Part 2The US military transport helicopter had taken off from an airbase in the Boston countryside and was circling in Brooklyn"s airs.p.a.ce near the Hudson River and Manhattan Bridge. Asya was in the helicopter, controlling Rushalka in Queen Form.
"Witches of the Coast, please focus on controlling your partners in flight. Do not leave Rushalka"s side under any circ.u.mstances. I will take full command from here."
"Understood. We will focus on backing you up, Asya."
Asya issued clear orders and the familiar Christine obeyed.
Apart from this lively and outgoing blonde witch, the other members were also listening to the orders of Asya the master-cla.s.s witch. This included the youngest witch in the WotC, the twelve-year-old Marie, the dignified and well-bred Maneesha of Indian descent, as well as the African-American witch Kate whose slender figure was like a model"s.
Living up to their name as members selected with an emphasis on personality, all of them were very loyal.
Had they been a.s.sembled from master-cla.s.s witches, an impromptu team would definitely have people breaking step. But right now, there was no need to worry about that and Asya could gaze upon their partners with rea.s.surance.
A helicopter was mobilized so that they could supervise this aerial battle from a suitable distance.
In the airs.p.a.ce around Old Manhattan, roughly a thousand Raptors were flying randomly unchecked.
Queen Form Rushalka charged straight into the ranks of the Raptors. The four leviathans of the WotC stood on guard, above, below and flanking the blue wyvern respectively. The silver lynx leviathan Tom Cat, the fierce albino tiger leviathan Tiger Cat, the blank panther leviathan Wild Cat surrounded by electrical sparks, and Bear Cat whose figure was round like a bear despite being a cat—
"Rushalka, expand the range of imperishable protection and enhance defense!"
Asya used Vision Amplification to enhance her sight. Staring intently at her partner with both eyes, she called out from inside the helicopter.
Flying several kilometers ahead, Rushalka heard clearly. Pearly light radiated out from her Queen Form body.
Due to the bond of magic connecting them to each other, Asya"s voice could reach Rushalka.
The four leviathans of the WotC were also within the expanded range of Rushalka"s protection.
Next, five Raptors flew in with bared fangs, trying to rip Tiger Cat and Wild Cat to shreds.
However, Rushalka"s deployed protection bounced the five Raptors far away.
Indeed. The four leviathans of the WotC were actually sent to the field and tasked with other purposes instead of serving as bodyguards.
Then the leader of the fireteam, Asya, looked towards the sixth member—The last witch inside the helicopter.
"E-Excuse me, is it still not yet time for Minadzuki to be summoned...?"
"Don"t worry. You just have to summon Minadzuki to a.s.sist in defense when we"re in trouble. Think of Minadzuki as a bodyguard and a reserve force."
Asya nodded at the worried Hazumi.
Truth be told, one would not place too much faith in the helicopter"s armor even when armed with rotary cannons and missiles. Hence, a bodyguard was essential.
With that, everything wa ready—
Recently, Asya had been focusing her attention on conquering her childhood friend. Having Rushalka charge into enemy ranks, surrounded by foes, made her feel quite nostalgic.
Doing unfamiliar things for an extended duration was quite mentally draining after all.
She must go on a rampage to reaffirm her original self. Fortunately, she had plenty of additional weapons on her side.
"Rushalka will maintain the deployment of imperishable protection. Christine, Kate, Maneesha and Marie, you will each activate your partner"s pseudo-divinity to launch magical attacks. Since we"re surrounded by enemies entirely, there"s no need to aim in particular. Just defeat the enemies with all your strength!"
The four witches of the WotC immediately followed Asya"s orders.
Christine"s partner, the flying silver lynx, Tom Cat, possessed the attribute of Water.
She summoned a tsunami in the sky—the raging waves rushed at dozens of Raptors at once, crus.h.i.+ng them with water pressure.
The African-American witch Kate"s black panther, Wild Cat, was of the Lightning attribute. Lightning strikes fell madly like rain, incinerating ten-odd Raptors nearby.
The witch of Indian descent, Maneesha, was controlling the white tiger, Tiger Cat, whose attribute was Wind. Tiger Cat shot out a wild flurry of wind blades like a machine gun, also slaying ten-odd Raptors as well.
Then there was the youngest newcomer witch, Marie. Her partner was the ursine feline, Bear Cat. Although her attribute was Gravity, the potency was far less than Luna Francois", of course. Nevertheless, she still tried her best to manipulate gravity, sending flying Raptors cras.h.i.+ng into the ground, killing them directly.
—With that, they succeeded in wiping out seventy to eighty Raptors.
Asya nodded approvingly. The WotC"s "serpents" were simply considered fire support, but they had proved surprisingly effective in restraining the enemy. After all, the enemies were all minions of Hannibal, hence even the small fry Raptors were empowered by the might of dragonbane.
Given such circ.u.mstances, even Luna would have been unable to oppose them prior to establis.h.i.+ng her covenant with Hal.
Tactically speaking, treating the WotC as flying artillery was the best division of roles.
"Except for Marie, the three of you please attack using pseudo-divinity again."
The newcomer witch, Marie, was still Level 1, only capable of using pseudo-divinity once a day.
The other members immediately obeyed Asya"s command. A tsunami, lightning strikes and wind blades raged across the sky again, instantly killing dozens of Raptors.
However, Kate and Maneesha were only Level 2 witches and this meant the end of their offensive.
Level 3 witch Christine continued and summoned a third tsunami, thus depleting the final usage of pseudo-divinity by the leviathans of the WotC.
They ended up destroying almost 30% of the enemy forces in total, leaving roughly seven hundred of them.
"I"ll handle the rest. Please call back your "serpents" from Rushalka"s side!"
Basking in the protective radiance deployed by the blue wyvern in Queen Form, the WotC"s four leviathans suddenly vanished. The witches had followed Asya"s request to withdraw their leviathans. Now, Asya had free rein to employ tactical mobility.
Asya instantly commanded, "Rushalka, equip the Rune of the Bow."
A pair of arms made of ruby were equipped on Rushalka.]
A crimson longbow manifested on the left arm while eight arrows, made of ice from arrowhead to the fletchings, beautifully sculpted like artwork, appeared over her head.
The arrows, like exquisite ice sculptures, were products of Water pseudo-divinity.
Rushalka"s right hand grabbed an arrow, nocked it and extended the bow.
"Shotgun, fire!"
The arrow was shot on Asya"s command.
After being fired, the ice arrow shattered into over three hundred fragments, turning into small and sharp arrowheads to attack the Raptors.
This hail of projectiles was more akin to the output of dozens of rotary cannons than a shotgun sh.e.l.l.
The Raptors caught in this storm of ice were instantly destroyed—They vanished in the blink of an eye.
This was thanks to the dragonslaying power residing within the shards of ice. This one attack was enough to wipe out roughly a hundred Raptors, but Rushalka was not done firing.
"Second shot, fire!"
Rushalka fired the second arrow out of the eight arrows she had just summoned.
The second shotgun blast of ice took down another hundred Raptors or so.
In the end, Asya and Rushalka repeated this for a total of seven times, completely annihilating the Raptors summoned to the New York sky.
Furthermore, her ammunition was not completely consumed.
Eight arrows had been created just now. Rushalka nocked the final arrow on the bow.
"Target enemy reinforcements. Rushalka!"
Asya"s blue partner fired the eighth arrow on her command.
There was not a single Raptor remaining in Rushalka"s vicinity but other reinforcements were showing up in the distance. Salamander-shaped flames were appearing in the sky over the Old Manhattan Concession—
The minions known as Hannibal"s personal guard—The Army of Fire.
Numbering roughly three hundred. The salamanders descended upon the darkness that was New York City, lighting up the entire metropolis.
The shotgun blast of ice arrived after the reinforcements arrived.
However, it failed to work. The ice shards were all destroyed before they could reach the Army of Fire.
"As expected of his personal guard..."
Unlike Hannibal, Asya was not the type to take delight in fighting a powerful foe.
With the arrival of enemies that could not be defeated by the same tactics, Asya frowned inside the helicopter.
"So you were hiding such a powerful trump card. Well played, Tyrannos of the Bow."
Not too long ago, the Raptor army in the air had been wiped out by Rushalka in Queen Form.
However, this scene was nothing more than an exotic side show performance for Hannibal. He spoke quietly in a calm tone while using his right hand to slowly thrust his spear in front of him.
This was not done to pierce Hal but to aim the spear tip at Hal"s heart.
"I never expected a counterfeit dragon king... O Queen, so it turns out that you offered ideas to help him?"
"Ludicrous. Do you believe that I am a woman who would be so considerate as to look after this guy?"
"Fair enough point. It is truly wonderful to see that death has not changed you at all."
Hal"s magic gun was replying using Hinokagutsuchi"s voice. Hannibal snickered.
Meanwhile, listening to the conversation between a former dragon king and a current dragon king, Hal was in no mood for chatting. He aimed his magic gun at Hannibal while Hannibal in human form had the spear pointed at him.
There was a gap of five meters between them.
Even so, Hal still could not move. The dragonslaying spear—its tip—was giving off magical power that enveloped Hal entirely, turning him frozen.
Twelve runes of Ruruk Soun had appeared on the spear tip.
Under this arrangement, the runes signified "O spear of mine, gather the northern star"s power to advance with ferocity."
"A technique of a.s.sured annihilation...!"
Hal deployed imperishable protection. The pearly light enveloped his entire body.
However, his body still remained stiff. This was probably a special attack that he could not defend completely against using protection alone. Hal realized he was exceedingly afraid of the dragonslaying spear. His entire body was withered and frozen as though he were encountering sleep paralysis.
Due to the fear and pressure, his throat was parched.
...By the time Hal came to his senses, he noticed Hannibal approaching him and making a thrust with his spear.
"Wahhhhhhh!?"
Rather than a stab from a spear, this strike felt like being violently bashed by a giant battering ram.
Such was the power behind Hannibal"s one strike.
Since the location was a wide open gra.s.sland without any obstructions, Hal was blown away entirely, falling forty or fifty meters away. The only reason he survived was due to deploying imperishable protection in advance.
However, Hal still experienced an impact that felt as though all the bones in his body shattered.
He still showed confusion on his face after getting up. Hal"s lifeline—the pearly defensive barrier—had rapidly disappeared as a result of one attack from Hannibal in human form.
Even Pavel Galad"s technique of a.s.sured annihilation was nowhere this potent!
"Were you a true dragon king, I would expect far more trouble... In the case of a counterfeit, breaking such protection is effortless for me."
The strongest dragon king-cla.s.s enemy spoke casually with a smile.
Furthermore, he was walking slowly to Hal. I must hurry and escape. However, Hal"s body turned paralyzed again. At this rate, death was all but a.s.sured.
"In that case!"
Hal focused all his strength in his right index finger. Controlling the physical body with single-minded focus was the only way to forget the fear and pressure. Hal concentrated his mind completely on pulling the magic gun"s trigger.
Baaaaaaaaaaang!
A red bullet of light shot out. Hal was firing straight at Hannibal in front of him, but the twelve Ruruk Soun runes of "O spear of mine, gather the northern star"s power to advance with ferocity" continued to glow, displayed in front of the dragon king.
Hal"s bullet of light vanished the moment it struck this arrangement of runes.
The magic gun told Hal that this was the dragonslaying spear"s technique of a.s.sured annihilation, Thrusting Skyrocket.
"So it"s not a special move that"s only for offense..."
"Didn"t I tell you? My spear is impregnable."
Hannibal smiled proudly and approached, aiming the spear tip at Hal.
In no rush to run forward, he strode step by step to approach Hal, unhurried in his pace. Rather than charging at high speed, this exemplified a dragon king"s dignity and majesty instead. Such was a king"s march forward.
Hal trembled. Unless he found some kind of solution, his body was going to freeze up again.
Hannibal was roughly ten meters away from Hal. The fear of death drove Hal to activate full-auto mode and fire all the bullets in the magic gun. This was his technique of a.s.sured annihilation.
Gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat!
"Wow, what potent firepower, Tyrannos!"
The runes of Ruruk Soun saved Hannibal the effort of defending again.
Even shooting all remaining ammunition in full-auto mode could not breach the twelve-rune arrangement of "O spear of mine, gather the northern star"s power to advance with ferocity."
All the bullets vanished in midair. However, Hannibal halted too.
It was this instant. The firepower of twenty-eight consecutive shots finally managed to block the dragon king"s continued advance.
Although the achievement was meager, in such circ.u.mstances, some achievement was better than none!
"Counting on you, Juujouji!"
"Very well! Akuro-Ou, please!"
Hal suddenly shouted. The hidden girl responded to Hal"s call.
The white fox-wolf, Akuro-Ou, also raced forward like cavalry. Akuro-Ou had shrunk down to her smallest size of roughly three meters, allowing her partner to ride on her back.
Juujouji Orihime had not gone off with Asya and the other witches, instead staying here on standby to support Hal in case of emergencies.
The das.h.i.+ng Akuro-Ou used one of her tails to pick up Hal nimbly, allowing him to mount her snow-white back. Thus, Hal was seated right behind Orihime.
Akuro-Ou then used her momentum to take a leap. Orihime immediately issued orders, "Use the Rune of the Bow and fire magic... Punish him!"
Kuohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Pseudo-divinity was activated simultaneously as Akuro-Ou took flight.
Akuro-Ou"s nine tails each fired a shot, a total of nine black arrowheads. The arrowheads all exploded just before striking Hannibal, turning into crimson flames to attack the dragon king.
"Hahahahaha! What a grand welcoming party. Looks like I must get serious too!"
Despite the blazing flames scorching him, Hannibal laughed heartily.
However, Hannibal"s figure, engulfed in flames, disappeared from Hal"s sight—For only several seconds.
The blazing conflagration swirled into a vortex. A red elite dragon suddenly appeared inside it. His body length was roughly twenty meters. The exoskeleton around the chest resembled armor. Holding a long black spear in his right hand, he was standing upright sternly...
Needless to say, this was precisely the dragon form of Red Hannibal.
The most powerful dragon king-cla.s.s opponent was finally fighting in his true form.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAR!
The red dragon king opened his gigantic jaws and kept roaring fiercely. Hearing these roars while in the air, Hal and Orihime gulped at the same time.
"Hinokagutsuchi... That thing I told you about, can"t you pick up the pace?"
"Then give me slightly more power. Fortunately, it is quite close now, so I should not require too much."
Hal touched the magic gun and asked, prompting Hinokagutsuchi to answer immediately.
Power—Naturally, that meant magical power. Starting the previous night, Hal and the dragon queen had been secretly using a certain magic continuously. It looked like their efforts had been rewarded.
In order to output a new pulse of magical power, Hal focused his awareness on his heart.