Chapter 73

While intense battles raged on the ground, the aerial combat was about to enter a new phase.

The mother dragon with eight wings spread majestically soared through the sky, followed by a group of regular fairy dragons. Surrounding the cluster formed by one mother and four offspring was a spherical membrane of emerald light. This was a constantly deployed barrier formed by the mother dragon. However, both in terms of strength and effective range, it far surpassed the barriers formed by the offspring fairy dragons. Before being sealed, when many High Elves still existed, the mother dragon, having obtained a large amount of nutrients, had expended its abundant magical power to create a kind of domain.

Robin tried a shot with the 'Gandalv'—

"—The power has been reduced. This won't cause a fatal wound even if it hits."

The purple lightning spear, having thinned as it pierced through the vast barrier, suffered a significant reduction in power due to the multiple barriers deployed internally at the moment of impact. Even with the 'Gandalv's' power amplification set to the minimum level for energy saving, the rate of power reduction was considerable.

It did hit the mother dragon's torso, but the result was merely a part of the flesh being gouged out, and the damaged area began to regenerate, bubbling up. It seemed to possess a superior self-healing ability compared to the offspring, and it would likely fully recover in less than a hundred seconds.

In short, if Fafnir wanted to end the battle with a single strike, the only options were to engage in close combat or use the 'Aulvanger.' However, the remaining stored magical power was running low. Considering the use of the power-hungry 'Aulvanger' and the subsequent battles with the remaining offspring, it was probably limited to one more shot.

"..."

As Robin finished assessing the situation, a counterattack from the dragon cluster came into view on the main display. However, there was no sense of determination to finish the enemy in this attack. It was more about quantity over quality, continuity over certainty. The continuous barrage from a certain distance was intended to—

"Prepare for a war of attrition, huh."

To pin Fafnir in the air and divert attention from the ground battles. It likely also had the meaning of wearing down the enemy's stamina. The offspring, protected by the mother, could continue shooting without worrying about magical power consumption, and several green beams of light ran through the misty sky.

"Unfortunately, I'm hungry. I can't afford to take my time."

Fafnir, which had been positioned at a high altitude, descended, converting potential energy into thrust and began to approach. While dodging the barrage that, to the hunters and warriors on the ground, was more than lethal, Robin adjusted the body through the magical lines extending from the fingertips of his hands and feet.

To conserve even the slightest amount of magical power, he closed the thrusters used for posture control and decided to handle fine trajectory adjustments with the movement of his limbs and weight shifts. He also reduced the output of several sub-thrusters. Next, he switched the output adjustment of the radiators, which had the 'cooling' spell inscribed, from automatic to manual. He allocated the magical lines extending from his right ring and little toes to this adjustment and began to calculate the optimal values in parallel with the maneuver. The 'hardening' spell, which reinforced the armor, was unnecessary. Applying the theory that it was better to avoid being hit, he cut off the magical power supply entirely. The freed-up power was redirected to firepower.

He stripped away as many functions as possible, large and small, and compensated for the lost performance with his piloting skills. The necessary calculations for machine control were handled by his own brain. As soon as Robin finished the adjustments, he kicked the foot pedal, and the hungry dragon knight responded.

"――――"

The fairy dragon cluster continued to respond, maintaining a certain distance and firing back. It seemed they had no intention of engaging in a proper fight, as they mixed a few serious shots into their harassment fire but did not seem eager to force a conclusion.

Fafnir dodged the barrage and showed a maneuver to suppress the front of the cluster. Sensing this, the mother dragon changed its trajectory to gain distance. Fafnir circled around its path, accelerated with the thrusters, and the mother dragon corrected its trajectory again.

The cat-and-mouse game continued, but the relative distance did not decrease much. Fafnir was continuously exposed to the barrage. From an outside perspective, it might have seemed like he was being toyed with, and the battle situation was harsh.

However, the mother dragon's command ability seemed to have declined as it directly joined the battle, and the movements of the cluster showed some disorder. Each time the mother dragon performed an evasive maneuver, the offspring's movements lagged behind. This delay accumulated with each evasion, though only slightly.

After shaking the enemy cluster with several high-speed maneuvers, Fafnir suddenly raised his left long gun. The trigger was pulled simultaneously with the aim, and a purple lightning spear was fired from the 'Gandalv.'

"――――!?"

The purple lightning spear, though thinned, broke through the thick barrier and pierced the nose of the last fairy dragon, which was starting to lag behind. It didn't hit, but the sudden braking caused by the grazing blow made the last individual completely escape the barrier's effective range.

Without the mother's protection, Robin mercilessly aimed the silver long gun at the individual. The fairy dragon, which had been damaged by the cannon fire that penetrated the barrier and multiple barriers, could not withstand the attack. Realizing the danger to her offspring, the mother dragon hastily turned to bring the individual back under her protection—

"—I thought you'd do that."

A precise shot was fired.

The black iron gun, not the silver one, roared. The 'Aulvanger,' which had sacrificed armor and mobility to gather magical power and secured 30% output, was fired as a pre-emptive shot, perfectly aimed.

A massive flow of magical power turned into a pillar of light, piercing through the cloudy sky.

"――――"

But the next moment, Robin's eyes widened slightly at the scene on the display. Another fairy dragon had cut in front of the mother dragon, which was about to be pierced. This individual deployed a barrier, burning even the magical elements that composed its body, and directly intercepted the surging flow of magical power.

The 'Aulvanger,' the main cannon of the dragon knight, pierced through the barrier and the fairy dragon's body, but the interception caused a slight delay in the countdown to impact. The light pillar, which should have pierced the mother dragon's heart, only tore off its four wings, failing to inflict a fatal wound. The fairy dragon had shielded the decisive blow with its body.

"――――!"

Immediately after, another fairy dragon launched a counterattack. A brilliant green light attack aimed at Fafnir, who had stopped to fire, struck.

Fafnir immediately aimed the 'Gandalv' and pulled the trigger. However, what was released from the gun was not an attack spell for interception. The spell inscribed on the magical bullet was <<Guardian Wind>>—a wind attribute defensive magic.

Eltina, the third legion commander, a specialist in healing and defensive magic, had personally crafted this defensive magic, which manifested as a massive wind wall, completely blocking the light attack.

"Kiyyyyyyyyyaaaaa—!"

But the enemy's counterattack did not end there. The moment the <<Guardian Wind>> lost its effect, a smoke screen formed from the mist rain was penetrated, and countless light arrows appeared. It was a counterattack from the mother dragon, who had lost one of her offspring.

The emerald light arrows surrounded them from all directions.

Avoiding all of them was impossible.

Robin made a split-second judgment and instantly deployed a full-area blocking field.

The defensive field centered on Fafnir blocked the incoming barrage, allowing him to emerge unscathed from a situation where being hit was inevitable.

—However, the cost was not light.

"Second core completely stopped. Switching the first core to emergency output. 'Aulvanger' and 'Eikinskialdi' are unusable. Fafnir's operational limit is about sixty seconds—this is a tough one."

The situation was almost out of fuel.

The continuous use of the 'Aulvanger' and 'Eikinskialdi,' which consumed a massive amount of magical power, had nearly depleted Fafnir's stored magical power.

To compensate for the stopped second core, the base output of the first core was increased, but this also sharply increased the consumption of the magic stones. The remaining time until the operational limit would quickly diminish if high-magical-power-consuming maneuvers like instant acceleration were performed.

If the mother dragon could have been taken down in the recent exchange, there would have been a good chance of victory, but it was nearly impossible to turn the tide in this situation. It was clear that Fafnir would run out of power before defeating the mother dragon and the three offspring. It might even be difficult to escape the enemy's pursuit and return to the large box.

"Is this the end..."

Robin, who had calmly analyzed the situation, muttered in the dim cockpit, his voice tinged with resignation. Touching the hilt of the black sword sheathed in the belt around his waist, he said, "There's no other way," and released his right hand from the control stick—

"—I hereby end the 'Verification Experiment' and transition to regular combat."

If there had been a third party present, they would have gaped in astonishment. The words spoken in the cockpit were so out of the ordinary, so absurd.

The words spoken by the dwarf, the rider of the dragon, declared that the previous exchange was merely an 'experiment' and not a 'battle.'

And if that was the case, then what was about to begin was not an 'experiment' but a 'battle,' and what awaited the hungry silver dragon was—

"Magic sword activation. Connecting to the first and second cores. ——Roar, Fafnir."

Instantly, a deafening roar erupted from the heart of the dragon knight.

The two cores housed in the chest emitted a violent hum, filling the entire body with a high concentration of magical power. The armor, which had had its magical power supply cut off, regained its original sturdiness, and the closed thrusters all opened their mouths. The black iron long gun was no exception. The magical power charging rate of the main cannon, displayed on a corner of the sub-display, easily exceeded the 30% value obtained by sacrificing armor and mobility, and continued to increase towards the maximum value.

Of course, this was not a function originally equipped on this body. When the artifact was excavated from the ancient ruins, before it was even named Fafnir, it was a construct built with lost technology but still based on science, and did not have a magical function to immediately revive a depleted core.

Therefore, the secret to Fafnir's instant revival was the black magic sword that Robin had just activated.

—Secret Art "Awaken, Dain's Legacy"

This is a secret art classified as an equipment generation type, which equips a magic sword to the user. The manifestation time—how long the equipment can be maintained—varies, but "Awaken, Dain's Legacy" has a relatively long duration of 24 hours. The special ability of this magic sword is to connect the user to the World Tree's spring—essentially, an 'infinite magical power supply' ability.

At first glance, this seems like a very beneficial effect for mages and rear-line classes who handle magical power. For them, who have to manage their limited storage compared to their consumption, it would be something they would want to obtain at any cost. Indeed, when this secret art was discovered in [Tactics Chronicle], almost all players were eager for the information.

However, the reality is different.

The cursed magic sword, as an equipped item in the weapon slot, does not recognize anything other than itself.

It consumes all available weapon slots, leaving no room for other weapons. Not only sub-weapons like daggers, but even shields cannot be equipped, and all weapons other than Dain's Legacy are rejected and unusable until the activation ends.

Moreover, the weapon category of Dain's Legacy is a sword, not a staff, magic book, or holy bell that amplifies the power of magic. Therefore, the output of the activated magic does not benefit from the weapon and remains at its base level. Additionally, many rear-line class skills have specific weapon requirements, making them all unusable. To make matters worse, Dain's Legacy provides no rear-line related status corrections.

Everyone thought it was unusable.

No matter how much infinite magical power supply was available, if the output of the activated magic dropped significantly, it was meaningless. It's like having an eternal lighter but being unable to match the firepower of a flamethrower. The result was as clear as day.

However, what happens when this flawed secret art and the magic-consuming defective weapon are combined?

—The answer is 'this.'

"Magical power recharging complete. Set 'Aulvanger' to 70% output—fire."

A test shot was fired without much aiming. Compared to the decisive blow fired in the previous exchange, this beam was undoubtedly much thicker. The light pillar, exceeding the length of Fafnir, pierced through the barrier like paper and instantly vaporized the mother dragon's tail.

The disadvantage of not being able to equip other weapons was irrelevant.

Fafnir is a type of golem, not a weapon. Robin himself only equipped Dain's Legacy, and the weapons held by Fafnir used the golem's dedicated equipment slots.

Thus, the dragon knight, who had bypassed the cost of the magic sword, absorbed infinite magical power into its body and unleashed its full power.

"――――!?"

Confused by the sudden change, the fairy dragon cluster tried to increase the distance by turning around. But it was futile. Unlike before, when Fafnir had sacrificed its mobility, it was now free from all constraints. The merciless thrust ratio quickly closed the distance between them.

The mother dragon launched a counterattack to protect her offspring. Fafnir, in response, fired the large-caliber thruster on its left shoulder and dodged with a flash boost. The barrage of light arrows that followed was also dodged with consecutive flash boosts, and Fafnir drew a sharp trajectory that would be impossible for an aircraft, closing the distance.

Upon reaching medium range, Fafnir returned to its knight form and pulled its right hand, still gripping the black iron gun, to the left shoulder area. The stance, facing forward, resembled a commander about to give an order.

The magical power recharging was already complete. Confirming the convergence rate on the sub-display, Robin pulled the trigger without hesitation and did not release it. The black iron long gun, set to sustained firing mode, emitted a beam of light that formed—

"The chief engineer Merzal's masterpiece—Aulvanger's light sword."

The over-converged light condensed into a blade, forming a massive sword over 500 meters long, with the black iron long gun as the hilt. When the right hand, pulled to the left shoulder, was swung, it became a reckless slash. The light flash, like the light of the stars bundled together, caught the fairy dragon's body through the barrier and melted its strongest torso like butter.

"――――!"

The dragon cluster let out a confused roar at the sight of their fallen comrade. Realizing that the barrier was ineffective, the fairy dragons scattered according to the mother's command. Fafnir, having retracted the light sword, targeted one of them and flew like an arrow.

Light arrows from the leading individual and from the sides tried to block the approach, but the dragon knight paid no heed.

The full-area blocking field was already in constant deployment mode.

There was no longer any room for attacks to exploit the gap in redeployment.

Fafnir, without showing any sign of evasive action, pursued a straight trajectory through the barrage of bullets.

In a few seconds, Fafnir caught up to the back of the target and, with five consecutive flash boosts, carved a lightning-like trajectory, moving to the front of the leading fairy dragon.

In less than an instant, the eyes of the dragon and the dwarf met through the display.

The silver gun barrel was aimed at the dragon's eyes, which showed fear.

The 'Gnomish Elemental,' which served as a sword, shield, and cannon, fired, and the zero-distance explosion blew off the upper body of the fairy dragon.

"Confirmed the destruction of the fifth unit. ——Well, let's finish this up."

Counting the kill count calmly, Robin glared at