Editing Leviathan:Volume 2 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 4===

An icy plain of white as far as the eye could see&mdash;

However, the season was spring rather than winter in this land.

Princess Yukikaze's location was at the most northwestern point of the North American continent, at North Slope in Alaska.

A tundra zone next to the Arctic Ocean. Even though it was spring, the snow was melting rather late this year. Currently, the land was still covered in ice. However, this chilly air was quite ideal for Princess Yukikaze.

Well, a mild climate would not be bad either.

However, the sense of fulfillment could not compare to standing inside a vortex of extreme heat and cold.

A land of extremes where ordinary people had difficulty inhabiting. Standing there sternly to present a conqueror's majesty, she admired the view of raging wind, the sun and dark clouds&mdash;

This moment was when Princess Yukikaze's enjoyment peaked.

Currently, she was still maintaining her human appearance that was as beautiful as a snow fairy. A smile was displayed on the corners of her lips while clad in a white one-piece dress, she regarded the icy plain's silent beauty with affection.

After a while, she turned her gaze towards the man who was tainting this land of pure white like a blot of black ink.

Watching over her silently from behind, the man waited for her to speak first.

"I've been having trouble remembering lately... What is your name again?"

"O Lord, please call me Sophocles."

The man was dressed in a black suit with only a flimsy gray coat draped over it.

He was definitely too lightly dressed for this plain of ice. However, that refined voice of his remained steady without any hint of suffering from the cold.

"Ah yes, indeed. I heard you mention it a long time ago, but I forgot. By the way&mdash;"

"Are you inquiring about the silver dragon who had inherited the Sword?"

"Indeed. The island nation that you wanted the silver dragon to annex&mdash;It's part of the Crimson Queen's former territories. So the Bow is there after all?"

"I am afraid so. I intend to head over to search later."

The man in black, Sophocles, spoke in a sincere tone.

"However, regardless of whether a seal of dragonslaying is present in those lands, the trial I demanded will not change. The 'wedge' driven into that island nation is about to mature. Sniffing out the signs, the Jabones and the Zizou are evidently circling around that area."

"Wedge... Ah, is that the one that the Lightning Emperor and King Hannibal drove into the ground together?"

Princess Yukikaze looked south across the plain of ice.

An upright triangular prism of pure black was towering in the distance. A super tall structure exceeding a thousand meters in height. A tower the humans called a Monolith.

This tundra region was a dragon concession established in Alaska.

"I never expected this sort of thing to be built during my absence from earth."

"I originally intended to find a dragon king to advise taking over those lands. But simply because I chanced upon that silver dragon, I entrusted the task to him."

"Hmph... To establish one's kingdom as a show of caliber, sallying forth in valor along the Road to Kingship."

Princess Yukikaze laughed lightly.

"Haha, the earth has become slightly interesting. With that, the issue becomes the Bow's controller who might be present in that nation. Like me, Yukikaze, he holds the one half of the bow and arrow pair..."

She crossed her arms while her beautiful face, pale as snow, grew pensive.

"If the one who stands as Yukikaze's peer turns out to be an incompetent buffoon, there is no helping it: He will need to be decapitated and taken care of before anything goes wrong. However..."

The girl's delicate body naturally heated up.

It was the burgeoning fighting spirit and curiosity responding to her, the white dragon king.

"If his caliber is sufficient to defeat the silver dragon, then I might be inclined to ''rampage'' across the earth again after so long. Sophocles, report the results to me afterwards!"


Then night finally fell.

The SDF's air force and navy had respective bases on Miyaka Island of the Izu Islands.

Stationed here was also a large aircraft carrier fleet belonging to the Trans-Pacific Defense Organization along with patrol units, etc&mdash;

A shining giant beast broke past the defensive line woven by these military forces.

First, the magic of High-Speed Flight tore through the reconnaissance net. This was extraordinary magic allowing the gigantic body, ten-odd meters long, to break the sound barrier.

Shining with the luster of metallic silver, the dragon spread his supersonic wings, racing across the sky above the Pacific Ocean.

With his destination already decided, the trajectory was a straight line. While producing sonic booms, he charged forward with ferocity.

Naturally, the human side had guards in charge of interception.

Those were the SDF and TPDO's air force and interception fleet.

But having seen that the <i>enemy</i>'s true identity was an elite dragon&mdash;scientific name: Eques Draconis&mdash;an officer silently shook his head.

This was because he knew that interception would be futile.

In fact, the flying silver dragon only took one combat action.

He simply kept roaring. However, a magic beast's roar carried overwhelming magical power, drowning out the noise from all artillery and engines to reverberate across the sky. Then the sound turned into a pulse, instantly sweeping across the entire airspace.

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

All humans present within this pulse had their hearts ruptured, instantly dying on the spot. Death arrived swiftly and assuredly, whether inside fighter jet cockpits, escort vessels, cruisers or aircraft carriers, no exceptions.

Then after an extremely brief period of time...

The elite dragon with metallic silver luster arrived over Yokohama.

Having shifted to supersonic flight suddenly, the dragon had not given 'serpent'-related personnel in the Kantou region any time or chance to react.

However, he did not do this for the purpose of avoiding conflict.

Instead, he was impatient for the imminent battle. He wanted to declare war as early as possible.

"I hereby decree to the humans of these lands. It is my wish that you record the entirety of my next words to pass onto your friends and neighbors. This announcement concerns your future greatly."

The words uttered by the silver dragon consisted of easily understood English.

Then his voice, filled with masculinity and sense of honor, resounded clearly across the night sky of the Yokohama metropolis.

The silver dragon scales glittered amidst light from the night scenery. Towering next to the dragon hovering motionlessly in the air was the symbol of Yokohama city, the Yokohama Landmark Tower.

"I shall bear the shame of admitting to my ignorance. Regarding these islands, the system governing your country and the political rulers in charge, I know very little. Perhaps even nothing at all."

Despite his true nature as a magic beast known as the dragon, he possessed a pleasant voice.

His voice, dignified and awe-inspiring, had the oratorical qualities capable of moving the audience's emotions. Filled with masculinity, that voice sounded even cheerful.

"Nevertheless, I hereby swear. I shall annex these lands, known as the islands of Japan, to place under my rule, to become territory pledging allegiance to me as the one and only monarch."

The giant silver dragon had declared his intention to make Japan his territory&mdash;

However, the audience was thrown into extreme panic and chaos.

After receiving news that a dragon had invaded Tokyo Bay's airspace, relevant ministries issued an emergency evacuation order.

However, the silver dragon had arrived faster than ordinary lesser dragons. Right now, many citizens in urban Yokohama were still making their way towards shelters.

A swirling vortex of shouts, laments, screams, despair, weeping, turmoil, chaos...

The people inside and around the Yokohama Landmark Tower who had yet to escape either ran, stumbled, stood motionless or huddled into a ball, staring blankly at the giant dragon in the sky&mdash;

Most people at the scene were plunged into severe confusion.

"I swear that I shall not permit any dragons apart from my minions to approach this country after it becomes my territory. The privilege to trample the nation of Japan is reserved solely under the banner of I, Pavel Galad."

The dragon finally revealed his own name.

However, almost no one in the audience noticed that.

"Starting tomorrow, I will wait for a total of five days. O king or ruler unknown to me, if you wish for my invasion to conclude peacefully, come to me during this time and swear fealty to me."

Satisfied, Pavel Galad looked down upon the chaos on the ground.

"I shall take to the field at sundown on the fifth day. When that time comes, I will rid this country of all swords and fires, engaging repeatedly in destruction, a thorough show of force until you all submit."

Galad extended his right hand. Manifested on his palm was a seal consisting of three Vs in a row.

It was the runic symbol that the dragon king Hannibal had called the Rune of the Sword.

"Frankly speaking, I don't want you to submit easily. Rather than accept humbly offered land, winning territory personally would serve as better proof of one's worth as a warrior&mdash;"

In the next instant, a gigantic longsword appeared suddenly in his palm.

"And I am a warrior!"

The sword's double-edged blade was long and thick. The hilt portion was also very long, enough for Galad to hold with both hands with room to spare.

The symbol of the Rune of the Sword was engraved near the base of the blade like an inscription.

Swinging this sword lightly, Galad produced fierce cutting wind.

"Well then, I, Pavel Galad, shall depart from your view for now. We shall meet again!"

Carrying the rune-inscribed longsword, the silver dragon flew away from the Yokohama sky.

However, he did not leave Japan. Instead, he made his way to the wasteland at the Old Tokyo Concession&mdash;Its Monolith, the triangular prism of pure black, towering in the center of that area.

It was the super tall structure that the man in black at Alaska had called the "wedge."

Pavel Galad hovered motionlessly in front of its pinnacle then raised his longsword high towards the sky.

"O wedge driven here, I invoke the dragonslaying sword as my seal to serve as the harbinger of my dominance. Acknowledge Pavel Galad as your lord!"

This was precisely the dragonslaying sword. Also his trump card, the "magic wand" in the shape of a sword.


Then that night, at a different location&mdash;

Within the Haruga residence located in a quiet corner of the Sumida Ward, Hal and Asya were facing a tower-style PC and monitor in the study.

"Flint, dragonbane, dragonslaying rune... There's no information related to these terms after all."

"But what allowed that rune to revive was the stone in Uncle's effects..."

"Yeah. Hinokagutsuchi said something about 'pouring flames' into the rune."

The two childhood friends were murmuring at each other.

They had completed a basic search of the computer's hard drive and external storage devices. Right now, they had moved on to investigate sources such as digitized books and research notes left behind by Hal's father.

Flint. This word meant a "fire-starting stone."

Where on earth had Hal's father obtained the magical stone bearing this kind of name?

Due to heading over to Old Tokyo to handle "sundry chores" whenever he had time, Hal had not made progress in his research on this side recently. It was time that he applied himself to the nitty-gritty work with gusto&mdash;

"Maybe to prevent people from getting information easily, he didn't leave behind any digital resources... That's quite common."

"True. Then we'll have to search the book collection that Pops did not move to this room."

Hal sighed, because the matter was extremely troublesome.

The books and handwritten research notes that his father had not brought here were currently outside of Japan. Furthermore, they were stored in multiple separate locations. Gathering everything together to investigate one by one would be a monumental project, and one that could potentially yield nothing in the end.

"Then there's asking SAURU researchers and witches familiar with Uncle."

"If only there was someone who did research together with Pops."

While the two of them were immersed in their discussion, a voice suddenly sounded from outside the window.

"Enough with this nonsensical search. It seems that you no longer have the luxury of wasting effort on such endeavors."

Hinokagutsuchi's voice. She had apparently gone to the garden.

Speaking of which, Asya should not have met this harsh-tongued girl who styled herself as the devil before. Hal motioned to his childhood friend with his eyes. Having a fairly good idea what was going on, she nodded briefly in response.

The two of them immediately left the study to go to the garden&mdash;As expected she was there.

In the guise of a young girl dressed in a scarlet kimono, Hinokagutsuchi was standing motionlessly under the illumination of moonlight.

"Am I supposed to say 'hello, nice to meet you'...?"

Asya tried asking but Hinokagutsuchi's reply was very sloppy.

"A greeting of nice to meet you will suffice. As I have mentioned before, also&mdash;Mutual introductions are too much of a hassle. Moving on, look over there."

The self-styled devil's gaze was directed towards the triangular prism of pure black, towering ahead.

The Monolith. Although the structure was located at Marunouchi in Old Tokyo, it was visible from Tokyo New Town because its height exceeded a thousand meters. Asya jumped in surprise.

"Haruomi, please use magical sight."

"Oh okay."

Hal involuntarily reached for his monocle for appraising magical power.

But immediately, he stopped his hand in a hurry, focusing his eyes to stare instead. As before, magical sight activated again without the use of tools. Using his naked eyes, Hal looked out to the tower of pure black&mdash;Then reacted in surprise.

This was due to the rune glowing with platinum radiance in the sky above the Monolith.

A magic symbol composed of three Vs stacked together. Hal suddenly understood its meaning.

"Sword...? That word carries the meaning of 'Sword'?"

"Yes. Like your 'Bow,' it is also a dragonslaying rune infused with the power of dragonbane," Hinokagutsuchi remarked casually.

"Since the seal can be seen there, it implies that someone who inherited the power of dragonbane has occupied that 'wedge'&mdash;in other words, what you people call a Monolith."

"Occupied, you say?"

"In other words, laying claim to complete authority. A declaration that the 'wedge' driven into this land belongs to him and that the enchanted realm nurtured by this land shall become his ''territory'' eventually."

"Enchanted realm...?"

"Don't you contemporary magi already know this? Magical power will gradually strengthen in the land where that black column towers, causing earth, water, fire and wind to deviate from the laws of nature."

"In other words, the magical power in the Monolith's vicinity will activate..."

After listening to Hinokagutsuchi, Asya spoke softly.

Akuro-Ou's birthing ritual was chosen to take place in the Old Tokyo Concession precisely because of that.

"Hmm, this city's 'wedge' has matured to an ideal extent. Although a number of dragons have apparently noticed this, I never expected even the Rune of the Sword to make an appearance."

Hinokagutsuchi's turned her arrogant gaze from the Monolith back to Hal and said:

"Judging from the brightness emitted by the rune, the user is not a true king yet. Like you, brat, he is a false king, having acquired nothing more than the eligibility to become king."

"An imposter ruler... Tyrannos&mdash;"

Hal recalled what Raak Al Soth had said.

That dragon had mentioned the term "Tyrannos" a number of times. It was an ancient word referring to usurpers, supplanters and tyrants.

"Fufufu. Make no mistake, this nation shall be ruined if an usurper comes to rule it. After all, sapient dragons hate nothing more than false kings&mdash;usurpers aspiring to the position of dragon king. Even in the face of impossible odds, they will still attempt to invade a Tyrannos' domain to exterminate him."

"In other words, elite dragons will be attacking Japan one after another...?" Asya asked skeptically.

This sort of thing was definitely hard to believe.

However, Hinokagutsuchi nodded lightly without denial. Meanwhile, Hal spoke up to confirm something else:

"Last time's elite dragon addressed me with that weird title."

Hal glared at Hinokagutsuchi in a taunting manner.

"In other words, the dragon will treat me the same as that 'Tyrannos' something or other, right? Because I hold a dragonslaying rune."

The scarlet-attired girl revealed a diabolical smile instead of answering.

Hal understood that his guess was correct.

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