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Chapter 285 part 1

Vaje and Envio whipped their gigantic bodies around at a dizzying pace, shifting their positions to clip or stretch out the distance between them. The fierce ongoing battle between the two sent ripples akin to the swing of a grim reaper’s scythe for lesser dragons, and any one of these ripples could easily wipe out Nyverns and Wyverns. 

Vaje was born with the spiritual might of the ancient dragons, but her prowess had been further sharpened by her training with Dragon, the Ancient-Celestial Dragon and the origin of her race. Even Envio, with countless fierce battles under his belt, was stripped of all semblance of laidback confidence in this fight with Vaje. He had been compelled to reveal his full strength in order to keep up.

「Gwaaah!」　

A muffled gwop resounded, as though bubbles were being blown out. The air around Envio morphed into a shade of dark green. A poisonous mist compressed to the size of a fist had appeared. Upon release, this bubble of intense toxicity and density would swiftly dissipate to the ends of the world and rip the life out of anyone who came into contact with it.

The wind did little to sway the flow of this poisonous mist. Rather, it solely abided by Envio’s magic powers and will. The mist morphed into a five-headed dragon and attacked Vaje from all angles—front, back, left, and right. After the poisonous mist passed through Vaje, a faded mist of the same color was left behind. The slightest contact with it was lethal, and even the body of the mighty Crimson Dragon would fester and hurl up blood. 

「Impressive for a faux poison dragon!」　

Vaje’s utterance was bitter as she was forced to acknowledge Envio’s capabilities in such a short time since the battle began. Poison dragons were a species of dragons that existed among faux and real dragons. Out of all the poison dragons in Vaje’s knowledge, Envio was certainly ranked in the upper echelons in terms of prowess.

「A year ago, I might’ve lost. But I’m a different person now! Bwahahaha!!!」　

A striking, scorching, gigantic crimson flower bloomed in the skies of Bern, burning away the dark green poisonous mist. Not a single trace of the mist was left, and the residual heat emitted by the crimson flower was enough to shatter the magic armor covering Envio’s entire form. 

Envio was driven to marvel at Vaje’s might, albeit inwardly to himself. She had been expanding her full magical powers since the beginning of the battle until this very moment. Yet, Vaje had not revealed a trace of fatigue. Even the force and precision of her magic powers had not faltered. Envio could even feel a shudder run through him at such thoughts.

In this mighty demon tribe, Envio’s name was one that inspired fear in others. That being said, he was shuddering at the thought of a Crimson Dragon young enough to be his granddaughter!

「With more time, you may even reach the heights of a dragon lord or a dragon king. I am certainly glad to have met you in your adolescence!」　

「Faux dragon, you must be a drunken fool to bask in the joy of encountering the hand that will turn you to ashes!」　

「Crimson Dragon girl, your arrogance is getting to your head!」　

「Fool, this isn’t arrogance! This is nothing but my natural composure! Bahahaha!!!」　

Vaje was unaware that many—including Dran—who witnessed her behavior and speech often likened her to an evil dragon on the verge of being slayed by a hero. 

An endless stream of magic flowed from Vaje. She was still far from her limit as countless flame spears spiraled and spun in the air with great vigor. A delicate and high-pitched shrill emanated from Vaje’s throat, letting the sound of a glass instrument vibrate as the heat of her spears intensified with each passing moment. 

This effect was the strengthening produced by Vaje’s dragon language magic. She had trained this ability under Dragon, the one who was most skilled in dragon language among all dragons. 

Envio was momentarily captivated by the beautiful Crimson Dragon’s singing voice that threatened to turn the entire surface of the earth into a sea of lava with her spears. 

「How magnificent, even for an enemy!」　

「Lululaaaaa!!!」　

Envio’s movement was swift once he determined that defense was impossible. In the split second that it took for countless flame spears to hit him, the amethyst scales covering his left arm melted away. Flesh, blood vessels, and bones beneath the scales turned into liquid of the same amethyst color. 

This was one of Envio’s trump cards—using himself as a catalyst to transform parts of his body into an even deadlier poison. The shimmering amethyst liquid poison surged, increasing and growing more lethal as it took the place of Envio’s left arm. The liquid spurted toward the flame spears, making poison and fire collide. A struggle for dominance emerged between the crimson flames threatening to vaporize all and the poison that would consume even a dragon’s flame. 

「No poison can defeat me. No poison can overcome me. I am the king of a thousand malices and a million poisons! Gwaaaa!!!」　

「Heh, trying to strengthen yourself with dragon language magic of faux dragons?!」　

「Van Venomoid!」　

「Oh, come to think of it, I haven’t come up with a skill name yet!」　

Vaje yelled out a dumb cry unthinkable during battle. Fortunately, her outburst did not reach Envio who was hit with a blast of fire intertwined with flames and poison.

While the strongest dragons of both camps put their pride on the line and fought with all their might, Nyverns of the demon lord’s army and the faux dragons leading them were also furiously exchanging blows of fire and claws with Wyverns. Joining that fight were also the dragons living in the Mores Mountains, including Oxis and Freala.

Unlike the Nyverns that flew and fought in unison with their riders, Wyverns fought alone. These lone Wyverns were inevitably inferior to their opponents when it came to individual strength.　Moreover, these Nyverns of the demon lord’s army had trained for group battles on a daily basis and were superior to the Wyverns in such a mass battlefield. 

The airborne knights and faux dragons that led the Nyverns were also accustomed to their positions of command. They grouped up in pairs or trios and fought while watching each other’s backs. When it came to skill and numbers, the Nyverns and their riders were confident of winning. 

This confidence was shattered the moment the Wyverns released the objects on their hind legs. These unknown items flew toward the enemy at a speed several times faster than sound, and covered a greater distance than the long-range bombardment by the faux dragons with their faux dragon language magic. 

「It’s an attack! Knights, intercept or evade…?!」　

One of the Nyvern platoon leaders, the most prominent of them, failed to utter his final command. The object that was hurtling at him closed the distance too swiftly, cutting off his sentence. 

The Wyverns were carrying pillar-shaped objects with tips resembling dragon heads. These were missile golems that zeroed in on the target’s heat and magic reactions, automatically tracking targets and exploding with magic power once they hit their targets.

Tracking magic was not a rare sight, but a golem with an orbital tracking function was something out of the ordinary. Moreover, these were mass-produced objects that operated as weapons. 

Dran’s memory of the use of such weapons by mankind in the age of dragons—more precisely, his memory of being a victim of such weapons—had formed the basis of this item. In fact, missiles and similar weapons with various warheads, including nuclear weapons, black holes, and spatial annihilation, had also been used. However, the technological skills of their current world could only accommodate missile golems infused with magic. 

Nyverns could automatically deploy defensive barriers with enhanced magic by their onboard amplifiers, but missile golems could break through these barriers with mere speed and mass alone. The explosive magic was also powerful enough the reduce Nyverns and their riders to ashes. 

The Wyverns had a disadvantage in numbers, with only 300 cavalrymen against 400 Nyvern cavalrymen. However, the Nyverns of the demon lord’s army suffered unexpected heavy losses, with nearly 140 cavalrymen shot down by an initial attack. 

More than 200 missile golems had been fired, but 60 were disposed of by faux dragons who had realized the threat. Some were shot down by rays of light emitted by faux dragons, while others were irradiated and sent flying off course by magic ripples that interfered with the golem’s magic detection.

The faux dragons had aimed to disable twice the number of missile golems, but some missile golems had changed their trajectory and made evasive maneuvers when they detected intercepting rays and breaths. Some missile golems even flew to avoid the barriers that had been erected. The faux dragons failed in their attempt to take down a large number of missile golems, leading to more Nyverns and their riders losing their lives. 

Reddish-black pieces of flesh rained down from the flames of explosions. Glorossa, the black lightning dragon sharing the same command of authority as Envio, scowled blatantly. He could appreciate the superiority of such an army, but such a weapon was unexpected from the Mores Mountains camp.

「But this is too unlike dragons. An idea likely conceived by humans, I suppose. Have they formed an alliance?」

Dragons, including faux dragons, were born with overwhelming power. There were several exceptions, but dragons tend to be ignorant when it came to developing new technology and tools to compensate for inconveniences and shortcomings. 

If the attack had been based on the manipulation of innate magic or the enhancement of dragon language magic, Glorossa would not have doubted an alliance with humans. However, the usage of golems as weapons was too unlikely for dragons. 

Dran was responsible for the base design and mass production of the missile golems, but even he had adapted them from human weapons in the past. Hence, these missile golems could not be claimed as weapons developed by dragons alone. 

Glorossa reckoned that a combination of reason magic such as magic arrows and dragon language magic could produce a similar automatic tracking function. Reluctant admiration gurgled within him with traces of contempt at the hostility reasonable for humans in this golem with a certain degree of judgment abilities to perform evasive maneuvers and change trajectories if intercepted. Moreover, it could also be used by Wyverns that lacked the sensibilities to control magic. 

The missile golems carried by the Wyverns seemed to have run out in the first wave, and the Wyverns moved to close the distance with the demon lord’s army with increasing speed. 

There was still a short distance before the breaths of Wyverns and Nyverns—their main weapons—could be effective. Until this gap was closed, the superior dragons of greater intelligence would have to play the leading role in the fight. 

Envio and his troops had formed a new impression of the power of the Mores Mountains dragons during their fight in the higher skies. In a similar fashion, Glorossa was taking in the prowess of Oxis and his intelligent dragon comrades in their fight. Glorossa’s fighting spirit boiled over from the tension, realizing that these were not opponents to be fought half-heartedly. 

Even if the Bernese army and the dragons of Mores Mountains were exterminated, it would be nearly impossible for them to ride this momentum and quash the remaining lords of Arkrest Kingdom’s northern region.

「The fight with dragon language magic is rolling fast. Evil dragon squad, prepare to chant with dragon language magic. Focus on striking before the enemy dragons. Give priority to range.」