Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 058
Chapter Title: Returning Influence
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The guards on the ground and the prisoners reacted the same way.
"Is that a dragon? No, a real dragon?"
"That thing just got shot down, right?"
"Holy shit, I can't believe it even seeing it with my own eyes."
"How the hell did they take down a dragon..."
They couldn't hide their confusion amid the surreal sensation of witnessing a battle straight out of legend.
And the command center was no different.
"U-unknown dragon... No movement!!"
"?!"
That single line from the monitoring officer plunged everyone in the command center into a vortex of shock.
"N-no way..."
"Did they really kill a dragon?"
"For real?"
"And... from what I saw, it wasn't even close—the Butcher was overwhelming the dragon. Am I the only one?"
"I saw it that way too."
"Same here, even if I can't believe it."
"That's not all?"
One female officer swallowed dryly and continued.
"At the end, that dragon even tried to flee."
As if...
"...it was afraid of the Butcher."
"......"
"......"
A reverent silence swept through them at those words.
The helicopter squadron had already broadcast the dragon's pathetic flight—desperately shaking off the Butcher and fleeing for its life—in real time.
"Ha."
Eddie, the officer soon to lead 1st Company, let out an indescribable emotion.
'An ancient dragon species fleeing in terror from a mere human, only to die...'
He gazed at Kyle on the screen with trembling eyes.
'What the hell is his true identity?'
That man made even an ancient dragon tremble in fear.
Of course, it was all possible thanks to the [Dragon Species Slayer] cheat trait, but none of them had any way of knowing that.
Meanwhile, Joseph was simply shuddering in awe.
'He keeps astonishing me every time...!'
He now felt a reverence toward the young mage that he'd never known in his life.
'I suspected, but mana that pierces even a dragon's hide...'
Are all Fleetwood mages like that? Or is Kyle Clark special?
'But regardless...'
Magic capable of slaying dragons couldn't be common.
'Just a hunch, but maybe that's why the Sage pulled only Kyle out of the tower—because he's that exceptional.'
Joseph turned to Eddie, whose face was blank.
"I told you, didn't I?"
He chuckled.
"That's exactly... how the Butcher creates miracles."
"Miracles..."
A miracle.
Eddie truly thought so.
"What the hell is this...?"
"Killed a dragon? With magic?"
"This can't be happening!"
The Torch summoners could only murmur in bewilderment at the unbelievable outcome.
Dragons were creatures with extreme resistance to magic by nature.
To pierce their hide required multiple mages pooling their power in a massive ritual.
"And he did it alone...!"
Even they couldn't help but feel awe.
At that moment, one summoner looked toward Lugal Heinz, the elder guiding the Torch.
"G-guide."
"...What of Franz Reberk?"
At his question about the man's status, the summoners' gazes finally turned to the vast summoning ritual array.
At its center lay Franz Reberk, pale-faced and collapsed, still linked to the ritual.
A summoner rushed over, checked his pulse, then shook his head at Lugal.
"...He's dead."
"Hmmm..."
The old man rubbed his forehead as if his head ached.
"I suspected as much, but I didn't think it'd turn out like this..."
His face twisted in utter incomprehension.
'How the hell did he pierce the dragon's hide?'
And the ritual's process had unfolded in a completely inexplicable manner.
On the surface, it looked as if Kyle Clark's mana had ignored the natural laws of this world.
'Natural laws, defying natural laws...'
His expression hardened for a moment.
'No way.'
Lugal's eyes widened as if he'd intuited something.
The Torch summoners asked him.
"Wh-what do we do, Guide?"
"Summon another beast now...?"
"No."
He lifted his head.
"...We'll leave the rest to the alchemists and withdraw."
"What?!"
"We've fulfilled our duty by summoning the dragon, and we've expended a massive amount of mana already. There's nothing more we can do here."
Lugal turned, narrowing his eyes.
'Moreover...'
The Butcher.
Remembering his magic that pierced even the dragon's hide, he let out a small groan.
'...Looks like I need to reread those ancient tomes in the temple basement.'
After the dragon was shot down by Kyle.
The 141st Unit pierced the defensive line unopposed and swiftly disembarked, deploying forces rapidly into the research base.
Walter stared in admiration at the dragon's corpse, which was slowly beginning to unsummon.
"My god, it really was a dragon."
"Yeah."
Kyle, back with 3rd Platoon, looked up at the massive body.
"Makes it even more pitiful."
"Pitiful?"
"...Just a feeling."
"?"
Kyle had been skeptical at first, but once they fought, he understood.
'This wasn't Reberk transforming into a dragon or anything.'
The control over its own body was far too clumsy for that.
'They probably summoned a real dragon and overlaid some ritual on it.'
If it had truly been the dragon itself, no amount of [Dragon Species Slayer] would have ended it so easily, Kyle thought.
'All because Reberk, the one holding the reins, couldn't handle it properly.'
To Kyle, Reberk's pathetically low combat experience hadn't even tapped the dragon's true power.
He probably didn't even comprehend the depth of a dragon's strength.
'Not every mage tower human is a genius.'
There had to be mediocrities among them.
At least, that's what his [Nebula's Hyper-Senses] intuition told him.
"Whatever it is, let's wrap it up quick and head home."
Walter spoke as he charged plasma into his implant. Kyle nodded.
His gaze shifted to the golden pyramid at the center of the vast research base.
"Yeah."
"But seriously, how'd you pierce the dragon's hide...? No, don't answer."
"Just used magic and it pierced."
"I said don't answer, you bastard."
Meanwhile, the Quantitas Faction alchemists watching everything from the pyramid were in full panic.
"This makes no sense!"
"We banked everything on Reberk and the ancient dragon—what the hell?!"
"What about Akio's Torch?"
"They've exhausted their mana and withdrawn!"
"What?!"
An alchemist peering through a telescope at the tundra turned pale and shouted.
"F-Faction Leader! The cops are advancing on us!!"
"Wh-what do we do now..."
Marc Hoffman, Quantitas Faction Leader, slammed his hands on the desk and yelled.
"What do you mean 'what'?!"
The conference room fell silent. As all eyes turned to him, he spoke.
"Don't panic. It's not over yet!"
"B-but, Faction Leader! A dragon! Even that dragon couldn't stop them!"
"Right! Even the dragon couldn't."
He didn't know what trick it was, but the Butcher's magic had pierced the dragon's hide and smashed the king of the skies into the ground.
A bizarre and terrifying fact.
"But that doesn't change the fact that the Butcher is human."
And humans ended with one death. So they still had Plan B.
"Activate all the chimeras on standby underground!"
"Pardon? B-but those won't..."
"Sure, they can whittle down the cops' forces, but not the Butcher."
That's why the Faction Leader—no, the Al Kimia Alliance—had prepared their ultimate measure beneath this facility.
He lowered his voice unconsciously.
"This is top secret, but this Quantitas base has explosives installed underground for emergencies."
"!!"
The alchemists' eyes widened.
"Ex-explosives?"
"Yes. Enough to obliterate the entire base."
"...?!"
"Th-that kind of...!"
Even the high executives were hearing this for the first time. He spoke nonchalantly.
"Only Alliance Faction Leaders know this secret, so you wouldn't."
The police side had no clue either.
"So while the chimeras tie up the Butcher and cops, we activate Plan B..."
His eyes gleamed sinisterly.
"We'll lose all the manufacturing facilities here, but we can take the Butcher and most of their forces with us."
"...!"
Even if they couldn't kill the Butcher, the police would suffer devastating losses.
He slammed the table.
"Damn Butcher and cops. You think Quantitas alchemists will just roll over?!"
Marc Hoffman issued orders.
"Solution-rank and below stay and delay their advance with chimeras until further retreat orders."
"...! Yes!"
"The rest of you executives, follow me."
The executive alchemists exchanged glances and nodded.
"Understood."
Marc led them out and addressed the guards at the door.
"You're escorting us from now on. Got it?"
They were Elf Guild mercenaries.
They exchanged looks and nodded.
"...As the employer wishes."
They'd entered the research base bloodlessly for only a moment.
Now, fierce combat raged against the hordes of chimeras pouring from the pyramid.
In the midst, bundles of lightning surged from underground.
Kwajijijik!! Kwaaaang-!!
As chimeras vaporized in an instant, Kyle emerged, and the prisoners in cover cheered in unison.
"That's it, Butcher!!"
"Mafia, no—now Dragon Butcher!"
"With the Butcher, we'll get out alive!!"
"Wipe 'em out!!"
"Cover him!! Cover the Butcher!"
A message popped up as if waiting.
On the other hand, even mindless chimeras began hesitating one by one at the surging lightning.
Kyle smirked at the sight.
"Nice."
Eye-catching feats apparently affected battlefield morale in real time.
And sure enough.
As the chimera lines buckled rapidly, an officer radioed in.
Armored vehicles spat cannon fire toward the pyramid as if on cue.
Taatata! Ta, taatataa! Taatata!!
Missiles rained down roadside, blasting the chimeras swarming toward Kyle.
Kwa, kwakwaaang-!!
Kyle landed beside Lieutenant Roden, who was in cover nearby.
"What now? Should I just break through solo?"
"Hold on!"
The lieutenant, receiving a radio from command, replied.
"They want you to clear chimeras inside the base first. Probably to minimize casualties."
Manpower was their biggest shortage right now.
Kyle asked.
"What about the alchemists?"
"3rd Company and spec ops will block rear escape routes. Clear internal chimeras first, then slowly encircle and annihilate."
"Playing it safe? Not bad."
For Kyle too, minimizing police losses helped his S-rank evaluation.
Chimeras outnumbered and outpowered mafiosi; solo rushing the pyramid would've been messy.
"I'll head in first then!"
"Yeah, thanks!"
Kwajik! Lightning flared as Kyle kicked off again.
"What of the enemy?"
In the pyramid's underground facility, Faction Leader Marc asked. An executive receiving a comms report answered.
"Front lines collapsing faster than expected."
"What?"
"No idea why, but chimeras aren't responding well to control..."
Chimeras not controllable?
He frowned at the odd report but had no time to dwell.
If lines were collapsing fast, they needed to hurry even more.
Of course, he had zero intention of suiciding with the cops.
Chimeras needed to buy time for their underground escape.
"Hurry! Activate bombs before the front fully crumbles!"
Rushing to a massive stone door, he bit his thumb and dripped blood below it.
Wooong-, the door glowed and opened.
"The sealed zone?"
"Yes. Detonator's hidden deepest inside."
Elf mercenaries followed, guarding the alchemists.
Reaching the sealed zone swiftly, the leader handed a stone key to the vice-leader.
"Second ignition key."
Pulling out his own first key, he pointed to two gargoyle statues at the zone's end.
"Simple: Insert our keys into the hidden slots in their mouths and turn simultaneously."
"How much grace period after activation?"
"30 minutes. Everyone evacuates within."
"...!"
"No worries. Activation opens underground escape too."
"But Faction Leader, what about Solution-rank and below upstairs...?"
Marc's face turned cold.
"Enough executives here to rebuild the faction."
"!!"
The alchemists swallowed hard. He sneered.
"Plan always required someone buying time. Or want to stay till the end? I won't stop you."
"......"
Silence from the executives. Marc nodded.
"Good."
Standing before the gargoyles, Marc and vice inserted keys.
"Don't forget: Count to three, turn left simultaneously."
"Yes."
"One."
Two.
"Three."
Sssk.
Their wrists severed.
"?!"
In the sudden chaos, eyes widened briefly.
Seeing his severed right hand fall so futilely, Faction Leader Marc screamed.
"Aaaargh!!"
Blood gushed.
Executives shouted.
"What the hell is this?!"
Their voices turned to the elves who'd just been escorting them.
One elf woman removed her hood, revealing her face. Beautiful blue eyes glinted in the sealed zone's lanterns.
Her red lips parted.
"Grandma—no, Guild Leader—said not taking jobs against him is our best help..."
But aiding without harming him? Not necessarily.
Alchemists backed away in the ominous atmosphere.
"Y-you bastards... What is this?!"
Weeing...! She drew her plasma cutter, eyes icy.
"Leave none alive."
With that, countless plasma cutters lit the zone. Alchemists' eyes quivered helplessly.
"All for the great savior, Salva."
"U-ugh, uwaaak!!"
Purple blades sliced the darkness toward fleeing executives.
Kyle, gleefully smashing chimera skulls, flinched at the sudden messages.
"Huh?"
But it didn't end there.
His eyes blinked rapidly.
"??????"