Editing Leviathan:Volume 1 Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 2===

'In the early hours before dawn, the JMSDF exterminated a group of Raptors. 

'But one of them escaped at the time and allegedly went north from Tokyo Bay to apparently lurk in the vicinity of Shin-Kiba. Currently, an evacuation order has been issued to the surrounding area&mdash;'

This was publicly announced not long after Soth's occupation of the Mansion was confirmed.

Due to the "rule" of concealing information regarding elite dragons as much as possible, New Town's administration had fabricated this cover story.

Thanks to that, Shin-Kiba's redevelopment zone became deserted.

The sun had already set and the night sky was black.

Asya was driving a military jeep, heading to the Mansion alone.

Soth's curse had spread throughout this area. Commoners would simply die for nothing if they stepped foot into here because they were not witches.

Hence, Asya had no choice but to take action alone.

The situation at hand was anxiety inducing. Originally, the plan was to gather all of the few witch-"serpent" pairs in Japan to assemble a team to battle Soth.

Unlike Europe, where the Black Lightning Emperor lurked, or the relatively nearer North America, which was under Red Hannibal's rule, witch-related personnel in Japan had not developed a sense of crisis awareness against elite dragons.

"Were there just a little more time, we could get people from overseas..."

Asya stopped the car and went outside. The air was frighteningly cold.

The cold felt like it would freeze one to the very bones. This was not due to chilling wind but being surrounded by a "Death Curse."

"Rushalka, I'm counting on you," said Asya lightly.

No sooner had she spoken, faint blue light instantly enveloped her body.

She had asked her partner to strengthen the power protecting her. This isolated her completely from the curse, to the point that even the coldness in the air could not be felt.

The sea was nearby.

Asya walked along the shore that was protected by tetrapod breakwaters.

A mini-Monolith stood in one corner of the reclaimed land that was reportedly used as a landfill in the past. The leviathan, Minadzuki, was still coiled around it.

But the originally transparent and colorless triangular prism was now bright red like fresh blood&mdash;

Dressed in a hooded robe, a half-man half-dragon was waiting next to the mini-Monolith.

Interested parties had tentatively named this form "Draconian." This was probably the form taken by Soth. Asya knew Soth was waiting here because she had heard his call.

"My apologies for calling you here suddenly, girl of the mortal race," the Draconian said.

As expected, it was Soth's voice.

Two hours prior, a voice had reportedly reached the MPD urban rescue force patrolling the immediate vicinity outside the Death Curse and issued an announcement.

'I wish to meet all of your priestesses immediately. If I fail to meet them, I shall descend upon your city at the stroke of dawn to indulge my joy of playing with fire.'

This was why Asya had made her way to face off against Soth without waiting for backup.

"You're welcome. Thanks to you, I was able to personally witness this particular appearance from one of your kind. This is actually my first time seeing an elite dragon away from the front lines."

"Elite... Is that what humans call one of the Zizou such as I?"

Due to Soth's strange reptilian face, it was impossible to tell whether he was smiling or not.

However, there was clearly an element of mirth in his staid voice.

"This is nothing much. I am simply taking this rare chance to make a display of the magic I learned out of boredom a long time ago."

"Frankly speaking, I think it'd be better if you made yourself even more like surface dwellers&mdash;more like humans. Given the magic of your kind, turning completely human should be quite easy."

"Of course it is possible, but pray forgive me for noncompliance."

Despite Soth's polite choice of words, his attitude was quite arrogant.

"Dragons pride themselves on eschewing primate form in the first place. Although there exist hybrids as exceptions... At least, it is not the style of I, Raak Al Soth."

"By the way, may I ask why you wanted to see me?" said Asya while smiling fearlessly.

Elite dragons were very strong. Soth's combat power was undoubtedly above that of Rushalka and hers. Even so, Asya still smiled. This was to apply self-suggestion of "victory is mine."

If she admitted defeat in her heart, that would mean the battle had ended before it even started!

"I basically interpret it as receiving a letter of challenge..."

"That would not be wrong. But allow me to elaborate further."

But with leisure and composure, Soth evaded the fighting spirit displayed by Asya.

"Rather than fighting you, I am currently facing an even more meaningful challenge. For this purpose, I must build up my energy. Hence, the ''imitation'' summoned by you shall serve to lend me some blood."

"That Monolith-like object&mdash;Is that your 'power' too?"

"Fufufu, you shall understand immediately. Putting that aside, I shall first enjoy the pleasure of battle!"

Soth's robe suddenly exploded.

A xenomorph suddenly appeared. Despite a humanoid shape, the entire body was covered in dragon scales the color of bronze with a small pair of dorsal wings and a short tail attached to the lower back.

Soth instantly turned from his Draconian form to a gigantic being within the blink of an eye.

The two wings became large, majestic and ominous while the tail extended in length&mdash;Within the brief duration of ten-odd seconds, Soth had rapidly turned back into a giant bronze dragon.

However, Asya noticed something.

The scales covering Soth's entire body were severely blackened. A pitiful sight to behold.

It was as though the scales had lost their luster after being scorched by super-high temperature flames.

"''Imitations'' they may be, but they do closely resemble female dragons of my race. With your blood, my stone tower will be able to acquire enough splendor. I offer you my thanks for this!"

Soth reached for Minadzuki that was coiled around the blood-red mini-Monolith and violently pulled off the unconscious serpentine dragon's giant body, tossing the leviathan away casually.

Then Soth breathed fire at the blood-red mini-Monolith.

"O blood of a female dragon's, accomplish my revival!"

Bathed in dragon flames, the mini-Monolith exploded. The blast engulfed Soth's massive body as well.

"Gooooooooooooh!"

Devoured by the fiery explosion, Soth roared in pain.

However, the black scorch marks disappeared from his giant body within the blink of an eye and the metallic luster of bronze was gradually restored. His wounds were healed!

"You imprisoned a leviathan for the purpose of this magic?"

"Indeed. I shall also drink blood from your summoned ''imitation'' as my nourishment!" yelled Soth in the face of the surprised Asya.

A long metallic rod suddenly appeared in his right hand. Elite dragons were not mere beasts. Like humans, they were capable of using dexterous hands to wield tools.

Reportedly, they especially loved to use "magic wands" as aids in controlling magic.

Furthermore, Soth's wand was no ordinary metallic rod. It was a polearm with a blade affixed to one end of the shaft&mdash;In other words, a "spear."

Asya looked up resolutely and chanted a song of summoning.

"I pray to the ancient divine seal of purity! Send the transient blue dragon to the ground!"

Blue Rushalka instantly materialized in the night sky.

She was the leviathan in wyvern form, lacking the front limbs corresponding to arms.

"Rushalka, this might be the final time... Fight by my side!"

Kyuahhhhhhhhh!

Rushalka roared in response to Asya's orders.

Starting the battle, Soth flew towards Rushalka, wielding the "spear" in one hand.

At the same time, he launched an attack at Asya to pin her down. Soth cast a glance of magic at the ground, the Evil Eye, a technique allowing magic to be cast with just a look!

Asya instantly jumped back.

A small explosion instantly occurred at her former location.

Soth had mischievously delivered a diversionary attack but Asya evaded by jumping back a number of meters with feline movements. This was possible thanks to swiftly casting Leaping Power Enhancement on herself to augment her physical abilities.

Since Haruomi and Orihime were not present this night, Asya did not have to worry about needing to use Rushalka as a shield.

"Let's make our move too. Full force at maximum speed!" commanded Asya swiftly.

There was nothing to hold her back anymore.

Now was the time for a quick and decisive battle with no holds barred&mdash;Prepared for a last stand, Asya and Rushalka were at peak morale.

This was more than mere idealism because in the world of magic, powerful magic could only arise from strong willpower and conviction!

"Rushalka! Focus your pseudo-divinity on long-range attacks. Fire!"

The wyvern spread her wings wide and soared through the sky.

A magic circle appeared in front of her. The pattern of a pentagram was traced inside the circle, its blue light depicting the ancient seal of purification in the night sky.

A moment later, a large volume of water poured out from the center of the magic circle like a torrential flow.

Eight torrents shaped themselves into serpentine heads with gaping jaws lined with teeth.

In the previous battle, Rushalka had used a large volume of water to make a two-headed serpent. This time, there were eight multi-headed serpents. The eight water serpents all flew with astounding speed.

Then tracing out different trajectories, they attacked Soth with their jaws.

Rushalka had invoked her pseudo-divinity of Water, turning it into a ranged magical attack of the highest potency.

"O Secret Runes of Ruruk Soun!"

Soth chanted briefly, deploying defensive power in an instant.

Several runes appeared before him, signifying Shield in their arrangement. This was the "magic shield" for defending Raak Al Soth.

One after another, the giant water serpents pounced at the elite dragon protected by the shield of secret runes.

It felt like a large waterfall crashing into a plunge pool all at once.

Every water serpent brought with it a frightening amount of water, pressure and super-high speed.

Blocking this intense torrent, the runes of the Shield became severely distorted, almost losing to the water pressure and getting washed apart.

However, Soth pointed the "spear" in his hand at the sky and yelled, "O magic wand, release the beast within me!"

The magical power surrounding Soth suddenly expanded dramatically.

At the same time, the runes guarding Soth also glowed white, allowing him to hold his ground motionlessly, rendering the previous scene of almost submitting to the water serpents' pressure seem like a lie.

"...I knew it."

Rushalka's full-powered attack was blocked, but Asya nodded.

Since the enemy was elite, this outcome was predictable but Asya still insisted on going head to head with brute force.

This was for the sake of using strategy and skill to craftily strike at enemy openings after the contest of strength.

"Rushalka, switch pseudo-divinity to Moon and disappear behind the shadow."

Asya contained her burgeoning fighting spirit and quietly whispered.

&mdash;"Pseudo-divinity" referred to the magical affinity of leviathans. Wind pseudo-divinity would allow the use of atmospheric and wind-related spells while Fire pseudo-divinity offered access to flame-type magic. Naturally, Rushalka's affinity was Water.

However, "serpents" often developed a second divinity when covenanting with powerful witches.

Rushalka was the same, holding both pseudo-divinities of Water and Moon as a rare dual-element leviathan.

Switching to Moon divinity, Asya ordered Rushalka to use a new spell.

This pseudo-divinity's base nature was that of faint moonlight, dark nights and disorientation. At Asya's command, Rushalka's figure melded into the dark night and vanished.

"Hmm!?"

Soth was alarmed to see the enemy disappear.

At the same time, the eight water serpents finally disappeared along with the last of their momentum. Having fulfilled their job, the defensive runes gradually vanished, leaving Soth alone in the sky.

In the next instant, Rushalka suddenly appeared behind him.

Using a mystic technique originating from lunar divinity to erase her appearance and presence, Rushalka successfully teleported from darkness to darkness&mdash;

Soth had apparently focused too much on the grand contest of strength, thus exposing an opening. While he was reacting a moment too slow, Asya gave permission to attack.

"Rushalka! Bite and sever Soth's throat!"

Kyuahhhhhhhh!

The blue wyvern roared and extended her neck to attack Soth.

Only then did Soth turn his head with a "Hmm!" and sweep his "spear" horizontally in an attempt to intercept. However, Rushalka dodged skillfully to approach his chest, finally biting the elite dragon's body. But due to evading the "spear," her aim deviated slightly.

Rushalka's sharp teeth sank into Soth's left shoulder.

But this was not a problem. So long as the shoulder was ripped off together with the left arm and chest, a severe injury would be inflicted.

"Laser Breath!"

At Asya's directions, a blue-white glow emerged from Rushalka's mouth.

The Fire Breath of dragons had incinerated many human cities. Leviathans, too, were able to discharge similar kinds of attacks from their mouths. However, such attacks required a cooldown of roughly ten minutes between consecutive shots.

Hence, Asya wanted to pour attack power into the enemy's body without reserve.

The instant she saw her partner bite Soth's left shoulder, she ordered the attack.

"Ohhhhhhhh!?"

Struck by the blue-white heat beam at zero range, Soth screamed.

Rushalka instantly released her jaws and pulled back from her target, flying away nimbly.

A large v-shape was gouged out from Soth's left shoulder to his chest with mercury-colored blood spurting from the wound.

Not a critical wound but quite a severe blow at least&mdash;but Soth scoffed and sneered.

"A splendid job considering your wounded state. Looks like I have no need to show mercy!"

Right now, Soth's left shoulder was gouged open but the left arm remained barely attached to his body.

Using just his right forearm, he swung the "spear."

"O winged lizards of Jabones, hasten forth to become my sword and my scales of steel!"

He summoned Raptors&mdash;lesser dragons.

Dozens of lights descended the overhead starry sky like a meteor shower.

The swarm of Raptors numbered thirty, all flying dragons of a familiar bronze color. The individual strength of Raptors was nothing special, but if one had to handle this many of them while fighting Soth at the same time&mdash;

Furthermore, two of the Raptors had separated from the group to fly rapidly towards Rushalka!

At this moment, Asya heard a familiar voice issue orders.

"Akuro-Ou! Eliminate all of them!"

Asya involuntarily cast her gaze in that direction&mdash;As expected, it was Juujouji Orihime. Dressed in the uniform of the same high school as Haruomi, she was currently charging here.

Appearing behind her, an infinity symbol was materializing, turning into a quadrupedal beast&mdash;

Before Asya's eyes, the white-furred vulpine-lupine leviathan manifested. On her back were nine tails resembling great serpents.

The white nine-tailed fox-wolf responded to her summoner's orders and jumped high into the air.

Moving her limbs casually, she started soaring with just a light kick against the ground.

No longer moving her legs, the flying fox-wolf moved through the air in a straight line like a speeding comet.

Its flight was powerful and rapid beyond compare. The white fox-wolf rushed over to Rushalka's side in less than ten seconds, intercepting the two flying Raptors.

In the next instant, two of the tails on the fox-wolf's back suddenly moved.

The long and thick tails reached towards the Raptors.

Then the ends of the tails struck the lesser dragons in the face like whips, sweeping them away.

Asya realized that those nine tails were weapons!

Upon closer examination, each tail had black fur on the end, with symbols resembling Sanskrit glowing mysteriously at the very tip.

The nine tails apparently served as the white fox-wolf's "horn counterpart."

Struck by the tails, both Raptors' necks were broken and bent.

Apparently killed, the two winged lizards turned into stone and crashed down.

"Hoh&mdash;" muttered Soth in the air upon seeing the arrival of an unexpected enemy.

Asya was also staring at Orihime with surprise all over her face. Bringing about the birth of Orihime's "serpent" was supposed to take much more time, but... Why?
[[image:Leviathan 01 261.jpg|thumb]]

"Looks like I made it in the nick of time. Reinforcements are here, Asya-san!"

Meanwhile, Juujouji Orihime was speaking with her naturally cheerful personality.