Editing Leviathan:Volume 3 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 5===

If Hinokagutsuchi's heartmetal was used in a birth ritual, the Crimson Queen would resurrect&mdash;

That was how the magic gun had replied to Hal's whim of an idea.

On further thought, Hal remembered how the dragon king's ghost had suddenly resurrected her past self during Raak Al Soth's attack on the Old Tokyo Concession.

By doing the same thing, Hal resurrected the red dragon king before his eyes right now.

Twenty meters in body length. Featuring dragon scales of vivid crimson, this dragon had the most strongly built physique he had seen so far. Long and large, the wings stretched out wide.

Nine golden horns were growing on the head. The chest region was ossified into an exoskeleton while shining with golden luster.

"O Haruomi... I never expected you to hold such a hidden ace."

From the air, Princess Yukikaze murmured softly.

Her beautiful face, resembling a snow fairy's, clearly expressed her surprised and impressed thoughts.

"Fufufu. Perhaps you intend to use this trump card and allow me to enjoy myself for a while? To allow me, Yukikaze, to fight the Crimson Queen again as the arrow's successor&mdash;!?"

Riding the magic surfboard, the princess looked straight down at the ground.

Not only did she ignore the reborn Rushalka, but she even showed no intention to attack the newly revived Crimson Queen. She wanted to see what move the other side would make.

Clearly, Princess Yukikaze's obsession with the Crimson Queen was extraordinary.

"Drive away the queen of the arrow like how you got rid of Soth last time...!"

Seizing the opportunity, Hal stared at the giant red dragon's back and whispered.

But no matter how he tried to transmit his thoughts, the queen remained motionless.

'But even if the ritual were to succeed... Will you be able to command the "queen"? That red heartmetal remains intimately linked to my soul—the soul of the former sovereign.'

During the mental conversation earlier, that was what Hinokagutsuchi had said.

Right now, the invisible queen's voice was also ringing in his ear.

'You are the bow's successor, after all, and even claimed my heartmetal. It should be possible to resonate with the queen's body, the former wielder of the bow, and control it after all. Just like how that puny Soth or whatever was driven away. However&mdash;'

Standing between Hal's mental communication with the queen was a more powerful "mind." Namely, the spiritual entity of the ghost, Hinokagutsuchi, who called herself the devil.

'If I interfered in this manner, what are you going to do!?'

"Nothing in particular! I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!"

Out of secret techniques and clever tricks, Hal yelled loudly.

From here on, all he could do was struggle to the very end. Hal summoned the magic gun to his right hand where the Rune of the Bow resided then pointed the muzzle at the Crimson Queen ahead and Hinokagutsuchi.

"Sorry, but I'm taking both your heartmetal and former body! Ghosts should act like ghosts and obediently yield to living people!"

Increasing Hal's magical power, the magic gun amplified his thoughts.

Encouraged by the magic gun, Hal used a tiny weapon shared by all of humanity. With every last ounce of "spirit and spine," he yelled loudly, "The queen's body&mdash;is mine!"

As a member of SAURU, Hal had experienced many difficult jobs.

Hence, he could safely assert the following. Under conditions of great adversity, what finally decided everything was "spirit and spine." He believed that a difficult job that could not be overcome in this way did not exist in this world.
[[image:Leviathan 03 197.jpg|thumb]]

However, was a mere human's meager spine enough to prevail against a dragon king's ghost?

Hinokagutsuchi's "mind" dispersed with astounding ease. The scattered remains of the spiritual body were then sucked into Hal's magic gun.

Hal immediately pulled the magic gun's trigger.

Due to firing all the bullets just now, the magazine was empty. But conversely, the Crimson Queen opened her gigantic jaws and discharged flames towards Princess Yukikaze who was standing in the air!

"Finally awake! However!"

Her mortal enemy's revival made Princess Yukikaze's eyes shine. A dragon's style as one would expect.

Pearly light&mdash;imperishable protection&mdash;enveloped the fiercely belligerent maiden dragon king, blocking the Crimson Queen's flames completely.

"Truly powerless, a body carrying the regrets of past death!"

"R-Rushalka! Engage in close quarters combat!"

Kneeling the whole time, Asya yelled.

One look at the side of her pained face was enough for Hal to know that she had not recovered from the birth ritual's ordeal. However, she had issued orders to her partner because she instinctively knew that things would be bad at this rate.

On standby in the air, Rushalka flew towards Princess Yukikaze.

Her flying was as smooth as water flowing downstream. Using her vigorous momentum, the blue wyvern aimed the horn on her forehead at the princess!

However, Rushalka's horn was also blocked by the princess' protection.

"Hmm... Looks like I won't get a tough battle even when it's two against one. Too bad, I'll just have to take care of them straight away."

After exhibiting impregnable defenses, the princess commented with a face of boredom.

Despite his short time facing her, it had already become readily apparent how she would react when she deemed her opponents weak. Fearfully, Hal looked up at the princess in the air.

"I hereby decree to my emblem, the Arrow of Sirius... I, Yukikaze, will now transform into the dragonslaying arrow!"

Carrying the princess, the magic surfboard began to ascend rapidly.

Rising fiercely like a rocket, they passed through the cloud layer within the blink of an eye, hurtling towards even greater heights in the sky. Her target was probably the stratosphere.

Naturally, she was not running away.

Hal knew as the successor of the bow, the weapon paired with hers. The queen of the arrow intended to accelerate continuously while descending from a great height, crashing down with unprecedented power.

Turning into what could erase everything without trace in a single attack&mdash;The ultimate arrow.

As though to prove Hal's certainty, an ominous emblem appeared in the distant sky.

A horizontal oval stretching a kilometer long. Inside it was a sharp isosceles triangle. This was the dragonslaying rune he had just witnessed earlier.

"The Rune of the Arrow..."

And under that arrow emblem, twenty-one runes of Ruruk Soun also manifested.

This arrangement signified "Obtaining divine signs of lightning, I descend from heaven, turning into a whistling arrow to pierce the ground." Hal committed his determination. He was going to control the Crimson Queen to block that arrow.

Using the dragon's gigantic body&mdash;and himself&mdash;as a shield, he could at least reduce the arrow's destructive power.

"Luna, take everyone who can't move and escape. I'll try to use myself and the red dragon to stop the falling dragon king."

"Haruomi!?" "H-Haruga-kun...?" "Senpai!"

Asya, kneeling on the ground, Orihime, finally regaining consciousness, and Hazumi, still unable to get up, all exclaimed in surprise. However, Luna Francois, the only one still mobile, shook her head.

"In that case, I believe it would be best for Rushalka and my Glinda to assist together."

"No. That firepower is no joke. That's why..."

The fewer victims the better&mdash;Just as Hal suppressed these words and prepared to answer...

A truly feeble voice whispered "hmph" by his ear.

Then the magic gun in his right hand informed Hal about "a certain method." It was apparently transmitted to Asya and Orihime as well, those who were bound by vassal covenants.

"Haruomi! If we're going to do it, we should gamble on this method!"

"Indeed, you are not allowed to fight on your own like last time! Didn't you kneel down to promise me!?"

"I-I wasn't kneeling, it was just seiza, Juujouji..."

After a quick rebuttal, Hal made his decision. There was no time for hesitation.

"Since I don't know if escaping is possible, I might as well use this move. Fly!"

In response to his direction, the Crimson Queen flew into the air.

Fragments of stone crumbled and fell from the dragon's gigantic body. In addition, the color spontaneously turned faint with the crimson dragon scales, the golden horns and chest armor gaining translucence.

This was due to the weak link between this unstable body and the mortal realm. Perhaps it might even collapse it a matter of minutes. However&mdash;There was apparently a way to compensate.

"L-Look out! It's like a shooting star!"

Finally able to stand up, Hazumi pointed at the sky and cried out.

Just as she had pointed out, a shooting star enveloped in white lightning was falling towards the ground.

The estimated crash site was of course the school's sports ground, namely, the location of Hal and company. And amid the white lightning descending from the sky was a dragon.

It was not Princess Yukikaze racing gallantly on a magic surfboard.

Instead, it was a white dragon whose physique looked slender and agile. The chest and shoulder areas were covered by an exoskeleton of blue crystalline material. Flying downwards majestically, the long and large wings were spread out. This was Princess Yukikaze's transformed appearance that Hal had seen before in his dreams.

The snow fairy-like beautiful maiden was finally unleashing a serious strike!

"Rushalka! Receive... the queen's power!"

Then Asya yelled loudly.

In that instant, the Crimson Queen happened to be flying next to the blue wyvern.

So fast. The red dragon lunged towards Rushalka as though colliding&mdash;Then the dragon king and the imitation dragon merged together.

The queen's translucent body was gradually absorbed into Rushalka.

Next, the blue wyvern's massive body gained ruby-colored plating&mdash;armor for protecting the chest and torso. Furthermore, this armored portion even sprouted ''two arms''.

Indeed, two arms, left and right. Arms for holding tools and wielding weapons.

These arms were forged from ruby-colored metal and even came equipped with joints. Five fingers were on each hand, tipped with sharp claws. Identical to the forelimbs of dragons.

"Almost like a dragon..."

No wonder Orihime murmured in response. Rushalka was originally a wyvern, i.e. a dragon with no forelimbs, but currently, her appearance was astoundingly similar to dragon kings and elites.

"Rushalka, use the Rune of the Bow!"

This time, it was Hal's turn to yell. As a result, a weapon appeared in the ruby left arm.

A crimson bow. An item carrying the same firepower as the Bow used by the Crimson Queen of past. The dragonslaying bow. The true power of dragonbane, only usable by dragon kings.

Then an arrow of light appeared in Rushalka's glowing right hand.

Next, twenty-one runes of Ruruk Soun manifested behind her. This arrangement signified&mdash;

"I will fire the sun-shooting divine bow at the sky, to exterminate the sun... O little girl Yukikaze, after a thousand-year absence, you shall taste my divine bow again!"

"Hahaha! You're over there, still not dead yet, queen!"

Hal's magic gun roared using a girl's voice. After seeing Rushalka and the bow, the dragon that was falling like a shooting star laughed happily.

The estimated time until the violent impact between the shooting star in dragon form and the school's sports ground was a hundred seconds.

"I can't believe you became that guy's minion!"

"Nonsense. This is&mdash;an alliance!"

Counting to the impact on the sports ground. Ninety seconds, eighty seconds, seventy... At that moment...

The arrow of light, wrapped in blazing flames, was shot from the divine bow to clash directly against the white dragon king who was descending upon the school, enveloped in flashing light.

The dragonslaying bow and the dragonslaying arrow clashed violently again after eight hundred odd years.

A blinding light erupted, turning the school&mdash;no, the area of the Sumida ward around the school&mdash;white. Shockwaves and explosive wind rampaged, smashing all glass on buildings and vehicles.

"Glinda, Gravity Wall!"

"Minadzuki! Please, protect us!"

Luna Francois and Hazumi instantly summoned their "serpents."

The massive lion-like and serpentine-dragon beasts hovered overhead above Hal and the witches, using their own bodies as shields. Next, Glinda deployed a gravity barrier while Minadzuki created a wall of reverse wind to consolidate their defenses.

Thanks to that, despite being in extremely close proximity, the school and Hal's group were spared...

Indeed. The dragonslaying arrow did not fall on Hal and company.

Then the explosive flash of light finally subsided and the field of vision gradually recovered in clarity.

Holding the crimson bow, Rushalka was the first to land on the school's sports ground. A single look at her exhausted appearance was enough to tell that she had depleted all her stamina and magical power.

Then there was the other one.

The white dragon, Princess Yukikaze's transformation, also descended slowly on the sports ground.

Hal jumped in fright. On that blue crystalline exoskeleton on the chest&mdash;the armor for protecting the heartmetal&mdash;there was a large hole. The fearsome queen of the arrow had been injured during the clash with the dragonslaying bow!

"I, Yukikaze, was too careless... I suppose&mdash;"

The princess' adorable voice came out of the white dragon king's mouth.

Despite the element of mirth, this dark voice would only come from someone reveling in the pleasures of battle.

"Fufufufu... After learning you had recruited the former queen to your side, I couldn't help but feel overjoyed, so I recklessly launched an attack. What I got in exchange was a serious wound..."

Turning her giant eyeballs, the princess stared at the ground sharply.

It was very clear that she was staring at Haruga Haruomi. Feeling the fighting spirit and bloodthirst conveyed in her gaze, Hal instant felt his back run cold. Even so, he still took on the princess' gaze squarely.

He totally had no idea how his life would change from here on.

Nevertheless, quaking in fear every time something similar happened would not be an option.

"Hoo&mdash;I suppose it might be fun to continue the battle while ignoring this serious wound."

Hal noticed that the princess' tone had recovered in cheerfulness.

"However, I never expected that a rematch with the bow user would be possible after a thousand years... It would be boorish to succumb to momentary impatience. Fufu, Haruomi."

Her voice was very lively now, even producing an impression of calm composure.

"I, Yukikaze, intend to take my time to enjoy our contest. Let us pit our wits and valor against each other, I as a sovereign and you as the Tyrannos, in a bid for hegemony."

"M-Me and you...?"

"Indeed. First, take out the silver dragon that's in hiding, to claim the 'wedge' in this so-called 'Toukyou'<!--Tokyo in hiragana--> city, shall we?"

"If possible, I hope you won't involve the residents of New Town..."

"Fufu. If you have any objections, don't waste your breath on words. Just fight back with force. I, Yukikaze, welcome a fight any time. Bye for now, Haruomi. As well as the former Crimson Queen!'

Leaving behind these words, the white dragon king spread her wings and slowly rose up in the sky.

Her flying speed was quite slow, completely different from the princess who flew as swiftly as an arrow earlier. Perhaps damage to the heartmetal was a consideration.

However, from Hal's viewpoint, it looked like the following.

Perhaps she was wistfully bidding goodbye to her new mortal enemy&mdash;