Published at 18th of July 2022 1:54 am

Volume 3, Chapter 4 - The Battle at Willingham Mausoleum, Part 23-26

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 23

“Huh?”

Silvia immediately stopped Lancelot when they arrived at a large cavern. It didn't look like a place that had Necromancia. Lancelot increased the light intensity of its horns to brighten the extra space. Silvia was holding the reins with her right hand and was checking the map with her left.

“According to this map… This should be the centre of the mausoleum.”

“Centre...”

Ash was holding on to Eco who was still unconscious tightly while looking around. Silvia turned back and was secretly looking at Ash’s face.

“...”

Just to make a new Ark for Ash, Eco had went to the dragon workshop. Ash kept on holding to her petite body tightly for some time. Of course the reason Ash did so was to prevent Eco from falling off from Lancelot... But Silvia had been jumpy ever since and couldn't remain completely calm.

-Damn, what am I getting nervous about!

Silvia had reaffirmed herself and was looking around her surrounding carefully. The size of the space was about the size of the academy’s lecture hall. The cavern ceiling was extremely high estimated at about fifteen meters. There were a lot of winged-cross shaped tombstones all around on the floor. All the tombstones were at least five meters in height. The winged cross in the middle was far bigger than the rest. Its height almost touched the stone ceiling. Is there a powerful dragon buried there? Too bad they still hadn't found Angela and Gawain. Logically speaking, this large empty space, located in the middle of the entire mausoleum, should be the place with the highest probability of finding them... After Silvia gave a long sigh Ash said to her:

“Princess. Look up at the ceiling.”

“-Huh?”

Silvia’s eyes widened. There was a volcano like hole in the middle of the ceiling and the night sky could be seen from within. Before they had entered the mausoleum… Eco had described this dark sky as a ‘bad feeling’. On a clear night there would have been moonlight shining through that hole to create a dreamy situation.

“Grrrrr...”

Lancelot suddenly lifted its neck and gave a warning growl. It was staring intensely at the hole above.

“What’s it. Lancelot?”

Just when Silvia asked in surprised-

“We meet again. Shounen.” [5]

A guy’s voice could be heard from above. A tall and thin person stood at the edge of the hole.

“You’re... Milgauss!”

Ash's sudden gasp could even be felt by Silvia. Lancelot maneuvered so that his horn's light illuminated the scene above. A lone guy wearing a mask appeared pale white in colour under the light. Silvia had also read the report book and immediately knew who he was.

“The ruffian who was called Milgauss! Who knew that I would meet you here! I, under the name of Lautreamont's Royal Knight’s family, will punish you in the name of god!”

Even while facing Silvia, who was excited and indignant, Milgauss only replied with a laugh.

“Hmph... Come on… Even Veronica Lautreamont, who was a top warrior, wasn't chosen to be a breeder... And yet a coward like you was chosen.”

“What... Did you say?”

The way Milgauss spoke was as if he knew a lot of her background information, made Silvia felt uneasy.

“Are you alright. Princess?”

Ash asked from behind.

“N-No... Nothing.”

Silvia’s mind was already in a mess even when she said so.

-What is this feeling? That guy called Milgauss... Even though this is the first time I met him, but, he felt familiar. Why would I feel this way?

“Princess? You... Are crying?”

“Huh!?”

Ash’s words woke her up. She had only just found out that her tears already started falling.

“This... Why would I...?”

Even Silvia didn't know why she cried. But, if she even glances at Milgauss, her heart tightened. Milgauss suddenly gave a smile. A smile of a father who cared about his child. A peaceful and caring smile.

“You have grown… Sylvie.”

“Wha-!”

Silvia felt a cold chill. No matter how wide the world was… The only ones who would call her by her pet name were her family members. Not only that… His suddenly gentle voice had caused her to recall forgotten memories.

-Onii-sama! Julius onii-sama!

-Haha, Silvia, you pampered child.

-It’s because... Onii-sama kept on talking to Glenn-dono and had forgotten about me!

Her childhood memories resurfaced in her mind. How is this possible.

-‘Dragon Slayer’.

Brother Julius had committed such a serious offense and had been punished. Silvia was only five during that time. In the Lautreamont Knight Country… Killing a dragon was the utmost offense. Even if it was the prince of the Knight’s royal family… He would still be punished. To make it worse… The dragon that Julius killed was his pal… Maestro Mordred. Julius was already dead. But... Milgauss had the same feel as Julius with every movement he made. At that moment Lancelot had again given a warning growl. As if it was trying to tell Silvia to raise her guard.

“Could it be...!”

Silvia had also felt that something was very wrong. The ground was slightly shaking.

-Something was hidden in the ground!

“Kuku... Up to what extent Lancelot can fight is something worth seeing. Or is it that… The guy over there will come out with some weird tactics?”

“Urgh...”

Ash kept silent. Eco had remained silent and had yet to wake up. Silvia also couldn't predict the amount of time needed for Eco to create a new Ark. Milgauss, as if he saw through Ash’s Achilles heel, gave an expression of ridicule.

“But, judging by Avalon Princess' behavior, I believe that you won’t be able to come up with anything unusual. No?”

“Avalon's Princess? Why would you also know about-” Ash was obviously shaken.

Avalon- This word was suspected to originate from the ancient language. Silvia didn't know what that meant. Anyway… what’s this about a princess?

-No... This isn't the time to worry about those things...

Silvia cleared her mind and focused on the current situation.

“Let me tell you, the dragons buried in this mausoleum were young dragons! Even after they became Necromancia… They are still no match for my Lancelot!”

Silvia declared but Milgauss was not even bothered by it.

“Is it so? I had sent most of them to the training campsite. Those Necromancia that you had beaten were small fries. Also… The dragons buried here were Maestros in their past life.”

As if to answer Milgauss's words… The ground split into two. The enormously loud sound was echoing around the cave while the large tombstone followed it by falling to the ground. A huge object was appearing from beneath.

“Roarrrrr...!”

A roar, as if it had arisen from hell, followed and their fight with Lancelot had started. Strong wings. Thick jaws and sharps horns… Apart from their dark skin… They had the looks of a maestro.

“Kuku... Let me tell you! Its name is Nuada!”

Upon hearing this… Silvia was stunned.

“A tragedy that every citizen of the Knight Country knew. You should had heard about it before, right? It is the dragon who loved its master and chose to commit suicide-”

Part 24

“Have you gotten everything that I had said, Navi?”

Eco was having a conversation in the dragon workshop. Navi, as usual, was wearing an evening dress while sitting on an antique chair.

“The Ark that suits his current condition most…? Hehe. This is interesting.”

The mature version of Eco was as beautiful as usual. Perhaps it was because of this… Eco hated this woman very much. Even after saying that to herself… Right now she must focus on the main situation.

“I don’t have much time. Can you replace my job for the restructuring process?”

“Ara. Why do you even need my help?”

Navi impishly smiled.

“Do I even have a choice! Even though I don’t like it... You are still more knowledgeable than me... And I expect that you could come out with a better result compared to me."

“Your judgment is correct. We are like two faces on a coin. If you are the person who lives in the outer world then I am the person who lives in the inner world. Of course I will help you.”

“So you have agreed to help me?”

“As long as you promise me one thing.”

“Promise? What do you want me to do?”

“You must promise me that, one day, you will present an Ark to Ash Blake. It must not be a mimic but a top rate piece of work that you had created.”

“W-What are you talking about! How could I agree to this!”

“Ara. Have you already given up before you even challenged it?”

“B-Because... To present the Ark to him also means…”

Navi smiled.

“That’s right. You are going to give him your everything.”

“How could I…”

Eco was speechless. Her whole body was hot as if it was burning. To give her everything to Ash, just by thinking about it, Eco was already very embarrassed about it.

“Are you willing to agree to my condition? Or not?”

“Urgh...”

Navi's provocation made her mad but… It takes time to do the review. Since there were more than a thousand Ark blueprints left by her ancestral legacy… To do the review was to search amongst all the various parts, or component blueprints, and identify those that suit Ash the most. She would be fine if it was just that, but… There was this ‘not to burden Ash’s body’ rule this time. This is much more difficult than the ‘ice element’ that Ask asked for during the church terrorist incident. Strictly speaking. Eco didn't even know if there was even an Ark that didn't overly burden the person wearing it. So this problem had nothing to do with time and she could only rely on Navi's knowledge.

“...Alright. I promise.”

After Eco had made her mental preparations… Navi smiled and the place suddenly was filled with soothing bright lights. At the same time, there were many blueprints moving about Navi's field of view. Those were the various Ark designs that the dragons, over the ages, left behind. Navi, with her glossy and watery lips, began to sing out the name of each part of the new Ark-

“Almete, Gorjal, Peto, Espaldar, Brafoneras, Faldaje, Escarcelas, Bufetas, Hombreras, Brazales, Codales, Antebrazos, Manoplas, Quijotes, Guardas, Grebas, Escarpes, Espolón.”

Eco was speechless. A few thousands of those blueprints were spinning around on Navi's head. Those that were determined as unnecessary disappeared immediately and the left over were the important ones.

“W-What a fast searching speed...” murmured a stunned Eco…

At that moment all the blueprints, that were flying around Navi's head, vanished. The lights that filled the dragon workshop had also disappeared. Navi slowly stood up from the chair and walked towards Eco.

“W-What is it...?’

Navi was too beautiful to look at and she unconsciously took a step backwards. Navi playfully smiled and placed her palm on Eco’s head.

“This is...!”

Eco felt a cold chill. An enormous amount of information entered her brain from Navi's palm. But half way through the process… It was interrupted.

“W-Why?”

“...He is facing great danger.”

Navi was looking at the three dimensional screen projected in mid-air with a serious expression.

“Then be quick!” cried Eco.

“It seems that we must act quickly.”

Navi again placed her palm on Eco’s head and resumed the transfer.

Part 25

“Is it really Nuada…!”

Ash shouted but he was immediately back to his calm self. That's right! The problem is not whether it is Nuada or not. The main point is; This Necromancia is a Maestro. Also, the Necromancia revived from the ground was not only Nuada alone. The tombstones around also fell to the ground one by one. A total of nine Asia type Necromancia crawled out from the ground.

“Princess. It is better that we retreat for the time being-”

After giving a glance at the passage behind, Ash calmly made the suggestion. The escape path was not yet blocked by the enemies. To fight in this open space, the enemies will surely attack from all directions. It will be a tough battle even though Lancelot is strong. But if they retreated to the narrow passage, the enemies will be forced to come at them in a line. They may have a chance in winning like this.

“No!” disagreed Silvia stubbornly.

She was so angry that her hands, while holding the reins, were trembling.

“Milgauss… Do you know what you had done! You… You've stained Nuada's spirit, and you should never have done that!”

“P-Princess…?”

Ash was at a loss when he looked at Silvia being angry. Silvia had obviously believed what Milgauss had said. She probably had the experience of crying after hearing Nuada's story in her childhood. At this moment Lucca, who had remained silent the whole time, cried out.

“I also… will never forgive that person!”

It was easy to understand how she felt. Because Gawain had followed in Nuada's footsteps and had disappeared for Lucca's sake. Her emotional reaction was probably founded on this. Ash was worried about the current situation.

“Young dragon Nuada! I swear, in the name of the Lautreamont Royal Knight's Family, I will defeat you! This is the only thing that I can do for you!”

In reply, to Silvia’s sworn oath, Lancelot roared with a high pitch and immediately attacked Nuada. It stood on its hind legs and piled on attacks with its front. Upon seeing this Nuada also stood up and defended with its front legs. The two ferocious dragon began a battle between titans. All of a sudden… Nuada opened its lower jaw and blew out some black gas. It was almost a zero range, point blank, attack…

“Urgh…!”

Ash felt something was wrong and he hugged Eco tightly to protect her. He was angry at his useless self who couldn't do anything. Lancelot also remained strong. Just before Nuada's breath attack exploded it triggered its own defensive magic.

-The sound of explosions kept shaking their ears. The explosions were reflected back to Nuada, who was too close to the defensive magic, and immediately more explosions were heard. Lancelot's defensive magic was extremely sturdy and Ash only felt a slight vibration.

“Great…!”

Right until now… Ash had kept his eyes open. Half of Nuada's head had disappeared and its grey coloured brain could be seen. Even though it appeared to be defeated it was still a Necromancia. The organs that were destroyed were immediately regenerated and soon it was back to its original state. Lancelot’s heroic roar and Nuada's creepy scream shook the air around them. Just when the two resumed fighting, with all their strength, there was a groan coming from Ash’s back.

“Eek… Stop!”

“Lucca?”

Lucca, who was sitting on Lancelot’s tail, was dragged off by another Asia type Necromancia. Its tentacles can be seen clinging to Lucca's body. Lucca who was hanging upside down was struggling both in pain and tears.

“D-Don’t… Touch anyplace weird…!”

Just like tempting ants with sugar a large group of Asia type Necromancia were approaching Lucca. Their tentacles were already tearing off Lucca's dragsuit. The iron gloves and knee guards was forcefully pulled off and fell to the ground. The leather belt was tore into pieces and even her skirt was torn off.

“Damn…!”

The moment Ash shouted, taking advantage of Ash focusing his attention on Lucca, a tentacle attacked. It had already surrounded Eco’s waist and was so strong that Ash quickly lost-out to it in terms of strength.

“Eco…!!”

Just like Lucca, Eco was now hanging in mid-air. Eco had lost consciousness earlier and couldn't even struggle like Lucca. Silvia was having trouble just by controlling Lancelot. She didn't have the time to worry about the danger that Eco and Lucca were facing. Ash clenched his teeth and leaped off Lancelot’s back. Even though he knew this was like committing suicide… He still couldn't control this sudden impulse.

“Let your dirty paws go!…”

Ash picked up a stone and threw at the Asia type Necromancia. But throwing stones at dragon was like throwing stones at the moon. It easily bounced off from the black skin.

“Urgh…”

To make it worse… Ash’s body was in pain. Even though he was not attacked his body was still giving him warnings.

“R-Right now out of all times…!”

After Ash cursed, he kneeled on one side of his knees. He was oozing cold sweat. His head, organs and joints were shrieking in tremendous agony. He felt like rolling up and screaming in pain. But, I mustn't… I mustn't be defeated in a place like this-!

Ash, who's eyes filled with sweat, saw Eco being dragged away right in front of him.

“Ecoooooo!”

Ash screams in desperation.

At that moment… Eco, who was nearly sucked into the Necromancia's body, opened her eyes.

“W-What? What's this situation!”

After she saw Ash was on the ground in a ball like posture, Eco looked around at her surrounding.

“Eco! Give me the Ark!”

“Hmph! Without me… You are useless!”

But she was smiling happily- And she only shouted the only word of that long spell:

“Espolón!”

Part 26

Milgauss, who was standing at the top of the hill watching the fight, had seen it all. The cave was filled with white lights. At that moment, the Holy Ark emerged in the middle of the lights and was on Ash’s body. The new Ark was a striking white coloured armour with red stripes. A red striped white Ark! Ash was now an Ark-Dragner. This armour was stronger than what Milgauss saw at Ansarivan increasing his interest in it. The areas in which it became stronger were in defence and not offense.

“Hmph. Using the old remains and combining them into an emergency armour? Wouldn't expect less from the Avalon’s Princess…”

Anya’s report had stated that Ash suffered serious injuries. This armour should be the best fit for him.

“Back to the topic…”

Milgauss was surprised that Eco completed the spell with only a word. Perhaps she had finished the rest in the dragon workshop. Because Eco wanted to create the Ark at the same time she woke up so she had finished most of the spell before she came back. If that’s not the case… Eco would be eaten by the Necromancia before she can even manage to finish naming all the parts of the Ark. Milgauss wanted to praise this enemy.

“As I thought… Is it fate that we have to continue the fight from the past generations? Kuku… There is nothing bad about it and yet also nothing good about it.”

Milgauss frightfully laughed. He was fully immersed in his laughter… A laughter that came out from the very depths of his throat.

Notes:

5. Shounen-Teenage boy.

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