Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Chapter 14 - Asain Canyon #4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Slash!
The moment its guts were ripped open, blue fluid burst out like an explosion.
Luther reflexively leaned back to dodge the blast and asked Integra,
"Any fragments?!"
[All clear.]
[The air inside the mutated intestines collided with the outside air due to the fragments, causing the explosion.]
[More importantly, Master, we need to hurry!]
This wasn't the time to leisurely narrate like some commentator.
Even now, lesser dragons and monsters were stealthily closing in on them.
"The Queen!?"
"Is the Queen okay!?"
Fairies flew up to the guts, their voices trembling.
Luther swung his arm wide once more, blowing away the air around the intestines, then examined the fragments.
It hadn't been long since he'd swallowed them, but the fragments were stuck fast to the stomach wall like they'd been welded.
[Giant Lycan's vital signs are recovering, bit by bit.]
[We need to expedite fragment recovery.]
Luther thought the same.
Not only were the Giant Lycan's intestines twitching, but its arms and legs were spasming too—it looked like it might actually stand up any second.
"Integra, how long for recovery?"
[If it's just separating them from the stomach, your strength alone should suffice, Master.]
[The problem is escaping while evading pursuit from the lesser dragons and monsters.]
From past experience, absorbing the fragments alone would take considerable time.
Like the Giant Lycan had tried, putting distance between them and the lesser dragons came first.
"Let's pull it out for now."
To halt the Giant Lycan's mutation, they had to recover the fragment no matter what.
Fortunately, as Integra said, gripping it with both hands and applying force detached it without much trouble.
A cylindrical object about a meter tall, similar to the first fragment.
But it felt nearly twice as heavy.
The problem arose the instant Luther yanked it free.
"Grraaah!"
The lesser dragons that had been watching suddenly roared in unison.
The monsters joined in, and the entire Asain Canyon echoed with their roars.
"Urk?!"
"Ugh!"
The deafening noise made Karen and Max clutch their ears and collapse.
The fairies screamed, plummeting to the ground or staggering.
Thanks to his visor’s noise cancellation, Luther alone was unscathed—and he instinctively knew what this roar meant.
There was no time left now.
"Karen! Max! Run to Venus City!"
Even amid the agony of blocked ears from the lesser dragons' and monsters' roars, Karen read Luther's intent from his expression and the mood.
Run away.
The lesser dragons and monsters are after the fragment.
They won't chase you without it.
It was a perfectly rational decision.
Karen and Max weren't needed to transport the fragment.
No need for them to share unnecessary risk.
Physically speaking, they'd only slow Luther down.
But even so—
Karen bit her lip without thinking.
It was urgent, but she couldn't help hesitating.
Even if she couldn't help, leaving Luther behind alone—
"Karen."
It was Max.
He grabbed her arm and pulled.
He understood what Luther meant.
He knew Karen's inner thoughts too.
That's why he pulled her arm.
"We'll wait for you in Venus City!"
Luther nodded at Max's shout.
Karen bit her lip again, looked at Luther, and he nodded once more.
At that moment, the ground began to rumble.
The lesser dragons and monsters, roaring at each other, started moving.
Karen and Max broke into a run.
Luther shouted at the fairies to snap out of it, then clutched the fragment tight.
But Integra stopped him right then.
[You run too, Master.]
"What?"
[Using a drone to fly the fragment into the sky offers higher escape odds than you carrying it yourself.]
[I'm with you, not the drone.]
That last part sealed it.
Integra wasn't the drone.
She dwelled in Luther's body itself, not the drone.
"You sure it'll work?"
[If we hurry.]
Integra spoke softly, then detached the drone from Luther's right arm.
But that very instant—
"Kreee!"
The roar came not from the side, but from overhead.
Luther looked up reflexively and saw a massive monster bird diving like a hawk snatching prey.
"Kyaa!"
As the fairies screamed, Luther thrust up his left arm.
[Last missile!]
He'd had three to begin with.
The small missile, loaded with five overlapping frost scrolls, exploded against the monster bird's wing.
Its frozen wing threw off its balance just before it struck Luther, slamming headfirst into the ground.
[Master! More incoming!]
[Drone escape won't work!]
"Kree! Kree!"
Two more massive birds, same species as the first, circled overhead.
Having seen the first one fall, they didn't dive right away—but now, sending the drone off would just be handing over the fragment.
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
The ground shook again.
The lesser dragons and monsters, who had paused at the sight of the tumbling monster bird, resumed their charge.
No time.
Running with the fragment was the only option now.
"Graaah!"
A giant Cateradon leaped high.
Luther turned without looking, and some fairies clung to him like burrs.
The Cateradon opened its maw.
Luther kicked off the ground.
A massive sword pierced the Cateradon's throat.
-Kaboom!
The Cateradon exploded.
No—its body shattered completely, unable to withstand the impact.
A red, enormous blade.
It had flown in from afar, piercing the Cateradon like a flash of light, then embedded deep in the earth.
And that was just the beginning.
-Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three more swords sliced through the air.
The shockwaves rattled the atmosphere, and as the four swords stabbed into the ground, the earth began to quake.
[Not mere impact!]
[Earthquake! A real earthquake!]
Integra's alarm was spot on.
Four swords from the sky had artificially triggered a quake.
‘Earthquake!’
Magic.
The four magic swords had undoubtedly cast powerful magic.
But how.
Who?
[Master! Massive life sign approaching!]
[Incredible speed!]
-Boom!
No illusion.
A sonic boom from the sky didn't just shake the air—it quaked the ground.
Even the lesser dragons and monsters, collapsed or confused by the earthquake, looked up in shock at the noise.
A crimson-red giant loomed there.
More precisely, scarlet.
Brighter and sharper than blood, it landed on the ground again with a thunderous boom.
Massive steel armor.
Nearly three meters tall, with broad shoulders bearing a split white cape that caught the eye.
Not a giant.
An artifact piloted by someone.
A person inside, clearly.
But who?
Unfamiliar design.
He'd never even seen an artifact like that in Dragon Hunter Origin.
Definitely not from the game.
But why.
Luther felt he knew.
The moment he saw its back, one name came to mind.
[Arma Valentine?]
Anne Rose's master.
One of the world's top ten superhumans, the Weapon Master.
Integra voiced it first.
As if hearing her, the scarlet armor rose and spoke.
"You're Luther?"
A clear, feminine voice, mismatched with the crude armor.
Undoubtedly an adult woman's.
"I'm Arma Valentine. Surely you've heard of me?"
A seductive tone laced with playful maturity.
Stunned by the unexpected voice, Luther froze as Integra shouted,
[Another woman?!]
[Master! Is this some 19+ erotic game?!]
[Why are all these women showing up!]
Karen, then Lilia!
Lilia, then Aru!
Aru, then Anne Rose!
And now another woman?
Arma Valentine was a woman?!
"N-No! It's 19+, but not an eroge!"
[Then a visual novel?]
"No! And where are you even learning this stuff?!"
Luther yelled desperately without thinking, panting as he faced forward again.
Arma Valentine was looking his way.
"19+? Visual novel? What's that about?"
"Uh, never mind. Yeah, I'm Luther!"
In the lore, Arma Valentine was over fifty.
Luther used polite speech, and Arma hummed thoughtfully before turning back.
"I'll buy you time. Deal with that fragment."
As Arma finished, the four magic swords embedded in the ground shot upward together.
The lesser dragons and monsters rolling on the quake-ravaged floor flinched and trembled.
They instinctively sensed the power gap.
[Master, interrogation later.]
[Absorb the fragment first.]
What interrogation?
And why was Luther the one to be interrogated?
He'd just learned Arma was a woman today too.
‘No, the point is, there's no reason to interrogate me just because she's a woman, right?’
Anyway, as Integra said, fragment recovery took priority, so Luther clutched it, dropped to the ground, and focused his mind.
[Initiating fragment recovery.]
[Heavy data damage.]
[Data partially corrupted.]
[Brace for impact.]
[Data contact beginning!]
Luther closed his eyes.
Vast information flooded his mind, just like with the first fragment.
Star Savior.
Space.
Battleships.
Augmented humans.
Nanomachines.
Eight ultimate weapons.
Images flashed like flashbacks.
What were these?
Scenes from the game?
Or remnants from 'Luther Lightseeker’s' memories.
His vision went white.
The chaotic noises faded into silence.
Luther closed his eyes within his consciousness.
When he opened them again, he saw her.
A woman with long white hair walked away, back turned.
Naked as the day she was born, she stopped suddenly.
As if sensing his gaze, she turned.
Her hair fluttered.
Golden eyes gleamed softly like moonlight amid her pale, smooth face.
She looked at Luther.
Her lips parted, whispering faintly.
[Master!]
"Huh?!"
Luther gasped, eyes snapping open.
Not a mere blink.
Reality.
The fragment, shrunken and blue light dimmed.
The dawn sky brightening.
Fairies chattering.
Karen and Max's breathing.
Integra's gentle whisper.
[Master?]
[Are you alright?]
[Can you hear me?]
Luther nodded slowly to her worried questions.
Apparently, data overload had hit during absorption.
"I'm fine. Uh, yeah. What happened?"
Integra sighed in relief.
[Thank goodness you're safe.]
[Fragment absorption complete.]
[Nanomachine rearrangement and new function unlocks will take over 35 hours, but the lesser dragons and monsters won't get excited over the fragment anymore.]
[For your info, the Fairy Queen is freed too.]
At Integra's words, Luther whipped toward the fairies' voices.
A Fairy Queen, far larger and more ornate-winged than the rest, lay asleep on the ground, fairies gathered around her, chattering.
"Lord Luther, you okay now?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
Luther nodded to Karen, blinked hard, then stood.
He'd remembered the most important person in this situation.
[She's coming now.]
Arma Valentine.
Standing up, Luther swallowed dryly without thinking.
Just from the scene around him—while absorbing the fragment—things had changed drastically.
The basin littered with lesser dragon and monster corpses.
And amid them, the scarlet armor standing tall.
"You're awake, I see."
Not just finished.
Long done.
Arma approached Luther straight on.
Even knowing she was friendly, her overwhelming power tensed him up instinctively.
Karen and Max were the same.
Even the fairies fell silent, staring at Arma.
"First things first, we should face-to-face for talk, right?"
She stopped before Luther, chuckling lightly, and the four magic swords plunged into the ground.
Then the scarlet giant armor.
Its three-meter chest plate opened, revealing a woman with pink hair.