Chapter 428: Dragons, O Dragons! Part Five

The appearance of Siegwurm the Sky Ruler, Noirlind being knocked from the sky, and the partial destruction of Skull Azuchi’s castle keep...

Written out, each was a major event. But amid the Dragon Calamity War still raging in real time, they were swept away and lost like twigs caught in a torrent.

Deuredhowl: "Tch, was I too early...? Ah, whatever. First, you, old geezer!!"

Blockentreed: "Gwoaah!?"

Deuredhowl the Red Dragon.

In another story, a red dragon like this might easily have been given a protagonist’s role. Yet this dragon’s appearance was far too strange to call conventionally draconic.

The closest comparison would be... a water strider. Or perhaps a drone.

At the very least, without its reptilian head, no one would recognize it as a dragon from its silhouette alone.

???: "What is that... jet propulsion?"

???: "No, more importantly, its arms and legs are way too long."

???: "Kuh... Fufu... This is bad. Just looking at it is getting to me..."

Its limbs were the first thing that stood out.

Bryleinyego had a somewhat unusual form, but the Color Dragons generally had body structures close to those of beasts.

Deuredhowl was different.

From shoulder to elbow, elbow to wrist, and wrist to fingertip, every segment was unnaturally long. With its limbs folded up, it looked like nothing so much as a flying shuriken. When it stood with its feet planted on the ground, it looked like a water strider with a dragon’s neck and tail attached.

The next thing that caught the eye was the protrusions growing all over its body.

Each seemed to function as a propulsion unit that spat fire. Four protrusions beneath its abdomen let Deuredhowl turn, while those on its back, hind legs, and shoulders accelerated it, allowing it to fly in a manner that defied description.

Overall, it was a bizarre dragon—if one could even call it that—with a form that made one strongly resist calling it a dragon.

But a strange appearance did not mean it was weak.

???: "F-fuck off, you water-strider bastard!!"

Deuredhowl: "Gyahahahaha! You little weaklings are far too pathetic to stand against me!!"

Deuredhowl’s method was simple and clear.

It kept its torso beyond the reach of melee fighters with those absurdly long limbs, then simply spewed fire from the protrusions on its abdomen to scorch everyone below.

???: "Aaaagh, this is so damn annoying!!"

???: "Wait, do not rush in! That bullshit movement cannot continue forever! Wait for an opening, then swarm it!!"

The tips of its limbs—the only places melee attacks could reach—were abnormally tough and, naturally, resistant to heat.

It was a shower of flames falling indiscriminately across the battlefield, complete with a running commentary that reeked of small-time villainy.

And Deuredhowl was not the only threat here.

Blockentreed: "How dare youuu... I will not forgive youuu!!"

Blockentreed roared in rage, supporting its enormous body on its hind legs alone as it raised its upper half.

Then it brought the two forelegs that had supported its massive body against gravity crashing down onto the ground.

Blockentreed: "[Mountain-Crushing Cataclysm]!!!"

This was no exaggeration: a “mountain” rose as though dividing the frontline base in half.

Deuredhowl: "Bugeh!?"

A mass of rock shot up from directly below and caught Deuredhowl, which had been flying by a method clearly unlike anything living.

Even its aftershock contained enough force to deplete a player’s health. Several players, along with Bryleinyego’s small dragons, were slammed into the ground and scattered death effects as they died.

???: "Damn... Even failing to get away in time raises the penalty...!"

???: "This is such a pain! This is seriously such a pain!!"

???: "Siegwurm will not even come down, so what are we supposed to do...? Maybe it comes down once we meet some condition?"

Even attempting zombie attacks with death assumed was obstructed by Siegwurm’s Dragon Law: Notorious.

Trying to value their lives and fight carefully only meant facing hell in every direction.

Then someone quietly muttered:

???: "Maybe... the correct answer is to make the Color Dragons destroy each other..."

Those words contained one kind of truth.

And at the same time, they were a kind of declaration of defeat.

Making threats destroy one another was not an incorrect tactic. But choosing that option here and now was a bad move in two ways.

First, morale had already fallen. Once the suspicion that this was a scripted losing event spread among the players, the whole group’s will to fight had undeniably weakened.

And above all—

Siegwurm: "That will not do. That will not do at all... Overcoming great hardship through wisdom is not wrong. But that is called escape... My gravity field shall not tolerate cowardice...!"

The Dragon King, like some final boss who himself dreamed of heroic sagas, would not permit it.

???: "B.I.G.2...!?"

???: "Hey! This is bad! Status ailments are being applied after respawning now!"

???: "You are kidding! It gets worse!?"

The penalty for death.

Because death was not an ending but merely part of the process, Siegwurm’s gravity field punished the pioneers’ next lives.

But the Dragon Law was not mere unfairness.

It was the crystallization of the golden dragon’s long-held wish: power born from the desire for people to become heroes.

And so, he waited.

For those with courage.

For those with unbreakable fighting spirit.

For great lights capable of inspiring not only themselves, but everyone around them.

Auron: "My lady! This is bad! This is really bad!"

Akitsu Akane: "Yes, Auron! But it is all right! When someone is in trouble, we help them. When we are in trouble, someone helps us! So when you are in trouble, do not hesitate to rely on us!!"

Ceecrue: "Lady Akitsu Akane! Since we lost contact, I have heard much about you from Emul and the others, but are you not going a little too hard!?"

Akitsu Akane: "Ah! Ceecrue! Ehehe, we cannot even send letters or anything... I am sorry!"

Ceecrue: "Hm, to apologize so readily... Ngh!? Damn you, shameless small dragons! [Takemikazuchi]!!"

Elsewhere, a ninja girl fought with Dragonfolk and Lizardmen at her side, leaping through battle alongside a sword-wielding rabbit.

Argent Owl: "Hi, everyone! I am about to uppercut Blockentreed in the jaw. Is there anyone who wants to come with me? Japanese... yes! Tsureshon — group bathroom break!!"

A female martial artist, bitten, slashed, and struck all over yet still standing, proposed a direct charge at the green dragon without fearing death, as if it were time for a quick refresh.

Psyger-100: "Though our ultimate objectives differ, the process is the same... There should be no problem sharing instructions, correct?"

Emilia: "Yes. The other dragons are in the way of fighting Noirlind as well."

Psyger-100: "Good... Anyone with ranged firepower, bring Deuredhowl down! Massive, could you give it one good hit once it falls?"

Massive Dynamite: "Certainly. Perhaps I should work hard enough to take the Holder title from Zero-Rei-chan. Ohoho."

Psyger-100: "That is reassuring...! Good, I am moving to the front as well!! T... no, Pencilgon! Whatever you do, you and yours will contribute to defeating the other Color Dragons too!"

Pencilgon: "More importantly, your little sister still has not shown up. Honestly..."

As though their long-awaited moment had finally come, holy swords, holy lances, and ponderous blunt greatswords—bludgeons no ordinary person should have been able to handle—were swung across the battlefield.

What made someone a hero?

In the end, it came down to one thing: what they accomplished.

That was what the golden gravity field asked of humankind.

People, if you can make even death a mere passing point, surely you will not stop over something like this?───

The sight of it folding up those water-strider-like limbs and gliding through the air on jets blasting out of its nipples is the very image of a complete pervert.

Deuredhowl... what a creature.