72 - CHAPTER XV -- "Beware of the Dawn"






 While fierce battles were being waged on the ground, the battle in the sky was also about to enter a new phase.



 Four pairs of eight-winged mother dragons soar through the sky with ease. They are followed by ordinary individual fairy dragons. Around the swarm formed by one mother and four cubs, there is a spherical membrane made of greenish-green light.

 It is a constantly deployable barrier shell formed by the fairy mother dragon.

 However, both the strength and the range of its effect cannot be compared to those formed by the hatchlings of the fairy dragons. Before it was sealed, when there were still many high elves in the world, the fairy mother dragon, which had obtained a large amount of nourishment, used its abundant magical power to establish a kind of domain.



 Robin tried to test it out by firing a shot with his , but...



"--The power is reduced. Even if you hit it, it's still far from a mortal wound."



 The released spear of purple electricity was thinned in the process of penetrating the large green barrier, and its power was greatly attenuated by the multiple barriers that were deployed inside at the timing of the impact. Even though the amplification of the power of the is also reduced to the lowest level to save energy, the attenuation rate is still quite high.



 Although the spear hit the body of the fairy mother dragon to some extent, it ended up only gouging out a part of its flesh, and the damaged part began to regenerate in a bubbling, bubbling manner.

 It seems that it has a self-healing ability (regeneration) superior to that of pups, and will probably fully recover in less than a hundred seconds.



 In short, if Fafnir wants to end the battle with a single blow as it is now, he has no choice but to finish it off in close combat or use .

 However, in the course of the battle up to this point, the remaining amount of stored magic was running low.

 If he uses , and then he has to deal with the rest of the cubs, he would be limited to one shot remaining.



"......mm"



 Robin finished sorting out the situation and saw a counterattack from the dragon herd coming through the main display.

 However, the attack did not seem to have any intention to finish off the enemy.

 Numbers are better than quality. Continuity over certainty. The intention of the constant fire, fired from a fixed distance, is to...



"Endurance warfare posture."



 Fafnir is glued to the battle in the sky, so that he will not be distracted by the battle on the ground. This may be the meaning, but the main purpose is to challenge him to a battle of physical strength.



 Having devoured the lives of two nations, he must be confident of his magical power. The group of pups protected by their mother continues to shoot without worrying about the consumption of magic power, and many streaks of green light run through the cloudy sky filled with drizzling rain.



"......I'm sorry, but I'm starving. I can't just sit back and let you guys play with me.



 Fafnir, which had been positioned at a high altitude, sinks down and begins to approach, converting its potential energy into thrust. And while dodging the harassing barrage of bullets - more than lethal enough for hunters and warriors on the ground - Robin adjusts his frame through the magic lines extending from the fingertips of his hands and feet. He set to work.



 The thrusters for attitude control were closed, as if to spare even the smallest amount of magic power. The fine orbital adjustment is decided to be covered by the behavior of the limbs and the weight shift (shift weight), and the output of some of the sub-thrusters is reduced.

 He then switches the output control of the radiator, which is marked with the <> technique, from automatic to manual. The magic lines extending from the ring and little toes of his right foot are used for the adjustment, and he begins to calculate the optimum values according to his maneuvers with parallel thinking. There is no need to use the <> technique to strengthen the armor. Applying the "if it doesn't hit, it's good" theory, the supply of magical power is cut off entirely. The surplus power is used for firepower.



 Other functions, large and small, are removed as much as possible, and the reduced performance is compensated for by the pilot's own piloting skills. The calculations necessary to control the aircraft are performed by the company's own brain. As soon as Robin finishes making adjustments, he kicks in the foot pedal, and the hungry dragon knight responds.



<<---->>



 The opposing herd of fairy dragons continued to return fire while maintaining a certain distance.

 It seemed as if they were not in a hurry to settle the matter, mixing some of the main targets in their checking fire.



 Fafnir dodged through the barrage of bullets and showed a maneuver to hold the nose of the herd.

 The fairy mother dragon sensed this and changed its trajectory to keep its distance.

 As if to go around its path, Fafnir spurts out its thrusters and accelerates rapidly.

 The Fairy Mother Dragon changes its trajectory again.



 The two sides continue to play a weasel-like game, but the relative distance between the two does not seem to be getting shorter. In the meantime, Fafnir continues to be exposed to the constant fire that is being unleashed on it. To the casual observer, it appeared as if they were being tossed about unilaterally, and the severe war situation continued.

 However, perhaps the direct participation of the fairy mother dragons in the battle had reduced their commanding ability, and their movements as a group were somewhat erratic. Whenever the fairy mother dragons made evasive maneuvers, there was a delay in the movements of the pups following them. This delay accumulated little by little but steadily with each evasive maneuver.



 Then, after shaking the enemy group with his dozens of high maneuvers, Fafnir suddenly raised the long gun in his left hand. The trigger is pulled at the same time as the sight, and a spear of purple electricity is released from the muzzle of <>.



<<----! >>



 The spear of Shiden broke through the skinny but thick barrier shell and pierced the nose of the last fairy dragon, which was beginning to lag behind.

 It did not hit it.

 However, the tail end of the dragon was completely out of the effect range of the large protective shell, because of the sudden braking by the blow that grazed the tip of its nose.



 Robin mercilessly points the muzzle of his silver long gun (gandarvu) at the one that has lost its mother's protection.

 There is no way that the defenseless fairy dragon can withstand the bombardment that damaged the fairy mother dragon beyond the protection of the great shell and multiple barriers.

 The fairy dragon mother, realizing the danger to her cubs, hurriedly turned around and tried to take it under her protection again...



"--Oh, I knew you would."



 A well-aimed blow rushed out.

 It was not a silver gun that roared, but a black iron gun.

 The gun sacrificed armor and mobility to gather magical power, securing 30 percent of its output. The gunfire was fired with perfect aim, as a deviation fire that anticipated the movement of the enemy machine (MOTHER).

 A tremendous torrent of magical power transformed into a pillar of light and surged through the cloudy sky.



"----!"



 The next moment, however, Robin was blindsided by the sight through the display.

 Another fairy dragon intervened in front of the thick pillar of light that was about to pierce the fairy mother dragon.

 The dragon deployed a barrier with the force of burning up even its own magical elements, and caught the torrent of magical power head-on.



 The dragon knight's main cannon, , pierced the dragon with the barrier itself, but its body caused a slight delay in the countdown until the shot landed. The pillar of light that would normally have pierced through the heart of the fairy dragon only ripped off four of its wings, and did not reach a fatal wound.

 The fairy dragon used its body as a shield and managed to survive the killing blow.



<----! >>



 Soon after, another fairy dragon immediately fired a counterattack. A glowing green light shot struck Fafnir, who had stopped moving because of the bombardment.



 Fafnir immediately pointed the muzzle of his and pulled the trigger. However, what was released from the muzzle of the gun was not an attack technique to intercept. The name of the formula engraved on the bullet was <>, a defensive magic of the wind attribute.



 Eltina, the leader of the Third Army, is a specialist in healing and defensive magic. The defensive magic she wove herself manifested itself, transforming into a giant wall of wind that blocked the light blasts.



>



 But the enemy's counterattack does not stop there. < loses its effect, countless light arrows break through the smoke screen created by the exploding drizzle to reveal themselves. It was a counterattack from the fairy mother dragon that had lost its cub.



 Green-green light arrows surrounded them in all directions.

 It is impossible to avoid all the bullets from the current situation.

 Robin made a decision in less than a moment's thinking time and instantly deployed the all-sky blocking area (Akinskiardi).




 The defensive field centered on Fafnir blocks the oncoming hail of bullets, and the team manages to get out of the inevitable situation unscathed.



 --However, the cost was not light.



"The second reactor core has been completely shut down. First reactor core switching to emergency power. Aurvang and Akinskiardi are disabled. About 60 seconds until Fafnir's activity limit.



 It looks like it is on the verge of completely running out of gas.

 < and --two pieces of equipment that consume enormous amounts of magical power--has brought Fafnir's magical energy reserves to the verge of depletion.



 The basic output of the first core is increased in order to cover the cost of the second core that has been shut down, but the amount of magic stones consumed increases dramatically as a result. The remaining time until the limit of activity will be rapidly depleted if they perform maneuvers that consume high magic power such as instantaneous acceleration mechanism (flash boost).



 If they had been able to finish off the fairy mother dragon during the current attack and defense, they would have had a good chance to win the battle, but it is nearly impossible to recover from this situation. It was obvious that Fafnir would run out of power before shooting down the fairy mother dragon and the three fairy dragons. It would be difficult for Fafnir to even return to the large box, let alone fend off the enemy's pursuit.



"Until now,or ......"



 Robin calmly analyzed the situation and muttered in frustration in the dimly lit cockpit.

 His voice carried an undertone of resignation.

 Then, with a resigned "It can't be helped," Robin removed his right hand from the control stick, touched the sword belt around his waist, and touched the hilt of the jet-black sword attached to it.





"-As of this moment, the verification experiment is over. We will now move on to normal combat."





 If there had been a third party present, they would have peeled their eyes away equally.

 The words spoken in the cockpit were so outlandish and so out of bounds.



 The words uttered by the dragon's driver, the dwarf.

 If we interpret them literally, they are nothing more than a declaration that the past offensives were only and not .



 And if that is the case, then what begins here is not an experiment but a battle, and what is brought to the hungry blue and silver dragon is a battle.



"Magic sword activated. Connections to first and second reactor cores initiated. ---- howl, Fafnir."



 Moment. A shrill roar arose from the dragon knight's heart.



 The two furnace cores in his chest roared violently, filling every inch of his body with a high concentration of magical power. The armor, which had been cut off from the supply of magic power, regained its original solidity, and the thrusters, which had been closed, opened their mouths.

 The long gun of black iron (Ahlwang) is no exception.

 The magical charge rate of the main gun, which was displayed on one of the sub-displays, easily exceeded the number of 30, which had been obtained at the expense of armor and mobility, and the number was increasing toward the highest value.



 Naturally, <> is not a function that was originally provided in this structure.

 The relics that were excavated from ancient ruins before they were given the name Fafnir were constructed by science, although there were many lost technologies, and they were not equipped with a magical function that could instantly revive the reactor core when it ran out of fuel.

 Therefore, the secret of how the starving Fafnir instantly came back to life was in the jet-black magic sword that Robin had just activated.





 --The secret "Awaken the Legacy of Dyne (Dyne's Slave)".





 It is a secret of the equipment generation type, which equips the person who invokes it with a single magic sword.

 The time limit of appearance - the time that the sword can be kept as equipment - differs depending on the secrets, but "Awaken Dine's Legacy (Dineslave) It is relatively long, twenty-four hours.

 And the special ability of this sword is to connect the invoker to the fountain of the World Tree--in other words, .



 At first glance, this seems to be a very useful effect for sorcerers and other rear-guard staffs who work with magic.

 For those who are trying to make ends meet with their savings (MP), which are not enough compared to their consumption, this is something they wish to obtain at any cost.

 In fact, at the time this secret was discovered in Tactics Chronicle, almost all the players were eager to get their hands on it.



 But the reality is different.

 The cursed Dwarven Sword (Dineslave) is an equipment of the weapon slot, and it recognizes nothing but itself.

 It consumes all the available weapon slots by itself.

 No other weapons, not even shields, let alone sub-weapons such as daggers, are allowed, and weapons other than the Dineslave are equally repulsive and unusable until the activation is complete.



 And of course, the weapon category of the Dineslave is the sword. It is not a weapon for the rear guard such as a staff, a magic book, or a holy bell that amplifies the power of magic.

 Therefore, the output of the invoked magic is not benefited by the weapon, but is left as it is, and the skills trained by the rear guard, which often specify a special weapon as a condition for use, are all rendered unusable. In addition, the Dineslave itself does not have any status correction related to the rear guard.



 It is useless. Everyone thought so.



 No matter how much infinite supply of magic power is obtained, it is meaningless if the output of the magic to be invoked is reduced to nothing. Even if you have a lighter that never runs out of fuel, there is no way you can beat a flamethrower in a firepower comparison. The result is literally clearer than fire.



 However, what will happen if you combine this misguided secret with a defective weapon that eats magic power?



 --The answer is .



"Magic refilled. Aurvang, set output at 70 percent.



 As far as I was concerned, an untargeted shell was fired as a test shot.

 The killing blow that was fired in the attack and defense just now, however, must be called meager compared to the extreme light of this gun. The large-diameter pillar of light, which exceeded Fafnir's total length, ate through the shell like a piece of paper, vaporizing the tail of the fairy mother dragon in an instant.



 The disadvantage of not being able to equip other weapons is irrelevant.

 Fafnir is a kind of golem, not a weapon.

 Robin himself is equipped only with the Dineslave, and the weapon Fafnir holds in his hand only uses the dedicated equipment slot for the golem.



 Thus, the dragon knight, having paid the price for the magic sword, takes unlimited magical power into his body and unleashes it to its fullest.



<----! >>



 Robin shifted the ship into a high speed cruising form again and opened the throttle to full throttle for the crowd of dismayed fairy dragons.

 There is no need to worry about the consumption of magic power. The standard output of the body was also switched from <> to <> when the magic sword was activated. The dragon, having shaken off the restrictions, soars with comet-like swiftness, trailing its tail of white light.



 The opposing pack of fairy dragons immediately turned their backs and tried to keep their distance. But to no avail. Unlike the previous days, when mobility was sacrificed, Fafnir has taken the whole yoke off. The ruthless thrust ratio quickly closed the distance between the two.



 An intercept shot is fired from the fairy mother dragon protecting her cub. Fafnir, on the other hand, evaded it with a flash boost by firing its large-caliber thrusters on its left shoulder. Fafnir dodged a barrage of light arrows that followed by continuously activating Flash Boost, and drew a sharp trajectory that could not have been possible with an aircraft to close the gap between them.



 At the middle distance, Fafnir returns to his knightly form and draws his right hand, still clutching the black-iron gun, around his left shoulder. His stance, facing forward, could be likened to that of a commander about to give an order.

 He has already recharged his magic power. After confirming the convergence rate on the sub-display, Robin squeezes the trigger without hesitation. And he does not release it. The black iron long gun is set to continuous irradiation mode, and the beam of light emitted from the muzzle of the gun is an image of...



"The light sword of the master engineer, Mr. Merzel, the best slashing weapon of his time - the light sword of the Aurvang."



 The excessively converged condensed light turns into a blade, and a large sword with a blade length of over 500 meters is revealed, with a black iron long gun as its hilt.

 Then, when he reaves his right hand, which is drawn to his left shoulder, it turns into a random, massive slash.

 The slash, which looks like a bunch of starlight, catches the body of the fairy dragon through the large shell, and melts the toughest part of its body like butter.



<----! >>






 The dragon herd let out a bewildered neigh as their companions were quickly brought down. The fairy dragons, having been informed that their great shells were meaningless, disperse in accordance with their mother's command. Fafnir, with his light sword in his hand, aimed at one of them and flew like an arrow.



 The dragon knight does not care about the light arrows that strike him from the side, not to mention from the one ahead of him.

 The Aikinskiardi had already been activated in its always-deployed mode.

 There is no room for an attack that takes advantage of the gap for redeployment.

 Fafnir does not even show any evasive maneuver, but pursues the target in a straight trajectory amidst the barrage of bullets raining down.



 Within a few seconds, Fafnir caught up with Fafnir's back, and with five consecutive activation of Flash Boost, he carved out a trajectory like a lightning bolt and went around in front of the fairy dragon ahead of him.

 In less than a moment, the eyes of the dragon and those of the dwarf meet through the display.

 A silvery-white muzzle is pointed at the dragon's eyes, which are filled with fear.

 The sword, shield, and cannon of the <> blows fire, and a blast of flame from zero distance blows off the upper half of the fairy dragon.



"Fifth plane down. --Now, let's finish up.



 Counting his kills nonchalantly, Robin stared at the multidimensional radar displayed in a corner of the main display.

 There are two enemy aircraft remaining. Only one cub and the fairy mother dragon remain.

 In order to win the battle at once, Robin reversed Fafnir's body and faced the two rejoined dragons.



<----,----,----,----! >>



 But then.

 Suddenly something happened to the fairy mother dragon.

 The slight glimmer of reason in her eyes disappeared, and she bit down on the body of the cub by her side.



 The fairy dragon, which had been pierced by the sharp teeth without mercy, screamed in anguish with a startled look in its eyes.

 However, as soon as the mother fairy bites through the flesh of the body with her powerful jaws, she forcefully gouges out the fairy's heart.

 The dead fairy dragon falls toward the ground, and the fairy mother dragon, having swallowed the cub's heart whole, begins its ascent to the sky.



"......That's tactless. You intervene in a duel and then turn him into a complete puppet.



 Convinced of the cause of the murder, Robin looked down at the Grand Elder, who was magnified in the right corner of the main display, and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry.



 What's more, your orders are too far off the mark. What is he going to do by abandoning the only advantage he has in numbers against an opponent who is separated from him only by individual performance? Robin felt an unexpected feeling of pity for his enemy, who had no choice but to follow his orders like a child throwing a temper tantrum.



 While he watches the action without intervening out of pity, the fairy mother dragon that has eaten the heart of my cub breaks through the cloudy sky and exposes herself to the brilliant sunlight. And as soon as its palate opens wide, it begins to produce a mass of magical power.



 It seems to be a higher version of the fairy dragon's "tame" blow, but the amount of magic contained in it is incomparably huge. Not only the magical power obtained from the heart swallowed whole, but also the minimum amount of magical elements necessary to maintain its existence, not to mention the physical strength to sustain itself after the battle, are being expended to compress the magical power.



 A fairy mother dragon that simply does as it is commanded, even at the risk of self-destruction. This is no longer the way of a life with a will.



"Ah, I see. So this wasn't originally a duel between a dragon and a dragon knight, but between puppeteers."



 Ironic, isn't it?" Robin mutters with a cold expression.

 The dragon has a body of flesh, but it is even more mechanical than Fafnir, who is made of metal.



"......, then this is my way of showing you something. I will meet your last attack head on.



 With these words, Robin moved Fafnir to a position directly below the fairy mother dragon that stood high in the sky.

 Then he pressed the master arm switch on the control stick, a button hidden beneath it.

 In response, the mechanical dragon knight begins



"Fafnir, shift to dragon strike form. Start bombardment sequence."



 A declaration similar to a prayer. With this announcement, the long gun of silver began to transform before the main body.

 As soon as the long gun ejects all of the loaded magic bullets, it breaks in two, leaving its long barrel. The barrel of the gun, which was facing downwards, opposite to the open chamber of the classic break-action pistol, served as a pseudo-gun grip, and Farniel's left hand, held at an angle, clenched it.



"Chest armor open, twin guns connected. Forced excitation of the first and second cores."



 A black iron muzzle is then inserted into the opened chamber. The silvery-white barrel of the gun met the tip of the gun with a heavy connecting sound, and the right hand, drawn as if by a bow, secured the jet-black grip of the gun.

 The black-and-white cannon in one piece.

 The energy pipe extending from there is connected to the core body hidden behind the multiple armors, and the magic sword through the heart fills it with enormous magical power.



"Generate gravitational lens, fix the body to the current coordinates."



 Fafnir, with the left half of his body in front of him and held at an angle, looked up to the heavens and set the current coordinates as his firing position. The gravity lens, which twists even light due to its high power, fixes the dragon knight's body as if it were nailed to a nail.



"Gun barrel textures are deployed, and the temporary gun barrel is formed. Magic compression rate has exceeded the Type 3 default. Maintain critical state of both core."



 The magic sword trembles. Magic fills the air. The torrent of magical elements, so dense that it was almost drowning, was now filling every corner of the body with a magical radiance.

 And the changes do not stop there. The mass of magical power, condensed to the point of becoming semi-material, enveloped the black and white cannon, forming the first extended barrel. It aimed at the dragon in the sky, as if it were a huge tower challenging the heavens.



"All processes are complete. Three, two, one, one..."



 The word "zero" vanished before the immense light.

 It was a mechanical dragon knight, a collection of hagane and techniques that created its body, and it was not the palate but only the muzzle that emitted the light. But since it has the attribute of a dragon, the light of tyranny that was released should be called as such.



 --Dragon breath.



 At the same time, a comet light is shot down from the heavens above. The ultimate blow that consumed the life of the fairy mother dragon was, indeed, of mythical power. However, the comet light was drowned out by the glow of the light that surged up through Sora, and the fairy mother dragon, the shooter, was also swallowed up by the light of inevitable destruction, like the night sky.



 There was nothing left behind.

 Only the sound of the dragon knight's forced cooling exhaust signaled the end of the battle.







    + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +







 Green light falling from the heavens and blue light piercing the sky illuminated the battlefield.

 The glow lasted only a few seconds.

 The battlefield, which had been covered by a cloudy sky, soon regained its original darkness.



 However, there was a clear difference before and after the light was generated.

 It is the presence of a dragon soaring in the sky.

 The guardian dragon that should have been there a moment ago is no longer there, but only a silvery blue dragon knight that is vigorously discharging excess heat.






 There is only one truth to be drawn.



"The Fairy Mother Dragon (Mother) is ...... dead?"



 Someone in a green coat mutters in a daze. This thought is shared by all the hunters.

 A dragon knight with more power than a fairy dragon. The warriors of Rattestwood who were on a par with them. And the disappearance of the fairy mother dragon that we have just witnessed - one unreal thing after another strikes at the spirit of the hunters.

 And the young queen was not so naive as to let the opportunity pass her by.



Now is the time! All vanguards, go on the offensive--!"



 The warriors in the queen's service responded immediately to the sharp voice on their backs.

 Ferk, the leader of the warriors, took the first step forward and struck his staff sword with a bloodied hand.



 The Acting Chief Hunter (Selwyn), who had come to his senses just in time, caught the flash of the sword with the instincts of a good hunter, but the tip of the sword sliced slightly across his cheek. A small scar is etched on his fair face.



"How dare you ...... "filth"!



 Selwyn's agitation was replaced by rage, and he unleashed a furious sword attack.

 Feruc ducked and dodged each blow, and took the flashes he couldn't handle with his body, avoiding mortal wounds. If he had stepped back, he could have barely survived the attack, but he was unwilling to retreat, so he decided to keep moving forward.



 Apart from such reasons as the possibility of magic flying at him if he left the gap, or the fact that he could not retreat at this opportune moment as a warrior leader, he had a firm determination not to retreat. Pushed by something that I should call an impulse welling up from within him, FELK moves forward with a spray of blood.



 And as he wields his sword, the only thing that comes out of his mouth is...



"--re, not ......!"

"...... what?"



 With wrinkles furrowing his brow and a desperate look on his face, Felk steps in.

 Selwyn, on the other hand, utters a questioning voice.

 He swung his blade and took another step forward.



"Don't ......, don't ......!"



 I've always wanted to tell him.

 I have felt ashamed every time I have been called such a thing.

 But I have not had the strength to say it out loud, so I have had to endure it.

 That's why, now, the long-held feelings that have been welling up in my heart are released in the form of words...



"We are not - we are not "dirt"!



 My name is .

 I am a fourth generation half-elf born to half-elf parents.

 I am a proud citizen of Rattlestwood, given the title of Warrior-Chief by the young Queen.



"Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ----!



 With a gushing roar, he delivers a full-throated blow.

 The slash, a punching blow with no skill whatsoever, was taken as a matter of course.

 However, the blow triggered a barrage of blows, and the overflowing emotion of the blow slammed into Selwyn, creating a pressure that even the chief hunter was unable to withstand.



"GGG......!"



 With a grunt, Selwyn fell backward on his feet.

 Although he retreated, it was only a few steps.

 It is a distance that can be closed in a blink of an eye.

 But those few steps were a sure sign that Felk's attack had surpassed Selwyn's for the first time.



"............!"



 There are no more words.

 Selwyn, who had been repeatedly humiliated to the point of almost dying of rage, was about to launch a counterattack when, in the next instant, he was blinded by the spectacle in front of him.



"......What?



 Felk smirked as he slammed his staff sword down and jumped back from the spot. It was no time to pause. He backsteps several times while facing forward, and moves away to a clear distance.

 And it was not just the actions of Felk alone.

 As if in response to his movement, the other warriors also delivered a thrusting blow and began to retreat at once.



 The sight of this caused a slight stir among the hunters.

 The enemy soldiers, who had always favored advancing, were caught off-guard by this first display of behavior, and their pursuit slowed to a crawl.



 You can hardly call it carelessness. As proof of this, the hunters, still reeling from the defeat of the fairy mother dragon, judged that there was something alarming in the enemy's movements, and kept their eyes on the enemy soldiers who were moving away from them.

 And that is why, because they were watching the enemy's every move, the hunters were late in noticing .



 The warriors of RATESTWOOD jumped back, keeping their eyes fixed on the hunters. --In the background is a group of long staffs raised high in the air.



"What the ----?



 By the time I realized it, it was too late.

 The endless chanting that had been going on since the first shot was fired at the beginning of the war was finally being completed.

 Within the sight of the hunters' peeling eyes, the magical power contained in the long staffs had reached a critical point...



"All mages, release ----!



 Under the Queen's command, a mass chanting grand magic is performed.



Igus Valuatiga!



 Believing in the vanguard troops, the sorcerers continued chanting, unprotected. Their chants were released as powerful words, and the magic power that had been raised to the utmost limit was transformed into a great flower of explosive flames.

 What was manifested was a great magic that surpassed even the higher level magic, and was called the highest level of magic.

 The lack of magic power and skill was made up for by the group, and it was released with perfect chanting, spreading destruction over a wide area and attacking the Noblewood hunters without any mercy at all.



 Normally, if I had prefaced this with the word "normally," the barriers would have been deployed in time. However, the vigilance of the vanguard against those who could resist them deprived the hunters of the time and energy to do so. Some barely managed to deploy their barriers in time, but they were all destroyed by the great magic that they put everything they had into a single blow.




 And that is not the only magic that manifested itself. As a follow-up, they unleashed a barrage of magic of every attribute except light and dark. The hunters, driven to a state of destruction by the great magic, had no way of surviving the barrage of bullets that surged toward them like a wave, and the continuous barrage engulfed every last one of them, laying waste to them.



 Ten seconds passed, then twenty seconds, and finally the magic fire finally ceased as the last wood magician's team ran out of magic.

 After the smoke screen clears, there is nothing left but the wreckage of the dead hunters in the devastated explosion site. Among them was Selwyn, the acting chief hunter. The enemy soldiers, their feet stamping on the ground, are nowhere to be seen.



 --The elves are the most skilled in magic. The hunter of the Noblewood who calls himself the strongest among them.



 His end was not by an unexpected attack by another force, nor by a blade from a hand-to-hand combat that exploited their weakness, nor even by a human-derived battle strategy that relied on numbers. It was the great magic they were best at, and had never been able to use in all their lives.







    + + +







 And so, for a while, only the sound of ragged breathing dominated the battlefield.

 The surgeons, drained of their magic power, supported their crumbling bodies with their wands, while the wounded warriors, breathing on their shoulders, kept their weapons at the ready.



 Both men stare at the unbelievable scene unfolding before them.

 The result of a warrior's true calling, of a man who has demonstrated all of the skills he has been trained to master.



"----............"



 But everyone stood there in silence.

 They were not sure what to do with the result, even though they had obtained it.

 Although it had been pointed out to them during the first training session and they had experienced it in mock battles, this was their first time in actual combat.

 That is why, now that I actually had <> in my hands, I didn't even know how to behave, and I just stood there in a daze.



 A group of warriors who kept their weapons at the ready against the enemy's camp, which was no longer able to move.

 To an uninformed third party, it might have looked like a very funny scene.

 And then, as it should be said, it was a girl who put an end to such an act.



 She was illuminated by a ray of sunlight shining through the dark clouds pierced by Fafnir.

 Immersing herself in the oracle-like sunlight, the girl spins out words in a quiet voice, not showing any sign of fatigue from her role as the key figure in the group chanting.



"---- we are victorious."



 Short words uttered without hesitation.

 The words, however, had a dramatic effect on the Latticewood Warriors.

 Some clenched their fists tightly, some let the heat spill out of their eyes, and others trembled as they fought back the emotions that welled up inside them.

 And just before her passion reached its limit, the young queen raised her voice extraordinarily and told everyone and everything present in this place.



Raise the battle cry! At this moment, we say goodbye to the dark past. Let us roar a roar that will reach the tree of God! The battle cry that heralds the dawn of a new day is here!



 With the young queen's voice behind him, Felk raised his scarred right arm high in the air.

 He looks up to the heavens, opens his mouth, and lets out a roar that is more majestic than his lean frame would suggest.



 The warriors followed suit.

 Half-elves, dwarves, dwarfs, beastmen, and all who were present shouted in unison, their cheers becoming a chorus that shook the trees of the great sea of trees.



Oh, oh, oh, oh! ----!"""""



 --It was a roar that heralded the dawn of the last wood.