omething that could only be sensed by the successor of the Rune of the Bow—A bond. The holder of the dragonslaying bow was extremely sensitive to the complementary arrow.

The witches also fell silent instantly, probably noticing Hal's nervousness.

Two seconds later, that nostalgic voice, full of vitality, was heard again.

"Haruomi, you survived, didn't you? Whether you or the silver dragon, none of the latest additions to the ranks of the Tyrannoi are to be underestimated!"

Needless to say, what descended from the heavens was Princess Yukikaze's voice.

Part 5

Hal and company were at the courtyard, facing the school yard.

The white dragon king descended leisurely on the school yard. By her side was the other dragon, Hal's old foe Pavel Galad.

"Eh!?"

Hal thought he was imagining things.

The beautiful silver-white body was now a tragic sight.

The right forelimb, right wing, and right hind leg below the knee—All these formerly silver body parts had turned into a disgusting mixed color of black, gray, and steel.

Rough in surface, their forms were also distorted and ugly.

The texture seemed like a pointless alloy created by dumping fragments of concrete and asphalt into molten steel.

"W-What happened to your limbs!?"

"Nothing of particular consequence. I simply sparred with the princess while you were away. Nothing less expected of a dragon king. Had I not mended myself using alchemy magic, I would have lost already," reported Pavel Galad nonchalantly.

On the surface, it looked like Princess Yukikaze had not suffered much injury. Comparing the two dragon's gigantic bodies, Hal sighed. Unless Minadzuki's healing magic was used, Pavel Galad's lost body parts probably could not be restored.

"Remodeling himself as a cyborg huh..."

Hal did not know how to react besides sighing. Sure enough, the minds of the warrior race that was dragonkind were abnormal.

Unwilling to play along with their farce and wanting to "conserve energy" as much as possible, Hal made his suggestion, "Feel free to continue your fight. I'm basically defeated, so you two can just go ahead and decide the winner between yourselves."

"What nonsense are you suggesting? According to convention, we two must fight to the death first as Tyrannoi."

"Precisely. Defeat the opponent on your own level before challenging the king who is I, Yukikaze. Haruomi, this is the trial you must face."

It would be easiest if the two dragons took out each other.

Even though the Tyrannos and the dragon king could not possibly understand Hal's calculative intentions, they flatly rejected Hal's energy-saving plan. Hal had no interest in playing along with dragonkind's excessively dangerous foreign culture.

Furthermore, Princess Yukikaze even said casually while still in her dragon form, "However, Pavel Galad was severely injured during his fight with me. For fairness' sake, perhaps I should amputate an arm and a leg of Haruomi's before you two start fighting again..."

"I see, that would be logical."

"H-Hold on a sec! That's definitely unfair, so hear me out, okay!?" Hal instantly pointed at something.

Near the top of the outer wall of this middle school building, there was a large round clock. The old mechanical kind, using a long hand and a short hand to represent time.

The time happened to be 4pm exactly. It was already afternoon.

"I will end our match before the long hand moves from '0' to '5.' If our fight still isn't done by then, the princess can give Galad a hand... How's that!?"

"Oh? You intend to settle our score in merely five minutes?" Pavel Galad nodded. "I see. The longer the fight drags on, the worse the stamina drain on my injured body, which would tip the scales in your favor. You wish to relinquish this advantage on your own?"

"Yeah, that's the idea."

Galad's attitude was surprisingly candid, putting Hal at a bit of a loss.

Elite dragons and dragon kings were capable of understanding all languages on Earth.

Naturally, he could read Arabic numerals. However, the silver dragon had nodded in agreement without needing Hal to explain the "five minutes," a human measuring unit of time—Hal was very surprised.

So this guy even practiced how to read clocks?

Against someone so studious, would that move work? However, unconcerned about Hal, Pavel Galad talked to the dragon king on his own.

"I have no objections to Haruga Haruomi's proposal."

"Very well. If you are not opposed to it, I, Yukikaze, have no opinion either. You two can go about it however you wish."

Princess Yukikaze nodded generously and agreed at once.

"The winner shall earn the right to have a rematch with me, Yukikaze. Begin."

The white dragon king declared haughtily and transformed.

Her majestic body instantly shrank, swiftly turning back into the beautiful girl in the one-piece dress. Sitting on her flying surfboard to increase altitude, she approached the round clock that showed the time limit.

"Do your best, Haruomi. I have already witnessed the silver dragon's mettle. It is your turn to exhibit your potential."

The princess' entire being exuded royal authority.

Pavel Galad spread his wings and flew into the sky over the school yard to enter a combat stance.

Left on the ground, Haruga Haruomi sighed and turned to his witch companions.

"...So there you have it. I'm counting on you, everyone."

"Okay, Harry. I will pursue the details later."

"N-Nee-sama, don't tell me you and Senpai..."

"Forget about that for the time being! We need to focus, Hazumi!"

Luna Francois winked at Hal, Hazumi still seemed unsettled, while Orihime remained flustered. Furthermore, Asya's absence was a massive hit to their combat potential. She apparently stayed back alone in Pavel Galad's barrier in order to help her companions escape...

Regardless, the three witches materialized their partners.

The nine-tailed fox-wolf, Akuro-Ou. The three-headed lion, Glinda. The emerald serpentine dragon, Minadzuki.

The three giant beasts, ten-odd meters in body length, appeared.

"Anyway, this should be the final bout, Harry."

"If anything, it's more like the last round when playing mahjong through the whole night." Hal shrugged and replied to Luna. "After all, this is more like gambling than fighting..."

Would the trap he had laid from a flash of inspiration work?

Now that it had come to this, all he could do was believe in the horse he had his bets on.

Also, the incident this time had made Hal realize once again, Haruga Haruomi was not suited to fighting. Unless absolutely necessary, it would be best to avoid acting cool as much as possible...

The Crimson Queen was behind him, curled up in a ball.

Deciding to ignore the fierce and violent nature sleeping within the queen, Hal looked at the clock.

"Four minutes and a bit left... I'm counting on Glinda and Akuro-Ou to handle Galad first. During this time, I'll tell the Crimson Queen to get her bow and arrow ready. Shirasaka, can Minadzuki's power of healing still be—"

"No problem! It can still be used, though only once!"

"Excellent! Then please help the queen recover!"

While Hal was issuing orders, precious time was ticking away.

The witches reacted swiftly Orihime drew out the power of the Rune of the Twin Katana from Hal where as Luna used the Rune of the Bow, then applied them to their partners.

Akuro-Ou's nine tails—Blades resembling Japanese swords appeared at the tips of her tails.

Glinda's three heads—A cannon protruded out from each mouth of the lion, the dragon, and the goat.

"Akuro-Ou, we have the advantage in blade quantity!"

Orihime was the first to encourage her partner.

Obtaining nine swords instead of two, the fox-wolf rushed into the air to attack Pavel Galad who was waiting in the sky.

Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice.

Akuro-Ou's nine tails moved freely as though they were made of rubber, even more dexterous than human arms, swinging the nine swords to attack Pavel Galad continuously.

However, the nine blades were all blocked by the dragonslaying sword.

A single longsword. The holy inscription of Ruruk Soun, "I am the user of the sword of divine alacrity," appeared along the sword's blade.

"Hohohoho! How could a mere nine swords prevail against my sword of divine speed!?"

The dragon's roar resounded across the sky.

Luna shouted, "In that case, how about this!?"

Akuro-Ou swiftly retreated to get out of range.

At the same time, Glinda began to fire her cannons at the sky. From the lion, the dragon, and the goat's mouths, the three cannons shot glowing projectiles one after another.

Using imperishable protection—the personal barrier with a pearly glow—Pavel Galad deflected the projectiles of light.

Hal glanced at the clock. Three minutes and five seconds remaining.

The Ruruk Soun runes of "healing hand" appeared over Minadzuki's head.

The emerald serpentine dragon unleashed the magic of healing, to inject vitality into the red dragon that was still curled up on the ground.

The Crimson Queen with the damaged heartmetal finally got up.

She slowly stood on her feet and gradually extended her pair of red wings to the sides.

Her movements were definitely not quick. However, the queen's eyes gradually regained vigor. The massive body, twenty meters long, began to release potent magical power.

The heartmetal, whose magical power output had dropped to 30% or so, gradually increased its rate of output.

From 40% to 50%, then 55%, 60%...

However, this was not yet enough to use techniques of assured annihilation. Defeating his formidable foe would require the strongest attack from the sun-shooting divine bow.

"Senpai! Looks like it will take some time!"

"Don't worry... Akuro-Ou and Glinda will help stall for a while longer..."

Rather than to alleviate Hazumi's worries, Hal's words seemed more directed at himself.

Two minutes and forty seconds left. Orihime finally ordered Akuro-Ou to execute a technique of assured annihilation using her nine swords.

"Akuro-Ou, use fire... No, use sun magic!"

The nine blades sprouted from the fox-wolf's nine tails glowed golden—the sun's radiance—all of them turning into "swords of light."

However, the sword of dragonbane was also burning with blue-white flames!

"O fragments of the flint star, grant me power!"

Pavel Galad recited an incantation while swinging his flaming sword nine times.

The dragonslaying sword's attacks were aimed at Akuro-Ou's nine tails and nine blades. Every time it sliced audibly through the air, a clang would be heard from a sword of light, breaking from the resounding impact.

Next, a critical strike sliced through the white fox-wolf's body.

"A-Akuro-Ou, hurry and disappear!"

Furthermore damage could mean the loss of her partner's life.

Realizing this, Orihime commanded and Akuro-Ou instantly vanished. She had dematerialized. Two minutes and ten seconds remained. But with this development, it meant that there was no longer any worry about friendly fire—A mad barrage began.

"Glinda, fire everything!"

Luna Francois instantly commanded.

The heads of the lion, the dragon, and the goat finally engaged in rapid fire at a rate of thirty shots per second.

The projectiles of light formed a curtain of anti-air fire, with each bullet imbued with the power of dragonbane. Faced against this wave of attacks, Pavel Galad relied on more than just his defense from imperishable protection.

While using the pearly glow to block the projectiles of light, he even used a technique of assured annihilation.

"O god of the sword, fill the blue heavens with the wisdom of Ruruk Soun!"

Thunder clouds gradually blotted out the blue sky. Nineteen runes of Ruruk Soun also appeared in the air. "I summon the thunder god's sword to unsheathe in haste."

The technqiue of assured annihilation, the thunder god's sword. It was the most powerful mystic technique boasted by the dragonslaying sword.

Gathered in the sky, the thunder clouds kept striking the dragonslaying sword with lightning, successfully charging up the sword of dragonbane with the thunder god's power.

Not only that, but Glinda's sweeping fire of glowing projectiles were also erased by the lightning.

Pavel Galad slowly turned the dragonslaying sword to point at the three-headed lion. Lightning erupted from the sword's tip, striking Glinda's left shoulder—The goat head.

This lightning was also an attack imbued with the power of dragonbane. Further injury would be bad news. Luna clicked her tongue.

"Retreat, Glinda!"

The lion leviathan also dematerialized and left the mundane world.

One minute and thirty seconds remaining. The Crimson Queen was finally ready to fight. Standing imposingly, she glared at the sky—Pavel Galad in the sky.

The dragonslaying bow appeared in her crimson left hand!

"I'm counting on you, queen. Use your full power."

Hal prayed to the queen. Currently, the heartmetal's output of magical power was about 85%.

Not completely revived, but it should be able to draw out enough magical power—An arrow of light appeared in the queen's right hand at last.

Nocking the arrow onto the dragonslaying bow, she drew and released.

"Incoming, the queen's divine bow, huh!?"

"As much as it runs counter to my personality, I'm gonna settle things with you fair and square!"

The arrow shot by the queen produced a vortex of swirling flame in its wake, attacking the silver dragon's body that was no longer smooth.

The aerial target raised his dragonslaying sword up high and swung down. The longsword was currently in an excessively decorated state with both blue fire and massive lightning.

The mystical sword of lightning and fire swung down on to the sun-shooting vortex of conflagration.

The vortex of conflagration was like a tsunami.

It was large enough to easily swallow the ten-odd-meter-long Pavel Galad. Massive threatening tide seemed as though it was going to burn all creation into ash. Currently, the holy words of "I will fire the sun-shooting divine bow at the sky, to exterminate the sun" were glowing radiantly over the Crimson Queen's head.

However, this conflagration failed to burn away the white lightning released by the dragonslaying sword.

Galad was pointing the longsword forward. The blade's body and the lightning acted like Moses' prayer to part the sea, chopping open a gap in the vortex of conflagration. Holding the dragonslaying sword, Pavel Galad was staying unscathed in that gap.

"My heartmetal, pour all power into the dragonslaying sword—!"

"Hang in there! Shirasaka already went out of her way to heal us!"

Galad spoke to the power source inside him while Hal shouted at the Crimson Queen.

In theory, offering encouragement to a heartmetal and the queen was practically pointless. However, this was a battle of limits where each side attempted to overpower the other with their most powerful technique of assured annihilation.

This was a contest of willpower and endurance in addition to magical power and martial force.

Whenever the vortex of fire inched forward, the sword's lightning would push it back. Both sides kept pushing nonstop.

This simple yet intense battle was like two sumo wrestlers pushing each other in a contest of pure strength. Perhaps because of the simplicity in the manner of contest, time was slowly ticking away mercilessly.

One minute and five seconds left. Fifty-five seconds. Fifty seconds. Forty, thirty, twenty-five seconds...

Vying for supremacy just a moment ago, the conflagration and the lightning exhausted their magical power simultaneously and vanished.

"Damn it! Is that the limit...?"

"What comes next is a battle of pure power without relying on my sword or your bow!"

Hal clicked his tongue while Galad shouted with delight.

Twenty seconds remaining. Akuro-Ou and Glinda had exited the stage. The remaining combatant—Hal instantly gestured to her with his eyes. The junior student nodded and repied, "Minadzuki, protect us!"

Rahhhhh—ahhhhhhhhhh!

Minadzuki had been maintaining some distance from the sword-swinging Galad in the air. The gentle serpentine dragon bared her fangs ferociously and flew at Pavel Galad.

The mortal rival of silver calmly pointed his sword of choice at the serpentine dragon's face.

A flash of yellow light shot out from the dragonslaying sword's tip. Minadzuki deployed imperishable protection to block the attack, but only fifteen seconds remained until the time limit...

Hal nervously gulped. It was finally about to end.

In fact, he had been using a certain spell the whole time, the Eye that had helped him out so much several hours earlier. This magic offered an overlooking view of the surrounding area, providing "god's eye."

The battlefield was the yard of middle school at Kiyosumi-Shirakawa.

Two high school girls happened to arrive at the school gate at this moment. Their uniforms did not belong to this middle school but to Kogetsu Private Academy—the high school where Hal and his friends attended.

Perhaps the dragon hero was using magic under the same system and saw these two girls.

But Hal was very confident because instinct informed him that Galad's attention and focus were on the Crimson Queen and the hindrance in front of him—the leviathan Minadzuki.

(Galad only targeted the witches because they're my companions—Haruga Haruomi's. Mere "high school girls you can find anywhere" shouldn't be enough to attract his attention...)

Next, there was the sound of gunfire. Not one shot, but a fully automatic burst.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

One of the high school girls—the one wearing her hair in twintails—had slowly taken out a semi-automatic pistol from her schoolbag, then pulled the trigger. This gun was primarily steel in color with golden decoration all over it. Magnificent and rugged in construction.

The rest was Hal's job. He imbued the thirty bullets of light, shot out from the handgun, with magical power.

Dragonslaying power—for piercing Pavel Galad's heart.

The two high school girls were his classmates, Mutou-san and Funaki-san. The pistol was Hal's usual magic gun which he had personally handed over to them eariler. As a result, this task was quite easy.

The thirty dragonslaying bullets reached the silver dragon's chest, striking it, rotating, then burrowing into it.

Normally, the bullets should have been blocked by imperishable protection, but the silver dragon had exhausted his magical power just now in his contest of techniques of assured annihilation with Hal. Pouring all magical power into the technique of assured annihilation had caused his defense to diminish greatly.

"What...?"

Galad was shocked. The pain from his chest told him he had been shot, injured.

He was stunned for only a moment, but this created an irrevocable opening, a perfect opportunity for Hal and Hazumi to attack.

"Shirasaka, counting on you!"

"Y-Yes! Minadzuki, use the Rune of the Bow. Please!"

Their shouts caused the emerald serpentine dragon to roar again.

Minadzuki discharged "laser breath" at Pavel Galad. Furthermore, due to the Rune of the Bow's power, this shot was imbued with the power of dragonbane.

"A-Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"

Struck directly by the dragonslaying laser, Pavel Galad screamed.

Under the light, the silver-white head and body turned into dust and gradually crumbled. The arm, wing, and hind limb with mixed colors of black, gray, and steel were also blown away.

Time remaining: five seconds.

Having exhausted all his power, the successor to the Rune of the Sword vanished from Hal's sight.