Editing Leviathan:Volume 4 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 4===

Hinokagutsuchi suddenly vanished with the Dragon Palace Court's entry to the stage.

In exchange, the magical power in the magic gun surged higher than usual. As soon as she saw the imminent battle, Hinokagutsuchi had suppressed her consciousness to transfer all magical power to the weapon known as the "magic wand."

Hal nodded and ran towards the natural hot spring.

He could not predict what move the unknown usurper or dragon king with indeterminate motive would make. He must reunite with his companions as soon as possible!

Then Hal reached the hot spring's edge&mdash;

"Haruga-kun, look at that!"

"Yeah, I know. Any unusual circumstances?"

"None. Say, Harry, aren't you a little disappointed?"

"......"

At the hot spring in the rocks facing the sea, the two girls were already on high alert.

Approaching the shore of the rock formation, out in the distance was the dreadnought-class giant turtle monster. Orihime pointed at the massive body with her finger while Luna Francois showed a tense expression.

The two girls were tightly wrapped in bath towels to cover up their naked bodies.

Incidentally, these bath towels had been found by Hal earlier while searching through the houses.

"I-I am not disappointed. I was just thinking how prepared you two were."

"It hasn't even been a day after all. We have been vigilant the whole time, taking precautions against weird dragons or Haruga-kun that could appear any moment."

"This is called 'better safe than sorry,' Harry."

After the girls finished speaking calmly, Hal refreshed his mindset.

It was admittedly worth celebrating the fact that they had finished preparing to attack, however, despite having been wrapped around their upper torsos, the bath towels still could not completely hide the cleavage and voluptuous busts that belonged only to these two girls. Their thighs and feet were also exposed to a dazzling degree...!

Naturally, Hal did not let these lustful thoughts show on the outside. He tensed his facial expression and said, "Juujouji, please summon Akuro-Ou."

"Yes, leave it to me!"

The white nine-tailed fox-wolf instantly appeared in the night sky above the remote island.

However, just as Akuro-Ou showed up, another magic circle also appeared in the air above the Dragon Palace Court.

Platinum-colored light traced out a triangle with dozens of Ruruk Soun runes arranged in a circle to surround the magic circle, rivaling Akuro-Ou in size.

The triangle instantly transformed into an octopus-headed dragon subspecies.

Not only that, a pair of them were attacking right off the bat this time!

"Two against one&mdash;Haruga-kun, please pass the power of the rune to me and Akuro-Ou!"

Naturally, he had no reason to refuse a request from Orihime.

As soon as Hal recited an incantation, the Rune of the Bow surfaced on Orihime's right hand. A black arrowhead appeared on the tip of each of Akuro-Ou's nine tails.

Accompanied by the nine arrowheads, Akuro-Ou flew at the two enemies.

"Akuro-Ou, use fire magic and the Bow's power simultaneously to greet them with a finishing move! In a fight, the first strike is the most important!"

Orihime commanded forcefully. With the Rune of the Chain at their disposal, of course the enemies could not be defeated easily. Orihime must have issued her orders after careful contemplation.

Using a powerful attack to restrain the enemy from the get go, meanwhile gauging the enemy's strength&mdash;

This was probably her plan. A novice witch whose career had only begun a few short months ago and also a kendo girl who had won a national tournament, she was steadily accumulating concrete combat experience.

Led by Akuro-Ou, the nine arrowheads began to burn intensely.

Thus, the arrowheads turned into burning projectiles to attack the two octopus-headed dragons.

The nine flames struck their targets with surprising accuracy. Four of the arrowheads connected with the first dragon while the other five pierced the second, defeating and incinerating them, resulting in a giant explosion.

The two octopus-headed dragons were crushed in an instant, rendered into flaming charcoal.

" " "!?" " "

Faced with this landslide victory, Hal, Orihime and Luna Francois could not help but stare wide-eyed.

But at that very instant, the sound of clanging chains appeared. Apart from that, they could hear the chain user's mantra&mdash;A dragonslaying incantation.

"I hereby pray to my seal that shines in the sea of stars, the Chain of Heavenly Imprisonment. Grant me power to enslave yonder female dragon."

The enemy recited quietly in a gloomy voice.

An iron chain suddenly flew in with a square counterweight on its tip.

With lightning speed, the chain wrapped around Orihime, who was clothed in nothing but a towel, immobilizing her in merely an instant.

"Kyahhhhhhh!?"

Leaving a scream behind, the improperly dressed Orihime vanished just like that.

Orihime had suddenly gone missing. Immediately, her newly victorious partner, Akuro-Ou, also disappeared from the sky.

Seeing Orihime and Akuro-Ou vanish, Hal's mind instantly went blank.

With irrepressible rage, he stared at Orihime's former location, then the iron chain, all the way to the opponent wielding this chain&mdash;The enemy had shown up extremely up close by the time he noticed.

The "chain user" was standing on a rock merely a couple meters away.

"&mdash;!"

Hal raised his gun to shoot without saying a word, aiming for the user's heart.

However, the bullets were deflected by a pearly barrier. Obviously, that was imperishable protection.

Surrounded by imperishable protection, the chain user was standing on two legs, featured a pair of arms, but was covered with scales. The face and head were like a ferocious reptile's. A pair of dragon wings sprouted from the back.

A Draconian.

This was a half-human half-dragon form that elite dragons took on through magic.

A body colored gray on the surface, dressed in a black robe. The gray Draconian was gripping one end of the long chain in his hand, presumably the manifestation of the Rune of the Chain similar to Hal's magic gun.

The iron chain was roughly ten-odd meters in length.

Like a living snake, it writhed about.

Currently, it was coiled in a spiral. The counterweighted tip quivered rhythmically like a snake's head and formed an arch.

"What did you do with Juujouji...?"

"Valuable treasure should fall into the hands of the worthy. Nothing more than that."

Hal asked in a low voice and the gray Draconian replied gloomily.

By touching his magic gun's body with his left hand, Hal could still clearly sense his vassal bond with Akuro-Ou and Orihime. They were probably imprisoned rather than killed off.

Hal nodded greatly and aimed his gun at the chain user again.

"I'm not opposed to talking if there's room for negotiation, you know?"

"Foolish. Are you a newcomer ignorant of the ways of the dragons? Tyrannos of the Bow."

The ways of the dragons&mdash;Needless to say, that meant fighting.

Normally, Hal would never go along with a taunt so easily. But now that Juujouji Orihime had been captured, he pulled the trigger with surprising readiness.

Gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat!

Fully automatic fire. This was the technique of assured annihilation that instantly consumed thirty bullets.

Since he had chosen to resist through violent means, it would be pointless to retaliate without sufficient force.

However, in response to this technique of assured annihilation&mdash;

"O Chain of Heavenly Imprisonment. Depict a ring to manifest the fortress of stars!"

The Draconian chain user pulled out his own trump card.

The chain activated again and clanged, turning into a spiral to encircle him. It looked almost like a spiraling vortex of stars.

The spiral chain completely blocked the thirty bullets shot with fully automatic fire!

"No effect at all!?"

Informed by the magic gun, Hal was shocked.

The Rune of the Chain was definitely not an easy power of dragonbane to control, if simply used for offense. After all, as the manifestation of a "chain," it could not be used purely as a weapon. Conversely, a chain was suitable for special purposes such as binding, sealing or defense...

"Meaning it's the transforming type?"

While muttering softly, Hal noticed something else.

Could this Draconian chain user be a dragon king instead of a Tyrannos?

In the past, when Hinokagutsuchi saw the radiance given off by Pavel Galad, the user of the Rune of the Sword, she had exposed the fact that he was not a dragon king. This time, Hal had witnessed the Rune of the Chain multiple times. Its platinum-colored splendor was much more powerful than his own or Galad's...

He had zero remaining ammunition whereas the only "serpent," Glinda, could not oppose a dragonslayer.

Furthermore, if the enemy was dragon king-class&mdash;Hal exhaled deeply. In that case, he had no choice but to unleash everything he was capable of.

"Harry, if the situation turns desperate, I could send Glinda on a suicide run to secure an escape route."

"Thanks. In the worst-case scenario, we might really have to do that, then I'm counting on you when the time comes. But in a word, let's try out my final trump card first..."

He thanked Luna, whose tone of voice was nervous and stiff rather than calm.

Hal forcefully focused his consciousness on his own heart. This was the organ that had merged with the heartmetal of the Crimson Queen&mdash;Hinokagutsuchi in the past&mdash;a month ago.

"I'm counting on you. Serve as my limbs, Queen!"

After Hal shouted with all his strength, a crimson dragon immediately appeared in front of him.

This was the most ferocious entity known to Hal. Not only did the body exceed twenty meters in length, but the head also had nine golden horns standing upright like a crown, the chest area had ossified into an exoskeleton that shone with golden light.

Hal activated the "power to control the Crimson Queen" which he had obtained a month earlier together with the heartmetal.

"Hmm? Could the Crimson Queen have survived to this day... No."

Witnessing the return of the former dragon king, the Draconian chain user muttered quietly.

"Not only has the Tyrannos stolen the Rune of the Bow but also her remains. What a heartrending story."

"Screw that! It was a legitimate deal with mutual agreement!"

With a shout, Hal activated the will to attack.

The Crimson Queen instantly swung her right forelimb. The five sharp claws slammed down at the chain user, ready to tear him apart.

The enemy defended differently against this attack.

The Draconian chain user's body suddenly expanded, turning back into a dragon's form. Using his forelimb, he pushed the queen's sharp claws away.

"Now that I have to face the Crimson Queen, a corpse she may be... I must take to the battle in my former appearance."

The chain user used an elite dragon's body and stance to declare boldly.

A body surface of gray. In terms of physique, he seemed more delicate than any elite that Hal had encountered so far, but there was no impression of weakness at all. The aura exuded would be more akin to that of a slim but sharp blade.

And by the gray dragon's side&mdash;

A gigantic chain matching the size of his massive body, arched in a sickle shape like a snake's neck, coiled around his body.

"This pressure... Can only be matched by the white dragon king encountered last time."

Luna Francois murmured stiffly.

The gray dragon's elite body was shrouded in strong magical power. Combined with the ferocity and stern dignity exuded from his entire body, he did not seem inferior to Princess Yukikaze or the Crimson Queen at all.

So the enemy was dragon king-class after all&mdash;?

Hal frowned intensely. Although he had resurrected the Crimson Queen successfully, it was only temporary. Although he was not an Ultra warrior from a certain Land of Light, the combat duration was limited to only three minutes or so.

Beyond this time limit, the queen's body would naturally crumble.

Aware of the odds stacked against him, Hal suddenly felt the magic gun in his hand vibrate. A warning&mdash;No, the "wand" serving as his guide to the magic wanted to tell him something?

It was almost like a reminder to him to further discern the enemy's true nature&mdash;

Just as Hal focused his eyes to stare, the gray enemy spoke up, "O Tyrannos of the Bow, let us postpone this battle and select an alternative time. I also request this as a gesture of respect towards the queen's remains that you control."

Five runes of Ruruk Soun appeared in front of the gray dragon.

This arrangement signified "shadow transformation." Soon after, his gigantic body turned into black mist, instantly dissipating his physical form.

"You are the puppeteer who controls the false queen. I am but a shadow of a past dragon king. With neither side completely prepared, there is no haste to decide the victor between us..."

"You call yourself the shadow of a dragon king? What is your name&mdash;"

"I am the Gray Aristocrat. Chase after me if that is your intent, but I shall strike back mercilessly. All the female dragons in your possession shall become mine after I defeat you, a perfectly welcome outcome..."

The black mist, still a dragon ten-odd seconds earlier, slowly moved out to sea.

What lay ahead of him was the Dragon Palace Court, the magnificent palace built on top of a island-like carapace, the minion that had been serving the Crimson Queen until eight centuries ago.

After introducing himself as the Gray Aristocrat, the chain user drifted into the palace in the form of mist.

Now that Orihime and Akuro-Ou had been abducted by that dragon(?), Hal was confronted by a development completely different from his anticipations before setting off on this expedition.

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