Chapter 213.1

Chapter 213 : The end of running away

The Redon Desert, located 200 km east of Gairadite.

Under the direction of the Conflagration King, the Demon King Academy students were attempting to attack the dragons jumping out of the quicksand with magic.

While observing their attempts without much focus, I was keeping an eye on Lay and Misa through their vision.

“Hmm, just as I suspected. It seems the royal palace of Gairadite was keeping dragons. It’s highly likely that the dragons’ rampage on the surface for the first time in two thousand years was engineered by someone.” (Anos)

A dragon roared, opened its jaws, and attacked me.

Right before it was about to swallow me, Sasha stabbed its scaleless neck with her fingertips coated in <Source Kill Vebzud>.

“Begone!” (Sasha)

When she pierced its source, its giant body swayed and loudly fell to the desert.

“So the human king is tormenting his own people with dragons?” Sasha asked while shaking off the dragon’s blood from her fingertips.

“Yeah, except he called it salvation. He was wearing a Pledge Jewel. So perhaps he has a connection to the Underground World. I’m guessing he clung to the gods after the heroes failed him.” (Anos)

Although, it was probably humanity who forsook the heroes first.

“Hmm~, so what happened to Lay-kun and Misa-chan?” (Eleonore)

Eleonore returned after slaying a dragon.

“They’ve been captured by the king. He’s got a variant dragon and a keeper in the area.” (Anos)

“Wait, are they going to be okay?” Sasha asked with a mixture of surprise and worry.

“Knowing those two, they shouldn’t have any problem for a while. Apparently, there’s someone trying to snatch the power of the Sword of Three Races away, and they’re trying to figure out who.” (Anos)

Keepers didn’t have the authority for it, but a Selection God like Arcana would probably be able to consume the power of the Sword of Three Races by receiving it as an offering.

Could it be that the reason the mastermind wanted to steal that power was so they would have an effective means of attack against me?

The least I was sure of was that one of the candidates must’ve enticed the king. If we couldn’t figure out who it was, the same tragedy would happen over and over again.

With that in mind, Lay and Misa decided to drag things out for a while.

But even so, rotten though it may be, they were still up against a god. If they let it run wild for too long, it may end up causing irreparable damage.

But I was certain that Lay and Misa were aware of that.

At that moment, I heard a high-pitched, unpleasant voice coming from far away.

“…That’s a dragon cry.” (Anos)

“Ah, yeah. They’ve been screaming for a while now. The dragons that have come out to the surface are creating a dragon domain.” (Sasha)

Sasha turned her Magic Eyes to the white light particles brimming over the desert.

There was indeed a dragon domain obstructing her Magic Eyes.

“I’m not talking about those in the desert.” (Anos)

“…Eh? Then where’s the cry coming from?” (Sasha)

“Right beneath the Hero Academy of Arclanisca.” (Anos)

Which meant that a dragon was about to reach the surface. Did it emit that cry just to interfere with our Magic Eyes? If I couldn’t get an accurate view of the magic environment there, I couldn’t use <Transition Gatom> to teleport there.

However, I was prepared for it.

I followed the magic link I had established in advance, and viewed what was happening at the other end.

I saw the corridor of the Hero Academy.

The sound of footsteps echoed.

The person whose vision I was borrowing was brisk walking.

“Haaa… Honestly, where did they all go, skipping school like this…? I don’t think they would’ve returned to the dorms at this hour…” (Emilia)

The one who muttered to herself was Emila.

I was borrowing her vision via the Bell of Thoughts I’d given her.

A dragon screeched again.

Emilia came to a halt.

This time, she probably heard it too.

“…What was… that noise…?” (Emilia)

A second dragon cry, even louder than the previous one, echoed.

The cry was growing closer and louder.

The windows were shaking and rattling. When she turned her attention to a nearby classroom, I noticed that the chairs and desks were shaking slightly.

“…An earthquake…? Kyah…!” (Emilia)

Emilia lost her balance and fell in the corridor.

She tried to stand back up, but the shaking was so violent that she couldn’t move.

“What in the…? How could an earthquake be so int—?!” (Emilia)

The shaking grew louder and more violent.

A deafening screech echoed loudly, and the windows of the school building were broken one after another.

The next moment, the ground exploded, causing Arclanisca to tilt.

Emilia’s body was thrown out, sliding across the floor.

“Whoa…!” (Emilia)

She eventually came to a stop after hitting a wall.

“…What the…?” (Emilia)

The shaking stopped, and she staggered to her feet.

When she looked outside through the broken window, a huge pair of eyes were glaring at her.

It was a dragon, perhaps over 100 m long.

Moreover, its scales were not green, but red.

“…A rare specimen of… dragon variant…” (Emilia)

If you ever encounter one, run and never look back—

Emilia ran down the corridor while mentally replaying Eldmed’s words.

But after running for a while, she stopped in surprise.

She approached a broken window and looked outside.

What she could see from there was the deep hole the red dragon variant had jumped out of.

As well as the countless chunks of rubble dispersed across the ground.

And lying buried under them were students in scarlet uniforms.

They seemed to be caught between large debris and unable to move.

Some of them were unconscious.

“Goddammit… Just come and get some, big guy…!” (Raos)

Emilia’s eyes widened.

The students still standing were facing off against the gigantic variant.

Raos, Heine, and Ledriano had put up their barriers and drawn their holy swords.

“I’ll kill you if it’s the last thing I do!” Raos roared.

He was probably playing tough. His legs were shaking.

I could also see the fear in Heine’s and Ledriano’s eyes.

And yet, for some reason, they didn’t run away.

Maybe it was because their friends were stuck there.

Maybe it was because Zamira had made fun of them with his remark about them running away despite being heroes.

Or maybe their desperation made them long for death.

All sorts of reasons must’ve paralyzed their legs and made them unable to flee.

“GROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAR…!!!” (Red dragon)

A deafening roar burst their ears and deprived the bodies of Ledriano and the others of their movement.

The dragon opened its jaws and stretched out its neck to bite the three men ferociously.

But at that moment, a black fireball flew at it from right beside them.

It was Emilia, who had fired her <Demon Flame Gresde> spell to burn the red dragon’s face.

“Save the buried students and run!” (Emilia)

Using <Flight Fless>, Emilia flew out the window and fired a volley of <Demon Flame Gresde> fireballs at the dragon below.