Demon Sword Master of the Holy Sword Academy - Volume 7 - Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

THE RAGING DRAGON COMETH

Something flew through the skies of the capital, bringing in its wake lightning, rain, and chaos. The violent gales shattered many buildings’ windows.

“Leo!”

Riselia reflexively grabbed Leonis by the nape and pushed him to the ground a moment before shards of glass rained into the room.

“…Leo, are you…all right?”

“Y-yes.”

Riselia’s clear, ice-blue eyes peered at him with concern. Feeling his heart skip a beat, Leonis averted his gaze and got up.

What in the world happened?

He looked out the broken window. The streets were full of screaming citizens, and a siren blared. The noise was the signal of a Void attack.

“…Voids?”

“Let’s go, Leo!” Riselia said sharply, and hopped out the empty frame.

“Miss Selia!” Leonis took off after her, standing on a chair to jump through the window after the girl.

The wind howled in the ears. Black clouds hung over all, and lightning arced across the air. The raging gales and rain beat against the face. Civilians rushed to the nearby underground shelters. Pavement was ruthlessly kicked up and overturned, and the destruction seemed to be moving in a straight line. The path indicated some kind of gigantic creature had passed through.

Something capable of causing such destruction just by flying past…?

Leonis scanned the wreckage, reinforcing his eyes with sorcery, then he looked up to the sky.

Between the inky clouds that sparked and thundered, he spied something for an instant—a crimson wing, as red as raging flames.

What?!

Leonis squinted for a better look, and his expression stiffened. This was no Void. The Undead King could never mistake his fated nemesis.

It was Veira Dragon Lord’s true form.

But that can’t be—what is Veira doing here?!

She’d gone off to search for the Azure Hold at the bottom of the ocean.

“L-Leo, isn’t that the monster that went on a rampage in the Seventh Assault Garden a while ago…?” Riselia asked.

Her vampire eyes had evidently recognized the dragon, too.

Leonis nodded, clenching his teeth. “So it seems.”

Unlike last time, however, there was no sign that Veira was corrupted by Void miasma, nor were Void dragons emerging from cracks in reality.

Does this mean she hasn’t been polluted?

“Grohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…!”

The dragon’s howl shook the air. Her massive wings tore through the rain clouds, kicking up terrible winds.

Corrupted or not, it does seem as though she’s gone mad.

Veira didn’t look to be directly interested in destroying the city, but whatever she was doing was damaging the capital anyway. All the shutters on the large, laminated buildings were closed tight, shifting the entire city into anti-Void combat mode. Any provocation from Camelot would undoubtedly spur Veira to counterattack.

If that happened, the Dragon Lord’s breath would reduce the entire area to ashes.

This isn’t my kingdom, so whether Veira destroys the place is of no concern to me, but… Losing the hotel where he was staying might prove troublesome. Besides, I did plan for this capital to serve as a base for the Dark Lords’ Armies…

Leonis summoned the Staff of Sealed Sins from the shadow at his feet.

Seeing this, Riselia asked, “Leo?”

“I’ll go stop that thing,” Leonis said. “It’s an old acquaintance of mine, after all.”

“Acquaintance?” Riselia frowned, confused.

“I’m sorry, there’s no time to explain.”

Leonis turned his back to Riselia and started chanting a shadow crossing spell.

“Wait!” Riselia called out, manifesting the Bloody Sword in her hands. “I’ll come with you!”

“No, that one is too dangerous for you.” Leonis shook his head. “Miss Selia, wait for me here, please.”

With that said, Leonis vanished into his shadow.

“—Leo!”

Riselia made to go after him, but…

“Somebody help me!”

…she stopped herself upon hearing a scream from nearby. Turning, Riselia spotted a young person trapped beneath an overturned vehicle.

“I’ll be right over!” Riselia kicked off the ground, propelling herself forward with wings made of mana.

Leonis moved through the dark corners, going from building to building as the storm raged. Without shadow corridors established in the capital, his speed was less than desirable.

“What is that fool doing?!” he spat, annoyed.

Veira was circling the First Assault Garden. She hadn’t directly struck at it yet, but her mere presence was enough to whip up considerable havoc. As a Dark Lord who rivaled Leonis, if Veira were to launch a serious attack on the city, the streets would become a sea of flames.

Fortunately, the great dragon seemed content to circle, glaring at the artificial island below.

Is she…looking for something?

Leonis couldn’t be certain, but that was his impression. What was she after, then?

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Consecutive blasts shook the boy’s ears. Red explosions lit the sky. The anti-Void defense system was attacking Veira.

You fools! Are you trying to incur the Dragon Lord’s wrath?!

Veira reared her head back and breathed a stream of heat and flame.

Bwoooooooooosh!

The burning pillar swept through the anti-Void batteries.

“…?!”

“…ord, my lord…!” Leonis heard a voice call out to him telepathically.

“Shary?!” Leonis answered her call.

“Has the Dragon Lord gone mad?!”

“So it seems…,” Leonis replied as he continued to jump between shadows. He’d seen Veira go berserk several times during their battles with the gods, but her behavior didn’t match those previous instances.

It can’t be… Is she under some kind of mental control?

Dragons, as a species, were graced with powerful magic resistance. It was unthinkable that a sorcerer could dominate the Dragon Lord’s will.

“Regardless, we can’t ignore this situation…”

If the capital and Excalibur Academy were to launch a serious attack on Veira, it would incur her wrath, and both cities would be bathed in fire.

“Wh-what are we going to do, my lord?!” Shary asked, her voice panicked. She’d borne witness to the Dragon Lord’s menacing power one thousand years ago.

“Shary, we’re going to bury her in the Realm of Shadows!” Leonis stated.

A silent pause followed the Undead King’s decree, but it was brief.

“Whaaaaat!? Th-the Dragon Lord?! She’ll leave the Realm of Shadows in ruins!”

“That’s preferable to letting her rampage here. We have no choice.”

“B-but…”

“When I give the signal, open a gate. This is an order, Shary.”

“…Very well. I’ll begin preparations. Where shall I place the gate?”

“The Central Garden’s match stadium. I’ll guide the Dragon Lord there.” Leonis landed on one tall building and brandished the Staff of Sealed Sins overhead. “Fifth-order spell—Buras Haibach!”

A malevolent glow emanated from the dragon eye jewel at the tip of the Staff of Sealed Sins—the Exorcism Wave, Buras Haibach. A radial, undulating mana surge covered the area in the blink of an eye. It didn’t create any visible destruction, but the Undead King’s intense mana rendered all the observation equipment in the area inoperable.

With this, there wouldn’t be any record of Leonis’s actions. It also meant all other magical apparatuses in the area would be disabled. However, that was a necessary sacrifice.

After this, Leonis chanted another spell.

“Eighth-order spell—Al Gu Belzelga!”

Booooooooom!

A massive fireball collided with Veira. Its rupture sent tremors through the air. Unsurprisingly, the Dragon Lord was unharmed. A high-ranking dragon’s scales could deflect even one of Leonis’s eighth-order spells. Damaging Veira had never been the intention, though. The attack was meant to draw her attention, and it did so perfectly.

Veira’s golden eyes gleamed menacingly at Leonis, who stood atop a building. Any ordinary person would’ve been rendered unconscious from the force of that look.

“I suppose it was foolish to hope that might rouse her from her frenzy.” Leonis clicked his tongue. “Come at me, proud tyrant of the dragons!” he challenged.

“Grohhhhhhhhhhh!”

A thundering roar issued from the crimson dragon’s maw. Weaving between the shadows, Leonis teleported to an adjacent rooftop. No sooner had he done so than a stream of fire blew apart the building he’d been standing on a second earlier.

“Vira Zuo!” Leonis unleashed another eighth-order spell.

A cage of gravity formed around Veira, isolating her, but the furious creature broke free with a beat of her wings. Another beam of flame swept through some nearby structures.

Leonis hopped in the air, chanting a gravity spell. “Sixth-order spell—Gren Zo!”

Bam, bam, bam, bam!

Using the lightning bombardment magic to form a thick smoke screen, Leonis took cover. If Blackas had still been here, he’d have been able to engage the dragon in melee combat, but with Leonis’s current body, all he could do was loose spells while keeping his distance.

The crimson dragon flapped her wings, blowing away the smoke at once, and a burning ray came racing toward Leonis.

“…?!”

The heat wave cut through the air, and Leonis used the tip of his staff to deflect it.

Hmph, it’s as I assumed. She’s under some kind of mental interference.

Even Leonis wouldn’t be able to keep the Dragon Lord at bay for long. This was different from her merely being incensed. It was closer to a dazed, feverish state.

“Zamd! Zamd! Zamd!”

While moving from different dark spots rapidly, Leonis fired third-order sorcery attacks. Such weak spells couldn’t damage the dragon, of course, but he wasn’t hurling them blindly. His plan was to lure Veira to the edge of the Central Garden.

“Grrr… Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Spreading its wings wide, the dragon glided through the air.

Now’s the time, Leonis thought as he landed on a tall building. The gigantic stadium was nearby.

“Shary, open the gate to the Realm of Shadows!”

“Yes, My lord!”

Blop… Blop. Blop… Blop, blop, blop…

Thick, palpable darkness formed in the center of the stadium, washing over it like mud. Pure, complete shadow, which offered no light. The walls of the stadium warped, melting into the ebon.

“Allow me to invite you to my Realm of Shadows, Dragon Lord.”

Leonis snapped his fingers, and the next moment, countless chains fired out of the gigantic dark portal, coiling around Veira.

“This is one of the Arc Seven, the Vile Dragon Fetter, Ragva Zol. Shazak Nare, the Thief God, stole it from the Divine Dragon of the Six Heroes, and later, I acquired it for myself. I can think of no better restraint against a tyrant like you than divine shackles made to defeat vile dragons.”

Leonis cackled with a vicious expression. With her body completely bound, Veira thrashed in vain as she was pulled into the darkness. A weaker creature might have slipped from Ragva Zol easily enough, but the mightier and larger the dragon, the stronger it was held.

Still, if Veira had been in full strength, she might have been able to free herself through sheer brute force. That she didn’t proved something was wrong.

“Grrrrr… Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

“Settle down, you raging beast.”

Leonis cast the tenth-order spell, the Dark Burst Flare, Arzam.

Vrrrrrrrrrnnnnnn!

As Veira continued to thrash and struggle, Leonis unleashed his finishing blow.

“…Leo…!”

Pillars of flames and crackling lightning scorched the sky. Smoke hung in the air, and even Riselia’s vampire-enhanced vision couldn’t make out what was happening.

Was Leonis still battling that gigantic dragon alone? The thought filled Riselia’s heart with forlornness. She bit her lip.

“W-wahhhhhhhhh!” a child cried out from somewhere.

“…?!”

Filling the blood coursing through her body with mana, Riselia honed her senses to a keen edge. She located a kid squatting near a crumbled building and hurried to him.

“Are you all right…?” Riselia asked gently, bending over.

“Sniff… A…a Holy Swordswoman…?” Relief formed on the boy’s face when he saw his savior was wearing an Excalibur Academy uniform.

The child must have been separated from his parents in the chaos. He looked about the same height as Leonis and was likely close to his age.

That’s right… A normal ten-year-old would be frightened like this.

Interacting with Leonis for so long had made Riselia forget that obvious fact. She scanned the area with her vampiric eyesight, checking for any other people, yet she found none.

Riselia took the frightened boy’s hand. “It’s dangerous here. I’ll escort you to the shelter.”

The boy nodded, but then…

Creak… Creak, creak… Creak…

…there came a sound like terrible groaning, as though something were succumbing to an unbearable weight. Anxiety squirmed in Riselia’s stomach, but she turned to look.

Craaaaaash!

The remains of the nearest building abruptly gave way, caving in.

“Bloody Slash!”

Riselia cleaved through the rubble using her Holy Sword’s power. Small, thin blades of blood branched off from her blade, crushing everything tumbling at her and the boy.

“M-Miss Knight…?” the child asked.

“Let’s get out of here. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Riselia assured him with a smile, and she swiftly escorted the boy to the shelter.

The Realm of Shadows—one of the seventy-seven territories under the Undead King, Leonis Death Magnus’s control.

It was a world without color, its skies and land washed over with desolate gray. The realm’s state was due to a curse placed by its former ruler, the Queen of Shadows. She was defeated by the combined efforts of the Prince of the Land of Shadows and the Undead King, but her power still lingered.

Leonis descended upon the bleak soil.

A black wolf revealed himself. “Lord Magnus, what happened? Why is the Dragon Lord here…?” It was Blackas, but his physique was visibly smaller than usual. He was still recovering from his wounds during the battle with Shardark. “The shadows longing to slumber in peace are crying out.”

“My apologies, friend,” Leonis said while looking around. “Circumstances forced me to trap the Dragon Lord here.”

Veira must have thrashed against the Ragva Zol as she entered the Realm of Shadows. The desolate ground was melted, and small, mortar-shaped craters dotted the area. And at the center of the destruction…

…was a red-haired girl bound by innumerable chains. With the dragon-sealing bindings sapping her power, she’d returned to her humanoid form. Leonis approached her, staff still in his hand.

“M-my lord, it’s too dangerous! You mustn’t get that close!” Shary cried out behind him.

“…Don’t worry,” Leonis replied, lowering his hand. “As she is now, Veira won’t be able to break free.”

At the Undead King’s gesture, Veira’s body, which was suspended in midair, was slowly lowered to the ground. The savage light in her golden eyes was absent, and she stared vacantly.

“Does she not recognize me?”

As I feared, she’s under some kind of mental interference. This wasn’t accomplished with sorcery. So is some other power responsible…? Weakened or not, what could control a Dark Lord?

Nefakess and Zemein lacked the necessary strength. Even the Six Heroes’ Holy Woman Tearis and Archsage Arakael couldn’t take over a Dark Lord’s mind.

I suppose I’ll just have to ask her what happened.

Leonis approached the bound Veira, placing a hand over the girl’s forehead. Mental interference spells were a field of sorcery Leonis called upon occasionally, but he wasn’t particularly adept at the practice. All he could do was directly apply mana to Veira’s consciousness to shock her. This method was forceful and momentarily weakened the victim’s psyche, but Veira could take it.

“Wake up already, Dragon Lord.”

Mana coursed through Leonis’s palm, scattering bluish sparks into the air.

“…Aaah, kuh, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Veira’s body spasmed, and she let out a scream. “…Ahhhh, ahhhhhhhhhh… Wh-what—?”

“Mm?” Leonis looked at her quizzically.

Intensity returned to the Dragon Lord’s eyes.

“What…are you doing to meeeeeeeee?!”

“…?!”

Bwooooooooosh!

Veira breathed flame, which Leonis reflexively blocked with a mana barrier.

“…Ugh… Hahhh, ahhhh… W-wait, Leo?” Veira gasped, then she blinked and cocked her head in surprise.

“Ugh,” Leonis sighed, dusting the ash from his uniform. “Finally, you’re back to your senses.”

“Huh? Wait… Wh-what is…this…?!” Veira swung her arms, rattling the chains, and she glared at her fellow Dark Lord.

“Don’t waste your energy,” Leonis told her. “Those binds are one of the Arc Seven. You won’t free yourself that easily.”

“Kuh…” Veira breathed out bitterly. “This is your Realm of Shadows, right? What do you intend to do with me?”

“Calm down. I’m the one asking the questions here,” Leonis stated. “What happened to you? I thought you were seeking the Azure Hold.”

“…Azure Hold?” Veira puzzled for a moment, and then her eyes shot wide. “I found the Lord of the Seas.”

“What?!” Leonis was taken aback by the mention of that name. “The Lord of the Seas? You mean Rivaiz Deep Sea?!”

Veira nodded. “Yes, it was her. No doubt about it.”

The Lord of the Seas—one of the Eight Dark Lords who governed over the seven demonic oceans. In terms of sheer combat prowess, she was perhaps the strongest of the eight.

She wasn’t so much a Dark Lord as a living calamity. Even the goddess Roselia couldn’t control the Lord of the Sea, and so she was forced to let Rivaiz act as she pleased.

So Rivaiz Deep Sea has returned as well.

Leonis found it hard to accept, but as Veira Dragon Lord, another of his fellow Dark Lords, had survived the past one thousand years, he couldn’t write this off as impossible.

“She was sitting on my throne.” Veira gritted her teeth bitterly. “She walked around in my castle, the palace where my dragon warriors slumbered, like she owned the place!”

Which meant the two of them had come to blows. Dragons were fiercely territorial.

“She wasn’t willing to talk it out with you?”

“There was no point in even trying,” Veira spat. “When did she ever listen to anyone?”

Not that you’re one to talk, Leonis thought.

“I never could get a handle on what she was thinking anyway,” Veira added.

“Rivaiz has ever been a mystery,” Leonis mused. He’d fought alongside the Lord of the Seas before. But even among the Dark Lords, whose motivations were often baffling, Rivaiz’s goals were exceptionally esoteric. However, there was something more baffling than Rivaiz’s objective and apparent return.

“Was it the Lord of the Seas who placed you under mental domination?”

“…Mental domination?” Veira repeated, confused.

“You don’t remember? You were completely senseless.”

“I can tell I went on a rampage, but…why…?” Veira questioned herself, her expression contorted in agony.

Seems she’s lost any memory of when she was controlled. Or, more likely, it was intentionally erased.

Leonis had a hard time accepting that the Lord of the Seas was the one who’d subjugated Veira’s psyche. Rivaiz was among the strongest of the Dark Lords, but she was inept in what was considered binding sorcery.

Perhaps the one who had resurrected the Lord of the Seas was in the Azure Hold as well? There were factions that aimed to revive the defeated Dark Lords in this era. Leonis’s former subordinate, Zemein, had activated the Goddess Temple in Necrozoa in an attempt to resurrect the Undead King.

Whatever the case, we must approach this cautiously.

Veira’s mind control had seemed incomplete, but the Lord of the Seas might have been entirely under some yet unknown agent’s thrall.

Someone capable of dominating a Dark Lord.

It couldn’t be…

Her image flashed in Leonis’s mind for a moment, but he shook his head to banish that notion and moved on to the next topic at hand. “So why did you come to the capital?”

“Capi…tal?” Veira looked at him, baffled.

“This is the human capital. You must have come for some purpose.”

Veira shook her head, crimson hair swaying. “I…don’t know.”

“Then you flew all the way here by coincidence?”

It was too far-fetched to believe. The capital was a large artificial island, yes, but the sea was far too vast for Veira to have discovered it by chance.

“From what I observed, you appeared to be looking for something,” Leonis remarked pensively.

“Looking? What would I be—oh.” Veira’s face suddenly lit up in realization. “Hmm… Yes, well… Err.”

“What? Did you remember what you were after?”

“N-no!” Veira went red for some reason and kicked Leonis hard in the shin. “It was happenstance. I flew this way by happenstance!”

“Ow! That hurt, what did you do that for?!” Leonis shouted.

“F-forget that, undo these chains already!”

The dragon-sealing fetters clattered as Veira glared at Leonis.

“What do you plan on doing?” Leonis knew the answer but asked anyway.

“What do you think? Dragons never let a grudge stand. I’m going to take the Azure Hold back.”

Leonis sighed, exasperated. “Do you have any means of defeating Rivaiz Deep Sea?”

The Lord of the Seas was the strongest Dark Lord in terms of individual combat prowess. And then there was the matter of the other person, the one who controlled her. Even for the mighty and tyrannical Dragon Lord, attacking without a plan was reckless.

“The Dragon Lord does not lose twice,” Veira growled ferociously.

“I, on the other hand, am the sort to experience many defeats and devise necessary plans,” Leonis said.

This was how the Undead King became powerful, in a different way compared to the Lord of the Seas.

After a tired exhale, Leonis snapped his fingers, and the chains of Ragva Zol tightened hard on Veira’s body.

“Kuh… Wh-what are you doing?!” the Dragon Lord croaked.

“Stay here and calm yourself for the time being,” Leonis instructed, and he turned on his heel.

“L-Leo, don’t you dare walk away…! Th-this is…humiliating! You’ll pay for this!”

Ignoring the Dragon Lord’s shouts, Leonis departed from the Realm of Shadows.