92 Episode 26: I tried to subdue Hakuryu.

We are riding on the back of the mechanical dragon and moving westward through the ocean.

At our current speed, we'll reach the White Dragon of the Abyssal World in less than five minutes.

Looking up at the sky, the aurora borealis was shimmering and flickering.

The glow of the seven colors is terribly bewitching, making you feel uneasy as you watch.

'Hey, Ko,'

Iris speaks into my ear.

'It's kind of a strange case today, don't you think?　It's an amazing coincidence that the Adventurer's Guild's system is being targeted, there's a lot of Devil Passes, and then there's a disaster on top of that.

...... I'm not so sure about that.

If I may give you my personal view, I feel that the three incidents that happened today are connected.

Let's get the facts straight for a moment.

It was the Mercenary Guild that attacked the Adventurer's Guild's system, but their cadres were working under the direction of someone else.

The one who unleashed the hordes of Devil Paths from the underground city was a skinheaded man, and this guy was a member of the pagan religion called the 'Hourglass Apostle'.

The Hourglass Apostle worshipped disaster as a divine messenger, and as recently as five thousand years ago, he had been wreaking havoc all over the world.

...... Taking all these facts together, the following story emerges.

The Hourglass Apostle ordered the Mercenary Guild to bring down the Adventurer's Guild system while sending a skinhead to the underground city to unleash a horde of Devil Paths.

Thus, he takes aim at the confusion in the King's City in incident after incident, and by some means resurrects the white dragon to cause great destruction.

I think this is a lot of speculation, even if I am a bit of an arachnologist, but wasn't that the idea behind "The Hourglass Apostle"?

Oh, yeah.

It's a good idea to share the information with Iris while you're at it.

"Iris, you got a minute?

What's up, Ko?

'I want to rub information together now. Listen.

I explain to Iris about The Hourglass Apostle and furthermore, I give the inference that this evil religion is the real culprit behind the series of events.

After our conversation was over, Iris nodded with a thoughtful expression on her face.

''I see. ....... I've never heard of a religion that worships calamity, but if you think those guys are behind it, it certainly makes a lot of sense.''

Well, it's a theory full of holes.

Do you think so?　At least I was able to make sense of it.

Iris nodded with a serious expression on her face.

Apparently, she wasn't being flattering.

''I mean, Ko, how can you make so many inferences with so little information on hand? Honestly, I think it's amazing.''

My imagination is a waste of time.

I conclude the conversation by saying that.

Because Aurora's sky has been distorted and a huge icicle has fallen to block its path.

''--Dark Burst!''

When I activated my magic, a dark-colored flash exploded violently and the icicle shattered with a roar.

This was not a relief .......

Because the 'White Dragon of Disaster' was hiding inside the icicle.

A white, snake-like giant dragon leaps out of the shattered icicle.

On its back, fan-shaped wings like a flying fish were spread out, shining translucently.

''Shaaaaaaaaah!''

The white dragon opened its mouth wide and tried to bite the mechanical dragon.

I took out 'Artemis, the Great Sword of Moonlight' from the item box, put my magic power into it and swung it wide.

A blade of light was born, tracing the movement of the blade, and it hit the white dragon directly.

''Geez!''

The blow by Artemis had succeeded in flicking off the white dragon that was flying towards us.

As it is, the white dragon spins around in a single vertical rotation like a somersault, then regains its position in the air and glares at me with its red eyes.

''Shhhhhhhh... ......!

Gullllllllll: ......!

The mechanical dragons were also roaring as if they were rivaling each other with mechanical dragons.

I activate 【Appraisal】 while turning my gaze to the white dragon.

''Bastard of the White Dragon.

A ferocious sea dragon created by the White Dragon of the Exclusionary World.

Its body is highly resistant to all attacks, but if the white dragon is defeated, its life cannot be sustained.'

Hey, hey.

This white snake was a different person from the White Dragon of the Exquisite Realm, no, a different dragon?

It's a great trick question.

Well, all of this would be solved if I found the white dragon, but where in the world was it hiding?

Check [auto-mapping].

Strange.

According to the map in my brain, the white dragon seems to be in the sea in the immediate vicinity.

And yet, I can't find him at all.

"Hey, Ko.

Iris calls out to me.

'Is that white dragon really a disaster?'

''No, no. That's 'The Bastard of the White Dragon' ...... In short, it's a white dragon analogue.

'I knew it. [Blood Awakening] doesn't trigger, and I thought it was weird.

I see.

Just a few days ago, Iris lost the 【Dragon God Priestess】 and obtained a skill called 【Dragon Princess, Slayer of Calamity】 in its place.

The [Dragon Princess, the Slayer of Misfortune] comes with a sub-skill called 【Blood Awakening】, which can only be activated in the fight against misfortune.

Right now we're not fighting the disaster 'White Dragon of the Abyssal Realm' but the 'Bastard of the White Dragon'.

Therefore, it's probably a judgment that 【Blood Awakening】 cannot be activated .......

''Then where is the White Dragon?''

It should be here in terms of location: ......

That was when I muttered that.

The sky in Aurora distorted greatly.

Would the icicle fall again?

It wasn't.

Seven white snake-like sea dragons, collectively, descended slowly in a circle around us.

This is a total of eight bastards, and considering that this is an opponent that even Artemis' slash can't defeat, it's too hard mode indeed.

All you need to do is defeat the white dragon, but that white dragon is nowhere to be found.

...... What's going on?

I couldn't help but look up at the heavens.

The flickering light of the aurora borealis seemed to be mocking us.

'Wait,'

One spark arose within me.

I immediately activated [Enemy Radar].

The location information of the bastards was shown on the [Auto Mapping] map in my brain as a red dot.

There was one thing definitively missing from that information.

The concept of height.

Normally, supplementary information would be given so that the enemy would know if they were in high places.

The bastards were camped far above, but that was not reflected in the map in my brain at all.

I wonder why.

...... Is it because of that aurora borealis?

The white dragon has sent icicles and other objects through the Aurora, but maybe the real aim is to make [Auto Mapping] go crazy.

Immediately after realizing this, a voice echoed in my brain.

''Specific conditions have been met, the Grand Skill [Skill Creation] is temporarily available.

Do you want to create a skill to nullify Aurora's interference?''

Grand skills?

Come to think of it, I remember hearing those words when 【Calamity Killer】 was released.

I'm not sure about the details, but does it mean that it has a more powerful effect than normal skills?

Anyway, I'm grateful that I can disable Aurora.

I give a small nod, and after a few seconds of pause, I hear more voices.

''-- Creation complete. 【Anti-Jamming】 has been added to Ko Kou Koussaka's skill.

The limited release of [Skill Creation] is finished.''

As for me, I'm fine with leaving [Skill Creation] as is.

Aside from that, the 【Anti Jamming】 effect, it seems to nullify all possible obstructions to 【Auto Mapping】, 【Energy Radar】 and 【Disaster Detection】.

In fact, if I opened my brain map again, all the height information was appended to it.

According to that, the white dragon seems to be hiding on the other side of the far ultra-high ...... aurora borealis.

As long as we know where he is, we're on our own.

I nodded to myself and spoke to the mechanical dragon.

"Fly upwards at full speed. Can you do that?

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

The mechanical dragon responds to my words with a powerful roar, and it moves its wings wide and begins to surge up.

The sea dragons attack as if to block it - but they're too late!

Dark Burst!

A flash of darkness flashed and blew the sea dragons away.

The mechanical dragons continued to gain altitude in one go and went through the Aurora.

''Ko!''

Iris shouted, her eyes blacking out at the suddenness of it all.

'What the hell is going on here!

'I know where the white dragon is!　Up here!

Eventually, the mechanical dragon reached the top of the clouds.

There was a huge dragon waiting for me there, covered in white scales that looked like armor.

When I activated 【Appraisal】, the result was just as I expected.

''The White Dragon of the Desolate World:''

A dragon of mischief that descends through the White Sacrifice Ceremony.

He never dirties his own hands, but wreaks havoc on the earth with his icicles and bastards.

Although highly regenerative, he is essentially a coward and hides himself behind the Northern Lights.'

In addition, the sub-skill [Disaster Analysis] in the [Appraisal] section of the game will be automatically activated, and a statement about the white dragon's nature as a disaster will be added.

Rule 1: If the White Sacrifice Ritual takes place within 200 meters of the white dragon's resting place, this disaster will occur.

Rule 2: The White Sacrifice Ritual must be performed by 10 men and 10 women, each wearing a white robe, who willingly throw themselves into the sea.

Rule 3: This plague is active for 100 days after its appearance and lies dormant on the 101st day.

Rule 4 Active injuries, whatever they may be, will regenerate within 1 second (even if the entire body disappears).

(Even if the entire body disappears, this process is performed and the entire body is regenerated.

As usual, the text sounds like a draft of a spec sheet.

According to regulation 4, white dragons seem to be practically immortal, but fortunately, I have a powerful skill.

[Disaster Killer].

This is a skill that forces a disaster that has completed a [Disaster Analysis] to ignore all of its provisions and annihilate it.

Let's do .......

When I activated 【Calamity Killer】, a silver bow appeared in my right hand.

I readied the bow and pointed the tip of the arrow at the white dragon.

It was then.

The white dragon turned around in a circle and turned its back to us and began to flee.

''Kyeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Its cry seemed somewhat frightened.

The [Appraisal] said that it was a coward, and that's exactly what it seemed to be.

''Mechanical dragon, go after it.''

Gruuuuuuuu!

Soon, the mechanical dragon also started to move.

However, the white dragon's flight speed is much faster than the white dragon's, and it is able to open up more and more distance.

Moreover, they are moving up and down and left and right, making it difficult to aim at the arrows.

This is not good.

If this is the case, it's possible that it will miss.

Just as I was thinking this, Iris spoke to me.

''Ko, I'll go. If you use ...... [Blood Awakening], maybe we can catch up.

I see.

Apparently, the conditions for activating 【Blood Awakening】 have been fulfilled by confronting the white dragon.

A voice can be heard in my brain.

''Do you authorize the activation of 【Blood Awakening】 against Iris Note Fafnir?

The answer, of course, was "I allow it.

Immediately, Iris's body was lifted into the air.

It pierced through her clothes, and dragon-like wings spread out from her back.

There were other changes as well.

A crimson aura rose from her entire body, and her eyes were shining gold.

Towards such an Iris, I tell her.

''Stop the white dragon's feet. Can you do it?

Yeah, you're good. Let me show you what I can do for you.

The next moment, Iris was gone.

It became a red meteor and rushed through the sky, catching up with ...... the white dragon and, on the contrary, overtaking it.

When you think you have made a sharp turn far ahead, you hold your beloved spear and charge head-on at the white dragon.

''Yaaaaaaaaaaaah!''

"Kyeeeeeeeeeeeee?

The white dragon was spooked.

Its speed slows down.

In the next moment, Iris cleaves her spear wide and cuts off the white dragon's right wing from its base.

The white dragon's speed slows down.

Chance.

I release the arrow of the [Disaster Killer].

''Go to ......!''

The arrow turned into a silvery flash of light and reached the single-winged white dragon.

The light burst forth.

In a blinding brilliance, the white dragon began to disintegrate into a salaamander and disintegrated into particles.

Within seconds, it disappeared without a trace - never to be revived again.