Trials, and (1)
Did I survive?
Yeah, I did.
But that wasn't about me—it was about Hanyujin, the woman I was holding.
"Ugh... uh..."
We got flung through the flying debris from the shockwave, but me? I was already wearing the Celestial Fox Armor, so not a scratch on me.
Unless it was a direct hit from that bone dragon's breath, an artifact like the Celestial Fox Armor wasn't about to get pierced by some random shrapnel.
I got bounced around by the impact too, but even that was shrugged off by the armor's insane shock absorption.
I was fine, but Hanyujin—who'd been tumbling with me—was just groaning, eyes squeezed shut, not waking up anytime soon.
Her breathing was steady, no visible injuries, so probably just knocked out.
"Phew..."
Still, relief washed over me.
Looking around at the collapsed buildings turned into a debris-strewn wasteland, it was hard to even recognize the place anymore.
『Kuhahaha! Still, still, still so beautiful, my other half, my soul's companion, my beloved soul—you remain as radiant as ever!』
And there was the culprit who'd turned this peaceful spot into a warzone.
Or rather, that bastard's voice was still booming, echoing everywhere.
Mad laughter.
That's all it sounded like, ringing in my ears like an endless echo.
『You there— this time, I will make you accept my proposal. Unleash it, my beloved Dragania! Come forth! My cute slaves! Bring me your queen, the utterly lovable sovereign of the light-worshipping undead!』
Kuoooooo—
Mana started gathering at the bone dragon's jaws once more.
And not just that—through the massive gate that had opened above the bone dragon, countless skeletons began pouring out.
A necromancer.
Not just any— one who raised a dragon's corpse to do their bidding, and commanded what had to be tens of thousands of skeletons. Transcendentally powerful.
The sheer scale was beyond imagination; my jaw wouldn't shut.
But then.
『Would you accept the proposal of some coward too scared to even show his face? Rise, heroes! Kings! Protect my subjects!』
A brilliant light flashed with the voice. And on our side, countless forces began rising to their feet.
Theirs had that transcendent necromancer, but ours... the little pharaoh was the ruler of the Narmer Kingdom, backed by thousands of master-level necromancers.
Our numbers were short compared to the bones raining from the sky, but I could see elite, fully armed troops springing up in an instant.
"Aid the Pharaoh—!"
Shouts rang out from somewhere, and flashes of light brought more forces to join the heroes and kings—slightly less impressive in gear, but armed nonetheless.
I'd forgotten: the entire Narmer Kingdom consisted of master-level necromancers...
Even so, our side was outnumbered, but the bone hordes pouring from the sky were getting shredded by arrows of light from below, crumbling to dust.
The problem wasn't those bones, though.
"Warriors, protect the Pharaoh—!"
Karura.
Like the others, she'd raised her forces and was now swinging spear and sword, smashing the skeletons raining down.
Following her lead, winged warriors dove at the skeletons with spears, swords, and arrows, cutting them down.
Some targeted the bone dragon gathering mana, firing massive spear-like arrows just like they had at the death worm—but they all seemed useless.
This is bad.
No, it's definitely bad.
Our forces were holding even against theirs, but no one seemed able to stop that bone dragon's breath.
And there was nothing I could do.
I didn't have wings, and I sure as hell wasn't equipped to join a fight like that—not when I couldn't even handle the skeletons still getting pulverized mid-air.
All I could manage was self-defense, no way to jump into that mess...
"...Fuck."
But I couldn't just sit there, so I pulled Hoah from my pocket and gave the order.
"Hoah, get Hanyujin somewhere safe."
"Hoah?"
Hoah tilted its head like, What about you? I told it to drop her off quick and come back. It nodded reluctantly, scooped her up, and bounded away on those swift steps.
One less insurance policy for me, but I couldn't just watch an acquaintance die.
Anyway, doubting if a guy like me could help, I still charged toward the heat of the battle.
"...Goddamn it."
I spotted dispensers crushed by stray debris, and even Narmer Kingdom folk—master necromancers who were powerhouses—done in by the bone dragon's sudden breath, despite it being "just" bones.
"Fuck, seriously..."
The other dispensers aside, those Narmer dead were all master-level elites.
If even they dropped like flies, what the hell could I do?
And that next breath attack coming up—what then?
Still, I couldn't stop.
But before I even arrived—
The bone dragon's breath finished first.
『Try blocking this too—save your precious ones from death, my beloved!』
With a mad shout, the bone dragon unleashed its breath again.
"No."
Straight toward the fiercest part of the battlefield.
I saw Karura there, wings flapping, swinging her spear.
"No, no, no, no."
Why isn't she dodging?
I wanted to scream that at her, even as she held her ground despite seeing the breath coming.
"No, fuck!"
What the hell is the little pharaoh doing?
Not firing some light bullshit like before?
Not that I had room to talk, being useless as fuck, but still.
And then, as if hearing my wish—
The little pharaoh's voice rang from the sky.
『Ammut! Bite!』
Kwaaaang!
A massive beast leaped from the ground like a flying predator, jaws wide, straight into the bone dragon's breath.
It had grown enormous—had it always been that big?—the monster under the little pharaoh's command swallowed the breath whole, then launched itself to chomp the bone dragon.
Kwaduduk!
Like a dog crunching bones, the giant monster shattered and devoured what was once a dragon, bones and all.
『Impressive, fallen divine beast...! To shatter and swallow my beloved Dragania in one bite... Still so tempting! I'll strip your flesh to replace my lovely Dragania! Explode! Dragania!』
I thought that was it, but with that shout, the bone dragon—half-destroyed, head-first in Ammut's jaws—grabbed it with its bony hands.
And then.
It exploded.
Pukwaaaaaang—!
A massive blast, and the half-blown beast plummeted.
Fragments of the exploded bone dragon rained everywhere.
"Aaaah—!"
Pukpukpuk—Narmer Kingdom soldiers collapsing under the bone shards.
But the winged ones like Karura, handling the aerial skeletons, took the worst hit.
"Fuck, goddamn...!"
Good thing I wasn't just standing there gawking.
Thinking that, I gathered all my strength into my legs.
Werewolf traits pushed to the limit.
I focused my enhanced physicals solely into my legs and leaped.
Kwajik!
Several meters in one bound, but still short.
Kwajik, kwajik, kwajijik!
Rubble, bone shards—didn't matter, I stomped it all to launch higher.
And I caught Karura, her wings torn, plummeting from a bone fragment.
"Hup...!"
"Wh-why are you—"
Even wrapped head-to-toe in Celestial Fox Armor—eyes the only giveaway—she recognized me.
But was that important now?
"Don't know, fuck. You asking that right now?"
Fuck, great that I made it up here, but no wings meant we were going down.
I had no idea how I'd jumped dozens of meters, but without flight, crash it was.
"Goddamn, won't die from that, but..."
Problem was, through the chaos-created gaps, bones were raining with us. By the time I hit ground, I'd be cozying up with them.
"Fuck it, whatever. Karura, hold on tight."
She nodded, clung hard. I held her one-armed and dropped.
Kwajijik!
"Fuuuuck...!"
Zing—my legs were numb as hell.
Like landing a skyscraper drop on both feet, yet just tingling? Not bad.
"Tak, tak, tattak...!"
Bones landing near me, legs shattered but reforming fast, crawling my way.
"What bullshit, you fucking bone bastards."
Charruk, chik!
Artifacts wrapped my arms.
With the Dragon Claw, psssh—Wearhoneybee stingers popped out over it.
"Die again, you shits!"
Tung, tungtungtung, tung!
"Ta, tak...!"
Pupupupung...!
Five stingers from one hand fired near-simultaneously; the bone hit them and powdered.
"...Strong as fuck, really."
Not just shredding bones—it cratered deep into the ground. Yustitia was right about focusing on power.
Like carrying five mini-cannons per hand.
From the damage, one well-placed shot per bone would do it, no need for all five.
But that wasn't the priority.
"You okay? Karura."
"I... I'm fine. More importantly, the Pharaoh..."
Her wing half-torn, yet worrying about the pharaoh—something welled up, but now wasn't the time to chew her out.
Skeletons rising everywhere, following the fallen bones.
"Suck in."
Clank.
Replenished the five stingers in my right Dragon Claw, already fired once.
Honeybee Punch normally cost one ejaculation's worth of stamina per shot, but with Dragon Claw, five times the output.
Fivefold efficiency, but against endless skeletons? Even full stamina today—no sex yet—I'd cap at 400-500 shots.
That's assuming only Honeybee Punches.
Celestial Fox Armor and Dragon Claw used ki; werewolf enhancements burned stamina too.
All in, maybe 1,200 Wearhoneybee stingers max.
One per nearby skeleton? Not even close.
So.
"Tak tak tak tak...!!"
To break through, I charged the skeletons blocking my path as they rose.
And swung my fist.
"Just a plain punch, you fucking skull-headed bastards!"