Ch.136136. Alicia’s Bizarre Adventure (2)

However, despite Alicia’s improvised incantation, Bahamut responded to her call, and its majestic form now stood upon the soil of England.

Alicia felt drained from the enormous consumption of magical power, but she couldn’t help but smile.

After all, it was a scene that made everyone present tremble in awe.

The magnificent and imposing appearance of the dragon god summoned here was more than enough to dispel any doubts the Royal Guard might have had.

“Is that…”

“Is it real…?”

Of course, before coming here, the Royal Guard had already been informed that the famous dragon god Bahamut had formed a contract with the Queen.

However, the proof of Bahamut’s existence had merely been a video file showing another dragon priestess summoning the dragon god, with no actual evidence that Alicia herself could summon it, and those who vouched for her were far too few.

Because of this, some members of the Royal Guard had harbored discontent about Alicia’s reckless expedition, and some had even been so disappointed by what they perceived as the Queen’s bluff that they were seriously considering joining Lord Protector’s faction after this expedition ended.

But what was this sight before them?

“It’s coming this way!”

“Is—is this safe?”

From the Royal Guard’s perspective, when Alicia had recited her spell, a massive meteor had begun falling from the sky toward her position. Its tremendous speed of descent created such intense heat that it resembled fierce flames—it almost seemed like a meteor summoning spell rather than a dragon god… But soon the giant meteor spread its wings wide and began to decelerate rapidly, making a sharp turn to avoid crashing into the ground just before impact with the surface where Alicia stood.

Still, when it landed on two feet with a thunderous “BOOM” that sounded like an earthquake, the meteor—no, the massive dragon—made its majestic presence unmistakably clear to the Royal Guard.

Yes, now they could believe it.

The young Queen whom the Royal Guards served was truly a dragon priestess who had contracted with a sacred dragon!

“Ah… Ahhh…”

“A-amazing.”

“That’s a real dragon, isn’t it?”

The Royal Guards who had accompanied her here were overwhelmed by indescribable emotions.

Even they themselves found it difficult to identify what they were feeling, let alone put it into words.

Tears threatened to spill from their eyes, their chests swelled with strange emotions, or perhaps it felt like something long unrewarded was finally being acknowledged.

But one thing was certain—the name “Alicia” was being deeply engraved in their hearts, more than enough to leave a lasting impression.

And the role of completely winning over the Royal Guard’s hearts fell to Alicia’s Bahamut.

“According to our contract, I have transcended space to appear before you, my contractor, Alicia Elizabeth Diana.”

Displaying its enormous presence generously, Bahamut explicitly called out the Queen’s name, elevating her prestige.

Only then did the Royal Guard fully realize that the one who had summoned this magnificent dragon god was truly their Queen, and all their gazes turned toward Alicia.

‘Ugh, this is so much pressure…! What should I do? What should I do? Save me, Mary!’

Under those intense stares, Alicia somehow maintained the dignity of a queen on the outside, but inside she had already fallen into a state of panic.

Since this was her first time fighting as an Awakened, it was perhaps fortunate that she had been too exhausted to witness Bahamut’s descent after summoning it.

If Alicia had had even a little energy left, she would surely have been just as astonished as the Royal Guard at Bahamut’s summoning scene, unable to maintain her queenly dignity and achieve the same effect.

From Alicia’s perspective, she had somehow recovered her magical power and regained consciousness to find the dragon god Bahamut before her eyes, with the Royal Guard looking at her with expectant gazes.

So she sent a mental plea for help to the maid who assisted her, but…

‘Wrong! The current Mary is useless!’

Even the maid she had trusted was in a daze after Bahamut’s descent.

Despite already knowing about it, she was trembling from head to toe at the sight of its majesty.

As if convinced this was the right answer, she too was shedding tears and simply waiting for the words of the Queen who had contracted with the great dragon god.

‘I have no choice but to go for it!’

Despite the despair of having no one to help her, her choice was to face the situation head-on.

She had already performed her duties as Queen right after the apocalypse began.

Though she hadn’t earned the trust of British political circles, she had done better than anyone at maintaining queenly composure and providing stability.

In other words… she knew how to put on a dignified front as a leader, in her own way.

“Behold! I now stand with the blessing of the dragon god! The divine dragon before us is proof of this! If you do not wish to incur the wrath of the dragon god, lower your weapons at once! This is a royal command!”

With a bold and courageous demeanor, she flaunted her status as both dragon priestess and Queen of this country, ordering the Royal Guard to put away their weapons.

She straightened her back to appear as dignified as possible despite her small frame and shouted as loudly as she could, though to a third party it might have seemed like she was just straining herself.

“Yes, Your Majesty!!”

However, the dragon god’s presence before her seemed to amplify the Queen’s own presence, and the Royal Guard carried out her order to discard their weapons faithfully without any question.

There was not a hint of doubt in their actions.

The Queen had commanded them to put away their weapons, so they obediently followed that order.

No obligation was imposed on them.

From now on, they were the Queen’s loyal Royal Guard.

“Listen well! Brave and loyal Royal Guard who have followed me thus far! The reason I embarked on this expedition was to show you this sight with absolute certainty!”

And Alicia, gesturing dramatically around her, continued speaking in a low voice, slowly, as if telling the Royal Guard watching this scene to remember it clearly.

With the most serious expression she could muster, she closed her eyes as if gathering energy, and everyone watched her actions.

“I will not say much to you! No, there is no need for many words. If your eyes do not deceive you, you can see the brave dragon god before you! I declare to you proudly! I have become a dragon priestess contracted with the dragon god!”

And with exaggerated emphasis, she proclaimed loudly that the evidence was before their eyes and that detailed explanations were unnecessary.

There was no logic or exaggeration in her words; she simply stated the fact that she had contracted with the dragon god and become a dragon priestess.

But there was truly no need for more. The majestic presence of the great dragon god was both evidence and exaggeration in itself.

“With the power of the great dragon god, I am reborn! Therefore, I promise! England shall suffer from the apocalypse no more. There is no need to turn away from the tragedy before us or shed tears of sorrow! Because I will save this country!”

The indescribable emotions filling the Royal Guard gradually turned into trembling excitement.

Yes, it could be called deep emotion.

It felt as if the loyalty they had devoted until now was finally being rewarded, and they could feel a warmth spreading from their heads down to their spines.

As members of the Royal Guard, they had faced many temptations, and many of their comrades had succumbed to those temptations, abandoning their honor and oaths.

Should they continue their loyalty to the young Queen? Or should they act to save their own lives? There had been many conflicts.

But today, those struggles came to an end.

“Lord in heaven! Please watch over our future!! Dragon god, may your blessing be upon the path I take!”

“”””God Save the Queen!!””””

For they could finally be rewarded for their loyalty.

When the Queen called out to the God in heaven to watch over them, the Royal Guard responded by calling on God to protect the Queen.

“Then according to our contract, please eliminate my enemy.”

The Queen did not miss this opportunity and continued to demonstrate her influence over the dragon god Bahamut.

“As you wish.”

Bahamut nodded heavily at the Queen’s request and looked at the giant opponent.

The giant stag beetle he was facing was about two heads shorter than Bahamut, but its enormous size still made it a formidable opponent that even Bahamut couldn’t ignore.

It physically demonstrated why the Lord Protector had been unable to subjugate it, and as Bahamut descended, the giant stag beetle was warily watching this creature larger than itself.

Unable to attack easily due to Bahamut’s imposing size, Bahamut looked at the giant stag beetle and said:

“If you won’t come to me, I’ll come to you first.”

Slowly moving his feet, he leaped lightly across the ground and struck down on the giant stag beetle’s back with his claws.

With a thunderous boom, the giant stag beetle was pinned down by Bahamut, but it seemed to be quite strong for its size, as it shook its body to try to throw off Bahamut who had mounted its back.

Bahamut easily avoided this by moving his wings and rising into the air, and as he ascended, blazing fire elemental magic began to burn the stag beetle’s back.

“It’s like a scene from a comic book or movie!”

“Yes, it’s an incredible battle.”

It was a magnificent scene of monster versus monster.

The stag beetle, seeming to realize it would be hunted down by the dragon if it remained passive, began to thrash about more violently, and Bahamut, thinking that if it went berserk the surroundings would be devastated, landed on the ground and engaged in a test of strength.

The stag beetle’s horns aimed for Bahamut’s chest, and Bahamut grabbed both horns with his hands, trying to push back the giant stag beetle with sheer force.

Each time they collided, shockwaves befitting their enormous size erupted, and the surrounding environment was damaged and destroyed with each of their movements.

“You’re quite strong. Well then, I’ll use a strength enhancement spell.”

“….!”

Feeling the powerful force in his hands, Bahamut smiled slightly and began to cast an enhancement spell on himself.

The moment it activated, a powerful buff that could turn even ordinary people or Awakened into superhumans was applied to Bahamut, and he too was affected by it, his muscles expanding as he gradually began to overpower the stag beetle.

The horns, which had been powerful weapons, could no longer threaten the dragon god, and the stag beetle was pitifully trying to shake off Bahamut who held its horns, but its struggles were futile.

“How could the Lord Protector have survived against this thing?”

But the stag beetle was not to be underestimated—it just had a terrible matchup. Its opponent was a monster that relied solely on its size class, but unfortunately, it was facing Bahamut, who not only exceeded that size class but was also versatile with magic.

For the Lord Protector, a direct confrontation would have resulted in being crushed by that overwhelming size with a simple “squish” and death. When Alicia questioned this to the maid beside her:

“From the stag beetle’s perspective, the Lord Protector must have been like an ant.”

“True. Just looking up at it makes my head hurt.”

It only appeared pitiful because it was facing Bahamut; a human with an overwhelmingly smaller size class would pose no threat to such a monster.

As a simple example, if asked whether a single ant could harm a human, most would answer negatively—similarly, from the stag beetle’s perspective, the Lord Protector was little more than an ant.

Alicia nodded in agreement with the maid’s analogy and continued to watch the monster battle.

‘It’s stronger than me? I never imagined such a monster existed. This means there must be plenty of monsters even stronger than this one.’

Even Bahamut acknowledged its strength.

But…

“Wall of Fire.”

“KIEEEEEEEK!?”

Holding both horns to prevent escape, Bahamut used the Wall of Fire spell, engulfing the surroundings in flames.

Bahamut was unaffected by the Wall of Fire spell he had cast, but the stag beetle was suffering from the intense heat and flames, its body being thoroughly roasted.

Sensing its life was in danger, its struggles grew more violent.

“Sword of Will.”

To prevent such struggles, Bahamut summoned several giant swords in mid-air and began to drive them one by one into the stag beetle’s legs.

The massive swords penetrated the stag beetle’s flesh, going all the way through and embedding in the ground, completely immobilizing its limbs.

“Now you can’t move properly.”

Realizing that with its movement sealed, the giant horns were no longer a threat, Bahamut delivered a powerful straight punch to its head.

The swords restraining its limbs all shattered, and the stag beetle staggered greatly, falling backward and beginning to writhe.

‘This is bad. If we fight for too long, the surroundings will be completely destroyed.’

Witnessing the surrounding environment being damaged by the stag beetle’s thrashing, Bahamut decided that a prolonged battle was impractical and that he needed to end it quickly.

Therefore…

“I’ll have to end this quickly.”

“KIEEK?!”

Bahamut grabbed both legs of the fallen stag beetle and performed a giant swing.

A tremendous sound erupted from where Bahamut stood, as if a massive storm and earthquake had occurred simultaneously, accompanied by the stag beetle’s screams.

“This is the end!”

When the stag beetle was directly above Bahamut’s head, he unleashed his dragon’s breath upon it.

The dragon’s breath pierced through not only the stag beetle but also the clouds, creating a circular hole, and the stag beetle, struck by the dragon’s breath, completely disintegrated, leaving only debris.

“Wow. Am I still alive?”

“Aren’t you? I had prepared a protective barrier for my contractor, but there was no need to use it.”

“But you went too wild!”

After watching this monster battle, Alicia could finally feel that she was alive after seeing the final blow, and she complained to Bahamut for being too violent.

“It couldn’t be helped. Given the opponent’s nature. With a size class similar to mine, there was no way to fight gently.”

But in a battle between similar size classes, it couldn’t be helped.

“But no one will be able to deny this!”

“Y-yes, that’s right!”

However, through this battle, Alicia had gained an opportunity to greatly enhance her prestige.

No one would be able to deny it, not even the Lord Protector—it was a perfect chance to deliver a significant blow.

“Your Majesty, please make a proud declaration before the Royal Guard comes to their senses.”

“O-okay!”

That’s why the Royal Guard needed to be witnesses to this spectacle, and Alicia’s dignity and majesty needed to be firmly imprinted on them to ensure they would give testimony favorable to her.

Alicia hesitated briefly as she faced the Royal Guard, who were still dazed from watching the monster battle.

“Did you see? This is the power of the dragon god! And I, Alicia, am the contractor of the dragon god! From now on, this country has the blessing of the dragon god and is under its protection!”

Soon, acting like a great queen from a story, she declared that this country was now under the protection of the dragon.

In Western lore, dragons were often portrayed as evil beings, but that didn’t matter.

Stories were just stories, and wasn’t it human society that would overturn even symbols if they benefited the country?

Alicia imprinted the greatness of the dragon god on the Royal Guard with such force that she seemed ready to replace the lion, which could be considered the royal emblem, with a dragon.

“Great and sacred dragon, Bahamut. Remember forever the name of the dragon god who will be with us from now on.”

Finally, as she proclaimed that name and commanded them to remember it forever…

“”””UOOOOOOOH!””””

There was not a single member of the Royal Guard who would not obey.