Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 3 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 6===

The next day at 7am, we were in the sky at an altitude of 15000 m.

From this height, one could tell that the Earth was round. This was a realm overlooking the clouds.

We were standing on a silver-colored gigantic weapon. Mistilteinn—made using mithril, the large bomb developed to take down Basilisk.

In our surroundings were other girls from the Dragon Subjugation Squad who had converged as the support team. They flying here and there, busy with their work.

Using the transmutation of air to control wind they kept Mistilteinn hovering in the air while working to thicken the mithril armor at the bottom.

We initially asked NIFL's transport aircraft to pull Mistilteinn up to this height, but after transferring the task to the Ds, they retreated, because Mistilteinn's weight was no longer within the aircraft's load bearing limit.

To conserve their energy as part of the descent team, the members of Brynhildr Class were on standby on top of Mistilteinn, waiting for preparations to complete.

Normally speaking, this was an altitude where it was difficult to breathe and the temperature was below zero degrees Celsius, but the surrounding wind was very warm and had sufficient oxygen, so there were no problems with cold or breathing.

Tia had also joined in the ranks of creating wind, because she wanted to contribute her part, coming along in a partially forced manner.

However, she could not descend together with us because the risk of dragonification increased if she went near Basilisk. Even if we ended up defeating Basilisk, our operation would be a failure if we lost Tia.

Hence, after the preparatory work ended, Tia would need to leave with the other members of the Dragon Subjugation Squad.

I looked up at Tia who kept transmuting air with her wing-shaped fictional armament which was glowing red.

Our surroundings was almost wind-less. This was evidence that Tia and the others were definitely controlling the wind.

"—Now for final confirmations before the operation."

Mitsuki spoke after sweeping her gaze at each one of us in turn. Pushing her goggles up to her forehead, she was wearing a small communicator. Her attire exuded a sense of solemnity as befitted the captain of the Dragon Subjugation Squad.

"Firill-san and I will be in charge of controlling Mistilteinn's descent. Trajectory adjustment will be very difficult once Catastrophe's attack connects. Using the data sent from surveillance devices, we must maintain our position above Basilisk at all times."

Mitsuki turned her gaze to Firill, who was wearing the same kind of goggles as her. The same equipment as what Lisa had used to snipe Basilisk, this allowed them to capture the position of a target outside of visual contact.

"...Yes, no problem. Precise control is my specialty."

Firill nodded firmly and forcefully in response, clenching her fist before her voluptuous bosom.

"If the operation goes smoothly, I predict Basilisk will take evasive action. We will control Mistilteinn's descent until the moment before it strikes, withdrawing five seconds before impact. But with this timing, escaping the explosion would be impossible, hence, Ariella-san, plase deploy multiple physical barriers."

"Leave it to me. I am everyone's shield."

Ariella thumped her chest and accepted the task.

"Lisa-san and Ren-san, please cooperate with Firill-san and I to devote our full effort to creating a barrier of air. With this, we should be able to defend from the explosion. Also, I leave the handling of unexpected developments to you two."

Mitsuki looked at Lisa and Ren seriously then continued:

"By that, I am referring to the case of the third eye's beam exceeding five seconds. If it persists beyond five seconds, follow Plan A. If a second shot is fired, please counter with Plan B."

This was the most important task with everyone's fate on the line. Any error in judgment and all would be lost.

"Mm."

Ren nodded affirmatively.

"—Understood. I shall accomplish my task flawlessly. Mitsuki-san, I hope that your plan will meet my expectations."

Lisa stared into Mitsuki's eyes and answered with a challenging tone.

"Very well, please believe in me."

Mitsuki was not intimidated by Lisa and answered with firm resolve. Seeing her expression, a smile surface on the corners of Lisa's lips.

"Finally, there is Nii-san and Iris-san. Your responsibilities will change greatly depending on the situation. Have you memorized all the patterns with certainty?"

"Y-Yes! Sure thing, probably!"

Iris answered hoarsely while Mitsuki showed worry on her face.

"The moment you say 'probably,' it is no longer a sure thing..."

"Ooh... U-Umm..."

Seeing Iris panicking, I helped her out.

"It's okay. Iris' and my jobs are to team up. I will definitely guide my partner."

"Mononobe.."

Iris looked at me with eyes of gratitude.

"...Well then, Nii-san, please look after Iris-san, your partner."

I could somehow sense some displeasure in Mitsuki's answer.

Then Mitsuki received a report through her communicator. I could hear faint voices from it.

'Team A reporting. All tasks complete.'

'Team B finished as well.'

"—Thank you for your hard work. Please move on to the next process."

Mitsuki issued orders then looked at our faces and said:

"Mistilteinn's fortification is completed. The operation will begin soon."

We all nodded in acknowledgement with tense faces. Then Tia came over to us. She had probably asked members of the team who had finished with mithril reinforcement to take her spot.

"Yuu, everyone!"

Tia landed on Mistleteinn and looked up at us with a worried face.

"Then it's time for us to get going."

I touched Tia's head and said.

"Yuu... You guys will surely come back, right?"

"Yeah, I promise you, we'll definitely come back alive. All of us."

After I answered, Lisa immediately added one more sentence.

"Naturally, we will also defeat Basilisk, so just wait without worrying."

"...Yeah, Tia knows. Tia will cheer for you all! Tia will cheer very very hard! So—Do your best!"

With moistened eyes, Tia shouted loudly.

I instantly felt a flame of motivation burning in my heart. If it was now, I felt that I was able to do anything.

Basilisk had set its eyes on this gentle girl, wanting to obtain her, but I absolutely refused to hand her over.

This was different from the sense of omnipotence when Fafnir awakened. Feeling the strong power driving myself, I said to Tia:

"Leave it to us. We'll help you reject Basilisk."



Mitsuki and Firill took over Mistilteinn's control, then the Dragon Subjugation Squad members not involved in the descent operation departed from this airspace. Tia was among them, waving at us while gradually receding in the distance.

Then the descent operation began. Falling towards the Basilisk 15000 meters below.

It felt like taking an elevator in a skyscraper, a sudden onslaught of a hovering sensation as though all your innards were floating up. Since we were surrounded by the air created by Mitsuki and the others, I did not feel the ringing in my ears caused by air pressure changes.

"—Currently at 14000 m. Basilisk is moving towards Midgard where Tia-san and the others are taking refuge. Correcting Mistilteinn's trajectory."

Wearing a pair of goggles, holding her fictional armament of a bow, Mitsuki reported the situation to us.

Basilisk's attack range was normally 5000 m but reached 10000 m when the third eye opened. As soon as our altitude went below 10000 m, we could get attacked any time.

"...Passed 12000 m. Basilisk stopped moving and has apparently entered a stance to counterattack Mistilteinn."

Holding her book-shaped fictional armament, Firill read out the information transmitted to her goggles in a calm voice.

Lisa and Ariella generated their fictional armaments as a precaution against changes in the situation. Ren leaned against Lisa while Iris silently held my hand. Iris' hand was sweating from nervousness and I gripped her hand tightly in response, waiting for the time to take action.

"About to reach altitude of 10000 m, from here on, we are within Basilisk's attack range—"

Before Mitsuki finished her sentence, the situation changed.

Suddenly, the rate of falling decreased dramatically while red particles rose around Mistilteinn.

—So suddenly!?"

"The third eye is attacking! Keep some distance from Mistilteinn!"

While rapidly reporting the situation, Mitsuki floated up lightly. Mitsuki and Firill generated wind to make everyone hover.

"Wawa!?"

Well-versed in flying skills, Lisa and the others were unfazed but Iris was in a panic due to losing balance. Unused to the sensation, I also felt a little troubled while I looked down at Mistilteinn, gradually getting farther away from us.

Since Mistilteinn was acting as a shield, the red light did not reach us.

But if it persisted for more than five seconds, that would be a different matter. As though praying, we listened to Mitsuki's counting.

"...Three, four, five—"

At almost exactly five seconds, the red phosphorescence in Mistilteinn's surroundings vanished. Since the resetting of kinetic energy was gone, Mistilteinn's falling speed began to accelerate again. Mitsuki and Firill used wind again to control Mistilteinn's movement and conduct trajectory adjustments.

"Thank goodness... Looks like it's the same as predicted."

Ariella breathed a sigh of relief.

"No—getting attacked by the third eye right off the bat cannot be considered the same as predicted. In the ideal case, I originally hoped that Basilisk would attack like last time, below 5000 m. Lisa-san, please take watch out for the third eye's second attack."

Mitsuki shook her head with a worried expression.

"Understood. It might have used the third eye to attack at the start so as to secure more time to recharge its energy for a second shot. Ren-san, Plan B on standby."

"Mm."

Lisa lifted Gungnir and aimed it downwards whereas Ren placed her hand on the spear. Immediately, as in the previous battle, Lisa's fictional armament grew in size.

Maintaining that state, Lisa stared at the still-intact Mistilteinn.

"If Mistilteinn is breached, we will serve as the second spear!"

"Mm!"

Ren nodded firmly after listening to Lisa.

"—We will presently reach 5000 m. Basilisk will probably fire the normal 'Catastrophe' from its pair of eyes to attack!"

Mitsuki urged us to pay attention. Just as she predicted, Mistilteinn's speed slowed down greatly again. Adjusting our relative speed, Mitsuki and Firill kept our distance from Mistilteinn.

Although red light could be seen faintly, the color was much more dilute than earlier. Mistilteinn was enough to defend.

At this rate, Mistilteinn would probably strike Basilisk directly. Unlike Leviathan with its absolute defense, Basilisk should be possible to defeat as long as it hits.

But there was one more factor that prevented optimism. The strange sensory powers displayed by Basilisk last time. Last night when explaining the operation to us, Mitsuki had said the following regarding that—

That power might be precognition rather than sensing.

Indeed, Basilisk was using a power that interfered with time. Causing weathering in objects within its view was, in a certain sense, looking into the future.

Looking into the future—Suppose this speculation was correct, it was no wonder that traps like land mines were useless.

But even with such a cheating power, there were still openings to exploit.

The future was not fixed and could easily change due to actions taken. Basilisk itself was using action to evade danger.

And based on the previous time, it noticed Lisa and Mitsuki's attacks only after my side had taken action.

"Altitude 2000 m! Basilisk showing no signs of taking evasive action! If this was its decision after looking into the future, the third eye could very well fire its second shot! It is highly probable that Basilisk predicts that the next attack will destroy us!"

Mitsuki reported rapidly. Her words probably sounded like dialogue of despair, but this plan was actually devised by predicting and assuming this situation.

After reinforcement, Mistilteinn could withstand the third eye's weathering duration for roughly nine seconds. In other words, it would break down right at the end of the second shot. This was precisely the trap we had laid for Basilisk.

"Altitude 1000 m—! The second wave is coming! Ariella-san, deploy multiple barriers! Lisa-san, start Plan B!"

"Got it!"

"Understood!"

Looking down at the red light expanding all at once, Ariella and Lisa answered respectively.

"Barrier, five-fold deployment!"

Ariella brandished her gauntlet-shaped fictional armament, Aegis, producing a giant shield with as many as five layers between Mistilteinn and us.

"Transform, spear of holy silver!!"

Using Ren's power, Lisa used transmutation to turn the tip of the enlarged Gungir into mithril.

In that instant, the future seen by Basilisk very likely changed.

Although there was no concrete proof, there was circumstantial evidence that backed such speculation.

The flow of time caused by "Catastrophe" was akin to physical simulation, nothing more than a mechanical change based on the current state and conditions, turning into an appearance later in time. For example, it would not take into account factors like a bird removing a target object from the scene.

If looking into the future was based on the power of "Catastrophe," then it would not take into account the actions caused by unpredictable factors like living creatures.

In other words, only now did Basilisk realize the threat to its life.

The distance was less than 1000 m now. Even if it could look into the future, its choice of action was still limited.

"—Mistilteinn destroyed! Ariella-san's shield is also breached! Lisa-san, please endure!"

"This is more than enough!"

The spear's tip of mithril blocked the red light then just as Lisa declared, it endured successfully against the remaining less than a second of the giant beam of light. Then Mitsuki shouted:

"Third eye, stopped! Basilisk is taking evasive action!"

Perhaps seeing the future of itself getting skewered, Basilisk stopped attacking with "Catastrophe" and started moving.

"...It's too late to escape now."

Firill declared forcefully.

"Lisa-san, please launch the spear! We will correct its trajectory!"

Hearing Mitsuki, Lisa nodded. Transmuting the spear's shaft into mithril as well, she launched the gigantic spear.

"—Pierce!"

Then chasing after the accelerated spear, we descended as well.

"Iris, it's almost our turn. You know what to do, right?"

I said to Iris beside me.

"Yeah, no problem, I know!"

Saying that, Iris generated her fictional armament of a staff.

I was also holding Siegfried in my right hand, estimating my timing. If I missed, all would be for nothing, hence failure was absolutely not an option.

"Three seconds away from target———Impact!"

Accompanied by Mitsuki's voice, the gigantic silver spear stabbed into the white ocean that had been turned into salt.

With a giant crash that shook the atmosphere, a cloud of salt dust rose. Unlike NIFL's Mistilteinn, Lisa's spear did not carry explosives and would not explode. Once evaded, it would not inflict a lethal wound, of course.

Crawling out—Basilisk could be seen emerging from the spear's shadow. Perhaps it managed to dodge in the nick of time by looking into the future.

Immediately, with a red flash, light shot out from its two eyes to deprive us of time.

But having confirmed Basilisk's survival, I had already shot my bullet. Pouring my total generating capacity into it, I warped space as much as I could.

"Antigravity!"

The white glow caused a localized repulsive field, deflecting the red light's trajectory.

Still, the Antigravity bullet's effect only lasted an instant. Our situation would only worsen even if we kept trying to create shields.

Nevertheless, we no longer needed to defend anymore.

An instant was all it took. By securing enough time for Iris to capture Basilisk in her sights, my mission was already accomplished.

Basilisk was roughly 200 meters away.

Iris would never miss at this distance.

"O holy silver, explode!"

Raising Caduceus, Iris cried out.

Immediately, a silver explosion detonated in front of Basilisk.

The noise from the explosion of sharp metal shook my ears, hurting my eardrums slightly.

The point blank explosion was impossible to dodge, it was too late even if it could predict the future. The exploding mithril shrapnel struck Basilisk all over its body.

Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

That was probably Basilisk screaming. I heard a coarse and ear-splitting noise reverberate throughout the surroundings.

"O holy silver—Explode! Explode! Explode!"

Iris kept moving her hands, attacking mercilessly.

Basilisk's eyeballs were completely destroyed during the first stage of the attack. It was no longer capable of attacking with "Catastrophe."

Basilisk curled its body up like an armadillo, trying to hold out against the explosions, but the tough mithril shrapnel easily penetrated the scales of diamond.

But just at this moment, curled into a ball, Basilisk suddenly contracted its body slightly.

Just as I had a bad feeling, the stone pillar-like diamonds on its body suddenly flew apart violently in all directions.

"—It still has this kind of secret move!?"

Seeing the sharp blocks of diamond attack like shotgun pellets, Mitsuki cried out in surprise.

"Don't worry! Leave it to me!"

The incoming diamonds were deflected by Ariella's shield. But having abandoned its heavy outer shell of diamond, Basilisk was starting to burrow into the desert of salt with nimble movements.

"I am not letting you escape—O flare, pierce!"

Iris was panting heavily from the repeated transmutations. Taking her place, Lisa unleashed a torrent of light from her fictional armament of a gigantic spear. This was a maximum-scale positron cannon produced with the help of Ren's dark matter.

I generated Siegfried again and attacked almost simultaneously with Lisa.

"Plasma Bullet!"

This was the transmutation I had used during the test for simulating combat against Basilisk, a technique using plasmafied compressed air to attack. Initially, I only succeeded occasionally, but after practicing relentlessly, I finally mastered the technique.

My Plasma Bullet pierced Basilisk's head accurately from the air, while Lisa's positron cannon blasted a large hole in the center of its body.

Basilisk shook and lost balance, then collapsed on the mountain of salt that had piled up when it was trying to burrow.

Keeping sufficient distance from Basilisk, we landed on the sea surface that had been turned to salt.

"Approach the enemy in formation! Deliver the fatal blow!"

We followed Mitsuki's orders and entered the formation decided during the strategy meeting.

Taking on the role of defense, Ariella, Firill and Lisa were stationed separately on the edges with Mitsuki and me standing in the middle. Furthermore, I had Iris by my side while Mitsuki had Ren.

This formation allowed us to guard against hostile attacks while exterminating the enemy with maximum firepower.

"—Iris."

"Yes!"

I extended my left hand and Iris gripped it tightly with her right hand.

"Anti-dragon armament—Marduk!"

Using the dark matter borrowed from Iris, I constructed a weapon from a lost civilization.

The giant cannon had interior machinery exposed all over the place. It moved according to my will and aimed for Basilisk. On this sea that had been turned into salt, I had a stable foothold.

"Ren-san, I am counting on you."

"Mm."

Then Mitsuki borrowed Ren's dark matter to enlarge her own fictional armament.

Despite having its head and body pierced, Basilisk was still moving its limbs clumsily, struggling as though trying to burrow into the salt and escape. This vitality was extraordinary. It might very well revive if we did not seize this chance to defeat it completely.

"Mitsuki-san, this time... you must succeed in protecting everything!"

Facing forward, Lisa cried out without looking back.

"—Yes!"

Nodding firmly and vigorously, Mitsuki nocked the arrow of dark matter on Brionac.

Then we launched the final attack against the brutal dragon of red.

"Special artillery, Megiddo—Fire!!"

"Terminating Arrow—Last Quark!!"

My cannon shot out a blue projectile of light while Mitsuki fired an arrow of antimatter, both striking Basilisk's body.

The blue flash and the blinding white light of annihilation temporarily altered the colors of the world.

Basilisk's gigantic body was swallowed in the light, returning to nothingness.

Although the blast swept salt and dust in our direction, the barrier of air deployed by Lisa and the others caused the white wave to fly past as though avoiding us.

Finally, a large hole was left in the plain of salt. However, the explosion had apparently punctured the layer of salt. Seawater was gradually flowing out from inside, forming a perfectly circular puddle.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Staring at the hole filled with seawater, Mitsuki finally exhaled quietly.

"Phew..."

Releasing her fictional armament of a bow, Mitsuki looked up at hte clear blue sky.

Lisa slowly walked over to Mitsuki and stood beside her.

"It disappeared so cleanly, leaving not a single trace behind."

"Yes..."

Mitsuki concurred weakly.

"And everyone survived. Not a single person missing. Thus—You have fulfilled my condition."

"...Are you willing to forgive me?"

"Of course, I always keep my word."

Lisa reassured her with a pleasant expression but Mitsuki asked while staring into the distance:

"Is it that easy to let go? If you are forcing yourself—"

"I am not forcing myself at all. Goodness gracious, Mitsuki-san, you never change."

Arms akimbo, Lisa sighed in exasperation.

"But..."

Mitsuki lowered her head with an expression as though she could not accept this.

"Ahhh, I cannot bear the sight of this any longer..."

Lisa scratched her head impatiently and forcibly embraced Mitsuki.

"Mmmph!"

Finding her face pressed against Lisa's massive bust, Mitsuki moaned uncomfortably.

"Mitsuki-san, you have done plenty enough already. I respect someone like you from the bottom of my heart. As friends, I am proud of you. As family... I feel that you are extremely endearing."

Lisa hugged Mitsuki tightly.

As though realizing something, Mitsuki showed surprise on her face.

"—This sensation... Ahhh, I see now. That time, it was also you, Lisa-san, who..."

Mitsuki murmured in a trembling voice while letting Lisa hug her tightly.

Then despite some hesitation, Mitsuki still wrapped her arms around Lisa's back.

"Thank you... Lisa-san."

Although I had no idea what Mitsuki's murmurs meant, I could also feel that, in this very instant, the gulf between them had vanished.

—Thank goodness, you two...

"...Mononobe-kun, let's go over too."

I was watching over Mitsuki and Lisa from a slight distance, but Firill gave my back a push at this time.

"Huh? Go where—"

"There!"

Firill ignored my doubts and shoved me violently towards Mitsuki and Lisa, causing me to collide into them.

"Kyah!? M-Mononobe Yuu? W-What on earth are you doing!?"

"N-Nii-san!?"

"No, it's Firill who forced—"

"...Victory is a joy to be shared with everyone."

My posture was like hugging Mitsuki and Lisa. Then Firill pounced on my back. Instantly, the sensation of a soft and bountiful bosom was pressing against my back.

"Oh, wait for me, Mononobe!"

"—Ren, let's go over too."

"Mm."

Even Iris, Ariella and Ren joined in, instantly packing us together like sardines.

"M-Mononobe Yuu! Y-Your face is too close!"

"Nii-san! W-Where do you think you are touching!?"

Although Lisa and Mitsuki were complaining to me, there was no gap for me to escape.

"...Basilisk is defeated, congratulaions."

Firill cheered for victory in her usual calm voice.

"Congratulations! Wonderful, we won!"

Iris answered with a voice of cheerful vitality.

"Awesome!"

"Oh—"

Ariella raised her arms and cheered. Blushing, Ren cried out loudly in a rare moment.

—By this point, I might as well throw caution to the wind.

"Mitsuki, Lisa, it's our turn next."

Grabbing Mitsuki and Lisa's arms in my left and right respectively, I raised them to the sky.

"Great! We WONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!"

Squeezing my voice out from the bottom of my abdomen, I yelled as hard as I could until my throat hurt.

Seeing me yell loudly next to them, Mitsuki and Lisa first showed wide-eyed shock on their faces then finally chuckled at the same time.

"...Lisa-san, shall we have a shout too?"

"Yes... It's not every day that we get a chance to do so."

Lisa coughed briefly then nodded in response to Mitsuki's question.

Then the two of them cheered together, allowing their voices of joy to resound across the blue sky.
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