Chapter 56 - Pressed for time
There weren't too many losses of hunters and soldiers on the battlefield because of the continuous support of high ranking hunters, and the fact that I took the focus and attention of the two most powerful beasts the entire time
Healing mages were tending to the injured and government squads specialized for resource retrieval were going around the field collecting cores, skill books, and items.
The poisonous summon had finished decimating the ranks of beasts after a while, and the only thing left on the other half of the battlefield were areas of molten rocks that were still bubbling with heat and corpses of corroded beasts
I told Elizabeth that I was going to rush towards the United Federation, and was met with shock as she asked me, "Are you not exhausted?!"
I laughed at this very normal question and chose not to answer as I gave my acknowledgement to Lightning Hand and the other officials at the command center.
Before leaving, I asked for the country where the battle against the Black Dragon was currently taking place, and the intelligence officials gave me the coordinates of the country that was called King's Harbor.
I knew the general direction to fly to so that I could get there the quickest time possible, but having the actual coordinates on my phone tremendously helped. I looked at the blue dotted location and how far I was as I itched to begin my journey right away.
Even flying at my top speed, I didn't know how many hours it would take for me to get there. Would I make it on time before thousands continued to lose their lives?
I told Elizabeth to relay my words as I flew off from the command center and landed on the large neck of the poisonous summon. The rolling muscles on its neck felt like stones as I sat down on it, commanding to see if it can stop emitting the noxious fumes coming off its body as I could already see my skin turning an unhealthy shade of green
The beast complied and its imposing air reduced while I casted [Guardian's Light] multiple times to remove the negative effects and completely heal my body. I saw that this rank S summon was much faster that my [Flight] skill, so it would be my mode of transportation towards the United Federation
Its extended bat wings vibrated as we disappeared in the air, quickly speeding towards a whole other battle field
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Kazuhiko had pulled back from the battlefield while letting out rough breaths. He had gone on a rampage and taken down many rank A and B BOSSes, but the beast he wanted to fight had yet to appear
He was running low on mana after rushing about these past few hours that he forced himself to come out of the battlefield and recuperate his energy. He wanted to live freely and fight all day long, but his body betrayed him
He had to get stronger. Much stronger until he could fight day and night without feeling exhausted
When he finished killing another beast and felt the state of his body though, he called another rank A hero to take over his position as he moved to the back. He didn't want to face the Black Dragon like this and die a meaningless death with no thrill of battle
His katana laid on his lap as he stroked it and closed his eyes. He would regain his fighting power first, before going for another bout that would surely call forth the terrible beast
---
An enormous beast was slumbering in the middle of a huge forest surrounded by large trees that seemed like small twigs compared to its body.
The beast had a voluminous layer of dark scales spreading throughout its body, with beautiful wings what were tucked in and a long spiked tail moving about behind it
A thrumming sound could be heard as the beast showed a painful expression on its face, before dark smoke covered its body as it began to reduce in size. Rumblings rang out as the dark smoke proliferated the area, and soon enough a new figure was standing in the forest
It now had an appearance of a human male, seemingly in his 50s. He had tanned dark skin, and a pulsating scar could be seen on his chest.
This was the Black Dragon that currently had his forces waging war on the countries of the United Federation.
He had willingly chosen to descend to this lower world after making a deal for the independence of his Dukedom. As long as he was successful in this endeavor, his people would be free from persecution
He felt bad for the natives of this planet, as he was doing the same thing that was done to them not too far back. But he had to do this. His people continued to suffer every day, and he wanted some relief for them.
He will bear the burden for the deaths of these other beings, but he had to complete his end of the deal, and hope that they do the same.
Someone of his level coming down to this lower world had its drawbacks, especially because those assholes chose not to provide the essence required to descend and he had to use his own.
This caused an injury that was taking some time to recover from. It was why he wasn't able to move as freely after his descent, and had to depend on his subordinates and other demi-humans to increase his influence
He had changed to this human form to more easily control the energies in his body with the advent of this injury.
It would only take a few more days to heal, and he should be back to his peak rank S strength. When that time comes, he would steel his powerful heart and make them all submit, or face death.
Emotions had to be kept out of the picture. He was doing this for his people, his daughter, for himself. He would pity what was about to happen to these natives, but that was it.
More than half a day had passed since he received updates that a powerful human was standing against them and had caused the deaths of many of his subordinates, but he didn't want to move again until more of his injuries were healed.
He was about to check in on the progress of his forces when an aura of someone he had felt after he descended dissappeared. Not too long after, another aura seemed to also fade away in a blink. He became perplexed as he closed his eyes and spread out his energy, but still couldn't feel the auras
What had happened? It was much easier to sense those of the same level as you on planets like these, so he was aware of the two familiar auras that were also here. But now, both of them were gone
His perplexity turned to somberness as he could not understand why, but an impossible idea had rooted itself in his head as black smoke roiled out and he went back to his dragon form. His healing would have to be pushed back, he needed to see what was going on