Chapter 391 - Dawn Breaks White, a Funeral Song for a New Beginning, Part Five
The long, drawn-out fall into the seemingly bottomless pit, the darkness that felt ready to swallow us whole—none of it was there.
Only a few seconds passed after we jumped before we were enveloped in the sensation of falling. The familiar signs of a forced teleport assaulted our avatars, which had leaped without hesitation—
"""—"""
We opened our eyes and, in the next instant, found ourselves thrown out into a cloudless, azure sky.
"Hey… what about the people who can't fly?!"
"—Haru, get Iris-san!"
"I know!"
Sora, at least, was fine.
My partner is the master of a magic sword that dances freely through the air; she can handle herself. But this game, by design, generally doesn't look kindly on players soaring through the sky.
"Tch…!"
"Hold on tight! Don't bite your tongue!"
Even the great [Sword Queen] can't fly. As I snatched her body, which was in freefall with eyes wide in surprise, I prepared to activate [Rocket].
Ten percent of expected output. It'll still be fast, but… My evolved transport skill, [Luna Nobody], should have double the protective performance of its predecessor, [Guardian's Cradle], and offset the strain.
That being the case, there's only one place to go.
"This has gotta be a direct hit—I'm going full throttle from the start! Any objections?!"
"None!"
"None at all!"
As we plummeted from the sky, the gazes of all three of us converged on a single point below.
It was a massive crater, a perfect duplicate of the battlefield we had just left. And in its center—a familiar 'White' in an unfamiliar 'form'.
This form was, in the truest sense, a proper dragon… a long neck, a long tail. It stood proudly on four powerful legs, a fantastical monster with enormous wings.
It was the embodiment of beauty, terror, and awe. A massive white dragon with sacred-looking golden eyes, and above its head, a halo of light like an angel's ring.
I had no way of knowing which of its forms was the original, but—
"Came here for a rematch—Tsarkalv!"
"""—!!!"""
My tiny shout from above was met by a tremendous roar from below. Unable to suppress the grin spreading across my face, I shot through the sky just as I had once before.
It wouldn't even take a blink of an eye for us to clash.
"[Brilliant Crimson]—!"
I delivered the 'strongest and most invincible' to the 'White's' doorstep. Ashe, having effortlessly adapted to [Rocket]'s explosive acceleration, dyed her dress red and swung her sword.
It was a strike of pure intent, leaving no room for doubt—but,
"Tch…!"
It didn't connect.
Her blade, likely aimed for the roaring dragon's snout, was stopped by a barrier formed from countless overlapping tendrils—no, ribbons of light—emanating from the halo floating above its head.
"—"
Its golden eyes narrowed, its great wings spread. A pre-motion that all but guaranteed some kind of counterattack was underway when—
"[Sword Ring]."
A second golden light, descending after us, uttered a key phrase, a single sword in hand.
"—[Nel Widersch]!"
The scales tipped. The one magic sword woven from a thousand was swung down. With the activation of [Scareless] and the status sharing from [Twaibolt Mirari], the impossibly powerful sword of sand shattered the barrier that had once stopped the 'strongest' with an even greater 'abnormality'.
The colossal body wavered—and I, the third arrow, having finished my escort duty, was already loaded.
"[An=Ru Galta (Hypothesis: The Wedge-Armor that Sings of the Royal Road)]."
I let go of Ashe and landed on the ground—then reversed my momentum. My left hand, guiding the willful brat that had been sheathed, activated the light-armor that was finally ready for use again.
"I won't let you get away with no damage this time!!"
The [Everquartz (The White Crystal Sword of Sky-Soaring)], drawn with a sharp clang, its blade blazing with a brilliant white light, soared through the air to sink its fangs into the 'White' from which it originated.
It was a shallow cut. But the crimson effect etched into its neck was proof that I'd reached it.
I flew past it from below, and as I turned back, my gaze met its golden eyes, which were aimed straight at me… Hey. I'm going into this believing it's our last battle, so let's have some fun.
From that day, when all I could do was look up, make empty boasts, and land a single, tiny fang-like strike out of spite—
Both of us have become sharpened 'swords' to get this far.
"I'm not gonna lose—get ready."
A beat of silence, and then.
The silver-blue, the gold, the 'White', and the pure white—all took a step forward at the same time.