Volume 2 Chapter 30 Rangella VS Pastor… The Hoardspirit Dragon Zeth Halcon II
The clash between Rangella and Pastor──now transformed into the spirit-treasure dragon, Zeth Halcon──had erupted in Jewel City Lapis.
But honestly, calling it a 'battle' was giving it too much credit.
"'Frostlit Ritual Blade──Frozen Maw'"
Blades crashed down from above and below──perfectly in sync.
The slash, sharp as a dragon's bite, tore right through the breath Pastor unleashed from his jaws.
"Damn it, what the hell's going on?! I'm supposed to have the ultimate power now!"
Blue magic swirled around Pastor's tail.
Without hesitation, the sharpened tip shot straight at Rangella.
"Hmm. Your control's improved."
Rangella met the strike with his sword──driving it hard into the tip of Pastor's tail.
The tail shattered──scattering to shards... only to instantly regenerate.
"Why... Why?!"
"You're simply inexperienced. Sure, that body is powerful──no denying that. I doubt it's strong enough to rule the world, but you're strong. The problem is, you're not."
Rangella's tone was cool, almost disinterested──but every now and then, his eyes flickered with a faint light.
It didn't feel like intimidation; more like he was weaving some hidden magic with just a glance.
Maybe appraisal magic.
He was definitely up to something.
"...Ngh, damn... damn it...!"
Pastor spat a curse, but suddenly──his chest *thumped hard*.
His whole body shuddered.
A rush of blue mana exploded from every inch of his scaled skin.
All over, those blue scales caught the light and started to shine, sparkling bright.
"...Heh... Ahaha──HAHAHAHAHA!"
With a wild, ringing laugh, Pastor swung his palm in a brutal strike.
It was faster──so much sharper──than anything he'd thrown until now.
"How boring."
But Rangella launched a left-handed punch──hard as steel.
Fist slammed into palm──*crack, crack!──*
Something inside Pastor's arm made an awful, splintering sound.
"Aaaagh! M-my bones──!"
"But they're already healing. Fascinating ability. If your regeneration's that stable, the ingots you drop after defeat will be plenty useful for my master."
"!"
Pastor turned Rangella's words over and over in his head, unable to shake them loose.
"From here on, I'll weave my attacks to turn your magic into a filthy curse. When I strike you down, I'll make sure to squeeze out some high-grade ingots."
Rangella charged, driving her blade deep into the chest.
"Guh, damn you... Die! Die! Die!"
A breath was unleashed.
But Rangella clicked her fingers with her left hand... and inhaled the breath hurtling towards her.
"Huh!?"
Even Pastor, who unleashed the breath, was staggered by the level of her act.
She swallowed every last bit of the breath, then noisily cleared her throat with a rough shake of her head.
"Seems like it's 'richer' than I thought. Pretty fragile for just one hit."
"Wh-what are you..."
"What do you mean..."
Rangella looked down on Pastor with a cold gaze and spoke.
"I am the hero who saved the world... Now, I believe that's enough."
Rangella lifted her sword high.
Behind her, 8 gates appeared.
And then, all the gates shattered to pieces, releasing an immense cold from within.
The sudden rush of cold air gathered at Rangella's sword, extending its blade with a surge of magical force.
"This much impact should be plenty to finish it off."
"Wh-what is this..."
Addressing the trembling Pastor, Rangella declared.
"'Frostlit Ritual Blade'"
The glow of the cold magic intensified.
"'Ultimate Technique──Eight Kings Prime Decree'"
Rangella swung it down with all her might.
That single strike cleanly sliced through Pastor's dragon form.
...But the wound, which should have regenerated, didn't heal at all.
"Gah, grrr, aaaaaaaah!"
Pastor screamed... as his body was enveloped by the magic.
His entire form withered away before their eyes... until, when the magic cleared, Pastor was revealed as a human in a suit.
However, his body was patchily discolored with blue; it seemed that he hadn't completely lost his strength.
"Hah, hah. Wh-why, I, I..."
"You bit off more than you could chew. Challenging me, the one your master had prepared."
Rangella slowly approached.
"Hic! Wh-what are you going to do to me!"
"If you were still in dragon form, maybe I'd have some fun tinkering. But now that you've turned human, you're hardly worth the effort. What a waste... you looked like you'd make a top-class ingot, too."
Rangella glanced around the arena.
Off in the distance, she noticed spectators watching──eyes fixed on their little stage.
"...The moment the dragon disappears, everyone rushes in for a look. Is that it? If I kill you here, I'm just a murderer in their eyes."
"Ha! Don't flatter yourself. As if I'd really stoop so low──"
"Do you have any idea how many people we've killed──people enthralled by the Demon Lord?"
"What?"
"The Demon Lord's power is absolute. There's no breaking it. So that's what we've done──killed everyone trapped by her spell. Not capture, not restrain──kill. Because if someone didn't do that, even after the Demon Lord is gone, the world would be stuck with her thralls. Saving them would drain every coin and every ounce of hope from us all."
Rangella's gaze went icy cold.
"But no matter how much time, money, or suffering goes into research, it's pointless. The Demon Lord's hold never fades. Those people never become 'normal' again."
"N-no way..."
"Pour in everything you've got──gold, years, lifetimes──it changes nothing. And then what? The same people scream at us: 'Useless researchers wasting tax money.'"
"..."
"Killing is wrong. That's obvious. But nobody here has the right to stand on that moral high ground. Not when it comes to the Demon Lord's power."
That's why Rangella and her kind kept killing.
Kept erasing the afflicted.
How many times had the world cursed their names for it?
"So stop expecting us to think like normal people. You──who clung to power, who wouldn't give up your glorious future, no matter how bad things got. You──so arrogant, so blind. Do you have any idea how much hope you crushed in us, watching that?"
"..."
"Our tactics are 'intimidation' and 'total annihilation'... but this means we'll have to ignore potential and actual damage until the perfect moment arrives. However, we──and our master──hesitate no longer. We've simply 'run out of patience.'"
Tales of heroes who saved the world.
Such stories are more common than one might think.
Yet, the path that such individuals walk often requires a logic that ordinary humans cannot fathom.
When dealing with such individuals, one must not seek 'normalcy' or 'perfection.'
If one is to condemn indifference to tragedy, then each of us must build a world worth saving.
That's why the potential Valzeil showed was so dazzling.
But still, the world holds no salvation.
"However, let's not kill here, shall we? I don't mind being seen as someone who kills without a second thought, but since a former executive caused this commotion, there will be many who won't be convinced without an escape route."
Rangella sighed after saying that.
"Oh, I..."
"?"
"Could I have been... wrong?"
"I'm not interested."
The massive explosion caused by Pastor resulted in dozens of casualties.
Yet, there was no sign of that 'pierce' on Rangella's face.
"Fundamentally speaking, I'm... beyond caring about the likes of you. That's all."
To think about it... whether it was right or wrong... no, considering the devastation here and the massive blunder 4 years ago, it's not even worth pondering.
But even that level of effort is worthless.
Pastor seemed to have reached his 'limit' with Rangella's declaration.
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