Chapter ThreeThe Decision(Part 9)
When the subjugation group left Lunéville and had walked for a while, they noticed snow falling from the sky.
It was obviously the ice dragon’s meddling. Although they were surprised that they were closer to it than they thought, none of them trembled.
The subjugation group sent out scouts and advanced, waiting for the report.
They decided to make their battlefield a plain, waiting for the ice dragon at a spot not far from their camp.
The fluffy snow gradually turned into something heavier and less refined.
Since there was little wind and a lower temperature than usual that day, the snow acc.u.mulated at the subjugation group’s feet. However, considering that the first subjugation group had to combat it on a snowy mountain, this could be called exceptional conditions.
Before long, a black object appeared in the sky above the quiet plain.
“Mage group, prepare yourselves!”
The guild members that were in charge of blasting it out of the air with fire magic began to move.
“Katia, I’ll leave it to you!”
“Un!”
Receiving Elivia’s support, Katia responded with a rea.s.suring nod.
An ice dragon.
When she heard about the invasion, she didn’t think about something like leaving town. That didn’t mean that she didn’t feel afraid though.
The head of the magic guild that she went to was Mithledge’s king, a dragonkin. And since a branching line from the king showed her their strength and dragon form, she held a stronger fear towards dragons than others.
When she heard that it was in Akradist, she made certain to not approach it as much as possible.
When someone like her heard about the ice dragon’s invasion, she spoke with her partner, Elivia.
Elivia also didn’t intend to pa.s.sively escape.
She wanted to defend this town.
Equivalent to when she said that she wanted to leave her hometown—or perhaps even greater than that—the strength in the woman’s gaze said so.
Katia was the n.o.ble daughter of the Windia Federation’s patriarch.
The woman, who yearned for the mage named Marinera that belonged to the federation army’s magic unit, joined the magic guild to chase after his footprints and learned magic.
Developing her original talent with great effort, the woman returned to the federation with plenty of self-confidence. However, when she attempted to join the army’s magic unit, she was turned down.
Rather than letting her leave to gain achievements in the army, the girl’s family wanted to improve the house’s strength by marrying her into a distinguished family.
That was raison d’etre Katia’s parents placed on her life. Katia’s wishes were wholly crushes by her house’s influence.
—I decided to leave my house… Here, no one knows who I really am.
Katia spoke to Elivia, inviting her to travel with her.
Elivia didn’t feel significance in being attached to the federation army, which was firmly rooted as a male-dominated area. Recognizing her own strength, she wanted to go out and travel to find a place where she could make use of it.
(I found that place, didn’t I?)
After casting down her eyes as her mood began to flood with sentimentality, Elivia opened her eyes and put on an aggressive smile.
As for the answer to Katia’s invitation, she had already decided before even being asked.
“—Fast is the wind of swift sleep. Clad yourself in the flames of h.e.l.l, bringing extinction to those before you.”
“—Acc.u.mulate, boil, seethe. Progenitor whose fire is more wrathful than a fire dragon’s. Burn everything.”
“—Destroy and warp that specific location. Extinguish all living things. Send them death and corrupt their very shelter of life.”
“—Lights Out!”
“—Flame Breath!”
“—Blazing Destruction!”
Speed, range, power.
Changing the magic their used based on range and speed, tossing the ice dragon about in the air.
However, dragons could be called rulers of the sky, and as such only a handful of the spells were direct hits.
Even so, it was enough for the ice dragon to let out a roar in irritation. It glided down from the air and landed on the ground.
The snow that acc.u.mulated seemed to fly up vertically from the vibrations, creating what appeared to be a wall of pure white.
The ice dragon was at a distance where it could be seen perfectly, one of its eyes and arms were injured. It was clear by the way the cuts looked that they were not caused by magic.
It was a happy miscalculation for the subjugation group, there were even people who smiled among them.
However, the real thing started from there.
“Start the strategy! Do not fall out of ranks!!”
The guild members’ expressions tightened from the order given by Fidel, the [Blue Sword] representative that was appointed as commander, who was filled with tension. All at once, everyone released their war cries and started their advance.
As for the mages who shot it with fire magic and resumed moving, they were waiting for the other groups to pa.s.s.
Katia exchanged glances with her partner that ran past her towards the ice dragon.
—Good luck, it’s my turn next.
—I’ll be expecting you.
With their intentions mutually transmitted in that instant, there was no uneasiness in Katia as she watched Elivia’s back growing ever farther away.
Even though it only had a single eye, since it didn’t just use sight to fight its enemies but also heat, it didn’t have to do something like concentrate on a single side.
The subjugation group advanced towards the front of the ice dragon. Exactly as Ilya said it would, everyone saw it raise its head.
“Defensive magic! Deploy!!”
The mages in charge of this invoked defensive magic to defend the trailing troops from its breath.
“Offensive magic group!”
“A little longer… now!!”
They began to chant.
“Defensive group, a.s.sault group, prepare formation and standby!”
“Mage group, invoke when the breath ends!”
The white pressing against the blue wall safeguarding them ended. In the next moment, as Ilya said, although the ice dragon roared, its attacks stopped.
“Shoot!!”
“Charge!!”
While letting out voices like the rumbling of the earth, the subjugation group dashed towards the ice dragon.
To the mobile group’s birdkin observing from overhead, it looked like three spears were being thrown towards the dragon.
Right, left, and center.
Realizing enemies were rushing at it, the ice dragon lashed out with its tail to mow everyone down.
However, its trajectory shifted the instant before it hit and was only able to do was stop the group on its right.
Its breath had been held back. Having recognizing this, the ice dragon changed to using elements outside of its body after finishing its breath. This was it, it was time to end it.
It roared at the front line.
Magic that could emit numerous ice spears as though to skewer everything, this was the ice dragon invoking Glacial Lance.
It was an unexpected action. However—
“I won’t let you!”
A certain tiger beastkin headed towards the ice dragon that lifted its head.
“Dropping Phoenix Rotation!!”
The main point of the axe kick was making use of one’s vertical rotation to kick. Blades were attached to the claws on her feet.
Glinka-style claw technique, Dropping Phoenix Rotation.
Although it certainly made contact with its horn, it was far off destroying it. But even so, it wasn’t over yet.
“Duaaal Faaangs!!”
Dropping Phoenix Rotation, Paired Fangs.
Rotating once again without losing any of the rotational energy, she attacked with the claws of both of her hands that were crossed over each other.
The slash that had built up momentum caused three grooves to be cut into its right horn.
“Tch—!”
A little more.
Even if she was irritated at the horn’s strength, she didn’t attempt to just randomly attack it. She withdrew from there by kicking off from its face.
Elivia was vigilant and thought that there would be an attack from the ice dragon, but there were no signs of it.
However, openly making their way past her, she saw someone spring towards the dragon.
With their violet hair and red armor, there was no mistaking this person as [Scarlet Twin Blades]’ Grace. However, she wasn’t holding her usual short sword, it was a hammer that had a quadrangular pyramid as its head on one side.
A black-haired woman followed behind her, also from the [Scarlet Twin Blades]. Olga. She was also using the same type of hammer as Grace.
(What do they intend to do?)
When she thought that, Grace’s voice slammed against Elivia’s ears.
“Barrage!!”
Beating against the horn with the pointed tip of the hammer’s head—
“Breeeak!!”
Olga, who had little time to react, slammed the flat side of her hammer against the one’s flat side.
The grooves that were gouged out of it by Elivia spread without any of the impact being wasted, cracking the horn together with a shrill noise.
“Olga!!”
When Grace threw away the hammer in her hand, she pulled out a sword that was on her back.
Olga caught the thrown hammer, swinging them at Grace as one would with dual katanas.
Not to attack her comrade.
Lacking power, it was to forcibly allow Grace, who should have fallen down, to attack the ice dragon another time.
“Crescent Moon! Upper Arc!”
The upward arc slash directly hitting the horn’s crack—
“———!!”
At last, the horn had broken.
The ice dragon’s shriek shook the air and a.s.saulted the surrounding subjugation groups.
But that didn’t mean the girls in mid-air couldn’t ward off the attack. In front of the free who barely managed to land while losing their balance, comrades equipped with shields forced their ways through and stood between them and the ice dragon.
“You guys went too far ahead.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
While the girls aimed at destroying the horn, the other groups focused on attacking it directly didn’t exactly cross their arms and wait.
Rather, since the ice dragon was concentration on the girls’ attacks, the attacked parts like its legs and feet so that it wouldn’t attack the girls.
“But you did a good job.”
Since it was large, they could limit their targets.
All the more since they were fighting an opponent this large.
“People aiming at the remaining horn, be proactive! The defensive magic group will obstruct its attacks! Concentrate on its legs!”
Fidel’s voice resounded across the plains.
Because of the wind that intensified without any relations to the ice dragon, the snow took away even more stamina and ability to think from the subjugation group.
In that situation, the young person named Fidel was an existence that was a huge support to the subjugation group.
Seeing opportunities, he indicated where to go with his sword.
Getting Ilya’s strategic hints, she deliberately limited them to attack methods that formed gaps for defense.
Attack, defend, feign, evade.
“Haha!”
Fidel laughed.
It wasn’t a s.a.d.i.s.tic smile, it was a smile birthed from being excited to the point of trembling.
For him, who believed in freedom, it was painful to be named as the leader and entrusted with the resulting obligations.
However, it was different now.
Under the name of freedom, the subjugation group stood up to defend their freedom.
Everyone moved as one, a feeling of being almighty stirred within him.
Although it could possibly be a dangerous mental state where one could develop a desire to rule, for all that, because of his purpose, she simply concentrated on defeating the enemy before him.
—With everyone’s strength, we will defend our towns!
With a blow, another horn broke.
It was an arrowhead that decided it.
(A signal!?)
Fidel and several others noticed a light blinking in an entirely unrelated direction.
After a moment, they realized it was a magic light.
A fire spell came flying in towards the ice dragon before long, burning its wing.
However, the ice dragon wasn’t the only one unable to react to the unexpected attack, the subjugation group was the same.
Their ranks fell into disorder, instantly causing further adverse effects on their judgement. Since it affected too much of the leadership, the backlash was huge.
As for who clearly understood the situation, it was the birdkin throwing fire stones from the sky as feints.
As for what he caught through the obstructing snow, it was a wave of people coming to attack from another direction.
They might have been a subjugation group sent by another town.
The moment he considered that.
(Oh no!)
Having reached the point of being surrounded, the ice dragon started to invoke a spell that would attack everyone around it.
Although he attempted to disturb its concentration with the stones in a panic, he didn’t make it in time.
With even the mobilization of the forces on the ground being late, they couldn’t obstruct its magic—looking towards the sky, the ice dragon roared.
The high-ranked magic spread out like a wall of raging ice and snow in all directions—Blizzard was invoked.
Top to bottom, left to right, front to back. They were attacked from every direction. There was no way to completely defend against it.
“Defensive magic users, make groups of four people! People nearby stay in the center for refuge!!”
Sustaining injuries, the subjugation group’s stamina lowered even further.
The ice dragon attacked some groups with its forelimbs and tail, each time reducing their fighting potential.
People didn’t fall into being useless for combat due to the strenuous efforts of the defense group, so that was a small relief.
(((End soon…!)))
Different from the confused reinforcements that attacked as they arrived, Lunéville’s subjugation group enhanced their concentration so as to not miss their chance for a counterattack.
Before long, the wall of white formed by the Blizzard began to break apart.
“Attack!”
That word.
With that word from Fidel, the group in charge of diversions and feints charged out from inside the defensive walls.
Taking a formation around it, people who knew how powerful Blizzard was would see it as suicidal.
However, they had knowledge.
[In the unlikely event where it invokes Blizzard happens, please move before its effect has fully completed. Although both the power and range of an ice dragon’s Blizzard are astounding, it can not invoke it multiple times. Although it would depend on your current exhaustion, if it uses it, you should close the distance all at once before the effect ends.]
That is what Ilya said. They had no reason to doubt her.
Surrounded by the movement of the scattering subjugation group, the ice dragon wasn’t able to make its next move.
Those that had continued to sharpen their fangs in wait wouldn’t possibly miss this chance.
First was its horn.
“Mage group!”
Together with the commencing chants, agile people dashed out from inside the defensive magic.
Magic was invoked.
The ice dragon wasn’t able to approach nor give a decisive blow towards the mages that knew the significance of a blindfold.
Then the subjugation group’s blades finally broke the horn.
Afterwards, the ice dragon was unable to unleash an accurate attack having lost its horn. In the end, it collapsed onto the fallen snow and died. With its unmoving giant figure and the snow falling down on the plains, the noise that had continued thus far was as though it were a lie.
“…—id it.”
“””We wooooooooon!”””
The subjugation group exchanged looks with each other while in half amazement, their hands quivering from various emotions, and giving triumphant shouts towards the sky.
People smiled, people wept, and people fell to the ground.
There were many injuries, but miraculously none were deadly.
The subjugation was complete.
Ilya confirmed the ice dragon’s ruin with [Clairvoyance]. The reason why she didn’t speak about it having an injured arm and eye was because she didn’t want them to become negligent.
It was effective and the subjugation group started the battle keeping a good tension. They were able to complete the commission. Although it was unexpected, the battle itself folded out roughly as Ilya planned.
However for Ilya, if there was something in the future, she didn’t want to waver.
“Pi…?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Pi!”
Even if she grumbled about it, there was no helping it. It was something that she decided.
So Ilya shook it off.
If she broke here, she would lose the qualifications to resent the ice dragon too.
Although she was thinking about such a selfish topic, that was the only thing she absolutely would never allow.
“Ilya-chan, I want to accept this commission.”
“Certainly. Please present your registration card.”
And so, she continued her duties as a receptionist today as well.