Chapter 433: O Dragon, O Dragon! Part Ten

Updating three times in one day...! Twice in one day would be one thing, but three times...! Not only have I failed to stick to one update a day, I... I’ve done something terrible...!!

Amid winds that seemed to tear the very atmosphere apart, Noirlind and Siegwurm soared freely across the sky in every direction.

As the pursuer, Siegwurm merely continued chasing Noirlind. It was an arrogance that seemed to declare that the instant Noirlind slowed down, even slightly, Siegwurm would swat the black dragon out of the sky—a conceit permitted only to one who possessed the power to justify it.

Akitsu Akane: "Noirlind-san! Could you slow down for just a moment and get behind him!?"

Noirlind: "Do not command me!! That was my intention from the beginning!"

Noirlind performed a full-speed loop. Though it lasted only an instant, the black dragon managed to get behind Siegwurm, and neither Noirlind nor Akitsu Akane allowed that opportunity to escape. Black dragon breath and a volley of shuriken slammed into Siegwurm.

Siegwurm: "It is useless!"

Noirlind: "Damn you...!"

Akitsu Akane: "No, Noirlind-san! I think attacks only stop working while his horns are glowing! And physical attacks can still get through!!"

Noirlind: "Then I shall knock him from the sky!"

Akitsu Akane’s assessment was correct. One of Siegwurm’s actions, Radiant Dragon King: Tupac Amaru, was an enhanced state applied to his entire body with his horns acting as its point of origin.

By cloaking himself in highly concentrated magic like a garment, his golden battle aura melts and mixes external magical interference into itself. It had no effect against physical interference.

Granted, that was also because Siegwurm’s body had no need for any additional physical reinforcement... but at the very least, physical attacks were the key to overcoming Siegwurm while he was enveloped in radiance.

Siegwurm: "Noirlind, allow me to teach you the fundamentals of hand-to-hand combat... Claws cannot move as hands and fists can!!"

Noirlind: "Wha—ghwo!?"

Noirlind’s draconic body was that of a four-legged carnivore, while Siegwurm possessed a bipedal draconic body that could almost be described as humanoid.

As Noirlind lunged for Siegwurm’s throat, Siegwurm seized the black dragon’s neck with both hands. Then, as though forming a vortex, the golden dragon hurled the jet-black one away.

Noirlind: "Gwoaaagh!?"

Akitsu Akane: "Wawawawa... Blade-Hiding Art! Flying-Squirrel Cloak!!"

Akitsu Akane was thrown into open air, but just before crashing into the ground, she spread a sheet of cloth like a parachute and reduced the impact of her fall.

Akitsu Akane: "Fugyu!"

The impact was not reduced entirely to zero, however. Akitsu Akane somehow managed to break her fall and land, but her HP was cut in half.

Akitsu Akane: "Noirlind-san!"

Noirlind: "Ghh... Nnngh..."

Noirlind groaned after being slammed into the ground in something resembling an amateur shoulder throw. Akitsu Akane raised her head, immediately realized how bad the situation was, and hurriedly began running.

Player 1: "...What do we do?"

Player 2: "I don’t think we can beat it... but should we deal some damage while we can?"

Player 3: "Yeah, but Noirlind’s drawing Siegwurm’s aggro for us. That’s pretty huge, isn’t it?"

Player 4: "Who gives a damn about the details? We still owe it payback for half-destroying the frontline base before."

The players’ attention turned toward Noirlind.

The black dragon already had a record of attacking their frontline base. Even setting that aside, the fact that Noirlind had been incorporated into the scenario’s clear conditions meant there had always been a possibility that the players would attack.

The only reason they had not targeted Noirlind until now was that the dragon had been fighting outside their effective range. Now that Noirlind lay on the ground, helpless and exposed, being targeted was only natural.

Akitsu Akane: "W-wait, wait, wait, pleeease!!"

Just as the players surrounding Noirlind tightened their grips upon their weapons, two individuals brought the impending mob attack to a halt with their arrival.

Siegwurm: "Have you prepared yourself, Noirlind...? Hm?"

Sunraku: "Sorry, Siegwurm. Call it a family connection... but I’m here as this guy’s backup."

The golden Dragon King, Siegwurm, landed upon the ground in all his imposing majesty.

However—however.

The man who stepped in front of Noirlind to oppose him showed no sign of fear, even while standing directly against one of the Seven Colossi.

Sunraku: "My big bro gave me a push and told me to ‘go knock you flying without holding back,’ so..."

Siegwurm: "Oh, oh, oh! I know you! I know you well! The houseguest of my sworn friend Vysache... the warrior scarred by Lycagon! Your name was... Enraku!"

Sunraku: "It’s Sunraku."

He carried a greatsword that emitted an extraordinary brilliance, as though every star glittering in the night sky had been crammed within it. His appearance was bizarre: a bird-shaped mask, a token piece of equipment around his waist, and almost everything else left bare.

Markings like wounds crawled across his exposed skin, and he radiated a strange pressure entirely separate from simple strength. That player—Sunraku—stared directly at Siegwurm and declared with brazen arrogance:

Sunraku: "Looking for some role-play? Fine, then let’s have ourselves a one-on-one duel, Siegwurm!!!"

Siegwurm: "Kuh... Kukaka, fhahahahaha!! Very well! Very well!! Hero, I accept your duel!!!"

The players watched in utter confusion, unable to understand what was happening. Akitsu Akane pushed her way through them and finally reached Noirlind’s side.

Akitsu Akane: "S-Sunraku-san!"

Sunraku: "Yo, Akitsu Akane. Sorry I’m late... so let me make up for it by buying you some time. Get that black thing back on its feet, quick."

Noirlind: "What did you say, insect...?"

Sunraku: "Hah? The hell was that? You wanna go? You walking pile of dragon materials—I’m level 145, you know? High enough to send spiders... scattering, you know?"

Noirlind: "Ghh... Insolent wretch!"

A half-naked bird-head cracking his neck from side to side while glaring down a dragon was an overwhelmingly incomprehensible sight, but Wolfgang was a clan filled with oddballs.

Akitsu Akane accepted it without giving the matter much thought. While continuing to watch Siegwurm, she resumed speaking.

Akitsu Akane: "Um, Sunraku-san..."

Sunraku: "Listen, Akitsu Akane. Even if I call this buying time, I probably won’t last... a full minute."

Akitsu Akane: "Huh...?"

Sunraku: "Give Pencilgon and Oikatzo a message for me. Tell them, ‘We’re carrying out the Rust Plan here.’"

Akitsu Akane: "Huh? Ah, okay."

Now then, Sunraku turned back toward Siegwurm and casually stepped forward, carrying Pale Sheen with its combination function already activated as he stared directly at the golden dragon.

Sunraku: "Sorry to keep you waiting. Now let’s do this, one-on-one."

Siegwurm: "It matters not. I forgive you. You claim that you are merely buying time, yet... how much did you expend to grant that sword such brilliance? It appears capable of cleaving even me in two."

Sunraku: "You wanna know? This is a special tune with every Component Crystal I had dumped into it... I stopped counting after the first hundred!!"

Siegwurm: "Very well! I shall permit you—and you alone—to stand before me! Sunraku, show me that radiance within my gravitational domain!!"

No one gave a signal.

Siegwurm’s ascent high into the sky and Sunraku striking his chest with his right fist occurred at precisely the same moment.

Akitsu Akane: "Noirlind-san! We’re directly in the path of the impact!"

Noirlind: "H-hmph... Insect, I shall grant you the honor of buying us time!"

Sunraku: "Shut it, you skunk of a black lizard!"

Noirlind: "A sk—!?"

Akitsu Akane: "Later! Let’s deal with that later! Okay!?"

Both combatants had already entered a state in which their entire awareness was focused solely upon finishing their opponent.

It was like holding fully drawn bows against one another at point-blank range.

It was a collision of murderous intent and resolve—each declaring that even if it meant completely disregarding the damage they themselves would suffer, they would drive a fatal blow into their opponent without fail.

Siegwurm performed a loop in midair to accelerate, then charged straight toward Sunraku at a tremendous speed that seemed to rip apart the earth beneath him.

Cloaked in black lightning, trails of light streaming from his eyes, Sunraku charged headlong toward the approaching Siegwurm.

For one fleeting, breath-stealing instant, there was nothing.

Silence.

At the instant of collision, dragon and man shouted simultaneously!!

Sunraku: "—Clear Sky Style: Gale!!"

Siegwurm: "—Frenzy Domain: Jazzy-Zone!!"

Impact.

Would you get angy if I said that’s all the updates for today?