Leviathan:Volume 7 Chapter 5
Chapter 5 - Revival
Part 1
Asya's childhood friend, Haruga Haruomi, once said, "The hiding place of treasure will reflect the owner's personality... Sometimes."
Avoiding a direct assertion, it was very much in line with his style of skepticism.
In any case, the young man whom Asya had known for many years was an expert in this area. She ought to respect the rule of thumb arising from his experience.
Furthermore, there was an example case that served as corroboration.
The former dragon king, Hinokagutsuchi. The reason why she had hidden that there was shockingly arbitrary, stunning Asya when she heard first heard about it, but it was quite reasonable in hindsight and difficult for others to discover.
Then there was Pavel Galad.
This hot-blooded and rigid man.
Given his personality, surely he would hide treasure in the depths of a building with excessive security, locked in an impregnable treasure vault, sealed with many layers of magic on the door.
"...But not cowardly to the extreme extent of 'hoarding without using,' which fits that hot-blooded hero's 'style,' I guess."
Locating what she expected to find, Asya nodded to herself.
"Because he would take out his treasure and make effective use of it when needed..."
Inside the desert barrier where Pavel Galad had trapped the witches, there was a set of mysterious ruins resembling an open-pit mine.
Its shape was like a bowl-shaped "hole" that had been excavated, with a radius of two kilometers and a depth of five hundred meters.
Riding on the miniaturized Rushalka's back, Asya arrived at the bottom of the pit.
In the center was a black stone in the form of a rectangular prism. It looked like an altar. If a two-meter-tall human lay down on it, his feet would probably not stick out.
An elite dragon could pretty rest its palm on top.
There were two kinds of things placed on top of it.
One kind consisted of small stone fragments. Black in color, it was almost pulverized.
The other kind consisted of two sharp stones with virtually no smooth part on their surface. These stones were black too. Using minerals on Earth as comparison, they resembled quartz.
Asya was seeing these things for the first time. However, she knew very well what they were.
"Flint..."
She heard that Haruomi's late father had hidden one inside his pocket watch.
She heard that one had been casually left in the garden of Hinokagutsuchi's palatial residence, the Dragon Palace Court.
She heard that it was the fire-starting stone for reviving the "conqueror's runes." Without this stone, a dragonslaying rune on its own was a wasted treasure.
This stone could be considered the beginning of everything that had roped Haruga Haruomi into this war.
"Two flints... And one flint's worth of fragments. So Pavel Galad kept three of these precious stones here."
Why was one of them shattered? Asya could guess the answer.
It had shattered just before the Raptors began their attack just now.
When the flint shattered, it shot out a spark that activated the Rune of the Sword in the air, turning into the prime mover that had forced Rushalka and the others into a tough predicament...
Asserting as a master-class witch, she was certain she had seen the same fire yesterday too.
On that "island" that had appeared in Tokyo Bay to serve as bait, Pavel Galad had strengthened the dragonslaying sword in order to resist the dragonslaying bow.
The flames enveloping the sword's blade looked similar to the flint spark she had seen just now.
"Flint... It looks like it can be used as a magical catalyst for all kinds of purposes. This is a secret treasure that dragons would devote lifetimes to find. How many did he stock up?"
Pavel Galad was probably carrying a few on his person right now.
This was to use them as a trump card to oppose Haruomi's dragonslaying bow. Perhaps the silver dragon had discovered a mineral vein of flint instead of single stones.
"Impressive as always, President M. Her oracle was right on the money."
Rather than blocking it... The enemy rekindled the flame instead.
Just as President M described, Minadzuki's mystic technique of "armistice" had definitely sealed away the Rune of the Sword. However, the silver dragon had used a flint's flame to revive the dragonslaying seal.
The president had said something else, Asya remembered it was—
'Counter a treasure with another treasure. You are advised to release the stored goods.'
Asya came to sudden realization. She had jumped conclusions, thinking this advice was aimed at Haruomi, but—Now she understood.
"So... that advice was for me!"
The instant she felt certain of this, her imagination began to roam freely.
Right now in the mortal realm, Pavel Galad was probably using flint as the catalyst for magic to strengthen himself, putting Haruomi in a difficult battle. And the secret treasure used by the enemy as a trump card was right in front of Asya. If only she could take it back—
"This idea... isn't very realistic. It's not like I found a way to get back."
Despite what Asya was saying, she actually realized it early on.
The Rune of the Twin Katana used by her friends to return was definitely hard to control. Chances of using it successfully on her own were extremely low. However—
Low chance or no chance—No way to tell until she tried.
Naturally, doing this would challenge a witch's limits. Unless she devoted her entire mind and soul to it together with Rushalka, drawing on their full power, it would be futile.
Asya recalled something else. There was more to President M's advice.
'When it is time to make a decision, think about the future—three months from now, three years from now.'
'It will be too late by the time you regret it.'
With trembling hands, Asya searched her jacket's secret pocket.
Taking out a small packet of chocolates, she clutched it while staring at the two flints in front of her, murmuring to herself, "Even if I could return, the rest might not necessary go well..."
Asya felt the words of denial get stuck in her throat, impossible to shake off.
Naturally, this was an illusion. But thanks to that, she was unable to keep finding reasons to justify herself. Instead, she found it impossible not to think about Haruomi, who was most likely in the middle of a battle. In all the battles so far, he had prevailed over his enemies splendidly.
In a way, this was because he had encountered opponents that he was good at dealing with.
During Pavel Galad's counteroffensive, she reached a clear understanding.
If the enemy was an elite dragon or dragon king unconcerned with details, Hal would be able to use the little tricks that were his specialty and overcome the crisis no matter who he faced. However, if the enemy were to carefully study ways to defeat Haruga Haruomi, then appropriate support was essential.
Because Asya's childhood friend was neither a warrior nor a soldier...
"Hmmmmmm."
She was also very worried about the witches who had returned to Earth.
Pavel Galad was not the only enemy. After him, waiting for them was Princess Yukikaze, the formidable foe of outrageous proportions. Without Shootdown Ace Asya, how much resistance could they shore up against Princess Yukikaze?
"B-But if I return to my past self... The hypnosis will surely lose effect—"
Holding the bar of chocolate, her right hand kept trembling.
Conflicted. Distraught. Self-deception. Guilty conscience. Sincerity towards Haruomi and her witch companions. Maidenly feelings. A selfish desire to attain the happiness she was entitled to. Her pride as a witch. Hesitation. Hesitation. Hesitation. Hesitation. Hesitation...
Asya did not know how long she stood there in one spot.
But in spite of it all.
Arduously, her trembling fingers opened the packet of chocolates, took out a piece, then struggled to deliver it to her mouth—At that very instant...
It was the sound of a pebble kicked by a the tip of a leather shoe.
Asya looked back in surprise, speechless. This was inside a dragon's barrier. At the bottom of an open-pit mine that was like a world heritage site.
A man dressed in a black suit—A human male was walking towards her!
"Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am known as Sophocles to the lords of the dragon world as well as Tyrannoi of both human and dragon origin."
Recalling Haruomi's report, Asya glared at the man in black.
Sophocles. Juujouji Orihime had apparently met him once. This man was in charge of observing dragonkind's game that was called the Road to Kingship and would occasionally contact participants.
"Please forgive my sudden visit. My apologies."
"N-No need to apologize... How did you get here?"
"Didn't the Crimson Queen tell you? I can show up at any corner of the world, be it the surface of the Earth, the distant sea of stars, or passing through the dimensional portal to reach the secret realm of dreams."
He spoke of his elusive arrival in this kind of place as though it were no different from a gentleman's hobby.
Asya finally met the mysterious man named Sophocles. It looked like he was even more of an eccentric than rumored.
"In truth... Predicting that you are about to embark on an extremely dangerous yet meaningful adventure, I had to come meet you no matter what."
Sophocles was quite respectful in attitude, even earnest.
But Asya was certain that this man appearing in front of her was surely the devil's kin and must not be trusted easily.
"O witch. If you are prepared to make a desperate effort to move forward, I am willing to provide all the assistance you need for your adventure. That is how much value I see in the challenge you will be undertaking."
Part 2
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Part 3
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Part 4
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Part 5
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