Chapter 81: Wings

As the dragon approached the castle walls, it surveyed the small creatures that were flocking below it.

Those small things were frantically attacking it with arrows, flames, ice, and all sorts of things.

These seemed to be the same kind of creatures that injured itself a bit before.

They didn't look at be all that different from ants in the dragon's eyes, but it could not just ignore Tatsumi's group and the other knights.

The small things' attacks got a peg more violent when the dragon approached. Particularly large arrows started to be fired.

However, it wasn't difficult for the dragon to dodge them all with its agility.

The four clear wings of the dragon gave birth to furious bursts of wind, knocking some of the lighter projectiles away from their destination.

And if something hit its aim, the common arrow or spell would just bounce off the dragon's hard exoskeleton.

It nimbly dodged the things shot at it, and it opened its mouth, decorated with fangs, wide.

Deep red flames welled up inside the dragon. It might look like a dragonfly, but it was by all means a dragon, having the ability to spew fire.

The flames flew out to the knights atop the city walls, enveloping them. Just like that, once-proud knights of the kingdom were reduced to mere charcoal.

Some among the knights lost their footing and fell off the wall. The dragon skillfully grabbed the falling knights.

The long leg joints of Earthly dragonflies bear rows of spines. They were so that prey doesn't escape, and this world's dragon had the same.

The tough leg spines easily pierced through the knights' armor.

"Arrrghhhhhhhh!!!"

Death cries of the knights resounded across the open sky. With spines piercing through the entire body of the knights, they reached the afterworld just like that.

But that might've been their good luck. A knight that survived would have to feel the pain of being eaten.

Seeing the knights and hunters being attacked, Tatsumi reflexively tried to teleport there.

He was stopped by Bugarank's hand on his shoulder.

Wait, Tatsumi! You aren't fully healed up!"

The damage that Tatsumi took was considerable, though not reaching the bone.

It wouldn't be any less than that, having taken an attack from the dragon's huge tail.

Even though it was only one blow, Tatsumi's shield was completely destroyed. His armor was also falling apart in various places. Another attack of the same magnitude might take his life.

"S-Still─!!"

"Just wait a little more! Believe in your friends!"

It was only Bugarank by Tatsumi's side now.

The others went to assist the places attacked by the dragon.

When they left, Calcedonia constantly, repeatedly looked back to Tatsumi. She knew what she had to do, but she still worried about Tatsumi.

Calcedonia had the ability to stay by Tatsumi's side and heal him. But, there were other things that she must do.

"...So, do you think that you'll kill it if you keep attacking like before?"

"The dragon's exoskeleton is harder than I expected... But if I hit it in the same place enough, it'll eventually..."

"I see...I get what you're saying, but the dragon is still a power enemy in the sky. It isn't called the 'Ruler of the Sky' for nothing. Though if the dragon gets knocked to the ground..."

Bugarank murmured while giving Tatsumi treatment.

It was as Bugarank said: being in the sky was a huge advantage in and of itself.

On Earth, the appearance of aircraft marked a new era for warfare, and whichever side had the air superiority usually won.

"...If only we could also fly...and if only we were as fast as the the dragon..."

It was just Bugarank's quiet, quiet whisper. However, Tatsumi could hear it clearly, being so close.

A light bulb flashed inside Tatsumi's head after hearing the patriarch's murmur.

Each time the dragon spat out flames, several knights were cooked and fell out.

To save a comrade or maybe to avenge a fellow defender.

Desperately, the knights and hunters sent arrows flying and magic swirling at the dragon.

Yet, they couldn't touch the dragon that was literally dancing midair.

It was something impossible for birds, a creature that shares the same sky, to do. Not only was its stunning mobility great, its speed was plenty enough to trifle with the defenders.

Arrows would hit the dragon every so often, but they caused only mere scratches to its exoskeleton.

The dragon was currently getting too close to the city walls, so the giant crossbows couldn't be aimed. That's why the knights manning the large crossbows took out their handheld ones, but the bolts were deflected by the gales that surrounded the dragon.

Despite Taülorde yelling out his lungs and frantically giving out orders, the situation did not look good. No, more than that. You could say that the morale of the soldiers had already crumbled.

There were already hunters making use of their free status to quickly run away.

Beat-hunters, unlike the soldiers under the crown, were used to treasuring their own life above else. If there was an impossible-to-beat enemy, their first instinct was to escape.

Also, if one saw that a person near them left, their resolve would break. The hunters saw their other hunters leaving, and one by one, they started to leave.

On the other hand, none of the soldiers and knights left. Just by the fact that there were no deserters among the troops proved the quality and discipline of Largofiely's men.

The dragon whipped its tail against the small creatures on top of the walls─humans.

Being hit by the huge tail, many sustained large injuries, and some even fell off the wall. The dragon welcomed those who fell with an open mouth.

Taülorde did everything he could to raise the collapsed morale, but the sight of comrades-in-arms being eaten by the dragon didn't exactly help.

Just when he was about to call out his next order after looking at the situation, a strong wind unexpectedly attacked him.

Taülorde reflexively used his arm to shield his face. When he put down his arm, it was in front of him.

At a touching distance, an amalgamation of thousands of eyes was expressionlessly staring at him.

"──B*astard!!"

Taülorde took his favorite spear to his hand. But, the dragon let out a scorchingly hot breath before he could attack.

─Even if I'm burnt away here, the last attack will be mine.

Having the resolve to die, Taülorde took a step forward. He twisted his torso to give the maximum power and speed in his thrust.

The attack with all of Taülorde's power hit the dragon straight in the compound eye. Although the speartip sunk a little into the eye, it was too shallow a wound to be fatal.

Taülorde noticed then. In the previously expressionless eyes, there was a hint of contemptuous laughter.

And then.

And then, burning flames flew out of the dragon's mouth. Taülorde's entire body was consumed by the fire.

"T-Taülorde!!"

Seeing her brother inside the dragon's flames, Calcedonia let out a grieving scream.

A person faced at point-blank range with a dragon's flames would instantly turn to ash.

Seeing her brother in a position that was impossible to live from, Calcedonia's legs lost their strength.

And just then, something made a plop as it dropped down next to her.

「────────え?」

"────────Huh?"

Calcedonia blinked to make sure that she was seeing things correctly. And it was real. That something was Tatsumi holding Taülorde in his arms.

"...J-Just how did you make it in time...!!"

While Calcedonia was looking at him in wonder, Tatsumi took a deep breath.

Tatsumi had teleported to Taülorde and teleported back out an instant before the flames enveloped them.

"H...Husband...? Brother...?

Still not properly understanding what happened, Calcedonia looked at the pair dumbfoundedly.

"Are you alright, Taülorde?"

"T-Tatsumi...? I-I was...saved? From that...?"

Taülorde didn't seem to understand either.

"Calsey, check up on Taülorde. We've avoided the worst, but there're probably a few burns on his body."

After entrusting Taülorde to his wife, he turned his back to her.

Having a strange feeling while looking at his back, the wife timidly asked her beloved husband, "H-Husband? Just...what...are you going to do...?"

Tatsumi looked back over his shoulder and grinned.

"In this world, the dragon may certainly be the 'Ruler of the Sky'...but in my world, there's a 'Hunter of the Sky' that doesn't lose against the dragon, you know?"

"Huh?"

Turning away from the puzzled Calcedonia, Tatsumi glared at the dragon.

The dragon flew back into the sky and looked down upon Tatsumi.

While Tatsumi was staring at the dragon, an image was being drawn in his mind.

An image of the source of his magic. With the image being drawn in his head, his rare ability of using the mana outside of him manifested the magic into reality.

And the thing that he was thinking of.

Carrying great iron wings and a fiery heart, there was a steel bird of prey that flies freely through the sky.

It was an existence that doesn't lose to the dragon in the air.

As the image in his heart got clearer, the thick mana swirled like wind around Tatsumi.

The mana slowly accumulated, and it was absorbed into Tatsumi's body at a slow rate.

And then.

The absorbed mana was given the property of the heaven system, and golden particles emitted from Tatsumi's body.

"Fite me, dragon!"

The image was established. Just like the sight he had in his mind, the magic was invoked.

Tatsumi kicked off the city walls and took to the skies. However, his body, which should've fell to the ground, instead slowly ascended and slowly accelerated.

The others could see him. The golden light budding from Tatsumi's body looked as if it was a pair of flapping wings.

"Hus...Husband's...wings...?"

"...A person is...A human is flying...that fast...?"

Calcedonia and Morganeich were dumbfoundedly looking up to the sky.

They were witnessing the birth of the name, "Heaven's Wing."

A fighter plane.

That was what Tatsumi was thinking of.

A machine that outspeeds a dragon in the sky. An existence that has fangs that can fight a dragon.

In a neighboring town to the place Tatsumi lived in was a JSDF base. The JSDF used an airport nearby, so there were times when Tatsumi saw the fighters overhead.

The loud whirr of the engines enraptured the young Tatsumi's heart.

Perfectly imagining a fighter plane in his head, Tatsumi flew directly towards the dragon.

As if Tatsumi was a real jet, he left a trail of golden light in his path.

Those not attuned to the elements could only see a vague silhouette of the slowly thickening mana light. But to the mages who were, it was as if the mana were shooting stars rising from the ground and into the sky.

He pointed his sword straight at the dragon and thrusted it.

─At this rate...No, I need to be faster! A jetfighter can surpass the speed of sound!

Tatsumi's body gradually accelerated.

He wasn't affected by air pressure at the time, strangely. Tatsumi's new flight magic wasn't just a magic to simply soar through the skies but a magic that had some kind of spacial properties.

Furthermore, he was invoking the magic, "Acceleration," at the same time as his flight, though he didn't know it, being so engrossed in the feeling of flight.

Until now, it was impossible for Tatsumi to invoke two magics at once. However, his clear image in his mind propelled his ability as a mage into yet another step higher.

Mana was being gathered from the surroundings, and it was being converted to magic.

Tatsumi didn't know the specifics of how jet engines worked, though he did have a vague idea.

Air was compressed, mixed with fuel, and spewed out with a burst of flames.

Originally, Tatsumi imagined the taking in of mana to be like breathing. And when he imagined the rough system of a jet engine, his system of accumulating mana changed drastically.

Until now, the mana accumulated with the image of respiration in mind would pool inside Tatsumi's body before being used for magic. With the image of a jet engine instead, the mana went straight from the atmosphere into his magic, just like a real jet engine.

For that reason, Tatsumi's substantial mana usage didn't make him run out. Tatsumi, with his near-inexhaustible mana engine, flew at speeds even greater than the dragon's.

For Tatsumi's state right now, an anti-aircraft missile was more correct that a jetfighter.

He looked like a golden arrow, shining with the light of his mana, as he streamed towards the dragon. The tip of the "arrow" soon hit the black armor of the beast.