171. CLASH! STORM DRAGON VS SCORCH DRAGON – FIRST HALF –
That battle had affected the surrounding topology, and caused great change to the ecosystem.
A ‘calamity’ which was later named ‘The Scorching Tempest’ had occurred.
No matter the conclusion, it was definitely a battle that surpassed human understanding.
The only silver lining was that the it had taken place over the ocean.
The heat had caused the seawater to evaporate, which formed clouds that brought forth heavy rain to the surrounding areas, but there was no major impact on land.
If it had been over land, or worse, in close vicinity of a country, the scale of damage would have been catastrophic.
But, there definitely was some damage.
The marine life which inhibited that ocean region had been significantly affected, and as a result, the already huge sea creatures ended up evolving into even bigger, more terrifying sea monsters.
With the creation of these sea monsters, this ocean region had become an untraversable region.
As a result, the sea route was closed off, and even the airspace above that ocean region was deemed unsafe.
This was the reality of the great damage that ‘The Scorching Tempest’ had brought about.
Among the central islands of the ‘Continent of Eternal Ice’, was an area of sea that lay in permafrost.
The surrounding skies were controlled by aerial demons that had become more savage due to being bathed Demon Lord Guy Crimson’s magic.
Because of that, and because one of the sea routes had ended up being closed off because of the ‘calamity’, there was a need to accelerate the establishment of a railway network and of Transit Gates for travel over the main land.
As this was part of Demon Lord Rimuru’s motives, it was debated whether the events were part of the Demon Lord’s strategy;
Whether he wanted to gain total control of the land transport routes. (TN: it was stated that Rimuru intended to spread his rail network in an older chapter)
It was a fact that the transport network prepared by the Demon Lord contributed to the advance of human technology.
But was the ‘calamity’ purposefully caused by the Demon Lord?
This would become a hot topic of debate for historians of the future.
But that this calamity was simply an amusing twist of fate; no historian could have predicted this culmination of events.
The phrase “reality is often stranger than fiction”, couldn’t have suited these string of events better.
Putting the debate aside, the cause of this ‘calamity’ being a battle among ‘True Dragons’ would be made an undeniable fact by future historians.
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Veldora, comfortably soaring through the skies, tried increasing his speed slightly.
Compared to when he was sealed, having better control of his magic now, his flying speed has increased.
「Kuahahahaha! Superb. This is a superb speed!」
He said, getting carried away.
It felt comfortable.
With the knowledge attained from the scriptures (manga) that Rimuru possessed, Veldora tweaked around with the logic here and there and produced good results.
His magic circulated within his body, with no leakages.
It was now possible to utilize magic of a much higher quality.
Better results, with less work.
Learning beside Rimuru, there were many things he wanted to try out.
Doing as he pleased in his true form was prohibited, so he played around with Rimuru’s followers while in his human form.
It was a pretty interesting experience, being taught the logic of skills… from the old man called Hakurou. (TN: izzit ok to just use old man for 老人? lol)
Power, was not to be simply released.
Molding it, increase the concentration through focus, and then explosively releasing it on a single point.
The true nature of Veldora’s power was ‘Chaos’. (TN: can also be “spreading” but that doesn’t seem right)
It was to release that near limitless magic into the surroundings, and attack with all his might.
Even at just this level, it was possible to destroy just about anything; it was also possible to do almost anything.
But, just that wasn’t good enough.
As it stands, there was a limit to how much power that could be released; it became impossible to accomplish more whilst wielding limited amounts of power.
Which was why, suppressing power and living in human form, was the most effective form of training.
And through that, Veldora learned how to use his power efficiently.
Similar to the logic in moving arms and legs while in human form, there was also a set flow to control power while in dragon form, thus proficiency increased with better concentration. (TN: THIS was hard to make sense of)
For Veldora, whose total energy levels are actually much higher than either of his 2 elder sisters, not needing to be conscious of the fact was impossible.
And that, was the gist of putting effort into combat styles, the reason to search for the efficient use of power.
It wouldn’t be something to be conscious of for beings that wield great power.
Unconsciously learning how to control magic while playing around in human form, this resulted in Veldora gaining combat power incomparable to his past self.
Veldora himself only felt lighter somewhat, being unaware of the difference.
Concentrating, Veldora attempted to fly at full power.
At that moment, his body started to adopt a form that was more suitable, and he easily surpasses the speed of sound.
The fastest among the 4 existing ‘True Dragons’, was ‘Scorch Dragon’ Velgrynd.
But at present, Veldora could attain speed which could rival the fastest.
Due to reaching this speed that he had never reached before, unknowingly, he was fast approaching the Empire’s Aerial Fleet.
(Hey, Veldora! The Empire’s straight ahead. You’re gonna run right into them if you keep going like that!)
He was already within one hour away from contact, when he received Rimuru’s message through Telepathy.
Seeing the slightly panicking Rimuru, Veldora’s thoughts became composed.
Wait a sec. The Empire was headed for Ruminas but, Couldn’t this be his time to shine?
Having finally gotten something of a powerup, wouldn’t this be fitting opportunity to test things out?
Even if I defeated all the enemies here without working together with Ruminas, it wouldn’t be a problem right?
Such thoughts went through his mind.
「Kuahahaha! Be at ease, Rimuru.
Leave it to me. I’ll repel that Imperial army!」
(Wha-! Will that be alright!?)
“Yeah, no problem! This is a long awaited chance to go all out. Don’t worry, just watch!”
Saying that, he ended the Telepathy message with Rimuru.
From Veldora’s perspective, Rimuru was always cautious.
Even if he had a definite chance of victory, he always only started a fight when he was certain that there was no chance of defeat.
That itself wasn’t a bad thing, but it was also important to have more confidence in himself.
Yes, he should be like his Ultimate Skill, Raphael.
With the resolve to fight, now it was only a matter of time till the battle.
To Veldora, the Imperial troops were nothing to be afraid of.
Aiming to end the battle instantly, he increased his flight speed even more.
The Empire’s Aerial Legion came into view ahead.
They numbered 300 ships. Not much of a problem.
Maintaining his current speed, it felt like he could win just by ramming into the opposition while cloaked in Hyper Energy.
But, it’s probably better to tell them to surrender first, so he stopped right before contact.
Just the aftershock of him stopping mid flight caused the Airships at the front of the fleet to jolt immensely. Destroying the fleet seemed to be an easy task.
「Kuahahahaha! Fools of the empire!
I am Veldora! ‘Storm Dragon’ Veldora!
If you stop your invasion now, I will let you retreat peacefully.
You may respond now!」
Veldora loudly proclaimed to the Empire through Telepathy.
This act of warning was something that would have never crossed Veldora’s mind in the past.
Living alongside Rimuru, not only his power but even his concept of thinking had changed.
Well, the scriptures (manga) knowledge probably had more of an influence.
On the other hand, the circumstances for the Empire differed significantly.
The higher ranking officers had already been informed of the fact that the entire army that was sent to subjugate the Great Jura Forest had been wiped out.
As for the regular soldiers, they couldn’t contain their restlessness after seeing Veldora who wasn’t supposed to be there.
Despite that, none of them left their designated posts, set the defense barriers to the highest output, and awaited further orders from their superiors; it was a show of great discipline.
As for their superiors, the Beast Corps commander, Gradim, and major-general Xam’d were located on the same Airship in the middle of the fleet.
This ship had a more luxurious build compared to the others, and had 300 of the remaining elite mages on board, which meant their defense barriers were of a higher quality.
This much was expected for the ship of the leaders of the expeditionary forces.
In addition, Velgrynd was on board as well.
As proxy for the emperor, she was highest in the chain of command.
To Gradim who had no idea who she was, it wasn’t an amusing proposition, but he nonetheless could feel that she was not to be underestimated.
Xam’d spoke up in place of Gradim.
The woman who called herself Grynd ―― Velgrynd took on that pseudonym ―― was the person of highest authority right now. (TN: repetitive..)
Although slightly displeasing, it was necessary to inquire about her opinion.
「Grynd-dono, what shall be our course of action?」
Velgrynd smiled wryly, and answered with another question.
「Xam’d, are we able to fire the Magic Canceller currently?
Also, it doesn’t seem enough, but how much of a fight can we put up with the forces currently on hand?」
「Let’s see….
We didn’t think there would be an air battle, we don’t have enough mages for this.
Our opponent is that Veldora, so our current forces just won’t be enough.
We would be able to perform better if we had say, 100 ships with 400 elites on each….」
「Hmm. Transport ships aren’t gonna do much against Veldora huh.
Very well.
Not much choice, I will go then. You all should hurry and withdraw from the battle zone.」
「What? You intend to go alone?」
Gradim was shocked at Velgryind’s words.
She glanced back and,
「Yes. It’s good that I came along with the expedition.
Even Rudra couldn’t have foreseen these turn of events……
Assemble those who can use the Magic Cancellers and reform our composition.
Do this swiftly while I buy time!
Make sure to be able to fire anytime, and aim for the moment I create an opportunity.
Fire the moment I give the signal. Understood?
This should already be obvious, get in contact with Rudra.
If you understand then hurry and get to work! I’ll be heading out!」
Orders came in like a volley of arrows.
Gradim was stunned, and couldn’t compute the orders, but Velgrynd paid him no heed, and opened the bridge doors.
She opened the doors with no hesitation and flew out toward the skies.
(That’s suicide!)
As Gradim thought of that, he lost all words at the the scene before his eyes.
Grynd ―― Velgrynd ―― flew out to the skies, and, after a brief flash of red light, transformed into her Dragon Mode in a dazzling display of Cardinal Aura.
「Wha-! Could it be ―― “Cardinal” Velgrynd!? The Guardian Deity of the Empire, Velgrynd-sama!」
Gradim came back to his senses after Xam’d’s surprised outburst.
And immediately said,
「I shall contact the emperor.
Hurry up and reform the ranks! You all heard what Velgrynd-sama said!
Assemble the Mages, land the remaining ships down to the ocean!!」
The orders were given.
The voice brought the soldiers back to their senses.
Their hearts were momentarily stolen by the otherworldly beauty of the shining scarlet dragon.
To face the despair brought by the appearance of Veldora, the legendary Guardian of the Empire had taken form, so it couldn’t be helped that the soldiers got caught up in the moment.
But, Gradim’s stern rally was more than enough to bring them back.
For the soldiers who were mesmerized by the advent of “Scorch Dragon” Velgrynd, it brought them back to reality.
「That’s right! Our Guardian Dragon is with us. There’s nothing to be afraid of!」
「With Velgrynd-sama on our side, there’s no way we can lose!!」
Morale rose instantly for the empire soldiers.
And they quickly began moving as per their orders.
Having been a long time since returning to her true form, Velgrynd looked around her.
At expected it feels comforting to be in her original form.
Using『Magic Perception』as naturally as breathing, she analysed the movements within the fleet.
She felt no hesitation in the soldiers, so no problems there.
As she looked ahead, Veldora seemed to be surprised and had gotten stiff. (TN: yea lol)
The reason was obvious.
He probably thought he could do a full sweep of the fleet with a single blast of his Breath.
A reunion of siblings since time immemorial.
Before he was sealed, during the times where Veldora was out rampaging around, Velgrynd was already Emperor Rudra’s partner, and had laid dormant in the Empire.
Being frozen by their elder sister Velzard every so often, it had been 2000 years since his last meeting with Velgrynd.
It was around the southern area of the empire, where they last met.
Their meeting had caused the emergence of a volcanic region, as the powers of the “True Dragons” clashed.
Though at that time both of them weren’t serious at all, Veldora had caught a glimpse of the pinnacle of Velgrynd’s powers, and escaped with his tail between his legs.
Despite having massive amounts of energy, Veldora was unable to efficiently use his power. That was why Velgrynd didn’t see him as much of a threat.
It meant nothing by just having great amounts of energy if he couldn’t use it properly.
But this power was capable of overpowering her own, if it was properly trained it could become an ace in this game.
She would take her time to slowly teach him how to use his powers, after getting him on to their side.
Now, anything could happen.
Velgrynd would pin Veldora down.
Then, with the right opportunity, make full use of the Magic Cancellers and restrain Veldora.
After that,they would turn Veldora into one of their own with Emperor Rudra’s “Regalia Dominion”.
It would have taken a lot of effort to lure him out from under Demon Lord Rimuru, but the current circumstances were much more convenient.
Though unexpected, this had become the perfect chance to bring Veldora to their side.
The goal of defeating Ruminas to obtain the method of bringing up holy knights, the “Soul Rending System”, would probably end up unneeded.(TN: Soul Rending System = 魂の練成システム?)
It was possible to grasp victory in their game against Guy if they had Veldora, which removes the need to increase the number of Sages as underlings.
(With this the board is going to change drastically.)
The end to their eternally drawn out game felt within reach. A victory for Velgrynd and Emperor Rudra drew closer.
Back to the problem at hand, first was to capture Veldora.
Making the best use of this chance, his capture was imperative in making their victory a reality.
Velgrynd slowly flew towards Veldora, with these thoughts.
Veldora was perplexed.
Despite successfully running away from his elder sister Velzard, he now ran into his other elder sister.
What’s up with that? He felt.
Due to how shocked he was, many of his movements were stiff.
It was time to get serious.
It would be difficult to escape. The reason was simple, Velgrynd was the fastest among the “True Dragons”.
With a polished battle style, one could feel she was fast just from her appearance. Well appearance didn’t really matter……
Competing in speed was a moot action, and for fighting, the current location was good.
If he ended up destroying Ruminas’ country again, he felt like he was definitely going to be chased around till his last breath.
Ruminas wasn’t the kind to joke around; and after watching what Rimuru did to build up his country, it was kind of obvious she would get angry.
Even if it wasn’t Ruminas, if Tempest was destroyed, Rimuru would utterly decimate the culprit.
With that in mind, there was no need to relocate the battlefield to somewhere populated.
Although it was kind of a pain, the opposition also seems to be getting ready for battle, to arms then.
But, seeing his elder sister Velgrynd ally with the Empire was a little unexpected.
It would have been possible to clean up this fleet of dinky airships with a single blast of breath, Veldora thought.
And earning a favor from Ruminas in the process, he wanted to get her to forget about the past destruction of her country.
It would have been a great opportunity, but life was never that easy.
Oh well, it seemed Velgrynd was all gung-ho about this, so he would follow suit.
Although they had never duked it out in earnest before, he felt that Velgrynd slightly had the upper hand. But that was all in the past now.
Veldora had obtained new powers, with help from Rimuru.
(Kuahahahaha! How about I see what I’m capable of, with this elder sister of mine as the opponent!)
With such thoughts, Veldora felt more motivated.
Veldora put his focus on Velgrynd, and entered his battle stance.
And so, a battle of the current century between “True Dragons” erupts.
Editor’s Rant:
Thus concludes the first batch of the 3p translator team ~ Gao!! A big welcome to Sushi-san, He’s been contributing to the corrections of a lot of chapters through comments since long, but now has awakened into a full fledged translator. Lion reporter: How do you feel right now? Sushi: Despite this being the first chapter I officially translate, I got a chapter that had super annoying text to work on… Haha how silly Sushi-san, we all know of your accomplishments using 『Smart Phone』 and the Ultimate Skill『God Finger』. Though this lion is super jelly, he’s glad you’re on our side. So one more time… hip hip ~gao~~!! I’m sure everyone will appreciate the speedy translations, and gratuitously blame a certain Lion Mask for the editing delays :3 . Well, well, we should now learn to never trust lion mask. But that aside, next chapter could be next week, or the next hour. Only the calculations of Raphael sensei knows. So without further ado, see you all in another chapter ~Gao!!