I teamed up with Nimura, the Sitri Familia’s Pawn, and quickly activated my Balance Breaker as we arrived at the south side of the school, setting up camp on a freshly plowed field.
Aaauuuggghhh!
A bestial roar echoed from the sky… The Evil Dragons. It could only mean that Rizevim’s three hours were up.
Just like that, a whole bunch of Evil Dragons started swooping down from above! I countered them one by one, sending them flying into the surrounding fields, the earth shaking with each impact. Nimura had likewise activated her leg armor Sacred Gear, her aura flaring as she kicked the dragons away.
“I’m still in training, you know?!”
Every time I saw her, her martial arts skills seemed to improve a notch. She already had her Sacred Gear under control, moving so fast she left afterimages in her wake.
Violent thuds sounded in the distance. Every now and then, I caught glimpses of holy aura shooting up into the sky, or flashes of lightning striking in the distance. It looked like everyone was on a rampage out there!
There were even explosions going off toward Agreas. Sairaorg and the others were no doubt going all out as well.
At that moment, a shape emerged from the shadows—a massive creature born of darkness, materializing at our feet to confront the Evil Dragons.
Gaspy was whipping up his dark beasts, sending them our way! They would be a huge help against these enemies!
It sure was reassuring to have such strong allies, but there was no end to the sheer number of these Evil Dragons! Gasper had unleashed his darkness over the entire castle town back in Romania, but that ability quickly left him exhausted. It wasn’t the sort of move he could maintain beyond a few minutes. Nonetheless, he was a key pillar of our defensive strategy, so the chairwoman had decided it would be most efficient to keep summoning up more darkness beasts than pushing him too hard and risking burnout.
At that moment, more than a dozen Evil Dragons charged our way, so I changed my Pawn into a Bishop piece and started charging the two cannons that appeared over my shoulders!
This was my Welsh Blaster Bishop, though I made sure to tweak it slightly so I didn’t wreck the town!
“Time to do this!”
Two overcharged red auras spewed from the cannons, engulfing a swathe of approaching Evil Dragons in a giant explosion! Now that was a good start!
But still, the creatures showed no sign of backing off—so I spread my own dragon wings and charged in alongside Nimura.
Ten minutes went by, fallen Evil Dragons piling up all around. Behind us, more explosions rang out.
I glanced over my shoulder—and laid eyes on a cross-shaped pillar of purple flame shooting up into the sky!
Valburga… That was north of the school, where Rias and Bennia were stationed!
A moment later, a voice sounded through my earpiece—Chairwoman Sona.
“The True Cross user is attacking from the north. Rias and Bennia might not be able to handle her alone, so let’s tighten our defense and fall back into groups of four before—”
Her voice was cut off by a loud boom followed by a plume of black smoke rising in the southwest! That wasn’t the True Cross! What now?!
“This is Koneko from the southwest team!” she shouted through my earpiece. “The Evil Dragons Grendel and Ladon are here…”
…!
Grendel?! He had to choose now to show up…? No, he would have been waiting for exactly this moment… So we had a Longinus user to the north of the school, and two legendary Evil Dragons to the south?!
Koneko and Saji were in charge of the southern area! They couldn’t hope to face Grendel and Ladon alone!
Nimura and I exchanged glances, then set off to help Koneko and Saji.
✦ ✦ ✦
By the time we reached them, they had already been pushed back to the edge of the school. The surrounding area was dotted with windmills, most of which had been cruelly destroyed, smoke billowing from their broken husks.
One dragon with a particularly sinister aura noticed me coming, its lips curling in an ugly smile and its silver eyes gleaming dangerously—Grendel!
“Hey, Red Dragon Emperor! It’s me!”
Yeah, I know. I was beyond fed up with this guy. This would be our third encounter. Seriously, I was sick and tired of him.
But where were Saji and Koneko…? I found them battered and out of breath as they confronted Grendel. Thank goodness. We made it just in time.
Just as I let out a sigh of relief, a massive treelike dragon blocked my path. What I could only assume was its mouth split wide open, while those glowing red hollows had to be its eyes.
I leaped back when it spoke, “We meet at last. I’m Ladon, the Insomniac Dragon, master of wards and seals…”
…So he was responsible for trapping us here. As I recalled, his skills were in defense and placing seals. He was one of the trials the original Heracles faced, only going down after being fed the Hydra poison. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any items like that on hand, and even if I did, the Holy Grail would probably render it ineffective…
“I heard you guys built your own school?” Grendel barked in amusement, pointing toward it with one hand. “If I try to break it, you’re gonna have to fight me for real!” he added, his sinister grin deepening.
…!
…That bastard…!
His mocking tone only got Saji and me even more fired up! It was up to the four of us—me, Koneko, Saji, and Nimura—to stop these guys! There was no way we were backing down! We would keep them busy until the teleportation square was ready—and you could bet I was going to knock them around to the best of my ability!
Grendel spread his wings, unleashing a deafening roar. “Let’s see who’s faster! Me, destroying your school—or you, stopping me! Gwa-ha-ha!”
Without hesitating, he took in a deep breath! He was about to spit fire!
And he was turning toward the school! He was going to unleash a massive fireball straight at it!
“Damn you!” I shouted, leaping to punch him square in the face—only to run straight into some sort of barrier!
It was like I was trapped in a giant soap bubble!
I spun around to face Ladon while the wooden dragon radiated a pitch-black aura, its reddish eyes glaring back at me!
Ugh…! He got me! I let myself get distracted by Grendel’s flames, and now I was stuck!
Fortunately, Saji’s black flames managed to counter Grendel’s attack.
Meanwhile, Nimura and Koneko burst out to charge at Ladon!
“Take this!” Nimura shouted, delivering a full-body kick.
“Let go of him!” Koneko, meanwhile, unleashed a punch infused with her fighting spirit.
Their attacks were delivered with precision, but Ladon effortlessly repelled them with more defensive barriers.
“It’s futile. Your half-hearted attacks can’t break through my defenses.
It wasn’t that their attacks were weak—either one of them should have been able to knock the Evil Dragon on his backside. The problem was the barriers stopping them from reaching him!
I tried to attack from inside the ward holding me in place—but it wouldn’t budge! And my punches were normally strong enough to obliterate an entire magic square!
“Hey, you! Ladon!” Grendel bellowed. “The Red Dragon Emperor is mine!”
The bloodthirsty dragon was fixing his counterpart with a murderous glare. They really didn’t have any sense of camaraderie, did they? A moment later, Grendel took a swing at Ladon.
“I can play with him, can’t I?” Ladon answered nonchalantly. “You’ve had your fun with him—twice, if I’m not mistaken. The current Red Dragon Emperor is all about raw power. I want to see if he can break through my wards.”
Grendel glared back at him, clicking his tongue in annoyance as he backed away. “Tch! This is why I hate teaming up! Fine! That pest Euclid never stops squawking when we fight. I’ll take my own foes, then. This is the only time, Ladon! I won’t give you a second one!”
Like that, Grendel charged for Saji.
“Vritra! Hey, Vritra!”
Uh-oh! Grendel was too much for Saji to fight alone! I could see Koneko and Nimura wanted to back him up, but they were held back by more Evil Dragons swooping down from above!
…There was only one option! This was no time to be conserving energy!
I needed to pull out my crimson armor!
“Awakening, I, the Red Dragon Emperor, speak this truth unto the heavens! I embrace infinite hope and immortal dreams, to become the Red Dragon Dynast—”
✦ ✦ ✦
“I shall lead you down the crimson way of the primordial!”