Leviathan:Volume 3 Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - The Girl of White Descends

Part 1

There was a faint smell of burning in the air.

Pavel Galad could detect the presence of flames mixed in the atmosphere.

Those were no ordinary flames. Instead, this foul odor belonged to discharged flames that were stored within the bodies of dragons. Were there others of his kind lurking in these lands?

Galad scanned his surroundings with a sharp gaze. This was a city belonging to humans, very close to the sea.

Indeed—

Unbeknownst to Galad as a dragon, his current location was actually the residential district of Gasai in Tokyo New Town's Edogawa Ward.

He was currently walking along the sidewalk of a wide four-lane road.

"Hmm..."

The residential district was very quiet. Pedestrians and passing cars were few, without the slightest shadow that could resemble a dragon.

However, he could not lower his guard simply because of that. Currently, he was hunted prey. Prior to becoming dragon kings, inheritors of dragonslaying power were known as "Tyrannos" and would face hostility from other dragons. Galad hope to avoid encountering fellow dragons as much as possible.

Still, there were probably very few dragons capable of seeing through his disguise...

Pavel Galad was originally a giant silver-white dragon, but currently, he had taken the form of a human young man.

This was in order to hide among human settlements. He was even dressed in human shoes and clothing including a black open-collared shirt and chino pants. All this was to avoid attracting attention. Using a Hypnosis spell to put a man of similar build to sleep, he had stolen these articles of clothing. However—

"This again huh..."

Sensing gazes from young women, Galad frowned. Although he had taken human form to avoid attracting attention, for some reason, he still remained the focus of many gazes, especially from young human women.

—Actually, the reason was exceedingly simple.

He had transformed into a silver-haired handsome young man featuring a pale complexion with a tall and slim build.

This appearance was not only extremely conspicuous but also particularly prone to drawing female gazes.

Be that as it may, such a principle would not exist within the realm of a warrior dragon's imagination. Galad spurred his feeble body to quicken his pace. Simply doing that was making him pant and his heart—or rather, his heartmetal—to throb painfully.

"Has that girl noticed the power of dragonbane here...?"

Despite passing by him, the girl continued to follow Galad's back with her gaze.

This harassing gaze was causing Galad's thoughts to run wild. The Rune of the Sword residing in his right palm was precisely why other dragons were targeting him.

Elite dragons devoted their lives to seek the power of dragonbane.

As soon as they found out the Sword's whereabouts, they would either kill Galad or simply take away that right hand, wouldn't they? They would then proceed to conduct a magic ritual in an attempt to "transplant" the power of dragonbane.

It was said that this magic was extremely difficult, with a success rate less than 40%...

However, if he wanted to avoid that kind of fate, he really should get away from here as quickly as possible.

"But right now, I cannot leave this city..."

Galad gritted his teeth and stared at the western sky.

In the distance, the streets of the Old Tokyo Concession could be seen. Most imposing of all was the triangular prism of pure black, towering at over a height of a thousand meters.

It was the gigantic structure called a Monolith by humans and known to dragonkind as a "wedge."

"Were this city not filled with miasma, this body of mine would not be able to walk freely or even perform magic at all..."

At this moment, loudspeakers in the streets began a broadcast.

'Emergency evacuation order. Lesser dragons are invading Tokyo Bay's airspace. All residents, please remain calm and head to your designated shelter as quickly as possible—'

"Do-ra-go-n... Their word referring to the race of dragons, I suppose."

The female announcer's broadcast was replayed again and again.

A commotion began in the surroundings. Many vehicles driving on the road suddenly accelerated.

In contrast, many people also parked their cars on the roadside and began to head to shelter on foot. They were probably worried of traffic congestion later.

In addition, a large flood of humans surged out of houses, buildings and housing complexes in the residential district.

Thanks to regularly held evacuation exercises, the local residents were very familiar with escape routes. The people swiftly moved in the same direction without hesitation in their footsteps.

People of this era were already accustomed to the arrival of dragons.

Not only did they avoid panicking pointlessly, but they also evacuated in an organized and disciplined manner instead.

Even the children coming out of kindergartens were obediently following their teachers' directions.

—Entering the nearest elementary school like this, then returning to their rightful places after two or three hours when the evacuation order was lifted—

Although Galad had no idea, this was actually a common scene in lands where Raptors flew.

While residents in the vicinity were hiding, "serpents" serving as defenders would defeat the Raptors and eliminate threats to humanity. However, this preordained outcome was eventually going to be overturned—

And in the case of these lands, that would be today.

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

A Raptor roared while flying over the residential district.

"Kyahhhhhhhh!"

Just as a woman screamed, panic erupted within the crowd.

The people began to scramble and run as fast as they could, scattering in all directions. Some of the slower people found themselves helpless.

Even if people got knocked away, people fell down, people got stepped on, no one had the luxury of tending to others anymore.

Children in kindergarten uniforms cried and wailed as teachers tried everything they could to comfort them.

Meanwhile, the Raptor landed, ignoring the people in chaos.

Descending on the roofs of mixed tenant buildings, it spewed blue-white flames from its mouth. Once, twice, thrice, the fire kept coming. Within a blink of the eye, the residential district had turned into a sea of flames.

Looking down at this fiery blaze from atop the building, the Raptor called as loud as it could.

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

It was thoroughly reveling in the joys of destruction. Furthermore, its heart was filled with sadistic impulses to massacre the moving organisms below.

Tsk. Galad clicked his tongue, because he noticed that the winged lizard had also targeted him.

Clearly fighting would be a monumental burden for this currently feeble body—

But even so, he still could not stop the smile surfacing on the corners of his lips.

Due to persisting in a lifestyle of hiding and disguise, which did not suit his true nature, he had accumulated rage and frustration in his heart.

Finally a battle to enjoy after so long. Galad pressed his right hand against his chest, extracting magical power from his extremely frail heartmetal. The depths of his chest ached convulsively.

If a person were to stab an icepick into their heart, they might possibly experience the same kind of agony.

"O Jabones, curse your misfortune of appearing before me!"

The instant he yelled loudly, Gala extended his right palm towards the Raptor.

The center of his palm flashed with light. The brightness formed a rune consisting of a series of three Vs—the Rune of the Sword. This dragonslaying rune was fired in the form of a beam.

Unerringly, the Rune of the Sword pierced the winged lizard's chest.

This attack killed the Raptor instantly without even giving it the chance to scream. Immediately, it turned into stone, resulting in a silent statue on the roof a building.

For dragons, their corpses turning into stone was equivalent to rigor mortis in humans after death.

Having emerged victorious, Galad smiled but he immediately fell to his knees, unable to bear the pain in his heart.

"However, the quantity of winged lizards seems unusual this time..."

Despite panting heavily, Galad still whispered quietly.

Wind was blowing from the sea's direction. Mixed within it were flames, the abnormally intense scent of unruly Jabones. Surely, an intense battle was taking place over there.

While feeling a sense of certainty, Galad groaned "urgh!"

His consciousness faded away gradually. This was the price he paid for using the Rune of the Sword in the current state of his body.

Part 2

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Part 3

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Part 4

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Part 5

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