Dragon Blood
Richmond found something endlessly amusing. A thoroughly delighted smile spread across his face.
"Keh-keh-keh. You worm. If that bitch meant so much to you, you should've protected her better."
"You're right. I realized it far too late."
I looked down at Enri cradled in my arms. She was unconscious and gave no real reaction, yet my heightened senses caught the faint, gradual slowing of her heartbeat.
The bastard tossed a playful blue flame from hand to hand, sneering as he spoke.
"See? That's exactly why trash like you never amount to anything. Everything about you is so damn slow it pisses people off."
"Yeah. This is mostly my fault."
"Y-Young Master, you mustn't say such things—!"
Elizabeth flared up as if she would never accept that. But it was unmistakably my fault. I had been careless. Stupid. She never appeared in the original story, so I had left her alone under the lazy excuse that dealing with her would be a hassle. The result of that choice was the disaster unfolding right now.
"…I should have cleaned up garbage like you ahead of time so you couldn't crawl around near me."
The original story had been irreversible the moment an impurity like me entered it. I should have been far more decisive about cutting down anyone who showed clear hostility.
"Hah?"
His laughter froze. Rage flooded his face, and the blue flames around him roared higher. The instant his emotions slipped, I pulled a white orb and a ring from my inventory. The white orb left my hand the moment it appeared, flying straight at Richmond.
A baseball-sized white sphere whistled through the air. Insulted that my "provocation" amounted to nothing more than throwing an object, he swung his sword in fury to cut it down—exactly what I had wanted. Perhaps it was the natural reaction of someone whose Phoenix bloodline rendered bombs and fire useless.
"You worm! How dare you throw a toy like—!!"
BOOM!!
"—W-What?! Cough, cough."
The orb touched the flaming blade and burst. Steam erupted, instantly becoming a dense fog that swallowed the surroundings. In a heartbeat the entire area turned hazy, cutting off all sight. I seized the opening and pressed the ring item and a map into Elizabeth's hands.
"Elizabeth. Take these."
"This is…?"
"A recovery item I received from the Principal."
Trisha's Grace. A gift from Principal Erse Bathory, given with the request that I please stop causing incidents. I never expected to need it this soon, but under the present circumstances it was our best hope.
Grade: Unique
A ring crafted by the Water Spirit Trisha as repayment to a human. When used once every 168 hours in a place where water is present, it fully heals all wounds.
"If you use it near water, every wound will be healed."
"Th-Then—?!"
Hope kindled in the despairing faces of Elizabeth and Angela. One more necessity remained, however.
"Find water."
That was the item's restriction. The description mentioning a water spirit made the limitation clear.
"A puddle, a river, a lake—anything. You have to find water."
We had not noticed any such places while moving, but the blue marks on the map suggested that even inside this subspace such locations existed.
"Young Master… you aren't coming with us?"
Elizabeth sensed something off in my tone and asked in alarm. I nodded. For some time now, surrendering had been impossible. Jack Richmond had done something that locked us inside the subspace. He would never simply let us leave, which meant someone had to stay behind and hold them off. That role belonged to me—not to the buffer and debuffer.
"B-But—!"
"Enough. We don't have time to argue. Go. I'll handle this place."
Of the two who hesitated, Angela moved first. She hoisted the fallen Enri onto her back and met my eyes.
"Young Master, no matter what happens, we will keep Enri alive. So please… take care of yourself as well."
"I will. I'm counting on you."
"Lady Elizabeth, this is time the Young Master has bought for us. Do not waste it."
Angela's calm words steadied Elizabeth; strength returned to her eyes.
"Young Master, once we have treated Enri we will return as quickly as we can."
With that, Elizabeth and Angela turned and sprinted out through the fog. The moment they vanished into the mist in search of healing for Enri, a tremendous surge of mana erupted from Richmond's direction. The fog created by the smoke orb was swept away by the gale and scattered completely.
"…You worm bastard. You dare play a cheap trick like that on me?!"
In the suddenly clear landscape, Richmond stood wreathed in blue flame, glaring at me with pure rage. Then he noticed the emptiness around me.
"You worm sent the women running first? Pointless. No one leaves this place without my permission."
His words confirmed my suspicion.
"So it was you who blocked surrender."
"I don't care what schemes you've been running around with, but there are plenty of people who want you miserable. When a worm forgets its place and starts thrashing about, enemies appear."
"Enemies?"
Light of Dawn? Aside from them, no one else immediately came to mind. He snorted as if he had no intention of elaborating, then called to the man among his waiting teammates who radiated the densest mana.
"Hey, Isis. Take the kids and bring those women back. If they resist, kill everyone except Liz—no, Lady Spencer."
"Understood."
The man called Isis and the rest of the team simply walked past me, intending to pursue the girls. I had no intention of sitting quietly and allowing it.
"I shall become the dragon that swallows the world."
Dragon Blood
Crimson mana, answering my emotions, rampaged through my body.
"Who said you could leave?"
I raised my scale-covered right hand and hurled the spear I held straight at them. The weapon, saturated with red mana, flew far faster than the smoke orb earlier and buried itself dead-center among the group racing after the girls.
A heavy thunk as it struck the earth—then a deafening roar.
KRA-KOOM!!!
"Aaaagh!!"
"Guhk!!"
The spear, packed with condensed dragon mana, detonated the instant it hit the ground. The blast shredded everything caught in it without leaving a trace. Richmond merely clicked his tongue and melted the shockwave racing toward him with a burst of flame.
"Tch. Worthless worms. Can't even run a simple errand."
He eyed the scorched aftermath with open disgust, then locked gazes with me.
"Worm. What the hell is that look? Your ancestors supposedly slew a dragon—did you catch some dragon's curse?"
He stared at my horns and right arm as if the sight were a bad joke, then recited the activation phrase etched into his bloodline.
"Hmph. Doesn't matter. I cloak myself in azure flame and rule the firmament."
Phoenix
Blue fire ignited, and an enormous mass of flame erupted. The temperature spiked so sharply that the surrounding trees burst into flame. A wildfire. In moments the woods were engulfed in red fire, belching acrid smoke high into the sky.
"My blue flames melt even dragon scales."
The blaze at his feet cast a long, colossal shadow in the shape of a phoenix.
Yeah… I'll pray you're right.
Beatrix spoke with absolute confidence, yet the ground where the flames touched was melting into something like lava. His boast was not entirely empty.
I steeled myself and drew my strongest weapon in place of the spear I had thrown—Gungnir.
Vmmm—! Vmmm—!
The golden spear in my grip vibrated violently, as if impatient for battle.
Damn spear…
I hate fighting. I hate hurting people even more.
"…Richmond. Your appearance ends here."
But hating a fight does not mean I avoid a necessary one. Likewise, when it comes to killing someone who deserves to die, I never hesitate. At the very least, the Taylor Winchester I am now is that kind of man.
"A worm with nothing but a big mouth!"
Enormous wings of flame unfurled from Richmond's back; his entire body was swallowed by blue fire.
"Primordial flame, devour the enemy and blaze."
Flame Tempest
A whirlwind of blue fire surged toward me. I answered by circulating crimson mana and activating my own skill.
"The dragon's roar shakes the heavens."
Dragon Roar
KRAAAAAA!!!
Crimson mana and blue flame collided, erupting in a colossal explosion. A blinding flash swallowed everything around us.