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Chapter 305

While Vengitta continued to intensify the battle by deploying other trump cards after Kygairon on the battlefield, above them, the battle raged between the dragonkin, allies of Berne, and the faux dragons united under the banner of the Demon King’s Army.

The multitude of wyverns, led by the wise dragons of the Mores Mountains, and the Nyverns, subordinates of the faux dragons, engaged in a massive battle, one that seemed to surpass even the combined forces of the flying dragon knights of neighboring countries.

The rare confrontation between dragonkin armies, looking back in history, filled observers with a sense of awe and power, reminiscent of the precursors to natural disasters.

The soldiers of Arkrest Kingdom and the Demon King’s Army, engaged in ground combat, had no chance to closely observe the aerial battle. However, those capable of magically enhanced vision or third parties spying on the conflict would undoubtedly have been captivated by the fierce clash of the intelligent dragonkin.

Despite their huge size, they flew faster than sound and flew around freely; their naturally strong bodies and the scales that covered them, and the barriers created by their enormous magical power were as solid as fortifications.

Even the wisest dragonkin could reach this standard, but even higher-ranked archosaurs possessed an even higher level of combat ability. Among the ancient dragons of the Mores Mountains, the one to watch out for was Vaje.

「Oooohhhh!」

The intense heat emanating from Vaje’s body was so extreme that it vaporized both Nyverns and their riders, leaving nothing behind.

As Vaje, radiating heat in all directions, soared through the battlefield at supersonic speeds, the damage inflicted upon the faux dragon faction was catastrophic.

Nyverns, swallowed by flames and vanishing as mere shadows, could not even scream before being annihilated by Vaje. Realizing the threat, the faux dragons desperately attempted to halt her advance.

「Darn, that deep crimson dragon again!」

「She’s doing as she pleases!」

A three-necked faux dragon with blue and red scales unleashed both fire and water breaths, followed by an ochre-scaled dragon with a massive mouth, firing compressed pure magic energy as light bullets.

Each attack was potent enough to obliterate a small fortress, but for Vaje, thriving after continuous battles, these were no reason to pause.

Raising her flame’s temperature even higher, acting as a fiery armor, Vaje burned everything in her path, utterly unconcerned by these attacks. The assaults of the faux dragons, equal to the intelligent dragonkin, were insufficient to even prompt her to defend or evade.

「You faux dragons will be annihilated—let us fulfill our true dragonkin destiny. Wahahahaha!」

Vaje’s laughter echoed across the skies, and an immense, almost boundless, crimson flame burst from her body, striking the attacking faux dragons and Nyvern like a natural disaster.

The crimson flames filling the sky could reduce an entire city to ashes. Even against Vaje’s powerful onslaught, among the most formidable of ancient dragons, the faux dragons could only desperately defend, and while some Nyvern were shielded by the faux dragons, most vanished without a trace, as in previous battles.

The Mores Mountains’ dragonkin, not just Vaje, intensified their attacks, gradually gaining the upper hand in the battle against the faux dragons of the Demon King’s Army.

While a significant number of faux dragons accompanying Vengitta and Quince were shot down, the reinforcements from the main force of the Demon King’s Army still outnumbered the Mores side.

Meanwhile, the Mores dragonkin, spared from death by the magical artifact Ariadne, were quickly healed by a medical unit including gods and their kin, returning them to the front lines. This allowed those who gained experience and intelligence from the ongoing battle to continually rejoin the fight, maintaining a persistent presence.

The Demon King’s Army’s numerical advantage hadn’t translated to air superiority, partly due to the presence of formidable individuals like Vaje and their inability to fully eliminate the Mores dragonkin.

「Like those puppets and spiders below, your tenacity is impressive, but I’ve grown tired of your faces!」

Vaje, striking the three-necked faux dragon from above like a comet, effortlessly broke through its barrier, embedding her flame-clad claws into its spine, shattering scales, searing flesh, and grabbing bones, unleashing an inferno inside it.

Having been ravaged by flames from the inside, the three-headed faux dragon died while spewing flames from its eyes and mouth. Vaje, having detached herself from the back of the deceased fake dragon, looked around for her next prey.

「…」

While the battle between the true and faux Dragonkin tipped in favor of the Berne-Mores Alliance due to the rampage of the crimson dragon, the land-based battleship fleet, waiting in the rear of the ground frontline, had no opportunity for supportive bombardment.

Considering the disparity in technology possessed by both sides, the Demon King’s Army side, which had a far superior range, was able to unilaterally bombard their allies, but they were forced to defend themselves without providing support to their allies.
Ten Megyn-class land warships with reinforcements, under the command of Colonel Malahau, were battling the Janura, which had grown even more massive than the one that had attacked the fleet the other day.
The Janura, which had increased in density and magical power, crawled on the earth at unbelievable speeds, sometimes leaping and wrapping itself around the Megyn-class ships, sometimes reaping them with its tail, and sometimes biting them to melt them from the inside by pouring poison into them.
On the port side of the Megyn Orr, Malahau’s ship, both the protective barriers and the armor were melted by the poison that Janura had sent out in place of a cannonball, leaving a hole reminiscent of a sore skin.
Demon snakes, released by Janura, invaded through these holes, rampaging inside to take control.

「Hey, quickly deal with the snakes inside! Load the secondary guns with anti-magic shotgun shells, prioritize exterminating the scattered snakes, and avoid friendly fire at all costs. But fire the machine guns indiscriminately; bullets can’t penetrate battleship armor. What’s the situation at the front?」

Malahau, barely concealing his irritation, was answered by a demon tribe female communicator with purple skin and five eyes.

「Lord Vengitta and Lady Quince are retreating further. They have retreated three kilometers since the battle began. The enemy’s momentum is unstoppable. Our air force can’t contain the enemy’s ancient dragons, and many have been shot down.」

「Bern, huh? We’ve drawn quite the formidable foe… Have the chanters been identified?」

「We’ve detected a magical wavelength similar to Janura’s behind the Bernese main camp. It’s believed to be the chanter. Lady Quince is heading there, but is currently engaged in battle and restrained.」

「So many capable of holding off two of the Demon Six Generals alone. Let Vengitta and Quince know they can retreat anytime. Got it!」

This effectively admitted defeat. The Demon King Yaheim’s grand command had initiated a southern invasion, and these leaders, failing to achieve significant results, were facing retreat and disgrace.

Considering the nature of the Demon King’s army, Malahau would likely have to take responsibility. She was aware of that, but there was no sign of fear of accountability in her instructions for retreat.

「Even among losers, it’s better than sacrificing our men needlessly.」

Malahau’s words, muttered behind clenched teeth, went unheard on the bridge.

Before her, beyond the reinforced glass, Janura loomed with its jaws wide, venom dripping from its fangs.

The chanter of the giant Janura, once repelled by Quince, was of course Selina. Behind the Bernese army’s main camp, left unprotected after Christina’s departure, Selina stood on a large magic circle with her compatriots from her homeland.

Selina, along with six others from the village of Jarla who excel in unique magic, sat at the origin of the magic circle. They collected their individual magic powers and the curse of the serpent that resided in their flesh and souls, channeling it to Selina. She performed the remarkable feat of remotely generating and controlling Janura.

Connected strongly to Janura’s senses, Selina felt the impact of the shells and the sensation of barriers clashing against scales. However, using her magic power, which surpassed the realm of Lamia, she blocked any pain sensation, focusing intently on controlling Janura with a growl.

「Funununun, I still can’t sink a single ship. They are incredibly tenacious!」

As Selina’s hands moved quickly, turning, swinging, and bending, the distant Janura mirrored her movements, attacking the fleet. It attempted to sink at least one ship, its long body occasionally adorned with the smoke and flames of exploding shells.

Selina was focused on maneuvering the Janura, but the other Lamias were even more astounded by her extraordinary amount of magical power and skillful manipulation.

In the Mores Mountains’ village of Jarla, she was considered an excellent mage, but now she seemed like a different creature, transformed into a Lamia.

Only because of the temporary sensory connection through the magic circle, Selina’s endlessly overflowing magical power and her precise technique to block the sensations from Janura were nothing short of astonishing.

In just over a year, Selina had grown into a much more powerful mage, almost unrecognizable from before. The girls felt fortunate to have joined forces with Berne.

Selina and her team, key in holding back the Demon King’s Army’s land fleet, were naturally accompanied by a suitable escort, including Belter, a battle golem, some Magic Control Armor, and Diadora.

Diadora was positioned midway between the main camp and Selina’s group, having refrained from going to the front due to the burden from the withering curse she had suffered in the previous battle against Vengitta.

「Still, I can’t just rest without doing anything, right?」

Sitting on a chair formed by her black roses, Diadora muttered as she exhaled peach-colored smoke from the cigar in her mouth. If she were wearing a large triangular hat with a curved tip, she would look like a witch from a fairy tale.

She filled the pipe with dried leaves of the Ente Yggdrasil and used it to adjust her body’s condition by inhaling the smoke generated by lighting it. Despite the various methods available for gods and beings disguised as humans, including Dran, to treat Diadora, her treatment had already been completed. However, this measure was taken to ensure her well-being.

「Hmm, the number of puppets and spiders is vast. Saving as many soldiers as possible is troublesome. Well, I suppose it’s worth the effort.」

Diadora readjusted her cigar in her mouth, blowing smoke rings, and snapped her fingers with her free hand. Instantly, her seeds, scattered in predicted combat areas, sprouted, blooming countless black roses. These flowers released pollen and fragrance, specially adjusted to counter Quince, into the surroundings. The poison of the black roses, tailored to target Quince and his kind without affecting humans, fatally damaged the respiratory systems of the spiders on the battlefield.

「Not only their size, but their rank seems to correlate with their resistance to poison. If I can silence the most troublesome grunts, that should suffice.」

Diadora took another puff from her cigar.

「Hehe, it’s amusing, almost like becoming a dragon myself.」

It seemed she enjoyed puffing smoke.

Christina faced off against Vengitta, Dramina fired life-saving arrows, Selina aimed to annihilate the fleet, and Diadora worked hard to intercept Quince’s dependents.

What about Dran?

Naturally, he was on the battlefield.

Dran fought at a point halfway between the front line and the main camp, but distanced from the battlefront to avoid collateral damage, ready to confront Quince, who had moved to eliminate Selina and the other Janura chanters.

「Hmm!」

Around him, devoid of soldiers, the land lay barren, a reddish-brown devoid of green. Here, Dran swung his Dragon Claw Sword, creating a deep fissure in the earth.

Quince narrowly avoided it, her small body shaken by Dran’s raging magical power and shockwaves. Skillfully controlling countless threads of spider silk, she managed to land on a rock.

「Take THIS!!!」

The slicing sound of countless threads filled the air. The attacks, invisible to human eyes, converged on Dran from all directions.

Dran casually waved his left hand, dispersing the spider threads with the released magic power of the Dragonkin.

「Celestial Javelin.」

The magic, cast without incantation, descended upon Quince in the form of countless spears of light from the heavens.

Quince was surrounded by countless spider silk threads charged with the magic of her ancient monster, forming an invisible defense. However, the tips of the Celestial Javelin effortlessly sliced through the spider silk.

「This is not good…」

Quince, who judged that she would not be able to evade at this distance in time, instantly concentrated all her magical power into her front legs and crossed them over her head to catch the Dragon Claw Sword. However, she immediately regretted this.

Her own shell, which had received swords and spears forged with orichalcum, was unable to catch even a moment’s worth of time, and the blade was biting into it!

At this point, Quince had no choice but to admit that she could not retreat from this situation without a price.

「Gu..GEEEE!」

Quince’s will was to remove the two front legs that had been cut off halfway by the Dragon Claw Sword from their roots, and she herself leapt backward with all her might. The Dragon Claw Sword’s tip touched the ground and Dran put it back into its sheath.

「Did she just sacrifice her legs??」
Shortly before he had repulsed Quince, Dran had seen that Christina had defeated Vengitta’s special body, which had increased in number to three, with Dramina’s support.
Diadora’s black rose venom had prevented the spider soldiers from showing their full potential, and the fleet in the rear of the Demon King’s Army was unable to support them due to the efforts of Lamia and her team, centered on Selina.
In addition, Vengitta’s best forces were destroyed and Quince’s retreat continued, and the Demon King’s Army began to show signs of abandoning the front line and retreating.
As for Dran, he was impressed by the speed with which they made the decision to retreat. They must have given the order to retreat even before Vengitta and Quince were defeated.
「You’re a quick-thinking commander. But victory on this battlefield is ours. You see, it’s still difficult to fight while thinking about the lives of others.」

The series of battles that started with the clash between the Demon King’s Army and the Bernese Army, which became the first battle of the Arkrest Kingdom, later came to be known as the Battle of Agraria, as it ended with the battle in the region named Agraria.

At the same time, the Romal Empire succeeded in temporarily defeating the Demon King’s Army, but the Demon King’s Army, Arkrest Kingdom, and the Romal Empire, which had increased its strength by joining with reinforcements from the home country, continued to engage in a more full-scale major war.