A crimson glow radiated from my armor as it changed shape—and I took full advantage of the momentum to break through Ladon’s barrier!
One punch in my True Queen form was all I needed to smash through it!
All right! His wards wouldn’t contain me now!
After delivering a solid kick, I rushed to join Saji—only for another barrier, a multi-layered one, to envelop me!
The hollows of Ladon’s eyes gave off an ominous glint.
“Ah, your crimson armor. It seems you can break through my wards… But what if I doubled, or tripled them?”
“Then I’ll tear them down one by one!”
I punched through them without a second thought, but each time I did so, a new barrier popped up, blocking my path! Was there no end to this?! Was he trying to wear me down, forcing me to waste my energy on pointless attacks?! Maybe I should try firing my Crimson Blaster at him? But there was no telling if it would penetrate the ward he was using to shield himself.
This dragon was the worst possible matchup for someone like me! My gimmick was raw firepower, yet he was brushing my attacks aside like they were nothing! If Ddraig was here, I might at least be able to conserve my stamina a little, but he wasn’t…!
Gasper’s dark beasts pounded away at the barriers encasing me from the outside, but Ladon just summoned more each time they broke through. In the end, I was trapped.
At that moment, a dull crack—the sound of bones breaking—rang out. Spinning around, I watched as Saji fell to the ground clutching at his abdomen.
Grendel had just delivered a powerful kick. Did Saji take that hit head-on?!
…Saji’s black flames flickered, a line connecting him to Grendel. But going toe-to-toe with the Evil Dragon, who was incredibly strong in hand-to-hand combat, was practically impossible for anyone who wasn’t a Power-type fighter. Knowing Saji, he would have tried to avoid that kind of combat. In other words, Grendel must have read his movements and intercepted him before he could escape!
“Gwa-ha-ha! What’s that? No Vritra? You wouldn’t have gone down so easily if he was around. Hah! There’s no way you can fight me just with that puny little Sacred Gear! Not unless you’re as good as the Red Dragon Emperor!” the Evil Dragon chortled.
Right. Vritra had delved into Albion’s Saji with Fafnir and Ddraig, so Saji couldn’t call on him right now.
Grendel, meanwhile, turned away from Saji to face the school.
“I won’t let you!” Saji cried, forcing himself to his feet.
A wall of black flames appeared around Grendel, yet the Evil Dragon just swatted it away. But Saji was still connected to him, doing everything he could to sap the dragon’s strength.
“Nimura! Toujou! Take these lines!” he shouted, releasing them to our companions.
He must have been trying to sap Grendel’s strength and convert it into something Nimura and Koneko could use. If it worked, we might still stand a chance. And yet…
“Enough of this! Aaauuuggghhh!”
With a roar, Grendel spun about, completely overpowering Saji’s movements. A second later, he kicked Saji into the air and swung an arm downward to strike him from above!
Saji hit the ground hard, bouncing several times and rolling across the earth!
“…Gah!”
A mouthful of blood gushed from his mouth. This was bad news! That was a fatal wound! Without healing, he was done for…!
I activated the Crimson Blaster stored in my wings and aimed for Ladon in an effort to save him!
Ladon, meanwhile, twisted his mouth into a creepy grin. “Yes, good! Is that your secret move! Give it a shot! Let me stop it in midair!”
“Damn you!”
I channeled my aura into my cannons, gathering power! Meanwhile, Koneko and Nimura raced to break through the mass-produced Evil Dragons to reach Saji!
“Run, Genshirou! Get out of here already!”
“…We won’t let you die!”
The two were desperate to save him! And so was I! I would blow this ward to shreds!
As soon as my cannons were fully charged, I fired them straight at Ladon!
“Gooo! Crimson Blasteeerrr!”
Two massive plumes of aura spilled forth, effortlessly shattering the multi-layered barriers encasing me and surging straight for Ladon! There was a dazzling flash, followed by a thunderous boom!
Once the explosion faded, smoke was billowing from every part of Ladon’s body! Yet he seemed to be doing just fine!
…Some body parts were missing, but on the whole he looked okay…!
Once again, I was left in awe of these Evil Dragons’ robustness. I couldn’t even find the words to describe it. Our firepower was like child’s play in comparison!
For the third time, I found myself encased in layers of barriers. Not again!
Ladon let out a low chuckle. “That was a solid attack. I wasn’t expecting you to break through my defensive barriers… But I’m sturdier than you think. Not as resilient as Grendel, perhaps, but factoring in my wards, my overall defenses are no doubt higher.”
…So this was our enemy right now—and there was worse waiting ahead. If Crom Cruach showed up here, we would be done for. Our only choice would be to fall back, regroup with the others, and hit him all at once. But who knew how effective that would be…? No, this was a defensive battle. So long as the mages had enough time to set up the teleportation square and get everyone out, we could call it a win. Then again, we would probably have to keep fighting these guys for as long as the massive ward covering the area stayed up, even if we managed to evacuate the civilians…
With Ladon and me locked in battle, Grendel made his way toward the school!
I couldn’t let him reach it! He would gladly destroy it all! We couldn’t let him tear down all that hard work, destroying the dreams of so many kids…!
I caught a glimpse of my friend, battered and bruised but still standing tall.
“…I won’t let you!” Saji cried, bleeding all over as he pushed himself up and unleashed more lines to ensnare Grendel.
He pulled on them with all his might to stall the dragon—but Grendel merely flashed him a defiant grin.
“Huh?! You think that weak move is gonna stop me?! Gwa-ha-ha! It’s useless! Useless! You pathetic loser!”
Grendel spun around, his momentum throwing Saji into the air! A second later, the dragon launched a powerful punch! Saji started casting a fiery shield to protect himself—but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid a sharp punch!
A dull thud sounded as he slammed into the ground, bouncing several times before crashing into a windmill so hard he tore the building apart—yet one of his lines remained unbroken.
He rose from the rubble, covered in blood and with his right arm twisted at an unnatural angle.
“…I won’t let you…destroy the school… I won’t let you…,” he muttered under his breath.
Yet Grendel, having lost all interest in his battered foe, continued toward the buildings.
Gasper’s dark beasts did their best to stop him, but the dragon brushed them aside like they were nothing!
Desperately trying to steady his shaky legs, Saji pulled back on the line connecting him to Grendel—only to be pulled to the ground himself as Grendel pressed on.
Even being dragged across the ground, he continued to hold firm to the line…
“…I won’t let you… I won’t…”
Though struck again and again by Grendel’s tail, he refused to let go.
I couldn’t stand to watch…
Saji’s comments earlier replayed in the back of my mind.