Chapter 92:
The Great Human-Dragon Wars
“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”
It was a direct hit.
No creature in the world could land an effective attack on an elder dragon, which was why the elder dragons never trained very hard to strengthen their bodies or acquire any special arts. They did not need to. There was no living being who should be able to challenge them head-on.
As a result, though these dragons might call themselves soldiers, they had never worked particularly hard to hone their combat skills. Their experience was limited chiefly to bouts amongst their compatriots—their own kind—and those skirmishes were far from any kind of life-or-death struggle. They were chivalrous matches, following rules of etiquette—in other words, more like a sports match or game.
In human terms, these dragons would be the equivalent of someone who was skilled in combat but only when it came to sparring in a dojo. Someone with no real experience in fighting other humans or monsters, someone who would be useless when faced with a real threat…
Thus, their protective magic was about as effective as someone waving a small shield before them—a far cry from the all-enveloping barriers that Mile employed.
And so, what became of the elder dragons?
Reina’s blazing firebombs shot up just before the dragons and soared clear over their shields, striking down from above like an anti-craft missile. It was, by another name, a “What’s Harpooning?”
A moment later, the swirling red mist of Pauline’s Crimson Hell enveloped the six dragons, unimpeded by their small barrier. Mavis stabbed into their legs from below the shield, and Mile shot her Phaser Beam, which easily penetrated the barriers. Even though the beam was weakened by the dragons’ shield, so it was not powerful enough to pierce clear through their bodies, it was still strong enough to get past the magical coating of their scales and land a decent bit of damage.
“Eeeeee!”
“O-ow! It’s spi…ho…owww?!”
“M-my legs! My leeegs!!!”
The dragons seemed to have sustained a fair amount of damage, but they were not as distressed as Kragon and the others had been the last time. Though they had taken a head-on assault, their bodies were still cloaked in a magical defensive barrier and their scales attached to their bodies, which gave them quite a bit of magical power. Unlike the members of Kragon’s posse, who had rarely been injured and thus showed little tolerance for pain or suffering, these six did seem to have some grit. Perhaps they truly were the best of the best…
Indeed, though they were clearly shaken by the attack, with a bit of healing magic for their wounds, and wind and water magic to deal with the flames and capsaicin particles, the dragons were soon back on their feet.
“Y-you didn’t tell us about all this!” one of the dragon soldiers howled toward Berdetice and Kragon. However…
“This is exactly what I was telling you about!” came the furious reply. “I explained everything! You’re the ones who laughed it off and didn’t believe me!”
“That’s right! You’re the ones who made fun of me and called me an idiot and said I should be kicked off the battle squad!”
“Uh…”
Hearing the pair’s rebuttals, the soldier fell silent.
“None of that matters! This should be enough to prove to you all that even a full-power attack from these humans could never have any effect on a prope r elder dragon soldier!” declared the dragon who seemed to be the leader of the pack.
Kragon slumped his shoulders at the implication that he was not a “proper soldier,” but the Crimson Vow could only look on in confusion.
Huh?
Hadn’t this attack been incredibly effective?
True, the elder dragons remained cool as cucumbers. After all, throughout history to date, their kind had never suffered defeat at the hands of any other creatures, except in extremely specific circumstances—such as a single juvenile dragon facing down an entire regiment or brigade of opponents, armed to the teeth with massive ballista-style weapons. Under the present circumstances, the dragons were essentially guaranteed to make it back home safely, without a single major injury or death on their side.
Thus, it was no surprise that the dragons might have assumed that Berdetice and Kragon’s reports had been exaggerated—that their comrades had been shaken up simply by having to face an enemy with a bit of gusto for the first time. It was likely only their pride that had been wounded—in the same way that a human might be annoyed by a puppy or kitten who scratched them, but certainly presented no danger of any kind.
Naturally, as the elder dragons conducted this leisurely discussion, the Crimson Vow were busy silently incanting their next spells. Though on the surface the hunting party looked calm, internally they were growing desperate.
Thus far, they had been lucky in their showdowns with the elder dragons, mainly due to the fact that the dragons had repeatedly underestimated them, never taking the battle seriously. In truth, they had been going easy on opponents they considered to be lesser life forms. If they could end things without killing the little creatures, and give a decent report later, all would be fine, the dragons must have thought.
This time, however, the dragon’s leader had shown up in person—with the intention of slaughtering these upstart humans. Even if they were not taken seriously at the beginning, now the dragons clearly had no plans to let the Crimson Vow go with their lives.
And so, they would have no choice but to force the dragons to surrender…
“Zero-zero magic, type no. 3, Drill Missile, fire! ”
“Flame Fusion Cannon on standby…”
“Wind Edge, full throttle…”
Pauline, Reina, and Mavis finished preparing their attacks. These were the strongest magical attacks Pauline and Reina could muster, though Mavis was forced to stick to her Wind Edge, so as not to get caught in her allies’ spells.
This would probably be enough to make the dragons get serious. The Crimson Vow expected to be met with merciless fire breath or crushing physical attacks.
There was no way that their party could possibly withstand this kind of onslaught from six dragons at once.
Therefore, these might be their final attacks…ever.
They had dutifully answered the dragons’ summons so as not to get anyone else tangled up in this situation, but they had done so only because they saw no other choice. The members of the Crimson Vow could have never been optimistic about the outcome of this battle—in fact, they had hoped to avoid it.
They had assumed that the elder dragons, being a superior race, might have been willing to recognize the Crimson Vow’s abilities and opt for a conversation rather than a full-on conflict. Thus, they had prepared themselves for a bit of danger, but they had never imagined that the elder dragons were planning to launch a unilateral assault on four young human girls. What they had failed to take into account was that this was not a matter of negotiating with a mature, level-headed elder dragon…
Now, there was no way they could win against these six dragons. That said, the Crimson Vow had no intention of losing. It was just as Mile always said: Once you give up, you’ve already lost the battle!
Finally, Mile’s preparations were in order, and she released her most powerful, most wicked attack—her ace in the hole that would be effective regardless of whether she had the power of half an elder dragon or six.
“Temperature, humidity, air pressure control! Refractive index alteration, ice crystal formation, dimensional curvature… Light convergence magic, prepare to fire!”
Mile’s exclusive nanomachines relayed her order to the others. Up, and up, and up…
“Fire!!!”
Ka-shoom!
Bwoom!
Whoosh!
Pauline, Reina, and Mavis’s attacks all hit at once, but the elder dragons had learned from their mistakes and strengthened their protective barriers so that the party’s spells could not make it all the way through.
But even if they couldn’t make it all the way through…
“Impossible! How could a human pierce our full-strength barrier?!”
“I-Inconceivable!!”
…Indeed, they had pierced through two layers of the dragons’ six shields. The third was showing cracks as well. They were still fully protected by the final three layers, but had there been only one… If they had been careless and not put up any barrier at all… If one of these dragons had been struck with this simultaneous assault without the help of its fellows…
These girls were a danger that needed to be excised.
If there was a chance of an elder dragon being felled by such a scant number of humans, no matter how small that chance was, they could not overlook it.
The six dragons all breathed in as one, in preparation for their most deadly attack.
Powerful as Mile might be, it was unthinkable that she would be able to guard against this. Here was a breath attack from six dragons, when previously, Mile had been barely able to withstand a similar attack by just three.
But at that moment—
“Sunshine! Destroyeeeerrrrr!!!”
Ker-flashhhh!!
A blade of light pierced down from the heavens, slicing clear into the ground. Where the earth was rent, the rock melted into magma, surrounding the six dragons.
Of course, the dragons could still fly whether or not they were surrounded by a river of magma. However, in their shock, they forgot their attack, only exhaling all the air they had breathed in and staring speechless.
“Wha…?”
For a moment, even the leader was stunned at this outrageous sight, but soon returned to their senses and reprimanded the squad. “What are you doing?! Hurry up and kill them!”
The soldiers, however, did not move. They could not move.
Could you really blame them?
They were surrounded by a perfect circular river of magma.
A river of magma created by a blade of light so precise that it was clear that, if the mood struck her, its wielder could have incinerated—nay, vaporized—them in the blink of an eye.
In short…
“She missed us on purpose?!”
If they had continued their breath attack—
If that blade of light had struck for but an instant—
Shunk!
There would have been nothing left on the ground but a river of magma and six black scorch marks.
“………”
Silence spread across the field as even the dragons’ leader fell quiet.
“The elder dragons’ village is pretty near to here, right?” Reina grinned. “Mile, if you were to bring that Sunshine Destroyer thing down on the whole village, at one-meter intervals like a net, and carve it up into a river of magma, do you think you could annihilate the whole thing?”
“St-st-st-st-stop!!!” the elder dragons desperately protested.
That would mean the extinction of their whole community and the destruction of their village as a whole!
Naturally, this village did not contain all the elder dragons in the world. There were plenty who had left the village for other regions, and colonies of dragons on other continents as well… However, this certainly did not mean that the wholesale destruction of their clan would be any small matter!
“Now, should we have them lie face up or face down? Or…”
It was an utter reversal.
The elder dragons were no match for Mile. Or, so Reina thought. In her confidence, she began to get a bit carried away.
“Bw… Bwaha. Bwaha ha ha ha! Seems you’ve got a bit of spunk there…”
The leader of the elder dragons, who had been lingering a short distance from the soldiers, took a few steps forward, blustering arrogantly…though his forelegs were still trembling, and his voice cracked.
Was this anger or merely a bluff? Or did he truly have it in him to be so composed?
“No matter how powerful your magic, you are still no match for me, leader of the elder dragons! Why, you may ask? Because all magic is under my domain!! True, I never thought that I myself would be forced into the ring. But did you think I was some weakling, content to cower behind my warriors? Ha! It is the opposite! I was holding back to watch over them, to defend my soldiers should the time come!”
“Ah…”
Mile could already see exactly where this was going. Up next would probably be…
“I, Valtiyn, commander of the great and powerful elder dragons, command you. Spirits of magic, nullify these humans’ magic! These creatures’ days of casting spells are over!”
Yep, there it is…
The Crimson Vow was stunned to hear such bold words from this youth, clearly so weak and queasy-looking compared to his soldiers.
Oh man… thought the three. They had encountered such things before, quite often in Mile’s stories.
Mile shook her head. “Chuunibyou.”
Naturally, the scoundrels and idiots that appeared in Mile’s stories were purely fictional, their depictions far more exaggerated than one would ever encounter in real life. Yet, here they were, the Crimson Vow thought, hearing a line right out of one of those tales…
Mile, meanwhile, quietly conferred with the nanomachines.
Does it actually work like that?
IT WOULD SOMEWHAT, WITH OTHER INDIVIDUALS… HOWEVER, AT HIS AUTHORIZATION LEVEL OF 4, THIS WOULD ONLY BE A TEMPORARY EFFECT. ONE MUST POSSESS A LEVEL 5 OR HIGHER AUTHORIZATION TO REDUCE SOMEONE TO AN AUTHORIZATION LEVEL OF 0—TO COMPLETELY STRIP THEM OF THEIR MAGIC. NATURALLY, IN ADDITION, THERE IS NOTHING THAT ONE CAN DO TO AN INDIVIDUAL OF HIGHER AUTHORIZATION THAN ONESELF. THOUGH THAT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS.
Ah, of course…
It was just as Mile had predicted. The nanomachines had confirmed that the elder dragon leader was only at a level 4.
This was about what she had guessed, based on what Berdetice had told them previously. Being aware that there were restrictions on what information the nanomachines could provide her with, Mile had not bothered asking, but apparently in the current situation—where she was not asking for an unfair advantage by requesting information about her opponent, but rather getting an assist in the form of battle information—the nanomachines were happy to give over this information.
So he’s a level 4… Well, I did figure he’d have far more sophisticated abilities than the level 3s who appear occasionally. Anyway, go ahead and nullify that command he just gave.
OF COURSE!
“Bwa ha ha ha ha! Now, you shall never use magic again! No matter how talented you are, if you can’t cast a single spell, there is nothing you can do!” crowed the leader, laughter booming, but Reina just looked at him dubiously and fired off a spell.
“Fire Bomb!”
Ka-boom!
“Gyaaah!!!”
Regardless of the fact that an elder dragon’s body was typically cloaked with protective magic—meaning that her spell would have little actual effect—the leader screamed.
Thanks to their leader’s confidence, none of the soldiers had put up a shield, so the dragon had taken the hit straight on—and was, of course, stunned to be on the receiving end of the attack in the first place. Then, there was the terror arising from the reality that, like the journeyman Wence before him, the dragon was not accustomed to the concept of pain…
“Would you look at that? My magic’s working just fine…” Reina said with a patronizing sneer.
“I-Impossible! This cannot be! Spirits of magic, I, Valtiyn, leader of the elder dragons, command you! Take those humans’ magic away!!”
Cancel that order! Mile immediately countered.
“Drill Missile!”
Ka-shunk!
“Gyaaaah!!!”
Again, the leader was struck, this time by Pauline’s attack.
“I-Impossi… Th-this cannot…”
The leader trailed off, speechless, and the baffled elder dragon soldiers did not move.
Perhaps they had known all along that their leader had the ability to “cancel out” an opponent’s magical abilities. This might explain why they had chosen to step aside, not bothering to protect the leader from any attack spells. Even on the off chance something did hit, the blow would be nothing to an elder dragon. As such, they had left this particular situation to the leader, while they merely stood watching…
And yet, what was happening now was surely nothing they could have ever imagined. This was the moment when they should have been quickly getting into formation to defend their leader, but all they did was remain stock-still.
It really was an utter failure of a guard, to shut down like this in the face of unexpected circumstances. Though to be fair, these circumstances went beyond “unexpected” to something more like impossible …
Naturally, if another attack was attempted, it would be intercepted by a defensive spell. The leader seemed rather sensitive to damage, after all.
“Now, it’s my turn…”
Mile grinned, but there was not a single fraction of a smile in her eyes.
“Set the authorization level of every elder dragon here…to 0…”
And then, she muttered an incredibly simple command.
“Gwah!”
“Wh-what’s going on?! Kuh, my body feels so heavy!”
One by one, the dragons fell to their knees, holding themselves up on forelimbs and teetering on their hind legs.
“I-Is this magic?! I’ve never heard of a magic that can make your body heavy!”
“Damn it, if we could just get into the air…”
When in water, no matter how heavy your body is, the water will support you. It was with a similar sort of thought in mind that the dragons attempted to take to the air. However…
“I-I can’t fly! My body isn’t rising at all!!!”
Mile had guessed correctly. Elder dragons were born at a Level 2 authorization. Thus, throughout their entire lives, the dragons’ bodies were supported by nanomachines, which gave them a constant provision of physical strengthening and weak protective magic, as well as gravity control during flight. So deeply ingrained was this magic that even the people—er, dragons—themselves were not aware of it… That is, until it was gone.
“T-take out their leader! Breath attacks, everyone!”
Naturally, this was not the sort of circumstance in which the dragons could afford to hold back out of consideration for weaker creatures. All six of the soldiers, under their leader’s command, desperately released a full-power breath attack. All six of them pointed toward Mile…
“Fire!”
……
…………
………………
…But nothing happened.
“Gyaaaaaaah!!!!!”
Terror.
There was no other word for the dragons’ expressions. This was a feeling they had never once felt in their entire lives. Up until this point, there had been no creature that could best them in physical combat, nor in a battle of magic. Their bodies were tough and powerful. They had powerful attack spells and defense to equal them. They could glide freely through the air—they were invincible, perfect beings—practically gods.
This was the life of an elder dragon. Or it should have been…
All of a sudden, their bodies were heavy, immovable. No matter how they flapped their wings, they would not rise. They could not unleash their breath, and no other spell they tried produced any effect. They could do nothing now but creep along the ground, like stunted, lowly lizards. At this rate, even a far lesser being could—
They looked at the incredible, impossible humans before them.
…They were going to die.
They would be killed.
The dragons had been the ones to first declare death upon their opponents. Now, the humans had no reason not to kill them. And before them stood four such humans, all possessed of sufficient power…
“Gyaaaaaah!!!!”
Again, the dragons let out a terrified scream—the number of screamers now increasing to seven. As Berdetice and Kragon were sitting on the ground a short distance away, their eyes like dead fish, it was naturally the dragons’ leader, Valtiyn, who had added himself to the soldiers’ number.
Elder dragons were used to being the superior life forms, reigning over all of creation. And their leader, at the top of the top, should have been the most powerful creature, able to command the spirits of magic. He, who was destined to be a hero who would go down in the annals of history, who would conquer all the fools and weaklings of the world, who would reign over the land and bring peace and happiness to all.
Yet here he was, about to be slaughtered by four weak little creatures.
“How… Why…? But you all said! You said you’d follow my orders!!!”
Apparently, the leader had assumed that the nanomachines, or rather, the “spirits of magic,” had sworn an absolute obedience to him.
Not knowing anything about nanomachines—and not knowing the right questions to ask—was it possible that he had mistaken reality, reinterpreting the circumstances to match whatever most suited him? Clearly, he assumed that the “spirits of magic” were some singular entity. And that they were under his absolute control…
The truth was a harsh thing. Suddenly, Valtiyn was nothing more of a child than a leader, all haughty pretense lost from the tone of his voice as he squalled…
“Now then,” Mile spoke up, “to eliminate any future risks, I suppose I should begin by wiping out the elder dragon village…”
“Stooooooop!!!” the six soldiers pleaded, ignoring their collapsed leader.
Berdetice and Kragon were apparently intending to maintain their position as outsiders, as though this had nothing to do with them. It was rather refreshing to see someone so dedicated to their own self-preservation… Though on second look, perhaps they were truly just dumbfounded. There was no way they intended to stand by and watch as their own families and the females they fancied were slaughtered.
“Now targeting the enemy, the elder dragon village. No holds barred, all safeties removed. Shock proofing and flash defense! Sunshine Destroyer, preparing to fire…”
Bwoom!
Bwoom, krashh kr-shooom…
Again and again the earth rumbled, as six elder dragons fell on the spot. Their arms and legs were all splayed out wide, their tails thrust out and bellies bared, faces to the sky. Indeed, it was an elder dragon’s pose of utter surrender…
***
“Now then, are we agreed that in the future, neither the elder dragons nor their underlings are ever going to come around messing with the Crimson Vow?”
The assembled dragons nodded.
“And, as an apology, you’re going to let us shave off a bit of your horns…”
Another nod—
“Whaaa?!”
The commander of the battle squad reflexively began to nod but then frantically stopped. Their true leader was utterly useless right now, so the leader of the soldiers had stepped in as negotiator. Naturally, Pauline was the representative for the Crimson Vow.
“Our horns?! Please, anything but that! Our horns are our pride and joy, and to let them be shaved would be a shame for generations to come…”
At his words, she felt a bit bad for them. She supposed she could not push the matter.
Still, just how high a price would a fragment of an elder dragon’s horn fetch?
There was no mistaking that the profits from a scale or talon would be nothing to scoff at… But a horn? In powdered form, it was said to be a panacea, a potion of eternal youth… Though that was only a rumor, one which would not truly bear out in real life. Still, there was something to be said about the notion of taking some part of the horn of an elder dragon into one’s body. Plus, given the impossibility of any human obtaining such a thing, there would be little chance of anyone trying to pass off a counterfeit.
While she had no immediate plans to establish a business, Pauline was always looking to secure goods that might distinguish her when she set up her shop in the future. Indeed, with such an item in stock, when the time came, she might even be able to find herself in immediate talks with the palace!
“Hmm…”
Hating to give up so easily, Pauline thought hard. Then…
“What if we had Lady Mile carve them? Like with Sir Kragon’s talons…” Berdetice proposed.
“Oh!” the other dragons chorused.
In their previous encounter, the Crimson Vow had claimed a section of Kragon’s talon large enough to make a sword or knife, meaning one nail ended up thinner than the others. Worried about the effects a damaged talon might have on his courtship prospects, Mile had carved a masterwork into Kragon’s talons in order to hide this. She had carved the damaged talon into an intimidating, gnarly design and complemented it with a beautiful pattern in another.
“Sir Kragon, that talon of yours has been a hit with the females, has it not? I hear you have been inundated with petitions for courtship…”
“Really?!?!” the soldiers cried. While they had heard rumors themselves, they had yet to confirm them with the man—er, dragon—himself. They turned to Kragon. “I-Is that true?”
When faced with such a direct question, there was no choice but to give a direct answer. Thus, Kragon gave a slightly bashful, but honest, reply.
“Y-yeah… There have been seven…no, eight I think. Just yesterday there was one from Haruru…”
“What?! From H-Haruru?!?!” screamed three of the soldiers, faces twisting. Apparently this girl was quite the beauty, one they had all had their eyes on.
“I-I beg you! Decorate mine as well!”
“No, I will be the one to provide the sliver! After you shave some off, just make it look super—”
“What are you saying?! We cannot all give up our precious horns! I, as your commander, shall bear the burden of…”
“Shut the hell up!!!”
“Aha…”
As per usual, the situation devolved rapidly.
“Okay, so each one of you will get one cool-looking talon and one attractive one. As for the horns, we don’t know how those will go over with the ladies, so we’ll start with just one of you, as a trial. Sound like a plan?”
“Indeed. However, if the ladies do find it favorable, perhaps you might please do the same for the others as well?”
“Sure, sure…”
An agreement had been reached. Though Kragon looked a little peeved about suddenly gaining some rivals, the fact that one dragon might be monopolizing eight ladies was inexcusable—if not by the gods, then at least by Mile. This was the same Mile who had never once, in her entire life, had a suitor of the same chronological age as her.
Naturally, the six soldiers objected to this as well.
If a dragon lost its talon, it would at least grow a new one back. The same went for their horns, though it was nothing akin to the annual shedding and regrowth of a deer’s antler. Still, if the design Mile carved did not suit the dragons’ fancy, they could simply remove it. It might hurt a bit, but it would grow back fine.
“Mm-hmm!”
Mile snorted fiercely, a look of accomplishment upon her face. Before her stood six dragons, their claws fully dolled up. One of them, the commander of the soldiers, had a horn carved into a twisting, gnarled drill shape.
“Hmmmm…”
“Well, it’s rather…”
“Yeah…”
“I’ve never seen anything cooler!!!”
Mile’s carvings got rave reviews. As Mile had no idea what an elder dragon’s sense of aesthetics would be, she had been a bit worried, but apparently she had perfectly hit the mark. Pauline, meanwhile, diligently collected every last fragment that had been removed in the process, not letting a single particle get away. Furthermore, as proof that these were no fakes, she had each dragon carve their marks into the scales that had been peeled off of them. This alone certified them not as goods of unknown origin but authentic items from a specific elder dragon.
To forge or falsify an elder dragon’s seal would be an egregious affront to all elder dragons, and a grave sin. Therefore, not even the shadiest of merchants would ever dare to try something so illicit.
Though it was not the sort of thing discussed with any frequency, there was still plenty of lore about this type of thing. Yes indeed, many tales—all of which inevitably ended in tragedy and ruin for the humans involved…
“………”
Behind the group, Berdetice stood looking sullen. Naturally, he had requested to be included in the decorating as well, but the soldiers had unanimously denied him, saying it was “too soon” and that he could have his turn “when you become a real soldier.” Of course, this was not exactly an impartial assessment, given how popular he typically was even without Mile’s decorations—and the fact that Shelala, the elder’s daughter, always seemed to be by his side lately.
Elder dragons or not, they did not seem to have any reservations about tripping up the youngsters when it came to matters of courtship. It was…refreshing to see individuals so devoted to their own appetites.
Beside Berdetice stood the elder dragon leader, looking equally sullen. Given that Berdetice had been excluded on the basis of being “too young,” there was no way that the leader, even younger than Berdetice, could talk his way in on the action. Normally, the soldiers could not go against their leader’s wishes without good reason, but by the time he offered up his feeble, “ M-me too?” Berdetice had already been denied, so Mile had a good reason to exclude the leader also. If Berdetice was out because of his lack of age and experience, she said, then the leader, who had even less, was naturally out, too…
In truth, Mile did not have the most favorable view of the leader to begin with. He had childishly ignored the guidance of his elders and insisted on his own foolish course of action. He had gotten the Crimson Vow wrapped up into his nonsense and then coolly ordered their demise for the sake of soothing his own ego. Furthermore, he had done none of this himself, content to watch comfortably from the sidelines while others carried out his will. Though his immature behavior might be justified by the fact that he probably was still a child, in elder dragon terms, Mile had no sympathy for him. Thus, she had no intention of going out of her way to fulfill his desires.
Know your place, kid! Mile thought deep down, sneering.
After that, the squad of soldiers, looking triumphant in spite of their clear defeat; the disappointed Berdetice; the dragons’ leader; and Kragon, who seemed to have mellowed out rather suddenly, bowed their heads respectfully to the Crimson Vow and then took flight back to the elder dragon village. (Naturally, Mile had returned them to their original authorization level in order to allow this to occur.)
By the time they left, even the leader was acting in more admirable fashion, setting aside some of his initial arrogance as though he had taken some time to think things over and seen the error of his ways. Had he given up on his notions of elder dragon supremacy, or had his delusions of being the ruler of this world, chosen by the gods, been shattered? Or had he merely realized how small he truly was in the face of a superior being?
It’s probably because of what I told him, Mile thought to herself… “If you ever pick a fight with us again, the spirits of magic will forsake you. And next time, I won’t be giving your powers back ever…” I guess that was a pretty effective threat . The problem now is how to explain to everyone else what I did back there…
As the forms of the retreating dragons shrank away, the members of the Crimson Vow turned to Mile, all of them completely silent.
And so, Mile offered her explanation of the scene that they had just witnessed.
“I-It’s a family secret!!”
It was an airtight explanation, really.
***
One evening, a strange phenomenon occurred in the mountains of the Albarn Empire.
The summit of a mountain suddenly opened up, and four massive flaming arrows shot into the sky. Each was roughly three or four meters in diameter and ten-odd meters in length.
“A flaming arrow” was the only language the people of this world had to describe such a shape. However, were Mile to witness the scene, she probably would have uttered the following words:
A rocket ship?
Indeed, they were disposable rockets, with primitive reaction engines.
Given the builders’ level of technology, it would have likely been possible for them to craft a more advanced propulsion system. However, given their shortage of materials and equipment, creating such a thing would take time. And time was of the essence…
As a result, they had chosen to rely on basic reaction processes, which were the least reliable but quickest and easiest to set up. With only a hundredth, or even a thousandth, of the effort required to attain 99.9999% reliability, it was possible to reach a reliability rate of 95%. At a 95% reliability, if you shot up twenty rockets, nineteen should make the mark.
That was enough.
One after another, the clusters of flaming arrows took flight into the night sky. The insides of their cylindrical bodies were packed with supplies. And on the outside of each arrow were three of them —each clinging tightly with their six arms and four legs.
Their destination: outer space.
In the vacuum of space, where neither oxygen nor moisture exists, materials do not deteriorate. As long as an object is shielded from light and cosmic rays, it is possible to maintain its form for quite a long while. Thus, space was a place where the remains of the builders’ creators might still be found, creators unlike themselves, who persisted only through repair, restoration, and repeated reproduction.
It would be absurd to think that a system intended to protect the world from external invaders would not have incorporated a satellite system—even if the enemies were not expected to appear from outside the atmosphere.
A satellite orbit. A Lagrange point. An asteroid belt. Something with an immense orbital period, like a comet…
That was where they were headed. They would stake their lives upon it.
Before, there had been limitations on scope of activity, scope of repairs, and population. All had been repealed at her words.
Keep living up to the expectations of the people who made you. And please, protect this world…
Onward they would go.
Onward, to infinity…
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