The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Lilia
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 55 – The Four Great Saint Dragon [B]
A majin and a dragon. The clash between the two shook the earth and made the atmosphere tremble.
The impact between these unimaginably powerful existences kicked up a great cloud of dust as proof of their legendary strength. However, one side had to give. The result was that Raizen held the advantage in the initial clash.
…Guh, what was that…?!
Leonhart’s slash was repelled as he himself was blown away. Raizen’s tackle was enough to send him skidding backwards uncontrollably.
Since the other party was a massive dragon more than fifty meters long, and with the muscle mass to go with it, it was natural that Leonhart, who was inferior in both size and mass, got pushed away. He understood such logic, and even expected such a thing to happen.
However, that wasn’t what surprised Leonhart.
As Leonhart was blown backwards from the impact, he quickly righted himself and began to stop himself. At the same time, he kept observing his enemy’s movements, using this downtime to adapt his battle strategy accordingly.
“—!”
Leonhart gritted his teeth and channeled his strength to his legs. His feet dragged tracks in the ground as they stopped his body from being sent any further back. The moment he came to a stop, he was immediately leaping forwards, sword raised.
Once again, he plunged right towards Raizen. His gaze was focused on how his enemy moved his four limbs to deal with Leonhart’s charge. The resulting evasion and counter was so fast that even Leonhart, with his polished battle instincts and senses, could only see blurred movements.
“You sure are quite agile, despite having such a huge body…!”
“You also have a great deal of strength, despite your tiny body…!”
Both of them praised each other.
Toward the giant who could exert his massive power instantaneously, Leonhart slashed toward the dragon’s neck. It seemed like a foolish move that was easily predicted, but the goal was to actually confirm a theory he had been suspecting this whole time.
Leonhart’s demonic sword, Orpheil, was approaching Raizen’s neck with no sign of stopping. Leonhart thought that even a dragon wouldn’t be able to ignore his demonic sword’s sharpness.
In fact, all the dragons he fought until now had had their head cut off or body pierced with that very sword. The only part of the body that a dragon had that was durable enough to block his blade was their sharp and tough claws.
And even when compared to a dragon’s claw, Leonhart was convinced that his demonic sword Orpheil wasn’t inferior in sharpness and toughness. Leonhart had absolute confidence over his weapon. He thought that his enemy would block it with his claw, and then he would be able to decide his battle strategy based on the result.
—Or so Leonhart thought.
As the wickedly sharp tip of Orpheil approached Raizen’s neck, the action the dragon took was,
“—!”
Twisting his neck and receiving the blade, straight on, with his head.
“—?!”
Leonhart was surprised, but he wasn’t going to let the opportunity go. He continued to swing his sword with great strength. Following the natural movement of his arm, his sword sliced across Raizen’s head, chin, neck, and all the way down to his feet, but—
“—”
Not a single scratch was made on those glittering scales.
Leonhart immediately moved away to a safe distance as he completed his swing. Then, as he looked at his smug opponent, he let out an offended noise.
“Bastard…what an absurd body you have there…!”
Leonhart remembered that his initial attack was easily repelled as it was. Then, as he thought about how his enemy was so confident that Orpheil wouldn’t even leave a scratch on his body, Leonhart suddenly understood what was protecting his opponent.
“Those scales — they are diamonds, huh…!”
“Fu, fufu… indeed.”
Somebody generously responded to his remark.
It was Raizen. He casually ran his claws across the area that Leonhart had slashed, as if it felt itchy, and then leisurely stretched and shook his body.
“My scales are quite special, you see. My apologies, but no slashing attacks are effective against it.”
Raizen exhaled, and easily gave up this information to Leonhart. His gaze was steady as he explained why none of Leonhart’s attacks were effective.
“It’s a shame. If only you were not a swordsman, perhaps we could have a great battle — but a swordsman could never defeat me, after all…”
That’s why, Raizen decided.
“I’m not so cruel as to say you are not allowed to resist at all. After all, both of us want an enjoyable fight, correct? In that case, do your best to struggle — so you are not defeated too soon.”
Among the many luxurious rooms in Maou Castle, there was one that was much more ornately decorated than the others.
It was the room of one of the Four Elite Majin — the room of the platinum dragon majin, Camilla.
And Camilla, the owner of the room, was sitting on a plush chair while studying the nails on her hand with great intensity. In her other hand, she was playing around with something that looked like a shining knife.
As the blade spun and shone in the light, it caught the attention of her apostle, Shichisei. He stopped his work and turned to his master, who gave no indication that she sensed his gaze.
“…Camilla-sama. Are you maintaining your claws?”
“……That’s right.”
Camilla gave a curt reply, and her gaze remained focused on her hand. With meticulous strokes, her long, beautiful nails were trimmed with a custom made knife.
Shichisei’s words implicitly meant “If you would allow it, I would gladly help you,” but since Camilla didn’t react to them, it showed how seriously she took this duty.
However, she frowned slightly — only to the point where those who knew her well would notice, and with a tone of annoyance, muttered,
“…It hurt my claw when I fought Leonhart…”
“…I see, I understand.”
Shichisei understood that feeling very well. .
“That sword… Orpheil, was it? That thing is quite sturdy, after all…”
As he got lost in his own memories of having to receive such a blow, his expression turned blue, and he subconsciously rubbed his fingers. As Camilla glanced at him, she thought back to her own memory of that blade.
…That thing is quite troublesome…
Although the dragon species were known to have a strong and sturdy body, the sharpness of that demonic sword was so wicked that they could only block it properly with their claws. Even if it was Camilla herself, she wouldn’t escape unscathed if she were slashed by it.
Since Camilla fought Leonhart every so often, she had many experiences clashing with that sword, and as the duels became a part of her life, so did her increased attention to her nails. None of her nails had broken, but there were times when her nails were slightly chipped or bent, which became one of Camilla’s chief worries.
…There’s only a few things that could match its sturdiness…
As she thought of that, Camilla was reminded of an individual who might be the only one who possessed the sturdiness to counter that demonic sword.
—It was her former compatriot, one of the four great saint dragons, Raizen the diamond dragon.
Camilla thought about the robustness and resistance of that dragon’s scales.
…That kind of toughness is abnormal, even among our compatriots…
The dragon known for having the hardest scales was Raizen.
He belonged to a species known as the diamond dragon, and as its name suggested, these dragons possessed scales with the toughness of the strongest diamonds.
These scales were especially sturdy against slashing attacks, and Raizen’s body in particular was the stuff of legends. His scales had never been scarred, and not even Magiihoa or Avel managed to wound him using their fangs and claws.
These scales were also resistant to magic, and it could absorb or deflect magic attacks to some extent.
Although he did have weaknesses, Raizen’s battle prowess, which mostly focused on defense, was overwhelming.
Not only was he protected all over by those diamond scales, but he often had the size advantage thanks to his massive body. Thanks to all those years of fighting, when he focused on defense, he practically had no openings.
And perhaps most dangerously, Raizen was calm, which showed his intelligence and the depth of his character. He was a rare case among dragons because he preferred not to show off his power unnecessarily, which made him a much trickier opponent to deal with.
But once he entered combat, especially against an opponent that roused his fighting spirit, he had a habit of fighting so wildly, so without consideration to his environment, that every battle ended with catastrophic damage to his surroundings. This often made him the target of many lectures from Magiihoa and other great saint dragons.
As she pondered her compatriot’s bloodlust and battle experience, Camilla was reminded of a different person. Now that she thought about it carefully,
…He seems quite similar to Leonhart.
Camilla noticed that they shared many similar things, including their habits and personalities. Not that it was anything to worry about, of course.
But even if their personalities were similar, their compatibility would be the worst, thought Camilla. There’s no chance they would be able to get along.
Although it was doubtful that both of them would ever clash, if there was any survivor among the four great saint dragons, Raizen would be the most likely candidate.
It seemed that Leonhart was spending his vacation at Rising Dragon Mountain, but—
…There’s no way, right…?
That’s basically impossible. It’s highly unlikely they would run into each other; besides, Raizen would have to not only be alive, but also have maintained his strength, for either of them to even suggest a fight, thought Camilla. To imagine such a fantasy, all because she was suddenly reminded of the past, was nothing but a foolish act.
Camilla decided to drop the topic and re-immersed herself in the task of maintaining her nails.
A/N:
Pale: “My, my reiatsu is gone…?!”1
Ssulal: “Fufuhn, you are a mob character after all! Nobody could match me as the main heroine in this novel…!”
Galtia: “You barely have any screen time recently though… also, you forgot about Kesselring, don’t you?”
Ssulal: “Ah…”
Tsukii Note:
Although records of the four great saint dragons and the eight great spirit dragons indeed exist, the members are never mentioned. On top of that, Raizen also never mentioned anywhere in the main universe of the game, so it’s likely the author’s original character.
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