The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Shizukuku
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 076 – Song of Dragons [C]
Raizen felt tremors from the mountain road collapsing as a result of their ongoing battle.
So our battle has affected the area around us this much, thought Raizen. He was surprised by the level of destruction they had caused, but this wasn’t a problem for him.
After all, Raizen was a dragon. The wings on his back weren’t just mere decorations.
However, unlike Raizen who could use his wings to fly, the majin he fought against would be unable to stop himself from falling along with the mountainside.
…What will you do with this situation?!
Raizen swung his claw doubtfully. And he called out,
“You! Are you intending to just let yourself fall?!”
The majin replied to his question with a smile,
“—And what of it?”
“—”
The majin continued to speak as he blocked Raizen’s incoming claw with his sword,
“Be it pain, wounds, or anything else — There is nothing that can interfere with this fight!!”
“—!”
Raizen quivered as he listened to the majin’s answer.
It made Raizen feel comfortable. He couldn’t prevent the ends of his mouth from loosening into a wide grin.
To that, I must give an answer. Raizen spoke out with that thought in mind.
“Yes, yes! Indeed! Our duel won’t stop! I won’t let anything stop us!!”
Raizen was determined.
Even if the ground they stood on crumbled beneath them, or if the place and era in which they fought, or anything else were to change.
…I won’t let it end our battle!!
As long as he was still alive, the proud dragon species would continue to fight.
Because continuing to fight was a reason to keep living.
He wouldn’t stop their duel out of fear of anything.
Raizen abandoned all hesitation and accumulated his strength.
“—!”
The eyes of the majin in front of him opened with surprise. It seemed that he had noticed it, as Raizen had expected.
…Well then, what about this!
It was a breath attack at close distance. Moreover, it was an attack that was strengthened by the effect of excessive conduction. The power behind it clearly exceeded the one Raizen had used before. Even if Leonhart was a majin, a direct hit from it would still turn him into charcoal.
The majin would die instantly if he made even the slightest mistake. If he managed to survive it, the mountain road would collapse and the majin would lose his foothold.
…Now, let’s see how you deal with this!
As Raizen finished accumulating his power, he swung his claw one last time, propelling himself into the air as he swung,
“—!!”
A white torrent rushed toward the majin.
The mountain road collapsed.
It was the result of the dragon breath of the Great Saint Dragon Raizen, who was strengthened by the effect of excessive conduction.
Raizen had jumped up, spread the wings on his back, and used them to keep himself in the air.
Then he looked down below and beheld the result of his attack.
His attack had pierced the mountain road and created a hole in the side of Rising Dragon Mountain.
However, there was no trace of the majin among the debris that fell as a result of the tremendous impact.
…Where did he go?!
Raizen didn’t think the majin would have been killed from just that. If it was this majin, he would have managed to survive somehow.
Raizen looked around, searching for a human figure in the rubble.
Then, when he looked up above, he finally saw the figure he was looking for at the edge of his vision.
“…That’s.”
The back of the blond majin dressed in black was in his sights.
So he survived after all, thought Raizen as he sighed.
However,
“…Where do you think you are going?”
Raizen frowned at the majin’s mysterious behavior.
In the depth of his vision, he saw the majin running toward the outer wall of the Rising Dragon Mountain.
He ran beyond the open field they had fought in before and continued to go up.
…Is he trying to reach the top of the mountain?
No, there was no way that was the case. Raizen was well aware that majin wouldn’t choose to run away from this combat.
Therefore, there should be some sort of purpose behind his actions. But just as Raizen thought of that,
…No, let’s stop thinking about it.
Raizen spread his wings and flew straight in the majin’s direction.
He didn’t feel like pondering complicated thoughts. That wasn’t the way a dragon should fight.
Since Raizen was a dragon,
…Regardless of what you’re scheming, I will crush it upfront!
Therefore, Raizen went after him.
His speed as he flew through the sky was faster than before.
Because of that, the distance between him and the majin gradually grew smaller,
“I’ll catch up to you…!”
They rose in altitude.
When he had almost caught up to the majin, Raizen was able to see what his opponent was trying to do.
The majin, who had climbed the outer wall, suddenly turned around and looked at Raizen,
“—Wha?!”
And then he rushed straight at Raizen.
That was, he leaped from the outer wall of the mountain and propelled himself through the air in Raizen’s direction.
Realizing the recklessness of the majin’s action, Raizen shouted. The goal of his opponent was,
“No way?! You’re trying to fight me in midair?!”
If the majin could pull this off, he should be able to predict the future that awaited him.
Even if his attack was successful, he could do nothing but crash to the ground after that, since he had no wings.
In the first place, there was no guarantee that his attack would hit Raizen.
Raizen could move freely in the sky. All he needed to do was get out of the way, and his opponent would fall to his death,
…Nay.
Raizen, however, quickly denied that thought.
The reason was,
—There is no way the champion of the sky would choose that…!
The dragon species was a race of proud warriors, and since the opponent had challenged him to fight midair,
…Of course I will accept the challenge upfront!!
With his passion ignited, Raizen charged forward.
Raizen spoke his intentions to the majin as he leaped toward him.
“The sky is the realm of the dragon species! We shall not let anyone invade it!!”
Raizen let out a bellowing roar, letting the sound carry as far as it could, hoping it would reach his compatriots that were still alive.
And that was,
…This is our—
Their last clash.
Raizen remembered everything.
The majin swung his sword down from above, attacking him upfront.
He attacked the scales on Raizen’s head.
The majin then passed overhead and made use of the backlash to gain altitude.
I see, thought Raizen. Although it required precise technique to pull off, it certainly allowed the majin to avoid crashing down to the ground.
…Aah, so dueling… could be this comfortable…
Raizen thought so, from the bottom of his heart.
He never thought that, in this era, he would get the chance to experience this kind of battle.
That was why Raizen also felt a bit of pity. What ran through his mind was,
…You guys, where did you go?
Oh, my fellow warriors who are unable to witness this battle,
—Why are you guys not here with me?
Have you forgotten about this, my fellow compatriots?
About our strong appearance, and how proud and mighty we once were?
Is it because we don’t have a place to belong in this world? Is it because our important companions have already gone on ahead of us?
—In that case, I shall be your reminder.
—The fact that we, the dragon species, were this kind of hot-blooded creature… I shall carve that fact into this world.
Bear witness. And engrave this figure in your mind.
—Oh humanity, my compatriots, and demons. To those who aren’t present here. And also, to Magiihoa…!
Old friend, look at my appearance.
—Do you see it? I’m giving my all to fight right now…!
Everything around it. Look at me,
—Even when you see this, do you still consider me, who is not driven to insanity, pitiful? Am I the one who fought in solitude and had no worth?
Know that the world we lived in still exists here.
—Do you all feel nothing, even when you are all watching this heated battle—?!!
As if he was trying to make himself heard as far as possible,
Raizen roared.
It was to show the lives that they, the dragon race, had lived weren’t for nothing.
It was to show that what they had left behind still remained.
It was to show that their existence hadn’t been forgotten.
The dragon roared.
—Even if it seems pathetic…! Even if it seems meaningless…! I choose to fight by my own will!
But Raizen didn’t think it was pathetic. He also wasn’t going to let others say that what he did was meaningless.
He wouldn’t let the era where dragons ruled be forgotten.
He was going to show it to the long-lived existences in front of him.
He would carve their legend into everything that still lived to this day.
Therefore, the dragon flew to the sky.
And he bravely brought along the majin, who wished to clash midair, with him.
He brought along the person who was still slashing at his forehead with a sword from above.
With a burning feeling of excitement coursing through Raizen, he kept flying higher.
—Aah, at this moment, I’m glad I have a large body.
—And I’m glad I was born with my scales shining brightly.
Like this, I can be seen from afar. My compatriots who stayed below the sky can easily find me.
And, if I still can’t be seen,
—Then listen to my voice.
I will roar with all my heart.
The Rising Dragon Mountain.
There were several burrows spread around the upper and middle section of the mountain where dragons were hiding.
Every one of them were dragons who were driven to insanity and had gone feral.
They were dragons who were crushed by the tragedy of the past and gave up on their future.
Nothing reflected in their eyes.
No words could reach their ears anymore.
They couldn’t feel anything, and their hearts couldn’t be moved.
Everything they watched happen in front of them held no meaning.
However,
“—”
Suddenly, they heard a sound.
It was a nostalgic sound.
It felt so familiar, yet they couldn’t recognize what it was. It was that kind of sound for them.
They listen to it carefully.
They felt like it came from the sky.
When they looked up, beyond the night sky, far above them, they could see a light.
They could see it. In the darkness of the night, they could see the figure of their compatriot, shining bright like a star out there.
And they could hear his sound, his voice.
It sounded somewhat sad but, at the same time, it was a positive voice.
And before they knew it,
“—”
The dragons felt something hot running down their cheeks.
They didn’t understand what was happening. It went beyond their comprehension.
They didn’t know what it was that flowed down their cheeks, and they didn’t understand why it flowed out.
They couldn’t understand.
However, as they saw the figure of their comrade in the sky,
“—!”
They felt they had to tell that comrade something.
Therefore, they sent him their voices.
They sang toward the sky.
“—!”
—They strangely felt like they had to do so.
At a certain castle, some people suddenly stopped moving.
The time was near dawn. This person normally wouldn’t be awake at this hour.
However they had woken up, all the while not knowing why.
And now,
“—Shichisei, open the window.”
“…Hah.”
The dragon’s servant listened to his master’s command.
But even before he had heard the command, he had already somehow thought that he needed to do that.
And they looked to the western sky.
They didn’t know why. Perhaps, they just felt like doing so at the moment.
However,
“…”
“…”
For some reason, they felt like they had to look at the western sky right now.
Therefore the pair of dragon master and servant silently looked at the sky.
The mountain road of the Rising Dragon Mountain.
The people who saw a part of mountain pass collapse and the dragon ascend were,
“That’s…”
They heard the voice of the dragon echo through the air.
The layer of mysterious sounds they heard seemed to be trying to convey something to its listeners.
And that was,
“Somehow… it feels like he’s singing.”
It was the song of the dragon.
And before they knew it,
“…Sorry.”
Hunty Kalar was looking down, as if trying to hid her expression,
“Please listen to it…”
Even as Hunty said that, nobody looked in her direction.
Instead, they were all looking up to the sky,
“…Even if you don’t say that, we’re listening properly.”
“…Umu.”
Galtia said that, then Kesselring nodded her agreement, and everyone else nodded in silence.
And with that,
“…Thank you.”
Hunty said only that before looking up to the sky again.
Raizen heard the voices.
“—”
Raizen listened to their song.
“—”
There’s no way, thought Raizen.
This kind of thing had never happened even once before.
However,
…Aah, I understand.
Raizen knew what it meant
Therefore, Raizen tried to accompany the song himself.
He would answer everyone’s expectations.
He wouldn’t make a mistake this time.
He went above the clouds and soared up into the sky.
There, Raizen could see the majin, who was continuing upwards under the pressure at the tip of his forehead.
Then he spoke out.
“Let’s go.”
Along with that voice, Raizen suddenly braked, sending the majin flying far overhead.
The majin was sent upward for some time, but he was eventually dragged back down by gravity and began to descend.
The majin fixed his posture and looked at Raizen.
Raizen exerted his strength.
“It’s time to decide our battle…!”
Raizen had his greatest attack ready inside his mouth.
It was the strongest attack of his life, surpassing anything he had done before — his greatest breath.
“—!”
Raizen launched that toward the majin.
The torrent of white light lit up the twilight sky and headed straight toward the majin with a roaring sound.
The majin just swung down his long blue sword.
“Ooohhh…!!”
The majin took it head on and tried to cut the breath in half vertically.
This time, he had no way to stop himself from falling.
So this moment would decide the battle. He had neither a method to run away nor the intention of doing so.
“—!!!”
Raizen also squeezed his power.
It was the weapon of the dragons that could destroy everything.
However, the white was finally divided by the blue as the predawn sky was bathed in light.
“—!”
The majin cut through the white torrent and drew closer to Raizen.
Then, exerting all his power to his sword,
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—-!!!”
Beyond their final clash, Raizen watched how the white light that he had unleashed collided with the blue of the majin’s sword.
“Aah…”
—It was worth waiting for two thousand years.
The sun began to creep its way into the sky.
That scenery alone,
—Regardless of how much time has passed… this is something that has never changed…
It was the scenery that illuminated the world and everything that lived in the present—
“It is sunrise.”
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