Oops.
What?

　The tail was slashed off and the freed girl flew through the air.
　Kanade, who had been holding her hand to use Kamui, jumped out and caught the girl firmly.

　Shortly thereafter.

"Aerocannons!

　Sora and Luna's magic exploded.
　A shell of air compressed to the extreme limit landed on the top of the dragon.
　Gosh!　The dragon was blown away by a roaring sound of "I'm sorry," and the dragon was blown away.

'Nina!'
Hmm.

　Nina connected the hole in the subspace to where Tania was falling.
　As it is, Tania is swallowed up by the subspace as if she were being crunched and eaten.
　The people around her cringe, but........
　Not long after, a sub-space portal opened up near Nina and Tania appeared through it.
　The rescue was a success.

　After Suzu's training and the fight with Iris, Nina's sub-space control skills were getting better and better.
　She could even connect sub-space at a distance, like now, to swallow a specific object and move it to another location.
　As expected........
　That growth rate is amazing.
　I think it's the most stretched out of all of us.

What did you ... what did you just do?

　The dragon, who had regained his stance, glared at us.
　It seems to be very angry because its boastful tail was slashed off, and its eyes are bleary.

　But.
　Don't think you're the only one who's angry?

　I glanced over at Nina.
　Tania was in tatters, being held up by Nina and Tina.

　I can't believe they did that to Tania...
　You're not going to hurt my people.

　I will never forgive you!

How can a human being be able to cut off my tail...
"Boost.

　Although the dragon said this and that, I ignored it all.
　Then he cast a physical enhancement spell on himself.

　My body becomes as light as a feather.
　He stepped lightly on the spot to check the feel of his body...
　Charge.

'Guh!'

　First, he kicked the dragon in the jaw.
　The bottom of its mouth is not covered by scales, so even a mere kick will pass the damage.

　With the same momentum, he dives into the abdomen and strikes the part that isn't covered by scales, as well.
　Even though there are no scales, it's still hard.
　It felt like I was punching thick rubber.
　Nevertheless, he continued to attack with all his might without bothering.

　A punch.
　Kick.
　Strike.
　Slash.
　A thrust.
　Cleave.

　I'm going to use every possible method to inflict all kinds of damage.

You ... you lowly bastard!

　The dragon howled in anger.
　It used its huge body to try to crush me.

　But........it's too late.
　What's with that sluggish movement?
　Is it serious?

Matter Creation!

　He created a huge wall to stop the dragon's rush.

'Gravity manipulation and reversal!'
What?

　I continue to act, reversing the gravity on the dragon.......minus.
　The giant body floats up softly and falls into the sky.

　When it's high in the sky.

"Gravity manipulation/reversal!　Double!

　Once again, gravity was reversed and returned to normal.
　Pulled by gravity, the dragon falls from high in the sky.
　It also doubled the gravity on its body...

　The dragon was slammed into the ground hard as the large giant crushed it.
　A large crater was created.
　The ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

''What........what is this power.......?　How could a human being be so..................

　The dragon was staggering as it attacked in rapid succession.
　Blood was flowing from the corner of its mouth.
　The fall must have injured its internal organs.

　With this much damage, it would be easy to capture it.
　If I ask Sora and Luna, they'll be able to do something about it with magic.

　But.........I had no intention of capturing this guy.

''Guaaaaaah!

　Again, he kicked the dragon in the jaw.
　Then he jumped to its head and thrust his fist into its eyes.

　When it comes to dragons, it seems that their eyes are as hard as iron, and it was impossible to squash their eyes.
　Then I'd have to aim elsewhere.

'Your eyes seem to be hard, but what about inside your body?
What do you mean...
Fireball Multi-Shot!

　I dared to thrust my hand into the dragon's mouth..........and then activated the magic on it.

''Whaaaaat?!

　Countless fireballs exploded in the dragon's mouth.
　The unimaginable agony of being burned from inside his body was apparently unbearable even for the dragon, as expected.

　He peeled his eyes away and slumped around.
　His throat seemed to have been burned and he couldn't scream properly.
　It just makes an unpleasant noise.

　I step away, for once, as the dragon flails about.
　I continue to watch it.

　The dragon suffers and writhes as it presses its body to the ground...
　Eventually, it stopped moving.

　However, it doesn't seem to be dead.
　Its limbs were twitching, and although it was weak, it was still breathing.

　It's true that this is the strongest species in the world.
　This is a tremendous life force.
　Even if we leave it as is, it will eventually heal itself to the extent that it can move.

　Well, I'm not going to allow that to happen.
　If the current attack doesn't kill me, then I'll continue until I die.
　For an additional attack, I'm going to approach the dragon again and...

Lane.
Tania?

　Suddenly, I was hugged by Tania from behind.
　I was so focused on the dragon in front of me that I had no idea when she was approaching me.

'Are you okay?'
Yeah, I think so.
Well, that's good...

　It looked like he was badly injured but...
　It looks like I can move this way, and I can talk normally.
　If I can get Sora and Luna to treat me later, I won't have to worry about any aftereffects.

　I'm relieved.

　Now ... we can kill the dragon without hesitation.

'Then why don't you stay away for a moment?　He's still alive, you know.
It's okay.
What?
You don't have to do that. He can't move.
But I'm still alive.
Rain...?
'He hurt Tania he's a joke.......he's a joke. Hurting Tania until she's in such a mess...I will never forgive him for it. I'm going to kill him, right here, right now, so that he can never joke around again!
Lane!

　As if to hold me back, Tania put her hand to work.

'What's going on, Tania?　Let go. Otherwise, I won't be able to topple him.
'Forget it you don't have to go that far...'
No. No. It can't end here. He hurt Tania. He hurt her so badly. I'm not going to forgive him.
Don't worry about me. More importantly I don't want you to look at me like that, Rain.
The face...?

　I put my hand to my own cheek as he told me.
　What do I look like now?

　Then Kanade came in.
　The girls must have evacuated her.

'Nyah ... you know what?　Tania's right. I wish it would end here.
You don't have to do that to Kanade...


　Scared of Kanade...?
　Nope.
　She looked sad, rather than frightened.

　If I looked, Tania had the same look on her face.
　A little further away, Sora, Luna, Nina, Tina... they all had the same expression on their faces.

'You know what?'

　He pulled me back and turned me towards Tania.
　We were facing each other head on...
　Tania opens her mouth, a soft expression on her face.

'I'm glad you're so angry for me. Thank you. But you can't do this anymore. It's not a monster... and most importantly, it's not like Rayne to kill someone who can't move.
As I do but he's got Tania...
I'll be fine. I'm fine. So just go back to being the sweet Rayne. Okay?
Tania...
I like Lane better when he smiles.

　A smiling Tania hugged me again.
　A warm heat washed over me.
　With a thumping thump, I heard Tania's heart beating.

''........''

　The black emotions swirling around in the depths of my chest, sloshing around, disappear.
　Instead, it is filled with something warm.

''Okay. I'll do as Tania says.
Hm. That's the Rain.

　Tania smiled at me and gave me another hug.