Chapter 329 : The Dragon of the Sky
Chapter 329: The Dragon of the Sky
Could I really win?
Until now, not once had the answer to that question been "No."
Ever since I became "Aaron Stingray," no matter how powerful the opponent was, whenever I asked myself, "Am I going to lose?" I always answered, "I'll win."
Or at the very least, "I have a chance."
But the moment that thing appeared...
I instinctively knew I was going to lose.
-Can I win?
-Well...
-Is there really no chance at all?
-I don't think there is...
“Ha.”
I stood frozen in place, silently staring up at the colossal figure that had suddenly appeared.
Bzzzt. Bzzzt.
Just looking at it was enough to make my [Trauma Care] system struggle desperately to stay operational.
The civilians nearby would probably suffer severe mental damage simply from seeing that form with their naked eyes.
The mana pouring off it was so dense that my skin went beyond tingling—it actually stung.
If Anti-Rain would fall right about now, I'd probably feel a little better.
Unfortunately, Anti-Rain itself was practically part of its body, so there was no point hoping for that.
The [Mana Battery] frantically activated, converting mana into electrical energy.
If I wasn't careful, my body might explode, so I hurriedly activated [Tech Blade].
Bzzzzzzzzng-!
The long Thermal Katana extending from my fingertips let out a terrifying hum.
Air friction heated the blade until it glowed crimson, while toxic gases created by severed air molecules spread across the ground in a white haze.
Normally, there would've been no weapon more reassuring than this.
But at this moment...
"The sharpest sword in the world" felt like nothing more than a toothpick.
I was nothing more than a lunatic confronting that colossal existence with a mere toothpick.
At this rate, I might soon become "Com/mon"... no, "Aa/ron."
As that half-crazed thought crossed my mind, I realized that when people were truly overwhelmed, they didn't just laugh awkwardly...
They started spouting nonsense too.
I'm learning all kinds of things today.
'So that's... the Dragon of the Sky...'
Even though they were both Dragons, comparing it to Dwyndrog was almost embarrassing.
There had been a reason that bastard kept hiding around Sector E while avoiding the Dragon of the Sky's gaze.
-You're fighting this entire city.
Indeed.
Those words hadn't been an exaggeration.
Its enormous body, reminiscent of Behemoth itself, was practically an entire small city walking around.
“Well then……”
As foolish as it sounded...
Only now was I beginning to regret this.
No.
I regretted it a great deal.
What exactly had I been thinking when I challenged something like this?
But there was no use crying over spilled milk.
I'd already made my choice.
There was no turning back now.
The only thing left was to fight.
Swoosh.
Slowly, I raised my sword into position.
Pointing the tip toward my enemy, I carefully observed its movements.
In response, it slowly turned its head, directing its enormous yellow reptilian eye toward me.
Then...
I noticed a tiny, frail body falling through the air in front of its jaws.
Without hesitation, I activated [Cloud Spider], spread out a web, and gently caught the falling figure.
“Kalia……”
Kalia was unconscious.
She had looked perfectly fine just moments ago, but now that the Dragon of the Sky's spiritual projection had left her body, symptoms of mana poisoning were appearing throughout her body.
If she remained here for even a few more minutes...
There would be no turning back.
“…….”
Using the [Dimension Jump] Module, I transported her to the coordinates of a large hospital some distance away.
Granted, the hospitals in this city were filled with swindlers.
That worried me somewhat.
Still...
Once they learned who she was, they wouldn't dare lay a hand on her.
[...Is that familial affection?]
A booming voice suddenly echoed through my mind.
Looking up, I found a vertically slit pupil gazing down at me.
From where its eye was, I should've looked no bigger than an ant.
Yet somehow, it could distinguish me.
“Familial affection?
Hardly.
It's insurance.”
I wanted Kalia to clean up this mess in my place.
Regardless of who won this battle...
Kalia Stingray would remain an exceptionally useful chess piece.
Well.
That was only the practical reason.
Perhaps, just as the Dragon said, there really was something resembling familial affection.
After all...
During the little over a year I'd spent bearing the name "Stingray," I'd developed a certain sense of belonging to it.
Or perhaps I'd simply grown accustomed to the immense power that name carried.
So now...
With Benedict dead.
With Chairman Stingray gone.
With the Stingray Empire itself perhaps on the verge of collapse...
Maybe I simply wanted to do one last thing for her as her older brother.
Thinking about it...
I really do prefer younger sisters over younger brothers.
Especially one as pretty as Kalia.
Though if only someone could do something about that terrible personality of hers.
As I found myself thinking that, the Dragon of the Sky spoke in a voice filled with interest.
[Consider it an honor.
Drake Stingray was the first human to stand before me in this form... and he was also the last.]
“You mean Chairman Stingray.”
[Indeed.
Two hundred years ago, he came before me alone and proposed a bargain with the survival of humanity at stake.
Back then, humanity possessed no technology capable of purifying mana. It was truly astonishing.]
At that moment, an image vividly appeared before my eyes.
A black-haired middle-aged man stood alone upon a windswept wasteland, staring directly into the eyes of a gigantic Dragon.
[Back then, he was a man worthy of being called a true hero.
But the lifespan of mortals is so fleeting and pitiful.
In the blink of an eye, he became nothing more than an Old Monster.]
“…….”
[Therefore, I have no intention of repeating such regret.
Drake Stingray was the first human to behold my true form.
You shall be the last.]
“...Right.”
Answering briefly, I increased the output of [Tech Blade].
Bzzzzzzzzng-!
The overload, combined with the blade's tremendous heat, caused my body temperature to rise rapidly.
I settled into my stance and quickly formulated a strategy.
'Even [Tech Blade] probably can't pierce those scales.
If I'm aiming anywhere, it'll have to be the Reverse Scale beneath its jaw...
Or its eyes.'
To reach either point, I'd have to use skyscrapers over a hundred stories tall as footholds.
I didn't want to rely on [Dimension Jump] because the risks were simply too great.
Besides...
It probably didn't want to reduce this city to an unrecoverable ruin either.
Unlike Dwyndrog, it'd most likely avoid direct physical combat.
'It'll probably rely mainly on magic.
Magic capable of targeting only me without destroying the city...'
But at that very moment...
My vision flipped upside down.
“……!?”
The gigantic body that had completely filled my vision vanished without a trace.
The towering skyscrapers disappeared as well.
Instead...
Before me floated a pale blue planet.
Far below, white clouds drifted lazily across vast oceans.
'Outer space...!?'
[Warning!]
[External atmospheric pressure rapidly decreasing!]
[Ambient temperature rapidly decreasing!]
[Radiation levels increasing!]
Weightlessness robbed me of control over my body.
The sudden drop in pressure and temperature made my mechanical components creak under the strain.
To escape the situation, I immediately activated a Module.
'Module Online, [Dimension Jump]!'
Crossing space itself...
I successfully returned to the city.
The Dragon of the Sky narrowed its eyes with interest.
[I did not expect you to return so quickly.]
“...Using an interesting trick right from the start.
Throwing me beyond the atmosphere?
Are you afraid to fight me directly?”
[Did you truly think I wouldn't realize your intention to use this city as a hostage?
Tch.
Had I known, I would've thrown you into the sun instead.]
The Dragon of the Sky clicked its tongue in disappointment.
Instinctively, I recognized it as a bluff.
No matter how powerful a Dragon was, it couldn't possibly open a portal over such an immense distance.
Quietly, I breathed a sigh of relief.
'If it'd really thrown me into the sun or a black hole, I'd have been finished instantly.
Judging from this, the maximum range of the portals it can open isn't much different from my Module.'
And I'd learned something else as well.
'It seems abandoning its spiritual projection significantly changed the techniques it can use.'
If it'd disabled [Dimension Jump] first—just like it hacked [Cloud Spider] earlier—and then thrown me into space...
I'd have died without being able to do a thing.
The reason it hadn't done that probably wasn't because the thought never occurred to it.
The more reasonable conclusion was that it simply couldn't.
'There's no time to hold back.'
Right.
The only reason I'd been cautiously probing the situation was because I wasn't confident I could win.
Rather than dragging this out, deciding the battle in a single decisive exchange gave me better odds.
'I'm going all out.'
Once again, I released another stage of [Tech Blade].
The noise and vibration intensified even further.
An invisible blade extended from the hilt, baring its fangs as though eager to slice through everything.
True [Tech Blade].
Once more, I wrapped it in [Cloud Spider]'s threads.
The brilliant blue plasma flames produced by decomposing air molecules splattered and dripped like molten candle wax, burning everything around them.
The scorching heat seared my skin.
My internal cooling system violently vented heat through the exhaust ports near my shoulders.
Simply maintaining the sword in this state caused overwhelming fatigue to wash over me.
But I had no time to complain.
Hoo.
After letting out a short breath...
I kicked off the ground.
A single leap carried me well over a hundred meters.
In less than a second, I reached the Dragon's face at nearly the speed of sound.
Without reducing my momentum in the slightest, I raised the hilt high overhead.
The flaming blade expanded to roughly twenty meters in length.
It shone even brighter as its temperature rose higher still.
“Hup……!”
I drew a deep breath and twisted my body, adding rotational force.
The gigantic flaming sword left behind a blue afterimage as it descended toward the Dragon's scales.
However—
KAAAAANG-!
The instant the blade collided with its scales, my body was thrown backward instead.
I had succeeded in piercing the scales and leaving a wound...
But it was far too shallow.
The scales regenerated instantly, covering the wound.
[Meaningless.]
At that moment, enormous magic circles surrounded me from all 360 degrees.
The box-shaped formation slowly enclosed me as an ominous energy gathered within.
“Tch……!”
As expected...
The scales were impossible.
Having anticipated this situation, I remained calm and fired a thread into the air, pulling my body away.
Before the magic circles fully deployed and trapped me...
I slipped through the narrow opening.
KWAHHHHHHHHHHHH-!
A blinding beam erupted from the formation a split second later.
Had I been even slightly slower, my Tungsten Dermal Armor—and everything else—would've melted away.
[It is too soon to feel relieved.]
The moment the Dragon of the Sky muttered those words, thousands of magic circles unfolded before me as I raced through the air.
Each one possessed firepower comparable to a railgun turret on the outermost defensive wall.
And there were thousands of them...!
Once again, I fired out my threads.
Anchoring them in midair, I accelerated my already near-supersonic body even further.
Beams of mana streaked toward me with enough force to erase everything in their path.
I narrowly evaded them one after another.
'Faster...!'
The magic circles' aim became increasingly accurate.
Increasingly precise.
To survive...
I had no choice but to move even faster.
'I have to force it... no matter what...!'
Craaack!
While moving through the air, I reversed the direction of my threads, forcibly changing my trajectory.
The inertia nearly tore my body apart.
But this wasn't an opponent I could defeat without taking such risks.
Using my threads, I moved unpredictably.
Up and down.
Left and right.
I made sure it could never predict my path.
Even that wasn't enough.
I had to mix in spatial jumps using [Dimension Jump] as well.
[Warning! Overload level critical……!]
Already pushing both [Cloud Spider] and [Tech Blade] beyond their limits...
Adding [Dimension Jump] sent my body into overload.
My body temperature had already risen far beyond normal.
It had reached nearly 200 degrees Celsius.
Anyone touching my skin now would suffer severe burns.
But I didn't stop.
I kept moving.
Kept leaping.
Continuously disrupting its line of sight.
At the same time, I fired threads in every direction, weaving them together.
“[Cloud Spider]!”
I spread the threads like a spider web, expanding my territory.
Using the threads themselves as footholds, I wove them into an increasingly intricate labyrinth, making my movements even more complex.
Thus, a gigantic spider web enveloped the city—
“……Now it's my turn.”
Until now, I'd done nothing but evade its magic.
Finally...
I moved to launch my counterattack.
But at that very moment—
[You truly are a troublesome creature.]
The instant it muttered those words...
My vision turned black.