Arc 9, Chapter 48 – “The Ultimate Lifeform”

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???: [――Roswaal and Clind-san say they can do it. So, why not let them handle it?]

At the tactical briefing, whilst the Aldebusters were deliberating over who should confront the Divine Dragon Volcanica, it was Emilia’s remark that ultimately served as the decisive blow.

Emilia’s decision to entrust the battlefield to them without demanding a detailed explanation was not reckless impulsiveness, it was rooted in genuine trust; and for that, Roswaal felt both admiration and gratitude toward her.

The situation was what it was. Even if his long-planned schemes were to be somewhat derailed, Roswaal was at least half-prepared for the moment he would have to reveal Clind’s origins. ――That was, the identity of the Divine Dragon’s dragonkin.

Roswaal: [But if we’re going to talk about that, it would inevitably involve touching upon the matter of our Contract as well.]

Naturally, Roswaal knew very well whose dragonkin Clind really was, welcoming him into the Mathers household as a servant regardless. Of course, this was not due to his exceptional abilities as a steward, but rather, because he believed his presence would prove to be useful.

The long cherished desire that Roswaal must fulfill no matter what―― he believed Clind to be indispensable to that purpose.

Clind: [Even if you were to reveal it, I doubt it would change any of their stances. Advice.]

As Roswaal kept trying to remain quiet on this matter, Clind, as one in the know, made such a proposal.

There was no reason to stubbornly deny him. In fact, Roswaal shared his view. Even if Roswaal’s circumstances were to be revealed it would likely not change the attitudes of Emilia or the rest of the Camp.

Still, Roswaal’s inability to reveal any details was simply in his nature.

Roswaal could not face others without placing himself in a superior position. He had to grasp their intentions, seize their weaknesses, and if necessary, he even wished to take hostages to secure his advantage.

The numerous years in which he could not afford failure had molded Roswaal into a cautious, even cowardly, villain.

That was why, even though Roswaal knew that Subaru, Emilia, and the others were terribly kind-hearted, he simply could not bring himself to reveal his true intentions to them.

Roswaal: [I don’t believe that will be a hindrance, thooough~.]

The key was not to reveal everything, but to prove oneself capable where it counts.

In this regard, Roswaal was proud to say that he did not lag behind his comrades. In fact, precisely because he carried the guilt of hiding his true intentions, he felt compelled to deliver results.

Roswaal: […Feeling guilt? Me, the Witch’s disciple of all people?]

Though he recognized such doubts within himself, Roswaal shelved them for later.

In any case, without revealing Clind’s circumstances, Roswaal found himself headed toward the same battlefield as him―― and toward a fight against the enemy who had stolen the dragonhusk of the Divine Dragon.

And so――,

Roswaal: [Let’s take this opportunity to put it to the test. ――That is, all my diligent studies, in order to slay the Dragon.]

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――In that battle, there had been no such trial runs.

Removing his monocle, Clind arrayed himself in surging bolts of violet lightning―― from his cranium protruded two black horns, and casting off the long-worn mask of the versatile steward, he became naught but a lone dragonkin.

As soon as he took a single step forward, flashes of lightning were birthed at the soles of his feet, and the initial velocity of his explosive leap emitted a cacophony that tore through the air.

Clind: [――――]

Rupturing the atmosphere, each step upon the ground quaked the world as if it were cannonfire.

Propelled by fulminations of violet lightning, Clind charged directly towards the majestic figure hovering in the aether. ――The Divine Dragon Volcanica spread its valiant dragonwings whilst carrying the sun upon its back, thrusting forth its gaping jaw.

Volcanica: [――――Haahraan!]

In that instant, a ray of white heat coalesced from the unleashed breath, seizing Clind head-on.

The Dragon’s breath was a torrent of pure Mana, raw power that had not been bestowed with directionality through magic. Even so, just as drops of water, harmless on their own, could amass into a flood capable of washing away nations, Mana charged with overwhelming vigor could easily tear apart the realm of reality――,

Clind: [――Your address at curtain’s rise is bereft of all artistry. Crude.]

Swinging his hand down like a blade performing a bamboo-splitting strike, Clind severed the white light that had been fired with might capable of leveling a city. [1]

The breath was split clean down the middle, and passed straight behind him as if it was trying to avoid a direct hit. In exchange, the scorched ground was upheaved, rock fragments were pulverized until they turned to sand, before being melted all down into viscous streams of red lava.

Leaving all of that in his wake, Clind pressed forward, his body leaping high up as he drew ever closer to the Dragon amidst heavenly skies.

Volcanica: [Tch, you impudent little shit!]

The roaring Dragon gyrated its body, delivering a swing of its thick, tenacious tail. Striking the wind dead, the tail whip revolved relentlessly, and leaving no place to run, it seized Clind head-on―― roaring thunder crackled.

Purple lightning of a noticeably stronger degree illuminated the sky, and a moment later, it was the Dragon’s tail that had found itself repelled.

The principle mirrored his earlier ground-kick acceleration: a shock wave generated by the eruption of the violet bolts surging around his body. Whilst airborne, Clind had triggered that phenomenon at his feet, using the impact as a foothold; then, by fulminating lightning through his shoulder, elbow, and down to his fist, he repelled the Dragon’s tail with an unbelievably powerful punch.

And frighteningly, that purple lightning was――,

Clind: [Bear with me for a little while longer. Inexhaustible.]

As if ignoring the fine weather of those cloudless, clear skies, those surging flashes of lightning were discharged ad nauseam.

Volcanica: [OHHHHHHHHHH――!!!]

Raising its voice in anger, the Dragon beat its wings and swiveled through the air. In the surroundings of that Dragon, Clind dashed about freely, accelerating with each eruption of indigo lightning.

As before, eruptions of purple lightning at the soles of his feet kept Clind airborne, bestowing the wingless dragonkin the right to maneuver through the sky as he pleased. Of course, the diligent dragonkin was not merely enjoying a leisurely stroll through the air, and he did not forget to unleash ferocious offensives against the Dragon.

Clind: [――――]

Evading the dragonclaws by a hair’s breadth as they swung at him, he drove lightning-clad strike into the face of the opponent with whom he harbored far too great a difference in both stature and reach, and thereupon did he unleash the apotheosis of all thunderbolts. This assault, layered with the twofold preparations of strike and fulmination, was not performed merely once or twice; in the blink of an eye, it repeated ten, twenty times.

Volcanica: [Shit―― hk!]

Its dominance of the air space robbed by the overlapping eruptions of purple voltage, the Dragon spat that out and ascended to a higher altitude.

Possessing wings, it was the special right of the Divine Dragon to choose its battlefield not merely on the ground, where the wasteland stretched out as far as the eye could see, but even in the sky, covering three-hundred and sixty degrees in three-dimensional space.

However――,

???: [――Al Duet.]

――Ascending to a high altitude, the Divine Dragon’s head plunged right into an enormous mass of water, losing all sense of up and down.

Volcanica: [――Hk!?]

Exhaling a large air bubble out of astonishment, the Divine Dragon’s colossal body was swallowed by a sphere of water spanning over several dozen meters in diameter, created by focusing the moisture in the surroundings and the streams of water on the surface together at a single point.

As the water pressure began to creak, the Divine Dragon, held captive in its aquatic gaol, widened its golden eyes.

???: [To think you would forget about me and become so invigorated, how cooold~.]

Beneath the Dragon, Roswaal, who had imprisoned the Dragon in the water sphere, flashed a smile.

Licked by the tongues of the heat wave from the breath that Clind had initially severed, the surface of the ground had been transformed into glass of black luster, and standing atop it, Roswaal pointed to the sphere of water in the heavenly skies, and folded it in on itself.

“Duet” signified an instrumental duo, and so, this magic did not end at merely entrapping the opponent in the sphere of water. ――Immediately after, the water sphere in which the Dragon had been sealed began to froth with a scintillating heat, reaching a boiling point.

Thereupon, violet voltage flashed a degree yet stronger――,

Clind: [I shall now get a bit flashy. Roaring thunder.]

The thunderclap unleashed by Clind’s fist harmonized as it thrust into the water sphere. ――That instant, the voltage surged through the entirety of the mass of water, frying the water sphere itself, along with the Dragon, purple lightning scurrying through all its insides.

In the following moment, the heat and pressure both reached their limits―― the water sphere burst asunder in a thunderous overture.

The purple lightning, with nowhere else to go, cracked through the battlefield; the tempest of steam, capable of rivaling an eruption of flames, blew radially outward as a devastating blast; the water that had lasted through the incandescent heat poured down onto the land incessantly as if rain from clear skies.

Clind: [――――]

The vehement detonation that was induced harbored the power to wipe out a small village entirely, leaving nary a trace behind.

While it might have been assisted by a dragonkin, it was a level of destructive force impermissible for a lone magician to exhibit; and receiving the full brunt of it without restraint, even the Dragon would surely――,

Volcanica: [――Ahh, shit, I’ve cooled my head now.]

Tearing through the white steam with its dragonwings, the Divine Dragon grumbled those words amidst the locus of the epicenter in the sky. ――Indeed, it grumbled. If it had sustained any extent of injury, the grumble would have likely been a viler curse instead.

That was to say, the airborne Dragon was going strong. ――Nay, it was completely unscathed.

Roswaal: […Even though it was something we had known, it’s quite disheartening to bear witness to it firsthand, iiisn’t~ it?]

Gazing up at that feat of having survived unscathed from the ground, Roswaal closed a single eye whilst leaving the blue one open.

Even when subjected to such an extent of firepower, the Divine Dragon had not sustained even a sliver of damage. This was neither because Roswaal’s magic was trivial, nor was it because the Dragon had spontaneously devised the most optimal defensive maneuver. ――Though the latter was closer to the truth, reality was far more despairing and overwhelmingly unreasonable.

Clind: [Master, do not be dispirited. Encouragement.]

Beside Roswaal landed Clind, who had escaped the blast radius and dropped down.

Using purple lightning to dry off after soaking in the water sphere, Clind spoke with an unchanged tone and expression, but conveyed therein was a faint consideration founded in the long time they had known each other. ――During their long acquaintance, Clind had told him much about the Divine Dragon’s unreasonable absurdity.

Roswaal: [――As expected, the dragonscales and dragonhalo protecting the Heartstone are quite troooublesome~.]

At Clind’s failed attempt at an encouraging response, Roswaal vocalized proof that he had not lost his fighting spirit. ――The dragonscales and dragonhalo, those were the greatest reasons why the Divine Dragon Volcanica had come to be known as the most powerful existence in the world; the unreasonable absurdities that would need to be surmounted, no matter the cost.

Roswaal: [――――]

――The Cloud Dragon Mezoreia and the Blight Dragon Valgren; if one questioned where the differences between those two Dragons and the Divine Dragon Volcanica lay, the answer would be in the dragonscales and dragonhalo.

Mezoreia, still young, was yet underdeveloped as a Dragon; and Valgren, having lost the equilibrium of its mind following the death of its birthed dragonkin, had thus forfeited its future. Each of them had proved lacking in the cultivation of their dragonhusks, failing to forge the same two types of armor possessed by the Divine Dragon.

That was――,

Roswaal: [Dragonscales impervious to any physical attacks, and a dragonhalo that wards off all magical attacks.]

Clind: [Without conquering those two armors, the Heartstone of the Dragon will remain unreachable. Reaffirmation.]

Inducing a sense of despair, Clind’s words presented the greatest obstacle in conquering the Divine Dragon.

The overwhelming physical defense of the dragonscales, and the absurd magical defense of the dragonhalo; unless they stripped it of those two powerful safeguards, none of their attacks would be able to reach its weak point, the Heartstone.

It was not a matter of which, both were required. Unless they stripped it of both armors, neither would they be able to surpass the astounding regeneration of the Dragon’s Mana body, nor would they be able to render it incapable of combat.

Ergo, in order to defeat the Divine Dragon, experts in both hand-to-hand and magical combat were necessary.

But then again――,

Roswaal: [Even if its dragonhalo is still intact, it’s impressive how even that much firepower resulted in no damage, riiiight~?]

Clind: [It is not known as the most powerful Dragon in the world just for show. Sigh.]

Roswaal: [Was that not a bit of a proud sigh juuust~ now? However things may have ended up now, this opponent was originally yourself. If there are any weaknesses that only you are aware of, it’s fine for you to secretly tell me, you know?]

Clind: [There is. The Dragon Sword. Immediate response.]

Roswaal: [Rather to the point…]

The Dragon Sword, having been immediately given in response, was an enchanted sword that made it possible to cut things that could not be cut.

With the ability of the Dragon Sword, it would have certainly been possible to disregard the dragonscales and dragonhalo and launch an attack straight for the Heartstone. If the wielder felt so inclined, then even just hitting the Divine Dragon with the Dragon Sword might have dealt a notable amount of damage.

Of course, it was fruitless to discuss a weapon they did not have at hand, and it would not change the situation for the better.

Clind: [As a point of reference for the dragonscales, I will target the reverse scale on its neck. Old wound. As for the dragonhalo… I suppose it will depend on your strenuous efforts, Master. Expectation.]

Roswaal: [Aren’t you speaking to me a little too casually after my first trump card proved completely ineffective juuust~ now?]

Clind: [Is that so? ――Though, Echidna-sama would have been able to do it. Soliloquy.]

Roswaal: [――――]

As expected, the duration of their acquaintance went both ways.

Hearing that shameless extra comment from Clind, despite knowing that he was playing right into the former’s intentions, a flame was verily set alight in Roswaal’s heart.

Of course, even now Roswaal was not so conceited as to believe that he had reached the level of his mentor, but――,

Roswaal: [A disciple must never cast shame upon their Teacher, aaafter~ all.]

The karma of past lives that he needed to fulfill no matter what, and the deepest, most cherished wish he desired to fulfill; these breathed life into Roswaal’s scarred soul, granting strength to his eyes as they grappled with the challenge presented before them.

The history of magic was a helix of trial and error, and the same was true for the span of Roswaal’s lives.

Once one problem was solved, the subsequent problem would immediately stand in the way, and he would continue to struggle onward in order to find a solution. But, it was by solving all of those problems, that he had arrived at where he was today.

Just as he had done ever since he had lost his mentor, all by his lonesome.

Roswaal: [To begin with, there exists nobody who stands a greater chance than I.]

He would intentionally proclaim it himself. Without a doubt, Roswaal was the strongest magician of the present era.

There existed none who had a greater potential of overcoming the dragonhalo of the Divine Dragon Volcanica than Roswaal. ――No, even that infinitesimal possibility was something he had cultivated over these four hundred years.

In the field of magic, if there was a wall that needed to be surmounted no matter what, Roswaal, without fail, would find a way to surmount it. Anything less was an impossibility.

That was the vow Roswaal L. Mathers had taken, the path of thorns he had resolved to walk all by his lonesome.

That was why――,

Roswaal: [――With the entirety of my being, I shall vanquish this plight.]

Alongside his declaration of resolve, in order to break through to the untrodden domain of surmounting a dragonhalo, Roswaal once again began formulating techniques in the sky of a complexity that would scorch any ordinary mind to naught.

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――The position of “dragonkin” was one which Clind actually found to be quite troublesome.

In the first place, dragonkin were ultimately the forms taken by the next generation of Dragons and, strictly speaking, were not identical existences to their Dragon progenitors. Nevertheless, they inherited many of the memories, experiences, and emotions of their Dragons, harboring an amalgam within their minds that made it difficult to classify them as separate beings entirely.

Clind was no exception to that, and the influence from the days of Volcanica was markedly reflected in his current self’s way of being. ――To give an example, this could be seen in his strong envy towards unrealized potential.

Born as a member of the absolute race known as Dragons, Volcanica innately esteemed the unripeness within humans as radiant, as it meant they needed to grow and develop whilst they headed towards their goals, thus validating its own absolute way of being. That disposition was carried forth into the present with him as a dragonkin, and now, unrealized beings who concealed within themselves great potential―― children, were something that Clind could not help but greatly revere, respect, esteem, love, and cherish.

That nature of Clind’s, carried over from his past life, so to speak, was something that Frederica and the like harbored an enormous misunderstanding about. Only, there was another matter concerning dragonkin that he wished to keep concealed from Frederica, so he deliberately refrained from clarifying that misunderstanding with her and those around her.

Clind: [While that may be the case, it is a tad vexing to be kept at a distance from Annerose-sama, Petra, Beatrice-sama, Meili, and Emilia-sama. Discontent.]

In any case, not limited solely to Clind, there existed an inextricable bond between Dragons and their dragonkin.

Given that a dragonkin’s development would spur on the growth of their Dragon, and that a dragonkin’s death would destroy the mind of their Dragon, that bond was evident―― in fact, if the need ever arose, a dragonkin could even house their own mind within the empty dragonhusk, wielding their rightful strength as a Dragon to their heart’s content.

Clind: [I have heard that in the Empire, Mezoreia and its dragonkin had done so. Interest.]

Though a long time had passed since Clind had become a dragonkin, his points of contact with other dragonkin were essentially nonexistent, so he thought it might be nice if he could one day exchange words with one who had newly been born into Vollachia, Madelyn.

That which she was said to have performed, the housing of one’s own soul into their dragonhusk, was an act which Clind had also performed many times in the past, returning to the Divine Dragon Volcanica in order to abide by the Covenant with the Kingdom of Lugunica.

Clind: [Albeit at present, governance of the dragonhusk has been seized through some unknown means. Foul play.]

In essence, all that was required for a dragonkin to house their soul within their Dragon, was the act of touching their dragonhusk. But for Clind, his soul’s first homecoming in approximately forty years had ended in failure, his dragonhusk remaining in the palm of the usurper.

Clind: [It is not as though I was without concerns, but… Regrettable.]

However mighty an existence the race known as Dragons was, the means to commandeer an empty vessel did not amount to zero.

In particular, an Evil Spirit whom Clind knew harbored the power to possess the bodies of others, and he had also discussed the possibility of such a power being capable of seizing a dragonhusk in private with his allies. ――Juice, it had been an awfully long time since he had seen the Evil Spirit who went by that name.

Clind: [There is no helping it now. Sentimentality.]

Regardless, Clind knew that it was possible for a Dragon to have its dragonhusk hijacked, and that in order to recover said dragonhusk, there was a need to strike its Heartstone. ――The problem was, it was the Divine Dragon’s dragonhusk that had been annexed, so its dragonscales and dragonhalo were obstructing the way to its Heartstone.

Clind: [I will deal with the dragonscales by piercing the reverse scale, so the Master must surmount the dragonhalo. Devotion.]

By way of the absolute defense belonging to the Divine Dragon, the Heartstone was protected behind its dragonscales and dragonhalo―― the feat of striking that, was the victory condition for this battlefield levied upon Clind and Roswaal.

Fortunately, there stood a prospect for breaking through those dragonscales. ――The old white scar carved into its neck at the culmination of its deadly clash against the Sword Saint, Reid Astrea, was the one and only opening in that absolute defense.

Clind: [The fact that in the end, that which has become our means of grasping victory is a blow dealt by that insolent fellow, how truly aggravating. Infuriation.]

That Dragon-meat-eating freak was always going “Gimme yer damn tail”, or “Lemme eat yer damn guts” and so forth, before ultimately staking his attempt to carve out its heart. Just what in the world had he thought of his traveling companion on their journey?

At the end of it all, they had clashed in an attempt to sever the other from the thread of life―― irrespective of the circumstances of the wound’s origin, there already existed a breach in the dragonscales.

Ergo, the path that would lead them to triumph, depended on whether or not Roswaal could surmount the palisade that was the dragonhalo.

Clind: [It is my duty to buy time for that purpose. Concentration.]

For four-hundred years, Roswaal had devoted himself to diligent studies. And now, he would be put to the test. ――Standing witness to that ordeal extreme to the utmost, Clind once again reproached his troublesome position of “dragonkin”.

After all, Clind could not help but find the dazzling blaze that was Roswaal’s life, having commenced as but a seedling of unripeness, as something that ought to be esteemed, beloved, and cherished.

Volcanica: [――――HAAHRAAN!!]

Harrowing the heavens, affrighting the lands, and imperiling the world, the roar of the Divine Dragon thundered far and wide.

The mighty voice incited quakes all throughout heaven and earth, rending the sky as its resonance took shape as a torrent that deluged Clind in his entirety. The bellow ravaged aught in its path, and swallowed by it, Clind’s body was also sundered, rupturing―― before that could transpire, a voluminous cloud of mist emerged, and plunging right into it whilst clad in violaceous teravolts, the roar of the heavens quite literally dispersed into the mist.

Fine particles of water created passageways for the sound, immensely dampening the ruinous shockwave.

Roswaal: [――Al Trio.]

Above Clind’s head as he bolted through the mist, honing in upon the Dragon were tricolored radiances.

Red, blue, and green; the triadic varieties of light achieved a brilliant harmony, and in that instant, the swelling of illumination scorched the sky. ――Wind and flame erupted on a scale of nigh a hundred meters, and the glacial inferno berserking through the storm enveloped the Dragon; hues and spectacle befitting the world’s end, painting the clear skies of the battlefield with the spitting image of hell.

Clind: [Sh―― hk!]

Into that hellscape, Clind thrust himself forth, galloping through the air with lightning by his side.

The world’s demise, the degradation of the battlefield’s sky to hell―― to survive even if it was a realm of such absolute death, was the mark of a powerful being who had lived in the age of the Witches that wielded their power as if to assert their very existences.

Volcanica: [――Welcome!!]

Reigning over the sky, woven with a chaotic, incoherent blend of colors as it was, the Divine Dragon bellowed sonorously as it demonstrated its pristine condition.

Behind the Dragon whilst it spread its wings, suspended in the air were colossal arms of crag construction, numbering twelve in total; the sturdy firsts ferociously burred as if a joyous gesture of welcoming, meeting Clind head-on.

Clind: [――Sealing Shackle: Unleash Second Stage.]

The moment before he crashed into the monolithic arms, Clind intensified the light emitted from the black horns on his head a stage further.

Purple lightning surging around his body, Clind temporarily attained a protection equivalent to that of the Dragon. Weaponizing that sturdiness, Clind wielded the entirety of his body as an indestructible armament capable of combatting the Divine Dragon’s onslaught.

A flash of roaring thunder, a detonation of purple voltage that caused the heavens to cry out, pulverized the rocky arms forged by the Dragon, actualizing a volley of blows between the two who possessed far too great a difference in stature.

Clind: [You fight with reckless abandon. Exceedingly unthinkable for a Dragon. Creative ingenuity.]

Volcanica: [We’re both far past the stage of choosing a clean way of winning, yeah? The recent trend of all my adversaries, is that they’re all damn strong guys who don’t hesitate to come at me with unfair methods, you know!?]

As he shattered, one, two, three colossal arms, Clind nodded in affirmation to that response.

He was not fond of self-praise, but as one might expect, the one most proficient, most capable of wielding the dragonhusk of the Divine Dragon Volcanica to its fullest strength, was undoubtedly Clind. No matter how powerful the receptacle was, if the contents did not match, its true potential would not be fully exhibited.

To make up for that which was lacking, the usurper did not draw forth the true value of the dragonhusk, but rather, explored many varieties of delicate tricks and techniques that the actual Dragon would have never attempted.

And the scope of those delicate tricks, arriving at a domain bereft of all charm, began to drive Clind into a corner.

Volcanica: [――Aghh.]

Unleashing a tempest of the twelve monolithic arms, its dragonclaws, and its tail, the Divine Dragon began to thunderously churn a maelstrom of light within the depths of its throat.

Kneaded in synchrony to that, was a torrent of flame and water being compressed in the Dragon’s oral cavity. Contrary to what common sense might dictate, the flame and water did not simply cancel each other out. Encasing a terrifying amount of heat and volume of water, with no place left for it to go, seeking an outlet to direct its power, erupting outward―― that instant, Clind induced a shockwave of purple lightning to his fore, launching himself backwards to extract himself from the Divine Dragon’s line of fire.

Clind: [――Kuhh!]

That was prevented by the colossal arms of stone that had stretched out to surround him. As the bouldering palms moved to clasp him, even as he attempted to blow them away through a boisterous dance of thundering bombardments――,

Volcanica: [――Get blasted away!]

――Following that, alongside the ear-piercing bellow, detonations began to erupt all across the battlefield, as if it was being hailed with strikes.

A wave of heat to scorch away aught that had been birthed, a wave of shock to rend away what was the very world, the onslaught of each granted Clind no method of escape, merely passing a surplus of divine punishment unto the fool who had dared to challenge the Dragon.

Clind: […Hk.]

Clenching down on his molars firmly, Clind rescinded the bulwark of purple lightning that had clad his entire body. Instead, he promptly discharged voltage through his black horns, generating the maximum output of purple lightning as a vallum that rivalled the dragonhalo. Even still, supposing the attack were to have been taken directly, not even Clind would have been able to escape a fatal wound.

Indeed, if he had taken the attack directly――.

Roswaal: [――Al Quartet.]

Vocalizing such, the one present to Clind’s rear, past the scorched, colossal arms of stone that had crumbled beyond recognition, was Roswaal, performing an incantation of great magic.

Having taken flight into the sky by means of aviation magic, Roswaal had joined the fray of aerial combat between Clind and the Divine Dragon, invoking four attributes simultaneously against those tremendous detonations, a feat that cancelled them out entirely.

Volcanica: [Oi oi, you’ve gotta be kidding me…]

Faced with that reality, it was no wonder that even the Divine Dragon spilled a voice of astonishment.

The attack from the usurper just now harbored a destructive power mighty enough to wipe an entire city off the map, leaving no trace behind. For that to have been offset by the measure of man, having fully protected Clind on top of that, was a level of precision light-years beyond anything that could have been considered ordinary.

If there had been even just a single, slight miscalculation, it would have instead bolstered the Divine Dragon’s attack, and quite possibly scorched both of them to ashes. It truly was a feat befitting divinity, threading the eye of a needle from a kilometer away.

Only, this could not be called a perfect victory.

Roswaal: […I’m, beeeat~.]

As such words feebly spilled out from Roswaal’s lips, in a state of delirium, he lost control and began to fall head-first.

Clind: [Master! Haste.]

Kicking off the air to catch up to the plummeting Roswaal, Clind gazed in wonder.

The mere aftershock of the offset detonation had torn Roswaal’s body to shreds, and his right arm in particular had sustained tremendous damage; hideously charred to a red and black chunk of flesh, it was too painful to even look at.

Albeit Roswaal had mastered all manners of magic, the one and only thing he could not employ was healing magic. As for whether he could continue to fight whilst bearing such a wound, would be far too――,

Volcanica: [Don’t take this the wrong way, but Origin’s waiting on me!]

Clind: [Kuh―― hk!]

Clind embraced the severely wounded Roswaal in his arms, however, the Divine Dragon did not relax its onslaught.

Furling the wind in their wake, dragonwings became blades of light in fearsome approach, and violently discharging purple voltage, Clind bolted through the sky as though lightning, continuing to evade, evade, and evade. Whilst basking in the shame of having allowed Roswaal to sustain a wound, he pulverized the blades of wind with kicks, and catching the scything dragonwings with his body, thereupon did lightning fulminate―― by the force of that impact, they were sent flying backwards.

Forcibly distancing himself, he restored his posture―― that instant, the Dragon’s tail came crashing down.

Clind: [――Hk.]

Converting the impact of the discharge into rotational force, the Divine Dragon’s tail struck down in a direct hit.

Even though he used his arm to protect their heads from the fatal blow, the force sent them hurtling straight towards the ground at full speed. Falling to the ground as they were, the inertia would be vigorous enough to dig their own graves for them, but――,

Volcanica: [――And just to make sure of things…]

As Clind and Roswaal plummeted, the Divine Dragon spoke those words and inhaled a deep breath.

Amidst the combat where offense and defense alternated rapidly, any action that required charging time could prove fatal. Ergo, the full force of the Dragon’s breath, a move kept sealed away save for the opening hand, was now unleashed.

Against the destruction inescapable by even his lightning dash, naught could be done. ――By Clind.

Roswaal: [――Al Quintet.]

With all of the strength having faded from his body, having entrusted Clind with all of the offensive and defensive combat, Roswaal invoked the greatest firepower that he had ever charged up.

――The activation of the perfected technique, manifested an enormous magic circle baling together five lights in the heavens above.

Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and finally, Yang―― that which coalesced these conflicting principles by means of overlapping rationality that surpassed human understanding, was a power of overwhelming destruction not permitted to exist anywhere but the outside of order. It clashed directly against the unleashed breath of the Divine Dragon―― in that moment, all notions of sound and color were bereaved from the world.

Roswaal: [――――]

The two unbridled powers contested, vividly tearing asunder the very boundary between heaven and earth.

Infernos raged ferociously, the sky froze over, the wind swirled into a vortex, the earth was vehemently exhumed, and all of it was amplified by light; five contradictory powers took the shape of great spires of illumination as the battlefield crumbled in a chain reaction.

The region that had been merely a craggy wasteland before the battle’s commencement was now filled with the thunderous dance of light and sound, to the point that up could not be discerned from down; aught was consumed in a crucible of chaos.

Roswaal: [――――]

In the sense of destroying the equilibrium of the world, that technique was already on a level which rivaled the numerous forbidden arts whose existences had been erased by Od Lagna. The reason why this had never had its existence extinguished as a forbidden art, was none other than because there had been nobody capable of using it to make it worth prohibiting.

Prior to this, the only ones who had ever materialized great magic―― nay, hyper magic to this degree, were the Witch of Greed, Echidna, and the Original Magician, Myonmyon.

The hyper magic bordering on taboo was fired not as an arrow of “destruction”, but as one of “negation”.

Clind: [Master, truly you are… Hats off.]

Just who could have ever believed that the spectacle of this cataclysmic upheaval was the proof of a lone man’s devotion to his diligent studies?

The journey and footprints trodden by that personage, many would likely loathe and vilify its details as immoral, repudiating his way of being.

But, Clind would not repudiate him. Nor would he scorn him. He may have deserved scorn, but the impact that would stir in the heart upon witnessing something that surpassed all measure, was no different for humans or Dragons.

Only, Clind had been overcome with emotion. To think that a human could build something up to this extent.

――Clind dearly loved the potential of humans.

Born as weak, fragile, and imperfect beings, the question of what they might pursue, what they might desire, fascinated him to no end. From that perspective, Roswaal had nearly achieved the maximum score.

As far as Clind was aware, there existed nobody else who had continued to pathetically cling to such a distant possibility, ever struggling towards it, to the extent that Roswaal had.

――If one did not harbor any talent, they would have given up far sooner.

――If he had been a chosen existence like the Sword Saint, he would have reached this point without suffering to this extent.

Having been neither of those, the only quality Roswaal possessed was a tenacity beyond all normality.

For that reason, Clind had revered his way of being, affirmed his path, and lent him his strength.

Clind: [That prayer, yet remains shining brightly within me. ――Vow.]

Speaking of his vow in such a manner, Clind gently laid Roswaal onto the ground.

Shedding tears of blood, the matchless magician convulsed throughout his entire body as a result of overusing his powerful Gate; the reward for his meritorious deed was an all-too-dreary bed of sand, but he would just have to bear with it for the time being.

――After all, having basked in the magician’s apotheosis, the Divine Dragon was ever unscathed, thriving up in the heavenly skies.

△▼△▼△▼△

――And thus, reality had caught up with Roswaal, whose life was teetering on the brink.

???: [Five seconds, Master. Report.]

That which greeted the return of his scattered consciousness was an exceptionally calm voice.

However, he did not seem to blame Clind for that. If he had five seconds, the Divine Dragon should have been able to kill Roswaal fifty times over. ――There was word of them having a “no-killing” rule, so he supposed that they would crush his limbs and freeze his wounds for later in order to render him incapable of fighting, or something like that.

Because if it were Roswaal, he would have gone that far in order to render someone incapable of fighting.

Clind had protected Roswaal from that damage, splendidly fulfilling his role as the vanguard.

The issue was――,

Roswaal: [My poor display, huh?]

It was the pathetic feeling of having jumped into the battle between Dragon and dragonkin, and arriving on the verge of death so quickly. It was not that he had underestimated the situation, but he had thought he could accomplish more.

Roswaal: [――――]

Thanks to Petra’s struggle to assume custody of the Witch Factor herself, Roswaal’s preparation was spread across the battlefield which the Divine Dragon was drawn into, and he had performed in what was probably the greatest magical battle of his lifetime.

He could say that he had not fought a battle like this since he had faced the Warlock of Tristitia alongside Clind. Simply looking at the results alone, it was not purely a matter of the Divine Dragon being stronger than the Warlock of Tristitia.

Either way――,

Roswaal: […We need… to change… our conditions for victory.]

Even now, Clind might still be fighting, believing that Roswaal would recover, but he knew his own limits better than anyone. His strength was depleted, his body was a complete mess, and even his life force had been largely whittled away by his intense consumption of Mana.

Even the numerous great magics he had prepared were not enough to pierce the dragonhalo of the Divine Dragon. It had been impossible even with the simultaneous activation of five different types of Al-class magic. If any possibility existed, it was in the simultaneous activation of Al-class magic of all six attributes, but given that such magic had never been successful even under perfect conditions, there was no way it would be successful under the current circumstances.

A sensation like his brain was boiling, and pain as if all the blood in his body was flowing backwards were indications that the greatest Gate of his family, selected for across Roswaal’s four-hundred years, was on the verge of breaking.

It was pointless for him to continue any further. If what he had prepared could not do the trick, he would lower the hurdle for what he aimed to achieve and accomplish at least the minimum required of him.

Originally, the goal of this battle had been to prevent Aldebaran’s plans, which they could achieve if they could just continue to keep the Divine Dragon pinned down here.

Thus, he would be clever and adaptable while devoting himself to supporting Clind as he continued to resist here.

However――,

 

???: [Roswaal, you shouldn’t push yourself too hard, but it’s a reeeally important role. So, good luck!]

???: [Roswaal-sama, I apologize for the inconvenience until now. Finally, we can repay your kindness to us. Together, we can help that person… Subaru-kun!]

???: [It’s what the Master said he would do, so please don’t change your mind… I hate the Master, but I really believe he wouldn’t lose to anyone else.]

???: [Roswaal-sama, may fortune in battle be upon you. ――And please, do enjoy yourself.]

 

Roswaal: […Oya?]

Being clever and adaptable while devoting himself to supporting Clind―― that was what he ought to have done.

But the next thing he knew, Roswaal was standing on unsteady feet, cradling his right arm that had been reduced to a horrible state.

Roswaal: [――――]

It was strange. He had intended to fight sneakily, not in the manner of the grand magicians Roswaal had admired, but rather by using the underhanded means of a mediocre magician hungry for victory, and yet.

Why, for what reason, had he risen to his feet?

Surely he did not mean to say that he had not given up? Even though that which he had prepared had been ineffective? Even though he had never once achieved results beyond his ability?

???: [――What, you stood back up? I had intended to take on the role, however…]

Roswaal was so surprised by his own actions that the unexpected voice did not surprise him whatsoever.

Roswaal: [――――]

The owner of that voice slowly stepped upon the desolate earth, as if depicting the demise of the world, and stood next to the unsteady and wavering Roswaal.

However――,

Roswaal: [Sorry, but I don’t even have the strength to move my head… You’re too short, so I can’t tell who you are, but this is faaar~ from a role for a child.]

???: [Who exactly are you calling a child!? You knave, you are truly an infuriating man…!]

The other person raised his voice in full earnestness at Roswaal’s half joking, half serious words, and his unseen form gradually lifted up and entered the edge of Roswaal’s field of view. It was not that the other party had grown taller. He had made the ground swell with magic, using it as an improvised step-stool to match their eye levels.

It was truly a silly waste of magic, yet he did not hate it.

Indifferent to Roswaal’s inner thoughts, the black-robed, green-haired dwarf who had done so crossed his arms, and――,

???: [I shall engrave who I am anew, so that you shall not forget, you knave. ――The Gray, Ezzo Cadner, shall conquer the Divine Dragon before you!]

Translation Note:

[1] – Bamboo-Splitting Strike (唐竹割り, karatakewari) is an attack in which a blade is swung directly vertically down, as if splitting bamboo.