by The Hero
A completely natural and relaxed stance, free, unfettered and flexible. A stance that could adapt to anything in response, and then cut down everything in its path.
As there were no humans that could be a match for him, thus this stance, meant for adaptability, was what he had learnt to use, in his numerous conflicts with gods, demons, devil kings and monsters - The extraordinarily powerful foes that logic did not apply to.
"Since you won't let me use the 'mineuchi', you'll have to suffer the consequences. Are you ready?"
Doni said with a carefree tone.
Liliana instantly employed the summoning magics, and her weapon materialized.
There were no thoughts behind her actions, merely the instinct of a knight, spontaneous actions in response to a battle.
Il Maestro - with the title of [Artisan], the magic sword with historical origins.
The blade was gently curved, it was an elegant silver saber. As Liliana grabbed the weapon and took a stance, Doni moved forward towards her. His speed was neither fast, nor slow.
A neutral stance, as though he were stepping into a friend's house.
At the same time the sword in his right hand drew an arc as it slashed at Il Maestro.
Liliana did not move out of the way.
On the contrary, she aimed to lock her blade with Doni's, and reach a stalemate. Entangling their blades together, sealing the opponent's techniques and movements.
But she was not able to parry Doni's light blow.
Conversely, Il Maestro was easily sent flying out of her hand, disarming her.
It had been a blow from his empty left hand that did it.
And again, in that neutral stance, yet another blow landed on the region of her solar plexus. It seemed like a light blow, yet she felt such a great impact on her body, leaving her gasping for breath, unable to summon any of her strength.
Liliana was breathing hard, bending over at her knees. Compared to her, his strength was in a completely different dimension, she could neither defend nor attack.
"... .... Well, that's how it is. If you try and get in my way again, I'll let you experience firsthand my forty-eight killing techniques, capable of causing anyone to fall in a dream-like trance and fainting, or my fifty-two submission techniques that would serve you a full course of having all your joints in your arms and legs broken, be more obedient from now on!"
After saying that cheerily, he turned around and walked to the Heraion.
Liliana could not even stand up properly at this point, much less stop him. Furthermore, his right hand was still glowing with a silver light.
She felt the Goosebumps rise on her skin. The [King of Swords] was channeling all of his strength and power.
Doni's right hand was no longer a human hand of flesh and blood.
It was a radiant silver-white metal arm, as if made by a genius master craftsman, a work of artistic splendor.
"I will make this oath now. I, I will not allow anything that cannot be cut to exist in this world. For this sword of mine, is the invincible blade that cuts down all without fail!"
Doni made an arrogant proclamation - No, perhaps it was more like the soul of the language surging forth.
Turning the strength of his words into a tremendous amount of magical energy, focusing that into his sword of steel, transforming it into a one-of-a-kind magical sword of vast power, and with that, the [King] swung his sword right at the black pillar.
The Heraion was sliced apart - into two clean halves.
The silver arm that transformed the sword of steel, which was then able to cut any being on this earth with no exception. This was the [Ripping Arm of Silver], the authority obtained from the god Nuadha.
Even if it were a rusty sword or a swiss army knife, it could also be turned into an unrivaled magical sword.
It was an extremely simple authority. A single sword that could split the earth and the seas. It was a simple and yet immensely powerful ability.
Liliana witnessed it with her own eyes.
From the halves of the Heraion, burst forth a massive amount of magical energy in the form of a lava-like substance.
The brilliantly glowing green magma flowed across the ground, overflowing with magical energy, and then suddenly, a surge of magical power shot towards the ceiling from the floor of the underground ruins, like a volcanic eruption.
Part 4
Humans - magicians and various other kinds, the race of the intelligent and cunning, named them as [Heretical Gods].
What gave birth to these supernatural existences?
No one really knows the truth behind this, what they can only do is come up with theories, this was the only results after much racking of their brains.
Even the gods who were named as such were unable to answer this question themselves, though it is no fault of theirs.
Before the [Heretical Gods] had realized, they were already roaming through the lands, establishing themselves as an independent existence. They could not even remember the process of their birth.
"... ... For what purpose have I been brought into this world for? Even if I ask myself that, I don't know the answer. Whether I should be sad or happy about this, I don't know that either."
The god who had just obtained a physical form asked rhetorically, with a bitter smile.
A smile that gave off a feeling of frustration.
Not knowing, that in itself was interesting. There was no need to worry over that.
Wanting to find out their reason for existence, trying to find their genuine selves - fretting over such delicate woes, it was not the style that was becoming of a hero from the ancient times.
That being said, that fundamental essence of a god would be [Myth].
Besides that, the lands of the people who spread these myths, or the unexplainable incidents that happened on these lands, between these factors, there must be some kind of link.
A glance at the immediate surroundings.
Although the area had been shrouded in the darkness of the night, this was no problem to the eyes of a god.
This was a mountain, probably a volcano, not much greenery could be seen, probably due to the higher composition of metal of the earth, and there were red volcanic rocks everywhere.
- Mount Vesuvius.
He did not know the name that the humans have given it, and he continued to survey the land before him.
The place he was at was about halfway up the mountain, from there he could see that the sea, and also a city in which humans lived was not too far off. To the eyes of an archer, this was nothing.
"... ... Ho. This seems interesting."
In a corner of the city, near the coast, there was an explosion of magical energy.
The essence of earth and water, in the form of emerald light was surging out.
Like a volcanic eruption - the instant he thought of that, he finally realized why he had manifested.
The essence of earth, of the land. Perhaps it was the snake of the mother of the land, the mystical force that belonged to the Queen of the earth.
And what was he currently standing on? A mountain of fire, earth and metal.
Who was he? A hero. Steel within his hands, a flame burning within him, a defender of the land.
"The essence of the earth, the spirits of steel, are they calling for me? If that's the case, then what comes next, would be that."
He released the divine energy stored in his body.
The emerald energies reacted with his own divine energies, refining it into a tremendous, massive body of life force.
The idea of a serpent served as a foundation for that giant body.
It had a length that surpassed the sea serpent that he had once defeated in his legend, causing the civilians that looked up at the sky to scream in terror.
After that came huge bat-like wings sprouting from its back.
From the body, four short limbs, like those of a lizard.
The shape of the head resembled the crocodile's, an
d within the gaping maw, there were many razor-sharp, blade like teeth - it was the birth of a dragon.
In the skies above the coastal city, the gargantuan dragon spread its wings, and circled around slowly.
The god smiled in satisfaction.
The creation of a worthy enemy from the essence of the land, for a hero that was also known as a war god, was this not a joyous occasion?
At any rate, as long as there was an enemy he had to defeat, it was fine. As long as there was an obstacle to be overcome, he would be satisfied.
If there were damsels in distress as well, that would be even better, but having an enemy was more important, because without that, there wouldn't be any distress at all. Then there would be no point in being a hero!
Blood burning with excitement, he rushed ahead, but quickly came to a halt.
"Ah, that's right - I ought to declare my name."
As a hero of bravery and beauty, it was only natural for him to do so.
If the sound of his name did not leave a deep impression on the humans, it would be a great blow to his pride.
After a while of careful consideration, and establishing that it would be more appropriate to refrain from that, he instantly fell to his knees in despair.
"I, I almost thought I was going to die..."
Liliana Kranjcar, who had finally escaped from that crisis, said to herself weakly.
After everything was bathed in the light from the Heraion, the ceiling had started to collapse due to the intense exposure to magical energies.
If this continues, I'll be buried alive!
The moment the earthquake-like tremors started to spread through the underground ruins, Liliana had leapt into action.
When even the large rocks begun falling on her head, Liliana instantly used the [Leap] magic. With the use of this spell, a distance of several hundred meters could be covered in roughly ten seconds.
To onlookers, it would have seemed like teleportation.
Although, it was merely a high speed movement across a large distance, not a teleportation skill.
Through the gigantic hole in the ceiling that had been created by the energies from the Heraion, she escaped with [Leap] magic onto the surface above. Were she a tad bit slower, it would have been very likely that she would be trapped by the collapsing rocks.
- As of now, she was at the coastal end of Santa Lucia district.
This was no sandy beach, but a sparse outcrop of marble covered the area, serving as a breakwater of sorts. It was only a short walking distance back to the streets of Santa Lucia.
To get back to the old bookstore would take only about ten minutes.
After running through the entire underground ruins, getting back up here with [Leap], she had lost track of her bearings, and thus she surveyed the general area again.
Earlier, the stored magical energy of the Heraion had exploded.
The explosion leveling the city - she had feared this, but the harbor seemed to be largely unaffected, there were no real visible damage to the environment.
Liliana felt relieved.
Of course, the loss of the precious underground sanctuary was regrettable, the people living directly above it might have been affected, but it was still better than having the entire city blown sky high.
... ... Yes, although that was preferable, but...
Looking up, Liliana realized how wrong she was.
A dragon. A flying dragon.
In the skies above the harbor, a massive dragon, gliding freely through the skies with its wings spread out wide, haughtily looking at the world beneath it.
The wingspan was at least thirty meters long, and the scales were glinting with a faint emerald color.
Compared to the modern depiction of the dragon, its head and body were long like that of a snake. Maybe it looked a little weird, but that hardly seemed important at the moment.
The way the chimaera being known as a dragon was depicted changed depending on the time and place.
Ever since the olden days, Europe had many different stereotypes of the dragon.
Limbless dragons, wingless dragons, or conversely, dragons with overly long wings and limbs which resembled a Pegasus, but the modern dragon was the one depicted in fantasy movies and video games.
"As I thought, was it born when the Heraion was cut apart...?"
"Whoa—isn't it awesome? I really didn't think that a dragon would pop out of that pillar. It sure gave me a surprise."
While Liliana was staring dumbly at the dragon and murmuring to herself, a cheerful voice had said suddenly.
She wasn't surprised.
As she managed to escape unscathed herself, there was no doubt that he would make it out as well. Liliana turned her head, and found Salvatore Doni simply standing there leisurely, with not a scratch on him.
As expected of the one who possessed the authority, [Man of Steel].
Obtained from the Nordic hero Siegfried, it was an authority that allowed one to obtain a semi-immortal body that was tougher than steel, the cave-in earlier must have seemed like the pattering of raindrops to him.
"... ... My lord. Although this is not a hard thing to do, because your actions earlier have resulted in the birth of that dragon, please do control yourself in the future!"
"I know, it's fine. I'll take responsibility and beat down that guy!"
"Please don't do that! If you destroy the divine beast formed from the spiritual essence of the land, the spiritual veins in the entire region might dry up! It's too risky!"
Liliana shouted, while looking up at the dragon.
In oriental Chinese geomancy, it could also be referred to as the earth's vein, or dragon's vein.
The dragon was surely an embodiment of that kind of power.
Destroy it, and what would remain would be a barren land and a sea of death. That was a future predicted with the spirit sense of the witches, and had to be avoided at all costs.
- The sounds of flapping wings could be heard as the dragon approached the harbor.
As it was a creature that disregarded the laws of physics, it would not have mattered even if it did not have the necessary organs for flight.
The dragon continued to circle leisurely in the skies.
Two knights stood on the harbor of Santa Lucia, gazing up at it.
One of them was vigorously burning with fighting spirit, raring for a fight, while the other wore an expression of worry, wanting to prevent that from happening.
As if sensing Doni's fighting spirit, the emerald dragon, with an air of an emperor, looked down at the [King of Swords], and suddenly roared.
GUAAAAAAA!!!
The thunderous roar of the dragon in the deep night caused the entirety of Naples to shake.
At the same time, from the gigantic dragon's body, radiated an intense amount of magical energy.
Could the dragon be capable of using spells of magical or divine nature!? Liliana felt a wave of fear wash over her, and then something changed within the sea - A wave. A gigantic wave was headed towards them.
The waves crashed against the harbor violently.
The rhythm of the surging water and sounds, began to rapidly increase in tempo.
What was only the soft, calm waves of the night, had turned into this state of fury in a mere ten seconds.
"Hmm, by just increasing the strength of the waves a little bit, what is it trying to do?"
"It's not 'little'! Please open your eyes and look at that!"
Liliana, in a state of panic, warned the perfectly calm Doni.
A genius in melee combat, a pure-blooded warrior, and in the realm of the Campiones, with the exception of the religious cult founder Luo Hao, he could be considered as the strongest. However, he had a weakness, or rather, a vice.
He was inept at judging and analyzing magical warfare.
That was because of his absolute resilience against offensive magic, a Campione that had a body tougher than steel, like a metal wall.
Even if he
were to be subjected to an overwhelming magical assault, he would be able to endure it, and launch a counterattack with his sword.
It was not an ideal style to fight with, but he did not care much for these trifling details, only about whether he could immerse himself in battle.
- The force of the dragon's summoned wave had intensified even more within seconds.
From the sea came a feeling of the onset of a storm. The waves crashed non-stop against the harbor, and from the far distance, a tsunami approached menacingly, like an avalanche.
It was something that should not have been able to occur here, in this quiet inner bay, that gigantic wave that carried the wrath of nature.
"Sir Salvatore!?"
"Hmph, against this wave, with my blade, I will - oh crap! I dropped it back in the underground area!! H, hold on a second! Let's settle this in a fair fight, ok!?"
As Liliana shouted at the [King] in desperation, Doni complained loudly.
They were immediately hit by the incoming tsunami, and swept away.
- Why, what did I do to deserve this!
Liliana was swallowed by the waves, cursing her own fate.
Her body still ached a little after that blow from Doni, but as she could not let herself drown like this, she started to swim towards the surface, ignoring the weight of her drenched clothes.
And suddenly, a huge emerald colored body had appeared beneath her, and dragged her upwards.
- After a few tens of seconds had passed.
Somehow, she was at what seemed to be the base of the neck of the dragon, flying far above the seas. Although Doni had been swallowed up by the tsunami as well, only she had been scooped out of the sea.
"W, were you the one who saved me?"
She murmured, asking him. No answer came from the dragon.
The dragon born from the Heraion, the artifact of the goddess of the land, most probably treated the witches who safeguarded the pillar as comrades, thus it had saved her.
Liliana breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time, Liliana suddenly remembered about the [King], causing her to feel worried, but felt that he was probably fine.