Ch.1117Dragon Fafnir

======[ Himmel ]======

The rodent-shaped hybrid monsters had been engaged in fierce battles with the dwarves in the underground tunnels of the Republic of Himmel.

During the war, they accidentally stumbled upon an ancient dwarf storage facility that was half-buried, where they discovered a transcendent ancient weapon.

The ultimate strategic weapon of old Himmel created to oppose divinity—the mechanical dragon Fafnir.

They realized immediately. If they could harness this weapon’s power, they could annihilate the dwarves who had been stubbornly holding their ground in the back-and-forth conflict.

From that day forward, the monsters devoted all their efforts to modifying and reactivating Fafnir, willingly sacrificing even the territories they had captured.

But there was no progress.

Fafnir was the ultimate weapon that even the dwarves in their golden age could barely produce a single unit of, at the cost of nearly bankrupting their nation.

The technology used in designing and constructing such a monstrosity far exceeded what could be imitated by the intelligence of mere monsters.

With their limited knowledge, even activating Fafnir from its dormant state was nearly impossible.

“Warning: Major threat divine essence detected in northeast direction. Pattern analysis, record verification… verification complete. Priority elimination target, divine essence of ‘Envy’ confirmed.”

In other words, what awakened Fafnir was not the surrounding monsters, but the powerful and ominous divine wavelength recorded in its database.

“Anti-Divine Strategic Mobile Weapon, Fafnir. Emergency activation initiated.”

The evil god of envy, Invidius. That massive threat awakened the ancient dwarf super-weapon that had been sleeping for ages.

—-

Fafnir suddenly reactivated after detecting Invidius’s divine essence.

“Kieek?! Kiiiiiit!”

“Teshaaaaak!”

Completely ignoring the shocked cries of the surrounding monsters, it spread its wings wide and methodically followed its predetermined activation procedures.

Mana ignition. Power supply to each section. Hardware check. Software check. Connection to control headquarters.

And throughout all these procedures, numerous errors continued to occur.

“Error: Comprehensive control network silent. Near-future prediction computation system, ‘Regin’ connection impossible. Auxiliary processing unit activating. Temporary transfer of craft control.”

Regin—the central management system that comprehensively controlled all armored weapons and predicted the near future based on information observed and collected by those weapons.

The machine god created by the ancient dwarves.

Originally, the ancient weapons of the dwarves were programmed to connect to the comprehensive control network immediately upon activation to follow Regin’s control, preventing malfunctions.

However, the reactivated Fafnir’s connection attempts repeatedly failed as if blocked by something.

With no other choice, Fafnir had to allocate control of its body to the built-in backup auxiliary processing unit to move independently.

Of course, that wasn’t the only problem.

“Warning: Power core anomaly confirmed. Irreversible degraded mana detected. Circuit erosion in progress. Output decreasing.”

Was it because of the monsters surrounding it?

Despite being abandoned without maintenance for ages, the power core did activate normally, but it had been corroded by dark mana in many places, significantly reducing its output.

This was only natural.

Since it was a device not designed to operate with dark mana, when filled with it, normal operation would be hindered, causing output to plummet.

It was like pouring diesel into a gasoline engine.

“Warning: Body damage rate 24%. Lift thrust 65%, propulsion thrust 47% decreased. Main wing damaged parts replaced with unauthorized equipment. Compatibility verification required.”

Moreover, not only the power system but also the propulsion system was severely damaged.

One wing that had been damaged about two thousand years ago in the joint attack by the World Tree and Varnir had still not been properly repaired.

Having lost one wing, Fafnir’s flight thrust had significantly decreased compared to its prime.

The monsters who had attempted to modify Fafnir had attached a new wing with their best efforts, but it was merely a crude substitute that fell far short of the original.

“Estimated thrust increase rate less than 12%. If decreased below 6%, efficiency reversal relative to weight. Immediate separation required.”

Fafnir’s auxiliary processing unit, an independent combat artificial ego, regarded the newly attached monster-made wing as mere garbage, a temporary measure at best.

Still, it concluded that such garbage was better than nothing, so for now it would not separate it and try to make the most of it.

“Inspection complete. Target acquired. Distance confirmed. Propulsion system ignition.”

After completing all checks, Fafnir activated the propulsion system under its widely spread wings and raised its body that had been seated in the storage facility.

– Kwaooooooo!

The cylindrical jet engines under the wings roared, spewing fierce flames.

The storage facility brightened as if it were daytime. Three or four unfortunate monsters that had been under the engines instantly burned to ashes.

“Kieeeek?! Kieeeek!”

“Degooook!!”

The monsters who had been staring blankly at the awakened mechanical dragon scattered with screams at the sudden fiery bolt. They looked like rats hit by a waterfall.

However, the sudden calamity that befell them was not the end, but rather the beginning.

– Kwaddddddd…!

As Fafnir straightened its knees and raised its body, the iron railings and structures that had fixed its body to the storage facility began to crumple and break like paper.

– Kugugugugung!

A meteor shower of broken and crushed metal pieces fell relentlessly.

Each fragment was merely the size of a dragon’s claw, but for the monsters receiving them, they were nightmares several times larger than their own bodies.

“Kishaaaaaaak!”

“Jjibwaeeeek…!”

– Kwaaaaang! Kuuuung! Kwajak!

The falling fragments struck the ground and shook it, and the impact caused even intact structures to break one after another, making the entire storage facility begin to collapse.

A monster screaming in agony with its lower body crushed had its head trampled by the feet of other monsters, while another monster hit by a sideways fragment had its stomach burst open, rolling like a ball with its intestines spilling out.

“Gigyaaaak-!”

“Kebooook…!”

Crushed, burst, broken, burned. The monsters died in all sorts of ways, covering the collapsing storage facility with blood.

Fafnir annihilated the gathered monsters in the storage facility without even making a deliberate attack, simply by raising its body and preparing for flight.

“High-speed flight sequence initiated.”

Then, with a mechanical and calm murmur, it kicked off the ground and soared upward, spewing a waterfall of flames.

– Kugwaaaaaaang!

The cracking and collapsing ceiling of the storage facility shattered from the impact, and the earth above it split open with a violent earthquake, creating a wide chasm leading to the surface.

– Kwaooooo!

From that chasm, an impossibly massive black iron dragon soared up.

Behind its two wings of completely different materials, it left a trail of dazzlingly bright flames in the air like an afterimage.

Thus began the high-speed flight.

The armored dragon, accelerated by afterburners added to its jet engines, burst through clouds and shattered the walls of the atmosphere, echoing endless sonic booms as it charged forward.

Northward, westward.

Toward the border region of the ancient forest where the divine essence of envy, the evil god detected by its built-in sensors, was rampaging after descending.

– Kwajik, Kwadeuk…!

The pressure was too much for the crude temporary wing made by the monsters.

The shoddy metal pieces began breaking from the edges due to friction and collision with the air, showering large and small metal fragments below the dragon’s trajectory.

—-

From the old storage facility to the vicinity of the target.

After charging without rest along the shortest route and finally reaching the battlefield, Fafnir suddenly changed direction and shot upward just before entering Invidius’s detection range.

“Target acquired. Virtual body confirmed. Engagement situation concluded.”

Invidius and Haschal, both in tattered bodies, glaring at each other.

From high in the sky, Fafnir spotted the two, ignored the dying Haschal, and attempted to analyze Invidius’s combat power using all its built-in detection devices.

“Power comparison analysis… failed. Retry—failed. Analysis abandoned.”

However, this was impossible without a connection to Regin, so it naturally failed to analyze and compare Invidius’s combat power.

While its own power had been greatly weakened from years of neglect, the opponent’s power was immeasurable and completely unknown.

A normal human—no, any living being—would have approached more cautiously or retreated to fight another day, judging the situation as dangerous…

“Tactical judgment modification required… denied. Initial command confirmed. No compromise with hostile entities.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Fafnir aimed at Invidius and fired electromagnetically accelerated metal projectiles.

‘All divine essences that threaten the safety of Himmel and the dwarves shall be destroyed without exception.’

That was the very first resolution and command that the ancient dwarves who created Fafnir had embedded in the dragon’s artificial ego.

Though those dwarves had perished over the long years with not even their bones remaining, Fafnir still clearly remembered that command.

– Kwaaaaaaaang!

The shell, traveling several times faster than sound, struck Himmel’s enemy and drove it underground.