Vol 7 Chapter 4 (2/2)
”What's wrong?”
Firill's question prompted Mitsuki to continue hoarsely:
”Since Vritra was spewing flay source inside the body Perhaps Vritra has caused that energy to go out of control, intending to turn herself into a bomb”
”How can—”
Firill showed shock on her face
—If Mitsuki's deductions were correct, then we must not approach Vritra no matter what
The turret began to shake nonstop
Although I was using a supergravitational zone to attack Vritra, the turret finally reached its limit and exploded
Installed inside the barrel, the lenses shattered
The output weakened and the turret stopped ht upon us
—Just as Mitsuki said, Vritra intended to self-destruct!?
To Vritra, this body was probably the sa disposable
I recalled the idrasil's disappearance froantic crater in the ground was created by self-destructing Hekatonkheir and getting Yggdrasil caught in the blast
Even with Ariella and the girls, it was probably iainst an explosion of that scale
—What to do?
I looked around at everyone while pondering
Iris' Catastrophe ht be able to weather the explosion itself, but she had currently exhausted her power, unable to move even if she wanted to Then in this situation, the way to save everyone was to—
”Ren, lend me all of your dark matter!”
I abandoned Babel and summoned my own fictional armament
”Mot it”
Despite showing anxiety on her face, Ren still nodded
The fictional ar Ren's dark ed it
I aimed the muzzle at the sky
Vritra descended rapidly, her body glowing a dangerous blue The internal energy source wascritical
”Mononobe!”
Iris screaht
”Don't worry, I won't let anyone die no matter what!”
Having received Ren's dark matter, my fictional armament reached its lile bullet and shot it
For the sake of protecting everyone—For the sake of not losing precious people!
”Antigravity!!”
The dark lohite
Whether Vritra or the explosion, everything was pushed towards the sky!
Vritra exploded together with the blue-white light expanding within her body It was a torrent of overwhelround completely white
However, instead of reaching the ground, the explosion was pushed back to the sky
I had created a powerful repulsive field that even distorted light Hence, the explosion's white light seemed to be covered by a pitch-black and invisible domain
Soundless—
Rejecting light, sound and all energy, our death and termination was denied
”GOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!!”
After the antigravitational h space—The stars returned to the sky
None of the explosion's wake could be seen anyns of Vritra
”Huff, huff”
Totally tired out, I panted heavily Having passed all her dark matter to me, Ren also see up and down
”Onii-chan Success?”
”Yeah—I think”
After I nodded in confirround
”—We won, Mononobe-kun!”
”Mononobe-kun, good work”
Firill cheered and Ariella breathed a sigh of relief
”Looks like complete annihilation”
Not lowering her guard, Mitsuki looked at the sky and remarked softly
”Vritra-chan”
However, Iris was looking a bitfor her Gloos also occupied my heart
Just as I took a breath, intending to say so to Iris, Tia cried out shrilly
”Yuu! It's not over yet!”
Pointing behind
I looked back, only to see a petite figure approaching us
”!?”
No way—!?
With long black hair fluttering freely in the wind, the new arrival's face was very similar to Kili's
That was Vritra's girl form!
Wearing a black one-piece dress, she dashed straight towards Mitsuki
Intense intent to h her eyes
Vritra had not abandoned her human stand-in
Most likely, she had used an opening during the battle to separate froon's body
Hearing Tia's cry, Mitsuki looked back too but did not have enough tienerate dark matter for transmutation
A chill ran along my spine A sense of anxiety instantlywhat I would feel in a crisis of my own Subconsciously, it moved my body
”Mitsuki!”
I grabbed Mitsuki's hand and pulled her towards me
While charging, Vritra swung her hand through the air
”Tch!?”
Mitsuki cried out briefly
Perhaps scratched by Vritra's fingernails, shallow lacerations appeared on Mitsuki's arm
Seeping out from the wound was—fresh blood
Instantly, ainst the enemy that had harmed Mitsuki
Against Vritra as in human fors
—Kill her
With unprecedented acuity,positions with Mitsuki, I extended my hand to stab Vritra's throat
”—!”
Vritra stopped urgently and ju my attack
Pulling back soainst me
Due to the increased separation,ice creah my mind
—I thought we could understand each other
Iris' words rang in my ear
Those words slainally wanted to follow up the attack
”Stop this Vritra”
Suppressingmurderous intent with rationality, I spoke sharply at her
”Asking ue?”
Vritra asked me with a wry smile
”No, I' anymore”
I motioned with my eyes to my classmates Iris and the others recovered from their initial shock and raised their fictional armaments, ready for combat
”Tia won't let you transain or create a new stand-in!”
Tia's horns erupted with electricity while she glared at Vritra
The situation was clearly not in her favor Having lost the black dragon stand-in, there was no reason how Vritra could defeat us Furthermore—
”Vritra, having lost that stand-in Can you remain safe?”
”What?”
Hearing my question, Vritra's eyebroitched
”Stand-ins like that black dragon just now or Hekatonkheir, you could probablycreatures must have some kind of main body or core”
””
Vritra answered with silence, so I continued:
”Rather than to conduct a sneak attack, the reason why you left the self-destructing black dragon's body was to protect this body To protect your currentI don't want to kill you”
”Kuku”
Vritra's shoulders shook slightly then she laughed, unable to contain herself
”Haha—don't want to kill me? Indeed, this stand-in is my current core, however The connected her diher dimensions, ye cannot destroy me completely”
A different dimension That was probably where dark matter existed
Darkto the will of the one who generated it It was her di to an axis of the ”mind”
—It was possible that Vritra was the existence with the greatest proximity to dark matter
If that was the case,of Vritra was merely a portion projected onto this three-dilimpse of her full appearance was impossible
Hence, even if Ds could bring dark matter over from the other side, they still could not head over to where dark matter was located
Perhaps Vritra's expression of confidence stee of this fact, but I still had a trump card
”Is it ion ar Hekatonkheir's restoration temporarily?”
”—!”
The smile vanished from Vritra's face
”That was the weapon Yggdrasil gave ht you Precisely because it could reach your her diht? Please tell me, even if your main body suffers that kind of attack Will you still be fine?”
Hearing my words, Vritra's expression froze
Our gazes met The air was thick with tension The first to break this tense atmosphere was Vritra
”Hoo”
Vritra sighed deeply and lowered her head
”Thou art Truly conteht to becrisis”
”Are you willing to surrender?”
I asked cautiously but—Looking up, Vritra showed a smile
”Yes, I shall consider it Nevertheless, ular”
”What?”
Confronting her at a separation of several meters, I could not help but frown
At this moment, I heard a heavy thud behind me
”Mitsuki-chan!?”
”Mitsuki!?”
Next, I heard Iris and Firill crying out in surprise
I looked back in trepidation, only to see Mitsuki collapsed on the ground Blood was dripping frohtly just now
”Knohat this is?”
Vritra lifted her palernails
””
I could not answer a single word Looking at Mitsuki collapsed on the ground, hts could not operate as normal
”This is the blood of the black dragon ye fought When creating that stand-in, I imbued its blood with poison”
”Poison?”
Vritra's words shook my eardrums I understood the situation
Fingernails, scratches, poison Just now—
”I designed this to counterattack ye, but due to hindrance fro the battle, there was no opportunity to use it But thanks to that, none of ye noticed until the poison took total effect”
Vritra smiled while she spoke
I realized I had failed to protect Mitsuki
Under such circu half-baked poison
I slowly faced Vritra, only to see her nodding s off her poison-laced hand:
”With this, the second generation's chances of survival is greatly increased The plan will reach fruition without further action from me”
Vritra see, but ave up on thinking
My heart turned blank E sharply
Before wrath and sorrow filled the eradually took control of my heart
”Art thou listening? Irregular? No ht as well take another two or three people to—”
I could not understand the prey's voice There was even no point in understanding either
Because what stood before my eyes was of human appearance
Even against an i as the opponent was human—Fafnir was the absolute predator
I took a step forward
At the saht hand
Second step
Vritra's expression froze slightly
However, she did not move I transmuted the dark matter into a metal knife
Third step I had already reached attack range
Only then did Vritra finally attempt to back away but it was too late
Everything happened so slowly
No—Was it ly?
I swung the knife
Vritra juhtly
Her face was distorted in pain and shock
”The stand-in's agony Why would it transmit to—”
Vritra uttered less words while I took another step towards her
This distance ithin reach of the knife—Fafnir's fang
Next was the lethal blow
”Hu This is—”
Vritra's voice was mixed with fear
I knehere the fang ought to stab
Fafnir's keen sense of suish life
I was going to give her the same fate as Mitsuki
Absolutely unforgivable—Absolutely unacceptable
You, who killed Mitsuki, I absolutely won't allow you to live!
”Mayhap 'tis the scrapped eighth—”
The target continued to emit worthless noise from the depths of her mouth
Using the knife inwide-eyed
I understood instinctively rather than relying on intellect
If I pierced this point, she was going to die
Neither the heart nor the brain, this part was the core of the stand-in
Despite a huuise, she was not a human existence
However, Fafnir would treat her as a human and kill her, destroy her
The sharp blade entered Vritra's ht at the depths of her throat—
”No! Mononobe—!!”
A scream
Cracks appeared in my accelerated consciousness
It was Iris' voice
About to pierce Vritra's spine through her mouth, the knife stopped due to Iris' cry
Because her voice had significance
Equal in value as Mitsuki's voice—
With the knife inserted in herup at me with a shocked expression
”Iris?”
”Mitsuki-chan is still breathing! If Vritra-chan is the one who ht kno to counteract the poison! So—”
Hearing what Iris was saying, I recovered nor capacity
Mitsuki was still alive—
In that case, what I should be doing noas finding a way to save Mitsuki, not vengeance
I withdrew the knife, all covered in saliva, fro on the ground
”Ah”
Vritra showed a dazed expression, staring at me with hollow eyes
”Tia won't let you do as you please anymore!”
I them around Vritra's body
Even with her body tightly restrained by vines, Vritra still did not react She rehtly
”Now you won't be able to do trans you”
These vines were probably sodrasil's terminal I bent down in front of Vritra as imprisoned by vines and spoke in a deep voice:
”Vritra”
Hearingin her expression
”F-Fufu”
Vritra's eyes showed the glint of willpower again She laughed stiffly I suppressedwrath towards her and said:
”Tell me if there is a way to counteract Mitsuki's poison”
”—Thou thinkest I will disclose it?”
Vritra asked sarcastically in return
”If you don't speak, I will kill you I will use anti-dragon arether with the her dimension”
I threatened Vritra seriously
But after hearing what I said, Vritra's expression si
”Haha—thou speakest of anti-dragon armaments? Thou clearly hast no need of that Unbelievable, dost thou not knohat thou was atte just now?”
”What do you mean?”
While I was perplexed, Vritra looked up at ht then said calmly:
”'Tis death I felt just now I am the one isheth to ask: Art thou unaware of that power?”
”That power? Don't tellto my Fafnir”
Just noas definitely certain I could kill Vritra, but Fafnir had already sunk into the bottom of my subconscious That certainty now felt as far away as a dream
”Fafnir—Is that so? Since that na before thee in this form was apparently a fatal mistake”
Vritra figured things out on her own and sighed deeply
”What do you know about Fafnir—”
”I have no obligation to tell thee Since that scrapped authority lingereth and thou possessest it Mayhap thou art the most troublesome enemy to me”
With clear hostility burning in her eyes, Vritra glared sharply at me
”Then forget it Right now, I just want to ask how Mitsuki's poison can be counteracted”
”Patience Thou needst not worry about her”
Turning her gaze to the collapsed Mitsuki, Vritra shrugged
”What?”
”She will simply sleep for a couple days”
I gasped at what Vritra said
”You only put her to sleep? But why—”
I asked with aze—Why didn't you kill her?
”Because 'tis sufficient There is no need to reduce the nu will end while she sleepeth”
Vritra s her
”!”
Ariella suddenly sat down, holding her stomach
”Did you get hurt somewhere, Ariella?”
”I-I didn't get hurt, but the dragon —”
Dragon mark?
My heart began to pound after I heard Ariella's answer
”Ow”
Immediately after Ariella, Iris and Ren also pressed their hands against parts of their bodies Iris was holding her flank, the location of her dragon ainst the vicinity of her chest If that was the location of her dragon mark—
I approached Mitsuki with suspicions in onhair
I knelt down next to Mitsuki, as sleeping due to Vritra's poison Nervously, I lifted her hair Froonto turn purple
”What”
While I was reeling back in shock, the girls nearby also lamented:
”Mononobe! My dragon mark!”
”My dragon ed color”
”Onii-chan, me too”
Iris, Ariella and Ren confir pale in the face
”—Fufu”
Suggestive laughter
I looked back to see Vritra, ihter
”Like ht her, did ye not? Then this is inevitable All goeth according to eneration's power”
”What the heck is going on? Explain clearly!”
I questioned the excited Vritra in a sharp tone of voice
Grinning, she replied as though gloating about her victory:
”A second-generation hybrid dragon is capable of turning all Ds intoin color presently, without exception—Every single one of you”
Part 3
In the mountains a few dozen kilometers away from the NIFL base where Mononobe Yuu and the others were
A vast desert had suddenly appeared in the forest There was a great hole in thethe opening At the bottom of the buried hole, Kraken Zas immobilized
Wrapped in a cocoon ofcrushed to death However, buried in fine sand created fro out frorains of sand were too s the creation of a tunnel
The mithril pieces had co upwards to escape
But after several atte the mithril was the fastest way to escape Mithril was theoretically the hardest alloy, a challenge to crush or slice However, Kraken Zwei's hair was also made of mithril
There was a ter of steel
It was a technique using a steel blade to slice through steel In other words, depending on hoeapon was forged and used, it was possible to slice through the same material
Naturally, a newborn monster could not possibly know of such a principle
Yet even so, the monster sensed it instinctively
—She could do it
Hence, Kraken Zove her hair into a blade for obtaining freedom
A powerful i the monster's actions
She o outside
Because there were things she desired—