Science/Magic

Bloed had seen many terrifying scenes in his life. But few times, he really felt he could die.

And this was one of these times.

Watching a peak demigod dragon firing a breath towards him made him feel helpless. He realized that no matter what he tried, he would be unable to stop that attack.

However, he was not afraid.

Because he knew that there was someone that would protect him.

At the moment when the dragon fired the breath, a silver-haired figure appeared in front of Bloed.

She did not hesitate to stand in the way of the attack. Even if she knew how powerful the breath was, she did not care.

Because she had to protect her master.

"Stop!"

Roaring, the Valkyrie created a barrier of energy in front of them.

In the next second–

*BOOMMM!!!*

A powerful explosion shook the surroundings.

Just the shockwaves of the explosion were enough to blow several people and monsters away and destroy several buildings! The power behind the dragon's breath was that strong!

And to Regina's surprise, it was stronger than she expected!

Cracks started to appear on Regina's barrier. They expanded rapidly showing that the barrier could not last for long.

But then, Regina bellowed.

"[Krigsrustning]!"

An enormous amount of energy erupted out of her body. Immediately, a beautiful set of armor appeared on her, giving her the appearance of a goddess of war.

At the same time, two crystal-like flowers appeared over her shoulders. The flowers hovered silently, emitting threatening arcs of lightning that seemed to twist space itself.

It was [Krigsrustning], Regina's Valkyrie armament!

Finally, she was using it!

After summoning Krigsrustning, Regina's energy became several times stronger. She was at least one level stronger than before.

But even that did not seem enough to stop the breath.

However, Regina did not panic. She extended her hand, summoning one of the flowers over her shoulder.

As soon as the flower touched her hand, it turned into a beautiful crystal shield. Regina then held it in front of her and stopped supplying energy to the barrier.

In the next second, the barrier was destroyed, and at the same time, the breath continued towards Regina.

But this time, it was completely stopped by her shield.

"Take care of the node, master. I won't let that monster touch you." The Valkyrie stated.

"Thank you, Regina." Bloed nodded, then he and Eres attacked the creatures again.

Meanwhile, Regina stared at the dragon with a frigid expression.

[… What are you?] The dragon asked confused. [You are definitively not human, and the power you use is not mana. What kind of being are you then?]

Regina did not reply. Instead, she grabbed the remaining crystal flower with her right hand.

As soon as it touched her hand, the flower turned into a beautiful crystal sword.

Wearing her armor, and with a shield and a sword in each of her hands, Regina walked towards the dragon coldly.

"I don't know who you are, and I don't care about your objective. However, you dared to try to kill my master, and for that, you must pay."

[Pay?] The dragon laughed. [Are you going to kill me?]

Regina narrowed her eyes.

"I am."

Then, she swung her sword.

And under the dragon's stupefied eyes, everything in front of her was cut into two.

…

Bloed glanced at Regina's battlefield and frowned.

Unexpectedly, even after Regina activated [Krigsrustning] and injured the dragon with a powerful sword attack, the dragon did not lose its advantage.

It cursed at Regina and screamed in pain, but after several seconds, its wounds started to regenerate.

Moreover, it continued absorbing the energy in the city, becoming stronger and stronger with every passing second.

'… I should focus on the node first. Now that Regina activated [Krigsrustning], she should be able to keep the dragon busy for a while.'

Even if the dragon was powerful, the fact that it attacked Bloed and Eres to stop them from destroying the node showed that the node was very important to it.

Thus, they should focus on destroying it. Who knows, perhaps it will give them a clue about how to defeat the dragon.

"We only need to kill five creatures more, brother!" Eres told him at that moment.

Bloed nodded. "Let's end this fast."

Now that four creatures had been killed, the remaining five creatures did not seem much of a trouble.

Bloed and Eres attacked again, focusing on one of the creatures and quickly injuring it. The other creatures tried to help it, but just at that moment, a spell came and stopped them.

It was Isabella! She had forced herself to use a spell despite the dragon's domain!

The spell only stopped the creatures for an instant, but it was enough for Bloed and Eres to finish the creature they were attacking.

"One more down!" Eres said after seeing the creature turn into ashes.

At that moment, the remaining four creatures started to retread. They probably realized that staying would mean death at the hands of Bloed and Eres.

Taking advantage of that, Bloed and Eres pressed on their attack. In the next two minutes, they managed to kill another two creatures.

Unfortunately, the remaining two creatures managed to escape.

"… What a shame." Bloed sighed. It would have been great to kill all the creatures right here.

These creatures were very powerful. If they were let loose, they could kill tens or hundreds of Academy City's citizens.

But he could not afford to chase after them now.

Looking at the barrier protecting the node, Bloed took a deep breath.

"Can you destroy it?" Eres asked.

Bloed nodded. He then focused on his saber, through which he could use his SSS-Grade ESP ability, [Molecular Disintegration], and attacked the barrier.

A cut immediately appeared in the barrier. It tried to repair itself, but Bloed slashed it again.

And again, and again, and again.

Finally, the barrier was unable to bear the damage, and it dissipated.

[Little bastards! Don't you dare!] The dragon roared, but Bloed ignored it. He knew that Regina would not allow it to attack him.

He only focused on the node at the center of the barrier.

And raising his saber, he swung it down.

*Rumble!!!*

The node was destroyed immediately, and at the same time, the magic circle around the city trembled violently. For an instant, it seemed like it would disappear.

However, there was still a node remaining.

When the magic circle was about to disappear, the last node showed itself. It supplied mana to the circle, allowing it to continue standing.

At that moment, Bloed opened his eyes wide.

Because he saw the location of the node.

"… How can it be in his chest!?"

Yes, the last node was in the dragon's chest.