Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 2 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Red-Winged Tiamat

Part 1

"Mitsuki!"

I rushed into Mitsuki's room on the second floor of the dorm. Everyone had already changed into their uniforms and were gathered next to the window.

"Shh!"

Iris brought her finger to her lip and shushed me. Upon closer examination, I saw Mitsuki urgently calling somewhere on her portable terminal.

"—Please respond ASAP! Command center! Shinomiya-sensei! Please respond!"

Despite Mitsuki's desperate cries, no one answered. Mitsuki finally gave up, disconnected the call and turned around to face us.

"Everyone—Just as you can see, this is an emergency. Central command is demolished and we cannot expect backup support. Hence, our countermeasures shall be centered around ourselves, is that alright?"

"Of course! Mitsuki-san, issue orders now."

Lisa replied to Mitsuki while the others nodded with tense expressions to concur.

As official members of the Counter-Dragon Squad, they were all wearing tiny communicators on their heads.

"Well then, Ariella-san, please head to the girls dormitories and take charge of directing the scene. After confirming whether there is someone whose dragon mark has changed color, gather the Counter-Dragon Squad. As for ordinary students, have them head to the underground shelter. If anyone is discovered with a dragon mark that has changed color, please send her to the shelter to be isolated then call me."

"Got it, I'm heading off immediately."

Ariella manifested her fictional armament then enveloping herself in wind, she flew off in the night sky.

"Firill-san and Ren-san, stay on standby in the air above Hekatonkheir to await my instructions to attack."

"...Understood."

"Mm."

Firill and Ren manifested their fictional armaments and flew out of the window.

"Nii-san and Iris-san, please come with me. We will approach Hekatonkheir via the ground."

"Understood."

"Yes, got it!"

Iris and I nodded but the unmentioned Tia and Lisa spoke up.

"Yuu... Are you leaving?"

"Hold on, Mitsuki-san! Did you forget me?"

Tia gazed at me with an uneasy expression while Lisa questioned Mitsuki.

"Lisa-san, you are responsible for guarding Tia-san. Attacking Hekatonkheir requires Nii-san's power no matter what, but we cannot send Tia-san to the frontline. Consequently, I hope you can stay by her side, Lisa-san, having gained Tia-san's trust."

"B-But..."

"Although it should be Basilisk that has its eyes set on Tia-san, we cannot completely rule out the possibility of Hekatonkheir targeting Tia-san too. As a precaution, we need someone who can be adaptable in emergencies. I am counting on you, Lisa-san."

Mitsuki bowed her head to request the hesitating Lisa. Seeing her like that, Lisa sighed.

"...Fine, I understand. I accept the mission. Tia-san, we will watch over the house together."

Lisa bent down in front of Tia and said to her gently.

"B-But Yuu..."

"Don't worry about him. No matter how you look, he doesn't seem like someone who will die that easily. Trusting a man and seeing him off is part of a woman's fortitude, you know?"

"A woman's fortitude?"

Not quite understanding what the words meant, Tia titled her head in puzzlement.

"Perhaps you can call it the qualities of a virtuous wife. You have no cause for worry, because you will not be alone."

Lisa held her hand and Tia's face relaxed slightly. She was probably scared of being left alone like the time she lost her parents. That was why she refused to leave me so adamantly in the beginning. But now, apart from me, there was someone else who could accompany her.

"Lisa will stay with Tia... together?"

"Yes, we will stay together."

Seeing Lisa nod in agreement, Tia turned her gaze to me.

"......Got it, Tia is a virtuous wife, so Tia will wait for husband to come home. Yuu... You must return no matter what, okay?"

Tia spoke to me with serious eyes.

"Yeah, I'll definitely return."

I rubbed Tia's head and agreed to her demand.

"—Then let us depart, Nii-san and Iris-san."

Mitsuki hurried us.

Thus, to handle a dragon's surprise attack, an internal defense battle took place on the island, the first crisis of this sort since Midgard's inception.

Part 2

We ran along the road leading from the dorm to the school campus.

Mitsuki's dorm was located on the southwest side of the island while Hekatonkheir was on the east. Even though Hekatonkheir was still quite far away, it was impossible to capture a complete view of its figure. After all, its size was too extraordinary, allowing it to reach the school campus in the middle of the island just by bending over and extending its hand.

"It hasn't moved after breaking the clock tower. What's with it?"

Iris ran while voicing her doubts.

Indeed, after doing that, Hekatonkheir had stood in the same spot without moving.

Neither walking nor destroying.

"Pondering a dragon's actions is futile, because we do not even understand why they are moving about all over the world. Hence, there is no way for us to understand its reason for not moving."

Mitsuki answered bitterly.

She was probably recalling about three years ago. Back then, we were wondering: why here? Why was Hekatonkheir advancing towards our town...?

"But since it stopped, that's a good thing for us. We'll find a way to take care of it now. You brought me because you intend to drive it away like three years ago, right?"

"Yes, that anti-dragon weapon you used in the past, Nii-san... Please lend me that power."

Mitsuki nodded to confirm my question.

Three years ago, I obtained power at a great price, destroying Hekatonkheir temporarily. Although it could not kill the dragon completely, as long as we used the same method, surviving this crisis should be quite probable.

"It's just that... Midgard will suffer severe damage if we shoot from here, you know? A bit of carelessness and we might end up flattening half the island."

"I know, which is why I intend to push Hekatonkheir into the sea first."

Mitsuki's plan was very appropriate but there was a problem.

"Is it even possible... to push that thing?"

I muttered while I looked at Hekatonkheir's figure, covering the eastern sky.

The mass difference was too great. Besides, the fact that such a gigantic body could walk on two legs was in itself quite abnormal. According to the data I saw at NIFL, Hekatonkheir was quite light in weight relative to its physique... But even so, humans still could not compare to it. Furthermore, Hekatonkheir's characteristic was the power of immortality. No matter what damage was done to it, that thing would immediately recover.

In fact, three years ago, Mitsuki still failed to stop Hekatonkheir no matter how hard she tried.

"Worry not, because unlike three years ago, we have reliable comrades now."

Mitsuki replied confidently then looked at Iris.

"Eh? M-Me?"

"Yes, right now, Firill-san and Ren-san are on standby in the air. Ariella-san will also bring the Counter-Dragon Squad over soon. Since we have so many people, we will surely succeed."

Mitsuki declared firmly and Iris nodded with a blush.

"Y-Yes... That's right, I will do my best!"

Mitsuki was running ahead of us. When she reached the fork in the road leading to the girls dormitories, she stopped.

This location happened to be the spot where Hekatonkheir could be viewed across the school campus.

"If we attack from this direction, we should be able to push Hekatonkheir towards the eastern shore. Iris-san, are you ready?"

"Yes—Caduceus!"

Iris manifested her fictional armament and stared at the giant on the other side.

"Nii-san, please remain on standby until you are ready. Firill-san, Ren-san, can you hear me?"

Mituski pressed the switch on the small communicator on her head, calling to the pair that was supposed to be in the air.

'...I hear you.'

'Mm.'

"You two coordinate with us and simultaneously attack Hekatonkheir from the west. Counting down! Nine!"

Mitsuki started to count down while manifesting in her left hand the fictional armament of a bow—Brionac. Then she nocked an arrow of dark matter with her right hand.

"Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one—!"

At zero, the girls all attacked at the same time.

"Second Arrow—Night Blaze!"

"O holy silver, explode!"

'...Flare Burst Quintet.'

'Mm!'

Stacked together, the four girls' attacks caused a giant explosion in front of Hekatonkheir. A mixture of red and white light blew way the canopy of night briefly, illuminating the surroundings as brightly as day.

Several seconds later, the blast pressure reached us. To avoid getting blown away by the hot wind, I stood my ground firmly while narrowing my eyes, confirming the outcome of the attack.

After the bright light subsided, what appeared was Hekatonkheir with large holes gouged out of various parts of its body. The entire right arm was gone from the shoulder down. Compared to Leviathan from the previous battle, Hekatonkheir was incomparably fragile, however—

"Eh...?"

Iris exclaimed in surprise. It was only natural for her to be taken aback if it was her first time seeing it.

As though rewinding time, Hekatonkheir's wounds healed up within the blink of an eye. Rather than regenerate, it would be better to call it restored. That was how outrageous a power it was.

Recovering its original appearance in merely a few seconds, Hekatonkheir seemed as though nothing had happened, towering under the starry sky, it had not been pushed back by a single step.

"...Its body is more fragile than imagined. All impacts were absorbed. Next time, suppress your firepower to a lower level."

Mitsuki called to everyone with a solemn look but Iris made a troubled expression.

"Mitsuki-chan, since attacks will work, why not attack even harder to destroy it in one fell swoop?"

"Be that as it may, the result is the same. NIFL used thermobaric and nuclear attacks in the past and succeeded in destroying its entire body all at once... But before long, Hekatonkheir revived again. The only exception was that time three years ago... Only Nii-san's trump card has the potential."

Mitsuki spoke calmly and drew her bow again.

Thus, the attacks resumed. As for me, I waited behind Mitsuki and Iris, waiting for the time for me to enter the stage.

However, attacks that were too strong would repeat the same mistake as earlier, while attacks that were too weak would be unable to move Hekatonkheir's gigantic body.

The only saving grace was that Hekatonkheir did not move at all.

It made no signs to strike back no matter how many attacks it suffered. Perhaps because it was immortal, it did not need to react to danger... Still, I felt that something was not right.

The fact that Hekatonkheir had attacked the clock tower without hesitation, paralyzing Midgard's functionality in a precise and effective manner... It was almost as though it knew that the clock tower was the central core.

Although Mitsuki believed that pondering a dragon's actions was futile, supposing Hekatonkheir was thinking... Then there might be meaning behind why it was not moving. Either its goal had already been achieved or there was no reason to take action.

I felt inexplicably unsettled in my chest, unable to calm down. It felt like I had somehow missed something.

And from just now, I was having this sense of deja vu.

An easily penetrated body, instantaneous recovery... That scene was overlapping with previous images. But rather than from three years ago, it was a recent memory—

"Now everyone, transmute maximum volume of air! We will use wind to push Hekatonkheir to that side!"

Under Mitsuki's command, everyone created raging winds.

Hekatonkheir's upper body shook slightly. The wind's wake caused the surrounding trees to rustle. Carrying leaves, the raging winds blew all over the place.

However, the wind produced by the four girls did not seem powerful enough. Hekatonkheir remained standing where it was.

"Hmm... Looks like reinforcements might be necessary."

Mituski murmured in chagrin. But the wind just now made me figure out why the situation felt so familiar.

What surfaced in my mind was the red dragon, glaring at us from above, surrounded by a swirling storm—

"Right, this is very similar to that time..."

"Huh?"

Reacting to what I blurted out, Iris looked at me.

"This is very similar to Tia when she went out of control and became a dragon. A body composed from a fictional armament will immediately restore its form even after getting cut up. That scene overlaps inexplicably well with how Hekatonkheir restores itself."

Hearing me say that, a troubled expression surfaced on Iris' face.

"Mononobe, are you saying... that Hekatonkheir is someone's fictional armament?"

"Well..."

Now that she pointed it out, I realized how absurd my suggestion was.

Then Mitsuki interrupted.

"Impossible. Creating such a gigantic fictional armament is impossible. Even Ren-san, believed to have the greatest dark matter generating capacity to date, she cannot achieve the amount necessary to form Hekatonkheir at all."

"...You're right. I knew my idea was too absurd."

However, many things would make sense if one thought of Hekatonkheir as a fictional armament.

Appearing in Midgard without anyone noticing. Attacking as though it knew that the clock tower was Midgard's central core.

No matter which one, if one were to assume that Hekatonkheir was fictional armament created by someone, then it would all be explained. Just by transmuting its surface and limbs, it would be able to walk on the ground and destroy buildings with its arms. If the majority of its body was weightless dark matter, then it made sense how such a gigantic body could walk on two legs.

No—Hold on, following that assumption, it meant that the culprit was a human... a D?

At this time, I could only think of one person, and that person's aim was to—

"!?"

Realizing the enemy's goal in alarm, I looked back in the dorm's direction.

The explosion occurred within my view after that.

Part 4

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