Chapter 232: Prideless Dragons

Mid Morning - Early Winter : Western Siratha Space Rune

-

- Unknown Dragon ~

*wooooosh*

"Uuwaaah...." My eyelids felt a bit heavy as I laid my head down. -It's so peaceful here...-

"Relaxing, isn't it?" Anthos glanced at me with a sly smirk as he rolled onto his back. "The smell of the ocean isn't fishy here like in other places..."

"Yeah, it smells like flowers here..." Odell looked like he was on the verge of sleep like the rest of us too. "Is that from the coral?"

"Probably... Aren't corals the flowers of the ocean?"

"That's what I was taught."

"Me too. What about you, Thaddeus?"

-If the boss was here, he'd wring out necks...- "You two haven't forgotten why we are here, right?"

"Of course not! But that doesn't mean we can't relax while we wait." Odell didn't seem to understand what I was getting at.

"You remember the story I told you guys, right? I'm sure they sent people to watch us."

Anthos wasn't taking my side either. "Aren't those people called nets because they'll catch us when things go south?"

"Who told you they would catch us? They will just clean up whatever mess we make... They should be called cleaners more than nets..."

"Well, yeah. But I'm sure they will step in once they see how outclassed we are..."

"R..right.. about that..." Odell's expression slowly turned nervous. "Are we really going to have to fight a Ragnarok?"

"What do we have to be nervous about? She can only be so much stronger than a normal dragon her age. Two of us should be more than enough." I paused as I glanced at a large mana core behind me. -Plus, we have whatever that is...-

"But wasn't she with-"

-He's so anxious...- "It's a halfie. How strong could it be?" Sitting up and looking over the endless forest toward the sun, now well over the horizon, I saw nothing but clear skies. "If we're lucky, they'll come one at a time. We just need to have the artifact ready in case we need it."

"T..true... Maybe I'm just imagining things again..."

But although I wanted to agree and say he was being too naive like he normally was, I couldn't help but agree that I had a bad feeling in my chest. "Haah..." -It's probably nothing...-

But over the next few hours, the feeling only worsened. -My gut is never wrong...- By then, I felt sick to my stomach.

"Did you eat something rotten? You look sick." Odell's nervousness seemed to worsen along with my condition.

"I'm fine... I'm just a bit hungry."

"A..alright..."

"Hey, guys," Anthos called out to us while he peered over the mountaintop toward the horizon. "One of the dragons we're after is completely black, right?"

-He can't be serious...- "Yes? I'm really starting to get worried about your memory, man..."

"N..no, this isn't about that... I think our time to lounge around is coming to an end..."

-Huh?- Quickly getting up and poking my head over the ridge as well, I looked toward the blinding sun and saw a large blue light, with a black dot at its center. -What is that?- It was extremely difficult to make out what it was, but after trying to focus on it for several moments, the blue behind it finally faded, revealing a familiar shape. -It's actually a dragon?!-

Odell's eyes went wide the instant he looked at it as well. "H..how high is that?!"

It was only after he mentioned it that I even thought about it. -N..now that he mentions it...- Although I could see the dragon fairly clearly, it looked as if it was bleached by the sky, making many details harder to distinguish. -How far away would something need to be to look like that?-

But while I was curious about it, the time for those thoughts didn't last forever. "I think.. it's coming toward us..."

"Alright, let's assume it's the guy. If it isn't him we can just lay low but I will get the artifact ready just in case." Quickly falling back below the ridgeline, I walked over and picked up the large core, and sat down, slowly activating countless runes in a specific order. *vwoop-vwoom-click*

"I-I'm not sure we have enough time, that dragon is really fast!" Odell turned to me in a hurry.

"Anthos, go stall for time while I finish. If it is just him, and you think you can win, go for it, but if they are with the Ragnarok, the artifact will be ready in about 30 seconds."

"Right away!" *fwoosh* Quickly taking to the air, I put complete trust in him and turned my attention back to the artifact.

-Come on...- *click-VWOOM* -Got it!- The moment the artifact started shaking, I tossed it in my mouth and readied a substantial amount of lightning magic, as I had been instructed previously. "Od'll, do's h' n'd it-" I could only mumble as the artifact filled my mouth, but he thankfully understood before I even finished.

"YES! HURRY-"

But his voice was cut short.

*BRRRRRMMMMMMMM* A deafening and blinding beam of light shot across the sky in an instant.

But before I could even think, everything vanished into blackness.

I could only get out one last thought as I lost all my senses. -The.. artifact?-

-

- Vasilias ~ (back a couple minutes)

-Something.. is wrong here...- Quickly turning off my thruster magic, I continued gliding toward the somewhat distant mountain with the group of dragons. "Grandmother, we may have some company."

"Hm? What do you mean, sweetie?"

"On the farthest ridge, there are a few dragons staring at us... They look like they have bad intentions." Although I couldn't be certain, the situation made me assume the worst. -But I need to keep my finger off the trigger for now...-

Gradually slowing down as I approached, the one remaining dragon that was still showing itself finally left his hidey-hole and flew out toward me with no obvious aggression.

-Was it a false alarm?-

"Sir, may I ask where you are headed?" For an elder, his voice was nothing out of the ordinary, but he didn't carry himself with nobility like the other elders I had met.

-Even Orion, a guard, carries himself with more pride than this guy...- It made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but I tried not to show it. "We are heading to Bahamut. Is there a problem?"

"Of course! The borders of Bahamut have been locked down for several days now. No one can pass without proper clearance."

Feeling Grandmother tap my paw a few times, I moved it out in front of me.

She spoke the moment she met eyes with the dragon. "My name is Asimi Ragnarok," Quickly pulling out a small medallion-like piece of mythril, she pointed it toward the dragon. "I believe this should be more than enough to let us pass."

He paused for a moment as his eyes darted back and forth between Grandmother and I, but he eventually spoke. "I apologize, but that isn't enough for me to give you anything. If you two could wait, however, I could send one of my colleagues to fetch someone for you."

Thinking the story mostly added up, I looked down at Grandmother, but she wore a skeptical expression.

She didn't bother hiding her suspicion at all. "Actually, I don't believe you have the authority to stop me, and to add to it, it is quite odd that I haven't heard of people waiting on the other ends of the space runes to work as border control, even though I am one of the people in the elder hall."

"Miss, with all due respect, this was a decision that was made while you were away. I hope you understand." His nervousness slowly started becoming more apparent as he spoke.

But Grandmother wasn't having it. *tap-tap* Slowly standing up, she went to step out of my paw, likely to change to her dragon form, but the dragon had other plans.

*FWOOSH* In an instant, he threw himself at Grandmother and opened his mouth to bite her, but she remained calm.

I couldn't actually tell whether it was her own confidence or trust in me, but I wasn't taking any chances. *fwip* Turning my leg around, I used my shin to absorb his bite.

*Crruunch-Crackle* The noise of my scales and his teeth cracking in unison filled the air, but it didn't last long.

"You really didn't do enough homework on who you were fighting..." Before he could pull himself away, I lowered my head and chomped into his neck. *CRUNCH* His scales cracked and shattered like clay pottery as I ripped him off my leg and pointed my mouth up in the air. -There is a special place in hell for scum like you...-

But just as I was about to use a simple steel dart to finish him off, a chill passed down my spine and a colossal amount of mana flooded into the air over the ridge.

Although I didn't feel fear, it was enough of a shock for my instinct to momentarily take over.

*BRRRRRMMMMMMMM* Blasting an unfathomably bright and hot beam of light through the dragon's neck, I let go and instantly turned toward the source of the mana. *CRAAACK*

The railgun shot used several dozen times more lightning magic than usual, making it hit the mountain like a colossal sledgehammer. *BAANG-CRUUUNCH* The ridge of the mountain exploded as a huge section of rock was blasted off of it.

But what I did seemed to only make things worse.

*FLASH* An instantaneous flash and wave of heat melted the surrounding rock instantly, recreating a scene I knew all too well.

A nuclear blast.

-SH*T!- Knowing Grandmother's humanoid form couldn't handle the heat, I threw her behind me and attempted to cast a spell to counter it as quickly as possible, no matter how impossible a task that was.

*vwoop-pop* *BAAAAAAANGGGG*