Chapter 332 : The Villain’s POV in the Academy
Chapter 332: The Villain’s POV in the Academy
“We have to lure that bastard out of the city.”
That was the only way to win.
When Aaron insisted as much, Dwindrog asked back in disbelief.
[……Are you seriously saying that with a straight face?]
“There shouldn’t be any logical problem with it.”
[No, this isn’t a matter of logic.]
The very territory where this city had been built was already an area that had undergone Otherworld Transformation because of the Sky Dragon? Fine, judging from all the evidence that had appeared so far, there was at least no logical contradiction.
But the problem was the specific method of execution.
It was all well and good to come up with a way to defeat the bastard. But if there was no actual possibility of carrying it out, how could it possibly be called a plan?
“If this entire area really is an Otherworld Transformation zone like Mr. Chairman said…… how are we supposed to lure something that huge out of it?”
[And we don’t even know exactly how far his territory extends. Among Dragons, there are some who make an entire continent, or even an entire planet, their nest. What do you plan to do if that bastard is one of them? Are you going to use your module to fly into space with him or something?]
“Even if we tried to lure him, he wouldn’t obediently follow us. Dragons aren’t a race as vulnerable to provocation as Orcs or Dwarves.”
And even if they somehow managed to draw the bastard outside his territory, that presented another problem of its own.
The same applied to their side, but the Sky Dragon likewise wanted to avoid destroying the city. In other words, New Valhalla City was effectively acting as a deterrent for both sides.
Fine, suppose the battlefield changed to somewhere they could fight without considering the safety of the city at all.
Then how long could this group possibly hold out against a Dragon unleashing 100% of his full strength?
If he ended up displaying even greater power than when the city was being held hostage, would there really have been any point in going through all that trouble to lure him outside his territory?
[In the end, what you’re proposing is a gamble.]
Whether it would be better to keep fighting with the city caught in the middle.
Or whether it would be better to lure the bastard outside his territory.
“……Tch.”
Aaron clicked his tongue and pondered.
It was a plan he himself had proposed, but actually making the decision wasn’t easy.
But that didn’t mean they had the luxury of thinking about it for long. The magic cast by the Sky Dragon continued targeting them.
Watching the scene, Aaron asked.
“Airi. Are you connected to Miyu right now?”
“Ah, yes!”
“Quickly summarize what we just discussed and send it to her, then tell her to verify it. We’ll try to buy time until she gets an exact calculation.”
[Damn it. There’s no other choice.]
“Do you have enough stamina?”
[For now.]
“Then pick up the pace. You’re too slow. At this rate, we’re all going to die.”
[I was flying slowly because of you!]
Swoooosh!
After voicing his complaint, Dwindrog vigorously flapped his wings once again. At that moment, as though he truly had been conserving his strength until now, his speed increased explosively.
The magic that had been pursuing them closely fell far behind in an instant, and buildings began streaking past them in distorted shapes.
A speed far beyond the speed of sound.
Aaron quickly deployed his threads and secured both Airi and himself to Dwindrog’s back.
For an ordinary person, it wouldn’t have been strange if the wind pressure had already torn some part of their body apart, but it was a speed high-level Adaptees could barely endure.
The only problem was that because of the wind, they couldn’t hear one another unless they shouted.
Airi flattened herself tightly against Dwindrog’s back to minimize air resistance as much as possible and attempted to communicate. Fortunately, Miyu responded quickly.
[……I understand the situation roughly!]
Fortunately, there was no need for a lengthy explanation.
Miyu had already been listening through the communication line connected to Airi.
Her real-time monitoring to prevent the modules installed in Airi’s body from going berserk had ended up proving useful.
[You’re saying this city is already an Otherworld Transformation zone, right? Honestly, I think it sounds ridiculous…… but I think it’s worth verifying.]
[Exactly how long will it take?]
[I-I don’t know. I need Aaron’s help. There are more than one or two things I’ll need to verify that theory…….]
Aaron quickly joined the conversation.
[What exactly do you need?]
[Usage rights for Stingray-owned space telescopes and astronomical satellites, Meteorological Administration data, data communication records, and Sector A mana-observation instrument data…… a-and also…….]
[Approved. This is an emergency, so contact Maria and have her hand over everything you need.]
[Ah, yes!]
Not long afterward, Miyu contacted them again.
[Done! I think it’ll take about 15 minutes to finish the calculations after analyzing the data!]
“Dragon! Can you hold out for 15 minutes?”
[While doing nothing but running away like this? You’re asking to die. Do you think those humans over there can hold out that long?]
The only reason the pursuit against their side had weakened somewhat was because the City Defense Force and corporate armies were drawing the Sky Dragon’s attention.
Once they were dealt with, the Sky Dragon would turn his attention back toward them, and when that happened, escaping would be difficult no matter how much Dwindrog increased his speed.
[We need to counterattack. If we do nothing but run, we’ll inevitably be caught in the end.]
“Then we’ll have to split into teams! Airi!”
“Yes!?”
“Support me together with the Dragon!”
“S-Support you!?”
Airi was flustered.
Aaron, who until now had only ever protected her one-sidedly, was genuinely asking her to ‘help him’ this time. Her eyes grew hot with the sudden rush of emotion, but she desperately held it back.
“Can you do it or not!?”
“I-I can do it!”
She had exhausted all the spare parts for her large shield, but she still had other means available, so Airi nodded.
Aaron smiled in satisfaction.
“Got it! I’m counting on you!”
With that, Aaron immediately leapt from the Dragon’s back. He extended his threads through the air and began heading back toward the Sky Dragon, and Dwindrog likewise changed his flight path to follow him.
The moment they returned to the battlefield, they were greeted by the raging flames of war.
In the air, fighter jets and bombers bearing corporate insignias poured anti-Mystic missiles and armor-piercing rounds toward the Sky Dragon.
On the ground, soldiers equipped with Powered Armor, high-level Adaptees, tanks, and infantry support vehicles were fighting hordes of red-bodied [Mystics].
Among the Adaptees in particular were several people familiar to Aaron. Silence and the Guardian, who had suddenly become stronger and were now playing active roles, were the first to catch his eye, while the fact that Vladimir and Lexus had joined the battle was quite unexpected.
Aside from them, he could also see Kara the Red Fixer, as well as the Fixers who had attacked him previously and high-ranking corporate soldiers, though he had no idea when they had returned to the city.
‘Did the brainwashing wear off?’
Well, it hadn’t been particularly strong brainwashing to begin with, and with a gigantic Dragon appearing in the middle of the city, there probably wasn’t anyone insane enough to keep targeting him.
Most of the modules they had originally possessed had been taken from them and handed over to the Special Class students, so it seemed they had joined the battle after equipping spare modules.
Of course, not a single one of them was inflicting any meaningful damage on the Sky Dragon. No matter how hard they fired and attacked, they couldn’t leave so much as a noticeable scratch on the Sky Dragon’s scales.
‘Conversely, that must be why he isn’t trying to take the lives of any humans other than me.’
It was obvious just from how differently the shadows he had summoned moved when dealing with Aaron or Dwindrog compared to the other humans. The only problem was that there was no telling how long that restraint would last.
‘I have to use whatever I can.’
Whatever the circumstances, the mere fact that the Sky Dragon wasn’t fighting seriously right now increased their chances of victory, however slightly. There would be nothing more foolish than failing to take full advantage of this opportunity.
“Module Online, [True Techblade]!”
He combined the process of activating the module with the process of deploying [True Techblade]. On top of that, he once again overlaid it with the threads of the Cloud Spider, somehow stabilizing the shape of the otherwise formless plasma blade.
Even when performed one by one, gradually, as though warming up, each process placed a strain on his body. Yet to save time, he deployed them all at once.
Once again, horrifying heat surged through his body, which had already been left in tatters by the previous battle.
And amid the countless weapons and humans, the consciousness and energy of the Sky Dragon and artificial monsters, and the tangled mana, he precisely slipped through the opening.
In an instant lasting less than a single second.
As though blinking through space, he approached the Sky Dragon and successfully stabbed him in the eye. Pitch-black smoke billowed from the gigantic reptilian eye burned by the blade.
[Kh!?]
Realizing he had been caught off guard, the Sky Dragon immediately attempted to deploy magic. But Aaron’s attack wasn’t finished with that.
“……Explode(爆)!”
As he poured power into it, the plasma sword extended to hundreds, then thousands of times its original length. Blazing blue flames tore through the monster’s eye and burned it completely.
“It’s not over yet……!”
He twisted his body once more, building up rotational force. Threads were tangled all around his body, stretched taut in every direction.
Crcrcrack!
Tremendous Tensile Strength was applied to the threads, and then they released all at once, the accumulated energy instantly spinning Aaron’s body.
“……Sever(斬)!”
The blade of the formless sword, extending hundreds of meters, began moving vertically. At first, the blade caught against the eye socket(眼窩), but the continuously applied force gradually forced the wound wider and wider.
Krrrk! Krrrrk!
As though metal were grinding against metal, a massive shower of sparks erupted from the Dragon’s scales wherever they met the plasma blade. Soon, as though gradually gaining momentum, it forced the wound open further, and further-
Slaaaaaaaaaash-!
Then, in a single explosive stroke, it unleashed a slash that succeeded in carving an enormous wound from the monster’s eye, across his cheek and long snout, all the way down to his jaw.
[Kraaaaaagh!]
The Sky Dragon’s body staggered violently.
His wildly thrashing tail smashed nearby buildings to pieces, and the Breath he unconsciously unleashed devastated the surrounding area.
Fortunately, aside from a few unlucky individuals, most managed to escape the Catastrophe safely.
[Kraaaagh! Kraaagh!!]
The bastard continued thrashing.
The dignity of the Dragon he had displayed moments ago had vanished without a trace, leaving only a gigantic monster writhing in agony.
In a way, it was unavoidable.
While in his Thoughtform state, he had borrowed a human body and indirectly experienced various sensations, but his true body had likely never suffered such a severe injury.
The scales he had possessed since birth had perfectly protected him from every threat, so he had never been given an opportunity to become accustomed to true pain.
And that fact created another tremendous opportunity for Aaron. Not missing the opening while the Sky Dragon temporarily lost his reason from the pain, this time the Dwindrog and Airi pair stepped forward.
Dragon Breath.
Having instantly approached the Sky Dragon’s true body, Dwindrog unleashed Dragon Breath toward him. An enormous stream of blue flames began mercilessly burning the Sky Dragon’s hardened scales.
Fwoaaaaaaaaa-!
At first, the scales seemed capable of withstanding even the Dragon Breath, but before long, they failed to endure and began melting away. They rapidly regenerated thanks to the Sky Dragon’s exceptional regenerative ability, but they were burned away even faster, cooking the flesh hidden beneath.
As a result, the Sky Dragon had no choice but to thrash once again, and the damage to the surrounding area began expanding.
-The bastard’s going berserk! Stop him somehow!
-He’s wounded! Concentrate your attacks on that area!
They had suffered considerable losses from the bastard’s thrashing, but the human forces also knew how to recognize an opportunity. They began targeting the areas where Aaron and Dwindrog’s attacks had stripped away the scales.
Adaptees wielding melee weapons took advantage of the Sky Dragon’s slowed movements and began climbing his body from the tips of his claws.
Those specialized in ranged attacks assisted them by concentrating their fire on the areas where the scales had been stripped away.
Once again, countless bullets and missiles flew across the battlefield, while maddening noise and heat filled the entire area. Flames surged, explosions erupted, and smoke blanketed the sky.
The humans deployed every means available to attack the Sky Dragon. Equipment worth hundreds of billions of Credits was committed without hesitation, while ammunition and missiles worth hundreds of billions more were consumed in real time.
[Krrrrgh-!]
Even in this situation, the Sky Dragon stubbornly refused to destroy the city. Leaving the ordinary humans alone, he cast magic targeting only Aaron and Dwindrog.
[I’ll kill you, Aaron Stingray!]
Once again, thousands upon tens of thousands of magic circles were engraved simultaneously, launching every imaginable kind of magic. At that moment, Airi, who was riding Dwindrog, shouted.
“Mr. Chairman, over here!”
Aaron quickly joined Airi, and she raised her shield in front of them and shouted.
“Module Online, [Dark Room]!”
Kuuuuung!
Along with her shout, a black curtain formed an enormous sphere centered around her. Its radius was roughly 100 meters, and the curtain remained for approximately 2 seconds.
When the curtain finally faded away, the thousands of strands of magic pursuing them had all vanished at once.
Lv.5 Arcane Module [Dark Room].
It was a module that reduced the energy state of every designated existence within its radius to a state approaching ‘zero’ for a certain period of time.
“Haaah……! Haaah……!”
After using the module, Airi gasped for breath, looking utterly exhausted.
The air had instantly cooled to absolute zero, and as she panted, her breath froze the moment it left her mouth, while frost formed across Dwindrog’s wings.
Normally, the correct choice would have been to remove only the ‘magic,’ and the range could also have been set much narrower, but that was a somewhat unreasonable demand for Airi, who was still inexperienced in using the module.
If her Replacement Rate had been lower, she probably would have frozen herself solid along with everything else.
“Haa…… haa……!”
“Airi!”
“Was I…… helpful……?”
“Yeah……!”
“Thank…… goodness…… then I’ll…… rest for just a little……!”
Airi collapsed onto Dwindrog’s back, and Aaron caught her.
Watching her, Dwindrog muttered.
[Was it called ‘Black Room’? That is quite a high-level module.]
“It originally belonged to another Purple Fixer. This is my first time seeing it in action too.”
[Couldn’t you use that to land a blow on the Sky Dragon?]
“No. It doesn’t work on living creatures.”
[What a shame.]
Even if they froze the bastard’s scales with cold at absolute zero, his regenerative ability and magic would likely prevent it from having much effect.
Just as Aaron was regretting that fact.
A communication came in from Miyu.
[A-Aaron!?]
“Miyu. I’m listening. What happened?”
[The analysis is finished! Just like you said, this city had already completed its Otherworld Transformation under the Sky Dragon’s influence! Apparently, this entire area wasn’t originally a wasteland until two hundred years ago. The environment must have changed because of the Otherworld Transformation!]
Miyu was excited.
[All the various data we’ve known until now were fake! They falsified the amount of mana observed by satellites before distributing the data to universities and other institutions, imposed legal restrictions on the production of measuring equipment, and prohibited the use of certain materials to deceive everyone! They probably manipulated all sorts of other things to make sure no one noticed anything strange, too! Did you know!? In fact, until now, every field of science has constantly had cases where strange mana values were detected by measuring instruments whenever experiments were conducted……!]
“Miyu. We don’t have time.”
[Ah, r-right! Sorry!]
“Just give me the conclusion.”
[A-Anyway, it’s exactly as you said! If we can just get the Sky Dragon off this land, he’ll become significantly weaker!]
“Specific numbers?”
[I-I could be wrong, but my calculations show that his mana quantity should decrease by at least 20 to 30 percent! But the problem is how we’re supposed to lure the Sky Dragon away…….]
“Don’t worry about that.”
Aaron answered with a smile.
“If I hadn’t already thought of a way, I wouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.”