Chapter 654: Hoping Heart, Rainbow Light (1/2)

Kicking the ground hard, Erina ran towards the giant dragon. Her physical abilities were an order of magnitude greater than before, as she had brought together the ”resource” of six special people with memories and emotions.

With her first step, her speed had easily exceeded 100km/h. Her leg strength easily allows her to run up the walls of buildings, and her fists easily allow her to crush concrete blocks.

But yes, however…… ”that's all there is to it.”

The giant dragon swung its arm down, intercepting the approaching Erina. It was a blow that contained the power of a being hundreds of meters tall. If it hits properly, the fight would immediately end.

This is why Erina quickly changes direction, avoiding the dragon's strike. She then leaps before the impact causes the earth to quake, landing on the arm of the gigantic dragon and shooting the dragon's face with her handguns as she ran up its arm.

There was no clear damage from her little bullets, but Erina didn't overlook how there's a bit of black liquid leaking out of the giant dragon's body.

(……As I thought, it's not like it doesn't take damage. It does take damage…… but the damage we deal is too small compared to its overall resources. It really isn't realistic to defeat it. Even if my attack does some damage equivalent to a single black zombie, I'd still have to fire 7 billion shots at it.)

There is, of course, a reason why Erina is running up the dragon's arm at full speed while analyzing it. In a fight against an opponent with such a size difference, it would be extremely troublesome if it takes distance away from her.

She may end up being taken down in the blink of an eye by a series of exploding fireballs. Erina's chances of grabbing a small victory are small…… and if she's fighting an opponent of this size, it's easier for her to fight at an extremely close distance.

The dragon tried to crush Erina with its other arm, but Erina skillfully slowed down her speed to herself from being caught by the dragon.

(……If this dragon also acts like a biological being should move, its blind spot should be behind it…… In that case, I should position myself behind its neck and around its back, gradually accumulating damage and drawing its attention to me!)

Erina's strategy isn't a mistake. Hiding in the bosom of a huge opponent is indeed a good plan, but it also makes sense to fight in a way that is troublesome for the opponent in order to draw its attention.

In fact, Erina had managed to get behind the giant dragon's neck as she had expected and was able to put bullet after bullet on the dragon as she ran through its shoulder. Even if a single bullet doesn't deal the dragon much damage, it should at least be enough to make the dragon falter if it accumulates.

Her only miscalculation though…… would be her preconceptions.

[Whaa!? Kuhh……]

Erina felt a strong wind and immediately grabbed a part of the giant dragon's body to support herself. What she saw was a wall of buildings approaching at a tremendous speed.

[ ! ? ]

When Erina realized that the giant dragon was about to hit the building with herself attached to its back, she quickly leapt and landed on the ground with a roll.

Watching the building shatter into pieces and crashing down on the ground, I tried to regain my stance…… but the giant dragon disappeared from her field of vision.

[Eh? Above! It jumped up……]

Quickly coming to a conclusion, Erina turned her gaze to the sky and saw that the giant dragon hadn't used its wings to fly, but had leapt with its legs and was falling towards her with its arms folded close.

Yes, she had one preconception. She was thinking that if that dragon was that huge, ”it must be slow”…… However, that preconception of hers was wrong.

The giant dragon is fast————- even faster than Erina.

Creating a huge crater on the ground, the giant dragon with its arm folded struck the ground, making the ground greatly quake. Pushing out of the cloud of dust, Erina somehow managed to escape out of the dragon's range but…… the situation still isn't good for her.

Yes, the distance between them has become too great. If that happens, what will happen next is……

[It really started hurling fireballs…… D*mn it, I can hardly see!]

As her visibility was poor due to the cloud of dust around her, huge fireballs flew towards her one after another…… and the situation turned into the fight Erina wanted to avoid the most.

She managed to evade in time. However, even a single hit would be the decisive blow…… and now, she doesn't have the composure to go on the offensive.

(I should at least…… not let the attack reach Kaito-kun……)

For Erina, their side loses when an attack of that dragon hits Kaito…… If that's the case, they still haven't lost all chance of winning.

In fact, she was thinking that if the giant dragon's attention is on her like this, it should be easier for Kaito to move.

Of course, it would take some time for Kaito to get through this fierce battle and reach the cemetery, but still…… They still have some hope for winning.

However, as if to brush away such a hope, a huge arm was swung sideways, splitting the dust cloud apart.

[Since when is it behind…… Kuuhhh——— This is bad!]

Too nimble, too cunning and quick for Erina to notice…… The giant dragon had moved behind Erina, hiding behind the cloud of dust.

Thereupon, Erina leaped to evade the huge arm that was brandished towards her. That was the only evasive measure she had left in this situation.