The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 2

Chapter II: Inglis, Age 15—The Ancient Dragon and the (Former) Old King (2)

“All right. First, watch this,” Inglis said before thrusting her right palm toward the ancient dragon’s tail, which towered over the crater that had been Leclair. As the others watched, a pale blue glow condensed into a ball of light.

“Huh?! Uh, w-wait a sec, Chris!” Rafinha called out in panic, but it was too late.

Aether Strike! Inglis ignored her and fired the mass of condensed aether.

Blammmmmm!

“Aaaaah!” Rafinha shrieked in horror, grabbing Inglis by the base of the neck and shaking her. “I-If you shoot it with that thing, you’ll blow away our precious dragon meat! Don’t waste it!”

“C-Calm down...! That hurts! It’s okay, Rani!”

“Huh?”

“Look. See?”

Krrshsh!

The Aether Strike striking the dragon’s tail made a loud grinding sound. Inglis’s attack struggled against the dragon’s sturdy scales for a while, but that could go on for only so long.

Crackle!

The blast bounced back, disappearing into the yonder.

“See? It’s fine,” Inglis pointed out.

The scales themselves were slightly damaged, and some of the flesh beneath them was exposed, but it was intact—a minor injury, then. Inglis had predicted as much from her previous strike on the tail with Aether Shell active.

“Wh—?! Chris, your attack bounced off!” Rafinha shouted.

That wasn’t the only thing that happened.

“Ah! The phantasms are—?!” Rafinha gasped as a number of phantasms gathered at the point where the Aether Strike had connected. They disappeared—as if the wound sucked them in. The wound then recovered to its original state as the group watched. “It heals so quickly!”

Phantasms were suborganisms that sprang forth from a dragon’s aura. By absorbing them, a dragon could increase its healing even more. Fufailbane himself seemed to still slumber, so it was probably an instinctive reaction.

“So its wounds heal right away!” Liselotte remarked.

Inglis was positively giddy. “See? Isn’t he amazing? Isn’t he so strong? Just watching makes me excited!”

“Ha ha... I’m not sure you should find it exciting...” Rafinha sighed in exasperation.

“Th-That’s right!” Pullum cut in. “If not even Inglis can hurt it, won’t it be bad news if it wakes up?!” She was surveying the situation quite seriously.

“Y-Yeah! That thing’s trouble!” Lahti was equally concerned. It was a shock seeing Aether Strike be repelled.

“Well, is it, Chris?” Rafinha pressed.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’ll pose a huge problem.”

“I guess so. If it really were that bad, you would be all hyped up to protect me. Just like you were with Tiffanyer.”

“Of course. I’m your squire, after all.”

Rafinha chuckled. “I was honestly a little scared, but it was nice to see how serious you got.”

“You’re welcome.” Inglis returned Rafinha’s smile.

“My take is that we’ll be fine! It seems like Inglis has more options to work with than she did then,” Rafinha remarked to the others.

“Ha ha ha... You sound pretty proud of that,” Leone said, poking fun at them.

“Well, Inglis still has a technique better than that one, doesn’t she?”

“Indeed,” Liselotte said. “Recall how she vanquished the Prismer in one blow when it appeared while we were defending Ripple. That one is on a completely different level.”

Leone and Liselotte seemed just as unperturbed as Rafinha. They had all seen Inglis use Aether Breaker. So, knowing she still had something even better to bring forth, they could stay calm. Pullum and Lahti hadn’t been present, since they’d been on an urgent mission to Ambassador Theodore at the time.

“Well, there’s a bit of a problem with that...” Inglis trailed off.

“Huh?” The others crooked their necks in confusion.

“Actually, I’m going to need your help with this one. It’s like this...”

And so Inglis laid out the plan for Rafinha and the others over a short while.

“Okay, let’s go over this again to be sure. I’m going to... And then like this... Like that...” Inglis went over the details for everyone once more.

“Right, right! Okay, got it!” Rafinha nodded as Inglis explained the steps they’d be taking.

“Yes, I understand now. Let’s give it a try,” Leone said.

“If this goes well, we’ll be able to obtain all the food we need in one go,” Liselotte noted.

“That thing’s huge. I wonder how many servings we’ll get?” Lahti asked.

“Let’s do it! I-I’ll do my best!” Pullum said.

No one seemed to have any objections, so Rafinha boarded the Star Princess and called out to the group. “All right, then. We’re over here, Leone, Pullum!”

They were the first group, taking the Star Princess. Leone gripped the controls, while Rafinha and Pullum sat beside her. Of course, there were reasons why this was the most appropriate formation. In terms of piloting skills, Inglis would have preferred to have Lahti at the controls, but the Flygear could only seat three at a time, so someone else needed to fly as well.

Lahti took the controls of another Flygear, which Inglis and Liselotte boarded. The third remained parked for now.

Whirr...

Vwooom!

The two Flygears, three aboard each, lifted into the sky.

“Here we go! Everyone ready?” Leone called out.

“Yeah!” When everyone nodded, the two Flygears suddenly accelerated, crossing the threshold into where the dragon energy materialized. They were in the phantasms’ territory now.

“Gworrr!” The phantasms responded immediately, endless numbers of them swarming. As long as the Flygears moved at full speed, they couldn’t be surrounded, but they still needed to intercept any phantasms which blocked their paths.

“Pullum! We’re counting on you!” Liselotte shouted.

“Yes! Leave it to me!” Pullum replied. She took out her Artifact; rather than a weapon, it was a glittering silver harp. As the melody she played on it filled the air, a veil of light settled over the Artifacts of Liselotte and Rafinha. The harp’s melody enhanced other Artifacts nearby.

“Moving to intercept!” Liselotte activated her halberd Artifact’s Gift, and its usual white wings were tinged golden by the effect of Pullum’s Gift. They flapped out forcefully, and in the blink of an eye, she flew into the midst of the phantasms.

“Yaaaaaah!” The thrusting tip of her halberd pierced several of the manifestations.

The remainder of the group scattered in all directions before converging again on her.

While the slightest mistake on Liselotte’s part could be costly, Inglis stayed put. She’d be acting individually later, and it would be necessary to have the others hold back the phantasms then. She wasn’t particularly worried, but she couldn’t let anything happen to Rafinha and the others. So it was best to think of this as a rehearsal, interfering only if it was absolutely necessary.

“You’re far too slow!” Liselotte’s wings flapped again. The way she flew through the air while swiping the head of her halberd through the scattered foes was beautiful, as if she was tracing the curve of the full moon, about to make a full circle midair.

“Hmm?” As far as Inglis knew, Liselotte’s Gift of flight only worked in a straight line. Yet here she was forming a beautiful arc, making it effective against scattered enemies. It was faster and left fewer openings for counterattack compared to charging in a straight line at each individual phantasm, slowing in between to change direction.

With one flowing blow, she cut down the phantasms to her side, and her follow-up annihilated those above and below. The path before the two Flygears lay completely open, and they slid through the gap, overtaking Liselotte from below.

“Nice, Liselotte!” Rafinha cheered her on.

“Don’t get ahead of her! Slow down a little so that we don’t get separated!” Lahti instructed. They needed to safely recover Liselotte; they couldn’t leave her behind.

“Right!” Leone nodded as she gripped the controls.

“That isn’t necessary. You needn’t worry for my sake.” Liselotte had already caught up and grasped onto the hull of the Flygear.

“Whoa, that was quick!” Lahti gasped.

“Well, if I took my time, they’d just gather again, would they not?”

“You’ve gotten better, haven’t you, Liselotte?” Inglis asked.

“It’s thanks to Pullum. My power and speed are simply incomparable to the usual.”

“But flying in an arc took practice, didn’t it? That wasn’t from Pullum’s Artifact. It was all you.”

Liselotte chuckled. “I suppose, if you say so. Why, thank you.”

Just as Liselotte smiled, Lahti raised his voice. “More incoming!” They were definitely drawing closer to the ancient dragon’s tail now, but more phantasms rose to block their path.

“No matter how many times, the story will be the same!” Liselotte said.

“Wait! Leave it to me this time!” Rafinha stopped Liselotte and leaned over the railing of the Star Princess, drawing her trusty Artifact bow, Shiny Flow. An arrow of light easily double the normal size formed in her hand. “We’re hungry! Get out of the way!”

She let it loose. It was also much faster than usual, thanks to Pullum’s Gift. Rushing toward the clump of phantasms, it swallowed several in an instant. The phantasms reacted quickly, scattering to limit the damage—but Rafinha had seen that coming and had already prepared a response.

“You’re not getting away! Burst!” The arrow of light split into a rain of light and dispersed. That scattered cloud pierced the phantasms, wiping them out.

“Good job, Rafinha!” Leone said.

“Doing good, Rani. That’s the stuff.”

Rafinha normally puffed up in pride after such praise, but this time she didn’t respond.

“What’s wrong, Rani? Does your tummy hurt?”

“No! It’s just... It’s different with the support of Pullum’s Gift! I think I can do more! I’ve been waiting for this!” Rafinha’s eyes gleamed.

“Here come more! These things just don’t give up!” Lahti announced as he looked ahead.

“As long as the ancient dragon’s alive and well, they’ll keep coming forever—isn’t that great?” Inglis asked.

“C’mon, is this really the time to be overjoyed?!” Lahti replied.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it! No matter how many times they come at us...” Rafinha again drew Shiny Flow and loosed an arrow of light. This time, it split immediately into countless smaller arrows and scattered, circling the hulls of each of the two Flygears as if to cover them. The light had formed a protective wall.

“Wow...” Inglis watched in awe. Previously, Rafinha had sent her countless arrows of light circling enemies to disrupt them, and now she had improved her precision enough to use them as a defensive wall while also moving them at high speed—the Flygears were still moving forward. This required much more difficult control than just encircling a still enemy.

“See? Now we can keep going with no worries! Let’s go!” Rafinha said.

“Got it!” Leone replied as she held the Star Princess’s controls.

“All right, here goes!” said Lahti from the other Flygear.

With walls of arrows of light around them, the Flygears pushed forward into the gathered phantasms. “Gyaaaahnnn!” they screeched.

Fwoooosh! Fwoosh! Fwoooosh!

The phantasms dissipated into nothingness as each arrow of light struck them.

This means Rafinha and the others will be safe. We can do this, Inglis thought. She turned to them and said, “Amazing, Rani! That’s really useful!”

Rafinha chuckled. “I told you. I can help out way more—thanks to Pullum.” This time, she did puff up in pride.

“Definitely. But more than that, I can tell your skills have improved as well.” Inglis smiled without meaning to, overjoyed at Rafinha’s self-improvement.

With this, Inglis felt that there wouldn’t be any problems even if she was separated from the group. They were almost directly before the ancient dragon’s tail. It was time for her to make her move. “Okay, it’s my turn now. Here I go! Leone, when I give the signal, you’re up.”

“Okay, I’ve got it! Leave it to me!” Leone replied.

“Now’s your chance, Chris! Go for it!” Rafinha changed the trajectory of her arrows of light, leaving a gap for Inglis to jump out through.

“Okay! Thanks!” Without hesitation, Inglis leaped from the Flygear. Before she even landed, she twisted in midair, gathering aether in her palm. Her aim was, of course, the towering tail of the ancient dragon Fufailbane.

“Go!”

Blammmmmm!

The Aether Strike she shot from midair roared toward the treelike tail. Inglis followed it with her eyes as she fell. And as she landed, it struck the tail. 

Crack!

The results were the same as before. Even though it left a small wound, the Aether Strike was repelled by the dragon’s exceptionally sturdy scales.

And that’s what I was planning on! 

She’d had time to breathe after she fired off Aether Strike. That was enough of a pause to ready another aether technique.

Aether Shell!

Aether of a slightly different color than usual washed over Inglis as she leaped, the dirt and snow scattering around her feet with a booming sound. The next moment, she was in the path of the Aether Strike—it was directly in front of her face. She was already aiming a kick.

“Haaaah!”

Slam!

As Inglis’s kick flashed, the Aether Strike again suddenly reversed direction, flying toward Fufailbane’s tail again. This wasn’t Aether Breaker, which layered aether on the same wavelength for explosive results, but rather the colliding wavelengths which repulsed each other to control the trajectory of Aether Strike. Inglis had used it recently when fighting the squad under Harim, Pullum’s brother, and she’d taken a shine to it.

It may have looked like the ultimate show of brute force, simply manhandling Aether Strikes around, but it was actually a highly complex technique which required the ability to manipulate two wavelengths of aether which repulsed each other at once. It was proof that her manipulation over aether was improving. She’d decided it would come in handy here.

Maybe I’ll call it “Aether Reflector,” she thought. 

Crack!

The Aether Strike impacted the dragon’s scales, bouncing off yet again.

“Once more!” Inglis again got in the path of the projectile, and this time gave it a straight punch.

Slam! Crack!

It volleyed toward her, and she returned it with a palm strike.

Slaaam! Craaackkk!

“I can keep this going all day!” This time, she rushed toward it and sent an elbow strike its way.

Slaaam! Craaackkk!

This time, she met the blast of light, coming toward her at a steep angle, with a heel stomp. “Still not enough, huh!”

The blast of aether bounced back and forth between Inglis and the ancient dragon’s tail. For Rafinha and the others, waiting in their Flygears, it was now moving too fast to follow with their eyes. It just seemed as though large and small lights were bouncing chaotically around the gigantic tail of the dragon. The roar of their impacts was like a storm.

“Inglis is amazing! I can’t follow her at all! What’s even going on?” Pullum asked.

“I’ve seen Chris use the same technique before, but now she’s even sharper!” Rafinha exclaimed, proud.

“I wonder if she was holding back last time she used it,” Leone pondered.

“It was in town, so I suppose she was...” Liselotte said.

“But as incredible as Chris is when she gets serious, it’s also incredible how only that can hurt the dragon!”

“Yes, Inglis was right. It is on a level with a Prismer,” Leone said.

“But look! Its wound is opening further!” Liselotte exclaimed.

“Leone, I’ll take over the controls! It’s almost your turn!” Rafinha said.

“Okay! Thanks!” Leone gripped the hilt of her dark greatsword Artifact and put all her strength into it.

“All right, we’re about ready!” Inglis muttered.

With each impact, her projectile lost a little more power, but it left a deeper wound in Fufailbane’s tail. Even the shocking resilience of a divine dragon couldn’t stand up to the damage put out by Aether Reflector. The wound that was slowly being opened was concentrated at around a human’s height. There, the dragon’s scales were blown away, exposing the flesh beneath. Inglis was focusing on it with unparalleled accuracy. As the power of the aether she’d shot initially faded away, Fufailbane’s tail had a ring of injuries around it.

“All right!” This was what she’d been after. Now it was just a race against time before the phantasms gathered and helped heal the wound!

“Leone! Your turn!” Inglis looked up at the Star Princess hovering above and gave the signal.

Leone already had her greatsword Artifact at the ready, fully supported by Pullum’s harp. “Got it, Inglis!”

“Here we go! Booster mode!” Rafinha, at the controls, declared forcefully.

Whirrrrr!

The engines of the Star Princess roared. “Full speed ahead!” Rafinha pushed down hard on the controls, and the Flygear dove like a shooting star toward Fufailbane’s tail. Her target, of course, was the wound Inglis had carved with Aether Reflector.

From the Flygear’s deck, Leone swung her greatsword Artifact with all her might. She activated the Gift at the same time, extending and thickening it into a gigantic blade, so huge it exceeded the width of the dragon’s tail.

“Oomph!” Leone grunted as her dark blade, with the full momentum of the booster behind it, bit into Fufailbane’s exposed flesh.

Slaaash!

It was a clean slice.

“All right! I cut it!” she announced.

“Incredible, Leone! Now we’ve got tasty meat to look forward to!” Rafinha cheered.

“Good work!” Pullum said.

“Yes. It’s thanks to Inglis’s setup and Pullum’s support...but that felt good!” The experience of slicing through something so huge was precious. Leone clenched her fists as if trying to preserve the sensation.

“Hey, that big tail’s coming down! Look out!” Lahti shouted from his own Flygear a short distance away.

Indeed, the tail was beginning to tilt toward the Star Princess. If it fell on the Flygear, the poor thing would easily be squashed beneath it, to say nothing of what it would do to those aboard.

“I know, I know! I’m not gonna mess this up before I get a chance to try that meat. I’ve been looking forward to it too much!” Rafinha grunted, readying evasive action.

But that wasn’t necessary. A moment later, Inglis jumped into the path of the falling tail, caught it, and hoisted it up onto her shoulders.

The dragon’s tail resembled a gigantic tree, tens of times the height of a young woman, yet the stunning beauty easily carried it on her shoulders. Rafinha and the others were transfixed by the sight. Not only that, but that young woman was beaming with the cutest smile. Overjoyed, she was almost rubbing her cheeks on its scales.

“Y-You can lift that thing?! A normal person would be crushed to a pulp!” Lahti remarked in shock.

Rafinha laughed. “Well, you can’t be surprised at every little thing Chris does.”

“Well, I...guess it’s more convenient if we can just carry it out...”

If they didn’t move the tail now, it would be hard to reclaim it from the swarming phantasms later—better to move it somewhere safer.

“Thanks, Leone, everyone! That was right on target.” Inglis turned to Rafinha and the others, a smile on her face.

Using Aether Reflector to shave away Fufailbane’s scales and reduce his defense, then having Leone, with Pullum’s support, cut the tail off—the plan had worked out beautifully.

If Inglis had tried to cut the dragon’s tail off herself, Aether Strike would have been too weak and merely bounced off, while Aether Breaker would have been too powerful, completely blowing the tail away. She lacked a technique between the strength of those two. Aether was a power that was difficult to handle and difficult to apply. She was developing a range of options, but they still needed work.

Thus, her plan had needed the others. Considering it a hunt for the finest ingredients rather than simply a battle in which the foe was to be destroyed meant leaving the cutting to Leone, so as not to damage said ingredients.

Rrrumble!

Inglis’s footing swayed. The ground had begun to shake.

I wonder if Fufailbane’s waking up from the pain of having his tail cut off?

The phantasms were ignoring her, instead densely packing around the severed stump of the tail and being absorbed back into him. It was an instinctive attempt to speed up the healing of the wound.

However, such a deep wound would not close quickly. That meant their group had one more step to finish their business.

“Rani! If you would!”

“Sure, leave it to me!” Rafinha handed the controls back to Leone. As she drew Shiny Flow forcefully, the arrow of light which formed in her hand took on a faint aqua glow.

Rafinha had long been familiar with her offensive Gift, but thanks to Ambassador Theodore, she now also had a Gift of healing the wounds of those she touched. The combination of those two Gifts was an arrow of healing light. This was what Rafinha fired toward the stump of Fufailbane’s tail.

Fwoooosh!

The aqua arrow of light struck true, absorbed into the severed stump.

“Is it gonna work?! Please, please, please!” Rafinha watched intently.

A gentle aqua light enveloped the wound. Like how a curtain drops over a stage, regrown skin quickly blanketed the wound. The shortened tail began to grow back as if swelling up from within. This was rapid regeneration in action—a sign that Rafinha’s Gift was working—plus it was strengthened by Pullum’s support.

“Wow! It’s working!”

“All right! The meat’s regenerating quickly—” Inglis began. This would probably restore it to its original state in a night. At the same time, as if the pain had disappeared and the dragon had calmed, the ground stopped shaking.

That’s probably proof he’s calmed down, she thought. Personally, she’d like him to wake up soon so she could have her fight, but for now there wasn’t anything wrong with prioritizing the other goal.

“All right! Now we can eat all we’d like!” Rafinha rejoiced.

“That’s right, Rani. Once the tail regrows, we’ll be back to cut it down again.”

“Right, right! So no reason to hold back! We can eat and eat and eat!”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself!” Inglis and Rafinha nodded to each other, their smiles glowing.

“All right, then let’s get back and grill this up!”

“Yeah! Do your best hauling it, Chris!”

“Leave it to me!”

With a happy smile on her face, Inglis dragged the dragon’s tail—which was dozens of times taller than she was—back to the Flygear Port.