Editing Leviathan:Volume 7 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 4===

The elite dragon Pavel Galad and the Rune of the Sword.

Naturally, Hal regarded him as a formidable foe.

However, no matter what, he was probably nowhere as powerful as Red Hannibal or Princess Yukikaze&mdash;

Perhaps this kind of optimistic thinking existed vaguely in Hal's mind. As though mocking Hal for his naivete, the dragon hero used unusual moves, one after another, which were surprising to Hal&mdash;or perhaps, more potent than he imagined.

No witches by his side. Using mysterious flames to bolster the Rune of the Sword. Summoning a large quantity of golems.

"He's totally coming at me, pulling out all stops..."

Still in spirit form, Hal watched the battle situation, muttering to himself.

Currently, the battlefield was in the sky over Tokyo New Town. Two dragons&mdash;the Crimson Queen and Pavel Galad&mdash;were flying back and forth across New Town in an aerial battle.

Problematically, it was still not a one-on-one battle.

"I don't have a single ally here!"

Pavel Galad had used alchemy magic to create a whole bunch of golems.

Golems born from concrete and the remains of steel-framed structures, certainly abundant in manpower.

There were winged lizards resembling Raptors, serpents, and giant lizards without wings.

Praying mantises with sword-shaped forelimbs, stag beetles with swords for horns, swordfish whose bills were as long and sharp as swords, flying fish with sharp blades for wings and could serve as swords.

Also sharks, killer whales, crocodiles, and salamanders.

Plesiosaurs, pteranodons, ammonites, trilobites...

All of them were golems that had been born before Hal's eyes earlier. Reptiles, insects, fish, etc. There were more than two hundred of them in this airspace alone.

Every one of them was flying freely in the sky with the Rune of the Sword appearing on their foreheads.

Each golem was empowered by the rune, turning their swords into "dragonslaying swords." Even though Hal did not think he would be careless, it would be best to avoid being hit continuously by dragonslaying attacks. However, that was not possible.

Using the advantage of numbers, the golems swarmed in from all directions.

"Aiming at them one at a time is too slow..."

Full burst. Hal ordered the queen to use a technique of assured annihilation.

"Queen, take them out in one go!"

The Crimson Queen raised the dragonslaying bow and casually shot it into the sky.

Fired directly upwards, the arrow of light exploded like fireworks, producing a shower of roughly a thousand lights falling to the ground.

Mere contact caused golems to vaporize with a resounding sizzle.

In the end, Pavel Galad's creations, more than two hundred of them, were eliminated in an instant, returning the queen's surroundings to silence.

"Find that Galad. Who knows where he's hiding?"

The silver dragon was nowhere in sight.

Receiving orders, the Crimson Queen flew downstream of the Sumida River.

For better or worse, now that Hal had turned into a spiritual entity hovering in the air, tagging along was relatively effortless. Following the queen, he was just about to use investigative magic when&mdash;

"They finally gathered here, huh..."

A large number of enemies were flying from the Arakawa&mdash;the eastern part of Tokyo New Town.

Golems had been born from debris of concrete and steel again. Resembling Raptors, serpents, lizards, mantises, stag beetles, swordfish, flying fish... All shapes and forms as earlier. Their foreheads showed the mark of the Rune of the Sword.

This time, the golem army numbered roughly three hundred.

"What's the situation in other places?"

Earlier, Hal had shot the magic symbol of the Eye into the sky over Tokyo.

He closed his eyes and ordered the magic eye to show him an overhead view of Tokyo's entirety.

"I knew it..."

Seeing the scenery revealed to him, Hal groaned.

Pavel Galad had picked the former Shuto Expressway as his "mountain of raw materials." This highway network circulated in a giant oval shape in Tokyo New Town, allowing one to drive in a continuous circuit.

Explosions had occurred at sixty or seventy locations on the highway, becoming sources for the monster armies.

As a result, a casual count showed over a thousand golems flying unchecked in the sky over New Town as though it were their territory.

Furthermore, all of them were converging upon Hal's position at Mukaishima&mdash;

"Whatever, I've already resigned myself."

Hal sighed.

Pavel Galad's trap covered quite a broad area, probably calculated to hunt down Hal no matter where he fled and corner him. Even if he tried to jump through space using teleportation magic, interference magic would probably stop him.

In other words, he was going to encounter large numbers of golems no matter where he went.

Not like he could use a technique of assured annihilation to take care of things every time.

That would greatly deplete Hal's stamina and mental focus. Extremely draining.

Previously, he always had witches and leviathans to help share the burden, but this time, he was all alone and must handle things himself&mdash;

"Increase elevation first. Leave the ground!"

The Crimson Queen and Hal's spiritual form began to ascend.

Their altitude kept increasing. 150m, 200m, 250m above ground&mdash;By the time he reached a height where he could overlook New Town's streets as though viewing from the Tokyo Tower in the past, Hal was finally able to see the movements of the golem armies with his naked eye.

Coming from east, west, south, and north.

Over a thousand golems of various shapes and forms were flying in from all directions, trying to surround the Crimson Queen.

"Fire!"

Hal ordered the queen to launch the offensive first.

The queen began to fire in succession. Repeatedly, the dragonslaying bow shot arrows of light, shooting down Pavel Galad's minions one after another.

But the enemy also closed in during this attack.

Just as both sides got close enough for close quarters combat, Hal suddenly felt a pain in his heart.

"Uwah!?"

Originally firing, the Crimson Queen froze in the air.

A flying fish golem was roaming nearby. Every time it brushed past, it would attempt to slice the queen using its wings.

The flying fish's wings were simultaneously sharp blades, dragonslaying swords.

Naturally, a mere minion's slices would not be able to breach the queen's barrier. However, attacks blocked by imperishable protection would inflict minor damage to Hal's heart, i.e. heartmetal&mdash;

Incidentally, this was only a prelude to a heavy offensive.

A mantis, a Raptor, a serpent&mdash;Three golems of such types approached swiftly, using the "swords" fitted on their bodies to slash the queen!

"Gah...!"

The queen blocked all attacks using imperishable protection, but it caused waves of pain to Hal's heart.

Furthermore, the attacking golems flew away after one strike without engaging continuously with the queen in the air, but new arrivals kept attacking.

Up, down, left, right, front, back, all directions.

Raptors, serpents, lizards, stag beetles, swordfish... All sorts.

The Crimson Queen immediately breathed fire, burning to death the golems approaching from the front. This was a chance to use the sun-shooting&mdash;No.

It was still too soon. Hal changed his mind and ordered the queen, "Switch weapons! Use the Rune of the Twin Katana!"

Despite his spiritual form, the dragonslaying rune still appeared clearly on the palm of Hal's right hand.

Previously, it had been "the tilted half-moon," a pictograph representing the bow, but now it changed into "a cross shape" to represent a pair of katana.

The queen's weapons also transformed from bow and arrows to two swords, one big and one small.

Switching from a shooting battle to close quarters combat, the Crimson Queen equipped the larger sword in the right hand and the smaller sword in the left, slicing apart the golem in front and shoving it down.

At the same time, the queen used her tail as a whip, knocking away a golem approaching from behind.

As for enemies from below, she used her hind legs to kick them away, following up with fire breath of course. Using more than just the two swords wielded in her left and right, the queen used her entire body as a weapon, ready to take on incoming enemies.

In addition, there was imperishable protection.

Even though the golems attacked with all their might, all they accomplished was inflicting minor twitching pain to Hal's heart. In contrast, the Crimson Queen's effortless yet powerful strikes were able to deliver instant death to her prey. It was like moths drawn to a flame.

An impregnable stance as befitted a dragon king's body.

Rely on numerical superiority, the golems attacked endlessly. However, all the Crimson Queen needed to do was block the enemies' suicidal tactics calmly and confidently then counterattack as necessary.

"If only I could wait for victory like in those Whatever Musou games."

But of course, reality was never so ideal.

Hal's spirit muttered to himself while imagining a certain action. Next, the Crimson Queen acted according to the image in his mind. Crossing the swords held in her left and right, she formed a "×" shape.

BOOOOOOM!

CLAAAANG!

Instantly, a thunderous crash resounded in all directions.

Initially, it was a sonic boom produced from breaking the sound barrier. This was was followed by the noise from a violent crash of metal.

Using the crossed pair of swords, the queen blocked a slash from Pavel Galad.

"Hohohoho. It seems that you have no intention of allowing me to win so easily!"

"You took the words out of my mouth!"

Galad and the dragonslaying sword had appeared instantaneously.

Blocked by the crossed blades, the dragonslaying sword was burning with blue-white flames. Sensing intense magical power from those flames, Hal stared at the fearsome magic swordsman.

Runes of Ruruk Soun, High-Speed Flight&mdash;

It allowed Pavel Galad to reach a speed of Mach 1.2 or so.

Seeing Hal and the queen losing concentration, he had suddenly closed in with supersonic flight to deliver a deadly strike of the sword. Hal only noticed it thanks to the Eye in the sky.

In addition to a wide visual range, the Eye was even able to capture supersonic speed.

Thanks to that, the queen just managed to draw with him. Had Hal not set up the magic eye ahead of time, defending against a sword flying at supersonic speed would have been impossible.

It was definitely a close call. Furthermore, the clash brought an unexpected windfall.

"You sword is almost equal in power to my twin katana... After a long absence, you've added some weird decoration too."

The dragonslaying sword in front of the Crimson Queen was burning with blue-white flames.
[[image:Leviathan 07 BW08.jpg|thumb]]

Looking at it from up close, Hal nodded vigorously. Rather than deducing through logic, a mage's instinct told him the answer.

This&mdash;the fire controlled by Galad&mdash;Hal had seen it before!

Apart from that, there was another discovery worth celebrating.

"The fire is starting to die down. Are you sure that's okay?"

Just as Hal pointed out, the fire on the dragonslaying sword was gradually weakening.

In the next instant, the twin katana and the sword were no longer in stalemate. Cracks appeared on the dragonslaying sword pushing against the cross of steel&mdash;the swords wielded in the Crimson Queen's hands, one big and one small.

"Hmm!?"

Pavel Galad panicked a little.

The cracks grew, spreading all over the blade.

Proportional to the blaze of blue-white flames, the magical power on the dragonslaying sword also gradually decreased. In contrast, the queen's twin blades still possessed dragon king-class magical power.

The gap in magical power was reflected in strength and durability. The battle was shifting in the favor of the twin katana...!

"My hidden stash of treasure!" Galad suddenly shouted.

The flames on the dragonslaying sword instantly recovered their original intensity with a "boom!" The cracks on the blade also vanished without a trace.

Once again, the magical power of the sword rose to equal that of the twin katana.

Yesterday, President M had given a warning, could it mean that&mdash;Suddenly inspired, Hal asked Galad, "These flames granting power to a dragonslaying rune... ''Is it actually something I already know''?"

"Oh? You realized it? Clever as always," Pavel Galad replied, impressed. "To be honest, I did not expect you to notice so soon."

"I don't claim any credit. I was simply lucky to run into someone who gave me advice. Without her, I probably wouldn't have figured it out."

"No need to be modest. Luck is part of a warrior's aptitude."

"Cut that nonsense out. I'm not some kind of warrior!"

Hal instantly retorted, but the silver dragon was no longer in front of him.

He suddenly flew away, swiftly leaving the Crimson Queen.

It was imperative to chase him. However, before Hal could do that&mdash;The enemy army counterattacked. The frightening number of golems attacked the queen again.

"Damn it...!"

Wave after wave, golems of all sorts attacked.

Hal deployed imperishable protection in a wide area, defending all attacks regardless which direction the enemies attacked from.

The pearly barrier surrounded the Crimson Queen.

Golems in the shape of Raptors, pteranodons, swordfish, wasps, boars, sharks, killer whales, etc, approached the pearly light and slashed with their swords&mdash;

No matter how relentless the offensive, the swords of mere minions could not threaten imperishable protection.

Backed by secure protection, the queen slowly exhaled fiery breath, striking back using the greater sword and the kodachi in her hands, casually dispatching the golems within reach.

But amidst all that, one Raptor-shaped golem charged the queen.

Noticing the golem's unusual magical power, Hal swiftly used Ruruk Soun magic of Dispel.

"Queen, be careful!"

Just as he suspected, the Raptor-shaped golem began to slowly transformed after being hit by Dispel, turning into Pavel Galad with the dragonslaying sword in his hand. He had disguised himself using transformation magic.

"Hahahahaha, you found me again!"

CLAAAAAAANG!

The dragonslaying sword with blue flames and the twin katana clashed intensely again for the second time today.

The queen held the pair of swords in a cross, blocking the longsword's downward swing. Seeing that the surprise attack failed, Pavel Galad simply flew away from the queen at high speed.

Once again, Hal missed the chance to deliver a follow-up attack.

This was because as soon as Galad left as the leader of the army, the golems would start attacking the queen again.

"Is he gonna stick to hit-and-run the whole time today...?"

Hal understood.

Using the mass produced golem subordinates as diversions to occupy the enemy, making full use of them, while Pavel Galad himself mustered all his power and wit to slice the queen in half.

Such tactics were hardly fair and square and did not seem to belong to a hot-blooded opponent at all.

Hal knew. In terms of pure power&mdash;He and the queen surpassed Galad by far.

Precisely because of that, Galad had used so many tricks to compensate for the gap. Separating Hal from the witches, using massive resources to pin down the enemy, using ''those flames'' to strengthen the dragonslaying sword.

All this was for the sake of defeating Haruga Haruomi and his powers of dragonbane.

To defeat such an enemy&mdash;Naturally, maximum offensive power was needed.

The bow and the technique of assured annihilation, the sun-shooting divine bow. This time, he must use a full-powered attack to achieve victory and avoid repeating the same mistake as yesterday.

"I will fire the sun-shooting divine bow at the sky, to exterminate the sun," Hal recited the incantation softly.

Enemies were all around. Gathered here, the number of golems reached several thousand. They were all attacking the Crimson Queen and Pavel Galad was lurking somewhere.

Surrounded by enemies, the queen finally turned her weapon into the crimson divine bow and nocked an arrow of light on the bowstring.

Then she fired. Up towards the sky.

The arrow of light exploded at a height of a thousand meters above ground, turning into a shower of thousands of lights...

It was similar to the full burst attack earlier.

But this time, the bullets were not being fired randomly.

Every light had to meet its mark. This was sniping. A technique of assured annihilation, ''aimed'' at the thousands of golems in Tokyo New Town.

"Please!"

Hal drew out even more magical power from his heart, i.e. his heartmetal.

Magical power was sent to every corner of the queen's gigantic body like blood, even added to the thousands of shining lights shot out from the bow.

Currently, the Crimson Queen was Hal's physical body.

Every arrow shot from the dragonslaying bow could even be considered Hal's avatar.

Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue. Pursue!

The technique of assured annihilation, the sun-shooting divine bow, had fired thousands of lights.

Every light was a magical projectile of guaranteed death for exterminating enemies.

The instant a golem was pierced in the head or the heart by light, its entire body erupted in a fiery blaze.

The thousands of magical creatures created from enchanted steel and concrete all exploded amidst immolation, no exceptions. Numerous remains were scattered all over New Town.

Letting not even a single bullet go to waste, the Crimson Queen had enacted this miracle.

The whole process had taken ten-odd seconds. This massacre would have been a fitting feat for the past dragon queen who prided in her divine archery skills.

"Where did that Galad run off to?"

Hal's voice was emitted from the Crimson Queen&mdash;the dragon jaws.

After firing the divine bow, the queen's physical body and Hal's spiritual form began to meld together.

When using a top-class technique of assured annihilation to perform this task, the magical power in the heart, i.e heartmetal, belonging to Hal and the queen had risen to critical point, bringing the spirit and the body to virtually complete synchronization. Hence, the two merging into one was a result that could not be more natural.

"Enemy Detection..."

Hal, i.e the Crimson Queen, muttered quietly.

Although it was a small spell frequently used in the human world, Enemy Detection was quite useful. This time, Hal could immediately sense all enemies flying within three kilometers.

After that, all he needed to do was confirm using the Eye in the sky.

"I see."

The magic eye informed him that the enemy had used Invisibility to conceal his entire body.

However, the Eye created by the wisdom of Ruruk Soun had seen through it at a glance. A silver dragon, carrying a blazing longsword in his hand.

"The final blow..."

Hal, i.e the Crimson Queen, spoke mechanically in monotone.

He nocked an arrow of light onto the crimson divine bow, preparing to unleash a technique of assured annihilation. This time, Hal selected the bird-downing divine bow.

This was a mystic technique for piercing a prey's vital with one arrow, taking its life.

"We've known each other for a while now, but it's time to end things."

Hal muttered in a flat voice of indifference.

However, certain dark emotions were occupying his heart.

The sense of triumph from being able to kill the strongest prey. The sense of conquest from being able to personally crush such a fierce and powerful creature. This was an expression of the hunting instinct dormant deep in his soul, an impulse stemming from killing instinct, as well as the awakening of an instinct for strife.

Hal, i.e. the Crimson Queen, finally shot the arrow of light.

"Go."

With the solemnity of someone closest to reaching the dragon king throne, he issued a brief yet powerful command.

During its launch, the arrow of light instantly increased five fold in length and girth, turning into what could be considered a spear of light, streaking across the sky.

0.2 seconds later, the arrow of light easily pierced the chest of the invisible Pavel Galad.

Thus the silver dragon of the sword became enveloped in crimson flames. A great explosion. A glorious demise in the air without leaving any flesh or scales behind&mdash;

Dark joy surged in Hal's heart. In the next instant, Hal, i.e. the Crimson Queen, jumped in surprise.

He immediately spread his wings and backed away as fast as he could, but it was too late. Pavel Galad suddenly appeared in front of him, swinging the dragonslaying sword down&mdash;Of course, Hal failed to dodge this deadly strike of the sword. Neither could he deploy imperishable protection in time to defend.

The blade, capable of exterminating even dragons, stabbed Hal, i.e. the Crimson Queen, cleanly in the chest.

The wound was deep enough to reach the heartmetal, or the heart organ of humans.

"How uncharacteristic of you..." said Pavel Galad, the formidable foe who had stabbed using the dragonslaying sword.

"Following the instincts of warriors and hunters to execute a vicious blow is fearsome indeed... But that belongs to the ways of dragonkind. The Haruga Haruomi I know is not like that."

''Didn't I defeat you?''&mdash;No no no.

It was a very simple trap. Galad simply kept a golem in reserve then used magic to turn it into his decoy. Then all he needed to do was ambush Hal, i.e. the Crimson Queen, during his intoxicating moment of triumph to bring about a quick conclusion...

Perhaps due to the sword wound, "Haruga Haruomi's way of thinking" was gradually recovering.

But it was a bit too late.

Pavel Galad said proudly, "What a shame. To be devoured by a dragon's soul at the final moment, thus losing your sense of self. Since you have gotten so close to the secrets of Ruruk Soun, this would be hardly unexpected&mdash;"

''I see, so that's what it feels like inside a dragon's brain?''

Hal wanted to sustain that state longer for further research.

However, he did not want to repeat the same mistake. Furthermore, he was evidently out of time and energy... How did this happen!?

"Let me offer you a parting gift. Your minions&mdash;the female humans known as 'witches' are currently facing a hopeless situation. I will see to it that everyone sets off for the afterlife. Rest assured, you will not be traveling alone."

The same as always, Galad was very polite in strange ways.

Although Hal wanted to retort "like hell anyone could feel assured after hearing of something like this!", he was unable to make even a sound.

Unaware of these thoughts of Hal, Pavel Galad drew out the sword from the queen's gigantic body.

The Crimson Queen no longer had the strength to fly and started to fall, crashing directly towards the streets somewhere in Tokyo New Town.

While Hal's consciousness was gradually fading, the faces of the witches surfaced in his mind.

Shirasaka Hazumi, Luna Francois, Juujouji Orihime, and Asya. He began to focus his mind, trying to reach the witches and their partners, the leviathans, telepathically&mdash;

Of course, it was too late.

Even so, Hal, i.e. the Crimson Queen, still clenched his right hand forcibly.

He grabbed something. This sensation felt nostalgic. Soft yet elastic, adhering firmly to his hand. One of them felt small and containable in one hand while the other surrounded Hal's hand instead.

"Asya... Juujouji..."

He called out softly to the young maidens closest to him.

''I must hurry and reunite with them. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry...'' His thoughts grew more and more dull. So did the pain from his chest.

Soon after, Hal could not think at all, finally losing consciousness.

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