Accompanied with a roaring sound, a black flash immediately came to swallow the white dragon along with Freed. The white dragon twisted its body and fired its Breath beam towards the incoming Breath. Black and white flashes collided, scattering violent shock wave. The ocean of magma right below, centered on the colliding point, was rampaging and generating gigantic tsunamis of magma.
At first, Tio and the white dragon’s Breaths were equal, but Tio’s Breath began to gradually push the white dragon’s.
“Kuh, for me to meet a survivor of Ryuujin race here… there’s no other way. Although it is risky, I will use magic to make the space…”
“Do you think I will let you?!”
“Kh!?”
Maybe because he didn’t have any report about the Ryuujin race, Freed was truly surprised. Seeing this situation, he gritted his teeth, took out another fabric from his pocket, and tried to chant the Age of Gods magic again.
However, he was interrupted by the impact followed a voice behind him.
It was Hajime who arrived behind Freed, unbeknownst to him, and fired Donner in succession while blood was spouted from his wounds. Six bullets were fired with one firing sound. All of the bullets, without deviating even a millimeter, were hitting the same place.
The turtle-shaped demonic beast by Freed’s side had activated the barrier faster than Freed could react, but once impacted in almost zero distance by the flashes; the barrier shining in reddish black was easily smashed. Following that, Hajime slipped into the bosom of Freed who displayed his irritation and panicked.
Activating “Wind Claw” on Donner, Hajime swung it at once.
“Guaah!?”
By a hair’s breadth, Freed escaped from being cut in two by falling behind. However, a horizontally slashed wound was carved on his chest. Hajime didn’t stop his attack, rotating using the momentum from slashing Freed, he activated “Magic Shockwave” from “Magic Power Conversion” and back kicked Freed.
BAAAM!
“GAaAHH!!”
Freed barely guarded using his left arm, but he could not kill the momentum, and thus his left arm was crushed and his organs were damaged. Freed was horizontally blown away from the white dragon.
Noticing his master’s disappearance, the white dragon lost its concentration and the black Breath approached it in a dash. Immediately after Hajime jumped off the white dragon, Tio’s Breath grandly blew off the beam along with the white dragon.
“Roarrrr!!”
Screaming as it was being blown away, the white dragon somehow managed to regain its balance mid-air even after its belly received the attack from Tio’s Breath, and it immediately flew towards the ceiling. Once again, Freed was on the back of an Ash Dragon with Freed. Reunited in the air, Freed once again boarded the white dragon.
Hajime tried to pursue using “Aerodynamic,” however…
“Gh!? Gahakh!!”
The bright red light enveloping Hajime was disappearing rapidly, and not only from his wounds, but he also vomited a large amount of blood. His “Limit Break” had reached the time limit. In his wounded condition, the damage was further deepened from breaking his limit, and thus the time limit came earlier. Hajime was falling into the ocean of magma because his “Aerodynamic” was deactivated.
“Master! Hold on!”
“Guh, Ti-Tio…”
Tio flew to put the falling Hajime on her back. Hajime, whose damage deepened from “Limit Break”‘s after effect and should have collapsed, managed to somehow get into kneeling position and his eyes shone as he glared at Freed above.
From what he saw, even the Ash Dragons that were attacking Yue and the girls had gathered by Freed’s side.
“Hajime!”
“Hajime-san!”
Shouting Hajime’s name, Yue and Shia came running. Tio landed in the nearby foothold. She did it because the possibility of the current Hajime not being able to endure Tio’s battling movement and fall was high. Having jumped onto the same foothold, Yue and Shia immediately came to Hajime’s side and supported his body.
“… What a dreadful force. Those women are also not normal. A Ryuujin race that should have been annihilated, no-chant no-array using magic-user, and a Rabbitman tribe with unexpected power and ability to see the future… They are also possibly users of Age of Gods magic. And to have cornered me now… it would have been my side that would have gotten beaten if I didn’t first attack, huh…”
Squeezing his words, Freed was exchanging gaze with Hajime, creating sparks. Panting, Freed touch the wound carved on his chest with his unhurt right hand.
“Why are you assuming this is the end? I can still fight.”
Hajime’s expression turned ugly because of Freed’s words. But even with his tattered body, Hajime’s eyes were shining with killing intent while he declared the battle to continue.
“… Of course. The torrent of killing intent overflowing from you expressed you would not give up no matter how wounded you are. Not only do you have dreadful powers, you also have killing intent that could devour your enemy… No, was it the attachment to survive…”
Guessing once, then Freed made a resolute expression and glared at Hajime again.
“I don’t want to use this method… but it is necessary to use it if it can kill powerful enemies like you.”
“What did you say?”
Not answering Hajime’s question, Freed said something to the small bird-shaped demonic beast, unknown as to when it landed on his shoulder.
Then,
RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE!
SPLASH!
KABOOM!
Great tremor shook the entire space, no, the entire «Guryuu-en Great Volcano», and the ocean of magma began to rampaging, accompanied with a terrific, roaring sound.
“Uoh!?”
“Nnah!?”
“Kyaa!?”
“Nuoh!?”
Suffering from the sudden shockwave from below, Hajime’s party got on all fours and screamed, while desperately trying to balance themselves. The great tremor was gradually becoming even more intense, and could be said to reach seven in the richter scale. From the ocean of magma, numerous fire pillars, no, magma pillars began to spout.
“Hajime-san! The magma level-!”
With Shia’s words, the magma surrounding the foothold, where Hajime’s party were, was indeed rising in level.
“What did he do?”
Hajime squeezed his words and asked the obvious culprit behind this situation, Freed. Having moved to the ceiling above the middle island, Freed answered the question.
“I only destroyed the keystone.”
“Key… stone?”