Chapter 323 : The Dragon Begins to Move
Chapter 323: The Dragon Begins to Move
Excluding the super skyscraper elevator leading to Elysium, the Sky City reserved for the privileged class, the tallest building in New Valhalla City was the New Valhalla City Government Building.
There were several reasons for this.
The old New Valhalla City Government Building had long since exceeded its capacity, and the astronomical land prices in Sector A made constructing additional buildings nearby practically impossible.
Furthermore, when the new government building was planned, the city was entering a period of explosive growth driven by the Adaptee industries of Stingray and Militech.
As a result, the City Government had pushed itself and erected the new building in the form of a skyscraper.
It was rather ironic that a government building—often criticized as nothing more than a puppet of the corporations—had become taller than the Stingray Headquarters Building.
Then again, considering the scale and status of New Valhalla City as humanity's last city, perhaps it wasn't all that strange.
In any case.
Standing atop the government skyscraper—famous both as New Valhalla City's landmark and for possessing its highest observation deck—was someone silently overlooking the city while being drenched by the rain, standing beside the lightning rod.
His vertically slit pupils calmly swept across the city like those of a reptile.
His identity was none other than the Dragon, Dwindrog.
Having played a decisive role in defeating Behemoth and numerous other [Mystics], Dwindrog quietly slipped away from the City Defense Force's command structure once the Monster Wave began showing signs of ending and was now observing the entire city from above.
'The humans are moving strangely…….'
Although localized battles against the [Mystics] were still continuing near the city walls, there was no longer any need for Adaptees to intervene.
The number of enemies had already dwindled to the point where military drones and ordinary soldiers alone could handle them.
Yet despite the battlefield stabilizing, the movements of both the City Defense Force and the corporations were anything but normal.
'I did see "that guy" leaving the city earlier…….'
Several hours had already passed since he had watched Aaron Stingray and the city's strongest fighters board helicopters and fly beyond the city walls.
At least, assuming he hadn't somehow overlooked them, neither Aaron Stingray nor the others had returned yet.
'There's no way that man lost to ordinary monsters…….'
Dwindrog still didn't know that Aaron possessed the new Module, [Dimension Jump].
Naturally, he also had no idea that Aaron had already returned long ago and was currently focused on strengthening the members of the Special Class at the Academy.
Although they had established a temporary alliance and possessed a means of contacting one another...
He had no intention of using it.
After all, contacting Aaron first just to check on him would make it seem as though he were worried about him.
An alliance was only temporary.
It certainly didn't mean they had become friends.
As a Dragon, his pride wouldn't allow him to lower himself first.
Well, regardless.
Setting Aaron's situation aside, the movements of the City Defense Force and the corporations remained suspicious.
The war was practically over.
It should have been time to redirect manpower toward disaster recovery.
Yet the military vehicles and soldiers moving throughout the city looked less like people preparing for reconstruction and more like an army preparing for another war.
'Just what is happening……?'
As he continued observing with growing curiosity...
He noticed the relentless rain gradually becoming lighter.
And that only deepened his doubts.
Soldiers behaving as though preparing for another battle.
Meanwhile, the rainfall steadily weakened.
Putting those two clues together led to only one conclusion.
'They're not preparing to fight the [Mystics]?'
The moment he reached that conclusion—
A narrow ray of sunlight broke through the thick storm clouds overhead.
As if by fate, that beam of light shone directly upon the skyscraper where Dwindrog stood.
“……!?”
At that instant...
The flow of the air changed.
Powerful winds whipped at his clothes.
At the same time, attack helicopters that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere simultaneously turned their noses toward him from afar.
Had he not immediately witnessed the massive missile launchers mounted on both sides erupting into flames, he might have dismissed it as mere coincidence.
'Ah... so that's how it is.'
Now that the problem outside the city had mostly been dealt with...
They intended to eliminate the pests within.
'I was wondering why everything had ended so peacefully.'
He let out a quiet scoff.
At that very moment—
A missile crossed several kilometers in an instant before exploding directly in front of him.
Dwindrog accepted the explosion with a faint smile.
However, the blast obliterated the ground beneath his feet, sending him plummeting downward.
'Hm. So they equipped them with Mana-Detection Sensors.'
No matter how he looked at it, this wasn't an anti-personnel weapon.
Even the fragments mixed into the explosion weren't ordinary pieces of metal.
As he fell, he plucked one of the fragments lodged between his scales and inspected it.
It possessed a special coating designed specifically to kill [Mystics].
'As I thought. They knew exactly what I am. And the only one capable of mobilizing both the City Defense Force and every corporation simultaneously would be…….'
The Sky Dragon.
That thing had finally begun to move.
'Damn it. This is an unfavorable battle.'
His original plan had been simple.
Force the Sky Dragon—currently existing as a Thoughtform—to undergo Materialization.
Then focus exclusively on its true body and finish the battle as quickly as possible.
But if it continued hiding itself while using humans as its pawns...
Things became considerably more troublesome.
In other words, he would have to fight the entirety of New Valhalla City.
...No.
Wait.
'Does it really matter?'
The one who wanted to protect this city had always been Aaron Stingray.
Helping humanity repel the Monster Wave had merely been him granting Aaron's request.
Which meant—
'There's no reason for this body to care.'
A little destruction shouldn't hurt.
Even if Aaron complained afterward, he could simply brush it aside.
The oath he had sworn upon his own soul wasn't nearly so restrictive that he needed to show mercy to these insect-like creatures just to uphold it.
“In that case……!”
A cold smile spread across his lips.
The next instant—
His body, having fallen several hundred meters, slammed directly into the ground.
BOOOOOOM!!
A tremendous shockwave erupted from the impact point, throwing up enormous clouds of debris.
However, because the ground had already been soaked by rain, the dust quickly settled.
As it did...
Dwindrog's true form was revealed.
Grrrrrrrr—
An enormous reptilian head.
Rows of razor-sharp fangs.
Thick scales.
Massive claws.
Broad flight membranes stretching beneath his forelegs.
A whip-like tail extending down the length of his spine.
The gigantic form of a Dragon had finally appeared.
The unsuspecting civilians screamed in terror and fled the moment they saw the enormous Dragon.
The streets instantly descended into chaos.
Mana detectors picked up overwhelming concentrations of Mana and began blaring emergency alarms.
WEEEEEEEEEEE—
Just after Code Red had been lifted following the end of the Monster Wave...
Code Red was once again declared across Sector A.
Defense Drones launched throughout the district.
Police officers immediately began evacuating civilians.
Dozens of helicopters arrived from every direction and surrounded him.
Even the barrier separating Sector A and Sector B began rising.
Pandemonium.
Yet Dwindrog paid no attention whatsoever to the terrified civilians fleeing before him.
Instead, he raised his head toward the drones and attack helicopters aiming their weapons at him hundreds of meters overhead.
“[Come out, Sky Dragon!!]”
The instant he roared—
A devastating shockwave blasted toward the enemy.
That alone destroyed more than half the drones filling the sky like a swarm of locusts, sending them crashing to the ground.
BOOM!
BOOM!!
The burning drones plummeted into skyscrapers.
Others rained onto the streets like meteors.
Flames erupted everywhere.
Within moments, the area surrounding the government building had become a living hell.
Yet none of it even entered Dwindrog's field of vision.
The only things irritating him were the Sky Dragon refusing to reveal itself...
And the ignorant human insects foolish enough to stand in his way.
“[KRAAAAAAAAH!!]”
Gathering a basic Dragon Magic within his mouth, he unleashed it toward the heavens once more.
The helicopter squadron deployed Energy Barriers in response.
It was no different from trying to block a sword with paper.
Only a fortunate few survived.
The rest were completely obliterated.
His spell continued onward, tearing a massive hole straight through a financial Megacorp building.
The catastrophic destruction had taken barely ten seconds.
However...
Sector A was the financial hub of the city and home to its most critical facilities.
Its security far surpassed that of every other district.
Barely one minute after Dwindrog had wiped out over half the Defense Drones and military forces...
Fresh Defense Drones and reinforcements poured in from every direction, once again filling the skies.
Nor was that all.
While the aerial forces bought time...
Additional City Defense Force units and corporate troops arrived one after another to stop the Dragon.
From dozens of meters in the air, soldiers equipped with Lv.5 Powered Armor descended to the ground with thunderous impacts.
At the same time, thick Anti-Mystic Energy Barriers spread around him.
“[Well, well…….]”
He had assumed that, aside from Aaron Stingray, all humans were roughly the same.
But it seemed they were at least capable of becoming a nuisance.
“[Very well. Let's see what you've got.]”
Looking toward the humans before him, Dwindrog let out a low growl.
[Vital Signs: All Green.]
[Module No. 29 Installation Complete.]
[Beginning Installation of Module No. 30.]
Under Modular Miyu's direction, the members of the Special Class were rapidly undergoing enhancement.
Abruptly raising an Adaptee's total Module Level normally placed an enormous burden upon the body.
Yet the students all appeared surprisingly calm.
“If anything feels uncomfortable, you have to tell me immediately!”
“I'm fine. I still feel perfectly okay.”
Miyu's meticulous Module installation minimized the burden on each student.
At the same time, every one of them had already resolved themselves to endure this much danger.
As a result, the procedure progressed smoothly.
Then—
Piiiiiiiiii……
Every piece of equipment operating in the room suddenly shut down simultaneously.
Fortunately, the emergency backup power activated almost immediately, allowing the equipment to resume functioning.
Nevertheless...
It was obvious that something had happened.
Watching the process with concern, Aaron asked,
“What happened, Miyu?”
“I-I don't know. The power suddenly went out, so the backup generator activated. The installation itself isn't affected, but…… it looks like something happened to the external power grid……”
“Outside?”
“Yes.”
At that moment...
Aaron caught the sound of a distant explosion.
It was so far away that only a high-level Adaptee could possibly hear it.
But Aaron heard it clearly.
BOOOOOOM!!
“……That sound... could it be?”
Aaron immediately stood up and checked the news.
Sure enough...
Every news channel was broadcasting live emergency coverage of an incident unfolding in Sector A.
“Damn it... has it already begun?”
Displayed on the screen...
Was the gigantic silhouette of a reptilian beast.
The instant he saw it, Aaron let out a deep sigh and covered his face.
Then he immediately grabbed his coat and headed outside.
However...
Just as he reached for the door—
[Brother.]
A communication request arrived, as though it had been waiting for that exact moment.
It was from none other than Kallia.
What was even stranger was that she began speaking before he had even accepted the call.
“……Kallia?”
[I have something I need to tell you.]
With an atmosphere completely unlike her usual self, Kallia quietly asked,
[Shall we meet and talk?]