Editing Leviathan:Volume 1 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 5===

Hal probably fainted for several minutes.

Suddenly coming back to his senses, he discovered that the flames burning his entire body had vanished spontaneously.

Furthermore, there was not a single burn on his body. His clothing was intact as well. The scene of him turned into a burning human torch almost seemed as though it had been just a nightmare...

But after getting to his feet and looking up, he saw the crimson dragon sitting upright before his eyes.

"I never expected I'd encounter two elites in a single night..."

Just as Hal was muttering to himself, the dragon remained motionless, almost like a statue&mdash;

"It's already dead!?"

Realizing that, Hal tried using his finger to touch what would be the dragon's ankle.

This resulted in that part of the dragon's body crumbling to pieces. This was a petrified dragon corpse.

Hal looked up again at the dragon's remains. There was a large and deep hole in the chest as though it had been gouged by something sharp. Probably the fatal wound.

"In other words, you're not only a ghost&mdash;but also a dragon's ghost..."

The girl in the scarlet kimono, the mysterious spirit.

Hal tried to superimpose that child-like visage with the crimson dragon in his mind. Although the two were totally dissimilar, there was unbelievably no sense of dissonance.

Fufu... Hal heard the girl's giggling. His guess was apparently correct.

However, where had that Rune of the Bow disappeared off to?

Just as Hal was feeling perplexed, the palm of his right hand suddenly heated up. He opened up his hand and looked, only to find the Bow illustrated on his palm.

This magical symbol was what the dragon had spoken in the girl's voice about "bestowing upon you"&mdash;

The unidentified rune was carved on Haruga Haruomi's palm like a tattoo!

Hal gasped out of surprise.

In that instant, the wall of Tokyo Station's Marunouchi entrance suddenly collapsed, producing a large cloud of debris.

Then a giant super lifeform intruded from the large hole produced from the destruction.

"The fleeing game ends here, human child."

Obviously, that was Raak Al Soth's staid voice.



Moonlight was streaming into Tokyo Station's entrance through the collapsed wall.

The bronze dragon's massive body was bathed in moonlight&mdash;

Facing off one-on-one against the most ferocious magic beast, Hal became a fatalist in a rare moment.

Looking up at the heavens, he cursed fate's cruelty with a "Goddamnit." But he also noticed something strange at this time. Soth's eyes and entire body were filled with an intensely emotional quality.

It was surprise and excitement&mdash;

"Fu... Fufu, never in my wildest dreams would I have expected you to be privy to such a massive secret. Thank you, human. I never thought I would find the queen's remains in such a place!"

Laughing with joy, Soth gazed fervently at his petrified kin.

"Fufufufu, since the queen's remains are here, it naturally implies the possibility of finding ''that''. O human child, hurry and answer me."

Without warning, Soth extended his right front limb.

There were many differences between the body shapes of elite dragons. But for the most part, every one of them had very long front limbs with five fingers, greatly resembling human "hands."

In other words, Soth had extended his "right arm."

Hal was grasped inside what corresponded to the super lifeform's palm.

"Speaking of the conqueror's runes held by the Crimson Queen, naturally there is the mighty bow of dragonslaying, renowned far and wide... Was there a seal in her surroundings? Speak now if you know. If you do not know&mdash;"

Hal was raised up to Soth's eye level.

He made eye contact with the savage dragon at close range.

Such an oppressive presence. Simply getting stared at made his body stiff. His throat also became greatly parched and thirsty.

Furthermore, the dense rows of teeth in the dragon's jaws were as long and sharp as swords. A mere human would probably get torn to pieces in a single bite.

In addition, although he was gripping Hal relatively gently, had he the intention&mdash;

Excessive terror turned Hal into a silent puppet.

"Hmm, you choose to say nothing, is that so? Then it cannot be helped."

Soth's tone of voice was very calm.

But at the same time, he suddenly applied more force in his hand that was gripping Hal.

Shattering every bone in his body, crushing his flesh, rupturing every internal organ, the instant of exploding with a pop was imminent. Hal screamed shrilly.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

This time, it really was a death cry. At least, Hal thought so.

Suffering. Pain. Aching. Crushed. Compressed. Pressure. Force. Force. Force.

As a giant dragon whose body length measured dozens of meters, Soth's grip strength ought to be capable of crushing concrete with ease.

Suffering under this force was Hal as a human. He could not possibly endure.

Hal was experiencing this intensity of compression and pain for the very first time in his life. He never thought he would pass away normally but did not expect to die in this manner&mdash;

Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... Hmm?

While enduring the dragon's grip with his entire body screaming in pain, Hal noticed something.

He survived. His body was resisting the strength of Soth's tightly clenched fist without getting crushed. It was as though his entire body was forged from the world's hardest material.

Hal was shocked by his body's abnormality.

"Hoh?"

Soth cast a gaze of curiosity at him.

Despite reptilian appearances and modes of life, elite dragons were quite rich in emotions. During this brief duration, Hal already fully understood this fact.

Right now, Raak Al Soth was feeling intrigued by the existence known as Hal.

However, the dragon's eyes immediately showed comprehension.

"I see now... To think a human child has stepped upon the ladder of the dragon kings. Fufu, I heard there was a similar case back in ancient Greece... but never expected a reenactment in the modern world."

After speaking quietly, Soth tossed Hal away.

His entire body smashing into the tiled floor of the station's interior, Hal groaned "Oww."

It really did hurt. However, his body did not suffer an injury. Despite feeling pain, Haruga Haruomi's physical body was extremely resilient, completely unharmed.

Clearly he was thrown at the ground from a height of over ten meters!

In fact, Hal was able to stand up immediately.

But looking up at Soth's massive body, Hal was greatly surprised. The elite dragon was looking down at him with slightly ajar jaws, blue-white flames flickering in the depths of his mouth.

The dragon was about to exhale a conflagration!

"O false king, allow me to address you as Tyrannos again after two millennia... Although temporary, you are the conqueror who has inherited the Bow after all. Allow me to offer you a fiery death after I fulfill etiquette."

After addressing Hal with a strange title, Soth opened his jaws wide.

However, his voice did not pause. Unlike humans, dragons did not shape their lips to pronounce words. Instead, they allegedly produced their voice from a mysterious organ located in the depths of their throat.

"Fortunately, the temperature inside my body has warmed up substantially. Given now, the earlier ineptitude should persist no longer&mdash;O secret runes of Ruruk Soun!"

Soth concluded with a magic incantation.

Seven letters, from the magic alphabet that only dragons knew how to use, manifested above the gigantic body, arranging themselves in a row. These letters were apparently the secret runes of Fire, being surrounded by blazing flames.

Hal knew that this was magic for increasing the power of flames.

Although his body had evidently become extremely resilient, Hal was not confident he could withstand Soth's fire. What should he do!?

"Allow me to incinerate your hallowed body, thereby toppling the hegemony of the new Tyrannos. Farewell."

Soth even went as far as to declare an execution.

In that instant, all hesitation and thoughts were purged from Hal's mind completely.

''How can I let you kill me like this!?''&mdash;This notion was spreading throughout his entire body like fire. Suddenly looking down, he saw the Secret Rune of the Bow appearing on his right palm.

Instantly, he heard the scarlet girl's laughing voice in his mind.

(Fufufufu, are you okay with this, brat? Know that once you shoot him, you can never turn back again.)

(I don't care! By this point, stop feeding me that crap!)

Yelling in the bottom of his heart, Hal faintly understood how to use this weapon.

Most likely because he was determined to "shoot," the secret rune had transmitted the required image into the wielder's mind.

Hal instantly uttered orders to the secret rune in his palm, "Create the Bow&mdash;the dragonslaying bow&mdash;At once!"

At the same time, Soth spewed out blue-white flames.

Hal took a great jump to the side then rolled on the ground, escaping in an unsightly manner from his location in front of Soth. This was not to evade the flames because doing so would not prevent the dragon's conflagration from spreading widely to both sides.

Instead, he was moving to create a clear passage.

So as to allow the Bow behind to advance successfully&mdash;

"What!?"

ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAR!

While breathing fire, Soth was surprised by ''the other dragon'' roaring loudly.

Indeed. The petrified crimson dragon, the dragon that had died and turned into a corpse, the true identity of the scarlet girl&mdash;She was roaring loudly.

The crimson dragon stood up with swift motions.

However, stone fragments were crumbling and falling off from various parts of her body.

At this rate, the whole body would probably collapse in short time. Nevertheless, she still advanced bravely without regret, using her body to block Soth's flames.

Then in the next instant, the already deceased crimson dragon was enveloped in ''white flames''.

Her entire body was burning with platinum-colored flames, giving off great heat at the same time. Seeing that massive incandescent body, Hal instantly pushed his right hand forward&mdash;extending it in Soth's direction.

A subconscious action. He felt that it was possible to "shoot" by doing so.

As expected, the secret rune depicted on his palm quickly heated up. Then the Secret Rune of Ruruk Soun suddenly appeared in front of the incandescent red dragon.

It was the Secret Rune of the Bow, almost as large as the dragon's upper torso.

In addition, it was also proof that what remained of this deceased dragon was Hal's Bow.

"Ku&mdash;!? You have already mastered the power of dragonbane!?"

Greatly shocked, Soth instantly spread his wings and flew.

Retreating through the giant hole in Tokyo Station's outer wall that he had made earlier, Soth flew into Old Tokyo's night sky once again.

However, it was too late. Hal issued the intent to attack.

"Fire!"

Instantly, the deceased crimson dragon spread her wings wide as though threatening.

Then the shining Secret Rune of the Bow in front of her released a torrent of flame. The vivid crimson fire was astounding in its raging intensity.

The fire shot from the secret rune flew into the night sky in a straight line.

Instead of incinerating human cities to oblivion, it aimed to slaughter a kindred dragon.

"Ohhhhhhh!?"

Soth was greatly shocked, devoured completely by the torrent of flame.

Scorching the bronze dragon, the crimson flames spread upwards, thereby turning into an enormous pillar of fire rushing straight into Old Tokyo's night sky.

Amidst the burning flames, Soth's body gradually vanished.

He was apparently attempting to escape using the magic of Teleportation.

Then the crimson dragon expelling this pillar of fire&mdash;that girl's true body&mdash;rapidly collapsed, dissolving inside the platinum flames, gradually disappearing in the form of ash and dust.

The giant crimson body collapsed completely with astounding speed within a minute or two.

Just as Hal was staring wide-eyed in surprise, the sky resounded with Soth's voice.

"Allow me to say goodbye for now, human! But I swear I shall revisit again, to have you drawn and quartered. I shall undoubtedly kill you, to seize that Bow by force!"

The voice issued a somber declaration to Haruga Haruomi.

Hearing that, Hal sighed. Regardless, giving way to fatigue, he bent down and sat cross-legged in a sloppy manner.



Meanwhile, Asya had remained at Ochanomizu to battle the group of Raptors&mdash;

Together with her injured partner Rushalka, she patiently endured the persistent and ferocious attacks. At the same time, she was surely and steadily killing the Raptors one by one. Then finally, just as she finished off the last enemy...

At the former university that had been used as the altar for the covenant ritual...

Its campus and the surrounding streets were littered with Raptor corpses everywhere.

The dead dragons had all turned into stone as usual. As for the mage candidate Orihime who had witnessed the intense battle's process and end result&mdash;

Seeing Asya swaying as though feeling dizzy, she frantically rushed over.

"Asya-san, are you okay!?"

Supporting the veteran witch's delicate body, she inquired.

With great finesse, Rushalka had steadily taken care of all the Raptors.

Although it took a while, there was virtually no risk throughout the entire process. Rather than a fight, it felt more like "homework."

"Did you get hurt somewhere!? But I don't think you got hit&mdash;"

"Don't worry... I'm just a bit low in blood sugar."

Leaning on Orihime, Asya looked up into the sky.

The victorious "serpent" Rushalka had landed on the roof of the university building, resting her wings for now.

With a nod from Asya, the partner's blue and heroic figure gradually grew faint and suddenly disappeared soon after. Whether the process of summoning or disappearing, both were equally swift.

"Summoning a 'serpent' and maintaining her physical form causes a great deal of strain. Hence, it's only natural to consume a corresponding amount of energy."

"Blood sugar...? So you mean you're hungry?"

"P-Please don't say it so bluntly."

Because the other person was not Haruomi as well as being a girl of the same age, Asya would feel slightly concerned about matters of face.

However, these thoughts reminded her of the childhood friend with whom she could spend time together without feeling fettered by such details.

"Never mind me... We have to hurry and find Haruomi. I can't believe he's playing hide-and-seek with an elite. That's totally absurd no matter what."

During the battle with the Raptors, Soth had not returned even once.

Hence, Asya wanted to believe that he was still chasing Haruomi.

Hoping for her childhood friend's safety, she had to go help him right now.

"Yes, 'it's already too late' is not something I will believe. Isn't it the same for you, Asya-san?"

Just as Orihime nodded as well, the dark night sky was suddenly illuminated by red light.

Jumping in fright, the two girls simultaneously turned their gazes towards that direction in the sky.

"Eh... What is that!?"

"Looks quite near here. Perhaps that elite dragon did something!"

Buildings of various heights could be seen there.

Standing out was also the towering spire of black&mdash;the Monolith.

The imposing image of the super-tall structure built by dragonkind in the Concession was visible from here.

And right now&mdash;

A suddenly generated pillar of crimson flame had rushed into the sky.

The pillar of fire was a bit slanted. From Asya and Orihime's location, it looked almost as gigantic as the Monolith.

Its eerie glow rendered the two girls stunned and speechless.

Their faces looked as though they were in prayer.

Although they had no concrete reasons, both girls felt that the towering pillar of fire was related to the boy they should locate.

Perhaps he was present at the site of the flame pillar&mdash;

This unfounded speculation turned out to match the truth perfectly.

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