Editing Leviathan:Volume 4 Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 3===

"Hmm. One set of preparations is completed."

The Draconian user of the dragonslaying chain, the Gray Aristocrat, muttered to himself.

He was still at the plaza where Orihime and Akuro-Ou were imprisoned. However, something that previously did not exist on this plaza had been born.

A transparent triangular prism, roughly thirty meters tall.

After meditating for a long time, the Gray Aristocrat had slowly used high-level magic of Ruruk Soun. The triangular prism suddenly grew out of the plaza's stone-paved floor.

Orihime had seen a structure in a triangular prism like this before.

It was a magical pillar that had captured Shirasaka Hazumi's "serpent"&mdash;Minadzuki.

By absorbing the serpentine leviathan's blood, the transparent triangular prism, which could be considered a mini-Monolith, took on a deep red color to become a mystical elixir for healing the elite dragon Soth&mdash;

"Y-You're planning to use that thing to suck Akuro-Ou's blood after all!?"

"You know of it, Priestess? Indeed you are correct. I shall use this to store female dragon blood, which will undoubtedly prove useful when I ''resurrect'' my past body..."

Her suspicions confirmed, Orihime was greatly shaken.

However, a minute or two after the mini-Monolith appeared, she noticed a familiar magical beast in the air.

It was Glinda. Furthermore, she was equipped with black arrowheads&mdash;weapons formed by manifesting the Rune of the Bow's power&mdash;and enveloped in flames completely!

Of course, the Gray Aristocrat also noticed Glinda's flaming lion form.

"Tyrannos of the Bow, you came as expected."

Glinda and the two arrowheads were hovering two hundred meters over Orihime's location.

Directly underneath her was a magnificent palace, ostensibly the Dragon Palace Court's cardiac chamber. Thus, Glinda and the two arrowheads suddenly rushed downwards like arrows.

Wrapped in flames, the lion first collided with the palace below.

The ancient Chinese-style building exploded, blown away by Glinda. Without losing speed or momentum at all, Glinda continued onward underground&mdash;or rather, the interior of the Dragon Palace Court's carapace.

"In that case, I must intercept in full force..."

The Gray Aristocrat muttered gloomily to himself before his entire body crumbled into dust.

In the next instant, the ground began to shake intensely. Standing there, Orihime went "kyahh!?", lost her balance and fell on her bottom.

Judging from the intensity of the tremor, it was probably 5 or 6 on the Richter scale.

However, the earthquake only lasted for ten-odd seconds.

"Owwwwww... Haruga-kun and Luna-san have come to rescue me."

Enduring the pain from her bottom, Orihime felt greatly relieved.

Also, she noticed that the chain binding her ankle had disappeared. It had apparently vanished at the same time as when the Draconian Gray Aristocrat collapsed his form.

Taking a closer look, she noticed that the chain restraining Akuro-Ou had suddenly disappeared too.

"Is that gray dragon no longer nearby? What do you think, Akuro-Ou?"

The white fox-wolf shook her nine tails, stood up and went "kuoooooo!" As her partner, Orihime understood that Akuro-Ou was responding in affirmation.

"Then with that, there is only one thing to be done..."

Orihime nodded at Akuro-Ou.

Although she had no idea what exactly had happened, in any case, she was free. More importantly, her friends had come to this Dragon Palace Court to pick her up. She must find a way to meet up with them!

"Akuro-Ou, try firing a beam into the air! Also howl at the sky like a dog to tell them we're here. Thanks!"


Hal and Luna Francois finally fired the sun-shooting divine bow.

Before shooting the divine bow, twenty-one runes of Ruruk Soun had appeared behind Glinda's back, signifying "I will fire the sun-shooting divine bow at the sky, to exterminate the sun."

This was ultra advanced scripture that served as a mantra for recording this technique of assured annihilation.

In this manner, Glinda and the two arrowheads shot through the Dragon Palace Court's sturdy carapace while enveloped in scorching flames, drilling deep into the Dragon Palace Court's depths like digging a tunnel.

Meanwhile, Hal was standing on the ground&mdash;more precisely, on the turtle carapace.

However, even though the scorching arrows were out of sight, Hal still knew that it was hurtling towards the Dragon Palace Court's heartmetal as though he were seeing it with his own eyes. This was also a privilege enjoyed by the marksman of the divine bow.

Glinda and the two arrowheads reached the Dragon Palace Court's cardiac chamber.

Matching the size of a kilometer-long super creature, it was as big as the Tokyo Dome in the human world. At the very center was a sphere roughly ten-odd meters in diameter.

The sphere was dark green. This was the Dragon Palace Court's heartmetal.

Thus, using Glinda and the two arrowheads as arrows, the sun-shooting divine bow fired at the heartmetal.

However, a counterweighted chain suddenly appeared in front of the heartmetal. Naturally, this was the dragonslaying chain of the Gray Aristocrat. The chain traced out a evil-vanquishing symbol of the pentagram. The pentagram turned into a barrier, blocking Glinda and the two arrowheads to withstand the divine bow's power.

Raging wind and blazing fire scattered. Despite Glinda's best efforts, trying to break through the pentagram chain&mdash;

She still could not prevail.

The pentagram chain was probably imbued with a technique of assured annihilation that particularly strengthened magical defense.

Eighteen runes of Ruruk Soun also appeared nearby as though surrounding the pentagram.

The arrangement signified "O guardian stars, grant me protection swiftly." Even the divine bow could not possibly obliterate the chain's magical barrier after piercing the Dragon Palace Court's carapace.

Ruohhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Unable to destroy the target despite being fired as an arrow, Glinda growled in frustration.

Then Glinda vanished immediately. Dispelling her materialized form, she returned to her covenantee’s side.


"Either way, I expected it to be blocked with 80% certainty."

Hal opened his eyes and shrugged.

In order to ''visually keep track'' of the siege battle inside the Dragon Palace Court, Hal had closed his eyes on purpose. Haruga Haruomi's body was currently still outside the Dragon Palace Court, at the palace on top of the shell.

However, his hand was holding the method to attack the interior of the Dragon Palace Court.

He casually pointed the magic gun in his right hand at the sky to use Enemy Search and Aim magic.

Hal pulled the trigger, firing in triple burst mode. Three bullets of light flew out swiftly from the muzzle, entering the Dragon Palace Court's cardiac chamber through the hole opened by Glinda.

Only a magical gun could carry out such a ridiculous long-distance shot.

Instead of the Dragon Palace Court's heartmetal, the three bullets of light were targeting the spiritual body hanging around next to it&mdash;invisible to the naked eye, a spirit entity that could only be seen using magical sight.

It was the soul of the Gray Aristocrat, a ghost of a former dragon king like Hinokagutsuchi.

Hal closed his eyes again to confirm the bullets' whereabouts. The three bullets of light had been struck down by the iron chain just before piercing the former dragon king.

Naturally, it was the Rune of the Chain. The enemy's defense was ironclad.

"Looks like the Gray Aristocrat intends to hold position for now, standing guard by the heartmetal..."

A tactic abandoning mobility to focus on defense.

Perhaps because the enemy had retreated to the final defense line and gathering all magical power there, it now became possible to use investigative magic inside the Dragon Palace Court. Precisely because of that, Hal could use Enemy Detection to sense his opponent underground.

"Harry, could you lend me that gun?"

"Oh sure. But putting that aside, Luna, now we should be able to find Juujouji&mdash;"

As soon as Hal agreed to Luna's request on reflex, Luna Francois snatched the magic gun from Hal's. Raising the gun with both hands, she aimed the 9mm muzzle right at Hal's heart.

"Please finish within thirty seconds should you have any last words. I will abide by your wishes as much as possible. That is, after I shoot and kill you."

"U-Uh, w-why are you doing this!?"

"Do you really need to ask? You have done the unforgivable. You have rudely groped, violated and defiled my chest&mdash;my bust&mdash;the sacred territory that I have never allowed anyone to touch! To atone for this grave sin, die obediently by my hand!"

"Now that you mention it, I did actually do that..."

Breathing heavily, Luna's wrath was clear to see.

Although not as severe as Double Casting, the method used just now would still have consumed plenty of magical power. She should be resting instead. Be that as it may, Luna still used her exhausted body to take the gun and aim at Hal.

On the other hand, Hal was not as tired probably because he was used to it. He instantly explained, "I'd be truly grateful if I could earn your forgiveness by groveling and prostrating myself on the ground while you hit and kick me as much as you like. If possible, let's rule out shoot and kill..."

"After all, Harry, your body won't die from getting shot a few times, right!?"

"You're right... Oh, then please don't at vitals at least..."

''Groping so suddenly'' was overdoing it, as one might expect.

Seeing Luna Francois' eyes flashing with anger, Hal replied subconsciously.

Regret and guilt surged in his heart. Furthermore, he definitely had a ridiculous body such that even falling from hundreds of meters high would only get an "owww..." reaction from him.

Perhaps it did not count as atonement unless he suffered stabs or gunshots.

"Excellent resolve. Then I shall not hold back&mdash;!"

"Y-You're acting just like how I predicted, no hesitation at all!"

Luna immediately switched her target to Hal's ear and pulled the trigger.

However, the magic gun's trigger did not budge the slightest. Speaking of which, this handgun was a weapon that only Haruga Haruomi could use.

Holding the useless magic gun, Luna Francois was taken aback in surprise, then&mdash;

"Good grief... I can't believe I still cannot take revenge after being subjected to that..."

The blonde witch collapsed helplessly on the ground and began to cry!

"L-Luna?"

"I was molested... Not only that, but groped this way and that so forcefully, a-a-a-a-a-and in the end, there was even a strange feeling&mdash;"

"Huh?"

Luna Francois hung her head and silently wept.

Speaking of which, after using the technique of assured annihilation and Hal's hand had released Luna's heavy bust...

She had gone limp as though intoxicated with alcohol and sat down on the floor. The pale complexion of her beautiful face was faintly blushing while she panted and stared blankly at Hal for quite a while with moistened eyes&mdash;

From Luna's expression at the time, Hal could read several kinds of emotions.

Confusion, discomposure as well as something akin to ecstasy. Regardless, Hal decided to apologize to her first.

"Umm... Anyway, I'm sorry. Because I needed to transfer magical power from my rune to Glinda through your heart, it couldn't be helped&mdash;"

"You touched my chest for a reason of 'couldn't be helped'!?"

"T-To be honest, I can't deny that I also felt it was a 'rare chance'... But no matter what, you're very pretty and attractive, also&mdash;"

"What 'also'!? Regardless, it's a perverted and closeted motive, isn't it!?"

"Oh no. Actually, I really like your personality and true nature. Your ways of thinking are similar to mine, so I feel like we're kindred spirits. And even though you're clearly the same type as me (yet different from Asya), you're a reliable girl and elegant young lady. That's something I find very interesting and refreshing."

As a side note, the bracketed words were only said in Hal's thoughts without being sounded aloud, because he felt that it would be inappropriate to bring up other girls in this kind of situation, even if it was Asya.

Hearing Hal's confession, Luna sighed deeply.

"...You are truly a weirdo after all, Harry. Most boys would say 'I was deceived!' as soon as they discover my true nature then flee or lose their temper and cry themselves to sleep."

"It's not like I can't sympathize with them..." said Hal to Luna Francois, whose tears seemed to have ceased.

He glanced at the neckline of Luna's dress&mdash;the boldly low-cut part&mdash;then said, "Besides, you're probably creating problems by toying with the hearts of those kinds of boys and deliberately wearing revealing outfits to provoke them."

"I don't care! It's fun to toy with those kinds of boys, to have them in the palm of my hand!"

"Just as I thought, your personality is lovely."

"Hmph. And yet you said earlier that you really like me this way."

"I do like you. I consider this aspect part of your charm."

"&mdash;!?"

Luna widened her reddened eyes and stared at Hal.

However, what her gaze conveyed was not anger but the light of sensitivity, intellect and passion.

"Age and talent, no problem. Quick wits yet to be confirmed but promising. Status and wealth would surely grow dramatically henceforth. Unexpectedly open-minded, perhaps. As someone who likes freedom himself, Harry's' chances of excessive interference in my life are quite low..."

"L-Luna, what's with you?"

"I am appraising you."

"Huh?"

"Didn't you tell me you 'like' me? I am assessing whether I ought to respond to your proposal and build a stable relationship with you."

"Ehhhhhh!? Y-You misunderstood me, I meant I 'like' you as a friend!"

When Hal explained himself after the fact, Luna Francois responded coldly, "You dare say that despite ogling me with lustful eyes?"

"......"

"Despite groping my chest and making me feel that way?"

"F-Feel what way exactly!?"

"...Not."

Turning her face away with a blush like a child, Luna Francois was adorable to the point of cheating. Hal could not help but stare mesmerized.

"Probably due to the shocking experience that came without warning, I was struck by an illusion as though our distance had shrunk all at once. I must have mistaken it for fluttering in my heart. Combined with the 'like' word taking advantage of the opening in my mind, it caused me to start having weird thoughts..."

"I-If you've already analyzed yourself to that extent, let's just drop the matter, okay?"

"But I have a feeling that it might not be bad to try allowing myself to take action and go along with this mistaken feeling... Also because of that, I'm starting to feel that it might not be so unthinkable to seriously consider going out with you, Harry."

"......"

"On further thought, I am someone with a twisted personality apart from my scheming ways. Don't you think that we would get along very smoothly if I go out with a unique boy like you?"

Luna Francois was apparently the very decisive type when confronted with issues on this front.

Leaving Hal speechless, she looked at him skeptically.

"However, Harry, you subjected Orihime-san to the same action."

"Oh, how should I put it&mdash;Yeah. Pressed by the battle situation, we reached a consensus on many different areas... By the way, isn't it time for you to return my gun?"

Despite her inability to depress the magic gun's trigger, Luna still pointed the muzzle at Hal's heart again. Her gaze was unfocused, which implied that this was more driven by the subconscious than intent to kill.

"No. Lend it to me a while longer. So Harry, I shall tell you this from the start."

"O-Okay."

"I am probably richer than you imagine, Harry, so if you need to pay her alimony, I will fund all of it for you. But suppose you intend to maintain this relationship, then I would request that you and Orihime-san refrain from entering the stage of official marriage. If the two of you were to produce children, I could adopt them into the Haruga-Gregory household."

"W-What?"

"I am a realist. I also know what perverted creatures men are. Forbidding two-timing could end up causing affairs behind my back, which would be infuriating too."

Luna Francois stared intently at Hal and said, "Consequently, I won't force you to break up with her. Conversely, please draw the line properly between you and everyone else. Otherwise, I may very well shoot and kill women who rub me the wrong way. In the event that I fail to control myself, I may even kill you as well, Harry."

"......"

Luna made her declaration while aiming the gun at Haruga Haruomi's heart. On the other hand, Hal simply stood there stunned. At that moment, a beast's call was suddenly heard from afar.

Kuohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh&mdash;

A canid beast was howling from several hundred meters away. They had heard this sound before.

"It's Akuro-Ou!"

The instant Hal shouted, a beam of red light shot from a corner of a palace to the sky.

It was like a flare. The light looked as though it was shooting out from near the neck of the giant turtle that was the Dragon Palace Court. A breath beam released from a leviathan's mouth.

"Juujouji must have ordered Akuro-Ou to do that to tell us their location."

"As expected of my rival, I suppose I should say? Hey Harry, I don't want to unnecessarily lose someone like her whose bright future knows no bounds. Please think over what I just said very carefully, okay?"

The headstrong and unreasonable Luna Francois was displaying a refreshingly prim expression.