return!”

“Yes, definitely.”

Koutarou nodded and turned towards Alaia.

“I'm going, princess Alaia.”

“I scorn the part of me that doesn't let me say ‘don't go’, Reios-sama...”

Alaia was courageously smiling, but her eyes were moist. Though she believed in him, it wasn't like she wasn't worried. In reality, she wanted to stop Koutarou more than anyone.

“No, that's how my princess should act.”

But Koutarou wanted to repay her trust in any way possible, precisely because of the way she was.

What let Koutarou and Clan float in the air was the power of gravity manipulation. Because of that, there weren't any loud sounds as those with planes. The two of them quietly flew through the sky.

The season in Forthorthe was near the end of fall; winter was approaching. Koutarou and Clan could feel a cold and dry wind, and because of their speed it felt even colder. However, the two of them didn't have the time to shiver, as in front of them was a gigantic crimson dragon, Alunaya.

“You often see dragons in movies and such... but seeing them in reality like this, it's almost like a joke.”

“And it's that mobile despite its size... this is no laughing matter.”

Alunaya seemed to have noticed Koutarou and Clan as well, as it turned its head towards them and changed its course. Despite being over 20 meters in size, it maneuvered like a comparatively tiny bird of prey. Clan had seen movies about the Blue Knight, but Alunaya was never this big or quick. Neither Koutarou nor Clan felt the winter cold in front of this threat that was beyond all imagination.

“...I'll be lending a hand too, Blue Knight.”

There was someone who had followed after the two. That person was sitting on a flying long cane and had lined up beside them without making a sound.

“Caris...”

That person was none other than the magician, Caris. She was using her own magic to make her cane fly. For a magician like her, flying was but child's play.

As 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 if I'm not sure I could win.”

Caris used to be one of the court magicians led by Grevanas. She had left the group after Grevanas had tried to kill her alongside Alaia, but she had no real obligation to help Alaia nor Koutarou. She had been helping Koutarou and the others to repay the favor for curing her when she was sick, but Koutarou couldn't just ask her to fight against Alunaya.

“But with me here, we might have a bigger chance of winning.”

“...Are you sure?”

“Not really, but... after this is over, you'll treat me to a ton of delicious food, won't you?”

To Caris who was an orphan, the court magicians had been her family. But after being betrayed, she had no place left to call home, and nothing to protect.

With that, all Caris had left was the days she had spent with Koutarou and the others. To Caris who had a rough childhood and busy life with nothing but missions, they were calm and gentle memories.

That's why Caris fought to protect them. As they might become her new home and family.

“Leave it to me, I'll ask her highness once we're done.”

“Alright, now I'm getting all fired up.”

As Caris cheerfully nodded, Alunaya approached from directly ahead and let out a loud roar.

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR

It was a voice so loud it made even the air around them tremble. It was intense enough to make them instinctively flinch.

“...But my, aren't you eccentric. To think you'd go up against that of your own free will.”

As Clan said that she pumped herself up. It's not like she wasn't afraid. Her opponent was a legendary creature after all.

“You two were going to fight it on your own, weren't you? You two sound much more eccentric to me.”

Caris smiled wryly as she said that, but she secretly felt like she may have acted too rashly. Her opponent was one of the strongest elder dragons. No other dragon dared come near Forthorthe because Alunaya was here. And she believed she must be an idiot to want to fight something like that herself.

“That's enough chatting.”

Koutarou flew up ahead of Clan and Caris. He was frightened by Alunaya as well, but his many promises and oaths supported him.

“It's almost here.”

Thanks to Sanae's powers, Koutarou could see Alunaya's killing intent. Though those powers had weakened as time passed, he still could clearly tell as much.

Koutarou pulled Saguratin from out of its sheath and pointed the tip towards Alunaya. As he did, the blade reflected the sunshine, and it was almost as if the many promises and oaths were making the sword shine.

“...We don't have much time, so let's just settle for us both being eccentric.”

“Let's do that. Let's save this discussion for lunch.”

Clan readied her rifle and Caris began incanting a spell. In front of them was a gigantic dragon, and as they looked at it, their bodies began trembling on their own.

“...I'm counting on you two.”

However, in front of them was the back of a young man wearing a blue armor.

“Leave it to me.”

“I know. Don't you forget your promise.”

Looking at that back, their trembles settled down and instead, they were filled with a strong fighting spirit.

Part 3

Alunaya made the first move. The crimson dragon took a big breath and spewed out flames from its mouth. It wasn't something as plain as a flamethrower; no, this was as if a giant pillar of flame flew out of its mouth.

“Spread out!”

Since Koutarou could see Alunaya's intent to attack, he knew where the attack would hit. And thanks to Caris's magic creating a mental connection between the three, they were all able to avoid the flames ahead of time.

ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAR

However, despite their distance from the flames, they could still feel the heat and the created shock wave. The glowing white flame breath then continued flying through the sky and vanished cross the horizon.

“...That's practically a plasma cannon. If we're hit we don't stand a chance.”

“Make sure you don't eat that, Caris.”

“As if I would!!”

The temperature of Alunaya's flame breath was so high it practically turned into plasma. The only thing Clan knew of that could do that was a large-scale weapon on space ships. The flame breath's power was enough to amaze her.

“Blue Knight, dragons only use magic to fly and for breath attacks. However, with those restrictions, their power is much more frightening. Be very careful!”

Caris knew that the flames had been created by altering the dragon's breath using magic. As a magician, she could tell just how massive the dragon’s magic reserves were.

“I'll take the front! Cover me!”

Koutarou had used emergency boosters to dodge the flame pillar. He then set them to full thrust and accelerated in an instant. Drawing a curve in the sky, he approached Alunaya. He was getting closer to the dragon so he could attack, while at the same time making it hard for it to use its flame breath.

“Grrrrrr....”

Alunaya responded by turning its head and opening its mouth once more. It was planning on frying Koutarou before he could get close.

“I can't let you do that!”

However, before Alunaya could spew its flames, a small explosion occurred near its face. The barrel of Clan's rifle was smoking. The explosion had been created from a bullet fired from her rifle. The relative speed between the two were several hundred km/h, but the firearms control system allowed her to accurately snipe at those speeds.

“ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!”

Because of the shockwave and fire from the explosion, Alunaya temporarily lost sight of Koutarou. In order to regain its sight, it shook its large head. During that time, Koutarou was able to approach the dragon.

“ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!”

However, Alunaya quickly recovered and swung its giant claws towards him. The attack produced by that 20-meter giant was as powerful as a car smashing into something at high speed. That attack that would certainly destroy Koutarou if it hit approached him from the front. Since Koutarou was moving at high speeds, dodging that attack was difficult.

“Sorry, that Blue Knight is a fake.”

However, the moment those giant claws touched Koutarou, he vanished as if he was a mirage. At the same time, a second Koutarou appeared from behind Alunaya and aimed for the dragon's neck.

The first Koutarou was an illusion that had been created at the same time as Clan's bullet hit. And while Alunaya was distracted by the fake, Koutarou got behind the dragon and swung his sword.

“Haaaaaaaaaaah!”

Koutarou's sword struck Alunaya's neck. However, his sword merely bounced off as if it had crashed into a wall. He had gotten a similar response when he had fought the steel giant.

“It didn't work!? These scales are tough!!”

Because they were some distance away, Koutarou's thoughts were directly transmitted to Clan's and Caris's minds. And in response to that, Clan shook her head.

“That's not right, Bertorion!! It's being protected by a powerful barrier!!”

Clan's bracelet that was linked to the scope of the rifle had captured the moment when Koutarou's attack hit the dragon. In that footage, Koutarou's sword had been repelled before it even reached the scales.

“A barrier!?”

Koutarou was surprised by Clan's words while he was evading Alunaya and trying to get into its blind spot without separating from the dragon. Parting with Alunaya would only put him at a disadvantage for both attacking and defending.

“Looks like it wasn't just flight and breath! That's a third spell!”

It was assumed that dragons only used two spells: flight assistance and breath attacks. But on top of these, Alunaya also used a spell to protect its body from attacks.

However, this was originally an ability that it had developed to stabilize its body within air currents. By wrapping its entire body in a streamlined barrier, it was able to fly at high speeds despite its figure. On top of this, it was also able to briefly fly at extreme heights where there was little oxygen.

Though the ability had been born because of that, it was also good enough to repel attacks.

“I see! So that's why it was completely uninjured from my attack too!”

Though Clan's bullet had temporarily deprived Alunaya of sight, it hadn't injured it. The barrier had protected against both the bullet and the following explosion.

“Clan, what do we do!? Don't you have any good ideas!?”

Koutarou repeatedly dodged from Alunaya's claws while attacking from time to time. However, each of his attacks were blocked by the barrier. Since they would be at a standstill like this, Koutarou sought advice from Clan.

“Use your left arm!”

“Left arm!? You mean Kiriha's gauntlet!?”

“That's right! Even though that barrier can block physical attacks, it shouldn't be able to block electric and magnetic fields! Aim for its nervous system from point blank!”

Clan's plan was to use the gauntlet built into the armor's left arm.

Physical attacks might be blocked by the barrier, but electromagnetism might be able to get through. If things went well, they might be able to shock it from the inside of its barrier, and even if they couldn't, they could expose Alunaya to an electromagnetic field.

Since it was a living creature, Alunaya's nerves should operate through electrical signals. And striking it with a powerful enough electromagnetic field should be able to keep it from moving properly. If they aimed for the cerebellum or cerebrum, they might even be able to knock it unconscious.

At their current state, closing in and using the gauntlet at point blank range was the best option they had.

“Got it, I'll give it a try!”

“I'll try using optical weaponry! The power will drop, but it just might work!”

Clan had Alunaya in her sights. Therefore, if she used an attack that relied on light, it might work.

Barriers in Forthorthe, 2,000 years from now, were designed to block both physical attacks and the light from lasers. However, Alunaya's barrier hadn't been developed to deal with lasers, so it was quite possible that lasers would work.

“Let's do this, Clan!”

Koutarou pointed the tip of Saguratin towards Alunaya. He then held the blade with his left hand and generated an electromagnetic field. The field expanded past the tip of the sword and became an invisible spear. Because of the powerful electromagnetic field, electrons began gathering at the tip of the sword. They began building up a huge, negative charge, and the sword began sparking and glowing.

As Koutarou was about to charge forward, several more young men in blue armor appeared around him. They all looked like Koutarou.

“Is that you, Caris!? Thanks!!”

“It'll be hard for me to do any damage with my magic. So I'll be in charge of defense and diversions. I'll leave the attacking to you, Blue Knight!”

Eight more Koutarous appeared around him. They were all illusions created by Caris. She had figured that her spells wouldn't be able to do any damage to Alunaya, and defending from the dragon's claws and flame breath would be difficult. So she created a large amount of illusions to protect Koutarou through diversions.

“Bertorion, here it comes!!”

Clan squeezed the trigger while warning Koutarou. As she did, the barrel lit up for an instant. What was fired wasn't a bullet, but light given a high amount of energy. The speed of the laser was the speed of light; by the time you could see the attack, it had already hit. No matter how mobile Alunaya was, it wouldn't be able to dodge that.

“ROAAAAAAARR!”

The laser burned the crimson dragon's body. As she had expected, Alunaya's barrier couldn't block lasers. Not even a dragon could block something it didn't know off. Alunaya twisted its body and let out a scream of pain as the laser burned the scales and its body behind them.

“It's working!! Now, Bertorion!!”

Since Clan's laser was designed as an anti-personnel weapon, it didn't have enough power to penetrate Alunaya's body. However, the pain and surprise from having its body burnt gave Koutarou an opening.

“Taaaaakeeeee thiiiiisss!!”

Koutarou charged with his sword thrust out in front of him. Since he was already up close, the very next moment, Koutarou's sword assaulted Alunaya. The sword itself was repelled by the barrier, but the electromagnetic field passed through. As the electromagnetic field pierced the barrier, the gathered electrons scattered, however they gathered back up once past the barrier.

“How about thiiiiiiss!!”

The moment the electromagnetic field reached Alunaya's body, Koutarou focused on his left arm. As he did, his spiritual power, enhanced by Sanae, began flowing into his left arm and extended the electromagnetic field, which in turn created a very big electric potential difference between the tip of the sword and Alunaya's body.

A white flash prevented Koutarou from seeing anything. At the same time, a sharp sound, as if someone cracked a whip, shook the atmosphere. Though it might have sounded like a whip, it was much, much louder. It was the sound of a huge current flowing into Alunaya because of the potential difference.

“ROAAAAAAAAAAAAR!”

The artificial thunderbolt created by Kiriha's gauntlet struck Alunaya and ran through its body. This attack was effective even against Alunaya, especially since it had hit where Alunaya's nerves were gathered. The artificial intelligence in the armor had guided Koutarou to that spot after analyzing Alunaya. As a result, Alunaya lost control of its body in an instant.

“Uwaaah!!”

The only miscalculation had been that Koutarou had been unable to dodge Alunaya's tail. He had been unable to dodge it as he had been temporarily blinded by the lightning. And even if he could see where the dragon intended to attack, he couldn't foresee the dragon swinging its tail by reflex.

“Bertorion!!”

Koutarou was struck by the tail and was sent flying, spinning out of control. He had lost his bearings and had trouble recovering.

“Leave it to me!!”

Caris began chanting a spell to use on Koutarou.

“Gather, spirits of wind! Show your great power! Become a whirl, dance with him and correct his rhythm!”

Caris cast a spell that would use the wind to decelerate Koutarou. She had to start by stopping him from spinning.

Caris's magic activated at the same time as the armor's control system. The armor used the gravity and boosters to slow the spinning. And as Caris supported him, Koutarou was able to stop spinning and falling.

“Ugh, d-damn it, what...?”

Though his body might have stopped spinning, Koutarou's eyes hadn't, and he was unable to keep his balance. He shook his head repeatedly in an attempt to stop his eyes from spinning. At that time, the armor let out a warning.

“Alert message. High-density energy reaction detected. Urgent evasion required.”

The thunderbolt from before hadn't been able to defeat Alunaya. Now it had recovered and spewed out flames aimed at Koutarou.

“I'll leave that to you!”

“As you wish my lord. Evading using irregular algorithms.”

However, Koutarou still hadn't recovered from the damage he had taken. Knowing that it would be difficult to evade on his own, Koutarou left evading to the armor. The armor began accelerating and decelerating irregularly and dodged the flames. However, since the armor couldn't see the intention to attack like Koutarou could, it wasn't able to completely dodge. Although a direct hit was avoided, Koutarou got burned several times by the flames.

“Bertorion!”

“I'm fine, don't worry!”

However, Koutarou was able to recover before taking any serious damage from the fire. He used his eyes to read where Alunaya was going to be attacking and dodged.

“...All this just for letting my guard down for a moment...”

Having gotten through the crisis once, Koutarou looked at the damage the armor had taken and pulled himself together. The armor had scorch marks and a dent from when he had been hit by the tail. All of the attacks could very well have been lethal.

“Theia... the real Alunaya is far stronger than the one you imagined...”

Koutarou strongly gripped the handle of Saguratin while looking at Alunaya's gigantic body.

Part 4

Alaia prayed as she looked up at Koutarou's and the others battle.

Koutarou-sama...!

Koutarou's opponent was a monster well over 20 meters. It was like a cat challenging a lion. No matter how strong Koutarou was, he wasn't going to be able to overcome the gap in strength of an opponent over ten times his size. Even though Clan and Caris were helping him, it seemed to be a wasted effort.

At this rate, Koutarou-sama will die...!

That feeling slowly crept up in Alaia. When Alaia felt that, she realized that she was feeling insecure for the first time in a long while.

Ever since she had met Koutarou, Alaia had always felt safe. She was certain that even if something were to happen to her, Koutarou would protect Charl and support this country. And that certainty had supported her.

On top of that, after losing her parents, Koutarou was the only one who had learned of Alaia's feelings and understood her. With full knowledge of all her worries, he had called her actions correct, which had also supported her.

If Koutarou were to die, she would lose those two supports at the same time. To her, that was something incredibly frightening, and just imagining that made her thin white hands shake.

“...I should have broken the seal on that sword before this happened...”

Alaia's anxiousness made those words leave her lips. Fauna who was next to Alaia made a sad expression upon hearing that.

“Your highness... that's...”

As a priestess of the goddess of dawn, Fauna knew just what those words meant. They were words that would never be spoken if it wasn't for Alaia's overwhelming feelings for Koutarou.

“You can do it, Blue Knight! I'm with you!”

“Princess Charl, no! It's dangerous to reach your body so far out!”

“Let go, Mary!! I won't hide!! My and my sister's knight is fighting!! How can we not cheer him on!?”

However, Charl's powerful words helped ease Alaia's worries.

“Charl... you're so strong...”

At first, Charl had worried and didn't want Koutarou to go, but after having let go, her belief in his victory was unshakeable.

“Sister! Please call out to Blue Knight too! If you do, Blue Knight will surely return home safe!”

And in order to make her belief come true, she did whatever she could. The only thing young Charl could do was cheer, but she was desperate to be of Koutarou's help.

Charl... you might be more suited to be the empress than I am...

Charl's strong and prideful will dazzled Alaia.

“You're right Charl... I'll cheer for him too.”

Taking a lesson from Charl, Alaia believed that Koutarou would be victorious and cheered on from behind. She could do other things after this.

“Sister! Here!”

Charl smiled at Alaia and beckoned for Alaia to stand above her. Alaia nodded and stood at the same place as Charl.

“Blue Knight! You can do it! Sister is cheering for you too!”

“Reios-sama! Stay strong!”

They didn't know if their voices reached all the way to Koutarou. However, they believed that it would and shouted. That was the only way those two could fight right now.

Following their shouts, the nearby soldiers began shouting as well. The shouts and cheers grew louder and filled the fort.

Koutarou was fighting several hundred meters away from Alaia and Charl. On top of that, there was the sound of the wind, his boosters and the dragon's roar as it spewed its flames. Because of that, Alaia's and Charl's voices couldn't reach him.

“...I definitely can't lose!! Her highness and everyone is waiting for me to come home!!”

However, their voices were the only thing that didn't reach him. Their feelings had reached him, and he knew what the people at the fort were saying.

Having played baseball for the longest time, Koutarou knew that they were cheers despite not being able to properly hear them. And the fact that the cheers reached all the way to him summoned a powerful willpower in him.

“I can do this! It's not like the dragon hasn't taken any damage!”

Koutarou glared at Alunaya with his new found willpower and pointed the tip of his sword towards its giant body.

As Koutarou said, Alunaya had gotten weaker. The damage from Koutarou's gauntlet and Clan's laser had gradually accumulated in its body. And having flown at full speed for several minutes was taxing on Alunaya's stamina.

Sensing that, Koutarou threw away the notion that it was an unbeatable opponent.

“Bertorion, only a third of the propellant is left! And the entire frame has taken considerable damage. There's no time to slack off!”

However, Koutarou was taking damage alongside Alunaya. And since he was much smaller, his damage was far more severe.

The armor had taken hits from the flames and claws. The intense battle had taken its toll on the armor and left behind severe damage.

The armor's functions were currently making up for the damage, but if he took any more, he would be in danger.

“My magic power is running low as well. I'm restricting healing magic to serious injuries only.”

And Koutarou himself had suffered damage. The smaller wounds included cuts, bruises and burns, while the more serious injuries included dislocation and fractures. Caris had used her magic to heal that, but her magic power was now running low, and she would have a hard time healing Koutarou.

“Leave that to me. Just focus on what you can do.”

“I'll do my best.”

“Sorry, but I don't have any room to think about that.”

“You're reckless as always.”

“This is not the kind of opponent I can beat without being reckless!”

Koutarou readied Saguratin with both hands, pointed the tip towards Alunaya and charged. The eight Koutarou illusions created by Caris surrounded him as he did so. The nine Koutarous swapped positions and headed towards Alunaya.

“Grrrrrrrrrrr.”

Alunaya revealed its fangs and threatened Koutarou. However, it wasn't trying to attack using its breath attacks. It was well aware that the majority of Koutarous were fakes.

Not good, it's learning...

Koutarou clicked his tongue in his mind. Alunaya was calm. In Koutarou's experience, the winner of a fight was always the one who remained calm from beginning to end.

“Blue Knight, if you want to finish this faster, I have an idea.”

Sensing that Koutarou was beginning to panic, Caris proposed an idea to Koutarou.

“Tell me.”

Alunaya waited for Koutarou to close in before swinging its massive tail towards the nine Koutarous.

Koutarou responded to Caris while defending at once using his sword. The moment he did, the armor's system let out a cry.

“The first and third drive unit as well as the load bearing right arm elbow joint have exceeded the maximum tolerance. Bypassing circuits, readjusting balance of driving units. Left arm output reduced by 20%, the degree of freedom in the right arm elbow joint decreased by 14%. In addition―”

The armor reported on the damage. The 3D image displaying the condition of the armor was being filled with red marks.

“That's enough with the detailed report! I am aware that I'm in trouble! Just report on what won't move!”

“As you wish, my lord.”

The next moment, the red marks on the 3D image all vanished, leaving behind a yellow mark on the right elbow.

“Are you okay, Blue Knight!?”

“Bertorion!”

“I'm still fine!! So what was it, Caris!?”

The illusions all vanished, leaving Koutarou all alone. If he distanced himself from Alunaya like this, he would be attacked by the flame breath. He was better off sticking close and attacking. Deciding on that, Koutarou put his left hand on the sword and generated an electromagnetic field. He was planning on attacking like this.

“Strange magical power is gathering in the back of that dragon's neck. Attacking there might be a good idea.”

Just a while ago, Caris had used a spell to determine what kind of magic Alunaya was using. As a result, she was able to detect several active spells.

A strengthening spell surrounding its body and assisting with flight, a defensive spell that blocked attacks, and a spell that turned the breath its exhaled into a pillar of flame. Caris had been expecting those three, so knowing the strength of the spells would be of use to Koutarou.

However, in reality, she had detected another spell at this time. Caris didn't know what kind of spell that was since it was a spell she didn't know off. However, she knew where the source of that magic power was, and that was at the back of the dragon's neck. There, some kind of spell was active, and attacking that might have an effect on Alunaya. It was a gamble, but Caris believed they would have a higher chance of winning by attacking that point rather than continuing fighting like this.

“The back of the neck right!?”

Koutarou put his boosters to full thrust in order to get behind Alunaya and get a shot at its neck.

“Be careful, Blue Knight! A flame breath is coming!”

“At this range!?”

Koutarou had assumed that Alunaya wouldn't be able to use its flame breath once he was up close. So when Alunaya inhaled and get ready to spew flames, he was greatly surprised. Since Alunaya hated it when Koutarou got behind it, it was willing to even scorch its own body to hit him.

“Leave it to me!”

As Alunaya opened its mouth to spew flames, Clan fired several lasers from her rifle. The moderately spread out lasers burned Alunaya's face. Up until now, that would have stopped Alunaya in its track for a while, but this time was different. It had expected this would happen and spewed its flames while enduring the attacks.

The fire dragon's breath turned into a glowing white pillar and approached Koutarou. Had it been at a longer distance, he would be able to easily dodge it, but at this range evading was impossible. And then, just as it looked like Koutarou was about to be swallowed by the torrent of flames.

“Then I'll just do this!!”

That was an idea that had just popped into his head. Koutarou altered the electromagnetic field generated in his sword to envelop himself as well. And at the same time, he poured all of his spiritual energy into his left arm. As he did that, Koutarou accelerated even faster, like a bullet. His speed was overwhelming and he instantly escaped from the range of the flames.

“B-Bertorion!? You idiot!! Just, just how reckless can you get!!”

Since Clan was monitoring Koutarou's armor's condition, she knew what he had done. Koutarou had generated a powerful electromagnetic field using his gauntlet and forcibly accelerated the armor. But by doing that, even an armor used in space wouldn't be able to completely block the magnetism and electromagnetic waves. Though the armor didn't break, the system spat out errors all over and the armor stopped its functions.

“You're wrong, Clan!”

However, Koutarou didn't stop moving. The armor's functions had all stopped, but the gauntlet on Koutarou's left arm was still working. Koutarou used that power and thrust his own body towards Alunaya.

“This is what you call―”

Led by Kiriha's gauntlet, Koutarou flew towards Alunaya. His sword was aimed at the back of Alunaya's neck, the point where Caris had sensed the gathering of magic power. This was his last chance to attack since he wasn't sure if his armor's systems would reboot.

“ーbeing reckless!!”

Koutarou's Saguratin clashed with Alunaya's barrier. In that moment, Koutarou could see a large crystal attached to the back of Alunaya's neck. It was the only thing glowing blue on Alunaya's gigantic red body. Koutarou used his remaining strength to unleash a thunderbolt directed at it.

A white flash. The largest thunderbolt in this battle passed through Alunaya's barrier and attacked the glowing blue crystal.

“ROOOAAAAAAAAAAR!!”

Since Koutarou was exhausted, the electric attack he had poured all of his power into wasn't enough to break the crystal. However, after taking that hit, Alunaya seemed to be in great pain.

Alunaya bent its body in pain. The painful voice it let out reached all the way to the town and made the people there shudder. Alunaya then lost its ability to keep itself in the air and fell towards the ground.

“D-Did that do it...?”

The exhausted Koutarou also entered free fall while gazing at Alunaya. The armor still hadn't rebooted, and he no longer had any more strength to use his gauntlet. At this rate, Koutarou would smash into the ground at the terminal velocity of 200km/h.

“Heh, hehe, i-it's our win... your, highness...”

However, Koutarou lost his consciousness before he reached the ground. He had taken a lot of damage, and once he was certain of his victory, he relaxed too much to stay conscious.

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