The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Shizukuku
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Author Note:
Carol: “There is too much to write, so please excuse us for taking so long — such is the message.”
Chapter 076 – Song of Dragons [A]
Raizen ran.
He gathered strength in all four of his limbs and began to hunt his prey.
His appearance as he snarled and charged forward was reminiscent of a beast.
But he didn’t mind that.
After all, this was his first duel in a thousand years.
Back then, the dragon race would give their all when hunting their prey, just as he did right now.
Regardless of how weak their prey was, a dragon would always hunt with all their might.
It was like the good old days, full of struggles and battle. He had lost many things from back then.
But regardless how long had passed, this alone wouldn’t be lost.
It was the urge to struggle with every fiber of his being. It was the instinct to survive. It was also the joy of fighting against the strong.
All of that made his blood boil.
His opponent was the strongest among majin. To have such an opponent,
…My pride as a dragon will cry in shame if I don’t go all out…!
With that in mind, he ran.
His weapons were his limbs, his claws, and everything attached to his body. His was a giant body, one that greatly exceeded that of a normal dragon, and possessed the hardest scales. His whole body was his weapon.
All he needed to do was land a hit on his opponent. As long as his hit connected, his opponent would be injured.
That opponent had now entered his field of vision. In front of him, the majin wielded a longsword that was longer than his body.
“…So you’ve come…!”
The majin smiled and moved his sword,
“I’ll let you taste this again…!”
“—!”
The sword swung as soon as the majin finished speaking.
Two attacks with a single swing of his sword. It was a deadly attack that was capable of harming Raizen.
It was unleashed from left and right, their trajectories overlapping at Raizen’s mouth.
It was quite fast. It would be difficult to avoid. All he could do was try to move his head out of the way so the attack would land on a harder part of his body.
“! Ooh…!!”
However, Raizen took the impact head on.
It hit him painfully, right under his jaw. He could taste the blood as it flowed into his mouth.
But in exchange for that,
“I’ll have you eat my attack as well…!”
“—?!”
The majin’s eyes went wide in surprise.
The pain from his strike wasn’t enough to slow the dragon down. Raizen didn’t flinch, not even a tiny bit.
Therefore, it was too late for the majin to react to his counterattack.
So the majin took a strong hit from the dragon.
…I never thought he wouldn’t even flinch from that…!
Leonhart praised his opponent as he was launched into the air.
Although not in exactly the same spot, he had swung his sword at a similar spot to cause some damage.
As a result, blood flowed from the dragon’s mouth, but it didn’t deter him at all and he continued his assault on Leonhart.
If he flinched from the pain, even a little, Leonhart would be able to take advantage of it.
But Leonhart wasn’t able to do so, as the gap didn’t exist. Even though Leonhart had managed to block with his sword, he hadn’t taken a proper stance, thus Leonhart was easily sent flying.
Therefore, the first thing he had to do was to regain his posture. He glanced around while the pain of being hit coursed through his body.
There was a rock ahead. It was a huge rock. It was closer to a mound rather than a rock.
Seeing the rock that was about as big as Raizen’s body, Leonhart turned the sole of his foot toward it.
He made use of the mound of rock as a wall, kicked himself off of it, and propelled his body back toward the dragon.
Then he swung his sword in a way that would cross the dragon’s giant body.
He had repositioned himself in the air and was about to strike but, when Leonhart looked ahead, he saw a movement there.
The dragon, that had been running toward him earlier, instantly stopped his movement,
…No, rather than him stopping… this is…
The dragon firmly planted his four limbs on the ground and looked at Leonhart. He could see the dragon was gathering power in his legs.
Then something beyond anything he could have imagined occurred.
The dragon’s four limbs parted from the ground.
But it wasn’t anything like the running move that Raizen had performed earlier.
He pushed off with all four limbs at the same time and jumped into the air like a beast.
It was all done with that enormous 50 meter long body,
“He’s jumping…?!”
The earth beneath him took the full impact of the dragon’s power and his footprints were left behind in the rock.
His giant body launched in the air and attacked with enormous instantaneous power.
He momentarily exceeded his previous combat speed.
The moment he realized the dragon’s aim, Leonhart shouted,
“Are you trying to smash me with the rocks?!”
“Exactly…!”
At that moment, the dragon drew closer with a huge rock held with his limbs,
“—!!”
He tried to slam Leonhart with the rock and his giant body, in the form of a tackle.
The rock broke and the sound of the impact echoed across their surroundings.
Again, Raizen continued moving his legs, despite the pain.
Right in front of him, the majin had blocked his tackle with his sword.
But, even if he managed to block the impact from front, the majin’s expression was distorted as a result of the impact from being sandwiched by the rock.
Leonhart should be injured and feeling a lot of pain.
Raizen realized that for certain, due to the distortion of Leonhart’s mouth. However,
“I can still keep going…!”
Raizen’s hands continue to attack.
After crushing the rock and freeing his field of vision, Raizen could see the slope of the mountain.
Raizen looked at his hometown that continued upward to the sky beyond. He ran toward the side of the mountain, as if pushing the majin. Raizen wouldn’t be able to crush him with the rock this time.
However, it would be enough, as long as the majin suffered wounds.
Perhaps understanding Raizen’s aim, the majin raised his voice. With a smile on his face,
“Are you trying to bring the mountain down on me?!”
It was a questioning voice.
“That hurts, you bastard…!”
Obviously, there was no way it wouldn’t be painful.
During the assault, the majin had blocked the worst of it with his sword. Although the sword itself wasn’t fragile, it was clear that it wasn’t powerful against impacts, unlike Raizen.
However, Raizen couldn’t stop himself from leaking out a smile.
That was because,
“And what’s wrong with that…!”
“!”
He said that. It came from the ancient pride of a dragon.
“Battle itself is our honor…!”
Battle was an opportunity to gain honor.
“Wounds are our medal of honor…!”
Wounds were the indicator of the number of battles they lived through.
“And pain is what makes the warrior able to achieve greater heights!!”
That was why,
“Pain is not a reason to stop fighting…!”
“…!”
The majin swallowed his breath.
Indeed. This was the dragon’s first duel in a thousand years. It was an important opportunity to earn his honor back.
And he had an opponent who could force him to give his all right in front of him.
“Is that not the case for you…?!”
He threw out his question. It was a stupid question that didn’t need to be answered.
The majin, that had been sent flying again, leaked a smile of his own and answered while swinging his sword,
“—It is the same for me…!”
“In that case.”
Raizen said.
Pain struck him along with the impact of the sword. He smiled upon receiving it,
“More… come at me stronger and hit me with your all…!”
He shouted. Without stopping his movements, Raizen conveyed his feelings toward his rival.
“This much is not enough to bring me down…!”
This level of pain and damage weren’t enough to stop him and, as if to prove it,
“Show me how serious you can be!!”
Along with those words, came Raizen’s attack.
A huge dragon collided with the Rising Dragon Mountain.
However, it only produced a slight impact to his surroundings.
The world’s greatest mountain wouldn’t flinch from only that much.
And Leonhart, who was slammed into the other side of the mountain, was,
“—Kuh.”
Although he was injured and suffered wounds,
“Kuhaha…”
All while his body was drenched with his own blood,
“Kuhahahahahaha—!!”
He was full of joy.
Leonhart looked back. When was the last time I had so much fun? he thought.
About three hundred years have passed since I became a majin. Was there anyone I fought who was as strong as the one I’m fighting right now?
When did he last fight an opponent who wouldn’t die, even when he swung his sword with all his strength?
…No, I guess this is the first time…?
The giant dragon he confronted — Raizen was able to take on his sword.
Leonhart knew Raizen wouldn’t die from the sword swing he had right now.
Raizen had told Leonhart to swing stronger and go all out.
That was exactly what Raizen had shouted earlier.
“Even if I do that, you won’t die easily, huh. That’s what you meant to say, right…?”
In that case, there was no need to hold back.
After living for about three hundred years, Leonhart had finally found an opponent he could fight with all his might.
Finally, the majin had become the challenger instead.
And at the end of it,
“So you’re saying… It’s okay for me to surpass you, right…!”
He swung his sword while saying that.
The dragon, who came closer to Leonhart, responded while taking his attack.
“Try to surpass me then! If you can, that is…!”
“…Okay.”
Once again, Leonhart was motivated.
He could feel his blood rushing through his veins.
It was his blood as a majin and as a human.
That blood boiled hot in front of the mighty dragon.
“Then I’ll have you accompany me as I do just that…!”
“Go and try it…!”
Leonhart’s demonic sword Orpheil and Raizen’s scales collided, scattering sparks.
It was a clash of something different yet similar. And, from the moment they separated,
“—”
Their battle couldn’t be stopped anymore.
Raizen accelerated.
The clashes and the majin’s attacks no longer become a reason for him to stop.
If the damage was only to that extent,
…I’ll push through it!
Even if the majin’s attack produced an impact that would cause accumulated damage inside Raizen’s body, he wouldn’t collapse from the immediate damage.
Rather, he knew he could endure it with his persistence.
Therefore, the majin was still at a disadvantage. His body wasn’t as sturdy as the dragon’s, after all.
As long as Raizen could manage to hit the majin, the majin would be wounded.
So Raizen proceeded to attack. He exerted his strength to his four limbs and jumped toward his opponent.
However, there was no sign of the majin as Raizen tried to trampled him from above,
…So he avoided it!
There was no feedback. In that case, it was natural to think that the majin had avoided it.
Raizen looked to the left, according to where he felt Leonhart’s presence had moved to. Beyond his gaze was the majin, who moved instantly toward Raizen’s feet and swung his sword,
“I’ll crush your leg first…!”
An impact slammed into Raizen’s feet with those words. It was focused on his left back leg. The simultaneous slashes were concentrated on that spot,
“gh…!”
Raizen didn’t raise his voice out of pain.
However, a momentary fluctuation occurred due to the structure of his body. It wasn’t something he could prevent.
However it was still manageable. So Raizen did exactly that.
There was something Raizen had behind his body that he hadn’t used yet, and he now tried to hit the majin by spinning it.
And that thing was,
“Legs are not the only things that dragons can move around…!”
A long white tail.
The tail was flexible, and it possessed the same diamond scales as the rest of his body. It was part of the dragon’s body after all.
Raizen slammed it toward the majin below him.
However,
“So you avoided that…!”
“Because I can avoid it after all…!”
Leonhart was running in front of his eyes.
He ran behind the dragon. And to the tail that had returned to its former spot,
“Then how about this?!”
“Gh!”
The impact hit Raizen’s tail this time. Even as Raizen moved his tail to escape from impact, the two slashes were unleashed from different directions and pinched his tail, making it so neither avoidance nor impact mitigation could be performed.
As pain coursed through Raizen, the majin clicked his tongue at the result,
“I thought I could cut through your tail because it looks thinner than your leg…!”
It was the remark that declared the majin hadn’t given up on cutting him down just yet.
Nay, he really hadn’t given up on it at all. The expression of the majin showed a glimpse of serious regret.
He was probably ashamed of his lack of skill, since he was still unable to cut through the tail.
…He sure is very conscious about it…!
Raizen’s scales boasted their invincibility against slashing attacks. Therefore, the majin’s attempt was too reckless. There was no way he could do it.
However,
“…I wouldn’t laugh at it…!”
Raizen didn’t sneer at the attempt or say it was useless.
He wouldn’t declare the majin’s actions as a waste.
The majin was challenging a dragon and trying to defeat him. Was there anyone who would laugh at someone for trying to reach a summit that nobody had ever reached before?
If there were still those who would laugh at that, then let them laugh all they wanted.
The dragon paid respect to the hero who challenged his mighty power and tried to crush it with all his strength.
“Challenge me, as many times as you want…! I will defeat your every attempt!”
“Don’t boast of something you can’t do…!”
Their fighting spirits hit each other.
The majin ran through the fallen rocks with those words.
The majin wouldn’t rush him from the front. He would gain some distance while trying to move behind Raizen.
“I won’t let you take my back!”
Therefore, Raizen ran as well.
He made a turn and ran in a circle so his opponent was unable to get behind him.
Leonhart, who ran on the ground below, observed how his opponent moved his body.
The dragon had great speed despite his huge size. Moreover, Raizen could perform precise maneuvers as well.
This easily allowed Raizen to keep up with Leonhart.
…The size difference in our steps is really painful.
Leonhart’s step was still the size of a normal human’s step, while Raizen’s body was dozens of times bigger than a common dragon, and he could cover much greater distances with his single step.
Leonhart could cover a little more distance with a single step by jumping a bit. However, the same could also be said for the dragon.
…He’s coming!
At the edge of his vision, he saw the dragon move.
His turning movement accelerated. The dragon’s body spun in place without leaving his spot.
And the result of such action was the tail sweeping toward Leonhart’s location.
It was easy to handle.
Leonhart deflected the incoming tail upward using his sword.
However,
“—!”
Once again, the tail accelerated and came from the same direction.
…What the?!
As it happened, Leonhart watched Raizen, who had caused it. He immediately understood the method.
The dragon kept spinning on the spot. The high speed acceleration continued to spin the tail,
…He rotated twice…!
The moment Leonhart thought of that, the tail approached again. As it accelerated from the rotation, the power behind the tail increased,
“Blow away!”
With those words, the tail swung at Leonhart.
It was a whip-like attack. Still, the power and speed were far superior when compared to a whip.
As Leonhart was sent flying, the dragon approached him at the side of the mountain, turned his face, and opened his mouth.
It was the preliminary movement for his breath attack and the dragon, who had accumulated enough power, spat out his breath while Leonhart was still in the air.
“Gh…!”
As Leonhart deflected the attack behind him, the side of the mountain was pierced with Raizen’s breath attack.
The sounds of impact and a loud roar were produced. Along with that, a part of the upper layer of the mountain collapsed.
Leonhart clicked his tongue as rocks of various sizes fell down around him. He proceeded to cut one of the largest rocks with a slash. As Leonhart secured his safety, he searched for the figure of the dragon.
And,
“Ooh…!”
Leonhart saw the dragon’s figure up close.
Raizen had probably moved at almost the exact same time as his breath attack.
The dragon would have rushed forward during his attack, all while penetrating the falling rocks with his scales.
The falling rocks hitting the dragon’s body wouldn’t be enough to stop him. There was nothing that could stop the dragon from moving.
Therefore, Leonhart decided to act. He put himself into a lower posture, jumped to the upper part of the dragon and,
“How about this…!”
“…?!”
Leonhart lifted the corner of his mouth. The dragon was confused by his actions.
But that wasn’t enough and he raised his voice. The reason was,
“You jumped on top of my body…!”
As Leonhart had jumped over the rushing dragon, he had grabbed onto the dragon’s body.
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