[V12C41] Painting Over

Theodore had transformed back into a black dragon, and gotten caught in a net of lightning. As he struggled to break free, a certain thought went through his head.

——Surely, he had done something wrong.

Did he break the rules of humans, or the rules of dragons? Theodore didn’t know.

Perhaps both, since humans and dragons alike had condemned him.

Some viewed him with anger, some with sadness, and others with pity.

Theodore didn’t really care about the feelings of humans anymore. That said, he did feel a tiny bit of guilt, similar to when one accidentally crushes the nest of a small animal.

(I want to hear you to scold me again, Theodore… We’ll meet again soon.)

As he breathed fire on the lightning net, a spear of wind fell from the sky.

Theodore shielded himself with wings of shadow, but they dispersed after blocking the attack.

(So you’re getting in my way too, Moni-Moni…? No, the Silent Witch.)

This was the tremendous power of the Spirit King. It easily destroyed the high-density shadows.

(Fine, then I’ll fight back all my might. I will fulfill my wish.)

Theodore knew that he was doing something wrong. He understood that humans considered him a threat and were trying to kill him.

But he wasn’t going to allow that to happen. Absolutely not.

(Don’t worry, Zoe. I’ll keep my promise, no matter what. Just wait a little longer.)

＊　＊　＊

Theodore burned through the last of his binds, right after Nero transformed into a dragon and took flight.

Immediately, Theodore flew high in the sky, likely because he was wary of Nero. Then, he spread his second pair of wings and transformed them into a rain of black arrows.

In response, Nero took a deep breath and exhaled, unleashing a wave of black flames that incinerated the oncoming arrows.

The flames almost reached Theodore too, but he managed to fly out of the way and retaliate by spewing black flames of his own.

“Nero, dodge!” Isaac shouted, pulling the reins.

Nero dived to right above the water’s surface.

However, this maneuver slammed Monica with a great deal of air resistance. She would have fallen off if not for Isaac’s support.

After they escaped the range of Theodore’s breath, Nero roared at his back.

Monica could understand what he was saying, so she turned towards Isaac.

“Ike, um…”

“You don’t have to translate. He’s probably saying ‘don’t order me around,’ right?”

“Yes…”

Nero hissed as if to say, “Of course.”

Meanwhile, Monica watched the remaining sparks of the black flames fall into the sea, turning a small amount of the seawater into vapor.

(Black flames don’t work underwater. If Nero fires his breath into the sea at maximum power, he’ll evaporate a decent chunk of seawater. But it won’t reach past a certain depth. Probably around twice my height.)

In other words, the black flames capable of incinerating everything in existence were not omnipotent. They could be escaped by diving underwater… but this applied to both them and Theodore.

Meanwhile, Isaac voiced his own findings in a volume that did not lose to the roaring wind.

“Monica, judging by Theodore’s evasive action… I believe that Nero’s black flames are capable of destroying him.”

“…Which means the opposite is also true, right?”

“Exactly. Theodore’s black flames can incinerate all of us, Nero included.”

That said, the sparks leaking from Nero’s mouth could be seen falling onto his scales without burning him. Perhaps black flames had some property that prevented them from burning their wielder.

Either way, these flames had enough power to burn anyone else, even another black dragon.

Monica calmly compared Nero to Theodore in her head.

(Nero’s black flames have far more power… But Theodore is smaller, so he has better maneuverability.)

Meanwhile, Theodore fired his breath again.

Nero soared high into the sky to evade this. Then, seizing the upper position over Theodore, he unleashed an enormous torrent of black flames, pouring down with relentless force.

The shadowy wings on Theodore’s back expanded to shield from the onslaught.

The black flames quickly burned through the shadows, closing in on Theodore’s torso, but Theodore cut off the burning wings before they reached him.

(The shadows can be used for both offense and defense, and without even facing the target. They may end up being more dangerous than the black flames.)

Dragons could only breathe fire from their mouths, so naturally, they were unable to hit behind themselves.

But the shadows were different. They could transform into any shape, and attack or defend from any direction.

Isaac seemed to be thinking the same thing. He glanced at the ring on Monica’s left hand and shouted, “Sophocles!”

Suddenly called by name, Sophocles’s gem began blinking rapidly.

“W-What!? What do you want!?”

“Make a barrier to protect us from the shadows,” Isaac said. “They won’t have any effect on a black dragon, so just cover me and Monica.”

In response, the ring’s black gem turned red, probably expressing his displeasure.

“Argh! Why should I follow the orders of some youngster I’ve never met!?”

From behind, Isaac reached out towards Monica’s left hand, wrapping his fingertips firmly around the ring’s gemstone.

“What do we call a useless tool…? Should I remind you again?”

The chilling whisper sent a shiver down Monica’s spine, especially now that his gaze was so intense.

Sophocles let out a startled, almost panicked cry.

“No…! That voice, that line… The pie baker…!”

“If you don’t want to be called junk, then you had better get to work.”

The next moment, a portion of the shadows transformed into dozens of arrows, raining down on Monica and Isaac.

Sophocles shone in all the colors of the rainbow, and a black contract mark appeared on Monica’s left index finger.

“Girl, this contract is only temporary, you hear me!”

Along with his angry shout, a hemispherical transparent barrier covered Monica and Isaac, protecting them from the arrows.

This was more potent than any barrier Monica could cast. Even if Sophocles was considered the weakest artifact, he still possessed powers befitting an ancient artifact.

Meanwhile, Nero was completely unprotected, yet the arrows bounced off his scales like dull toothpicks. Naturally, he did not sustain a single scratch.

Nero was fast enough to evade Theodore’s breath, and Sophocles’s barrier was protecting them from the shadows.

They could handle everything Theodore sent at them, but Monica knew this was not enough. After all, they didn’t have an effective means of attack.

(There are only two ways we can deliver a decisive blow. Either we make an opening for Nero to use black flames, or I hit Theodore with a spell powerful enough to pierce through the shadows.)

The shadowy wings could block Nero’s black flames, as well as the wind blades from Monica’s Spirit King Summoning.

In which case, Monica only had one spell that was powerful enough: the Star Arrow.

Monica clenched the three gems in her pocket.

She had brought the auxiliary magical tools necessary for activating the Star Arrow. The problem was when to use it.

The Star Arrow was a simplified version of the Starspear invented by Carla Maxwell.

This made it weaker than the Starspear, but it should still have enough power to pierce through the shadows and bring down Theodore.

(But can I even aim it in this situation…?)

Theodore was flying around, constantly on the move. In addition, the shadow wings obscured his head, so Monica did not have a clear view of his weakpoint.

Even worse, Monica herself was also flying around on Nero. This was an extremely unstable sniping position.

(I cut out the maintenance formula when simplifying the Star Arrow. Once it’s deployed, I need to fire it immediately…)

The Star Arrow required an immense amount of mana, so she would not get a second chance.

How could they ensure a hit? As Monica pondered this subject, Isaac suddenly embraced her from behind.

With his other hand pulling on the reins, he shouted, “Nero, watch out below!”

There were black snake-like entities in the water under them. These were the shadows sent by Theodore.

Only now did Monica notice that Theodore was flying low altitude, hanging his tail just above the water. The shadows had stretched down his tail and spread out underwater.

Then, they had been lying in wait for the moment Nero passed over them.

Nero shot upward, trying to escape the chasing shadows. Monica and Isaac were pushed back by the sudden burst of speed.

The next moment, Nero’s entire body swayed, causing Monica to scream.

“Hyaaah!?”

Nero had been entangled by the shadows, causing him let out an irritated roar.

He broke free in a matter of seconds, but by that time, Theodore had circled around to Nero’s rear.

(No, he has our back…!)

Nero could not fire his breath behind himself, and there was no defensive barrier capable of blocking black flames.

They could not escape into the water with the snake-like shadows blocking their path.

Black Dragon Theodore let out a high-pitched roar.

――”Bye-bye.”

Monica and Isaac felt a wave of hot air, and in the next instant, the flames of the underworld filled their entire field of view.

“Wil!”

Isaac had Wildianu create a wall of water.

Sophocles erected a defensive barrier to protect them.

Monica layered two barriers on top with chantless magic.

But the jet-black flames closed in without mercy, incinerating everything in its path.

Be it the spirit’s magic, the artifact’s barriers, or the witch’s magecraft… All were reduced to nothing.

This was how death approaches—steadily, inevitably.

Isaac tightened his arms around Monica.

All they could see was black, black, and more black…

But then, that black was painted over in white.

“Eh…” Monica gasped.

The black flames were shrinking before their very eyes.

There was only one legendary creature on par with the black dragon. Its chilling frost was said to be the only thing capable of nullifying black flames.

The cold wind of winter brushed against Monica’s cheeks.

——”Kyaaaoooon!”

Monica turned in the direction of the high-pitched roar.

There he was, diagonally to her left. A dragon more slender than Nero, beating white wings against the blue sky… Thule, the White Dragon of Mount Kalug.

Two small figures were visible on his back: Pikeh and Cyril.

Monica felt her throat quivering as the tears welled up in her eyes.

“Cyril-sama…!”

Cyril, who was completely soaked, shouted back in response.

“Explain yourself right now, Monica Everett! I didn’t hear anything about another black dragon!!”

Despite the considerable distance between them, his angry voice pounded her eardrums as hard as the dragon’s roar.

More tears welled up in Monica’s ears, but of a different variety.

“I-It’s the usual Cyril-sama…”

Monica could not read Cyril’s expression at this distance, but she could easily imagine it—his thin brows furrowed, his blue eyes gleaming with anger.

Even so, she was relieved to see him safe and so energetic.

But come to think of it, how was she supposed to explain this situation to Cyril? Now, she was tearing up because she couldn’t think of a good excuse. Monica let out a feeble whimper.

Meanwhile, Isaac looked at Sophocles and muttered, “Hey, seems like your contractor is perfectly fine.”

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