Three Flygears departed from the Flygear Carriers. One of them was the Star Princess unit, with Inglis and Rafinha boarding on it, while the other two were Flygears provisioned with the Carrier. Leone paired with Liselotte, Lahti paired with Pullum.
Lahti should have stayed behind in the Flygear Carrier, but he insisted on joining.
Perhaps he felt he had a sense of responsibility to carry as the technical supreme commander of this mission, and maybe he was also worried about Pullum, either way, he had his reasons.
ãWhy donât we drop off a little bit away from it and walk? It might be dangerous if we get too close to it.ã
Inglis suggested as she landed her Flygear far from the place the tail was sticking out.
ãHey, Glis. Why do we drop off so far away?ã
Rafinha asked as she walked towards the tail of the Dragon God.
ãAre we being wary perchance it rises up from the ground and attacks us?ã
What Leone said was indeed correct if they were to proceed with caution, but there is another thing to keep in mind when dealing with a Dragon God.
ãFor dragons so powerful that they receive the name Dragon Gods, the very aura, or Qi, they wear around their body becomes their kinââsomething called Phantom Dragons or Astral Dragons.ã
The power that dragons have in their body is not mana or sorcery. It is comparatively more effective compared to the energy-inefficient sorcery techniques.
The flames and blizzards that dragons breathe out donât require any particular chant or gestures to activate, and yet they are proportionately more powerful than sorceries of the same effect.
However, unlike sorcery and its common rules, the strength of a dragon varies greatly from individual to individual. Their power is more suitably categorized as individuality rather than technique.
ãAnd we are being wary of that?ã
ãYes. If we got too close to it, those Phantom Dragons might surround and destroy our Flygearsâ¦ã
Inglis personally would welcome it if they attacked her, but sheâd rather not have the Flygears destroyed
ãIâve never heard of a story about dragons that goes like that, Inglis sure knows a lot.ã
ãIt is my first time hearing of it, too. Iâm sure Miss Inglis must have read a most rare book.ã
ãWas there a book like that in the library in Ymir? I donât think Iâve seen it.ã
ãWell, in your case Rani, there are more books that you donât know than you do know. You donât read books much, after all.ã
ãLeave me be. I didnât read the content, but Iâve gone there a lot while playing hide-and-seek! I know I memorized the covers of the books pretty wellâ¦â¦Yeah.ã
ãNo, you should read the content too, okay?ã
Having said that, there was no such book in reality, as all that information came from the memories of King Inglis. Then again, at that time, books regarding dragons existed and were valuable, and dragons were part of peopleâs common knowledge. From the way Leone and Liselotte reacted, it seems like dragons have been completely forgotten by the people of this time, the same way they forgot the existence of mana and the knowledge and skills to manipulate it.
ãHey, the two of you are going back to Ymir on the next vacation, right? Can you bring that book with you and show us? Iâm interested in reading it.ã
ãGood idea. I would love to see such a book too.ã
Their zeal to learn is excellent, but thatâs not good.
ãW-, weelllll, thatâsâ¦â¦Ah, everyone, be on guard. Theyâre coming!ã
Conveniently, a pale haze began to form in front of Inglis and the others.
GRRRRrrrrrr!
GROOAaaaaaa!
The haze then took the form of dragon heads that threatened the girls. Each and every one of them radiated such a strong killing intent that would make even the most trained Knight lose his will to fight. In fact, there were a number of King Inglisâ knights who lost heart to those Phantom Dragons during the battle against the Dragon God.
ãWh-, what are they!?ã
ãN-, not something to belittle for sure, incomparable to some random Magic Stone Beasts!ã
ãIndeedâ¦â¦Compared to Magic Stone Beasts, they have a much clearer enmity and killing intent!ã
They were just ordinary girls in their down time, but Rafinha, Leone, and Liselotte were not only full-fledged Knight candidates, they were seeds of high ranked Knights. The unknown phenomenon took them by surprise, but it didnât frighten them. How encouraging.
They were dwarfed in comparison to Silva who had a Special Grade Rune or Yua who was a walking irregularity, but their capabilities were quite high enough. If they were in King Inglisâ army, they would have done a pretty fine job for themselves.
ãA- and their number keeps increasingâ¦â¦!ã
As Pullum had said, more and more Phantom Dragons were materialized and gathered to form a wall in front of Inglis and the others.
ãThey are Phantom Dragons, a dragonâs aura materialized. They are transparent but they bite hard, and youâll get hurt if you get bitten. Theyâre just watching us now, but if you go into a certain range, they will come and attack you.ã
ãWell, I hope it ends at just being hurt!ã
ãYeah. They look very powerful, after all!ã
ãMiss Inglis was correct. Had we gotten close to the main body out of the blue, our Flygears would have been surrounded and we would have had nowhere to escape.ã
ãEveryone, please wait here for a moment. Iâll go and step up by myself. If this costume works as intended, I wonât be attacked.ã
As a matter of fact, in her previous life as King Inglis, she had seen a scene where a Shrine Maiden of Dragon Gods wearing this costume walked to this very Dragon God without being attacked by the Phantom Dragons.
In other words, if she could evade being attacked by the Phantom Dragons, it should be possible for Inglis to converse with the Dragon God Vufailbane. And, by all means, sheâd like to converse with the Dragon God. Which means, she first had to attempt crossing the wall of Phantom Dragons.