Tailtiu attempted to join once again, only to instantly retreat. The fight was growing even more intense, approaching its climax. It would be over before long.
“You can do it,” I said.
“You won’t solve anything if you don’t take that first step,” Zelos said.
We cheered Tailtiu on; this probably wasn’t the sort of issue that could be fixed with someone else’s help.
“Oh, there she goes!” Zelos said.
“Yeah, and now...”
Unlike before, Tailtiu quickly plunged down. With how fast she was descending, there was no stopping her now!
“Go! Take advantage of the confusion and get them to let you in!” Zelos said.
“Go, Tailtiu!” I said.
“Ngh, uh... Nghaaahhh!” she shouted.
Then, in the middle of her rapid descent, Tailtiu opened her mouth and expelled flames charged with a ridiculous amount of mana, enveloping both the Ancient Dragonfolk and the Fierce Ogrefolk on the ground.
“Gaaaaahhh?!” they screamed.
“H-Hey! She hit her side too!” Zelos said.
“Aww, you can’t do that, Tailtiu.”
Her flames seemingly contained more power than the beams of light from earlier, as both sides were scattering in a panic. She must have been upset, but her flames were just making things worse.
“Dammiiit!”
Some of the Ancient Dragonfolk turned into their dragon forms and tried to attack Tailtiu in order to stop her.
“Why youuu!”
At the same time, the Fierce Ogrefolk leaped at Tailtiu as well, but there was a clear gap in strength between her and the rest. She slammed each of them to the ground with her tail and claws, dropping them one after another.
“Ah... Th-This isn’t...”
As she took down her attacking opponents, I could hear her speaking in a confused voice. It seemed that her head had finally cooled off, and she could now comprehend what she was doing. But it was already too late. Around half of the entire field was down for the count, and the rest were looking at her with anger.
“Tailtiu! So it’s you again! You’re an Ancient Dragonfolk like us, so why the hell’re you screwing around?!”
“Loner dragon over there! Must you always flaunt how much stronger you are?!”
There was a steady stream of abuse coming from the ground. This of course included the Fierce Ogrefolk, but even the Ancient Dragonfolk—presumably her peers—were being quite harsh.
“This isn’t what it looks like!” she protested. “Today...it really isn’t—”
“Get heeeerrrrr!”
Paying no heed to what Tailtiu was saying, they began a new fight on the spur of the moment. The difference between Ancient Dragonfolk and Fierce Ogrefolk no longer mattered as the situation devolved into a free-for-all. It was a fierce struggle, like the final battle at Armageddon. And Tailtiu, fighting all alone, was dominating.
“Hmm... When you look at it like this, there are some pretty big differences in strength even among the same race,” I said.
“You’re feeling impressed at a time like this?” Zelos said.
“No, I mean, I’ve never seen any of the people on this island fight except when they’re hunting, so it just came out.”
Mina and Suzaku were the ones who I considered the strongest out of everyone I’d seen here. Below them were Elga and Tailtiu, and Luna was maybe just a bit weaker still. Both the Ancient Dragonfolk and Fierce Ogrefolk appeared to be somewhat lacking compared to everyone I’d seen at the Divine Beastfolk village, probably because they were still young.
“Hey, Arata,” Zelos said. “Do you think that maybe she doesn’t have any friends because she’s always doing stuff like that?”
“I don’t think she’s doing it on purpose, but...”
Be that as it may, it was probably her way of trying to join the group. She was so awkward that it almost brought tears to my eyes.
“Wh-Why?” Tailtiu shouted. “I simply wanted you to let me join in!”
Perhaps on instinct, she countered every attack coming her way, knocking down Ancient Dragonfolk and Fierce Ogrefolk alike. She let out a small voice every time, somehow seeming incredibly sad. But, as if they couldn’t hear her, everyone just attacked again, even more fiercely this time.
“There’s no other choice,” I said.
At this rate, Tailtiu would lose control and both sides would be wiped out. I had no obligation to help out either of them, but my goal was to hold a feast with all the races of the island. A future where the Ancient Dragonfolk and Fierce Ogrefolk, at least, could come together and laugh seemed impossible, judging from the current situation, and above all—
“You just don’t like to see Tailtiu like that, do you?” Zelos said.
“Yeah, for sure.”
Tailtiu was looking down from the sky at the two races, anxiously trying to do something to fix things. But a stranger would think she was picking on those weaker than her. It wasn’t a pleasant sight.
“Well then, I’ll be right back,” I said.
“I bet you’re the only guy in the world who could talk like he’s just going on a stroll while heading toward that apocalyptic fight.”
“I can’t be the only one. I’m sure there are others on this island.”
I nonchalantly walked in the direction of the wasteland. The Ancient Dragonfolk and Fierce Ogrefolk didn’t notice me, as they were completely focused on Tailtiu. She was also engrossed in the fight and didn’t see me either. They only first became aware of me when I stood in the middle of all three of them.
“Ah!” Tailtiu exclaimed.
“Huh?”
“What are you...”
All at once, they stopped and looked at me, perhaps because I’d arrived there so casually.
I ignored the two groups for the moment and looked up at Tailtiu.
“A-A-Ah... Th-This isn’t what it looks like, darling! It’s, um...”
She was flustered, probably because she didn’t want me to think she was fighting again. She must have been remembering the time I got angry at her when she messed with Zelos. But I had only gotten angry at her then because she had been intentionally intimidating him, whereas this time I knew it was different, as I had been watching the whole thing.
“It’s all right. I don’t think you were picking on people weaker than you or anything, okay?”
She looked surprised but then said, “Okay.” She nodded, somewhat sadly, yet firmly. She had completely calmed down, probably because she had lost any desire to further attack them after noticing me.
“Hey, hold it right there! Who are you callin’ weak?!”
“I do not know who you are, sudden interloper, but your manner of speech is quite arrogant!”
The problem now was the crowd of Ancient Dragonfolk and Fierce Ogrefolk standing on either side of me. Two individuals who each appeared to be the groups’ young leaders turned their hostility toward me at the same time.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You look like you know Tailtiu, but don’t screw with uuuussss!”
The first one to try something was the Ancient Dragonfolk man. He let loose a punch faster than the speed of sound. As his fist collided with my face, a tremendous crash resounded throughout the entire area.
“Heh, a weakling who can’t even dodge a punch like that has no business— Hmmm?” He must have thought it strange that I hadn’t budged at all, because he slowly moved his fist out of the way to look at me. “Wha— You aren’t hurt?!”
“Pretty weak compared to Gaius’s charges...” I said. I remembered my Divine Beastfolk friend, and I realized that the difference in strength between the adults and the youths must have been rather large. There was just that much of a gap between the punch I had sustained just now and Gaius’s power.