Ch.345345. Destiny (11)

Kuguuuuuu—

—Aaaaargh!

With just one swing of its leg, an entire unit is swept away at once.

Even without taking a direct hit, what about the fragments of earth that crack and fly everywhere, and that overwhelming power? A direct hit means instant death, and even a glancing blow leaves survival questionable.

Moreover, a single flap of its wings brings a gale, and under the pouring raindrops, human bodies become like tattered rags rolling in the mud.

How many survived, and how many died? Among those who barely managed to stand, not one remains uninjured.

“Kruk?!”

“Now! Pour everything on it!!”

Nevertheless, the time they’ve bought is precious beyond measure.

With Ashpern unable to use magic right now, Feltiburugos cannot resist human debuff spells nor can it nullify human power with magical bombardment.

In other words, this is the only time they can strike against that dragon.

————!

The humans gather all their strength for a continuous magical bombardment.

“Good, this should be enough to reduce it to a half-corpse…”

“…No, that’s not right!!”

Yet Feltiburugos’s body, which should have suffered considerable damage from countering magic with its bare body, showed no signs of injury this time either.

“Not even a scratch?!”

“How is this possible…”

“If magic doesn’t work, at least a sword should pierce it!!”

Generally, magical beasts develop in one direction. No matter how large they are, if they’re strong against magic, they’re typically weak against primal weapons like spears. With the exception of Ashpern, there were no exceptions to this rule.

Moreover, the ground, now saturated with water, has become so muddy that even Feltiburugos is losing its balance.

A golden opportunity. This moment when a magical beast’s basic stance crumbles has always been when humans strike at their weakness.

However, even in this perfect moment… the dragon’s skin remains impenetrable.

-Clang!

“…The sword broke?”

Even with a shell-type magic armor coated with mana, the mana is completely stripped away and the blade itself breaks.

In this hard-won opportunity, all methods of attacking Feltiburugos have vanished.

“Kruk.”

The dragon snorted at the humans.

What remains? Is there anything left? As if to say, is this all you can muster after using every means at your disposal?

“There’s no way you could scratch the flesh of my great father. So stop struggling and quietly disappear—!”

─────!!

“Ugh, is that a howling?!”

“…No. It’s not.”

A sound that should now be familiar to the imperial army. Ashpern’s howling, which used to summon numerous magical beasts, would soon bring hordes of them before them.

But this is different.

This cry is not a howling to summon subordinates and form a beast army, but a dragon’s cry. A new attack that should be called a roar.

With the ferocious cry, the weapons that humans had been honing one by one begin to disappear.

The buff formulas that allowed them to fight on equal terms with magical beasts. The control magic and debuffs that weakened and suppressed the beasts’ power. All kinds of magic vanish on the spot through the collision of magical forces.

Even powers from different systems fared no better.

Divine power reverted to its pre-conversion magical energy, and the mana wrapped around weapons to function as magic armor was swept away and disappeared.

The principle was the same as the collision of magical forces that Junon had demonstrated. Ashpern had already completed its learning.

And then…

-Gulp, gulp.

“Ma-magical beasts…! The magical beasts are emerging again!”

For humans who cannot handle magical power, hand-to-hand combat, let alone formation, is meaningless. Unable to use magic now, Feltiburugos summoned magical beasts only after neutralizing the imperial army’s power.

How meticulous.

The collapsed formation is already too entangled to restore, and the time needed to regroup is overwhelming for humans.

“Everything is according to my father Herkas’s will… This time, face your true end, humans…!”

***

The final move. When the Elcherium Chain was used to cast a wide-area anti-cast, forcing Feltiburugos to fold its wings.

I believed without doubt that I could now end this long journey.

I extinguished the endlessly spreading plague of Shanberesh. I erased Pimpert’s distortion wave cast over the empire, and reached this point by destroying the magic circuits of intelligent magical beasts.

And… even Feltiburugos could be dealt with if its flaws were exploited perfectly.

As much as its power is based on corruption, its main body is merely in the form of a large dragon. Though Ashpern can use magic as its core, couldn’t that too be sealed?

So I set a trap. A trap for the final hunt to capture Feltiburugos.

However… this trap prepared to hunt Feltiburugos…

“Is this really all you have? Humans.”

─Aaaaargh!

Did not signify the grand finale of this long journey.

It didn’t fall. Far from falling, we couldn’t even leave a scratch.

Crunch.

My fist trembled.

To avoid walking the same path as the past. To finally completely twist the future that had remained unchanged until now.

To prove to myself that I hadn’t made the wrong choices even after regression.

Is this the future that results after using every means and method at our disposal?

“…”

“Junon, your next orders…!”

“Commander!”

They hope. To survive that dragon.

That’s why they ask for the next instruction, beg the commander for the next strategy.

Everyone looks to me, asking me to create a breakthrough.

But…

Does a key to settle this truly exist?

How many survived, and how many died? Even if we expand the scope from just me to the entire imperial army, can humans really defeat that massive dragon?

We barely managed to create one opportunity, and by sealing Feltiburugos’s wings where its magic circuits were concentrated with the Elcherium Chain, we were able to launch a magical bombardment.

But not even a scratch was made.

If magic doesn’t work, let’s try thrusting in a spear. If an ordinary spear doesn’t work, let’s borrow the power of magical tools or artifacts, use doping or objects.

Despite humans trying to inflict damage using every means possible, it remained unharmed.

This is reality.

With one dragon roar, human magical power is swept away and disappears.

The spears thrust in break instead, and the layers of magical power are all stripped away. The formulas we’ve created collapse so easily that we can’t even borrow the power of magical tools, artifacts, or objects, let alone magic armor.

There can be no next strategy, and the next instruction is impossible as all options have been neutralized.

The duration of the anti-cast effect, given that size and the scale of its magic circuits, is at most a few minutes. Soon, Feltiburugos’s magic circuits will return.

The moment the magic circuits return… that carpet bombing of magic can no longer be stopped.

And once again, the beasts of corruption will lurk before our eyes. Fear spreading like a plague and nightmares becoming reality. Even with the help of the Rakans, is our stamina infinite?

The conclusion is drawn all too simply.

-Step, step.

“Junon? Why are you suddenly going forward alone…”

“I’m sorry, Renias.”

“What do you mean… ugh?!”

I can no longer keep my promise to Renias.

***

“Now, all of you disappear…!”

The dragon’s maw opened wide, and a massive wave of magical power surged within.

“We, we must block it! Vanguard, right now…!”

Someone who noticed the breath shouted, but it was too late.

The condensed magical power created a massive fire pit that seemed capable of reducing anything nearby to ashes, and then shot out from the dragon’s mouth toward the imperial army.

There is nowhere to escape the breath. The fireball shot from the huge dragon’s mouth was incomparable to human fireballs in size, and this entire wide area was where the imperial army was positioned.

An attack that cannot be avoided, deflected, or fled from.

Unless countered with equal force, the imperial army was destined to be reduced to ashes by that breath.

“…”

-If Feltiburugos cannot be handled by the imperial army’s power, you’ll inevitably have to borrow your help, won’t you?

-Your approach to crises has always been correct. But each time, something irresistible has blocked your path, hasn’t it?

-Has all your past experience disappeared? Things haven’t always gone as you wanted since your regression.

I denied it so strongly.

Denied and denied again.

『Alcaid. As God’s messenger, sacrifice yourself to save the world.』

Despite the warning that I would surely die with the next use, I shouted that I would change the future myself.

The future… hasn’t changed. Just as the Sagittarius constellation that tried to stop me by entering my dreams said.

“I-it’s over… huh?”

“Did it disappear…?”

“No, look over there!!”

“What is that…?”

Among the bewildered imperial soldiers, several people rush forward.

“No, brother! Brotherrr!!”

“Stop, stop it Junon. You know you shouldn’t use that!!”

“Se-senior… No… Please, I’m begging you!!”

“It’s our turn this time. You have to give us a chance to try something!!”

Tembris.

And…

“No… Nooooo!!”

The girl facing the greatest fear in the world was pounding on the wall with her bare hands.