Leviathan:Volume 6 Chapter 3
Chapter 3 - The Ring's Whereabouts
Part 1
Conferring the spiritual power of exorcism onto Hal's Bow.
After announcing that, Shamiram looked up at the sky. A pteranodon with a wingspan of twenty meters was slowly circling overhead.
The deceased covenantee summoned the ancient leviathan, Ashkelon.
"O Ashkelon, my friend who shares our covenant. Grant me the power to lead lives that have returned from the realm of the dead back to where they belong—the garden of repose!"
Ashekelon was flying ten-odd meters over the island where Hal, Hazumi and Shamiram were.
With her wings outstretched, she was gliding on the wind, circling according to the air currents. As soon as she heard instructions, she flapped her right wing gently.
Next, nine runes of Ruruk Soun descended from her right wing.
They signified "purification of evil spirits." This was the spiritual power of exorcism—The sacred mystic technique used by Shamiram and Ashkelon as a team.
From what Hal could tell using his eyes of a Tyrannos, there was nothing suspicious about this mystic spell.
Still, just to be on the safe side, Hal decided to confirm.
(Is that magic really okay?)
(Oh? You are quite distrustful, brat.)
(It's true Shamiram-san helped us out just now... But ultimately, Solomon-senpai hasn't been destroyed.)
Hal was speaking to Hinokagutuschi who was mocking him from inside the magic gun.
Since they were conversing mentally through a bond of magic, no one else could hear their dialogue.
(The battle could've been staged to win our trust.)
(Indeed that is possible. Regardless, the spell used by not-completely-dead woman seems to be above board.)
(Got it. Say, are you in any position to mock another person as 'not-completely-dead' when you're a ghost?)
In any case, it seemed fine.
Hal pointed the magic gun up at the sky. The runes of Ruruk Soun falling from Ashkelon's right wing were all absorbed by the "magic wand."
Thus, it was imbued with the power of exorcism.
"Next up is a decisive showdown against my master."
"Yeah, but we just fought a great battle."
Hal glanced at the other witch.
Hazumi had made Minadzuki use pseudo-divinity twice today. As a Level 2 witch, she could not issue the order again.
"Let's take a break for now. We need to catch our breath."
"Is that so? By the way, Lord Haruga, may I ask you for a favor?"
Shamiram suddenly made a suggestion.
"Suppose things were to progress smoothly, after we escape from this ark... I would like you to slice me with your twin blades."
"But, if I do that..."
Hal understood. She was different from King Solomon.
Once he did that, she would disappear from this world in an instant. Hoping for her own "death," Shamiram showed an aloof expresion in front of Hal for the first time.
Without any lingering attachments to "life" as a member of the undead, she showed thorough enlightenment on her face!
There was even a calm smile on her face.
"It has been over a thousand year since I followed my master to the grave. Unlike the peers of dragonkind, the Tyrannoi... such as my master or you, Lord Haruga, I find that these long years have been too protracted and too burdensome for a mortal like me."
"......"
"It is about time for me to make my way to the underworld."
Hal still did not trust this ancient beautiful witch completely.
However, he wanted to believe in her words. Hal was just about to nod in agreement when Hazumi spoke before him.
"N-No, you can't. How could anyone say they want to go to the underworld..."
"This is nothing. In my current state, I am no different from having one foot in the coffin."
"B-But... How about this? When Senpai seizes Solomon-san's ship, he could let you be the captain, Shamiram-san, to go wherever you wish..."
Coming with all kinds of ideas, she tried to change Shamiram's mind.
Without responding directly, Shamiram told them, "Lady Hazumi, you are truly a kindhearted girl. However, this is the one thing I cannot agree. If you wish to be a priestess serving at Lord Haruga's side, to become the spokesperson for a goddess—a 'serpent'—to aid in his grand conquest... There is one obstacle that must be surmounted no matter what."
The sudden advice stunned Hazumi on the spot.
The witch from the ancient kingdom remained composed the whole time.
"No need to worry, this is not something difficult. Lady Hazumi, your heart and soul already possesses the aptitude for it."
After that, they discussed their next move and overall strategy.
Shamiram would set off first for "a certain purpose."
Hal and Hazumi would only start moving after casting multiple layers of stealth magic. Riding Minadzuki, who had miniaturized again, they set off on a journey through the air.
However, they did not have a destination.
Their plan was to fly casually in the sky to hide for an hour or two.
"Senpai, are you still unable to trust her?"
"Well, I'd really like to trust her."
Hal replied to Hazumi, who was sitting in front. Naturally, by "her" they were referring to Shamiram.
"By saying that, you mean—"
"I... 'm not worried at all. I believe that Shamiram is a really good person."
The two of them were riding Minadzuki the serpentine dragon.
Sitting in front of Hal, Hazumi looked back on purpose, showing a smile of purity.
But right now, Haruga Haruomi was also the guardian of his adorable junior.
Once in a while, unpleasant as it may be, he had to give her the realistic view.
"Without clear evidence, it's not good to draw conclusions based on impressions."
Hal deliberately made himself sound cruel.
"We must prepare for the worst-case scenario at all times."
"Although it might not count as evidence, I think there is still a reason for believing her, because Minadzuki did not react towards her."
"Minadzuki?"
"Yes. Whenever anyone untrustworthy approaches me... She will instantly stay on alert. She is very smart."
"I see, so there's such a move huh."
Hal nodded indifferently without revealing that his heart had been melted by Hazumi's smile.
It was definitely quite like a girl to make decisions based on impressions.
Logically speaking, he ought to rebuke this sort of opinion. However, to bring up a "serpent," a supernatural being, as a reason, perhaps this could be what was extraordinary about Hazumi.
Hazumi was not only pure but also had down-to-earth intelligence...
"Oh?"
A smiling voice came from behind.
Hal turned his head back to see that the kimono-clad Hinokagutsuchi had materialized without his knowledge. Sitting on the miniature Minadzuki's back, she had her legs sticking up in the air.
"You are quite stubborn and cowardly, brat."
"I don't deny that, but can't you add cautious to that too? Say—"
Hal asked the former dragon queen who was casually appraising him.
"What's your opinion of her?"
"Hmm? Irrelevant. If she is aiding you sincerely, make good use of her. If she has ulterior motives, then use your jaws to crush her together with her trap. Brat, this is what it means to show a king's mettle."
"Thank you for your completely uninformative opinion."
Hazumi giggled after listening to Hal and Hinokagutsuchi's conversation. Then with a sudden realization, she asked, "Excuse me... The 'obstacle that must be surmounted no matter what' which Shamiram-san mentioned, how do I surmount it specifically?"
Supposing Hazumi wished to become the spokesperson for a goddess—a "serpent"—to aid in his grand conquest.
This was the prior assumption in her advice. Confused, Hazumi said, "Do I truly have the aptitude for that? It's not like I'm good at magic, so I really can't feel any aptitude in myself."
"Oh... About that."
"Hmph."
Seeing Hal nod, Hinokagutsuchi smiled with malevolence.
"It appears that the brat has deduced most of it."
"Come on, clearly you're the one who already knows everything."
Hazumi widened her eyes, very excited.
"Please do tell me! I wish to be of even more help to Senpai and all of us!"
"Hmm... Sorry, I won't tell you."
Of course, instructing her would not be hard. However—Hal shrugged.
Taking care of everything for her would not necessarily be a good thing, although he might feel a momentary sense of "superiority" as the instructor.
Conversely, it could also cause the one being taught to weaken in "comprehension ability."
Although Hal was young for someone in the workforce, he also possessed extraordinary abilities, hence, he decided to leave Hazumi to her own devices.
"Rather than having others tell you directly, it's better to figure things out on your own."
"I-I see."
"Yeah. Even more so for work and professional skills. Well, I think there's nothing to worry about."
Due to his protege looking very worried, Hal added the latter sentence.
In fact, he could have omitted the reassuring words, but there was no helping it. Hazumi was his adorable student.
"Despite her personality being like that, Shamiram-san seems to be a good judge of character. Shirasaka, you do have aptitude—or rather, I believe that your temperament is very suited to developing yourself in that direction."
"V-Very well."
Hazumi nodded resolutely. Feeling his heart and soul soothed by Hazumi's reaction, Hal then looked at Hinokagutsuchi.
Through the earlier conversation, Hal came to realize now that he thought back to it. The words casually spoken by the ancient beautiful witch seemed to be very profound—
"Sorry for suddenly changing the subject but I've got a question for you. I remember that pure-blooded dragons don't like to take human form, isn't that right?"
Pure-blooded dragons. Beings that were born as dragons from the start.
In contrast to them were the hybrid dragons. They were living creatures that were not dragons to begin with, humans for example, but guided by the path of the unorthodoxy, they had been reborn as dragons.
Currently, Hinokagutsuchi the former dragon king had materialized herself in the form of a prepubescent human girl.
"By taking this form... It means you're a hybrid, right?"
"Oh? Who knows."
"If it's not too much to ask, I hope you won't play dumb as usual."
"I am not playing dumb. I simply cannot remember."
Hinokagutsuchi haughtily tossed a casual reply at him.
She even puffed out her chest, looking very superior.
"Because it was truly too long ago. Well, I am not against telling you should I remember one day. Go ahead and wait patiently, but do not get your hopes up."
"I see..."
The cunning former dragon king had lived for who knew how many thousands of years.
Hinokagutsuchi smirked craftily, apparently finding Hal's question ludicrous. Hal fell into deep thought.
Shamiram had said this just now:
'It has been over a thousand year since I followed my master to the grave.'
'Unlike the Tyrannoi... such as my master or you, Lord Haruga, I find that these long years have been too protracted and too burdensome for a mortal like me.'
At this point, Hazumi suddenly spoke up, "Senpai, Minadzuki seems to be ready now!"
"Looks like it."
The three of them were currently riding on the back of Minadzuki the emerald serpentine dragon leviathan.
She suddenly released potent magical power from her entire body, stimulating the senses of Hal's group. The usage counter of pseudo-divinity had recovered.
Hal took out a pocket watch.
It was currently 6pm or so on August 18th.
Leviathans would recover their magical power during the night. Although one could not distinguish night and day within the ark, Minadzuki's biological clock(?) still sensed the presence of night.
Furthermore, the battle against Hannibal had ended at roughly 11pm on August 16th.
They had been locked inside here for forty-three hours—Almost two days.
"It's time to settle things with Solomon-senpai."
Hal focused his consciousness on his heart, i.e. heartmetal.
The Crimson Queen, which he had snatched back earlier, the gigantic body of a dragon king appeared out of thin air. Her body ablaze with intense flames, she arrived by Minadzuki's side. As though intending to fly alongside her, she glided at the same speed.
"We're lucky we didn't get attacked while waiting for Minadzuki to recover."
"It's all thanks to Shamiram-san's help!" answered Hazumi.
Hal had asked the beautiful witch to act separately as a "diversionary tactic."
He hoped she could buy time by drawing the attention of King Solomon and his subordinates during the one or two hours before night fell. Meanwhile, Hal and Hazumi would use stealth magic to cover their tracks until then—
"Also, it's thanks to stealing back the queen."
For the enemy, the Crimson Queen was also a trump card.
Hal now held the advantage in terms of combat strength... Theoretically speaking. However, the ark was the battlefield—The interior of King Solomon's legacy. The enemy still held the advantage of home field.
No matter what, Hal's group had finally managed to reach the endgame.
The target was their original destination—The control room. For this purpose, they ordered Minadzuki and the queen to fly faster.
Part 2
The ark was a legacy of the late King Solomon of the ancient Kingdom of Israel.
Hal had no idea specifically how large was the "sky" inside it. In any case, Hal's party finally reached the airspace that was the center of this sky.
It was their ultimate destination.
Shamiram had told them that the ark's control room was there.
"It's shaped like a ship..." Hazumi murmured.
She and Hal were still riding the miniaturized Minadzuki's back.
The red dragon—the Crimson Queen—was leading the emerald serpentine dragon. Meanwhile, Hinokagutsuchi had de-materialized and returned to the magic gun.
Unlike previous times, what awaited them ahead was not a sky island.
It was a giant rectilinear ship hovering in the air.
The ship was roughly a hundred meters from prow to aft with a width of thirty meters or so.
"This size feels similar to Noah's Ark."
The Old Testament of the Bible had mentioned the legendary ship.
Hal brought up the very famous name. In order to escape the deadly flood, Noah and his family—and all animals—had taken refuge on that ship.
The Ark's dimensions were given as "300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in width and 30 cubits in height."
There were many interpretations on the correct length of the "cubit" mentioned in the Bible.
However, according to the current prevailing view, "300 cubits x 50 cubits x 30 cubits" would basically match the size of the box-shaped ship before Hal and Hazumi's eyes...
The deck did featured neither a mast nor a cabin. It was all flat.
It looked like a ship but actually was not.
Shamiram had called it "the magic device for controlling Solomon's ark."
"As expected, it's not gonna be unguarded huh!"
With the Crimson Queen in the lead, Hal's party would reach the "ship" in about 200m.
At that moment, dragons—bronze statues shaped like them—surrounded the "ship."
These dragonoid sculptures spread their wings and started flying like living beasts.
They bore a great resemblance to lesser dragons in size and appearance. The motions of their necks, bodies and limbs were also the same as Raptors. These were no ordinary statues.
They were gargoyles granted temporary life by magic.
Deciding that Hal's party must be intercepted, the twelve gargoyles flew towards them!
"Senpai, let's have Minadzuki grow big!"
"Don't worry, it won't be necessary."
Hal and Hazumi were both riding Minadzuki's back.
Sitting in front as the rider in control, Hazumi had looked back and spoken nervously. Hal remained calm.
Minadzuki had shrank herself to a body length of five meters or so to serve as their flying mount.
It was not necessary to undo miniaturization yet. Despite lacking Asya's special skill of using wild instincts to detect danger from the enemy, Hal still knew.
The magical power released by the twelve gargoyles were not that strong.
"Even someone like Solomon-senpai won't be able to magically craft subordinates capable of matching leviathans. The queen is enough to take care of them."
Hal's past formidable foe, Pavel Galad, had used alchemy to create powerful minions.
However, King Solomon had remained within "human" boundaries during his lifetime. Hence, his magical power could not reach that level of potency.
One could surmise that he went to develop the techniques for synthesizing leviathans for the purpose of bridging this gap.
In front of the confident Hal, the Crimson Queen was the first to unleash fiery breath. The dragon king-class body discharged flames that swirled through the sky with a blast of scorching air.
The twelve gargoyles were completely incinerated by the flames into ash.
The entire process took no more than a few seconds. Engulfed in flames, the gargoyles did not even have enough time to struggle against the fire, vaporizing with a sizzle.
"Now that he has become a ghost, he should be much weaker than during his prime when he was still alive..."
Even if Hal chose a direct showdown, it was more than likely that he would not be stuck in a difficult battle.
Deduction gradually turned to certainty. Hal silently thought to himself, "hence—I expect Senpai to devise a surprising tactic to counterattack..."
In any case, Hal's party eliminated the obstructions and approached the "ship."
Just like the main ark that had descended upon the Hudson River, this control device was also a wooden ship.
Like satellites, the Crimson Queen and Minadzuki, who had returned to normal size, circled the wooden ship on high alert. Next, Hal and Hazumi finally stepped onto the wooden deck.
"Then let's begin."
Hal summoned his magic gun near the center of the deck.
Rather than shooting, his purpose was searching.
There were many secrets of Ruruk Soun hidden inside the "magic wand" of a gun...
Rapidly searching through the grimoire passed down by dragonkind since antiquity, he found a "usable incantation."
"This is the one."
Hal touched the magic gun and drew out magical power from his heart.
In the next instant, thirteen runes of Ruruk Soun appeared on the wooden ship's deck.
They signified "seize control." The act of snatching away the right to control a magical artifact or familiar, bringing it into one's possession—
This was the secret behind this spell.
King Solomon had used it repeatedly to steal the Crimson Queen.
It was time to give him a taste of his own medicine. However—
"This magic is taking effect abnormally slowly."
Hal had expected this to steal Solomon's ark in one go.
He frowned. The magic gun told him that he had currently seized only 30% control. The remaining 70% was still held by King Solomon.
However, the figure was gradually rising to 31% then 32%.
Why was it happening like this? Hal searched in puzzlement.
He instantly found the runes for "spell resistance," whose purpose was to block specific incantations. If blocking was impossible, it would reduce effectiveness as much as possible.
This was a secret technique of Ruruk Soun with magic defense as the goal.
"Did Solomon-senpai cast this magic on the control device in advance?"
A watertight defense to prevent others from imitating himself.
As expected of the great sorcerer of ancient times. Despite similar power levels, the other party still held a slight upper hand in strategy. But thanks to that, Hal learned a great spell.
Touching the magic gun again, he looked at the Crimson Queen.
Four runes appeared over the red dragon's head—"spell resistance."
Even if King Solomon tried another surprise attack, this spell should be able to protect the queen. Under unexpected circumstances, Hal learned a technique in magical combat.
"On further thought, this kind of strategic contest might be a first."
"Senpai, you are so amazing. Honestly—although this may sound weird—you are truly like a sorcerer," said Hazumi from next to the muttering Hal.
Truly like a sorcerer. Realizing the meaning behind these words, Hal could not help but smile wryly.
Indeed, every instance of SAURU magic that Haruga Haruomi had used so far was very low-key, somewhat different from how ordinary people would picture "Magic!"
However, the wisdom of Ruruk Soun was definitely not a field of study he wished to delve deep into.
Hal subconsciously said, "I don't really want to accumulate knowledge or experience in this area, that's all."
"Eh? Why is that? I believe it's a wonderful thing to be able to use magic with increasing skill."
"That isn't the whole of it, which is why I find it a nuisance."
It would probably take at least twenty minutes to seize 100% control of the ark, right?
While thinking "I wonder if Solomon-senpai might show up during this time?", Hal responded absent-mindedly to Hazumi... Then came to a sudden realization.
He had apparently made a slip of the tongue just now.
His words would expose a certain secret that he had kept concealed so far.
Furthermore, the listener was Shirasaka Hazumi—the girl who faithfully paid attention to Hal's every word, even taking notes on the side, never neglecting to study them—Had he been too careless in saying that just now...?
Hal could only hope that Hazumi had missed it.
Apprehensively, Hal examined her face.
"Excuse me, what did you mean by 'that isn't the whole of it'...?"
His hopes were dashed. Hazumi gazed at Hal, looking extremely worried.
Should he muddle through with a random excuse?
However, Orihime knew a long time ago. Luna Francois had also grown suspicious of the risks from wielding the power of dragonbane.
And Asya too—
Perhaps Hal's childhood friend might—
Making full use of her wild instincts and the miraculous powers of their inseparable bond, perhaps she might have noticed something was off, but had intentionally refrained from bringing it up. No, but it was very likely that she really had not noticed yet.
In any case, Hal sighed.
His Tyrannos level had risen to the point of being able to use the magic of Ruruk Soun.
Maybe it was time for him to confess the "bad news" to his circle, not just the good news...
"Actually," Hal prayed that his tone sounded as relaxed as possible, "it seems like I'll turn into a dragon if my power continues to grow."
Part 3
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Part 4
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Part 5
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Part 6
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