Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 2 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Calamitous Flames of Muspelheim

Part 1

The girl stared blankly, sitting collapsed in front of a pile of white ash.

Without crying audibly, her tears flowed nonstop.

The home where she had been living happily had turned into ash completely. On the floor were fragments of window glass that had melted then solidified into round shapes.

Black smoke was billowing from the fields whose harvest were originally looked forward to.

—The happiness she had finally obtained... The happiness which that person had given her, all of it disappeared.

Filled with irrepressible sorrow, the girl could only shed tears nonstop.

"You don't need to be sad, because it was not real."

This was what the fire witch, responsible for everything, told the girl. With icy eyes, she looked down at the white ash on the ground. Then fluttering her smoking black coat, she walked towards the despairing girl.

"Not... real?"

Not understanding, the girl asked hoarsely. The hot air in the surroundings was making her mouth dry.

"Yes, because you're not human. Abandon all that old and fake stuff to become the real you. Oh right—Let me give you a new name."

Saying that, the witch placed her hand on the girl's head. Frightened, the girl huddled herself in fear.

"From now on, you will be called Tia. Tia as in Tiamat, the name of the silver dragon that Marduk vanquished in the past. You have great potential and will surely become something worthy of that name."

Written off as not human, receiving the name of Tia, the girl trembled and asked the witch:

"...What am I?"

"Tia, you are a dragon."

Hearing the girl's question, the witch replied in a forceful tone of voice.

"Dragon..."

"Indeed, and our mother is 'Black' Vritra. You have not lost anything. Even now, our mother continues to watch over us."

The girl widened her eyes.

"...Mama?"

"Yes, as a dragon, Tia, you are not alone, because you have a mother and many sisters."

Feeling a sense of solitude impossible to bury, the girl could only rely on the witch's whispers.

Even though she knew it was wrong—

Part 2

Having deployed a dragon-shaped fictional armament, Tia's gigantic body was making the spacious underground training site look like a cramped cage. Hovering in midair, the massive body had a destructive storm swirling around it.

Countless lightning strikes were tearing into the training site's inner walls. The fierce wind was sealing our movements.

Just as Lisa lost balance from the strong wind, a bolt of lightning descended upon her.

"Lisa!"

I was nearby so I slammed myself against Lisa to help her evade the lightning. Immediately finding my face buried in a soft sensation, making me unable to breathe, I moved my head. A sweet fragrance instantly filled my nostrils. Even my ears heard a seductive voice.

"Mmm.... No... M-Mononobe Yuu! W-Where, where do you think you're touching!?"

"Oh... S-Sorry!"

Realizing I had my face in Lisa's voluptuous bosom, I frantically separated from her.

"N-Normally speaking, I would have punished you mercilessly by now, understand? However... Since you seem to have rescued me this time, I shan't pursue the matter...... Thank you."

Blushing, Lisa thanked me quietly.

"Wow, Lisa thanking me, it's gonna rain today, no wait... A storm is already blowing."

To prevent myself from getting blown away by the strong wind, I lowered my posture while looking up at Tia who had become the eye of the storm.

"...What on earth is happening? That dragon is Tia-san... isn't it?"

"Yeah, it must be Tia's fictional armament. If by tracing out the 'outline of the mind,' Tia created that kind of fictional armament... Then perhaps she totally believes she's a dragon right now."

When I thought of it that way, it could explain why she suddenly went out of control.

"I-If that is the case, we must hurry to bring her back to normal!"

"Yeah—But how to get close...?"

Raging wind and lightning were ravaging the surroundings. On the other hand, Tia was hovering ten-odd meters above the floor.

"Mononobe!"

Just as I was wondering how to approach Tia, I heard Iris' voice. At the same time, the wind blowing us suddenly stopped.

I looked back to see Iris and Firill. Since they were training relatively nearer to us, they had come over to assist us.

Firill lifted the fictional grimoire shaped from her dark matter. She probably performed air transmutation to create a barrier of wind.

No longer suffering from the storm's pressure, I now had the luxury of observing my surroundings. I could see Mitsuki, Ren and Ariella gathered around Shinomiya-sensei next to wall on the far end. From what I could see, they were probably using transmuted air to neutralize the wind like Firill. Since they were too far away, it was impossible to join forces with them.

"...Are you two alright?"

Firill asked us.

"Yeah, we're alright but... Tia's a messy situation. Can you two help me?"

"...Sure."

Firill nodded.

"Yes, of course! Mononobe, what should I do?"

Iris nodded vigorously and sought my directions.

"Firill, try to expand the wind barrier as much as possible. And Iris, I want you to make explosions to divert Tia's attention."

"Got it, I'll try!"

Saying that, Iris manifested her fictional armament—Caduceus.

"—Mononobe Yuu, then I shall be heading over to Tia-san."

Raising her Gungnir, Lisa turned her gaze to Tia above.

"No wait, it's better if I reached to Tia."

"True that may be... But can you fly?"

Lisa looked at me uneasily. The method of using wind to fly required created a huge amount of air through transmutation.

My dark matter generating capacity was extremely low compared to everyone else, which meant I could not use that method. However—

"If it's just that kind of height, I'll manage. Lisa, could you please create lightning rods in the surroundings to divert the lightning?"

"...No helping it, leave it to me—Rise, towers of steel!"

Four masses of dark matter were ejected by Lisa's Gungnir, turning into four steel rods in the air, then embedded themselves into the ground as though surrounding Tia's position.

The random lightning strikes gathered towards the four lightning rods.

"My turn!"

Iris pointed Caduceus' tip at Tia and started concentrating.

"Come, come, fragments of the Far Beyond..."

As though surrounding Tia, dark matter manifested in multiple spots.

"Iris, don't hurt Tia."

"I know—O raindrops, scatter!"

Transmuted into water, the dark matter all exploded together.

Iris possessed the special talent that made everything explode no matter what she transmuted. Furthermore, she had high-level spatial awareness, allowing her to aim at the target without deviation. Hence, the accompanied steam explosion did not harm Tia directly.

Ruoooooooooooooooooooooo!

Frightened by the explosions, Tia used the dragon's stout limbs, formed from dark matter, to attack the steam shrouding her. But the limbs were worn down instead upon contact with the steam.

Eroded, the limbs rapidly recovered but it made me certain that this was just a dragon in nothing but appearance only. Before undergoing transmutation, dark matter was extremely fragile, vanishing whenever it touched matter apart from the person who had summoned it. In that case, touching Tia who was supposed to be inside should not be that difficult.

"Firill, just try your best... Help me to open up a path!"

After saying that, I instantly rushed towards Tia.

"Understood—Air Road."

I heard Firill's voice behind me. Then a favorable wind propelled me from behind. Firill's wind ran past me and helped me to block the raging wind coming from Tia. Meanwhile, Tia's attention was caught by the explosions so she did not notice me approaching.

While running, I concentrated my mind to manifest my fictional armament.

"Siegfried."

Appearing in my right hand was a mass of dark matter shaped like a large-caliber ornamental gun.

By using this fictional armament, I could fire dark matter as bullets, allowing me to perform powerful transmutations three times. After using three shots' worth, the fictional armament would disappear, but manifesting it again would create a huge opening, hence—

—I have to finish this in three shots.

Without slowing down, I pointed the muzzle at Tia above and pulled the trigger without aiming carefully.

"Smoke Bullet."

The fired bullet transmuted into tiny particles of dust and air. The red dragon was instantly engulfed by the puff of smoke. The countless dust particles wore away the dark matter, peeling off Tia's outer garment of a dragon for a brief instant.

—I see her!

As soon as the storm blew the smoke away, the dark matter dragon would revive again, but I had already captured Tia's location in my sight.

The left breast... The heart's location!

Arriving under Tia, I stopped running. This time, I aimed precisely and shot the ground.

"Air Bullet!"

Transmuted into a large volume of air, the dark matter struck the ground and exploded, blowing me towards the sky.

In this manner, I charged into the dragon's interior. Although my view turned completely red, there was no tactile sensation or feeling of resistance. Prior to transmutation, dark matter was equivalent to not existing and could not impede my advance.

"Tia!"

I yelled while reaching out with my empty left hand. My aim had not deviated, as long as I reached enough height, this hand should be able to touch—

After my fingertip felt a tiny sensation, I found Tia in front of my eyes. Her eyes were blank and did not reflect anything. As expected, she was not conscious.

Perhaps we were... the culprits for turning Tia, who believed she was a dragon, into a real dragon.

"Pull yourself together! Tia!!"

I yelled loudly while embracing her with my left arm.

"—Ehhh? Yuu...?"

The light returned to Tia's eyes as she called my name.

Then holding Tia in my arm, I started to fall, traveling through the dragon's body.

Seeing the ground gradually approaching, I aimed Siegfried downwards. This was the last shot.

"—Air Pressure Bullet!"

I used an explosion of air to cancel the falling impact. Landing lightly, I immediately check Tia's condition.

"Are you okay, Tia?"

"..."

Having regained consciousness just now, Tia still did not respond. She had fainted, her limp body leaning against me.

Due to manifesting such a gigantic fictional armament and performing large-scale transmutations continuously, her mind and body must be thoroughly exhausted.

"Mononobe!"

Iris and Lisa ran over to me. From the distance, Mitsuki and the others also hurried to our side.

The classmates all showed worried expressions. But amidst all this, only Shinomiya-sensei was watching us with a harsh gaze.

Seeing Shinomiya-sensei's expression, I knew that time was short.

Turning my gaze to Tia, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion—I steeled my determination to face off against the monster invading her heart.

Part 3

Although Tia had gone on a rampage, greatly damaging the training site, luckily, no one was injured.

Also because Mitsuki and I tried our hardest to intercede on her behalf, Tia's punishment was withheld for now.

However, Shinomiya-sensei also warned us that there would be no second chances.

—After all, the training site was damaged to the point that it required repairs before it could be used again.

Carrying Tia on my back, I went to the infirmary. Along the way, I recalled the pitiful condition of the training site, damaged from floor to ceiling by lightning.

Due to the severe damage caused to the facilities, the entire incident might have to be reported to Midgard's superior organization, Asgard. If further damage occurred, Asgard would definitely punish Tia.

—I need to have a proper discussion with her after she wakes up.

In order to help Tia become a member of Midgard, to become a fellow classmate in the truest sense, I had to make her a human.

I walked through the quiet corridor to arrive in front of the infirmary's door.

"Pardon the intrusion."

I opened the horizontally sliding door with a clatter, only to see that the person inside was not the school nurse who had looked after me on a number of occasions.

"...Eh?"

Staring at me in surprise was the girl who had chatted with me yesterday—Tachikawa Honoka. Dressed in gym clothes, she was sitting in a chair with her top lifted up, in the middle of sterilizing a wound on her flank.

"Kyah!?"

Honoka straightened her lifted top and turned her back to me. Originally frozen from excessive surprise, I also came back to my senses as a result of her scream.

"Oh... Umm, sorry! I'll wait outside."

Carrying Tia on my back, I was about to shut the door when Honoka frantically called to me.

"H-Hold on! Tia-san on your back is not feeling well, right? N-No need to mind me... Please come in."

"...Are you fine with it? Then pardon... the intrusion, okay?"

I felt as though someone had invited me into their bedroom. Stepping into the infirmary, I went to the innermost bed and unloaded the sleeping Tia from my back. Laying her out gently on the bed, I put a blanket on her before turning to face Honoka.

"Uh, looks like there's no one else here... Where did the nurse go?"

"Oh, the nurse is over at the clinic because there was someone with more serious injuries than me. She is currently treating that person."

"Serious injuries? Was there some kind of accident?"

Honoka's arms and legs had several pieces of gauze stuck to them. Before I arrived at the infirmary, she was already treating her own wounds.

"...Actually, I failed a transmutation during a practical. That's also why my classmate became injured."

She was referring to the student being treated at the clinic?

Honoka's class was apparently having a practical lesson at a different training site than ours.

"I see, although everyone makes mistakes... It must feel pretty bad that you hurt others."

"Yes... I will apologize to her properly afterwards. Whether or not she will forgive me, I don't know."

"That's true, no matter what the outcome, I think that's the best way to go about it."

Hearing me say that, Honoka smiled wryly.

"...You really aren't one to hand out comforting words, Yuu-san."

"Sorry, although I know that I should be encouraging you."

"No, compared to people who comfort others irresponsibly, I prefer someone like you."

I felt embarrassed by her description and scratched my face, looking away.

"—But anyway, even if there are other people injured, is it okay for the nurse to leave you alone, Honoka? I don't think there's a shortage of manpower..."

Although the school nurse was the only medical professional on duty, there should be other specialized doctors who were on call. To ensure the Ds' health, Midgard had a comprehensive medical care system.

"No, this really isn't anything serious... I offered to do the dressings myself because it's just putting on gauze after sterilizing."

Saying that, Honoka showed me the bottle of antiseptic liquid and gauze in her hands.

"But from what I saw just now, your wound is somewhere hard for your hand to reach, right?"

When she was sterilizing her flank just now, it looked like she was twisting her body in quite a forced posture.

"That's true... Some places are harder... Oh right, if it's okay with you... Could you help me?"

"Eh? M-Me?"

I widened my eyes greatly upon hearing these surprising words.

"Yes, on my back... Even if it's just this part."

Saying that, Honoka pulled her gym t-shirt up sightly.

My attention was drawn to her snow-white skin.

"Sure... If you don't mind."

Despite feeling troubled, I still approached her. I had learned first aid for the most part at NIFL. There was no need to falter at dressing a wound of this level.

"Then I'll apply the antiseptic. Are you really fine with this?"

Receiving the antiseptic and the gauze, I confirmed with her again. If things turned into sexual harassment after the fact, it would be too much to swallow.

"I'm counting on you, please... be gentle."

"O-Okay... Got it."

I gulped and nodded.

I walked over to the back of Honoka, who was sitting in a chair, and knelt down to treat her.

"...Mmm, ahh..."

Perhaps feeling some stinging, Honoka emitted inexplicably seductive moans. To distract myself as much as possible, I made conversation with her.

"Speaking of which, Honoka, you were discovered in the towns ahead of Basilisk's route of advance, right? You're Japanese no matter how I look, so why were you in that kind of place?"

I asked the question that had occurred to me during the full-school assembly. Honoka answered while enduring the stinging from her wound.

"My mother... Mmm... is someone who travels the world... Ah... As for me, I visit various places together with my mother."

"What an accomplished mother... Do you feel lonely, suddenly separated from her?"

"No... Our relationship is quite cold because I don't have a father or relatives... Mmm... In a certain sense, we stayed together because of circumstances, so it actually relieves me to become independent."

Honoka's reply was very calm and did not sound like a brave front.

"...That's so strong of you. Okay, dressing is done."

I examined the sterilized wound then applied the gauze, ending the treatment.

"Thank you, Yuu-san."

After Straightening out her clothing, Honoka thanked me.

"It was nothing. Well... Although it's embarrassing to say this, but from now on, you don't need to be so polite when asking friends for help."

"Friends... huh?"

Honoka's face looked like she had heard something unexpected. Her eyes were wide with surprise.

"Yeah, that's what I think. If you feel that I'm forcing things too much, then I apologize."

"No, nothing of that sort. I... am extremely glad."

Honoka smiled and shook her head.

"Great, then let's look after each other from now on."

"V-Very well, me too... Let's look after each other. S-So... I'd like to head over to the clinic to see how my classmate is doing."

Honoka lowered her head and bowed, then a little frantically, she walked to the infirmary's exit.

"Sure, see you."

I waved a hand in response. Honoka partially closed her eyes and smiled.

"Great—hope to talk to you again, then I'm off..."

She closed the door and the room suddenly turned silent.

—Hope?

Rather than waiting for chance encounters, perhaps I should write emails to her proactively.

Injuring a classmate might have repercussions for her. Although I might not be able to help much, it would be good for her to have someone to confide in at least. As her friend, I wanted to help her as much as possible.

Thinking about this kind of thing, I turned my gaze to the bed.

Tia was still sound asleep.

Zzzzzzzzzzz!

But at this moment, the terminal for the infirmary's internal line played a ringtone and the call lamp kept flashing.

"...Should I answer?"

I hesitated and looked at the infirmary's door. The school nurse did not look like she was returning yet.

—Maybe it might be for me.

I had reported to Shinomiya-sensei that I was taking Tia to the infirmary. Thinking it could be something to inform me, I pressed the pick up button on the screen despite my hesitation.

With an electronic sound, the screen immediately switched.

Then a face appeared on the screen, but it was someone I totally did not expect.

'Hi, it's been a while, 2nd Lieutenant Mononobe.'

"...Major Loki?"

His name flew out of my mouth. It was the man who had been my direct commanding officer at NIFL.

On the other end, NIFL stared at me with his slender eyes. A gentle smile surfaced on his face.

'Until just now, I was still having a discussion with Colonel Shinomiya. Then I asked her to connect my call over to your end. Because I didn't even get a chance to talk to you during the personnel reassignment, I've been wanting to find a chance to chat with you.'

"Huh...? If it's chatting, last time—"

'What are you talking about, 2nd Lieutenant Mononobe? Ever since you transferred to Midgard, this is my first time speaking to you, isn't it?'

Hearing him say that, I remembered this was a public ine.

When Leviathan was attacking, Major Loki had exploited the opening in Midgardsormr switching to interception mode and secretly contacted me through my personal terminal. This was to talk about things that must not reach Midgard's ears, because he wanted me to kill the D whose dragon mark had changed color.

"Right... Yeah, Major Loki, because I feel that working under you was only recently, I made a mistake."

Left without a choice, I could only go along with him. If any problems arose from what I said arbitrarily, it would turn into Mitsuki's responsibility because she was the one supervising me.

'Haha, me too. Clearly you're no longer my subordinate, but I still worry about you. I've got something to tell you. Want to hear it?'

"Yes... What is it?"

Staring at Major Loki's fake smile, I nodded. Since it was something that could be said on a public line, it should not be something dangerous like last time.

'The dragon cult, the Sons of Muspell, is apparently plotting to recover Tia Lightning. Although I've already asked Midgard to pay more attention, you be careful too.'

The Sons of Muspell... was the name of the organization that had effectively kept Tia under house arrest in the past. If they knew about the dragonification of Ds, it was not difficult to understand why they wanted to retrieve Tia, but—

"Recover...? From Midgard here? I think they'll get eliminated by Midgardsormr the instant they approach, right...?"

'Yes, Midgard's defenses are impregnable. But supplies and personnel need to enter and exit. Although there are stringent checks, it is not entirely impossible to get through. And this time, beyond a doubt... Kili will make a move too."

The smile vanished from Major Loki's face this time.

"That Kili huh..."

Kili Surtr Muspelheim. The leader of the Sons of Muspell, she was also a D deemed a disaster... Although I did not think she could penetrate Midgardsormr, she was quite a strong threat indeed.

'Kili is very strong, 2nd Lieutenant Mononobe. Due to the information we received this time, alerting us that the Sons of Muspell had a D in their compound, NIFL mobilized all deployable forces. But the result was that Kili singlehandedly suppressed the majority.'

"The Sons of Muspell, are they doing this knowing that Ds will dragonify..."

'Arrested cultists did not seem to be in the know, but at least we can conclude that Kili knows. At the time, Tia Lightning was apparently just moved there from another facility. They probably intended to hand her to Basilisk as its mate instead of waiting for it to visit.'

In other words, Tia was originally in the process of being transported as a live sacrifice. If NIFL had acted slightly later, the second Basilisk would surely have been born.

"If they'll go so far to increase the number of dragons... I guess it's impossible they'll give up so easily."

'Indeed, Kili will definitely take some kind of action. If she infiltrates Midgard, a great disaster can be predicted. Please do not lower your guard at all. Considering that even Sleipnir could not handle her, she is probably stronger than you as you are right now.'

"...!"

I gasped. Major Loki had attempted to raise me as monster stronger than anyone else. Precisely because these words came from his mouth, I could understand how abnormal this D called Kili was.

'If possible, I'd really like to send out Sleipnir but Midgard won't allow NIFL to interfere that easily. Hence, if anything happens, 2nd Lieutenant Mononobe, I place my hopes you alone.'

"Clearly when Kili is stronger than me... You still have hopes for me?"

'Yes, even so, you are the only one who might be able to kill her. If there are people and things around you that you wish to protect, please abandon your silly obstinacy. This is my honest advice to you.'

Major Loki spoke to me with eyes that seemed to see through everything.

"...I'll bear that in mind."

It felt like my heart was being squeezed. I forced my voice out to respond.

'You would do well to remember that. Oh right, although this is pure just in case, I will send to your terminal all accumulated information regarding Kili to this date. Read over it when you have time.'

"Sure, thank you... for doing so much for me."

'You're welcome, I did this willingly. Also, Basilisk is still crossing the African continent. Things were sudden with Leviathan and NIFL was in chaos, but this time, we have plenty of time so you don't need to worry about unnecessary things.'

Major Loki spoke suggestively. Last time, NIFL had sent a team to kill Iris. He was probably hinting that no such operation would happen yet for now.

But in that case, the murderous intent I sensed last time was...

"...I got it."

Although there were still things that bothered me, I nodded for now in response.

'Then it's time I excused myself. Hope to talk to you again—2nd Lieutenant Mononobe.'

Major Loki smiled sarcastically then the call disconnected, turning the screen black.

"Kili huh..."

I uttered her name softly in my mouth. During training, she was often used as an imaginary enemy, hence I had no hesitation towards fighting, however—

"Yuu...?"

Just as I was staring at the pictureless screen, lost in thought, I suddenly heard a voice from behind.

"Tia, you woke up?"

Perhaps my conversation with Major Loki had woken her up. Tia had sat up in bed, looking at me with a troubled look.

"Why is... Tia in this kind of place? Tia should be with Yuu training just now..."

"—So you don't remember? Including this, I need to have a chat with you next, but this isn't a good place to talk. Let's go to the beach, okay?"

Hearing my suggestion, Tia showed an expression of joy.

"Yes, Tia wants to see the sea with Yuu again."

Although the notion of bringing gloom to that smiling face pained my heart, I still took Tia by the hand as she ran towards.

The husband and the dragon's wife.

This ill-matched game of playing house—It was probably about to end soon.

Part 6

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