Reincarnated as a dragon’s egg ～Lets aim to be the strongest～ - Chapter 680

680 – Saint Jornes’ Strength (side: Miria)
The arrow that Sirius-san is aiming glows with a fierce light. Still gazing down at us, Jornes appears completely unaware of him.

The crimson arrow he’s using was procured by breaking a statue of the Hero Robin in the palace. Apparently Robin himself made the arrow from the fang of the Magic Beast King Ammit that he subjugated. Sirius-san lamented earlier that such sacrilege would have incurred the death penalty in normal times.

It seems wrong to use such a precious relic on a mere probing attack, but the reality is that we wouldn’t even be able to probe her defences if we didn’t resort to this.

“Jornes-sama! Why have you returned to this era!? What have you got against the people of the Holy City!? Why won’t you say anything!?!?”　

Radda-san continues calling out with [Telepathy]. It happens just as Jornes’ mouth twitches.

“[Dragonshot]!”

With the sound of magic bursting, Sirius-san lets the arrow fly. Clad in red light, the arrow takes on the form of a small dragon and speeds towards Jornes’ back in a straight line.

Jornes flips around towards Sirius-san. It’s only for an instant, but I can tell she sees the arrow in flight. I intuitively expect her to now dodge.

However, the arrow simply pierces into Jornes’ chest. Her body trembles.

“I-it’s shallow, but it’s lodged in! It’s lodged in! Look!”
“She couldn’t dodge in time! It’s not impossible for our attacks to land! If we can drag her down, and surround her with traps, it might be able to work out!”

The warrior priests raise their voices in a cheer.

The knowledge that it’s possible for attacks to go through is important. A famously thick-skinned  Demon Lord of the past was able to walk through the arrows of a thousand soldiers unscathed. The fact that Sirius-san’s arrow dealt some damage means that, depending on the methods and situation, it’s possible for us to prevail against her with numbers.

“A-all right! The attack hit… and even affected her! Miria, we’re retreating!”

Meltia-san calls out to me. However, my eyes are rooted to Jornes’ floating form.

“What is she…”

While glaring at Sirius-san, Jornes grips the tail of the arrow and grinds it deeper into her chest. The hole in her torso isn’t leaking out a single drop of blood. I wonder if she is actually human in the first place.

Jornes points a finger at the retreating Sirius-san and his party. She must be planning something.

“Please scatter and run! She’s aiming for you!”

I raise my voice in a yell.

“[Empath].”

Jornes’ fingertip glows slightly. In the next moment, blood spurts out of the five of them simultaneously and they crumple to the ground.

“Wha… n-no way…”

One glance is enough to know that’s enough blood loss to be fatal. It was truly an instant. It wasn’t a matter of whether or not they could avoid it.

Seemingly bored, Jornes plucks the arrow out of her chest and flings it down.

“F-find cover! Run away using her blind spots! If she glares at you, you’ll spurt blood and die!”
“We need to retrieve Sirius-sama’s corpse…! It’ll become something dreadful if a third [Nirvana] comes…!”
“If we take too long, we’ll just die too!!”

The warrior priests by me shriek and scatter into the rubble to hide.

I stand stock still, staring at the bodies of Sirius-san and his party.

“What are you doing, Miria! Quick, break her line of sight! In the end, it’s useless to take that monster as an opponent! Even if dozens challenge her, they’ll all be killed in an instant once she notices!”

“Sirius-san and the others… all of them have a hole in their chest.”

The hole in each of them is at the same exact spot where Jornes was pierced.

“More importantly, we need to run! If we’re all annihilated here, it’ll be the end of the palace base, too!”

Meltia-san shouts.

However, it looks like Jornes has already focused her concern elsewhere. At this point, her objective is obvious.

Sure enough, Jornes is waiting for something… or rather, someone. Her having a reaction to Radda-san’s [Telepathy] also points to this. Even regarding Sirius-san’s attack, all she did was respond to it in equal parts.

She wishes to take her time slowly destroying the town while maintaining her dominance over Ridom. I had considered this a possibility before, but with this, it’s become a certainty.

Sure enough, it’s impossible to subdue Jornes. The difference in power is way too large. All we can do now is act along with her wishes and do what little we can to delay the destruction of Ridom, while hoping that whatever she’s waiting for will eventually come.

“…Rather than hide and wait for Jornes to settle down, let’s hurry back, Meltia-san. In addition, others said this too, but in any case, we should give Sirius-san and the others a proper burial at least. If their corpses turn into monsters, we’ll definitely not be able to hold out any longer.”

I look towards their dead bodies. We’re no longer fighting to end the turmoil, but only to survive just a little longer. Given that, we absolutely cannot afford to leave Sirius-san and the others’ bodies here.

The monsters born of the dead have their strength based on the person’s level in life. Sirius-san’s level should be way above mine or even Meltia-san’s.

“Jornes is acting according to her own rules. It’s not pleasant to be moving around in her vicinity… but as long as we don’t take action against her, I don’t believe she’ll retaliate directly.”

“Miria, but…”

Then, I hear a loud noise from afar.

A gigantic monster four metres long is standing atop the roof of a ruin. Its two hands are bizarrely huge, and it has a face on both its head and abdomen.

I recall those characteristics. It’s the monster believed to be born from the second [Nirvana] that was responsible for destroying the northern cathedral. It has us squarely in its line of sight.

“…I wanted to say that the monsters were certain to come if we stayed outside any longer, but it looks like it’s too late.”

Meltia-san says in a trembling voice.