Volume 6 Chapter 18 (1/2)

After naming Enlil, Stolas lost her consciousness and fell from her Pegasus's back. Thankfully, I was nearby and was able to catch her.

She had a peaceful sleeping face. Despite knowing that she would fall unconscious during the war, she went on with the naming because she had complete trust in me and her subordinate monsters.

”Thank goodness you're safe. I can't tell how many times I've wanted to intervene.”

I said so to the sleeping Stolas.

I actually arrived in the battlefield a few minutes earlier but decided to just observe. I was able to do this thanks to Aura's power. She had rendered us invisible and erased our presence.

If things turned really awful, I intended to make Aura help through her sniping.

However, Stolas managed to resolve the crisis all on her own.

She was definitely stronger than when we fought. Truly my rival.

I was looking at Stolas's sleeping face when Enlil the Bahamut came near me. He had just finished trampling on a set of enemies and thus deemed it was safe enough to confront me, the one carrying her mistress.

The [Blade] Demon Lord's monsters were too scared by Enlil's overwhelming power and our sudden appearance that they just watched and didn't move.

>

For some reason, it seemed like Enlil was wary of me.

Rozelitte, through her telepathy, should have already relayed to all of Stolas's monsters that Stolas wanted them to follow my command. However, it seemed to me Enlil didn't have any intention of following Rozelitte's instructions.

But then again, it was probably unfair to assume he would follow Rozelitte and the conventional chain of command, given that he was under the full effects of [Berserk] until recently.

”It's alright. I'm her friend. I came here to help.”

>

If I were to be untactful, it was more than likely that an attempt on my life would be made.

As I wondered what to do, Duke stepped forward.

”Be at ease. We are very much capable of protecting your mistress, young knight.”

”You, you're that dragon king?”

”Hahaha, that's an interesting way to refer to me. But yes, I certainly am a [Dragon Emperor]. And this person right here, he's, shall we say, the prince of your mistress. Please believe that we will protect her.”

Enlil looked back and forth between me and Stolas.

After he settled his gaze on Stolas's calm face, he nodded and spoke.

>

When he said so, he flapped his wings and went airborne. As he did so, he also began suppressing the enemies.

I took it to mean that he had somehow approved of me.

”It seems we'll be a having a chasing game.”

Aura and Duke who were behind me stepped forward.

”Enlil, take control of the sky. Aura, Duke, I'll leave the ground to you two.”

Aura and Duke nodded while Enlil replied in the affirmative via thoughts.

Having someone as strong as Enlil was reassuring.

Enlil possessed a skill called [Chivalry] that allowed him to retain his sanity while using [Berserk], so long as he was near Stolas. On top of effectively rendering the downside of [Berserk] null, it also improved his stats further.

Conversely though, the moment Stolas was separated from him, he could not help but devolve into a mindless and ferocious beast that would attack anyone that would come near.

In Duke's case, wherever he might be, he had the option to activate his [Berserk] for only a short time or not at all. In other words, could choose to disregard both the benefits and downsides of [Berserk].

I honestly had no idea which was better.

>

”Yes, please. Show us the might of Stolas's knight.”

Aura could also be very effective against air units, but I had another job in mind for her.

>

Upon saying so, he flew with unbelievable speed and crushed any enemy in his path.

After that, I was then in communication with Rozelitte through her telepathy.

>

”Yes, it has. Rozelitte, I have some instructions for you. First, make the gravely wounded fall back. Next, reorganize those that can still fight. At the same time, make the [Omnipresence] copies come to this floor. It's fine even if the fast ones go ahead of the others.”

>

”…Save the jokes for when the fighting's over.”

After that, we ended communications.

Although I asked her to reorganize their numbers, I knew there was a chance that such wouldn't be needed.

”Aura, if you have line of fire against the [Blade] Demon Lord, take it. But don't kill him, okay?”

”Understood. I'll just wound him in the legs, then.”

Aura was equipped with the anti-materiel rifle developed by Rorono the Elder Dwarf. This rifle was fusion of both science and magic. Rorono had named it Durandal.

Durandal, by itself, had firepower that could rival even tank guns.

And it was Aura, my S rank [Monster of the Covenant], who wielded such a weapon. On top her excellent stats, she had the skill called [Shooter of Magical Projectiles] which elevated her accuracy and attack power for long-range attacks.

Anyone hit squarely by her and Durandal would most likely be reduced to smithereens.

”Yeah, do that. We're going to capture him alive because we need to hear who is backing him.”

”Master, it may take some time before I get a line of fire, so instead of waiting around and doing nothing, is it okay if I blow up the heads of the strong-looking kids?”

Aura has fallen into a state wherein she wanted to pull the trigger of her gun as soon as possible.

In other words, her trigger-happy nature was showing. Geez, this girl…

”Alright, I'll allow it. Run wild to your heart's content. Take care to not run out of bullets.”

”Yes, of course!! Here I go!”

She said so and made the wind swirl.

Despite Durandal being an anti-materiel rifle, it had a short barrel. It was shaped like that to improve its weight and its controllability. However, having a short barrel meant less combustion time for the gunpowder which would then lead to a decrease in initial velocity and firepower. It also meant a decrease in the straightness of the trajectory which would then lead to a decrease in range and accuracy.

Thinking normally, the Durandal was a failure of an anti-materiel rifle.

If Aura was the user, however, it was a completely different conversation.

Using her wind, Aura produced a pseudo-barrel.

Like that, she pulled the trigger.

Normally, a bullet's initial speed was also its maximum speed due to air resistance. Along with gravity, air resistance also affected the bullet's range.

The bullets fired by Aura were very different though. Through the [Acceleration] enchantment on the Durandal, bullets accelerated rather decelerate. Furthermore, one of Aura's skills, the [Ruler of the Wind], not only eliminated air resistance for the bullets, it even made the wind boost the bullets' speed further.

That speed translated into firepower.

So, with all those factors combined, it wasn't surprising that when a monster near the [Blade] Demon Lord was hit between the eyes, its entire head exploded like a pomegranate.

It took a while before the sound of the gunshot was heard. Considering that the bullet travelled at more than three times the speed of sound, it was only natural.

Also, as there was no air resistance, there wasn't any sonic booms either.

The enemy that Aura just hit was about 500 meters away from her.

Even at such a distance, Aura was more than capable of shooting with pinpoint accuracy. In fact, the maximum range Aura was able to do so was approximately 2 kilometers. If pinpoint accuracy wasn't a concern, the range she could still hit the target would probably be double that.

”Now, let's pick up the pace. If you just sit there and watch, you're going to be annihilated.”

Aura said so and fired in quick succession.

It might seem that Aura's shooting showcased only range, firepower, and accuracy, but in truth, she specialized even in rapid shooting.