Volume 5, Epilogue
Hal and Hazumi had been watching the battle's conclusion from the observation deck on a building's roof.
To get back down to ground level, they borrowed Minadzuki's power again. Riding on the left forelimb's palm, they had Minadzuki transport them from the three-hundred-meter tall roof to the ground.
The place they landed was a major district known as Broadway in the past.
Furthermore, this was the crossroads at Times Square, surrounded by towering high-rise buildings, massive screens and gigantic advertisements. In the past, this was the central business district where a large number of New Yorkers and tourists gathered—A well-known attraction until the end of the twentieth century.
Getting off from her partner's palm, Hazumi seemed a little unsteady on her feet.
"Are you okay, Shirasaka? Sorry, just hang in there a little longer."
"Y-Yes. Sorry for causing trouble for you..."
"Of course not. We would've lost long ago if you and Minadzuki hadn't been there just now. It's my fault for pushing you into extra time when you've already won the Best Effort Award."
"Not at all... I couldn't be more glad to be of help to you, Senpai..."
Supported by Hal's arm, Hazumi walked unsteadily.
Her expression looked a bit out of it. Perhaps there was some aftershock remaining from the transfer of magical power to Minadzuki via her heart. However, the healing runes witnessed earlier had disappeared from behind Minadzuki.
Did that really happen? freew(e)bnovel.(c)om
Hal still could not believe for certain. However, without such a cheat, it would not have been possible to corner Hannibal to that extent.
The red dragon king had returned to human form. He was sitting on the ground, cross-legged, on a road at Times Square where Hal and Hazumi had landed, currently resting his injured body.
"You came chasing for the kill huh? A weakened enemy would only get cornered like a drowning dog, to be decapitated... Hmm, this is commonplace on the battlefield."
Surprisingly, Hannibal was laughing with delight and summoned the dragonslaying spear to his right hand.
Still in a sitting posture on the ground, he pointed the spear at Hal. The proud grin on his face showed eagerness to fight.
Even though he could not transform into a dragon due to the damage to his heartmetal, even though he was not even able to stand up, none of that mattered to the battle-hardened dragon king.
Part of his body could still move and he had magical power remaining—
In that case, he was going to fight on and intercept the enemy's follow-up attack. Furthermore, he was going to show his sincere smile without reserve.
"Rather than a warrior race, dragons seem more like creatures on a different dimension from us in terms of pure valor. Seriously..."
Holding the magic gun in his right hand, Hal actually felt impressed.
The Crimson Queen had already vanished, unable to sustain her physical form due to the inflicted damage.
However, Hal still had his magic gun and Minadzuki was in fine health.
Overall, the advantage should be on their side—But in a showdown between a cornered rat and a cornered dragon, Hal had a faint feeling that it was quite risky. There was an annoying sense of foreboding.
How unbelievable. To think that Hal would experience something that sounded like what Asya would say.
Wasn't this precisely what would be called instincts of the wild? However, Hal felt strongly inside that he should follow this instinct, so he said, "So, can we talk for now about a ceasefire?"
"Oh? A ceasefire?"
"Yeah. To be honest, I don't think there's any benefit to either side if we drag our beaten up bodies into an extermination match. Red Hannibal, that dragon king over in Europe used to be your mortal rival, right?"
"Hmm."
To Hannibal, the Black Lightning Emperor was a potential enemy faction carrying more weight than Hal. Just as Hal mentioned that as a deterrent, Hazumi tugged his sleeve.
"Senpai, hurry and look at that!"
The obedient junior was uncharacteristically lapsing in manners and her tone of voice was quite urgent.
Immediately, Hal looked where she indicated—Up in the sky. Hal could not help but gasp. A huge number of flying creatures had appeared in the air above Times Square without him noticing.
Blue-white ghostlights with dragonoid shapes... Seventy-two serpent souls.
In addition, they were flying all over the place, circling around the golden ring that was hovering in midair.
The ring's diameter was roughly seven meters. Until earlier, it had been wielded in the Crimson Queen's hand.
It was the weapon form of the Rune of the Ring. Most likely, it had separated from within the queen just before she vanished, thus staying in the present world! free(w)ebnov(e)l
Surprised, Hal looked at his index finger.
Solomon's ring on his finger was vibrating slightly.
The golden ring in the air also started to vibrate as though it was resonating with the true ring itself.
Next, the serpent souls flying in the air began to sing a song.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
They sounded like the songs of mermaids, calling to passengers on ships, bewitching them and dragging them into the ocean. Beautiful with a hint of melancholy.
Hal recalled what Orihime had said to him just now.
King Solomon and Haruga Haruomi were on similar levels. In a direct confrontation, no one could predict the outcome of a fight—
Seizing the chance when Hal and Hannibal were both exhausted from the intense showdown, Solomon's ring had launched its counterattack.
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