As if reflecting Inglis’ frustration, the glowing Ether Strike, now without a target, gouged into the ground and surged far into the distance.
“If that’s how you want to play it…!”
She wouldn’t waste that power, she’d use it to accomplish something worthwhile!
Inglis kicked off the ground with full force and raced after the Ether Strike. She caught up to it in an instant and struck it again with her Ether Armor set to a repelling wavelength.
“Haaaaah!!”
**DOOOOON!!**
With a thunderous roar, the Ether Strike’s trajectory shifted, not toward the airborne Dragon God, but toward the mountain path leading to Venefique: a narrow passage nestled between two ridges.
As a result of the battle with the Dragon God, the road to Venefique had partially collapsed, causing military operations to grind to a halt. If the damage lasted for months or even years, it would render invasion impossible.
“The light, it’s heading for the pass toward Venefique…!?”
In the next instant, Inglis was standing directly behind Arles, who had been observing the battle. She had used her Divine Feat to leap the distance. It was a short jump, but she needed to move quickly.“Professor Arles.”
“Eep!? Miss Inglis!?”
Startled, Arles jumped with a squeak at the sudden whisper beside her ear.
“Pardon the surprise, but this is a bit urgent! Please Weaponize!”
“Y-Yes! Understood!”
From the moment their hands touched, an explosive burst of light and a high-pitched ringing spread outward. Within it, Arles’ form transformed into a large and beautiful golden shield.
“All right…!”
As expected, a Hyrule Menace was incredible. Inglis could feel a clear response; Arles absorbed her Ether and returned it amplified.
With a single nod, Inglis vanished from that spot in an instant. And then—
**DOGAAAANNN!!**
With a thunderous crash, one of the rocky mountains that had sealed Owlgloria was blown away from its base and launched into the sky, in the same direction Owlgloria had flown.
“Eeeeehh!? Wh-What was that!?”
“Glis!?”
“But—she’s not there!?”
Rafinha and the others turned hastily toward the source of the booming sound, but Inglis was already gone. All that remained was the shattered mountaintop like a broken tree stump and light ripples expanding like those on a water surface.
**DOGAAAANNN! DOGAAAANNN!**
More explosions roared from different directions. Mountains were blown away, but no sign of Inglis. Only ripples of light remained. Divine Feat was a divine form of movement that rewrote one’s location in the world instantaneously.
In terms of speed, it surpassed sound. Trying to track her by reacting to sound was useless, she couldn’t be seen that way.
**DOGAAAANNN!!**
When the final boom rang out, Rafinha and the others finally caught a glimpse of Inglis just after she’d smashed a mountain away with Arles’ golden shield.
The fact that they could see her meant this was the end of the attack sequence. The four rocky mountains Inglis had struck were now flying ahead, overtaking the Ether Strike whose trajectory she’d altered earlier.
They landed first on the road leading to Venefique, stacking up like a giant stone wall. They were arranged so cleanly that it almost looked deliberate.
However, there were still gaps between the large boulders, just wide enough for people to pass through. And then, a moment later, the Ether Strike struck.
The deafening roar echoed even from afar as the mountains collapsed into rubble. The destruction left behind a convincingly natural ruin, and the fragments of shattered stone neatly filled in the gaps where people could have passed through.
This was now unmistakably a mountain road completely collapsed by overwhelming force, rendered impassable.
“Oh no… Due to the rampaging Dragon, the road to Venefique is blocked now. What a terrible accident this turned out to be,” Inglis let out a dramatically theatrical sigh.
“Hahaha… s-sure is awful…”
“Well, I mean, since it was just an accident, then nothing can be done, right? Since this was an accident and all…”
“I-I mean, we can just say Miss Inglis was caught up in it and had nothing to do with it… right?”
Rafinha and the others gave dry, strained smiles.
“Well then, since our little accident has happened without issue—”
Inglis turned her gaze toward the Mecha Dragon God floating in the air. While they were busy blocking the mountain pass, it hadn’t made any moves. Given that everything had happened in mere moments, it was possible it simply hadn’t had time to react.
“Now then, let’s continue… shall we?”
Calling up to the Mecha Dragon God, Inglis prepared to let go of Arles’ transformed golden shield.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Professor Arles. I’ll handle things from—”
But before she could finish, Arles’ voice echoed directly into her mind.
*“No… please let me continue protecting you like this…! I understand that you want to fight alone, but as an instructor, I want to protect my students.”*
“Professor Arles…”
*“Besides, I think fighting while using me as your weapon will be good training for the day you must face something far stronger…!”*
She said it as though she had something—or someone—in mind. Inglis didn’t know who or what that might be, but if such a being did exist, she found herself eagerly looking forward to it.
“I see… Then I’ll gladly accept your offer!”
Gripping the transformed golden shield firmly, Inglis turned her attention back to the Mecha Dragon God.
It was staring at her as it slowly descended and landed before her. Earlier, it had dodged her challenge for a direct clash, but now… it seemed ready to give her the fight she wanted.
“Come! Attack from wherever you like.”
At Inglis’ call, the Mecha Dragon God opened its massive jaws, revealing the cannon hidden within its mouth. It was an attack it hadn’t shown her earlier.
“Thank you! So you’re going to show me that attack as well!”
Inglis lit up with joy, but only for a moment. The Mecha Dragon God suddenly twisted its neck sharply, aiming the cannon not at her, but at its own long tail, and fired a blast of light.
“!?”
*“It’s attacking itself…!?”*
Arles’ voice echoed in her mind, unable to hide her astonishment. A dazzling flash erupted, and the tail was cleanly severed, falling to the ground. A deliberate act of self-harm.
“Take it with you, that is something you will surely need…”
The gentle voice came from the Mecha Dragon God standing before them.
“!? Human language…!?”
It wasn’t dragon speech channeled through Dragon Roar. It was entirely in human words.
“I have lived among humans… and continued to exist by human hands—”
So it had learned to speak?
“Then… you are not Owlgloria, but the mecha dragon from Illuminus…?”
“I thank you… It is because you quelled Mother’s power that I am now able to control this body by my own will.”
“Mother…?”
“I am a familiar born of the Dragon God Owlgloria…”
“I see… So, until earlier when you were fighting me, Owlgloria’s will was still dominant—”
That must mean that after expending such great power in battle, Owlgloria’s will weakened, allowing the Mecha Dragon’s consciousness to surface.
Now that Inglis thought back, it had refrained from a follow-up attack with the cannon in its mouth and had flown away instead of engaging further. That was when its own will had taken control, and it chose to avoid further combat.
“Indeed. I have no intention of harming any of you.”
That, in itself, posed its own kind of problem.
“I see. Then… if it’s not too much trouble… would you mind becoming Owlgloria again, just for a little while?”
Inglis politely requested so. After all, since Arles had gone to the trouble of weaponizing for her, she still wanted to spar a bit longer with the Mecha Dragon God.
“Hey! What are you saying, Glis!? You’ve fought more than enough already! Stop causing trouble!”
Rafinha’s sharp scolding rained down from above.
“But I mean, I’m still not satisfied, and we were just getting to the good part, and Professor Arles’ fighting with me and everything—”
“I am sorry… but neither I nor Mother have any time left…”
The Mecha Dragon God’s gentle voice was accompanied by plumes of smoke pouring from its body.
“! That smoke…!?”
It wasn’t just ordinary smoke. It was smoke saturated with an extremely dense concentration of Dragon Roar.
It didn’t feel like a simple mechanical failure or something of the sort. It felt more like… the entire being was dissipating. And sure enough, the Mecha Dragon God’s body, engulfed in smoke, began to crumble as if it were weathering away and withering into dust.
*“W-What in the world is happening!?”*
“I-It’s falling apart…!”
“Mr. Dragon!? A-Are you okay…!? Glis, what’s happening!?”
“…It might be too late. Its Dragon Roar is fading—”
“N-No way… I-, is this what my mecha dragon wanted to do…?”
In response to Mais’ words, the Mecha Dragon God slowly gave a single nod.
“With my life… I shall lay Mother’s death to rest. Please, take my tail and use it—”
With that gentle voice, the Mecha Dragon God’s large body continued to crumble. The undead existence that was once the Dragon God Owlgloria had been canceled out by fusing with the living Mecha Dragon, and was now fading away. That must be what it meant by laying death to rest.
“…A splendid act.”
It was unfortunate that they couldn’t fight any longer, but this was the act of a child choosing to bring peace to its mother. Feelings like that transcend both humans and dragons. There was nothing to do but quietly bear witness.
Inglis found herself thinking about her own relationship with Rafinha. They weren’t mother and child, but rather grandfather and granddaughter. Even so, she felt strongly that she must never let her beloved grandchild go through something like this.
“…Thank you. If there’s anything more I can leave behind… I shall try to leave it.”
With that final voice, the Mecha Dragon God’s body completely collapsed, shriveling like a dried-up fossil. Only the severed tail remained intact, still preserving its original shape.
“…The Mecha Dragon God used its own life… to release Owlgloria from her undeath.”
“Was this… the only way…?”
Rafinha had descended from the Star Princess unit and now stood silently before the weathered remains of the Mecha Dragon God. Her somber expression was full of melancholy.
“Most likely… yeah. Come on. It left us the tail, so let’s take it back quickly, okay?”
Inglis gently squeezed Rafinha’s hand and urged her to move forward.
“…Yeah… you’re right.”
And the way Rafinha squeezed her hand back, even stronger than she had, made Inglis oddly happy.
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