She put a hand over her eyes to block the sun and looked into the distance with her dragon’s sight only to stop soon after. Her opponent would be there without doubt, so there was no point in using her ability to alert him. Thus, she decided to follow her draconian intuition to fly so she wouldn’t need to activate her skill to reach her destination.
“Hmm, I cannot gain enough speed. While it’s expected in this humanoid form, being slower than my opponent would put me at quite a disadvantage. I must come up with a work-around.”
A high-pitched noise surrounded her as she increased the power output of her black wings. Yet her flight speed was inferior to her original Arkdragon form, as humanoid bodies weren’t designed for flying. She already had reduced energy due to granting her dragon cores to her children as it was. If she hoped to win this battle, she would need to find a way to cover her deficiencies.
She didn’t have her newly created weapon, the Magigun, on hand. The Prominence Dragon was aiding the Gedovar army, so the Arkdragon Wridra would try to set him on the correct path of neutrality. Since she would try to talk to him first, she did not need to show her hand quite yet.
Wridra figured he wouldn’t vanish immediately, but she wasn’t sure. As soon as he had revealed himself aiding Gedovar, he had likely been on the lookout for Wridra because she was adamant about dragons staying neutral in human affairs.
Her opponent might decide to strike first. Considering this, Wridra equipped herself with all of the defensive skills she could. This skill, Conversion, was one of Wridra’s greatest strengths. It allowed her to adapt to any situation by transferring her plethora of skills into her dragon core; she had learned Japanese a long time ago by using this method.
Fortunately, she knew her opponent’s attack methods from their previous encounter. She raised a finger, and a silver light glowed at its tip.
“Conversion―set resistances for Instant Death, Frenzy, and Mental Assault. Hmm, and I suppose I will also prepare resistances for Dragon Core Breaker. It did trouble me during the ancient war,” she said.
Even though Wridra set up other skills to help her in various scenarios, she wasn’t sure they would be enough. In her remaining skill slots, she added Unhindered to counter any teleportation-blocking skills and Shadow Gate, her favorite teleportation skill.
“Ah, I nearly forgot. I must add Inconspicuous to prevent him from knowing where I will teleport. Hmph, fighting ancient ones requires far too much preparation.”
Another issue she had to address was the slow flight speed in her current form. Once they began, there wouldn’t be any time for her to address it. Changing the shape of her wings would only do so much, and a ten to twenty percent improvement would be meaningless. She would have to overhaul it completely.
Wridra slowed down, deep in thought. She had to tear down everything she knew and start from scratch. After spending so much time in the human world and observing their impressive and logical technology, she no longer thought of them as diminutive creatures.
“I must alter my thought process completely... What is the fastest vehicle in Japan?”
Fighter jets came to mind. Some models could move three times faster than the speed of sound, which should be more than enough for her to compete.
Movement speed was crucial in battle, as a lack of it would mean she couldn’t catch up to a fleeing opponent, and they might trap her if she fled. International treaties had been established to limit the movement speed of tanks, even during war, when they first appeared in the mortal realm.
As a dragon, Wridra was unsure whether this would be a good idea. A dragon’s identity was tied to their wings, and it was unheard of to sever them from her body.
Wridra detached her wings from her body, a pale light appearing at the cross section as she did so. Any other creature would have bled as they were separated, but dragons were unlike other creatures. They had originally resided in a place similar to the Spirit World, and their very existence was a contradiction in this world. Dragon cores were the key organs that made their existence possible, and their destruction could make them disappear.
If she made one wrong move while detaching her wings, it could cause her stored energy to go haywire. This feat was only possible for a master of magic like herself.
There was tension in the air. Wridra spoke under her breath, believing this was the right move.
“Dance, dance, my wings. Thou shall gain new form and be permitted flight. Dance, dance, dragon wings. Awaken, and fly as your heart desires.”
The impromptu spell she had cast in the language of dragons was to grant independence and a sense of self to her wings. Magic flowed through them like blood in veins. Sweat dripped from her head as she focused on the advanced magic. She chanted her incantation, solidifying a force field in one hand while activating Creation with another. A shiver went down her spine at the undertaking that had likely never been done by anyone.
“Now, it is time for a fun math lesson. Hah, hah, it is amazing how inquisitive the human mind is. A single mathematical formula can hint at the wonders of the universe.”
“Open,” she chanted in her mind, then clapped her hands, one presiding over “creation” and another presiding over “independence,” together. By pure chance, the movement left her in a position as if she were praying, allowing a new creation to be born into the world.
An object appeared amid a dark mist, shimmering like a black crystal. Sharply angled wings jutted out at both sides, and its very form suggested it could fly at extraordinary speeds.
Wridra grinned. She ran her finger along the leather chair, which appeared to have its plastic covering peeled off, and touched the lever and LCD monitor that she had clearly added purely out of preference. As she had given it awareness, the object spoke in a feminine voice.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my master. How are you?”
“Not bad,” Wridra said. “I expect you to make me feel better.”
Thus, the black-haired beauty raised the hem of her dress-type armor. Her armor changed shape where she grabbed it, fitting perfectly into the seat as she mounted it. The vehicle resembled a single-seat fighter jet, except the wing size was drastically different.
“As you wish, Master. I was born to fly, after all,” said the aircraft.
Several rings went off like chiming bells. Wridra’s eardrums shook as the aircraft generated Spirit energy. The sound was elegant, and together with its slender and lustrous appearance, the aircraft had a distinctly feminine appeal.
“All systems go. Welcome, Master, to the world beyond sound.”
Wridra felt her body sink into the seat. Of course, she could handle the pressure without problems. Her eyes were glued to the aircraft as it accelerated without her feeling the slightest vibration. She sped through the air, reaching the mountains on the horizon in the blink of an eye. And so she laughed joyfully, impressed by the performance befitting of the Arkdragon’s wings.
“This is far better than I had imagined!” exclaimed Wridra, chuckling. “Yes, I like you. I shall grant you a name... From now on, you will be known as Kalina.”
“To be named by you is truly the greatest honor. I swear that whatever opponent you face, I will bring you a spectacular victory,” said Kalina, tilting to one side, then to the other in a gesture of joy.
Wridra looked at the expanse of blue skies through the window and noticed dark clouds in the far distance. The clouds seemed to forewarn the fierce battle to come, but the Arkdragon only smiled.
“Will I be able to fix a large magical gun onto you?” she asked.
“Certainly. I will learn the resistance for any weapon if you allow me a few seconds, so please choose whatever you’d like,” replied Kalina.
Wridra couldn’t help but chuckle.
However, the Arkdragon wasn’t foolish enough to immediately charge into the enemy right away. One mistake would spell the end for her, unlike Kitase, who could simply return to Japan when he died. That was why she thought that stupid couple was so carefree about everything, as she grumbled.
Observing Mariabelle made it clear how crucial advance preparation was. Her effort into adapting to the situation and terrain had always paid massive dividends.