Leviathan:Volume 4 Chapter 5
Chapter 5 - Battle at the Dragon Palace Court
Part 1
Bound by the dragonslaying chain, Juujouji Orihime became a captive.
The instant she was captured by the gray Draconian by a technique of assured annihilation, her vision went dark, but—
As soon as she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a vast sky filled with stars.
Orihime slowly got up. She did not know how much time had gone by, but it seemed like she had been sleeping. By the time she noticed, she found herself on a stone-paved road. This seemed to be somewhere at a plaza.
In the surroundings were a number of wooden buildings.
Each building was grand and luxuriant. Rooftops were adorned with golden glazed tiles. Carvings of dragons and phoenixes were everywhere. White jade was used abundantly as stone for construction. Evocative of ancient Chinese architecture, the buildings seemed quite similar to the view of the Dragon Palace Court witnessed at the shore earlier.
Next, Orihime began to examine her own body. The bath towel wrapped around her was about to fall off, so she hastily fastened it.
"Sure enough, I've been taken to Kagutsuchi-san's castle...?"
Orihime had just woken up, so her thoughts were still hazy.
Then she noticed. She was not the only one present at the plaza.
The ten-odd-meter long white nine-tailed fox-wolf's massive body was also lying on the ground. A long and thick metal chain was wrapped around her neck and body several times over, imprisoning her securely.
"Akuro-Ou!"
Her partner called out softly in response to Orihime's cry.
Akuro-Ou's voice and demeanor were very grim, clearly not in a good mood. Orihime stood up and tried to walk over to the giant white body when a clang was heard at her feet.
Like Akuro-Ou, she had been restrained too. Not only that, the other end of the prisoner's chain was held in the gray Draconian's hand—
"You have woken? Priestess of the mortal race."
The Draconian chain user spoke in a gloomy voice.
"I am your new owner—The Gray Aristocrat. Offer your body and your life in totality to me."
"Th-The Gray Aristocrat?"
Another elite dragon Tyrannos—or dragon king—had arrived.
Meanwhile, a breeze blew by, carrying the smell of the sea. The gigantic dreadnought-class turtle with a magnificent palace on its carapace was presumably floating leisurely in the ocean under the night sky.
While in doubt, Orihime asked, "You call yourself my owner. What do you intend to do with my Akuro-Ou?"
"A foolish question. The blood of female dragons is a rare panacea. You need not worry about a lack of uses."
The Gray Aristocrat looked at the captured Orihime and Akuro-Ou.
"To confirm the identity of the one making suspicious summons, I tried sending a minion to investigate—and ended up encountering the Tyrannos of the Bow. A rather unfortunate turn of events. However, considering this good opportunity allowed me to obtain precious female dragon blood, I suppose it was fortunate too."
"Blood—"
Orihime remembered. Several months earlier, an elite dragon had captured her cousin Hazumi and her partner Minadzuki, just like her current situation.
At the time, the severely injured Soth had recovered by drinking Minadzuki's blood.
(In other words, this dragon aims to do the same? But he clearly doesn't look injured?)
The questions and thoughts in Orihime's mind accelerated.
Naturally, she had no intention of obediently giving blood to help the Gray Aristocrat. She wanted to find an opening to escape with Akuro-Ou, but the problem was—
The Gray Aristocrat was holding the chain imprisoning Orihime.
His left hand was free but he opened and closed it repeatedly. Every time the Gray Aristocrat opened his palm, the five clawed fingers would move restlessly, as though doing warm-ups. Warm-up exercises for tearing apart the human before him—
Orihime tried to imagine.
If the very mysterious Gray Aristocrat was planning to hold the blood extraction ritual now instead of some day, trying to find an opening would be virtually impossible. Furthermore, he was also staring at Orihime intently with morose eyes like a mad scientist about to perform a dissection experiment!
"Uh, can I ask a question just out of curiosity? When is that ritual scheduled to begin...?"
"The creation of the Ruruk Soun magic circle for performing the ritual is in progress. It might reach completion before daybreak perhaps..."
Orihime asked her question in trepidation but the Gray Aristocrat answered with surprising honesty.
However, what she received was a most ominous result. Orihime hastily tried to make a suggestion.
"I-I think rushing things would be bad, don't you agree? Think about it, Haruga-kun—my friend—might be invading this place to take me back, right!?"
"This possibility is within my expectations. When the time comes, I shall simply intercept him accordingly."
The Gray Aristocrat's low voice was gloomy yet calm and staid.
A crisis with no way out for Orihime seemed to be brewing without impediment. The ritual would most likely be held several hours later. Orihime gulped and held her breath.
After Orihime's abduction and the Gray Aristocrat's retreat, roughly two hours passed. Dawn had yet to arrive.
The Dragon Palace Court slowly advanced across the ocean during the night, gradually leaving the island.
The magnificent palace had been erected on its carapace. Its only illumination was the faint moonlight and starlight cast down from the night sky.
However, this world was different from urban environments. There were no artificial light sources to blind one's eyes.
The Dragon Palace Court's scenery was filled with dreamy light. This was plenty bright enough.
Hal and Luna Francois were on a corner of the Dragon Palace Court—near the giant turtle's hip connected to the left hind leg.
"At first glance, my impression is that the area is roughly fifteen times that of the Tokyo Dome from the last century. At a rough estimate, there are eight hundred to a thousand buildings."
"The scale is comparable to the Forbidden City at Beijing."
Both of them showed very focused expressions. The infiltration operation was halfway through. They needed to search the Dragon Palace Court's interior and rescue the abducted Juujouji Orihime without the enemy discovering them—
Within the premises whose area covered fifteen Tokyo Domes was neatly organized city with perpendicular roads intersecting like lines on a chessboard.
The large number of buildings were sufficiently spaced out, allowing for excellent visibility.
"Anyway, let's first locate Juujouji and Akuro-Ou."
Hal used a number of searching spells such as Enemy Detection and Sense Magical Power.
However, he did not get any result because the entire Dragon Palace Court had been enchanted with magic to interfere with magical means of searching and detection.
"He is called the Gray Aristocrat, isn't he? Of course, he must have cast this magic... Looks like he intends to intercept us inside this Dragon Palace Court," replied Luna Francois.
In fact, back when the Gray Aristocrat vanished, Hal had froze for a minute or two.
'Harry! Let us sneak in over there straight away!' Luna had said to him immediately at the time.
The Dragon Palace Court was capable of moving anywhere freely across the vast ocean. Once lost, it would be very hard to pick up its trail quickly again. If they wanted to rescue Orihime as quickly as possible, there was no time to waste here.
Luna's suggestion was clearly based on this reason.
Hence, Hal and Luna attempted to infiltrate the Dragon Palace Court.
Luna had shrunk Glinda to minimum size for her and Hal to ride. Hal also cast his specialty spells, Sound Suppression, Visual Interference and Olfactory Nullification, contributing to the stealth operation's success.
Haruga Haruomi was in possession of a dragon king-class heartmetal as well as this "wand," the magic gun.
Probably thanks to them, Hal had somehow become able to cast spells at a level approaching the strength of elite dragons, as long as it was magic he specialized in.
Glinda flew silently and approached the Dragon Palace Court that was moving away from the island.
She delivered Hal and Luna Francois to the destination safely.
Furthermore, the three-headed lion had de-materialized and was no longer by their side. Hal said to the only person accompanying him, Luna Francois, "Let's celebrate our successful infiltration of the enemy camp first. If this crazy huge turtle dives into the sea, we're going to be helpless."
"The Dragon Palace Court is quite massive," Hal's magic gun suddenly whispered. It was Hinokagutsuchi's voice.
"Consequently, its movements are very slow too. Simply reaching the outer sea will take a long time."
During the battle against the Gray Aristocrat, Hinokagutsuchi had banished her consciousness to strengthen the magic gun. She had apparently woken up at some point.
At this moment, Hal noticed something.
There was a transparent force field deployed around the Dragon Palace Court, as though shrouding the gigantic body.
Very similar to imperishable protection—Hal recalled the pearly defensive field that he was able to use.
In fact, this seemed to be a similar magical barrier. Once the surrounded by the transparent force field, the Dragon Palace Court started to sink gradually into the sea.
Blocked by the force field, the seawater could not reach the interior of the palace.
By the time they noticed, the Dragon Palace Court's gigantic body was fully submerged in the sea.
Until just now, Hal and company still had the starry sky over their heads. Now, it was replaced by seawater that shone faintly from the moon and the stars' light. The Dragon Palace Court was apparently moving slowly just under the sea surface.
The Dragon Palace Court seemed even more fantastical than under direct moonlight.
Even so, Luna Francois' quiet comment was ordinary and mundane.
"The seawater isn't flowing in despite the entire place submerging. Oxygen is definitely maintained too."
"It's already amazing how wooden buildings from a thousand years ago have been preserved this perfectly. I can't believe the waterproof function and air-conditioning equipment are both flawless. Definitely a great bargain for its price."
"Let me state for the record, brat. Imperishable protection can achieve the same thing."
Hal's comment was equally unimaginative. On the other hand, Hinokagutsuchi provided a piece of trivia.
At this moment, the blonde witch coughed to clear her throat and change the subject.
"It is very likely that the Gray Aristocrat is waiting for us inside the palace, isn't it? Meaning that he reasoned that he could win inside the Dragon Palace Court even though he had clearly avoided a showdown against Harry just now. Why is that?"
"Now that you mentioned it, I think he called himself 'the shadow of a dragon king' or something like that."
"Hmph. A witty way of putting things but simply stated, he is no different from I."
"...Oh!"
Hal nodded after listening to Hinokagutsuchi. Another sloppy hint, but at least the riddle was not too difficult to figure out.
"The Gray Aristocrat could be considered my longtime friend. I heard that he had met his demise somewhere far away a long time ago... But apparently not."
"So just like you, he refuses to accept death gracefully huh?"
"Indeed. With this, it is now deducible why the Gray Aristocrat has chosen to make this Dragon Palace Court his residence."
"It's more comfortable to stay at a place where magical power is concentrated? Like the Witch Mansion at Shin-Kiba where you used to live before encountering me..."
"Not only that, but he most likely has the Dragon Palace Court's heartmetal in his grasp."
Hal tried to imagine. The Dragon Palace Court was the same kind of super creature as Genbu-Ou, so its heartmetal was able to produce massive amounts of magical power. In other words, was the Gray Aristocrat planning to use this power to intercept Haruga Haruomi?
Luna Francois nodded too.
"This is why the Gray Aristocrat retreated so readily, hoping to lure Harry to this place. He believes that it would be advantageous instead to shift the battlefield to the Dragon Palace Court..."
"Isn't that like a boxer who's bad a footwork...?"
A boxer deprived of the functionality of his legs would be forced to engage at close range in a clumsy exchange of blows. Precisely because of that, the Gray Aristocrat would temporarily retreat from Hal's presence, returning to his home field for an advantage.
"This is all that I have noticed. The rest is up to you two."
The magic gun fell silent again as Hinokagutsuchi's consciousness returned to slumber.
Hal first began to ponder the massive palace's layout.
The Dragon Palace Court was standing on top of a spacious carapace. At the center were several palace buildings that looked like they would be used for administrative purposes. Near the base of the giant turtle's neck were close to ten small palaces packed together densely in a line, probably the harem built for the queen.
"To conquer this dungeon, there's no way to skip through the process."
"Indeed. Orihime-san and Akuro-Ou's situation is worrying, so I really wouldn't want to spend time exploring a maze."
"However, a dragon probably won't be using the captured Juujouji as a hostage."
"It's only during times like these that I feel grateful that elite dragons are so obsessed with battle..."
At this moment, Hal sat down on the ground instead.
Rather than moving recklessly, he needed to think first. Luna probably thought the same thing as Hal. She sat down next to Hal, stretching out her slender and pale legs.
"We should avoid engaging the Gray Aristocrat in combat now that he has returned to home turf. He is probably able to extract magical power from the Dragon Palace Court's heartmetal to fully bring out a former dragon king's power."
"However, this 'reliance on the heartmetal' is also the enemy's weakness," Hal pointed this out and shrugged.
"Although we don't have enough manpower to take advantage of openings."
"Even if you can materialize the Crimson Queen, Harry, the operational duration isn't long."
Luna Francois remarked softly with what seemed like a sulking expression.
She was probably unhappy with the current situation where she still could not contribute to combat potential when facing a dragon king-class opponent. However, Luna's expression suddenly relaxed and she cast a probing gaze at Hal.
"Hey Harry, lately it seems like you've been getting tired easily, right?"
Part 2
"I've been staying up every night because of too many things to do recently."
Hal fell silent for a while before replying.
Hal took care to make his tone as laid back as possible because he had sensed a vague idea of Luna Francois' intent in asking this question. However, the blonde witch continued, "That's something only an older man in his thirties or forties would say. However, Harry, you are only a teenage boy. At your age, you should be able to work for at least half a year sustained by two-hour naps, right?"
"That type of work environment would be too exploitative, right? It's not like I'm a manga artist or working at a game company."
"Rather than overwork or life habits, would obtaining the 'queen's power' be the biggest factor contributing to your state of fatigue?"
"......"
"The start of your tardiness at school also coincided with the conclusion of the battle against Princess Yukikaze."
Luna jokingly directed the conversation in another direction then cut straight to the chase.
Hal himself had suspected the same possibility too. However, he felt very hesitant about discussing the matter with his comrades, which was why he could not make up his mind to bring it up.
Hal fell silent and placed his hand on his chest.
The heartmetal that used to reside within the Crimson Queen was now located here.
"More verification is required for that issue, so let us talk about something else first. However, Harry, when the time is ripe, you must confront this problem properly, okay? I will do everything I can to assist you when the time comes."
"...Thanks."
"In any case, it would be best to avoid using the queen's power indiscriminately. Keep it in reserve as a trump card for critical moments, do you understand?"
The witch who was supposed to be crafty and calculating was being considerate in a very humane manner. Perhaps feeling embarrassed about that herself, Luna Francois sounded slightly displeased in her tone.
Hal found this a little strange. At the same time, he could not help but grin.
More clever than anyone, Luna only showed awkwardness in times like these—
"By the way, Harry, were you looking at my legs just now?"
"Huh!?"
Luna suddenly tossed out a bomb, putting Hal in a state of confusion.
The two of them were seated side by side on a temple's stone steps to chat.
Hal was sitting cross-legged while Luna had her legs outstretched. During this time, Hal always faced forward with a serious look on his face except that his gaze would unintentionally drift to the side.
Because the blonde beauty next to him kept entering his field of vision.
Luna Francois was wearing her trademark outfit—a black one-piece dress with short sleeves.
Beneath the dress was a purple camisole. The bold low-cut neckline was very seductive indeed, but the high-slit skirt was also very important.
Exposed from the high slit were her pale and voluptuous thighs as well as her striking and slender bare feet.
Furthermore, Luna was wearing cool sandals appropriate for summer instead of shoes. As a result, Hal could also see Luna's toenails, painted beautifully pink and perfectly pedicured...
"Th-This is a man's nature, to be attracted like bees to honey!"
Hal reflexively explained to Luna who was showing an aghast look.
"But didn't you mention before? You said that enjoying skinship was also part of the lovers game. Since that's the case, my behavior just now shouldn't be any problem at all—"
"That was just business talk, merely one of hundred lies I told to deceive you, Harry."
Luna's beautiful face scowled in displeasure, causing Hal to stare dumbfounded.
"You admitted it so readily!? Oh well, I did expect that to be most likely the case."
"Even so, Harry, you still leered at my beautiful legs. Not only that, you even committed the atrocious act of violating my precious naked body with your lewd stares like a beast at the open-air hot spring. Given such truly deplorable behavior, you ought to be called an utter scumbag."
"You don't have to reject my character that much..."
"Let alone reject, I can even assassinate your character without the slightest weight on my conscience, you know?"
Despite the smile hanging on the corners of her lips, Luna's eyes were filled with disdain and silent fury.
"Only if I encounter a man of astronomically unlikely perfection and I happen to be in the mood, would I permit a man to admire my artistic masterpiece of a body... And to think you dared to steal a glimpse under those circumstances, you are truly a thief, Harry. I should simply call my lawyers to sue you."
"It's not like I stole something from you..."
Hal muttered poignantly and asked Luna, "By the way, what kind of man would be okay in your view?"
"I am not picky on appearances. Conversely, a man must not be deficient in any of the following areas: age, talent, quick wits, status, wealth, open-mindedness. Furthermore, I would not even consider anyone who won't allow me to live freely as I please."
"Do men like that actually exist on Earth!?"
"I don't care. Even if I have to spend my life single, I am totally fine with it."
Confronted with the girl and her free-flowing opinions, Hal spontaneously found himself smiling wryly.
The witch's speech was obnoxious and her personality could hardly be described as gentle. Luna Francois had finally abandoned her deliberate facade of friendliness to offer harsh words to Hal.
But incredibly, Hal found it easier to get along with her this way than when her attempts at "seduction."
Probably because this could be considered a state of honesty in a certain sense.
Indeed, whether Hal or Luna, they were mutually—At that very instant, Hal was suddenly certain. It might be possible now.
He extended his right hand at the girl sitting beside him.
The Rune of the Bow appeared in his palm. Looking at Hal's palm, Luna Francois made a look of comprehension. Then after slight hesitation, she silently reached out with her left hand—
Their hands joined together.
Immediately, the Rune of the Bow surfaced on the back of Luna's left hand. The covenant was established.
"Somehow, it feels so easy to the point of anti-climactic..."
"But the process was very convoluted."
The witch whispered weakly whereas Hal shrugged his shoulders. However, his thoughts accelerated all at once now that he had acquired new combat potential.
In the next instant, the two of them got up almost simultaneously and spoke swiftly.
"Luna, perfect timing. Let's reward him with a spectacular attack."
"Harry, let us pressure the enemy by employing an attack with maximum firepower. Even though we don't know the Gray Aristocrat and Orihime-san's location, all we need to do is draw him out."
It was a rare opportunity for them to have been invited to the enemy camp.
In that case, they ought to use this situation to raise hell in the enemy's home ground. Fortunately, they already possessed the necessary firepower for that—The plans that the two of them hatched independently were apparently the same.
Sure enough, Haruga Haruomi and Luna Francois were very alike.
Reminded of this fact again, the two of them smiled simultaneously.
"Looks like there is no need for a prior discussion. Let's do it, Harry!"
Having finally obtained the dragonslaying rune, Luna Francois raised her left hand high.
"O stars! Retrieve my magic from beyond the end of the rainbow! While materializing, Glinda, raise your pseudo-divinity to critical point and prepare to activate a technique of assured annihilation!"
A pentagram appeared overhead, turning into an infinity sigh before transforming into a magic beast.
An orange lion with three heads—Glinda the "Good Witch of the South." On Glinda's right shoulder was a dragon head while the left shoulder had a black goat head. A platinum rune suddenly manifested on each of the foreheads of the three heads.
A line running through a tilted half moon—The Rune of the Bow.
Hovering in midair, Glinda unleashed her magical power completely to enter a combat ready stance. Caught in the wake, the stealth magic that Hal and Luna had carefully cast was dispelled.
But that was fine because they no longer intended to hide their tracks.
Glinda flew lightly and moved to the sky over the center of the turtle's carapace.
Directly below was a particularly magnificent palace.
Using the Forbidden City at Beijing for a comparison, it would probably be analogous to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the center of the imperial court where numerous rituals had been held in the name of generations of Chinese emperors throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties.
"The target is the heartmetal of Dragon Palace Court—inside this overly huge turtle."
"However, the Dragon Palace Court is a creature under the same system as Genbu-Ou and ten times bigger... Since the same ratio might apply to its durability too, we must use the strongest trump card after all. Harry, let me use that."
"Don't tell me you want to use the 'sun-shooting divine bow'? But that'll consume a ton of your magical power too, you know?"
Among all the techniques of assured annihilation available to them, the sun-shooting divine bow was undoubtedly the strongest single attack.
"Even by ordering Rushalka to Double Cast pseudo-divinity, Asya barely squeezes out enough magical power required to meet the minimum requirements. Luna, I think it'll render you unable to fight afterwards."
"But this is essential. Besides, I believe you have an ace up your sleeve, Harry, don't you?"
"What are you referring to?"
"Orihime-san is a Level 3 witch. Unlike Asya and I, who are Level 5, she shouldn't be able to Double Cast freely. By my reasoning, there is some kind of secret skill to allow her to use the sun-shooting divine bow—Am I wrong?"
Hal did not expect Luna to have noticed a secret privy only to Hal and Orihime.
Nothing less should be expected from the brilliant Luna Francois. Hal was very impressed.
"I must not exhaust my power at a time like this. Please, Harry!"
Faced with Luna's repeated requests, Hal hesitated.
Her point was very right and logical. Hal had no reason to object at all. However, to put that method into action on Luna's body...
Doubt and reluctance shook Hal in the inside intensely.
However, Luna still continued to prepare for the attack during this time.
"Glinda! On my mark, fire a magical shot with maximum firepower!"
Ruohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
Glinda growled from overhead to respond to her partner.
Despite being her low voice, there was unshakable willpower conveyed. The three-headed lion seemed very happy for the chance to strike back at last. In that case—There was no choice but to do it.
Making his decision, Hal positioned himself behind Luna.
He slowly reached out with his right hand, circling his arm around to Luna's front side.
Then he grabbed the bust that the American-born witch frequently showed up—its left side—using his right hand with the Rune of the Bow appearing on his palm.
"Huh?"
Luna Francois reacted very uncharacteristically—she mumbled in shock.
Meanwhile, Hal squeezed harder with his right hand.
The soft sensation and the volume tightly pressed against his palm. The size was unbelievable. Not only that, it was pushing Hal's palm and fingers back with its wonderful elasticity.
Most likely, it had reached a realm that required the English letter "G" to describe...
Hal analyzed with heartfelt emotion while transferring massive magical power through his right palm.
Naturally, the destination was Luna Francois' heart in her left chest.
"Kyahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"
The ear-splitting scream emitted from Luna's lips became the signal.
Hal's magical power was transmitted to Glinda through the witch's heart. Including the black goat head and the dragon head, the lion leviathan's heads roared in unison.
Ruooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
In the next second, the gigantic lion's entire body became enveloped in burning flames.
Two black arrowheads, almost the same size as Glinda, manifested on her left and right. Also wrapped in crimson flames, the arrowheads turned into gigantic arrows of fire.
Next, the blazing Glinda and the arrowheads flanking her charged forward like three arrows.
Towards the ground where Hal and Luna were standing—the super gigantic turtle monster, Dragon Palace Court. To penetrate the incredibly hard carapace, Glinda burrowed deeply into the humongous body's interior.
As though digging a tunnel to reach the Dragon Palace Court's heart, to pierce the heartmetal—
That was the job required of Glinda and company.
Part 3
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Part 4
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Part 5
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