There must have been one or two hundred...at least. Looked like the dragon had been holding back on its previous attacks.
"Let me repeat myself. I will not be made a fool of by the likes of some pathetic humans!"
"I'll repeat myself, too. Don't underestimate us."
Leviatano had likely opted for more water bombs when it realized the force of one was easily stopped. I deployed about the same number of magic circles behind my back.
"Don't go thinking you can beat me in a game of numbers."
"Filthy human!"
Innumerable water bombs and magic circles collided in the air above the city. It was a war unto itself.
Ours was a battle of attrition, with neither of us quite able to clinch the victory. We continued bombarding each other with attacks, and when either of us ran low, Leviatano added more water bombs and I added more magic. To an uninformed spectator, all the colorful sparks flying across the sky might have looked like a unique fireworks display.
"Argh! Impudent little brat!"
Leviatano opened its mouth wide. It looked like the sea dragon was finally going to play its trump card. The water bombs may have been a favorite, but Leviatano was advancing to the dragon's specialty: breath attacks.
I watched as the water in its mouth began to compress. Before long, the intense pressure had shrunk the liquid to the size of a tiny bead. A moment later, that bead burst forth, like a beam of light, in a ferocious water breath attack.
I attempted to divert that beam with layers of defense magic I'd built up, but the water breath shot through all of them as if they'd never even existed and continued on its path straight toward me.
"You're kidding me?!"
At the last moment I leapt out of the way. The breath attack passed right through the spot where I had stood and pierced a mountain far beyond the capital.
"Oh shit..."
The sight made me break out in a cold sweat. There was nothing normal about a beam of water powerful enough to slice right through multiple layers of defense magic. It was like an ultra-high-pressure waterjet cutter—Leviatano's version of the holy sword. That thing would be able to slice through any material like butter and keep going. A defensive battle against it was out of the question. We needed to put an end to the fight as soon as possible.
Leviatano capitalized on my moment of surprise to shoot off more water bombs. Apparently it needed time to recover between the ultra-powerful breath attacks. As I countered the bombs, I glanced up at the sky and spotted Elna. She was deep in concentration.
I hadn't seen her that focused in a long time. That was a good sign. She was clearly dead set on killing the dragon. But I was also facing water bombs that were incomparably more challenging than the ones during Trau's speech. "Hurry up already," I called out impatiently while fending them off.
Elna was oblivious to my words, and everything else.
Leviatano and I both happened to pause at the same moment, and that's when Elna made her move. She began a sudden and steep descent through the air, aiming straight for Leviatano.
"Don't push your luck!"
Leviatano shot a water bomb at Elna, but she dodged it with minimal movement. Then, she swung the holy sword down on the sea dragon's head.
Leviatano must have seen the glowing sword and determined it was in danger. It attempted to writhe out of the way, but its body was simply too colossal to move that fast. The sword sliced into its torso and cut off part of its left wing.
"Aaaaaargh!"
With a roar of pain and surprise, Leviatano began sinking into the ocean. Our best chance had just presented itself. We needed to attack while we had the dragon on the ropes. There was just one problem.
"God, not now..."
In the sky above the sinking dragon, Elna was making a series of strange maneuvers, diving to attack but then pulling back at the last second. I flew over to her.
"You really are useless around the water."
"Sh-shut up! I can't help it if I'm scared, okay?!"
The majority of Leviatano's body was submerged in the water. In order to deliver the final blow, Elna needed to get close to the water's surface, but that was impossible for her. Then it dawned on me, that was why she'd been concentrating so hard. She'd known that she'd have to pursue the sea dragon closer to the water if she didn't kill it with her first blow. She really drove me crazy sometimes.
"All right. I guess we'll just have to switch roles."
"D-don't even think about it! I'm the protagonist here, and you're the decoy! I'm not switching with you!"
Despite her insistence, she made no move to actually attack.
I let out a frustrated sigh. Suddenly Elna gave me a puzzled look.
"Silver... How did you know I was afraid of the water?"
Oops...
I'd slipped up and spoken to her in my usual persona.
It was absolutely the most careless remark Silver had ever made.
8
A slew of curses and panicked thoughts began echoing in my head. I told myself to calm down before they could overwhelm my concentration.
Calm down. Just calm down, and everything will be fine. I repeated the phrase over and over to myself while suppressing my distress.
I was Silver at the moment. Not Arnold.
I didn't need to explain myself. Actually, that would be the worst thing to try to do. Silver had nothing to hide.
"Curious, huh?"
"Of course I am! Who told you?!"
"I don't think I have any duty or obligation to tell you that," I replied with a confident smirk, exactly how Silver would. Elna was dangerous when engaged in battle. She might notice even the slightest inconsistency in the way I spoke. If I slipped up and made her realize something was off, I was finished. Considering her personality, it was the wrong time to let her realize my true identity.
"Excuse me?!"
"Come on, the dragon's going to make its next move. Are you just going to let it get away?"
"Ugh! You're going to explain everything to me later!"
"We'll see about that," I replied after managing to draw her focus back to Leviatano with a little skillful linguistic dodging.
Meanwhile, the sea dragon had been preparing for another attack. Switching roles with Elna, I dropped down to the water's surface and planted myself right in front of it.