Book 5: Chapter 40: The Quickening of the Flying Dragon

C.E. 1281, the season was changing as autumn comes.

Inside the capital of the new kingdom Fontaine, in a certain conference room within Lacepede Castle, Queen Eleonora surveyed the seated nobles and asked:

「How goes the war?」

「Yes, Your Majesty. First is the new model Revantier, their construction and deployment in the frontlines are almost complete, we’re gradually increasing our forces… However, the enemy is changing their movements too, so we didn’t make any progress at all.」

Between the New Kuscheperca Kingdom wishing to reclaim their land and the Žaloudek Kingdom who wants to stop them, there has been no major movements, and time was allowed to simply pass by. Although the new kingdom launched several attacks during this period, they were all repelled by the tough armour of the black knights.

「On top of that, they no longer send out fleets of Levitate Ship, and are going back to guerilla tactics with a single ship once again. This had affected our supply line, and things aren’t going well.」

And as what had been reported previously, the enemy had strengthened the Levitate Ship by transporting Wizard Style machines, so even a single ship was formidable. The gulf in power between the new kingdom and Žaloudek Kingdom was already huge in the beginning, and this had grown worse with the war grinding to a stalemate.

「What about the Silver Phoenix Knights?」

「Yes. They are active on the frontlines as usual, but unfortunately, we couldn’t break through the enemy’s defences even with their help. We are still in the midst of finding an effective way.」

After hearing the troubling reports, Eleonora lowered her head. She lacked experience and couldn’t give any useful advice. Even if she wanted to rely on Martina who was assisting her, Martina wasn’t familiar with military matters either. Strictly speaking, Emrys would be more suitable for such matters. In the end, Eleonora just listened to what they said and acknowledged them with a nod.

「I understand, I look forward to your hard work in the future.」

「By your command!」

The Queen gave a passable response, and the nobles of Kuscheperca started going about their way. The nobles and knights in the various territories were doing everything they could to reclaim their land, but the fact remains that their efforts didn’t yield any results worth speaking of.

◆ ◆ ◆

On the western border of the New Kuscheperca Kingdom, along a small road that branches out from the Pan-Kucher highway, was a fort city. Even though it was just a branch off the road, it was laid rather well, big enough for carriages and even Silhouette Knights to travel on. In other words, this was more than adequate enough to be used as the most forward base against the Žaloudek Kingdom.

「Open the gate! Open — the gate!」

A cavalry unit waving the flag of the new kingdom reached the fort city, and the mechanical city gate was raised with a loud crank. Even Silhouette Knights wouldn’t be able to lift this solid drawbridge, much lest humans. It was barely operable through the use of the giant water mills situated near the river.

The captain of the cavalry entered the opened city gates and headed for the residential zone. The road from the gate wasn't connected to the city directly, but it leads to a maze of secondary walls. The platoon of Revantiers guarding the gate watched every move of the cavalry with keen eyes. They might be waving the flag of the new kingdom, but that didn’t guarantee that they were friendlies. The cavalry took off their light leather helmets, and was only allowed passage after their faces were checked.

「… What!? Žaloudek sent knights to the frontlines?」

The fort city was ruled by a minor noble, 『Baron Ladislao Mazquiarán』.

His face turned sour on receiving the sudden news. After the purge by the Žaloudek Kingdom, there were few high nobles left inside the Kuscheperca Kingdom, leaving the mid to low tier nobles to support the new kingdom.

Due to the Žaloudek Kingdom prioritizing defence, both sides remained at an impasse after he was assigned here. The new kingdom was cautious and despatched a lot of scouts to keep a look out, and there have been recent reports indicating that several Silhouette Knight units were heading their way.

「Hmmp, those guys haven’t come out for a long time. Are they tired of hiding inside the city?」

It was clear that the Žaloudek Army was adopting a defensive strategy, and that suddenly changed, so it was only natural that the Baron was surprised. Were they trying something out, or they didn’t need to continue their staunch defences anymore? There must be a reason why they took such a drastically different stance.

「The scale of the enemy forces?」

「Yes Sir. We have visuals of about one company.」

「A company? That’s not many… Are they just doing a recon by force?」

「They show no signs of slowing down, and are headed directly for this city. They didn’t make any efforts to hide their advances.」

It was becoming stranger by the moment. It was impossible to take down a fort city of this size with just one company. If it was the past when they only had the Resvant, it might be plausible, but they were now equipped with the latest machine models — the Revantier, and would not be defeated so easily by the Žaloudek’s Tyrant.

「I don’t get it, but no matter what they’re up to, it’s better to eliminate the attacking enemy.」

Confused with no answers to his doubts, the Baron still made the decision to engage the enemy. No matter what, there was no reason to let the enemy come near their base. To be safe, he ordered twice the enemy’s number, two companies to attack.

The city gate opened with the dull sound of friction, and two companies of Revantiers charged forth with loud footsteps. Guided by the cavalry scouts, they moved towards the enemy position. At this point, they split into two groups to surround the enemy.

「No signs of an ambush, it’s not a sneak attack by a Levitate Ship either…? 」

Aside from the team supporting the assault unit, the other scout cavalry also spread out in all directions. They kept moving back and forth, on guard against enemy reinforcements, but there had been no reports as of now. On top of that, they made preparation for the air raids which they had gotten used to, with the Resvant Vidos deployed within the city, keeping constant watch over the sky. But there weren’t any signs there either. As one of the bases at the very frontlines, the defences of this city were exceptionally tough.

「Something’s amiss. Would the Žaloudek Army really attack this place with just this much forces?」

Even though the base forces felt a strong sense of doubt, the unit that has set off to attack was closing in on the enemy and about to make contact.

「Deploy back weapons, ready your shields — ! We will launch a preemptive attack!」

Their plan was simple, the leading group will engage the enemy, and a short while later, the other group would flank behind the enemy and backstab them. The leading group braced themselves for battle according to plan, and shortly after, black giant knights appeared from the sparse forest. Their tall burly bodies gave off an intimidating aura. The core of the Žaloudek Army was formed from the Tyrants, so this was a very standard formation.

「Half assed magic projectiles won’t penetrate their armour! Forget about suppressing fire, prepare for close quarters… What!?」

The team of Revantiers who was speeding up noticed something wrong. A single enemy Silhouette Knight was charging ahead of his allies, without any regards for formation.

「What is that? A decoy… Impossible. Don’t the knights of Žaloudek know how to work as a team?」

「I don’t know. He’s either full of himself, or lost his composure. No matter what, leading the charge alone isn’t wise. Let’s take him down first then talk about it later!」

It caught them off guard, but what they needed to do remained the same. The team of Revantiers aimed their back weapons at the sole enemy unit charging them.

「What the hell… is that guy? His body is covered with 『a bunch of swords』, what a messy load out.」

That knight was different from the standard Tyrant, which was rare in the Žaloudek Army. But what drew their attention was its equipment. His appearance was literally 『a bunch of swords』, and that enemy machine was covered with a large number of unnecessary swords, giving it a queer look.

「Since he only has swords, there’s no need to hold back. Kill it off with our spells!」

The heavy weight black knights were slow. Since the 『bunch of swords』 charged ahead with its quicker pace, it couldn’t count on support from behind. That might be so, but the Revantier team didn’t need to hold back. They raised their back weapons and shot out bright crimson bullets repeatedly. The projectiles formed a wall of fire that headed straight for the 『bunch of swords』.

The response of the 『bunch of swords』 was as unusual as its loadout. It didn’t slow down in the face such a murderous welcome, and charged straight ahead as it waved a drawn sword in each hand.

The attacking Revantier held their breath, questioning what they just saw. The shocking thing was, that 『bunch of swords』 evaded the projectiles as if he had seen through them, and only used his swords to deflect the shots he couldn’t evade with amazing accuracy. His movements were kept to the minimum, and didn’t affect his running speed in the slightest.

「That’s too reckless! Alright then, vanguards, prepare to engage!」

The unusual movements of the enemy shook them, but the Revantier team still responded quickly. Even though it dodged the projectiles, it still didn’t change the fact that it was outnumbered. The three Revantier vanguards retracted their back weapon, and raised their swords and shields against the 『bunch of swords』.

The sound of footsteps quickened, and the crystal tissues that powered the Silhouette Knights churned loudly, converting mana into destructive power — the clash lasted just an instant. The next second, the new kingdom knights doubted their eyes once more. They saw as the arm of a Revantier flew into the air along with its shield, crystal shards falling out from its body as it slowly collapsed. On the other hand, the 『bunch of swords』 didn’t slow down at all as it pounced on its next prey.

「What, this guy is!? S-Strong…!」

With movements that could only be described as amazing, the 『bunch of swords』 took down the 2nd and 3rd Revantiers. All three didn’t even have the chance to cross blades with it before being cut down. The 『bunch of swords』 attacked the gap between their armour with precision to destroy the insides. Because his methods were too fast, even those who saw him up close couldn’t understand what just happened. The new kingdom army only realized why the 『bunch of swords』 charged them alone now. They felt a different oppressive aura from him that was unlike that of the Tyrants.

「Ohh, my enemies! You also made new armour, but wouldn’t it be boring if the ones sitting inside are clumsy?」

Despite achieving overwhelming results, the 『bunch of swords』 grumbled with dissatisfaction. His taunts through the loudspeakers infuriated the new kingdom army, but in the face of their difference in combat prowess, their wariness held them back.

The knight with strand weapons called by others as a 『bunch of swords』 — the pilot of the 『Swordsman』, Gustavo said from his seat once again:

「Sigh — I miss that red one, fighting with you lot is so boring!」 With every step the Swordsman took, the swords on its shoulders clinked. And as it moved forward, the Revantiers unconsciously moved back, pushed back by the pressure of just one enemy machine. When they realized this, the new kingdom knights steeled themselves and advanced. The difference in close quarter combat capability was too vast, so they mixed in spells attacks along with hand to hand combat, attacking in waves.

「Oh? Still want to continue my welcome? Haha! Good, I like that. Unfortunately, time’s up… Black knights, spread out to the flanks. Envelop them from the outside and crush them!」

The presence of the Swordsman was too strong, and made the new kingdom knights let down their guard against the other black knights. The Tyrants entering the fray step pass the stationary Swordsman and closed in on the Revantiers. The machines on both sides have Eastern Mode technology, and their performance was about even. And that was why the difference in number caused by the Swordsman was that critical. Forced to face a disadvantageous situation, the new kingdom army was pushed to the brink.

At this moment, the new kingdom’s secondary group arrived. Seeing the main group in trouble in so short a time after they commenced their pincer attack tactic, they hurried to rescue their comrades.

「Ahh — ? So you were planning a pincer attack. That’s right, numbers are very important!!」

The Swordsman charged alone again, breaking into the center of the secondary group. What happened next was the same as before, with each flash of the Swordsman’s blade, a Revantier would be slashed and fall. Their back weapons were rendered useless, and they would be crushed by the enemy’s stunning swordsmanship when they get close. After 4 machines fell one after another, the secondary group was half destroyed.

On the other hand, despite his glorious exploits, Gustavo couldn’t help saying frustratedly:

「No good. Are you all really knights? You aren’t even good enough to be strawmen, Have some limits with how boring you can be.」

His interest in the new kingdom forces dissipate drastically, and looked as if he was annoyed by the surviving members. Couldn’t be bothered to deal with them any longer, he ordered the black knights to pursue them. The black knights who had finished off the main group approached the secondary team with heavy steps.

「Damn it… They are too strong…! We can’t beat them… retreat, everyone pull back!!」

In the face of the advancing knights of black steel, the secondary team chose to back away. The Swordsman alone destroyed nearly half of their numbers, they were completely outmatched. If the enemy caught up, they would get wiped out. But for some reason, the Žaloudek Army didn’t plan to kill them off. Although the black knights were slow, the Swordsman didn’t pursue at all.

◆ ◆ ◆

When he saw the losses the unit that returned has incurred, Baron Mazquiarán grit his teeth angrily. He despatched a force that was twice the number of the enemy, and definitely didn’t underestimate the enemy. However, the enemy was more powerful than he imagined.

「Those people are elite! Damn it, we can probably beat them if I send out enough men… But I should avoid unnecessary losses. Damn it, this is infuriating…」

He gave up on intercepting the enemy, and decided to stay in the fort to fight a defensive battle. They still had a battalion in reserve, and they could fend them off even if the enemy has reinforcements. — that was what he thought.

But… the enemy launched an attack, would they really turn back just like that?

With doubts in their mind, the new kingdom army made preparation around the fort for battle. Guards were deployed in front of the city, and the Resvant Vidos were assigned to sentry duties on the wall. When he saw the new kingdom army from afar, Gustavo deftly made the Swordsman shrug.

「Ho, it’s been awhile since I gone all out, and I didn’t control my strength. I wanted to just test them a little and draw them out but… Sigh～～ hide all you want. Hmm, seems like there are about three companies inside that fort. Hey, prepare the smoke signals, three of them.」

When they heard Gustavo’s orders, his subordinates quickly carried out their instructions.

「Alright, it’s your turn, Dad.」

Baron Mazquiarán could see the columns of smoke from the city walls.

「That’s… a signal for their reinforcements? A Levitate Ship is probably coming. Everyone, prepare for anti air battle!! Don’t let them take this city fort so easily.」

On his command, the Tower Knights aimed their Silhouette Arms to the sky. They had experience in fighting Levitate Ships, and were adequately prepared. After a brief moment of silence, their prediction turned true — but they were only half right.

「What… is that?」

A black shadow appeared from the gaps in the clouds. When they saw a huge shadow on the ground gradually closing in, the guards in front of the city turned tense.

「As expected, it’s a Levitate Ship. Do they really think one vessel can take us on…!?」

At this moment, they finally noticed that something was wrong. The never seen before aerial weapon, the 『Levitate Ship』 first made their debut during their invasion of the Kuscheperca Kingdom. The new kingdom army had fought them numerous time, and has a deep understanding of their capabilities. They also captured one that was still operational, so there was no way they could misidentify the outline of a Levitate Ship. However, the ship before them was different. The Levitate Ships they had encountered were all in the form of an upside down sailing vessel floating in the air, and they weren’t wrong. It was true that most of the Levitate Ships in the Žaloudek Army were like that.

But the ship flying at them alone was an exception. The center of the ship bulged widely, and was the only part that retained the form of a ship. Protruding from the body was a slim head and tail, which didn’t look anything like a ship. Sails on the left and right were fully deployed, making them look like the wings of a bat. The ship’s body was covered in the armour glimmering with steel, which overlapped in complicated patterns like the outer skin of a Silhouette Knight, forming 『movable parts』. That’s right, movable parts. The proof was that after they discovered the new kingdom army on the ground, it immediately 『twisted it’s entire body』 to change its direction, and descended towards them.

As it got closer, it was possible to discern the details of the ship. The new kingdom army gasped, as they realized that the unidentified flying object approaching them could no longer be called a 『ship』. If they had to describe it, it was closer to being a —

「That’s a… Levitate Ship? But this is strange… it looks like a demon beast that had gone extinct since ancient times… a『drake』! What are the people in Žaloudek thinking? Are they insane!?」

In the Western States which is the cradle of humanity, many large demon beast had already been extinct for a long time. When humans dominated this land through the use of Silhouette Knights, they subjugated most of the demon beasts. Not just 『drakes』, for the Western States, demon beasts were sort of a legendary existence. And the terrifying appearance of the Levitate Ship before them was enough to stir up this memory.

Doroteo•Mardones glared at the fortress city and the new kingdom army deployed in front of it, and said with a deep voice:

「The fortress city of the new kingdom army… About a battalion in size. A most suitable first prey, they should be able to let us use our powers to the fullest extent. Lord Collazo, let me test this out!」

This ship mimics the form of the legendary 『drake』, with no sign of it being a ship at all. However, it was still customized from a Levitate Ship, and the slender dragon head was similar to the 『Figurehead』of a Levitate Ship, which consist of the top half of a Silhouette Knight. But the torso of this Silhouette Knight had the head of a dragon, it had the creepy appearance of a 『half man half dragon knight』. Doroteo sat in the pilot seat inside the 『Dragon Head』, with many sound pipes around him that were connected to the various parts of the vessel. A report just happened to be coming in from one of his subordinates:

「Visual confirmation on the new kingdom army deployed on the ground preparing to engage us.」

「Lower altitude, launch spell attacks!」

Doroteo yelled his command towards the sound pipe loudly. After his subordinates at the center of the vessel repeated their orders, they adjusted the Etheric Levitator.

「Beginning descent! Diluting Etheric Levitator… Adjusting concentration of Ether to one five above ground. Entering anti ground combat altitude!」

「Good, retract the wing sails and stop the blow engine. Entering high speed battle mode!」

Next, the opened sails on the left and right of the vessel changed. The inner skeleton of the sails were connected to the blow engine. The skeletal structure of these sails similar to the wings of a bat started to fold and retract.

「Sail wings retraction complete! Preparation for high speed battle mode complete!」

「We’re going in, ignite the 『Magius Jet Thruster』 and maintain combat mobility!」

Before today, the propulsion of Levitate Ships was supplied by something called a blow engine, a Silhouette Arm that creates wind. Because this ship was bigger and more heavily armoured than previous models, the weight of the ship increased and wind power wasn’t strong enough to move it. Even if it did move, it would be incredibly slow. In order to solve this problem, Horacio Collazo created a new propulsion device — which was the Magius Jet Thruster.

The overt level explosive flame spells roared, and a fire burst forth, providing the necessary power to push the large ship forward. However, the Magius Jet Thruster has a flaw, which was the tremendous amount of mana it consumes, so it couldn’t be used too often. This ship would use its sail wings to cruise during patrols, and would switch to the Magius Jet Thruster during a battle, a hybrid type that utilize both modes.

Flames that sends out heat waves burst forth from the exposed back of the dragon after its wings had been retracted. The humongous object with its armour was extremely heavy, but the powerful propelling force still accelerated it. The alien ship that mimics the form of a huge ancient dragon bared its fangs at the new kingdom enemy as it dives at them. Doroteo glared at the holo monitor with bloodshot eyes inside the head of the ship. This battle was actually a 『blade test』, to prove whether this ship and him were powerful enough to kill the alien knight that murdered his master.

「So this is the Levitate Ship in full battle mode… 『Flying Dragon Battleship【Vouivre】』! Let me see your power!」

When they saw the Flying Dragon Battleship retract its wings and accelerate, a sense of unease spread among the new kingdom army. They did set a strategy against Levitate Ships, but what was charging their way was an opponent that mimics a Flying Dragon. Baron Mazquiarán quickly issued orders to the knights who were at a loss.

「Ugh, that’s just a bluff! Vidos team, prepare spell attacks!! Shoot it down if it dares to come near us!!」

When they heard their loud and firm commander gave the word, the soldiers fired spells into the sky even though they had yet to settle down completely. During this time, the Vouivre was still charging at full speed towards the center of the tight formation. It flew right over the heads of the Silhouette Knights, and descended so low it was almost touching the ground. Wizard Style Anculosa 『sprout out』 from all over the ship’s body and started firing intensely at the ground. This was one step better than simply placing Wizard Style machines on the Levitate Ship, they were now part of the ship as a fixed artillery.

「Damn Žaloudeks, this is an abomination…! This is going beyond the demon beast of legends, did the lost of their commander made them lose their minds!?」

This was an efficient way of doing things, but the upper torso of the Silhouette Knights sprouting out from the ship caused an indescribable feeling of disgust to the new kingdom army. Not just that, the intense firepower from the Wizard Style machine caused tremendous losses to the ground units. After all, this might be just one vessel, but there were many Wizard Style machines sprouting from it.

「Waaarrghhh!? Impossible, there’s just one enemy ship, how could it launch such devastating spell attacks!?」

In contrast, the Tower Knights’ magic projectile attacks were limited in effectiveness. The Flying Dragon Battleship possessed armour defences that was 『tougher than it looks』, and could deflect multiple magic projectile hits easily. The Flying Dragon Battleship laid down intense fire on the ground as it flew over the new kingdom army, and then turned around immediately. The Battleship might look slow and clumsy, but it could move its head and tail deftly like a living being, and was more agile in its turn than normal Levitate Ships. Its movement was completely beyond the level of a ship, and was closer to that of Silhouette Knights.

After the first round of exchange, the Flying Dragon Battleship was mostly unscathed, while the new kingdom army took heavy losses. Doroteo was pleased by the results and issued the next attack command:

「We will now test out 『melee combat』. Deploy 『Dragonic claw』 and attack from the front. Increase propulsion!」

After receiving his orders, a giant arm-like thing at the bottom of the ship was deployed. It was a dragon claw larger than a Silhouette Knight in size. This was the biggest difference between the Flying Dragon Battleship and normal Levitate Ships, its close quarter combat weapon, 『Combat Dragon claw』.

「T-The monster is coming back!」

「H-How can it be so fast! Is that really a Levitate Ship…!? Forget it, turn back quickly! Take aim until it's almost on top of us, and shoot it down!!」

The Flying Dragon charging towards the defenders who changed the direction they were facing in a hurry. It soared over the heads of the Silhouette Knights and extended its ferocious Combat Dragon claw. The acceleration of the Magius Jet Thruster and the incredible inertia of the ship’s mass resulted in the dragon claw decimating the Silhouette Knights on the ground as if it was raking up leaves.

「Damn it! That’s impossible, that ship has a claw!?」

「Curses, it destroyed the Revantier so easily…!? Could that be the incarnation of a real dragon!?」

It cleaned up far targets with spell attacks, and devastate enemy close by with its dragon claw. Wherever the Vouivre went, only the wreckage of Revantiers were left in the wake of its rampage. The speed difference between the two sides were too vast, and the new kingdom army was destroyed without even the chance to put up a fight. At this moment, the Flying Dragon Battleship’s claw happened to catch a Revantier during its run through the enemy formation.

「A-Ahhhh! S-Someone save me…」

The next second, that Revantier was crushed with a pomf. The Dragonic claw wasn’t just large, it was also full of strand crystal tissue, and could exert tremendous power output to match its huge size. It could even squash a Silhouette Knight through brute force. The unstoppable dragon claw left a clear trail of destruction through the middle of the new kingdom army.

「No good… Recall the Silhouette Knights back into the fort city! We will become food for that thing if this goes on… Even the dragon claw won’t be able to break the fort walls!」

After seeing the formidable power of the enemy for himself, the Baron issued the order to retreat.

「Hmmp, they plan to fight a defensive fort battle? We need to teach them that such tricks are futile before our Flying Dragon.」

Doroteo was pleased with the display of the Combat Dragon claw’s might against the enemy, and was finally ready to go in for the final blow.

「Increase Ether concentration to three zero above ground.」

「Roger, injecting Ether into Etheric Levitator, concentration rising!」

After dealing a lethal blow to the enemy, the Flying Dragon Battleship increased its altitude as it circled in the air, ready to unleash a devastating attack. Its target wasn’t the Silhouette Knights, but the fort city itself.

「Ship bow, prepare to fire 『Incineration Flame』!」

The thin bow protruding out from the front of the Flying Dragon Battleship which looked like a dragon’s head opened its maw wide. Its ferocious appearance looked just like a living dragon, exposing a dark maw leading to the insides of the bow through rows of fang-like armour. Massive amounts of mana flowed into the emblem graf inside the maw, and flame erupted forth. The fire become more intense as it spew further out, until blazing flames covered the ground.

「Dragon… flame! How… is that possible…!?」

By breaking out of the mold of a Silhouette Knight, the Vouivre managed to turn the stupendously huge Silhouette Arms『Incineration Flame』 into reality. It uses a large explosive flame spell to continuously shoot out flames. The fire raining down from the sky engulfed the fortress city, showcasing its powerful effect as a siege weapon.

It was a hellish scene at the top of the city walls. Even if the Silhouette Knights were covered in steel, the pilots were still human. Even the armour of the Resvant Vido, the Wall Robe looked fragile before this relentless assault. The outer skin was burned to crisp, while the human inside was either cooked alive or turned directly into ash. Just one round of flame attack annihilated the units defending the walls, with the charred vito spewed all over the place. Some of the half melted ones were still squirming on the ground, while those who managed to escape out of the attack range fled in panic. Vido was a Wizard style machine and moved slower than the black knights. Hence, they turned into sacrifices to the Flying Dragon’s flame.

The Flying Dragon Battleship which had shown its enemy how feeble the city walls were in its eyes turned around, turning its sights on the city within the fort. None of the Revantier that escaped were spared, and the buildings burned. Neither the city walls or the stone buildings could withstand the fire attack, and after the Flying Dragon Battleship made a few sweeps, the city was razed to the ground.

「… This power… was beyond my imagination.」

The Flying Dragon Battleship was the first large scale siege weapon in this world. Its horrendous results made even Doroteo who ordered the attack tremble.

「Leave the clean up to the ground units, we will return to base.」

The Flying Dragon Battleship stopped spewing out flames after annihilating the enemy, and started to increase altitude. When it reached sufficient height and slowed down, it deployed its Wing Sails and entered cruising mode with its blow engine. They took to the sky leisurely, leaving the battlefield behind them.

The enormous body of the Flying Dragon Battleship might be suitable for large scale devastating attacks, but not for trivial clean up operations. They had already took out a lot of the enemy forces, and completed their mission.

「Incredible… With such powers in our hands, even the Demon God can’t escape from us. Princess Catalina, we will definitely avenge the Prince.」

The creator of the Levitate Ship — Horacio Collazo researched and developed from an angle never seen before in history. A new weapon that wasn’t a Levitate Ship or a Silhouette Knight, something that should be called a man made Demon Beast, the 『Flying Dragon Battleship』. The giant sails flutter with the wind, and the strange dark shadow disappeared into the clouds.

Shortly after, the Swordsman and the Black Knight unit reached the fortress city right after the Flying Dragon left. Gustavo surveyed the burning fortress city and grumbled:

「Dad, if you burn the entire city, we won’t be able to use it. The dragon is more powerful than expected, but you have to use it properly.」

He looked at the fortress city that couldn’t serve as a base of operations any longer, and wondered what he should do.

◆ ◆ ◆

The Vouivre won a splendid victory in its debut and set off for Delvincourt in high spirits. Even though it didn’t suffered much damage, that was still its first mission. It had already been scheduled to undergo maintenance to avoid any breakdowns.

The creator of the Flying Dragon Battleship Horacio welcomed Doroteo and his crew at the docks with arms wide open to express his sincerity.

「Haha, Lord Mardones, how was it? Did the power of the Flying Dragon Battleship pleased you? From your face, I think it performed quite admirably.」

「That is true. We just burned the remnants who call themselves the New Kuscheperca Kingdom into crisp, it’s power is amazing! I will leave it at that for now, wonderfully done.」

Doroteo answered with a nod, which pleased Horacio. In the past, the Levitate Ship could only take part in battle through transporting Silhouette Knights or having them onboard, the only weapon they had was the 『catapult』. Even so, it was still a revolutionary weapon. However, the enemy’s anti-air weaponry developed too fast, which highlighted the Levitate Ship’s lack of offensive means. Thus, the Flying Dragon Battleship was bestowed with great combat potential. This vessel designed for combat was the final form of Horacio’s ideal of the 『Ruler of the Sky』.

「That’s marvelous. We can soar in the sky as we please now… Well then, please follow me. Princess Catalina is looking forward to your good tidings.」

Horacio who came to the docks eagerly was also tasked to relay the summons. As he led Doroteo and company to the audience hall, they discussed the performance of the Flying Dragon Battleship passionately.

「With the prowess of the Flying Dragon Battleship. Silhouette Knights are not a threat at all. We won’t lose even if we meet that Demon God… It is regrettable that it wasn’t ready in time to help Prince Cristóbal. If this was done before the battle of Missillier… No, it’s useless to talk about that now.」

「Hmm, how should I put this? This ship is designed with 『fighting other Levitate Ships』 in mind.」

His casual words surprised Doroteo. Since he was the one who created the Levitate Ship, why was he thinking about combating other Levitate Ships?

「I would have never thought of that. Just who are you planning to fight?」

「Even though the Levitate Ship can be considered to be patented by us now, it had already been leaked to the new kingdom. It’s not too much to plan in advance on ways to fight them correct? To create a Levitate Ship specialized for combat and worthy of the title of Ruler of the Sky, the problem of how to armour and arm it was a tough question. Keeping it in the form of a ship wouldn’t do, and we didn’t want to make it into a Silhouette Knight. So I decided to take inspiration from a certain source, and designed it after a demon beast.」

「What remarkable resolve. But from the way you phrase it… Have the Flying Dragon existed since a long time ago?」

In the face of Doroteo’s questioning that had turned a little shrill, Horacio scratched his messy hair and showed a half hearted smile:

「That’s right, although the ship was actually made, it couldn’t work. It was either too heavy to move smoothly, or defenceless against long range attacks, so I banished it into the archives.」

His expression was ambiguous, but his eyes had a strong light in them, along with his unwavering confidence as the creator of the Levitate Ship.

「Unfortunately, the Steel Wing Knights suffered devastating losses and were almost wiped out. And the lesson we learned from their experience helped me solve many of the problems. The powerful propellor and the addition of Wizard Style machine finally reforged the Flying Dragon Battleship into the strongest ship ever.」

「… Without that battle, this ship wouldn’t exist?」

What Horacio said was very logical, so Doroteo’s tone had a hint of depression in it.

「We will start carrying out the mission of the Flying Dragon, I will definitely avenge the Prince with the power of this ship.」

He pulled himself out of his sullen emotions. Doroteo lives only for one thing, which was to seek vengeance against the enemy. At this moment, Horacio who was walking ahead stopped. With a faint smile on his face, he turned and said:

「Well, I don’t need to bore you with the details of what the Flying Dragon can do. But assuming — if you encounter that rumoured Demon God… And if the Flying Dragon is not powerful enough…」

Doroteo’s eyes were full of life. He nimbly dodged the wrathful gaze of the veteran, and his smile deepened and twisted creepily.

「Please soar high and far away. Without limits or restraints. The sky will protect the ruler, give him strength to defeat the enemy.」

「Very well, I will keep your advice in my heart.」

Doroteo walked passed Horacio with just these words, heading briskly into the audience hall. Horacio muttered softly, knowing very well his words would never reach anyone:

「Yes, only my Flying Dragon can reach the highest sky. No matter how powerful that Demon God is, no matter how much insanity is cramped inside its body, those who don’t understand the truth of this world will be engulfed by it if they try to reach the highest peak with a single bound...」

His deep laughter echoed in the corridor.