Editing Leviathan:Volume 3 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 2===

Hal's home was located at Narihira Bridge in the Sumida Ward. The nearest helipad was on the Sumida River's shore, an airfield used in the event of disasters.

Hurrying there together with Orihime, Hal boarded the helicopter sent to pick them up.

As a large helicopter designed for naval minesweeping, it probably belonged to the JMSDF. The space in the fuselage was meant for transporting supplies. Despite being guests, Hal and Orihime had to sit in small seats akin to auxiliary seating on buses.

Hal and Orihime took their seats there, becoming part of the not so numerous cargo.

Amidst the thunderous roaring of the rotors, the helicopter flew swiftly, finally reaching the destination.

Offshore of Haneda in the Tokyo Bay&mdash;This was a stretch of ocean only ten-odd kilometers away from Haneda Airport.

Hal looked at Orihime who was sitting beside him. During the flight so far, the novice witch had kept her eyes closed to concentrate, because she was using Astral Link magic to send her partner Akuro-Ou to the scene while controlling remotely.

Roughly one kilometer ahead of them, the white fox-wolf was engaging in an aerial battle against dragons numbering in three digits at least.

Furthermore, neither Hazumi nor Minadzuki were present at Haneda's offshore waters.

This was because they were on standby at New Town's shore, prepared to handle Raptors at the water's edge.

"Juujouji, it's almost time for you to cancel remote control."

"Y-Yes..."

Orihime whispered in response to Hal's quiet reminder. Due to using Astral Link, she was in too deep of a trance.

At this moment, the helicopter lowered its altitude and landed on the deck of a large destroyer.

This ship class had a displacement of fifteen thousand tons. The deck was very spacious, allowing many helicopters to take off and land without issue. Waiting nearby, two JSMDF crew members rushed over.

Since the door was already opened from outside, Hal took Orihime's hand and jumped off the helicopter.

Orihime slowly looked up and watched the aerial battle from the destroyers deck with a dazed look.

"Akuro-Ou...?"

Orihime's partner was jumping around strongly.

The nine-tailed fox-wolf, Akuro-Ou. Although her beautiful fur was white, it reflected red light when bathed under the sun's rays.

Akuro-Ou flew with agility as though swimming through the atmosphere. She was currently flying in a straight line, biting a certain Raptor's neck firmly.

The enemies were Raptors, commonly known as lesser dragons. They were about seven meters long in size.

In comparison, leviathans, most notably Akuro-Ou, only approached double the size of Raptors. If the situation evolved into a one-against-many melee mess, one would reason there was no way for her to win against Raptors.

Akuro-Ou's large and strong jaws easily crushed the Raptors' delicate necks.

However, the number of Raptors was estimated to be two hundred at least. Even taking them out one at a time like this, there would not be enough time.

Furthermore, many Raptors were ignoring Akuro-Ou, flying towards Tokyo on their own.

In order to strike down these Raptors, fighter jet squadrons belonging to the SDF and the TPDO were flying back and forth in the sky. An interception fleet was also firing artillery from the sea surface.

Surveying the chaotic battle offshore of Haneda, Orihime's gaze grew sharp.

Presumably fully recovered from her trance, she immediately yelled, "Akuro-Ou! Use fire magic to blow them all away!"

Akuro-Ou roared in response to her covenantee's call.

Kuohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Soaring through the sky, the white fox-wolf's entire body lit on fire, enveloped in crimson flames.

The flames exploded directly like fireworks, scattering in all directions from Akuro-Ou to incinerate everything. This was the result of her using the pseudo-divinity of Fire.

The shotgun blast created by Akuro-Ou rained down as sparks.

Even if hit by merely one spark, each Raptor was immediately swallowed by exploding fire, burning like a torch while crashing down into Tokyo Bay.

Such a spectacular display of mass extermination. However, only thirty or forty Raptors were taken out. Complete extermination was still far from achieved.

"Haruga-kun, try letting her use the Bow's power this time!"

"Okay, I got it!"

After half a month's absence, the Rune of the Bow was going to be used again to enhance pseudo-divinity to unleash a dragonslaying blast&mdash;

Orihime and Hal exchanged nods. However, they heard a voice from behind at this moment.

"Don't worry. I think there's no need to use the rune yet."

"Asya-san!?"

They looked back to see that Asya had arrived behind them.

Hal's childhood friend was dressed in her recent getup consisting of the school uniform with a military jacket on top. Asya swiftly motioned to the side with a glance. Her gaze was directed towards another witch.

A patrol helicopter happened to be landing on the deck.

The rotors continued to spin slowly and had yet to stop completely. Luna Francois Gregory jumped out from the fuselage nimbly.

She landed on the deck with something like a skip.

Noticing the gazes of Hal's group, Luna smiled and waved lightly to them, looking calm and confident.

Paired with that frilly black one-piece dress, she looked like an heiress out on a tour. However, that slender yet mature body of hers, brimming with feminine charm, was conveying her absolutely unshakable confidence as a master mage.

"Orihime-san, please take a good look at how potent the powers of a master-class 'serpent' are when in peak condition rather than on the verge of death. Although she has serious problems in personality and disposition, Luna is blessed with rare gifts as a witch."

"She is Luna-san...?"

Watched by Hal and the others, Luna Francois chanted a song of summoning.

"O stars! Bring forth my magic from the far end of the rainbow!"

A gigantic and ferocious beast gradually materialized on the destroyer's deck.

It was a lion ten-odd meters in length. No less impressive than Akuro-Ou in physique, she also had a beautiful mane. Her fur featured a vivid orange color.

And on the right shoulder&mdash;was a green dragon head.

There was even a black goat head on the left shoulder!

In addition, the tail was in the form of a black snake. Its scythe-like neck was raised like a vigorous snake's.

"Is that Glinda... Miss Gregory's 'serpent'!?"

The Trans-Pacific Area's Shootdown Ace, of equal renown as Blue Rushalka who used to be called Europe's strongest.

Hal recalled this rumor. Asya's partner was rare and precious dual-element leviathan possessing pseudo-divinities of Water and Moon. Glinda the "Good Witch of the South" was the same.

Her affinities were Illusion as well as&mdash;

"Glinda, exhibit your magic to everyone."

As soon as the order was issued, the three-headed "serpent" instantly cried out with all three mouths.

Ruooooooooooooooooooooo...

Immediately, a magic circle appeared over the destroyer where Glinda and Hal's group were riding. Illustrated in the center of the magic circle was the evil-exorcising pentagram adorned by complex surrounding patterns forming a circle.

Furthermore, this magic circle was traced out with ominous black light.

Seeing that, Asya instantly issued directions on the destroyer's deck.

"Orihime-san, please tell Akuro-Ou to stand down! It will be dangerous!"

"U-Understood!"

Hal looked up to see that all fighter jets&mdash;friendly aircraft&mdash;had vanished from the sky.

They had already sought refuge when Akuro-Ou was invoking pseudo-divinity. This was to allow the "serpent" to unleash wide-area attacks without reservation. Furthermore, this was to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Similarly, the nine-tailed fox-wolf retreated away from the black magic circle's vicinity&mdash;

"Scatter them!"

Luna Francois immediately issued the command.

As a result, the magic circle suddenly expanded. Furthermore, it began to expand spherically, finally turning into a gigantic sphere roughly a kilometer in diameter.

Undoubtedly, at least a hundred Raptors became trapped inside&mdash;

"Gravity Control!"

With a vigorous shout from Luna, the black sphere vanished without trace.

What happened next was exceedingly simple. All the Raptors that had been trapped inside the sphere fell into Tokyo Bay. However, the winged lizards' bodies had suffered tragic damage.

Wings, necks, limbs, torsos, spines, tails&mdash;

Various parts of their bodies had been broken and twisted, forcibly compressed, even flattened.

This was the damage caused by Glinda's pseudo-divinity of Gravity.

The lion leviathan had applied supergravity to crush these dragons to death!

"Gravity manipulation... I had heard rumors, but this is totally absurd."

"Rushalka and I follow the creed of elegance in battle, but Luna and Glinda rely on brute force. Yet she's always defaming me, calling me a savage or whatever..."

"Haruga-kun, there are lingering stragglers. Let us move out!"

Although Hal was hesitating whether or not to launch a witty retort against Asya's mutterings...

Since Orihime had invited him, Hal decided to forget about making witty comebacks. There were roughly forty or fifty Raptors remaining in the air. The elite dragon controlling them should be hiding somewhere.

To try using the Bow to snipe the hidden dragon huh?

While calculating in his mind, Hal decided to summon his magic gun first.

(Right now... Refrain from making a move.)

"Huh?"

Suddenly hearing a whisper, Hal interrupted what he was doing.

It was a thought transmitted from Hinokagutsuchi. Why did she raise this kind of warning? While Hal was feeling doubt, an unexpected phenomenon occurred. The Rune of the Bow appeared on his right palm.

Hal instinctively knew the dragonslaying bow was trying to tell him something.

The weapon paired with it was nearby&mdash;Unmistakably.

(Feel free to continue if you have tired of the mundane world and wish to commit suicide. Do not summon your "wand" to provoke her pointlessly. That girl is a hundred times more belligerent than you...)

Listening to Hinokagutsuchi's voice, Hal looked up at the sky again.

It was here. Golden radiance was descending from the far end of the sky. Although only a small dot was visible in the beginning, it was gradually becoming bigger.

"W-What is that...?"

Orihime's whispered murmur was probably a question weighing on the minds of everyone present.

The sky was quite clear today. The golden radiance&mdash;no, a terrifying gigantic creature&mdash;swept away the few clouds in the blue sky, descending upon Tokyo Bay like a meteor.

More bluntly stated, it was a super enormous turtle a hundred meters long.

Furthermore, the giant turtle's massive body was enveloped in golden light. This surreal creature was descending to Tokyo Bay.

Only mere minutes had elapsed since he had noticed the light. It was falling rather fast.

However, as it neared the sea surface, the gigantic golden chelonian creature decelerated with astounding smoothness. Then quietly, it landed on Tokyo Bay's surface.

Despite its super large body, it was equipped with amazingly agile aerial mobility.

"I-Is that a dragon too!?"

"It's possible. There have been past reports pointing out examples of elite dragons using magic to transform themselves into bizarre forms. However&mdash;"

"However, that size and magical strength would be a bit too extraordinary..."

Asya replied to the inexperienced Orihime. Arriving by their side without anyone noticing, Luna Francois also interjected. The two master-class witches exchanged glances.

"Has a dragon king of legend arrived?"

"Red Hannibal, the Black Lightning Emperor... That term refers to the world's strongest dragons like them."

"Your guess is probably half wrong."

Hal's quiet comment made the three witches jump in fright.

At this moment, the golden brightness had vanished. In other words, the light surrounding the bizarre chelonian creature hovering in the air. Right now, the massive body's surface and shell looked greenish black.

Surprisingly, the giant black turtle landed on the water surface near the destroyer.

They were only ten meters apart. Observed from close range, the giant turtle's visage exhibited sacred dignity befitting a humongous monster.

In addition, a black-haired girl was standing on the giant turtle's wide forehead.

She was dressed in a white one-piece dress with her arms crossed in confidence, standing sternly upright with her feet apart. Her appearance was as adorable as a snow fairy with a sense of serene beauty.

However, Hal pointed at the beautiful maiden and warned his companions.

"According to what my rune and wand are telling me, the dragon king seems to be there&mdash;It's that girl."

The surviving Raptors howled shrilly in the air.

Terrified by the arrival of a sovereign standing at the pinnacle of their race, they were flying aimlessly all over the place in disarray.

"That insanely huge turtle is her minion... It's just a flunkie..."
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