Radiance and Abyss (2)
Radiance and Abyss (2)
Logically speaking, it's a stupid move to attack a combat force of 100,000 with just three people.
No, calling it stupid is an understatement; anyone would call it a suicide mission.
And these 100,000 are humans blessed by gods?
This should be considered natural selection.
But what if a dragon is included in those three?
And not just any ordinary dragon, but one powerful enough to eat other dragons?
You can see the tide of battle turn with just a single existence.
Just like right now.
"Nice-to-meet-you-Breath!"
Kwaaaaaang-!!
As soon as I arrived on the battlefield, I unleashed my full-power Breath toward the area with the most people.
In an instant, my mana drained away like an outgoing tide.
A sense of exhaustion washed over me as the massive amount of mana left my body, but it was fine.
As long as the Dragon's Heart and the Wish-fulfilling Jewel were assisting me, my mana could be considered infinite.
The drained mana refilled in an instant, and I watched the scene of destruction I had created.
Nothing remained where the Breath had swept through.
To be precise, nothing remained in the spot that was hit directly.
Soldiers of the gods who had avoided the direct hit were still alive, but since they hadn't exactly dodged it but rather been grazed, their condition wasn't normal either.
"Gyaaaaaack!!"
"S-save me! M-my body is freezing-"
"Gueeek! It's melting! It's melting-"
The battlefield was filled with screams of pain and desperation, not battle cries.
They clutched their missing arms and legs, struggling to survive.
They called out to their comrades, called out to their loved ones, and struggled to put off death, but...
"Once it touches you, you're basically dead."
They aren't strong enough to push back the erosion of the mana contained in my Breath.
Before long, all the soldiers who had even slightly touched the Breath turned to dust and vanished.
The soldiers who survived because they were outside the range of the Breath had all lost their voices, staring up at me floating in the sky.
They didn't make a sound, keeping their gazes fixed, afraid that if they looked away even for a second, the Breath might fly toward them.
Not that I had any intention of sparing them anyway.
I shifted my gaze slightly to look at the two still standing on the hill, and I could see them looking this way with somewhat troubled faces.
Perhaps it was because they were seeing beings in human form dying in droves, even if they were some unknown entities that had appeared from inside the Gate.
Well... troubled or not, I have a job to do.
Breath is definitely the best way to kill a legion blessed with the power of gods.
I was about to gather my Breath again to wipe out the remaining forces when I sensed a massive mana reaction.
'The sky?'
I tried to lift my head to follow the mana I sensed, but before I could, light fell from high in the sky.
One on Belobog's formation.
One on Chernobog's formation.
A pillar of white light and a pillar of black light.
Pillars of light, each containing diametrically opposed mana and colors, fell, and the soldiers who had been terrified reacted in unison.
"O-ohhh!! T-the Apostle of God is coming!"
"God has personally sent an Apostle to punish the evil dragon!"
"Worship! The agent of The One is coming!"
So, an Apostle of God, huh.
I suppose it makes sense for them to have hope.
But... aren't they just Apostles of God?
Come to think of it, Valkyries are also Apostles of God.
So, are they Linnea's level?
No, Linnea was on the lower end of the Valkyrie hierarchy, so I should probably consider them on the level of a somewhat famous Valkyrie.
The pillars of light that had shaken the sky gradually faded.
And what remained in their place were a man in white and a woman in black.
The man in white had a soft impression and flowing bright golden hair, and behind him floated mana resembling a white sun.
The woman in black was wearing a revealing outfit.
She had long black hair, and her crimson eyes were filled with malice.
Even though she was floating in the air, the shadows under her feet writhed as if they were alive.
The man in white was the first to speak.
"Dragon. Why did you refuse the choice of The One? If you had chosen Belobog-nim, you would have received infinite glory and grace."
The man in white, who expressed doubt as if he truly didn't understand, reached out toward me.
"Come, it's not too late. Choose The One and fight for the good. Then The One will also forgive this incident and bestow grace upon you..."
"Wait, wait. That goes for this side too, you know? Hey, giant lizard. What's the point of choosing that side, only to spend time with stuffy, hypocritical, fake-friendly things? Why don't you choose this side instead? Chernobog-nim can give you infinite freedom and immense power. Like me."
The woman in black cut off the man in white's words.
She disparaged Belobog and his Apostle, urging me to believe in the Chernobog she served.
As she did so, she waved her hand as if to show off the power Chernobog had given her, and the shadows split into dozens of strands, moving according to her gestures.
Hmmm... come to think of it, Chernobog's power seems to suit me better than Belobog's.
The power of death felt in Chernobog's power.
It has similarities to the essence of Niflheim I received from Hel.
But my answer is already decided.
"Why should I?"
"What?"
"Why should I do that? Do I need to bow down under guys like Belobog or Chernobog just to get some measly power?"
"How dare you! How dare you insult The One! Know your place, you mere dragon!"
"Ha... this is why dragons are no good. You're born a little strong and you're arrogant without knowing your place, right?"
The Apostle of Belobog, who had been wearing a pleasant face just a moment ago, twisted his face and snapped, while the Apostle of Chernobog clicked her tongue as if she had expected this.
The Apostle of Belobog raised his hand.
Massive mana gathered above his hand, creating a sphere of light.
Holding the sphere, which emitted such bright light that it wouldn't be strange to call it a small sun, the Apostle of Belobog said as if declaring a sentence.
"Pay the price for insulting The One. I will show you what happens when a mere creature insults a god."
The Apostle of Belobog threw the sphere of light as if tossing it lightly.
Unlike the light toss, the sphere of light flew toward me at lightning speed.
"Ah, shit. You crazy bastard. I'm going to get caught up in this too!"
The Apostle of Chernobog, who had been frowning since she saw the sphere of light, hid her figure as if melting into the shadows.
And at that moment, the sphere of light hit me.
Kuuuuuuung!!
The sphere of light that collided with my body expanded in size, emitting heat that seemed like it would burn everything.
I didn't take any action, just lightly raised my mana to block the heat.
'Hmm. Feels like a sauna, nice.'
I quite liked the warm feeling I hadn't felt in a long time.
It was just a bit annoying that the light covered my vision.
The heat that had been roasting my whole body for a while gradually subsided along with the light.
As the light disappeared, my vision returned to normal.
Seeing that I was perfectly fine, the Apostle of Belobog stared at me with wide eyes.
"How can you be perfectly fine without a single scratch after taking The One's power head-on...?"
"If I were weak enough to get hurt by that, I would have died a long time ago."
This was the truth, without a shred of a lie.
If I had been weak enough to die from that?
I would have died and become a ghost of Niflheim when I first encountered The Eagle.
"Now it's my turn, right?"
"W-wait!"
"Wait my ass. I let you hit me once."
I did let him hit me to see how strong he was, though.
Still, letting him hit me is letting him hit me.
As I lightly stirred my mana, massive mana, greater than the sphere of light the Apostle of Belobog had used just moments ago, swirled around.
I could see his face turning pale just from the manipulation of mana.
But I had no intention of going easy on him.
I wove the spell I had learned from the Dragon King in my memory.
In an instant, the spell was completed, and an octagonal magic circle appeared in front of me.
"You call yourself a god of light, are you confident in your firepower? Then try blocking this."
Thousand-Hand Pressure
Massive mana spread out, and the spell was activated.
Then, dark clouds quickly formed, the sky darkened, and tuk- raindrops began to fall.
The Apostle of Belobog reached out toward the raindrops falling from the sky without any suspicion.
And the moment the raindrops touched him.
"Gyaaaaaack-!!"
"Stupid. Did you think it was ordinary rain after seeing that spell?"
The Apostle of Belobog plummeted to the ground with a painful scream.
Thousand-Hand Pressure is a spell that makes it rain with massive mana and imparts tremendous weight to every single raindrop falling from the sky.
The weight imparted depends on the mana used by the user when casting the spell, and with my level of mana... I can imbue each of those raindrops with the weight of a mountain.
"Kyaaaaaaa!!"
While watching the Apostle of Belobog falling to the ground, the Apostle of Chernobog popped out of the shadows with a woman's scream.
You can't avoid this spell just because you're a shadow.
And the reason I used this spell wasn't just to catch those two.
The rain, which had begun to pour over the entire battlefield in a wide range, covered not only the two Apostles but also the other soldiers who were still alive.
The soldiers who couldn't withstand the weight of the raindrops were crushed and met their deaths the moment the raindrops touched them.
I observed the battlefield as a whole while maintaining the spell.
If I wait a little longer, both sides will die.
I judged so, but I suppose an Apostle is an Apostle.
The light erupting from the Apostle of Belobog evaporated the raindrops around him, and the darkness emitted by the Apostle of Chernobog swallowed the falling raindrops.
It didn't look like they could save the soldiers of their own formations, but they had at least endured the Thousand-Hand Pressure.
"So you are Apostles after all. In that case, I'll finish you off myself."
I flapped my wings and approached above them.
They were each emitting light and darkness to block the spell, but they were literally just barely managing to block it.
Not like they were flying freely in the sky like a moment ago.
"I'll finish this with Breath."
Once again, the breath containing poison and cold wriggled.