The Dragon of Extremes, Raizaka

Siege Warfare is a game mode with a remarkable degree of freedom.

Unlike a balanced one-on-one duel or a multi-team brawl, there are no fixed rules or set patterns to follow.

It's a special format unique to DeoEn, a world built around the concept of an 'open world'.

There is no rigid schedule dictating which monsters spawn at which minute, or when specific events trigger, the way other AOS games operate.

The only fixed pattern is the spawn timer for the resource towers.

Everything else simply exists on the map from the moment the game begins.

And the game's operator declares:

'Whatever you choose, break the Core and you win.'

Hunt monsters, harvest resources to stack buffs, or grind away every other team's lives — it makes no difference.

Destroy the Core by any means necessary, and victory is yours. That is the one rule of the Siege.

"A dragon of chaos, huh."

And I was heading straight for the ultimate boss of this entire mode, right from the opening bell.

"Kieeeeee!!!"

I had come to slay a dragon.

Cross the vast forest, walk across the gray stone flats, and you come upon an enormous nest made of bone. Within it, a murky indigo dragon slumbered in silence.

As I drew closer, a name materialized above the dragon's head.

Dragon of Extremes, Raizaka.

Not a dragon I recognized. I'd never even heard the term 'Dragon of Extremes,' and Raizaka was an extremely common name among dragons. Naturally, I'd never seen one with this appearance among all the dragons who shared that name.

A faint tremor ran through the ground.

"......!"

But I knew this dragon's lineage very well.

"Grrrrr..."

The traitors — dragons who had abandoned their 'Nobility' to swallow 'Greed'. The betrayers who had cast down the Dragon Lord of their age and unleashed 'Chaos' upon the age of dragons. A race ultimately wiped out as experimental subjects of the demon tribes.

'So bloodlines of Chaos still survived after all.'

"Kieeeeee!!!"

Raizaka used a skill the instant I got near.

The dizzying gray-and-indigo dragon scales flashed, and from its torn maw a torrent of breath came pouring out. Everything the breath touched was wiped away without a trace — 'Lost' — and at the edge of its wake, an explosion far larger than I'd expected thundered across the plain.

"If I don't kill it fast, they're going to catch on."

I twisted my spear. Mana flooded into the writhing shaft, and the roar of it shot forward like an arrow, tearing through the dragon's scales.

'Spear's Roar.'

Answer breath with breath.

Kragagaga—! A screech of pain.

But the beast was simply too massive — no matter how deeply I gouged its scales, the damage was negligible. If anything, I'd only earned its wrath; those two crimson lizard eyes narrowed with killing intent.

Vmmm...

Something enormous began to descend around Raizaka. A crystallization of formless 'force'.

KRAKOOOM!!!

The entire region around the dragon caved inward. Everything nearby — unable to withstand the dragon's pressure — was kneaded like dough and fused into the sunken ground. It was violence in its most overwhelming form, pure and simple.

The camera feed of Lily filled with nothing but debris and violent shaking.

And in the very instant everyone watching was certain she had died, the feed steadied — and there stood someone, her silhouette perfectly intact.

"Phew..."

Lily had drawn out her crimson hammer at some point and blocked the attack with it like a shield. Her strength had been so utterly overwhelmed that she was down on one knee, holding the hammer in place with trembling arms.

She muttered in a voice worn thin with fatigue.

"...That's a fairly high-tier entity, alright."

Rattle-rattle... A dangerous sound crackled from the crimson hammer she held aloft. If a hammer forged from Karabus's shell — famous for its hardness — had taken this much damage...

'I can't block a second one.'

There was no doubt about it: the Dragon of Extremes, Raizaka, was strong. Its sheer size was one thing, but the power and techniques it wielded were among the very best even among dragons of chaos. It didn't hold the title of final siege boss for nothing.

"Hnngh..."

I swung the hammer in a full circle. The low whummm of it drifted through the silent air.

Having failed with 'Ruin,' Raizaka spread its wings, as if preparing something even greater. And it was enormous — with its wings fully extended, it could rival the castle of the Siege itself.

Once around the hammer went. Then twice, then three times more. Behind my back, a shape like a ring of crimson light unfurled. Far less mana than usual aided the rotation, and even that wasn't enough — so I borrowed the wind of the spirits as well.

Raizaka's roar swept across the land. At ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the same moment, I surrendered my body to the hammer's spinning momentum and shot upward, slipping past the indigo breath by the barest of margins.

Aloft, I scanned my surroundings — the colossal dragon before me, the distant forest beyond. In that forest I could see Devil and Vlack taking down small green orcs, along with users from the other teams and flying monsters crossing over the treetops.

I cut the sightseeing short and wheeled the hammer around in my grip.

Krrk.PAAANG!

I cannot use Divinity. I cannot use the wings of the divine. I cannot use divine magic.

Right now, I am weak.

But if only I had enough resources...

'Nice timing.'

Behind my back, wings of pale blue — woven from the spirits' wind and mana — spread wide. A false pair of wings, imitating the Wings of Light.

But wings are not merely for flight.

'Wings are a medium that amplifies power.'

The hammer, amplified upon amplified, came crashing down onto Raizaka's skull.

CRACKLE-BOOM!

Even after all that amplification, its head was stubbornly, obscenely hard. But hard does not mean unbreakable.

BOOM!

Just as the mighty Praetura who never lost was finally, inevitably defeated —

BOOM!!

The moment an opponent is allowed to land their strike, a foe's fate is sealed.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KWAAAAAAAAANG─!!!

'I won.'

The dragon's head burst apart.

Drained of all strength, I plummeted to the earth along with the wreckage, a hollow laugh escaping my lips. How long had it been since I'd fought this fiercely?

"...That was genuinely brutal."

I'm dead tired, seriously.

"...? Hold on. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠What did you just kill?"

Vlack, hard at work slaughtering green orcs near the castle, looked up at a message that should never have appeared.

Kill a what?

Vlack's stream chat had descended into total chaos.

Relaying another streamer's broadcast was normally strictly forbidden, but so many viewers had flooded into Vlack's own stream that relaying had been permitted — limited, at least, to teammates only.

He had known Lily was heading for the Dragon of Extremes for a while now. It was, after all, impossible to miss — every teammate's position was visible on the map, and they could share chat and voice freely.

Frankly, he'd told her to do whatever she liked, and had planned to have a word with her after the match about playing around so recklessly, but...

"We have a problem."

He had never imagined — not even in his wildest dreams — that she would actually kill it.