Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 10 Chapter 1
Status: Incomplete
Chapter 1 - Midgard in Turmoil
Part 1
The sound of footsteps from multiple people echoed within a dark and enclosed space.
The meandering staircase seemed endless no matter how far we climbed, causing my feet to feel heavy—However, by the time I thought back to the time when I first descended these stairs, we were almost about to reach the bottom of the clock tower.
"Mononobe~"
Hearing the slightly exhausted voice from behind, I paused at a landing in the staircase.
I looked back to see the panting silver-haired girl—Iris Freyja—looking up at me from the step below me. I could not see the others because the view was blocked by the twisting staircase, but I could hear their footsteps behind me.
Several hours earlier, we had felt a tremor originating from the ground surface... Next, Ariella's betrayal came to light. Since the underground cavern's secrecy might have been compromised, we decided our whole group would head up to the surface.
Our current goal was to confirm what had happened on ground level and find a new hiding place for Shion and Jeanne. Rescuing Ariella was also imperative.
"You're climbing too fast~ Let's take a short break..."
Iris reached out to me and pleaded. I sighed deeply.
"Didn't I say I'll head out first to make sure it's safe? There's no need to force yourself to keep up with my pace."
"B-But what if something happened to you while you're alone, Mononobe!?"
Climbing the stairs faster than she could handle, beads of perspiration kept appearing on Iris' forehead, but she stared at me seriously.
"Am I that untrusted?"
"Because lately... Mononobe, you keep taking action alone. That's not good, right?"
"Ouch."
I fell silent for a moment because her comment struck a sore spot.
That time at the mountain villa, the plan to intercept NIFL had failed because I had separated from the others to act alone. Also during the battle against Kraken Zwei, it was Iris who had saved me from the hopeless situation. Hence, I had no words to refute her.
"That's why I want to follow you as much as possible. R-Right now, Mononobe... I-I am your mate."
Iris blushed red and spoke quietly in embarrassment.
I noticed my face heating up because of her words. However, there was something I had to consider carefully before fighting alongside her.
"—By the way, Iris, can you still use Catastrophe?"
Due to getting marked by me and turned into my kind, it was highly likely that her abilities were affected in addition to her body. During the battle against Kraken Zwei, Iris' staff had turned into a part of her body during the dragonification process, even allowing her to produce the "Third Eye."
"Oh, yes, in a way. We at least confirmed it when I was examined."
"In a way?"
The ambiguous answer made me frown.
"Umm, how should I put it...? Before, I knew how to use Catastrophe without needing to think at all... But I can't do it anymore, no matter what. Because of that, I can't use it unless I transmute dark matter."
"I see—So now it's the same for you like how it is for me and Mitsuki."
Like Iris, Mitsuki and I had inherited powers from dragons—antigravitational matter, Ether Wind, antimatter—And they could only be used by transmuting dark matter. In control of Yggdrasil, Tia also used electricity generated from the transmutation of dark matter in order to connect to the plant network.
However, Iris alone had been able to use Catastrophe directly. Hence, her body had transformed to accommodate power, according to Vritra's explanation.
Having lost this unique aspect of hers, Iris could no longer use Catastrophe beyond her capacity to generate dark matter. Neither would she dragonify like before, I suppose.
However—as the one who had marked her, I might be a dragon, which meant it was possible that Iris had simply turned into "my kind"—another type of dragon...
"That's why I can't attack at a moment's notice like before. And it might explode with a bang like when I generated dark matter in the past."
Iris waved her hands to gesture but I smiled wryly at the thought of her "special skill."
"No matter what you're transmuting, Iris, your dark matter always explodes. Also, Catastrophe's effect cannot be controlled. So don't use them on humans, okay?"
"Sheesh, of course I know that. Mononobe, it's you who should take more care, okay?"
Iris pouted slightly and stared at me.
"Me?"
"That's right. You might have to fight people from NIFL later, so don't go overboard, okay? Killing is wrong!"
Bam—These words caused my chest to tighten.
Iris was bringing up matter-of-fact common sense. A moral worldview shared by all humans. However, I had not used this kind of perspective to distinguish good from evil for a long time now.
During my training under Major Loki at NIFL, I had turned into someone "capable of killing at will."
In the past series of battles, I had gradually lost the luxury of choosing "not to kill." In the battles against Hreidmar, I had fought with clear intent to kill. Although the defeated armored soldiers were empty inside, if they were transformed humans as Major Loki had claimed... I might have committed murder already.
But before that...
"Very well, I got it... I'll remember. Killing people is not our goal. We are trying to rescue Ariella and protect Charl—the principal."
I answered, as though carving these words upon my heart. These were the reasons why we had left the underground hot spring and were currently climbing this long staircase.
Just as Iris had said, killing was definitely wrong. No matter what the reason, it was not an option that should be chosen.
"Then Mononobe, it's a promise!"
Iris nodded deeply and extended her little finger towards me.
"...I promise."
After a moment of hesitation, I entwined my little finger with Iris'.
Optimistic thinking was beyond me. I generally had a tendency to imagine the worst-case scenario. If a situation arose where I had to take a life in order to protect Iris and the others, I did not have the confidence to keep this promise.
On the other hand, people surely exchanged promises with one another precisely because they lacked confidence.
Thinking that, I promised Iris while interlocking our little fingers together.
"Mononobe, let's give it our best together!"
Iris smiled cheerfully and released her little finger.
"—Yeah."
Her smiling face was the one thing I did not want to betray.
"Mm!"
Next, I heard a voice expressing agreement. Having caught up during our break, the petite red-haired girl—Ren Miyazawa—looked up at us with her tiny fist clenched tightly.
"Onee-chan must be saved. Whatever it takes."
She declared strongly and ran up to us. Overtaking Iris and coming to my side, she held my hand tightly.
Next, the rest of the girls arrived one after another and looked at Ren and me.
"Yes, we must save Ariella... We haven't heard her story properly yet."
The girl who normally gave off a spaced-out impression, Firill Crest, concurred with Ren whose eyes were showing intense determination.
Lisa Highwalker tossed her long blonde hair and nodded at them.
"Indeed—There must be some sort of reason. Since Ariella-san is the kind of person who can do anything on their own, she must have reached a conclusion on her own to say nothing to anyone. Goodness gracious... My friends are full of these people who get stuck in their stubborn ways of thinking, how troublesome."
Lisa glanced sideways at my foster sister, Mitsuki.
"...Why are you looking towards me, Lisa-san?"
"Oh my? Would you like me to explain?"
Confronted with Lisa's mischievous expression, Mitsuki went red and averted her gaze.
"N-No, it is fine... I am aware of my similarities with Ariella-san."
Mitsuki replied with some embarrassment. She must be recalling how she had entered conflicts with Lisa many times due to her own obstinate views on the Shinomiya Miyako incident.
Next, Mitsuki held her hand against her chest with a somewhat weary expression. She was panting heavily, probably exhausted from climbing all these stairs in one go. Upon closer examination, I noticed that the redness of her face was not purely due to embarrassment.
"Mitsuki, are you okay? Just take a break if you're tired, or..."
I stopped mid-sentence and looked at Jeanne Hortensia. Although she was dressed in Midgard's male school uniform like me, Jeanne was genuinely female. Back in NIFL, she belonged to the same unit as me, serving as the sniper due to her rare "eyes" of outstanding talent.
And right now, Jeanne was carrying a purple-haired girl on her back. The girl was named Shion Zwei Shinomiya. As the daughter of the Krakenified Shinomiya Miyako, she currently adored Jeanne as family.
"Captain?"
"...Papa?"
Making eye contact with me, Jeanne and Shion tilted their heads in puzzlement. Worried that Shion would experience feelings as my mate, Jeanne had taught Shion that she and I were her family—Still, I had yet to get used to being called "Papa."
However, Shion would feel insecure if I were to look troubled, so I tried to smile back at the two of them as naturally as possible.
"C-C-C-Captain, if you stare at me like this... It would feel a bit..."
I ended up causing Shion to smile with delight while Jeanne lowered her head, slightly flustered.
Seeing them like that, Mitsuki realized what I was suggesting and her face turned even redder.
"No, there is no need for you to carry me! Also, I do not need a break. Our first priority is to make haste and intercept Ariella-san right now!"
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