“I, erm…” Shary stammered, faltering. Indeed, this would mean Leonis would owe the Dragon Lord a debt for her help.
…Did I overstep my boundaries in making these decisions during his absence?
But then Shary shook her head in denial. Her role was to protect her lord’s kingdom, regardless of the cost.
My only choice is to rely on the Dragon Lord’s strength…
Shary gripped the hems of her skirt and bowed deeply.
“Please, lend me your help, Dragon Lord!”
“Fine. I, Veira Dragon Lord, will help you just this once.” Veira threw back her crimson hair. “B-but just to make it clear, I’m not doing this to help Leo. Do not get the wrong idea,” she said, thrusting her finger at Shary.
“Of course, I understand.”
“Hmph. In that case, I’ll go run wild… Hm?” Veira paused, looking up to the sky in surprise.
Shary followed her gaze, and far in the distance, flying over the city center…was a massive shadow.
“Isn’t that…?”
It was a dragon, its wings spread—not a normal dragon, but one with most of its flesh decayed and much of its bones exposed.
“A dragon zombie…?”
The undead form of a dragon.
“…No, but how…? Why is he…?”
“Lady Selia, we’re almost through the tear!”
“Yes, hold on tight—”
The battle vehicle’s engine roared as it sped through the wasteland, then flew through the tear in space. For a moment, Riselia felt her field of vision contort. She held on to the back of Schwertleite’s seat and peered out the windshield.
“Look. It’s the sea…!”
Far off in the horizon, they could see the Seventh Assault Garden and the capital.
…We made it back. We’re home!
Riselia picked up a pair of binoculars and peered through them. There was a massive Void tear in the skies above Camelot, and a black shadow was trying to emerge from it, swirling like a leaden cloud.
“There really is a Stampede going on…”
Swarms of Voids filled the sky. The event of six years ago flashed in Riselia’s mind—of the last time she saw her father, Edward Crystalia. Of the days she spent in the shelter trembling, with Regina hugging her shoulders.
But then, a sound pulled her out of her thoughts.
“—ghteenth…toon… come in. Eighteenth pla…come in…”
It came from her earring-type terminal.
Communications are back online?! Right, because we crossed the tear…!
They automatically entered the Seventh Assault Garden’s communication range.
“This is Excalibur Academy’s eighteenth platoon. Platoon leader, Riselia Crystalia speaking—” Riselia touched on the earring, trying to respond. But sadly…
“Come in…teenth platoon…!”
“We’re being jammed!”
The Voids must have been causing EMP barrages.
“Sakuya, is there any way you can use telepathy?” Riselia asked Sakuya, who was on the roof, on the off chance it was possible.
“No, I can’t.”
“…Right.”
The Sakura Orchid people were thought to have all manner of mysterious powers, so she was hoping this wasn’t entirely impossible.
“Master, I will attempt to improve communications.”
“Huh…?” Riselia turned to look at Schwertleite in surprise. Her clear, glass-like hair was glowing faintly.
“P-pretty…” Riselia could only stare, enchanted.
“…lia…Riselia! Goodness, answer me already!” The voice suddenly became clearer.
“…Fenris?!”
“Riselia Crystalia, what in the world are you doing?!”
Riselia could hear Fenris Edelritz’s shrill voice in her era.
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Where are you right now?”
“In the wasteland near the Seventh Assault Garden. I’ll, uh, I’ll send your our coordinates.”
Operating her terminal, she transmitted the battle vehicle’s current position.
“You must have been outside the city on a mission. Are you up to date on the situation right now?”
“A Stampede, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. We’re being attacked from both sea and sky, with multiple Void Lords assaulting us. And they seem to be acting in an organized manner, like human military units.”
“Multiple Void Lords…” Riselia gulped.
“We’re overwhelmed with all the data coming in right now. We’re in dire need of Miss Elfiné’s Holy Sword.”
“Miss Finé’s Holy Sword…?”
“Yes. I assume she’s with the rest of your platoon?”
“No, she isn’t…”
She was working in Excalibur Academy, also known as the capital’s anti-Void information bureau.
“She’s not with us. Are you saying you can’t get in touch with her?”
“What?” Fenris replied in surprise. “We haven’t been able to contact her for a while now. We were sure she was working with you…”
“…”
Riselia got a bad feeling. She held the utmost respect for Elfiné, and knew she wasn’t one to flee from the battlefield. Something must have happened to her. Maybe she was attacked by the Voids when she was all on her own, or perhaps…
“We’ll search for her as soon as we return to the Seventh Assault Garden,” Riselia said.
“Yes, we ask that you make it your top priority. We’ll open Gate 2 in Area VII for you.”
“Understood, thank you.” Riselia nodded and turned off the transmission and looked down at the communication terminal.
“Miss Finé…”
Her message history was full of messages Elfiné had sent them over the last few days, all of which arrived at once when they returned to the Assault Garden’s transmission range. She checked each message one by one.
…She was worried sick about us.
But then, her finger paused over the terminal. The last message was at 19:00, Imperial Standard Time.
“If it’s yesterday, this must mean it was before the Stampede began…”
So she went missing regardless of the Voids…?
But then her terminal rang out again. It was a call from Elfiné.
“Miss Finé…?”
“—Oh, you finally picked up. I guess miracles do happen…”
As Riselia picked up the call, the voice on the other side responded nervously. This wasn’t Elfiné’s voice.
“Who is this…?”
“There’s no time, I can’t answer any questions now.” The voice on the other side cut her off. “Come to the Seventh Assault Garden’s agricultural development block’s Plant 04. Right now.”
“Eh, wait—”
But before Riselia could ask anything else, the call suddenly cut off.
“The agricultural development block’s Plant 04….”
This was the location of a Phillet laboratory.
The gigantic shadow swooped over the Central Garden’s high-rise buildings, its wings spread. This dragon, its scales golden, glared down at the ground as its body leaked disgusting miasma. Its rotting flesh slid off its bones, falling down to the ground in steaming piles. Between its exposed bones was it heart, beating red and glowing.
■■■■■■…!
It let out a cursed howl that shook the air. Its intellect was all but gone.
“You have fallen far, Divine Dragon. Divine Dragon Gisark,” said the Dragon Lord, standing atop the turret of an anti-Void antiaircraft gun with her hair blowing in the wind.
Looking at the Divine Dragon’s changed form, she frowned in displeasure. She, too, was once corrupted by the Voids and turned into a rampaging dragon with her intellect lost. She could only vaguely remember how it happened, but she did know Leonis cleared away the Voids’ influence on her.
“A dragon always repays its debts. I’ll protect your kingdom for you…” Veira smiled invincibly.
And debts aside, the Divine Dragon Gisark was her mortal enemy, one she had a long-standing history with. Gisark was a hero drawing on both the blood of both mankind and dragonkin, borne of a golden dragon and a human woman. Despite his draconic roots, he sided with the armies of men and opposed the dragonkin, and fought Veira to the death in the Demon Dragon Mountain Range.
“I have a debt to repay you, too…!”
Kicking against the turret, Veira propelled herself up to the sky, and stuck out her index finger toward the giant dragon floating in the sky.
“Let’s get this started. Drag Rei!”
A red flash fired from Veira’s finger, hitting the golden dragon head-on with a rumbling blast. Intense flames shot up, producing a heat daze. However…
■■■■■■…!
The golden dragon blew away the flames with a flap of its wings.
It blocked my spell? No, that’s not it…
Veira glared viciously at Gisark, who continued to fly in circles overhead like nothing had happened. Its burnt, decaying flesh was bubbling and regenerating rapidly.
“This isn’t just Void miasma. He’s undead, too.” Veira grit her teeth.
…That thing was a dragon no longer. It was just a dragon’s carcass being puppeteered through necromancy—a dragon zombie.
…The Six Heroes’ Divine Dragon became undead?
It was a little hard to believe. Necromancers were normally only able to raise corpses of monsters that were weaker or equal to them in power. And in this case, this was one of the Six Heroes, meaning even a master of the Realm of Death would fail to resurrect a being of this level of power. The only one who it possibly could be was Leonis Death Magnus, who raised devils and dragons as undead minions.
And I can’t see Leo turning him into his minion…
If that was the case, Gisark wouldn’t be attacking this city, Leo’s kingdom. The only one capable of raising the dead on a level matching the Undead King was the Holy Woman of the Six Heroes, Tearis Resurrectia, but even then, her power didn’t produce undead.
“But it doesn’t matter. Undead or not…” Veira kicked against the air, speeding up as she rapidly drew on the Divine Dragon. “My flames will reduce you to ashes!”
She raised both hands overhead, producing a gigantic fireball.
“Crimson Divine Dragon Wave!”
A dragon-shaped flame burst from her conjoined hands, moving in a spiral pattern and pursuing the Divine Dragon. Wherever the flames passed, buildings melted away and began collapsing.
The flame dragon crunched its jaws on the Divine Dragon’s windpipe, burning through its rotten flesh.
“Good! Consume it!”
Veira swooped down midflight, sinking her heel into the Divine Dragon’s head with all her strength. With a mighty wallop, the Divine Dragon crashed into the Central Garden, knocking down buildings in its way.
The maid did ask her to abstain from destroying buildings where possible, but…
Sorry, the situation doesn’t allow for that!
But this is just Leo’s kingdom, after all, not hers. With that excuse, Veira pressed the offensive.
“Haaaaaaaa! Dragon Lord Palm Strike!”
Veira sunk her fist, charged with mana, into the fallen Divine Dragon’s head. The mana exploded loudly, forming a circular shock wave that blew away the surrounding buildings. But just as Veira was about to unleash a Drag Rei spell at close range—
■■■■■■…!
The Divine Dragon’s charred body rapidly regenerated, its flesh swelling up so as to swallow up Veira.
“…You think you can take me into your being?!”
Veira was being slowly dragged into Gisark’s massive form…. But then, its rotten flesh burst at once. Like an egg hatching, a massive red dragon tore its way out of its rotting flesh. This was Veira Dragon Lord’s true draconic form. The red dragon slashed and crunched through the decaying meat, spitting it to the ground in disgust. It then spread its wings and soared up, spraying its fiery breath on its undead opponent as it tried to regenerate.
Hellfire spread through the Central Garden’s main street. Veira swung down her claws, charged with mana, onto the burning mass of decayed flesh—
…?!
But the blow was stopped by thick tree roots erupting out of Gisark’s back.
…What?!
Gisark just used sorcery…?!
But this couldn’t be the case—the sorcery dragons used was called dragon tongue, and it didn’t include any spells like this. The tree roots matured with explosive speed, binding Veira’s legs, piercing through her dragon roots and gouging into her flesh. Roaring in anger, Veira blew fire on the roots, burning them down.
However, the roots continued to grow and regenerate at startling speed, and this time wrapped all around Veira’s large form.
…The way it’s regenerating so fast! Is this the Holy Tree?!
The tree that once existed at the heart of the world, governing over life. Why was that tree sprouting out of the Holy Dragon’s stomach…?
Veira breathed fire again, burning through the Holy Tree’s roots. As they continued to regenerate, she cleared them away and made to fly off… But then Gisark raised his head and bit into her throat!
…?!
The Divine Dragon’s maw overflowed with death miasma as it bit into her. The red dragon’s burning scales were washed over with black, her flesh dying. The Divine Dragon pulled the red dragon down, knocking her into the ground.
■■■■■■…!
Gisark’s claws tore into Veira’s wings, spraying blood in the process. A roar that felt like someone’s scream echoed through the air. And then, the maw broiling with death miasma tore through Veira’s windpipe—
“Al Gu Belzelga!”
A blast of crimson flame blew off Gisark’s upper jaw.
…?!
A small shadow descended upon the crumbling wreckage of the buildings.
“Fool, you dare ransack the Dark Lord Zol Vadis’s domain?!”
A boy clad in the former Dark Lord’s mantle removed his mask and smiled indomitably.
Imperial Standard Time, 15:10. In the Seventh Assault Garden’s agricultural development block. The eighteenth platoon’s battle vehicle crossed through the gate Fenris had opened for them and drove through an underground personnel route to reach the designated spot. This area was on the outer rim of the Assault Garden and hadn’t become embroiled in the fighting yet.
“…Hmm. Are you sure this isn’t some kind of trap, Lady Selia?” Regina asked as she climbed down from the vehicle’s roof.
Riselia had the same misgivings, but—
“This is our only lead about where Miss Finé is.”
But also, the voice that called them had been familiar. She honestly didn’t know much about whoever it was—Miss Finé herself didn’t trust them, either. But even through the phone call, Riselia could feel that person was speaking with sincere emotion.
The three disembarked the battle vehicle, manifested their Holy Swords, and looked around cautiously. Since the entire area was given an evacuation order, the place was deserted. This massive harvesting factory, the cutting edge of magical technology, stood still and lifeless.
“There’s no one around…”
“I don’t feel any Voids, either,” Sakuya whispered.
But then they felt someone behind them.
“You made it.”
“…?!”
The trio turned around, Sakuya holding up Raikirimaru. The scenery warped before their eyes, and the figure of a woman in a white coat emerged from the shadows.
“Miss Clauvia…” Riselia stopped Sakuya and spoke to the woman.
Clauvia Phillet—a senior officer from the Anti-Void Research Laboratory, and Elfiné’s older sister.
“Where did you come from?” Sakuya demanded, her hand still on Raikirimaru’s grip and her eyes glinting dangerously. “I didn’t even sense your presence…”
“That would be the power of my Holy Sword, Sneak Ring. You could throw me in the middle of a swarm of Voids and I could mask my presence. A power worthy of a coward like me.” She smiled in self-derision and turned her eyes to Riselia. “I haven’t seen you since the Holy Light Festival, young Lady Crystalia.”
“…Yes.”
Riselia met Clauvia some two months ago, when she showed them the dragon trapped in the ice block in the Sixth Assault Garden’s museum. Soon after that, the situation went out of control…
“Miss Clauvia, why do you have Miss Finé’s terminal…?”
“Oh, her copy terminal. I borrowed it during the Holy Light Festival.” Clauvia shrugged, looking unapologetic. “Finé’s an amicable enough girl, but she doesn’t have many friends. I thought you’d be the only ones I could count on.”
“For what? What happened to Miss Finé?” Regina asked, her expression grave.
“Finé was abducted.”
“…What?”
“Taken by Phillet’s private militia.” Clauvia bit her lip. “I was careless. I didn’t think they’d act in broad daylight—”
“W-wait!” Riselia drew on Clauvia. “Why would they take Miss Finé…?!”
“She became too involved in the Phillets’ dark side. I have the Emperor’s younger brother to back me, but she tried to fight that man all on her own…”
“…What man?”
“Count Deinfraude Phillet,” Clauvia spat out the name bitterly.
“…”
The trio exchanged looks.
Elfiné had told them about the Phillet Foundation and its involvement in the D Project when they lodged together before the Holy Sword Dance Festival.
“Looks like Finé told you about at least some of it already.”
“Yes…”
“Honestly, I don’t know why that man decided to act now. But it’s clear he’s planning something awful, using this Stampede as a cover.”
Saying this, Clauvia straightened out her back and bowed her head to the three girls.
“Please. Save my sister.”
“Miss Clauvi—”
“Part of the army might be in Deinfraude’s pocket. They can’t be relied on. You’re the only ones I can count on right now—”
“W-we understand!” Riselia nodded and clasped Clauvia’s hand. “We’ll save Miss Finé. You can count on us.”
Regina and Sakuya nodded in agreement.
“…Thank you.” Clauvia bowed her head again.
“So do you know where she’s being held?” Sakuya asked.
Clauvia pointed at the tower standing at the center of the agricultural block.
“The Phillet’s seventh research facility. I analyzed surveillance camera footage from all over the city, and the car that took Finé definitely went there.”
“So you don’t know exactly where they’re keeping her.”
“No.” Clauvia shook her head. “The Astral Garden’s protection is strong there, and I couldn’t hack into the facility’s internal cameras.”
“Sneaking in isn’t an option, then.”
“Yes. I could use my Holy Sword to mask my presence, but that wouldn’t help me take her out of there. There’s Phillet’s private militia guarding the place, too.”
“—Some of them might be Holy Swordsmen, too,” Sakuya whispered.
Riselia nodded. “In that case, Miss Clauvia, we’ll have you hide yourself with your Holy Sword’s power and look for where Miss Finé is held. We’ll serve as decoys while you do that, and once you know where she is, you can regroup with us and we’ll go to her rescue. Are you all right with that?”
“Yes, I’m on board with that plan,” Clauvia said.
“No objections on my side, either,” Sakuya said.
“It’s a plan, then,” Regina aimed the Drag Striker’s muzzle at the Phillet tower. “We can’t waste a second. Let’s go save Miss Finé!”
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