Chapter 444: Dragons, O Dragons! Part Twenty-One

[This is my first post since getting caught in the phenomenon known as, "Who the hell am I supposed to use as the viewpoint character in an ensemble cast?"]

[Damn you, Sasa Sushi...!!]

Saina: "Order received from individual name: Mold. Sniping in five seconds."

Rust: "...Understood."

Rust avoided Siegwurm's claws and fangs, then slammed a steel low kick into the side of his face.

Five seconds passed.

A bullet fired from the ground reached Siegwurm high in the sky. It was not particularly effective, but it was not completely harmless either. An explosive crack rang out as sparks scattered across his golden scales.

From the perspective of raw damage, it did not even amount to a scratch. However, it accurately disrupted the starting motions of Siegwurm's attacks, making the flight of Glosswing Suzaku stand out all the more.

Through an exchange of information between Sunraku and the others who had fought Siegwurm before, even if only once, they already knew that his "horns" held some sort of significance.

That was why the scarlet wings repeatedly struck and withdrew, steadily concentrating their attacks upon his head.

Rust: "...I knew it already, but he's tough."

Siegwurm: "I see. So you are the type whose individual members each possess considerable power, yet combine that power to produce something even greater...!!"

Rust: "...You're rating us so highly that it's embarrassing."

A dictionary-sized mass of metal slid open, forming two barrels that fired magical bullets.

As Siegwurm attempted to activate Radiant Dragon King: Tupac Amaru, a bullet passed just beside his eyeball. Because he was still a living creature, his head instinctively froze for an instant—

And the bullets from Castor Pollux struck him.

Rust: "...It's as easy to fly as ever when Mold is here."

If Rust was a bird, then Mold was the tailwind.

He pushed Rust forward and blew away the obstacles between her and her enemy.

Recently, the rakugo stories and one-liner jokes drifting in upon that wind had increasingly left her unable to function, but the support provided by Mold—when he had not broken down laughing—remained as reliable as ever.

Rust: "...Suzaku, lower our altitude by ten meters."

Suzaku: "Understood."

After a momentary loading delay, a horizontal line appeared across Rust's view through Glosswing.

It displayed her altitude.

While maintaining the advantage in her combat maneuvers against Siegwurm, Rust kept making him pursue her, slowly but surely dragging him down from the heights of the sky toward the ground below.

Suzaku: "Ten minutes remaining until operation ends."

Rust: "...More than enough. By the way, how short would that become at 'maximum speed'?"

Suzaku: "If the maximum output of this unit's unique function, Arahabataki, is maintained, approximately two minutes. Displaying the details of the relevant mechanism."

Rust: "...Hmm. That sounds interesting."

Because Siegwurm was humanoid, he could use martial arts involving hands and fingers. That placed his attacks among the types Rust found relatively easy to fight, given her extensive experience battling humanoid machines.

The waist-mounted boosters shaped like wings combined organic flapping with mechanical propulsion to achieve flight.

It was different from Seiryu, which raced across the sky as though it were an extension of the ground.

It was different from Byakko, which flew merely as a consequence of its exhaust.

It was also different from Genbu, whose hover system existed only to move its ponderous frame.

This was "flight," an ability permitted only to Suzaku.

Even so, her opponent was the Unique Monster Siegwurm the Sky Ruler.

His durability had presumably been designed around combat against multiple people. Even if the current Rust possessed the strength of ten players, her firepower was still insufficient.

Rust: "...Noirin."

Noirlind: "You dare misstate my name? I assume you are prepared to die regretting it...?"

Rust: "...If you worry about little things, your scales will go bald. I have a tactical proposal."

Noirlind: "Bald... Hmph. Speak."

While continuing to fire restraining shots at Siegwurm, Rust approached Noirlind's face and began her "proposal."

Rust: "Akitsu Akane and I will hold Siegwurm's attention. While we do that, you knock him down to the ground."

Noirlind: "Oh...? Very well. Do not fail."

Rust: "...Who do you think you're talking to?"

Akitsu Akane: "Um! What exactly should I be doing?!"

Rust: "...M-maintain a high degree of flexibility and respond appropriately to the changing situation..."

Akitsu Akane: "So we're making it up as we go! That's my specialty!!"

Rust suddenly wondered whether the people in her clan who concealed their faces or heads behind some kind of animal motif were increasingly insane.

But under that theory, Rust herself, currently wearing a mechanical bird helmet, would come second.

She immediately forgot about it.

Rust: "Saina, tell Mold. We're going to use Noirin to knock Siegwurm down."

Saina: "That will not be necessary. Individual name: Mold has currently proposed the same operation. His instruction is: 'Make the human stand out and bring the dragon down from above.'"

Rust: "...Nice operation. You're being intelligent too, Saina."

Saina: "...Hmph."

A continuous barrage of ground-to-air sniper fire struck Siegwurm.

Apparently, that was Saina's way of returning the compliment.

Rust: "...Akitsu Akane, I'll carry you to Siegwurm. Can you harass him?"

Akitsu Akane: "Leave it to me! Noirlind-san, I'll leave the attack to you!!"

Noirlind: "See that you are not shaken off!"

Rust caught Akitsu Akane as she jumped from Noirlind's back, holding her beneath the arms to keep her body suspended in the air when she otherwise had no choice but to fall.

Rust: "...Akitsu Akane."

Akitsu Akane: "Yes!"

Rust: "It's going to 'shake' quite a lot before I place you on Siegwurm's back, so try not to bite your tongue."

Akitsu Akane: "Understooood—bweh?!"

◆

Saina: "I recognize that the intelligence of this unit—me—is exceptionally superior. However, I believe that praise should be returned without reservation."

Sunraku: "Yes, yes. Intelligence, intelligence."

I didn't know what Rust's side had praised Saina for, but our useless machine became annoying when people complimented Saina too much, so I wished they would keep the praise-feeding in moderation.

That said, they had sniper support from the ground, and the strongest player in NephHolo was wearing Suzaku, a machine similar in type to her beloved unit.

It was like giving an ogre an iron club—or even putting wings on a tiger.

Sunraku: "How are the other dragons doing?"

Pencilgon: "Hmm... Deuredhowl is still being targeted the most. But some of the players have shifted over to Bryleinyego, so the rate at which they're defeating it has definitely slowed."

Oikatzo: "Oh, breaking news. It looks like both the white and red dragons have entered some kind of berserk mode."

Apparently, Deuredhowl was now rampaging while blasting the jet-like flames it had previously emitted from protrusions across its body out of its entire body instead.

Meanwhile, Bryleinyego had begun feeding upon monsters from the forest hunted by its lesser dragons, then producing mutated lesser dragons that reflected the traits of what it had eaten.

Hey, Bryleinyego. The Great Red Devourer already used that gimmick, so it wasn't exactly fresh.

Sunraku: "No, the other one replaced things, while this one reflects them?"

Hmm...

Compared to the Great Red Devourer, which dyed the very terrain in its own color, this one still had a certain inferior-version feel to it.

Wait.

Or was this one the superior version?

Pencilgon: "Deuredhowl or Bryleinyego... Either way, it feels like only a matter of time."

Sunraku: "Hmm... I don't know."

Pencilgon: "Is something worrying you? Or are you still hiding information from us? Spit it out, spit it out."

Sunraku: "Stop shaking me. Stop shaking me."

The battle against the Origin Kin (raid monster) came back to mind.

Once it had been driven into a corner, it burrowed underground...

And if Vysache's words were accurate, it "connected to the main body" and entered what could be called its final form.

What was it called again...?

Origin Reversion?

I remembered it because there had been an announcement...

Sunraku: "Wethermon had the Clear Sky Conquest, and Ctarnidd had its Imagination Form... If Unique Monsters have final forms, don't you think the Color Dragons might have something similar?"

The answer became clear when Deuredhowl, driven into the final stage of its defeat, revealed exactly that.

Deuredhowl: "Damn it! Damn it! Damn iiiit!! Die! You maggots! Die together with meeeee!!"

At that instant, a window appeared before every player present, its lines of text dancing across the display.

[The body of Deuredhowl the Red Dragon boils as its life enters mortal danger.]

[Caution! Hazard Mode!!]

Cracks spread across Deuredhowl's entire body.

Flames poured from within through the fissures. Its body began swelling as though it could no longer endure even its own power, while it unleashed a roar resembling a scream of agony.

Oikatzo: "Is it going to self-destruct?!"

Pencilgon: "No, that's...!!"

Sunraku: "It's a breath attack!!"

Deuredhowl's gaze was fixed directly upon Skull Azuchi.

Perhaps it had realized that Skull Azuchi was the reason it had been surrounded and beaten.

Or perhaps it had recognized the fortress as the players' source of support.

Whatever its reasoning, Skull Azuchi was undeniably its target.

Deuredhowl: "Great Eruption of Wrath: Volkevilleeeee?!!!"

Deuredhowl's body, which had swollen so greatly that cracks ran across its entire surface, rapidly contracted.

Then a dark crimson flame erupted from its mouth, scorching the atmosphere as it tore its way through the sky.

And then—