“I will crush you, and make a new world! The powerless surface dwellers won't be able to stop me!!”
His voice didn't come from his throat. Having become a dog, his throat lost the ability to use human speech. Instead his voice spread throughout the area using magic.
“...You fool. Even if you've gotten a large power, who would obey you when you look like that...”
Theia looked at the black hound, at Tayuma, with pity in her eyes. Looking back at history, there had been no cases where rule through fear had lasted for long. Tayuma's current appearance couldn't be seen as anything but a symbol of fear. So even if he were to rule the surface, he wouldn't last for long. Both Forthorthe's and Earth's history proved that.
“...Having obtained a great strength, you've closed the path to rule on your own...”
Victory was no longer an option for Tayuma. Even if he beat Theia and the others, and ruled the surface, it wouldn't be anything but a short-term victory. Theia thought that was just so pitiful. However, she was happy at the same time. People would be happier if they remained unaware that their future had been closed off.
“Maki, don't you have any counter measures?”
However, Theia had no intentions of being dragged down with Tayuma after he had chosen ruin on his own. She would defeat him. There, Theia sought Maki's advice as it seemed like physical attacks wouldn't work.
“Either we could dispel the magic or break through with spiritual energy”
Seeing the black hound twist space with a spell, they could either dispel the magic itself, or attack using spiritual energy which was less affected by the twisted space.
“I think only Kasagi-san can fight against him right now”
“Eh? M-Me!?”
”More accurately she means me. I'm going at this with all my might, Shizuka!”
The Fire Dragon Emperor Alunaya far surpassed the human limits when it came to both magical power and spiritual energy. The only way to overcome this situation was to have Alunaya go all out.
“I guess we have too... do it, uncle!”
Shizuka steeled herself. While she would end up in a bothersome state if Alunaya used up all of his magical energy, now wasn't the time to be concerned with that. If they left the black hound be, the surface would become a mess.
”...I just hope I alone will be enough...”
Alunaya activated his stored magical power and enveloped Shizuka's body, and using her body as the core, he created his own gigantic body using magical power. At this stage, Alunaya was in control of her body while Shizuka's mind would give advice. In other words, they had control of their body when it came to their own sizes. Thus Shizuka turned into a red dragon over 20 meters tall and caused the ground to shake as she landed.
“Looking at him like this he sure is spectacular. This is the first time I've seen a land-dwelling creature larger than me”
Facing the black hound, Alunaya instinctively sighed. Alunaya was close to the physical limit of land-based creatures. Yet this black hound was twice his size. It was an abnormal gigantic body forcibly created through magic. Since this existence was outside of the rules of nature, even Alunaya couldn't hide his surprise.
”Uncle, we have to hurry”
“You're right, I can't just be surprised”
Alunaya couldn't maintain his dragon body for that long. He had to finish this before he ran out of magical power. Alunaya took a deep breath and took one step forward towards the black hound. And just as Alunaya was about to throw himself towards the black hound, something happened.
“Please wait, Alunaya-san”
“Oh, princess Clan?”
“Reinforcements, Bertorion, has come”
“Curse you Blue Knight... you've left me behind to go ride something so fun-looking again”
Passing through one of the holes in the ceiling, an airframe with very sharp angles flew into the large cave. While it might have been 20 meters big, that was only its longest part, and it was far too small to compete with the 50 meter tall black hound. The signs and characters engraved into the airframe belonged to the People of the Earth. This airframe was a mobile weapon intended for air battles that the conservative faction had developed just in case.