Behemoth Subjugation Battle (2)

"...Ayase?"

At the sound of her name, she let out a breath of relief, her shoulders sagging.

"Phew, thank goodness. Nothing looks seriously injured."

"Thanks to you."

That had been dangerously close. If she hadn't stirred the wind with her folding fan, I would have taken a dragon's breath head-on at point-blank range.

Either way, she'd saved me from dying without so much as a speck of dust left behind.

"You have no idea how startled I was. The Hunter Bureau people barging in out of nowhere, the underground collapsing... Thankfully, everyone made it out in one piece."

So they'd all managed to escape before it was too late. Probably thanks to her again.

"Kraaah-!"

Behemoth, which had been buffeted about by the wind for a long moment, beat its wings to push back the gusts and steadied itself. Its horns had grown even more mature than before, its hide hardened into something more stubborn.

Ayase's eyes sharpened slightly as she regarded the beast.

"I heard the story. To think they tried to dominate a creature like that... That guild really was twisted."

"Certainly not in their right mind."

Even Yoo Ji-an, that genius summoner, couldn't tame a boss-class entity. Those things weren't born to be dominated — they were born to dominate. That was the whole reason the word 'boss' was attached to them in the first place.

"I can't just stand by and watch something like that roam free."

She released her folding fan. The great fan dissolved into motes of scattered light.

"I will subjugate it."

"...Is that even possible?"

The question slipped out before I could stop myself. Rich, coming from the guy who'd just tried to take that thing on alone — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but still.

'I know exactly what state Ayase's body is in.'

Her body was collapsing in real time. It wouldn't have been strange for her to cough up blood and drop at any moment.

And above all, one thing gnawed at me.

'Ayase was never fated to fight Behemoth.'

The more she used her skills, the greater the toll on her body. Facing Behemoth, she would spend them without restraint.

'Which means—'

Ayase would inevitably die sooner than she had before my regression. Something set in motion by me was devouring her lifespan.

"......"

I had nothing to say. The fact that Ayase was living on borrowed time hadn't been revealed yet, so I couldn't pile anything else on top of it.

I pressed my lips shut and waited for the choice she would make.

"...Pffah!"

It was then that Ayase abruptly burst out laughing.

"It's not a question of whether it's possible — it's that we have to make it possible. This happened on Japanese soil, so shouldn't a Japanese hunter handle it?"

"......"

"Besides, taking down a dragon that enormous will have the whole world watching! It's the golden opportunity to cement my fame for good. I couldn't possibly pass that up."

The moment I heard her answer, my heart loosened despite itself. That look on her face, saying it all so innocently, as if nothing in the world were wrong.

"Just... don't push yourself too hard. If it gets rough, you pull out immediately."

At that, Ayase's eyebrows twitched.

"...Hearing that is kind of weird, no? This is me we're talking about — Japan's number one hunter! I did just save you back there, didn't I?"

"Yes, yes. Thank you very much."

"Oh, you can skip the thanks."

She gathered her mana and opened her mouth.

"Instead, as payment for saving you earlier, I have a request."

"A request, you say?"

"Yes. Once we've safely subjugated that dragon..."

In an instant, a magnificent curtain of vast mana unfurled around us.

"...come join my guild."

Then a sound like song spilled from her lips.

"...!"

It was a sight I could scarcely believe. No fewer than three identical voices rang out in unison, reciting a prayer.

As the curtain of mana receded, three pieces of equipment were summoned onto the ground.

An armor and shield wreathed in sacred radiance, and a mighty hammer. Clad in all of them at once, Ayase looked like a warrior straight out of myth.

"Attacks through the hide won't land, so we'll need to focus on the areas I strike."

"Understood."

Thankfully, its growth hadn't extended to regenerating its wounds.

'Because there's almost no way left to break through that idiotic defense of theirs.'

We had to subjugate that damned lizard before it grew any further.

"Krak!"

Having recovered its senses, Behemoth bared its sharp fangs at us. Violet dragonic mana was smoldering together around it — and this time, rather than at its jaws, multiple magic circles formed in the air, all aimed our way.

'It's aware its targets have doubled.'

Built upon its physical growth, it was now wielding far more complex techniques. Not a 'Dragon Breath' that merely condensed and fired its dragonic mana, but a skill unleashing a barrage of mana shells.

Dozens of violet mana shells came surging at once. Each individual shot was naturally weaker than the breath itself.

'But a single hit would put us out of the fight.'

It was still magic woven from dragonic mana. There was nothing good about taking one.

Crzzzzt!

I heightened my senses and coiled power into my legs. I'd failed to stack all three spears of 'Hell Three Spears', but my 'Demonification' wasn't over yet.

KWA-BOOOOM!

The mana shells erased the ground as they came howling in. My razor-honed senses picked out the safe zones.

"Hup!"

Astonishingly, Ayase blocked some shells with her shield and batted others out of the air with her hammer. Could even the craftsmanship of gods withstand dragonic mana?

'Just like in the Paradise of Ashes.'

Was dodging simply not my strong suit?

...BANG!

When the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠last shell shattered against her hammer, the attack finally ceased. No matter how much it had grown, expending that much dragonic mana forced a recharge interval.

"Now!"

"Got it!"

I signaled to Ayase, and she immediately leapt into the air.

"KAAAAGH!"

Behemoth also threw its jaws wide and lunged. Unable to use its dragonic mana for now, it had apparently decided it had no choice but to fight directly.

Its razor claws and fangs were a hair's breadth from touching her—

"Hngh!"

Ayase gripped her hammer low and drove it up into Behemoth's chin.

"Krrak...!"

Its head snapped violently backward, baring its torso wide open. The deep red wound carved by my spearhead.

"Yamamoto!"

A perfect opening. I flooded the hand gripping my lance with strength and fired my knees like pistons.

The second spear, unleashing the momentum of the leap as its fuel.

As I drove the lance in, the hide over its torso shattered completely and blood came gushing out.

"KRYAAAAAAH!"

A shriek loud enough to burst my eardrums. Its eyes rolled downward, then it whipped its massive tail at me like a flail.

But before it could reach me, Ayase's shield and hammer interposed.

"Don't worry about defense — focus everything on the attack!"

"...Yes!"

It went against every fiber of my nature.

But this once, I chose to trust her. I abandoned defense entirely and poured everything into offense.

Grrrnnk!

I drew the lance back as far as it would go, gathering the Demon Spear's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aura.

'I have to end this. Now.'

Every wasted second was another day shaved off Ayase's life. My own body, worn down by the accumulated fatigue of battle, was beginning to groan at the seams.

'No matter what.'

I bit my lip and poured the Demon Spear's authority into the blade. Black energy interwove with crimson currents until a dark-red spear was complete.

With this — resolved to pierce straight through that thing's body.

"DIIIIIIIE!"

I drove in the third spear.

The third spear savaged its way through the torso, tearing it apart. Muscle ripped; flesh and organs scattered.

"KRYAAAAAAH! AAAAAGH—!"

The most horrendous scream I had heard yet. The dragonic mana stored within its body erupted in wild, chaotic bursts.

KUGUUNG!

The torrent of that disordered power crashed over us both.

"Ugh...! Khh!"

Blood burst from every opening in my body. It felt like a bomb had detonated inside my gut.

"Agh... aaahk! Kehk!"

Ayase vomited blood as well, but immediately turned her eyes toward me.

"I'm... fine, so..."

Finish it. Now.

Even without her saying it, I could hear the rest.

'I've split its torso open.'

The shield that had been protecting the creature was broken now. All that remained was to carve away the fragile things hiding inside it.

The lance vanished from my hand, and the Demon Duke's power that had coiled around my body faded away. My drained limbs began a listless plummet toward the earth.

All that remained now was a single spear.

Shff!

I twisted my grip on the 'Spear of the Seeker'.

"Flame Soul...!"

I loaded the lance with, all at once, enough Karma Flame to hurl four javelins.

And on top of that—

I wrung out the very last drop of strength and manifested one more authority.

A storm wreathed itself around the burning lance. I stilled my trembling arms and fixed my gaze forward.

My target: its heart.

'The Dragon Heart.'

The surefire way to kill a dragon. You shatter the dragon heart.

I tilted my grip along the shaft and took my stance. Not easy, mid-fall as I was.

'But javelins are something I've thrown until I'm sick of them!'

The final spear, the one that would finish that creature—

launched from my hand that very instant.

The flames seared through Behemoth's interior, the storm ground its flesh to shreds, and the spear tore straight on toward its heart.

KWA-BOOM! FWOOSH!

Already mortally wounded, Behemoth had no strength left to stop my throw.

"Kra...!"

A short, clipped cry escaped the beast.

And almost in the same instant—

THUNK!

The spear struck its heart.

"Ughh..."

It hurt. It hurt like absolute hell.

'I haven't been this battered and exhausted since I gained [Natural Regeneration].'

No — this was the worst drained feeling I'd had since my regression, period. Even the aftermath of fighting the Knight of Heavenly Ruin had felt better than this.

The smell of blood thickened in my mouth.

'Still...'

I forced my upper body upright and scanned my surroundings. There in my field of view lay Behemoth's corpse, its massive body sprawled limp and lifeless.

"...We won."

We had truly done it. We'd subjugated that Behemoth.

Even if I hadn't managed it alone.

"Khh...! KHAHAHA!"

I had brought Behemoth down out of that sky.

The vanguard of the Iron Blood Legion. The dragon of ruin that had erased a continent from the map. The wings that had refused to break, right up to the end of my past life, were finally broken.

'In this life—'

the Iron Blood Legion has no Behemoth.

Just thinking it made laughter keep bubbling up out of me.

'Victory celebrations can wait.'

First things first — I needed to deal with the situation. Mustering what strength I had left, I turned my gaze toward where Ayase lay.

"Aagh..."

Her face was deathly pale, and the divine artifacts she'd so grandly summoned had all vanished — but thankfully, I saw no critical injuries.

"Ayase!"

Her help had been enormous in this subjugation. The moment I moved to go thank her properly—

Hm.

Someone's voice rippled through my mind like a stone cast across still water.

At first I thought it might be Seong Ju-ah.

I knew the owner of this voice.

The Cardinal of the Advent Church.

'Elpiros!'

So it was you — the one running the Japan branch?

At that very moment—

Behemoth's corpse twitched.

More precisely, the crown clenched down hard around the dragon's skull, forcing its power into the dead flesh to its very limit.

Crrrck! KRUNCH!

Under the crown's power, the dragon's corpse began to warp and transform.

The final battle was still waiting for us.