Part 2
Klunk!! The hard knock to the back shaft of her head due to the shockwave woke Kudou Asuka with a jerk. She, who had been sound asleep had awoken after hitting her head hard enough to see stars with tears that immediately welled in her eyes due to the pain.
“Ow………!? W,What the heck was that………!?”
“………You’re sounding pretty laid back.”
A calm, yet unamused voice spoke up from behind her. She furrowed her eyebrows in irritation as she turned around, and there stood a masked girl clad in pure white armor and dress skirt─────Faceless. Next to her was a mountain of rubble that looked like it had been from an explosion. If one looked around, all they would see would be a blazing sea of fire and pandemonium breaking loose. It was obvious that this was an emergency. Asuka wasn’t a morning person, but even she couldn’t stay sleepy in this situation. Asuka leapt to her feet and collected herself, then asked Faceless firmly.
“………What’s happening? Did the Titans attack?”
“Who knows? What about going over to go take a look for yourself?”
Faceless replied coldly before turning on her heels. Even in this abnormal situation, she showed no signs of cooperating, to which Asuka responded to with a scornful look.
“Hey you, this is no time to be playing around─────”
─────The wind whistled sharply. As the wind stroked Asuka’s cheek, there was the sound of a large creature collapsing behind her. Asuka turned around in confusion─────there lay a dragon with scales in a poisonous pattern, its neck severed in one blow. Klink, the sound of a sword being sheathed rang out behind her. Asuka then realized that the blow just now was Faceless’ handiwork. At the same time, shivers ran down her spine.
Even though she was standing right in front of her, she didn’t have a clue what she just did with her sword. If her target had been Asuka instead of the dragon, she would’ve been dead before she noticed. Faceless gave a scornful look from under her mask in return, then broke out into a smile, laughing.
“It’s not just me who needs to know their place. To not give a single word of gratitude after being saved three times, maybe you were raised poorly?”
“………Uu………!”
Her face became flushed by embarrassment with an almost explosive rage building up underneath, but by exerting her entire body and her pride, she somehow managed to keep it down. She didn’t like her tone, but Faceless was right. If she talked back here, she’d have to deal with the shame over and over again. But she couldn’t just obediently thank her, and as she was fretting, the voice of Jin Russel came from the cliff above her.
“Asuka-san! So you were okay!”
“Jin-kun………!”
Jin made his way down on the broken root of a tree. Next to him was Pest in a maid outfit.
“………Kasukabe-san and Leticia aren’t with you?”
“T,That’s right. We were staying at the same lodge, but………”
As he gave a vague reply, his shoulders drooped. She looked at the reserved Pest questioningly, but she did not return Asuka’s glance, and silently looked at the night sky covered in storm clouds.
“………Jin. It would be best if we leave soon.”
“Eh?”
“The contract is in effect, so it would be problematic if you died, and I do intend to protect you, but─────guarding you against that will prove difficult even for me.”
Even with a composed and collected look, beads of cold sweat appeared on her face. Puzzled, everyone looked up at the sky and then.
“─────GYEEEEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaEEEEEEEEEYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaa!!!”
─────What they saw was a scene from mythology. The massive dragon’s roar that shook heaven and earth rang across Underwood. Its scream was impossible to understand in a human language, but it demonstrated its overwhelming presence. Hit by a roar that could’ve blown out their eardrums, they just stared up in amazement at the sky.
“J,Jin-kun………that just now was,”
“A pure blood dragon………! It can’t be, why is the strongest class down here………!?”
The words he spat out were filled with fear. They’d seen all sorts of miracles after coming to the world of the Little Garden, but none of them could even compare with this extraordinary presence. Emerging from the thick storm clouds was the figure of a dragon whose size was on a scale of monolithic proportions. An icy chill ran down Asuka’s spine, but she clenched her teeth shut and suppressed her trembling.
“………Jin-kun. Let’s go look for everyone. Izayoi-kun aside, I’m worried about them.”
“O,Of course.”
Jin nodded in response. Finding a barely usable staircase on the rocky surface, everyone began to run for it, but Pest pulled them back by their sleeves.
“Jin, stay close to me.”
“P,Pest?”
“─────It’s coming!!”
Pest’s voice tensed up. The night sky followed up with a spark of lightning. The dragon that had emerged from the storm clouds let loose a roar; its scales scattering like buckshot all over Underwood. The scales then transformed into huge serpents, salamanders, and massive five-tailed scorpions. Against these summoned rabid beasts attempting to overrun Underwood, Asuka raised her Gift card in preparations for battle.
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