“You’re late….”
“You’re not thinking of staying here for a day, are you?”
“If you sleep in this filthy place, you’ll be covered in dirt.”
The students in the dragon wagon were waiting for those who went to investigate the village.
– Grrroooaaaah….
“… Can you hear that sound?”
“What sound?”
“Now that I think about it, it’s like an earthquake…”
Suddenly, Edgar felt a faint tremor beneath his feet.
Though everyone seemed oblivious at first, even the dullest among them soon realized the tremors were intensifying.
It felt like a warning that something was trying to crawl out from below.
– Kwuwaaaang!!!
[Craaaash!!!]
Just then, something black shot up from the ground a short distance away from the village.
“Uaaaagh?!”
“What the hell is that??”
“Uh… Undead????”
“Why is something like that coming out!!”
——————————–
[Craaaash!!!]
What emerged from the underground, devouring sacrifices, was a dragon that was nothing but bones.
Amid the well-maintained white skeletons, dark magic pulsed.
It was an undead dragon… Dragon Undead.
However, it was not your typical undead.
Undead are created using techniques of necromancers.
They are formed using the substances and techniques that belong to this world.
“They copied necromancy. How could they create something like that…?”
But this Dragon Undead wasn’t simply created using necromancy.
It was applying necromancy to anchor a tormented soul to the corpse and overlaid dense magic energy onto the dragon’s bones to make it move.
If necromancers saw this, they would surely grind their teeth in envy.
“Oh Evil Dragon God, please eradicate these infidels and purify this world with hellfire!!”
The devil worshippers, whose lives were still hanging by a thread, kneeled in worship to the liberated Dragon Undead, which rampaged right beside them, without even attempting to escape.
They just prayed fervently for it to burn the world down.
I grabbed one of them by the collar and lifted him up.
“Hey, is there a way to stop that thing?”
“Hahaha!! It’s too late now!! It won’t stop until it burns the entire Imperial Palace down!!!”
Did he think I was scared? The skinny devil worshipper laughed at me.
“So there’s no way to stop it, and the target is the Imperial Palace? That doesn’t seem far from the Capital.”
“Wha?!”
“You’re unnecessary now.”
In that moment, the devil worshipper’s head dropped to the ground.
“So you were hiding something like this…?”
I had been wondering why those who worship Satan hadn’t shown up at all, and it seemed they were preparing something like this.
“Wh-what the heck is that…!! How could they do something so horrific!!”
Gemma, witnessing the movement of her kin’s corpse by the power of a demon, was filled with sorrow and anger.
“I can’t forgive this… A being so horrific should not exist in this world..!!”
A light began to emanate from Gemma’s body, and in an instant, she transformed into a gigantic dragon.
She had released her polymorph and returned as a Gold Dragon.
Though the square was quite large, it felt incredibly cramped with two giant dragons now present.
[Kayyyiiiing…….]
“Rrraaaar….”
In the square, where the only source of light was my Aura Blade, the luminescent Gold Dragon emitted a light so bright it appeared to be a divine representative.
Though it had no holy power whatsoever.
The Dragon Undead also seemed to sense Gemma’s presence as it paused its rampage and turned to gaze at the glowing Gemma.
As they faced each other, the Dragon Undead, made entirely of bones, towered over Gemma, who still had flesh intact.
It seemed to be a dragon much older and larger than Gemma.
The sight of the golden Gemma and the dark, writhing Dragon Undead facing each other reminded me of a scene straight out of a monster movie, causing my heart to flutter anxiously.
“Go away, you ominous thing…!!”
Gemma swung her right arm with all her might towards the Dragon Undead.
Her sharp claws tore through the dark magic, leaving behind a golden afterimage.
– Kwang!!
As Gemma’s fierce attack struck the body of the Dragon Undead, a tremendous roar filled the square.
[Kayyyiiing…]
But the Dragon Undead merely shook its head a couple of times as if it were unfazed and returned the favor to Gemma in ‘exactly’ the same way.
– Sshwwwweeeek!!
“Ugh!?”
Gemma used her defensive magic to block the terrifying retaliation from the Dragon Undead.
– Kukwaaaaang!!!!
“Argh!!”
Yet, overpowered, Gemma was slammed against the wall, scraping rocks and collapsing to the ground.
It was clear as day that the Dragon Undead was far stronger than Gemma.
“Uaaah?!”
The square shook as if it was about to crumble, and Amy scrambled around in a panic, trying to escape the falling debris.
Yet despite the chaos, the Dragon Undead’s offensive was just beginning.
[Kayyyyiing!!!!!!]
The Dragon Undead, having slammed Gemma into the ground, began to draw magic energy from its body.
It intended to unleash a barrage of magic energy at Gemma.
“C-Crap!!!”
– Krrrooooaaar!!
As Gemma was pinned to the ground by the Dragon Undead’s arm, bolts of golden lightning erupted from her.
In an instant, the narrow square was filled with brilliance, as if it were midday.
The lightning shot out in all directions, hitting both Amy and me, but I swiftly pulled Amy out of harm’s way and deflected it all with my Aura Blade.
“Why are you still fine after taking that hit!!”
Gemma was caught off guard.
All the lightning bolts struck the Dragon Undead’s body, which was still coiling in smoke, and yet it remained utterly unfazed.
If every single bolt hit, they could vaporize a small mountain.
The Dragon Undead wasn’t even using its bones as a barrier.
It didn’t dodge like me; it just ignored the attacks completely, which meant they were ineffective.
“…Amy, is that what I think it is?”
“It seems like it.”
Looking at that spectacle, a thought crossed my mind.
If that was true, then those from the Demon Church had indeed created a terrifying monster.
[Kayyyyiing!!!!]
As the Dragon Undead howled, a magic-infused roar swept away all the bolts of lightning in an instant.
Though they shared the same form, the gap in power between the two was glaringly apparent.
Gemma’s body was pushed back into the wall by the force of the magic-infused roar.
Even though she attempted to rise and retaliate immediately, the Dragon Undead was gathering the magic it had just been accumulating in its mouth.
[Kayaaaah!!!]
Then, with an ominous sound, the concentrated magic was unleashed toward Gemma.
Gemma immediately generated a 15-layered barrier, but the Dragon Undead’s black breath obliterated it completely.
“Uaaah!!!”
Gemma shrank back in fear.
Realizing there was no escape, she shut her eyes tightly, bracing herself for death.
Yet, the Dragon Undead’s black breath never reached her.
It split apart against the edge of my Aura Blade, creating two massive holes on either side.
“Uh… what?”
Gemma hesitantly opened her tightly shut eyes.
I set down Amy, whom I was carrying, onto Gemma’s shoulders and said just one thing into her ear before dashing off.
“Gemma, hold onto Amy.”
“Y-Yes!!”
Watching Gemma and the Dragon Undead fight, I gauged the situation’s severity.
The aura entwined around the Dragon’s bones wasn’t just to make them move.
It wouldn’t have been that hard if it just needed to move.
These guys… they’d altered the bones of a dragon to impress characteristics akin to a demon.
In other words, it meant they had the same strengths as a demon.
The Dragon Undead wouldn’t be affected by anything from this world.
But having the same strengths as a demon also implied sharing weaknesses.
That meant holy power and pure substances… and the Aura Blade that had reached the Master’s apex.
“Thank the heavens, I’m the demon here!!”
The Squirette’s blade shined with brilliance.
Once again, a meteor struck down onto the shoulder of the Dragon Undead swinging its massive arm.
– Thwack!!
[Kayyyyyy!!]
The light emitted from the Aura Blade eradicated the magic as it pierced through its shoulder.
Despite successfully landing a blow, I felt a bit uneasy.
“Wasn’t that a clean cut?”
Whatever they had done to the bones, it somehow withstood my strike.
I had intended for a clean slice, but the blade lodged into the bone, failing to sever it entirely.
Though my Master’s Aura Blade doesn’t cut through everything, seeing it withstand my strike made me feel stubborn.
[Kayyyyyaaa!!!]
The downed Dragon Undead swatted at me, trying to shake off the insect clinging to it.
Seeing the fierce swing incoming, I stood my ground, inhaling deeply, and readied my Aura Blade with both hands.
“Take this!!”
Channeling all my aura into an even larger strike, a white blade surged up toward the sky like a mountain.
[Kayyyyyaaaack!!!!]
“Is that not enough to kill it?! Now I’m getting more stubborn!!”
Even after executing a technique typically used to erase a person from this world, the magic enveloping the Dragon Undead faded, and its bones shattered, yet it still did not die.
It took damage, but it wasn’t enough.
It seemed that beyond demonization, they had employed some other tricks.
[Crriiiiing…]
Realizing that its attacks had become meaningless, the Dragon Undead went berserk, trying its utmost to throw me off.
It wouldn’t deal me any damage, but if it continued, I feared it would endanger Gemma and Amy too, so I retreated, just for the Dragon Undead to suddenly unleash its breath toward the sky.
“Ugh?!”
The black breath shot upward, piercing through the ceiling and revealing the sky above.
Then, it tilted its head towards the sky.
Seeing that sent chills down my spine.
“This… bastard!!!”
I figured out what it was up to and unleashed a white cleave, but the staggering Dragon Undead steadied itself and soared toward the sky.
“Th-that thing is going to the surface!!! Stop it!!!”
