Chapter 125 - Distortion (2)

Their first response was to hastily erect two barriers of divinity before them—one the Pontiff's, the other Aiden's. Both had somehow managed to react to an attack that reached them in far less than a second, in the merest instant.

The resulting barriers were astonishingly thick considering how little time they had had to react. But the creature attacking them was none other than a dragon: a ruler of the old continent, a walking calamity, a monster that only humans who had reached the realm of saints could face.

Before that attack could strike, Aiden was yanked away with the Pontiff still on his back.

"—Get a hold of yourself!"

The voice, which he had not heard once since arriving here, jolted Aiden to his senses. He turned to find Morrigan riding Reaver. Reaver must have seized him in its jaws and dragged him out of the dragon breath's straight-line trajectory.

"... Morrigan?"

"That's a real dragon. You'll die if you don't pull yourself together!"

"A real one?"

Unfortunately, something supporting her claim was already appearing before Aiden's eyes.

-Side Quest

▶ A major change in the main scenario has been detected.

▶ You encounter 'dragonkind.'

▶ Repel the target while keeping casualties to a minimum!

▶ Upon success, target '???' will gain a massive increase in affection!

▶ Upon success, abilities related to 'miracles' will be enhanced!

... The system window itself proved that what he faced was the real thing.

It took almost no time for the atmosphere to change completely. The people here probably had no idea who Morrigan was or what her relationship to Aiden might be, but the words "a real dragon" could not have sounded more immediate and real.

"R-run—!"

Someone's scream was the starting signal. Confusion and terror spread like a plague. Soon, royals and students mingled in a single mass, retreating like an ebbing tide.

"Wait, everyone, calm—!"

Before Aiden could even finish, a screaming mass of pandemonium spread through the crowd all around him.

It was absurd to expect commoner students, rather than battle-hardened veterans, to stay composed. Even the royals who were supposed to protect them were the first to flee. With a living dragon right before their eyes, firing a strike brimming with murderous intent, he could hardly blame them.

Of course...

'... This is dangerous...!'

The thought flashed reflexively through Aiden's mind as he gritted his teeth.

The dragon was already preparing its next strike. He could see another tremendous mass of Mana gathering beneath its mouth.

He couldn't block all of it. There would be casualties!

As alarms blared red inside his head, the dragon unleashed its breath once more.

His Analysis skill, which borrowed Meyer's perspective wholesale, told him that the breath contained far more power than he could withstand even if he devoted everything to defense. Fortunately, someone here surpassed him in wielding supernatural power.

BOOM!

KRA-BOOOOM!

A much thicker barrier of divinity collided with the dragon's breath, perhaps thanks to the ample preparation time they had lacked before. The two flames clashed in a blaze of blinding white light, until the curtain of divinity finally deflected the dragon's breath.

KRA-BOOOOOOM!

... Then Aiden's jaw dropped as the deflected breath, despite its visibly diminished force, ground away an entire corner of the mountain.

The Pontiff and that dragon were both utterly ridiculous monsters...!

"... Tch."

The Pontiff clicked her tongue and sighed.

A single human had created a barrier of divinity that deflected a dragon's breath, without the aid of any sacred implement or supporting equipment. It was an insane sight.

Yet a chill was creeping down Aiden's spine.

'... She's tired?'

With her on his back, he could tell for certain. Her breathing was slightly labored—a sign that creating those two barriers in succession had taken a physical toll.

'Why?'

Given what he knew of the Pontiff's abilities, she wasn't someone who would tire from "merely" deflecting a dragon's breath. A monster whose command of divinity surpassed Katya's should have had no trouble fighting that dragon in single combat. That was how things should have been!

'... As for why...'

He could think about that later. Better to ask when there was no risk of casualties. For now, he understood perfectly well that he couldn't simply sit back and leave everything to the Pontiff.

Reaching that conclusion, Aiden gritted his teeth and spoke.

"First, we need to buy time for the others to evacuate—!"

As he spoke and looked around, his gaze abruptly fixed on one spot.

... There was no mistaking it. That was where the first dragon breath had passed after breaking through the double barrier he and the Pontiff had erected. At the far end of that trajectory, beyond the defenses that had ultimately failed to stop it, lay a commoner student who had not managed to dodge the attack, burned pitch-black.

Even after piercing every barrier they had erected, the dragon's breath had retained more than enough power to do that to a person.

"—"

The student seemed to be alive for the moment. Aiden could see a chest rising and falling faintly.

But anyone looking would reach the same conclusion. The wound was already well beyond fatal.

This person would not survive.

Simply because they had been standing behind him.

As that realization struck him...

"...!"

Sparks flashed in the depths of his eyes. Something clicked into place inside Aiden's head. His gaze swung back toward the dragon, which was preparing yet another breath.

"... Morrigan."

His voice, now utterly low and flat, made Morrigan start and look at him.

An excellent secretary, she was particularly sensitive to people's moods. Which meant that, of everyone here, she understood best just how deep the anger inside Aiden ran.

"If it's a real dragon, it should be able to perform miracles. Why is it just standing there firing its breath? Is it choosing not to, or is it unable to?"

"Most likely the latter. If it could, it would have no reason not to use them in battle."

"... So it's not even half a dragon."

Muttering those words, Aiden shook the Pontiff off his back and cracked his neck. Either way, a dragon incapable of performing miracles would be drastically weaker in combat. It was certainly weaker than a truly pure dragon.

In that case, he could consider things that would be absolutely impossible against a proper dragon.

"... Hey."

The Pontiff, who had landed on the ground with a thud, frowned at Aiden.

"What are you thinking?"

He was always liable to do something bizarre and unpredictable without batting an eye. But the intensity radiating from Aiden now was on an entirely different level. As though he really might do anything.

"I'm thinking about what I can do."

Horribly fierce anger was consuming one corner of his mind, but another part remained terrifyingly calm.

He weighed his options. Made plans. Distinguished feasibility from risk. The ability he prided himself on having honed most through his work as a con man was weighing the chances of success against those of failure.

"... If we stay on the defensive here, the casualties will only increase. There's a limit to how much we can block when it's firing indiscriminately."

Aiden turned a composed gaze toward the Pontiff.

"And you're not in your normal condition. Keeping this up would be a problem for you, too."

"..."

The Pontiff said nothing. Since she offered no rebuttal, she apparently had no intention of denying her condition.

"Then what do you intend to do?"

"They say the best defense is a good offense."

Aiden's eyes blazed with hatred as he spat out the words.

"Let's kill that bastard."

"..."

Morrigan—and even the Pontiff—stared at him in disbelief.

"... So."

"Yes."

"You want three humans to take down a dragon...?"

"Yes. It can't even perform miracles, so it should be possible."

"Sorry, but impressive as I am, I'm not exactly in my normal condition right now..."

"You can rest. I'll do it."

Aiden replied as he rolled his shoulders, stretching.

"No, I'm asking how you plan to do that—"

"I'll just have to die once. I do it hundreds of times every day."

"... What?"

"All I need is a little help from you."

No one could make any sense of what he was saying.

... But they would all agree on one thing: he was insane.

▣

Katya Heinkel Craven was running desperately. As Aiden had asked, she had originally intended to keep watch around the island where the event was taking place, looking for anything unusual again. Now, there was no reason to bother.

The island shook with pounding tremors like an earthquake, and screams kept erupting so loudly that they hurt her ears even from this far away. Anyone could tell that something had gone terribly wrong!

'Please, please...!'

She repeated the plea over and over, her face deathly pale. With divinity enhancing her entire body's output, the scenery tore past at a terrifying speed, but the anxiety in her heart showed no sign of subsiding.

It all came down to the way that man, Aiden, behaved. She didn't know the details, but something serious had clearly happened. And it was just as obvious that he would once again casually throw himself into danger, intending to stop it all alone.

She had to get there and protect him. She had to stop it!

With those thoughts driving her, Katya arrived—and barely kept her head from reeling at the sight before her.

'—A dragon?!'

Feeling close to fainting, she stared at the mountain-sized creature before her. It was charging another devastating breath inside its mouth, aiming at Aiden directly in front of it.

"...!"

A chill ran through her entire body, for two reasons. First, she instinctively understood the destructive power of the breath gathering in the dragon's mouth. Second, despite the fact that it was plainly aimed at him, Aiden was walking straight toward it without so much as blinking.

As though he were preparing to fight it.

'... But...!'

There was a reason people used dragon scales as a figure of speech. A dragon's body alone boasted nearly invincible defenses. Fighting wasn't even an option. Running should have been the wisest choice...!

To Katya, the dragon didn't appear to wield any special supernatural powers. Even so, the combination of such devastating breath and an invincible body led naturally to that conclusion.

"Wait, what are you doing—!"

But before that scream could leave her lips, the dragon was already making its next move. The destructive breath gathered in its mouth once again spread the echoes of death through its surroundings, aimed squarely at Aiden nearby.

'I have to help...!'

Gritting her teeth at that thought, Katya tried to weave divinity in front of Aiden.

... She probably would have, had the terrible foreboding she always felt around him not slammed into her mind. The feeling she always got when Aiden plunged headlong into some insane act without a second thought.

Only...

"..."

What she felt now was several times stronger than usual.

Ah.

No.

Come on.

Surely not.

Even that lunatic wouldn't do something like that. Any reasonable person would dodge that attack first and then figure something out—

"... Hey, no."

Katya trembled as the words escaped her like a groan. Meanwhile, Aiden crouched, as though preparing to leap.

"Hey, heeeey—!"

As Katya cried out, tears welling in her eyes...