Book 8: Chapter 7: Part 2

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Part 2

(Wha!? This is…!)

Instead of the usual view of the city, we were in… a strange space with an indescribable color, as if various colors of paint had been mixed together.

As I was stunned by the unusual sight, a distortion appeared at a part of the space.

And then…

“Wha──”

(The Dragonias…!)

From the distorted space, a large number of spaceships with dragon emblems appeared. The number of them was much larger than the last time they attacked.

In the center of the ship stood a large, dragon-shaped spaceship.

(──I’ve isolated your dwelling place in this subspace. Think of it as a place with no escape.)

As I stared up at the group of spaceships in dismay, I heard the voice coming from the largest of them.

(Hou? I never thought that the Amelian was really still here… It looks like my men have been defeated after all.)

(You are…)

As Merl-san stared at the group of spaceships, a hologram was projected from the largest ship.

There was a figure of a Dragonia alien with long hair pulled back in a single bun, with similar features as the ones that had attacked us before. I don’t know if he’s male, middle-aged, or if these features even show in their appearance like how it is for us on Earth, but his appearance alone gave him the dignity of a man in a period drama.

The middle-aged Dragonia opened his mouth in a somewhat irreverent manner.

(I’m Drade, the proud commander of the third unit of the Dragonia planet.)

(C-commander!?)

Merl-san’s eyes widened at the words of the Dragonia… Drade.

“U-um… Merl-san? I don’t understand. Is it so great to be a commander?”

(…Yes. The ones who attacked the other day were… so-called low-ranking soldiers from the Dragonia’s end. But even among the Dragonias, who are known for their martial prowess, a commander is a position that could only be held by those with a high level of ability.)

“I-I see…”

In addition, the fact that the commander has come directly to us means that the soldiers here this time are probably far more skilled and capable than the soldiers before.

“To that extent? But if Merl-san uses that armament you’ve been using, it will be…”

(With the energy crystals leftover from the repair of the spaceship, the battle mode can now be used safely. However… it won’t last more than a few seconds against the division commander…)

How strong is the commander? And on top of that, I don’t think I will be able to win… against a whole fleet of these enemy ships.

“W-why don’t we just run away somehow…?”

(…It seems to be impossible to escape… This space is a subspace that they have developed… In other words, it is a place that is isolated from Earth. In order to get out of this space, we have to bring down their ship that deployed this subspace. Considering the scale, the ship that is deploying this space is probably the largest flagship with the commander on board. …The fact that we don’t have to worry about damage to other inhabitants or manipulating information is helpful, but there’s nothing else we can do under the circumstances…)

It seems like we really are stuck on all sides.

And why is my house even involved in this again…?

Fortunately, Night and the others are also here, groaning against the spaceship floating in the sky. …Night is a species that has the potential to become as powerful as Ouma-san, but at this stage, there is too much of a difference in size for that to be true.

As I was thinking about this, somewhat escaping reality, Yuti asked me.

“Confirmation. Yuuya, are you sure they are enemies?”

“Yeah. They are likely to be from the Dragonia aliens, Merl-san’s enemies… This space is also the work of those people, and it seems that they isolated us from the Earth.”

“Understood. That’s why this space is so strange. But can you defeat them? Even with my arrows, I’m not sure I can damage that ship.”

Even Yuti showed signs of weakness facing the spaceship fleet.

In any case, it was even more so because she had seen how Merl-san repaired the spaceship and other technical aspects. It seemed that even a slight damage would be repaired just like the guardian of that planet. As for the nanomachines, I thought they would be useful considering that I had seen Merl-san use them and that they had fixed my house, but they would be extremely troublesome if used by the enemy.

Then, Merl-san operated the terminal on her arm.

At that moment, something that looked like a translucent soap bubble appeared from Merle-san’s spaceship. The membrane grew larger and larger until it completely enveloped my house.

“Merl-san, this is…”

(…I extended the defense mechanism of my ship to the entirety of Yuuya-san’s house. Thanks to the energy of that planet, I was able to cover it somehow, but it won’t last for long. But for a little while, we should be able to fight without worrying about the house.)

“I-I see…”

As I nodded at Merl-san’s words, the holographic Drade snickered.

(Hmph. Impudent… How much longer can you hold out with that kind of trickery?)

(I won’t give you the blueprint.)

(…Then you’ll regret it in the afterlife.)

“Ah! Yuuya!”

The moment Drade’s mood changed, Yuti shouted sharply.

Then I can see the energy concentrating one after another on the gun barrel part of the spaceship that was floating in the sky. This is… a sign that we are going to be attacked all at once, no matter how I look at it!

“Kuh! [Rising Dragon Piercing]!”

I immediately took out the [Absolute Spear], and unleashed the [Magic Armor] and Evil power, together with the Spear Saint technique. In the next moment, the technique became a dragon that was much more massive than the one used by the Spear Saint, and was released towards the spaceship fleet!

“Whoa!”

I was surprised to see that the attack was much bigger than I had expected… Is this the power of the [Holy and Evil Creation] that Argena-san was mentioning?

Even though I haven’t used the [Holy King’s Authority] yet, my attack with the [Rising Dragon Piercing] turned into a huge dragon, with the white light of the Holy and the black light of the Evil mixing together.

(Wha!?)

In the face of my technique, the hologram of Drade had a look of surprise on his face. My technique just swallowed up some of the spaceships.

“As expected. Yuuya is so strong. But I’m getting stronger too.”

Yuti looked at me, but her bow was firmly pointed at the spaceship.

“───[Death Comet].”

The technique handed down from the Bow Saint was unleashed with more power than when we fought before. The arrow that became a ray of light penetrated the spaceship and easily pierced the spaceship’s armor.

The blow seemed to have hit the spaceship directly in the core, causing the huge ship to explode and crash.

“Yuti, that attack was…”

“Of course. I aimed for it.”

“…As I thought.”

Lately, Yuti and I have not been doing much training.

This is because, according to her, there is already a gap between us, but looking at the attack she just delivered, I don’t think so. Perhaps she had been training in a place where I couldn’t find her. I have to work harder too…

“Grrrr… gaaaaaaah!”

“Fugo! Buhi!”

Night unleashed the same kind of [Magic Armor] as I did, and in an instant, he was closing in on one of the spaceships. And when he swung his claws with magic power, the spaceship was easily torn apart!

…I was a bit skeptical, but then again, maybe Night does have the potential to be as good a fighter as Ouma-san.

Akatsuki turned into a giant and charged into the groups of spaceships, moving around violently and knocking them down.

“Pi. Piiiiiiii!”

Ciel was covered in blue flames, just as in the battle with Avis, and charged straight at the spaceships, destroying them one by one.

There are still many mysteries about Ciel, but it seems that there is nothing to worry about.

(What the hell is that creature? And what the hell is that energy…?)

Seeing Ciel like that, Drade shouted in surprise, but it seems that Ciel is a special existence even from the perspective of aliens.

(Kuh! What are you doing! Hurry up and aim at them!)

The sudden dropping of several spaceships may have triggered a sense of crisis, and Drade was sending out instructions.

But──

(You’re not going to hit anything.)

Merl-san, as a matter of course, floated up in the air and raised her left arm, which had been transformed into battle mode, and shot a beam at the enemy spaceship.

The attack was so powerful that several spaceships were caught up in it and exploded.

(Certainly, your attacks are more powerful than mine. But do you think you can aim at us with such a huge size?)

(Guh… Then all I have to do is hit you directly! My third unit! Show them what you’re capable of!)

The next moment, just as they had done the other day, the Dragonia soldiers descended from the spaceship at once and attacked us directly. The number of soldiers was tremendous, easily over a thousand, and they began to swarm us.

“Wait… this number is, as expected…!”

(They are certainly many, but thanks to them, the enemy can’t use their beam weapons.)

As Merl-san said, the attack from the spaceship stopped as soon as the Dragonia soldiers descended. I think the reason for this was to avoid involving their allies.

“If that’s the case… [Thousand Spear Piercing]!”

In order to cope with the large number of opponents, I aggressively unleashed a large number of techniques. Fortunately, there are no soldiers that are that strong on an individual level, so I’ve been able to deal with them so far, but I don’t feel like I’ve reduced their numbers at all.

As I was wondering why, Merl-san shouted as if she noticed something.

(This is… No way! Living weapons?”

“A living weapon? That’s…”

(It’s what is known as a cloning weapon! They’re creating cloned soldiers in the spaceship and sending them at us!)

“Eeeh? H-how is that even possible?”

(Yes. Cloning technology is a specialty of the Dragonias. However, as for how this situation is going, they seem to be taking quantity over quality. In fact, each one of them is far from the level of the Dragonia elites. It takes a lot of energy to create a clone soldier, so I guess they don’t have unlimited resources, but I don’t know how much longer this situation will continue…)

“Is this a normal fighting style in space?”

(No, it’s not normal! It’s true that if you think of them as soldiers to be used and discarded here, it’s very easy to get enough of them because you can just create them and order them to attack. However… their energy is finite, and considering that, why would they want to use such a strategy──?)

Merl-san was about to say something when she suddenly turned her attention to the enemy’s flagship which Drade was onboard.

(Could it be…!? It’s not good!)

“Eh?”

(The reason they didn’t fire isn’t to keep their allies from getting involved, they did it to buy time!)

I also turned my attention to the flagship, where I saw a ship with a huge barrel that was gathering energy.

(That energy cannon is… not good. No matter how hard I try, the barrier I’ve deployed won’t be able to stop it!)

That meant that an attack would be unleashed that would not leave Merl-san’s spaceship or my house unscathed.

Then the hologram appeared again in the sky. There was Drade’s figure with a triumphant expression.

(Hahahahaha! You fool! There’s no way I’m going to do anything directly for you lowly creatures, is there? You can disappear into the dust right here.)

(A-are you sure? You wanted our blueprint, didn’t you? If you unleash an attack like that here, the blueprint will disappear too!)

(──Do you think I don’t know what protects that blueprint?)

(Kuh!)

As I recall, the blueprint that Merl-san and the others were looking for was inside a stone box made of something called [Cosmonium], which was said to be the hardest material in the universe. Looking at Drade and Merl-san, it must be so sturdy that it will not be destroyed by the attack that was about to be unleashed.

I wanted to do something to stop that flagship from attacking, but the living weapons swarming around us were getting in the way, and I couldn’t push forward. This was what Drade was after.

(Hahahahaha! Now, let’s all be obliterated by the roaring dragon cannon, the wisdom of our Dragonia!)

With a single word from the smiling Drade, the attack was finally unleashed! The compressed energy was so huge that it instantly swallowed up the nearby clone soldiers.

In the face of such an overwhelming attack, I desperately tried to think of a way to prevent it, but… nothing came to mind.

If I, Yuti, and the others can avoid it at all costs, we may be able to survive.

But my house, which was still here, was different. Even the barrier that Merl-san had deployed would not be able to prevent this attack.

Are we really going to be wiped out like this? Is there anything I can do?

As I desperately tried to think… I remembered the existence of a certain item.