〈 Episode 267 〉 Reality and Ideals (4)
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The dragons that symbolized immortality and perfection all fell to the ground. The old dragons that symbolized perfect creatures no longer exist on this earth. No, maybe one exists… but it is a being that can no longer be called a dragon.
A primordial ancient dragon whose wings were broken and its pride lost.
The huge dragon coiled around the city of ancient dragons was not called a dragon by anyone.
Therefore, all that is left on this land are hybrids with only a little bit of old dragon blood mixed in. That was indeed the case with the death of the black dragon.
【Grrr.】
However, although it is a diluted greatness, it does not mean that the greatness has completely disappeared. The dragon is still a near-perfect creature.
As if to prove it, the dragon looks down. Just as platinum-colored starlight is poisonous to the Demon Lord, the same holds true for dragons.
That light is hateful.
It’s a hatred engraved deep in my genes.
The dragon moved its wings with a feeling of instinctive disgust. Huge wings flap and the wind rushes in. The wyverns that had been hovering around the dragon were pushed out, and the heat remaining in the canyon also disappeared.
The flapping of a giant dragon’s wings is like a storm in itself.
The knights kneel and lower their posture due to the rushing wind. It sticks its weapon into the ground and withstands the wind. The sight is pleasing to the dragon’s eyes. It is natural for mere creatures to humble themselves in front of a dragon.
However, there are some that are not like that.
A being that stands without the slightest shaking.
The collar of Galahar, the hero of the Holy Spear, fluttered noisily in the wind. However, there is no disturbance in Galahal’s posture.
He just looks back while holding the platinum-colored spear. Galahal’s eyes see the wounded and dirty knights. Galahal makes eye contact with them.
The thing in his gaze was fear.
And, expectations for yourself.
Galahal has no intention of betraying those expectations. Since there was no one, I held the spear a little stronger. Platinum-colored starlight rose around Galahal.
“——Whew.”
A short breath escapes from Galahal’s teeth.
With that, preparations are complete. bang.
As if fighting head-on against the blowing wind, Galahal kicks the ground and starts running. You have to deal with a dragon floating in the sky, but you are running on the ground. For a moment, the necromancers felt doubtful about that fact.
Wow!
Galahal lightly kicked the ground and leaped, striking the ground with his spear. The ground splits with a crackling sound, and at the same time, Galahal’s body floats in the air. To a height that cannot be jumped with human leg strength.
Then, with a click, he steps on the cliff and begins to run up the wall, repeating the same motion. It’s a scene that feels like a trick being performed… but the person dealing with it can’t just watch it.
“order!”
“Short chant…”
The necromancers are perplexed and recite spells.
The riders on the wyvern hurriedly tried to block Galahal’s approach with the wyvern… but there has never been a warrior whose charge was blocked by a mere wyvern.
The same goes for Galahal.
The platinum-colored spear blade drew an arc. As a long spear, its range is extremely long. The platinum-colored trajectory accurately targeted only the riders riding the wyvern.
“Big!”
With the short-haired horse’s scream, the riders let go of the wyvern’s reins. And then, Galahal climbed on top of the wyvern that had lost its rider. Of course, Galahal cannot control a wyvern.
Just use it as a stepping stone.
Bend and straighten your knees. Strike the wyvern with the spear and accelerate your leap. After repeating the same thing three times, Galahal succeeded in getting right in front of the necromancers who were reciting the spell.
This is the moment when the blade of the spear is about to draw a platinum-colored trajectory.
【——Grrrrrrrrr!】
There was no way the dragon would leave that behind.
The dragon opens its mouth wide at Galahal who passes right in front of him. A huge amount of mana condenses from its mouth, but no sparks fly out.
It’s howling.
It may not cause much damage to the warrior, but it can at least knock the warrior from the air to the ground. This is the moment when the dragon is about to howl.
Wow!
Galahal’s spear struck the dragon’s jaw.
The dragon’s mouth closes, and no sound comes out. When the dragon lowered its tilted head again.
“Wow…”
The necromancers are falling to the ground, vomiting blood. With wyverns. And, there is a warrior looking at this place while riding a falling wyvern.
Okay.
Swing the spear and shake off the blood.
The spear blade still shines brightly. No, it has a more brilliant light than before.
The light is no longer hateful.
Just like its ancient ancestors, the dragon now begins to feel fear.
The dragon lost his pride. A dragon who has lost his pride since ancient times often says that he no longer deserves to be called a dragon. It’s just a metaphor related to pride, but at least for this dragon right now, it’s not a metaphor.
Cooung.
The dragon’s heart beats loudly.
Leaking from the heart are black tentacles. The tentacles that extend out like parasites penetrate the dragon’s brain and take its place.
Push.
Tentacles tear the dragon’s scales and protrude in all directions, accompanied by thick blood. As a result, the dragon’s eyes turned black as it took on a bizarre appearance.
Galahal flinched and frowned.
I have seen demonic beasts being eaten by black tentacles several times on the battlefield. There is nothing to ask about the owner of the tentacle. There was only one thing that could do something like that.
This is a dragon that an apostate played a prank on.
Sensing that the fight would be prolonged, Galahal gripped his spear a little stronger.
2.
An apostate played a prank on the dragon.
While listening to the resounding sound, Raniel clapped his hands. His palms clashed against his, rubbing against his spell.
Stocked orders burn fiercely.
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The bright blue burning circuits resonated, and flames flowed between the palms that clashed together. That’s not the striking spell she likes to use, like slamming or crushing.
“Learn it.”
“It would be a useful spell to deal with apostates.”
A spell I recently learned from a great sage.
It hasn’t been mastered yet, so Raniel doesn’t think it’s a very powerful spell… but there is no other spell like this for wiping out miscellaneous people.
Hwareuk.
Slowly remove your joined hands.
Highly concentrated mana takes the form of a spell. Ran El opened her mouth, feeling her mana draining out in clumps.
“Stand back.”
『······!』
Destel, who was observing the battlefield from afar, opened his eyes wide. He shouted hurriedly.
『Stay back, everyone! backwards!”
The knights were momentarily taken aback by the sharp voice ringing in their ears, but then they turned around as they felt a huge amount of mana behind them.
Guuuung.
A huge ball of flame is floating in the sky.
The flame burning under the blue sky is like the sun. And the sun moves forward.
Where the sun is pointing, there are a group of keel soldiers, a wyvern flying in the sky, and a necromancer preparing a spell.
“ah······.”
The necromancers who were reciting spells sigh and lower their wands. No matter what spell I recite, I don’t think I can stop the sun in front of me.
The necromancers’ retinas are boiling in the oppressive heat. The robe catches fire, and eventually even the Wyverns’ wings begin to burn.
Keeeeeeeeee!
The wyverns screamed, but the sun had not yet released its heat. It’s just slowly falling to the ground.
And, wow.
Raniel snapped his fingers.
The moment the sun hits the ground, a flash of light hits the canyon, and the heat that has been condensed to the limit is released.
Hwaaaaaaaaa!
The keel soldiers made of dragon bones that resist mana, the necromancers wearing robes that resist spells, and any spells they concocted… have no meaning in the face of the rushing heat.
Poseok.
The moment the heat cleared, what was revealed was a pile of ashes.
The endless influx of the Demon King’s army has been reduced to ashes. So the knights swallowed their dry saliva as they looked at the open canyon.
‘Wizards that can operate in the demon world are like tactical weapons of enormous value.’
I don’t know that.
But, I never even imagined it would be this bad. The knights’ eyes, swallowing dry saliva, turn to the girl standing behind them.
Rania van Trias.
Rubbing her gray hair, she pointed forward. The heat created by the spell has long since subsided.
“···Advance.”
With Destel’s voice showing a slight tremor, the knights begin to advance again.
『Thank you for your cooperation. Thanks to you, I can save time. I think we can make up for the delayed time.』
A sound that only rings in Raniel’s ears.
Raniel spoke while listening to the message.
“The dragon that appeared on the side of Galahal was played by an apostate?”
“okay. They say it was swallowed by tentacles. Although I expected it to some extent when the dragon suddenly appeared…』
“There’s only one dragon, right?”
『I can’t keep hiding such a large figure again. There is only one. I’m sure because I saw it ‘in person’』
Raniel nodded.
“Then it won’t be a problem.”
『I agree.』
Raniel and Destel make the same decision.
I’m sure of both.
Nothing problematic happens on the battlefield where Galahal stays. Even more so, if there is only one enemy.
‘Chloe must have a lot to see and learn.’
With that in mind, Raniel poured the potion onto the skin burned by the heat of the circuit. Since it was a spell he was not yet familiar with, he had to overheat the circuit to trigger it.
You’ll need some practice.
Raniel mumbled and walked behind the knights. Instead of taking the lead like always, it felt unfamiliar to Raniel to follow instructions.
3.
The next hero candidate, Chloe.
Naturally, she had never witnessed the hero’s fight with her own eyes. At best, I’ve only read it through novels or newspaper articles.
As is usual with media depicted in line writing, it is full of appropriate exaggeration and vague expressions. For example, something like this.
『The hero swung his sword, and the demonic beasts fell, spewing out blood.』
『Starlight’s slash cut down everything that stood in the way. After the light disappeared once, there was nothing standing in front of the hero.』
···It is inevitable that Chloe, who grew up reading such things, only thinks of static and simple scenes when she thinks of ‘The Hero’s Battle’.
Kang!
But now.
Kang, kaaaaang!
Chloe realizes that her imagination was wrong.
There is a warrior wielding a spear blade right in front of you. The movement is neither plain nor static like the description in the novel.
Running and kicking the ground.
Swing the spear with all your might and twist your body to avoid the enemy’s beast that attacks you.
It is loud rather than simple.
It looks far from static.
Chloe saw the dragon swallowed by black tentacles. The sight is terrible. Just looking at him makes his shoulders slump and makes him want to step back.
Chloe isn’t the only one who feels that way.
Chloe looks to the side.
Knights also feel fear from the dragon floating in the sky. However, fear is not the only thing contained in their eyes. I am afraid and looking forward to it at the same time.
Who is that expectation aimed at?
He is the one who fights the dragon alone.
It resists by swinging its spear blade again and again, imbued with platinum-colored starlight. Chloe looked in the same place as the knights.
Kaang.
Galahal, the hero of the holy spear.
He doesn’t back down even an inch. The tentacles wielded by the dragon are not only aimed at Galahal. It also reaches out towards the knights below the ground.
However, the tentacles never reach the knights.
Galahal’s spear blade prevents tentacles from leaving the area. Every time the dragon opens its mouth, it hits its chin so that it can never breathe.
Even though Galhal himself can endure it.
If you don’t care about the damage around you and just counterattack with your body… you can easily win, but Galahal doesn’t do that.
Kang!
In the same situation, Kyle, whose priority is victory, ignores the surrounding damage and plunges his sword. Destel’s choices are no different.
Galahal does not do that.
Even if it is inefficient, he tries to save everyone to the best of his ability. Because that is Galahal’s belief, Galahal wants to protect his beliefs.
He looks different from the heroes in fairy tales.
It is a battle that stands out for its cruelty rather than its sublimity.
From a third party’s perspective, Galahal’s fights are always brutal. Repeatedly getting hurt and bleeding. I believe in the hero’s regenerative power and hurt myself. There isn’t much difference now.
“······.”
In Chloe’s eyes, Galahal’s fight is far from the hero’s fight she imagined. It is cruel, loud, and not plain.
But, why?
In Chloe’s eyes, Galahal’s fight seems brighter than a heroic story in a fairy tale. A warrior who pursues ideals in reality shines more than a warrior who cries out for ideals in virtual reality.
Sigh!
Cutting off the tentacle, Galahar stands directly on the dragon’s head. I adjusted the spear so that the tip of the spear pointed downward…
Deep.
Insert the spear blade into the dragon’s neck.
The platinum-colored spear blade blinks pure white, and the starlight condensed to its limit explodes inside the dragon.
Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
With a roar, the dragon that lost its head stops flapping its wings.
The dragon’s huge body falls to the ground and the ground shakes with a loud roar. As the dragon’s dark red blood seeped into the ground, Galahal, riding on the dragon’s back, slowly raised his arms.
The platinum-colored spear blade shines brightly.
Soon the knights erupted in cheers. Amidst the cheers of the knights, Galahal looked around. No knights died in the melee. Only after confirming that did Galahal let out a short breath.
A faint smile appears on his lips.
Chloe looked at that smile for a long time.
A single sentence lingered in Chloe’s head.
『The most heroic warrior, Galahal.』
Why is he called that?
I felt like I finally understood its meaning.
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fantasy,
