The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War - Chapter 482

“Binding force? Glis?”

“Yup, I mean these rocky peaks. Power is flowing from them, so—”

Those very peaks could be said to be equivalent to divine artifacts, like the Holy Sword, or the Sarcophagus of Greyfriar which really was the Ravine Stone Door.

Hyrule Menaces, too, could be considered equivalent to divine artifacts in terms of their durability when channeling Ether, even if they did carry the drawback of dispersing the user’s life force.

“Soo…?”

“So I’ll break it. What do you say?”

The rubble from a destroyed peak might also serve well as material to block the mountain pass. Two birds with one stone.

“Haha… Well, that’s, uh, very direct…”

“So you’re in favor too, Rani? In that case…let’s go!”

—Ether Strike!!

**ZGOOOOOOOOOM!!!**

A massive blast of Ether shot straight into the middle of the rocky peak, boring clean through it. With a huge hole blown through its core, the upper half of the peak crumbled and collapsed in on itself.

The once towering rock was now compressed down to the size of a mere hill.

“A-Amazing…!” Arles exclaimed.

Hearing that, Inglis leapt out of the Star Princess.

“Rani! I’m leaving the controls to you!”

“Wah—?! H-Hey, Glis!?”

Rafinha hurriedly grabbed the controls in a fluster.

“Gotta use your strength efficiently!” Inglis shouted back.

Plummeting through the air, Inglis activated her Ether Armor.

The moment she landed, she kicked off the ground with full force, charging after the trail left by her Ether blast.

In the blink of an eye, faster than Rafinha or Arles could even register, Inglis was already hot on the heels of the glowing projectile.

“Haaaaahhh!!”

Inglis let out a battle cry as she adjusted the wavelength of her Ether Armor, switching it to a discordant frequency, like magnetic poles repelling each other. Then, with that altered wavelength, she slammed her fist into the Ether Strike with all her might.

The glowing projectile jolted off course, sharply changing direction and hurtling into the midsection of another rocky peak. Just like before, it bored a massive hole through the mountain and shattered it entirely.

And at the far end of the blast’s path, Inglis was already waiting.

“One more!”

She struck the projectile again, redirecting it toward a third peak. The third mountain was pierced and crumbled in an instant.

“Last one!!”

Dashing ahead once more, Inglis intercepted the Ether Strike and struck it one final time. It veered toward the fourth and final mountain, and blew it apart just like the others.

Having spent all its power, the Ether blast gradually faded and disappeared.

What remained were four ruined peaks and a jagged scar on the earth connecting them in a single, continuous arc…like a line drawn with a giant brush.

Ether Reflector. A combat technique where the user strikes their own Ether Strike with Ether of an opposing wavelength to forcibly change its trajectory. By doing so, Inglis was able to use every last ounce of the blast’s power, instead of wasting it on a single straight shot.

“Haha… all that destruction with just one shot… Someone might’ve spent ages building those, you know,” Rafinha said dryly from aboard the Star Princess, now hovering above Inglis’ head.

“Yup! That’s why I keep it to one shot…to conserve energy. We’ve still got more coming up, after all.”

If she had fired four separate blasts, one for each mountain, it would’ve drained too much of her Ether. Doing it this way was far more efficient.

Ideally, she’d be able to guide the Ether Strike on her own, but since she didn’t have that level of finesse, brute force would have to do. As long as it worked, that was good enough.

“As expected from Inglis, the one even Ross couldn’t defeat using me. I already knew from our training, but… your power is truly incredible.”

“Professor Arles, you don’t have to praise her that much… She’ll just get cocky again,” Rafinha muttered.

“Fufufu. Don’t worry, Rafinha. I’m sure… as long as *you’re* here, she’ll do just fine.” With a gentle smile, Arles leapt down from the Star Princess. “Now then, this should cause something to…”

Just as Arles stepped up beside Inglis and began to speak, the ground beneath them started to rumble violently.

“! Oh…! It’s moving!”

Had things gone just as Inglis planned? If whatever was sealed below would emerge on its own, it would save them a lot of trouble.

“There’s something down there…!?”

Arles’ expression grew tense.

“Glis! Professor Arles!”

“Rani! Take care of the Star Princess!”

“We’ll need it for mobility!”

The next moment, something burst out from beneath the earth.

*DOGAAaaaaan!!*

With a deafening crash and a plume of dust, it appeared—what jutted up from the shattered ground was the tip of a monstrous jaw, its rows of gleaming fangs honed as finely as the edge of a masterwork blade.

“A massive mouth—right beneath us!?”

The upper and lower jaws sprang up to the left and right of Inglis and Arles, surging upward with such force it seemed they intended to swallow the entire ground around them.

“Fufu. Looks like it’s planning to crunch us whole.”

“Evade it!”

“No, Professor! I’m taking it head-on!”

The bite force of a dragon god, how could she *not* want to meet it directly?

“*Haaaaaaaah!!*”

Planting her feet firmly, Inglis activated her Ether Armor and reached out to catch the incoming fangs with her bare hands.

“Then I’ll handle this side!”

Arles spun around so that she and Inglis stood back-to-back, facing the leftward-swinging jaw. In her hands appeared a massive golden shield, large enough to cover her entire body.

When Arles takes on weapon form, it manifests as a shield. As a Hyrule Menace, she could summon and wield the same type of armament.

Inglis braced against the fangs charging in from the right, while Arles blocked the left.

“Incredible…! This power rivals—if not exceeds—Vufailbane’s!”

The satisfying weight of impact surged through her arms. There was no better training than real combat. She would have liked to savor the feeling a little longer, but obtaining the Dragon’s flesh took priority.

Before fighting, she needed to bring it into a state where negotiation was possible.

“Y-you’re right, what incredible power…!”

Arles was holding back the Dragon God’s fangs with her shield, but her back leg was already starting to buckle. Even for a Hyrule Menace, it looked like she was struggling in a pure contest of strength.

“Professor Arles, please fall back! I’ll hold both sides myself.”

“C-can you really manage that…!?”

“Yes, leave it to me. While we’re at it, I’ll drag it out from underground. Quickly, now!”

At Inglis’ urging, Arles slowly began to retreat.

As the tips of the fangs drew closer to Inglis and came within reach, she reached out with one hand and shifted into a stance to hold off both sides by herself.

“Step back! The Dragon God is coming out!”

“Understood! But how are you going to—!?”

As instructed, Arles leapt outward from within the dragon’s jaws.

“That’s obvious—”

She was going to drag it out by brute force!

“Haaaaaaaah!!”

Still gripping the fangs closing in from both sides, Inglis kicked off the ground and stepped forward.

It felt as though she were prying loose some enormous object, tearing through the earth as she pulled. But strangely, it felt lighter than she had expected.

“D-did she really pull it out with brute strength!?”

“Something’s coming out!”

Arles and Rafinha squinted through the flying debris and clouds of dust.

Inglis also turned her gaze to the emerging form of the dragon god, and understood at once why it had felt so light.

“! This… it’s moving without flesh… just bones…!?”

It wasn’t the dragon god itself, but likely its bones. And those bones had been moving, trying to crush them with overwhelming force.