The Dragon-Slaying Cannon's Wrath
03. Invasion of Crisis — (6) Niberia Grand Duke Activates the Dragon-Slaying Cannon to Claim Seira!
The moment Seira fainted, the view from the colossal height of the Red Dragon’s eyes filled my vision.
“Damn it… Seira has to be in one of those warehouses!!”
Just as I began to scan the area, an untimely flash of light burned the entire world white and assaulted my sight.
KU-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA—!!!
It was already too late to use Blink! Eighteen fully charged magic cannons had fired directly at Dragonai.
KU-GU-GU-GU-GU-GUNG—!!!
The firepower was equivalent to over fifty missiles raining down at once!! All the oxygen around me ignited and burned away completely within seconds. The surrounding air, compressed by the tremendous explosion and pressure, generated a secondary shockwave that blasted outward.
GU-GU-GU-GU-GU-GU-GUNG—
A momentary vacuum formed at the epicenter. Once those few seconds of total combustion passed, the surrounding air rushed back in at an enormous speed, creating a tertiary shockwave that struck my body—the kind only felt at ground zero.
KU-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA—
The remaining reactants from the explosion rose with the incoming airflow, engulfing the epicenter in an inferno of unimaginable heat and pressure that no living being could possibly survive.
KU-GU-GU-GU-GU-GU-GU……
“Haa… haa…… Looks just like a mushroom cloud.”
This was no different from a modern nuclear weapon. Just how massive an amount of mana energy had they synthesized?
Yet, right as I tried to deploy a barrier, I remembered what happened in the novel when a dragon blocked the Dragon-Slaying Cannon with one—the city was reduced to rubble.
“…Would that even work?”
Instead, I opened my jaws wide and swallowed the tremendous blast of energy whole.
* * *
“Kuh……!”
It was delicious. Though it was my first time tasting pure mana energy flames, as expected, all fire was a feast to a Red Dragon.
However, after surviving the inferno and announcing my presence, the people caught in the explosion came into view.
“……This is too much.”
The city center had been reduced to ash by the shockwave and thermal radiation. Innocent citizens living near the epicenter had been slaughtered en masse. Two dragons had suddenly fallen from the sky! The refugee procession that had filled the city and its outskirts in an attempt to flee the two beings now wept in despair as thousands of homes were effortlessly crushed within minutes.
“Huuu…… huuuu……”
“Mooom!!”
People wailed at the sight of the collapsed ruins. Others stood in stunned silence, having lost the homes they had barely managed to acquire. Watching them, I smiled shyly.
“That was dangerously close. Really……”
Because the barrier I had originally intended to wrap around myself had instead been cast over the residents of the blast zone.
TU-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA—
Finally, once all the dust had settled, the soldiers who had been standing in a daze alongside the refugees were the first to shout. Having watched from the watchtower, they were the first to grasp the situation on the battlefield.
“U…… Uwaaaaaah!!”
“The Red Emperor sacrificed his own body to protect the citizens!!”
By swallowing the fearsome Dragon-Slaying Cannon and enveloping the residents in a barrier, the loss of life was almost nonexistent compared to the structural damage. When they finally saw the Red Dragon tear off the Black Dragon’s head, the citizens, overcome with relief at having survived, erupted in joyous cheers.
“Waaaaaaaah!!”
Among them were many who believed the legendary guardian dragon of the Lusa Empire, the Red Dragon, had saved them.
“Long live His Majesty the Red Emperor! Please save us!”
“His Majesty the Red Emperor has finally returned!”
“He has slain the evil Black Dragon! Our guardian deity!”
They cried out in large numbers. I scratched the back of my head with an awkward expression, twisting my wing joint.
‘His Majesty the Red Emperor……? That title does show up occasionally, but Obern would hate it……’
Obern had strictly ordered that the title “His Majesty” be reserved exclusively for humans, while dragons were to be addressed as “His Holiness.”
“Whew, anyway…… These bastards nearly got me cursed at for no reason!”
They called it a Dragon-Slaying Cannon, but that weapon had never posed any threat to me to begin with. After all, I was a dragon that devoured all flames!! Being a Red Dragon, they would have been better off using a water cannon instead. Still, the weapon was powerful enough to actually kill other dragons. Even I was surprised when I saw its might for the first time—it boasted destructive power exceeding modern tactical nuclear weapons!!
So if the casualties had been higher, even if I had been safe, I would have been blamed for the deaths of the citizens!
‘Kuh…… That vile bastard……’
Niberia Grand Duke’s appearance had already been unappealing, but this incident had made him even more detestable.
‘And on top of that……!!’
How dare he try to abduct me—the most beautiful woman in the world!!
‘I can forgive everything else, but that alone is absolutely unforgivable!!’
Just when the fierce battle seemed to have ended, friendly bombardment suddenly rained down. Watching countless building materials oxidize in the massive explosion was heartbreaking, but I could endure it. However……
‘Touching this body that has been TS’d into the world’s greatest beauty is something I will absolutely never forgive!!’
As I steeled my resolve with a pained expression, the residents, seeing me, wept and pleaded.
“Kuh…… His Majesty the Red Emperor is shedding tears for us.”
“Your Majesty, please do not grieve! If not for you, we would have become slaves to that wicked Black Dragon.”
“Your Majesty has only saved our Cobansi!!”
Scratch, scratch…… Spreading my massive wings, I scratched my chin thoughtfully and said,
“Is that so?”
* * *
In an instant, roughly five thousand pyeong of land the size of two soccer fields evaporated, erasing every trace of everything that had existed upon it. The residents prayed desperately that the horrific flash of misfortune would not reach them, that it would stop between the two dragons. Only a few seconds passed.
The secondary shockwave!! It became a tsunami of tears—the first the history of mankind in this era had ever experienced—and terrifyingly, it was followed by another.
“Heh, hehehe…… hehehehehehe.”
Niberia Grand Duke laughed like a child watching fireworks at a night market as he witnessed his own city being utterly destroyed. His adjutant, finding it suspicious, asked,
“Your Highness, why do you laugh so merrily?”
“They’re all dead, aren’t they……?”
“……”
“If I capture both the Black Dragon and the Red Dragon…… my fame will be…… kuh-kuh-kuh-kuh……!!”
“It will shake the entire world. Congratulations, Your Highness!!”
It formed a vacuum wave barrier of enormous scale, followed by an ashen explosion far greater than the red flames, tearing apart an area of roughly eight hundred thousand pyeong with tremendous force.
The generals who had watched the scene from the ramparts alongside Niberia Grand Duke applauded loudly and cheered.
“Your Highness! Your weapon is truly capable of shaking the heavens!”
“There’s no need for the knight order to march against the dragons. Hahaha!! There won’t even be a trace left of them.”
“We must congratulate you on your victory, Your Highness.”
“Kuhahahahaha!! Indeed! Money is everything! I never imagined these cannons I installed with such resolve would, once charged, possess the power to slay even an Elemental Dragon! And I’ve captured two at once! What does that make me?! A Double Dragon Slayer?! Hahahaha!!”
“We shall henceforth address you as Double Dragon Slayer, Your Highness.”
“Kuhahahahahaha!!”
Completely forgetting that an enormous number of citizens had also perished alongside the dragons in the blast zone, the Grand Duke clapped and rejoiced just like his generals. Once all danger had been eliminated, he quickly left the scene—to see Seira.
“Kuhahahahaha!! I must go see our Seira right away! The wedding is only two days away. I wonder if I’ll be able to hold myself back after seeing that lovely Seira again…… Kuh, if I want to endure it, I’ll have to empty myself completely like last time before I can hold back~”
“Yes, Your Highness! We shall prepare a new toy to replace Lady Delie!”