Dragon Maken War

Chapter 172 - Advent of Confusion (4)

5

Arrieta vacantly stared up at the gloomy sky. 

She had no idea how long she had been standing there like that.

She suddenly started hearing sounds, and she started to wake up from the static state she had been in.

“…Dragon Demon…can’t believe…….”

“The information… Dragon Demon princess…….”

Words that had meaning were interspersed between the sounds, and the words burrowed into her consciousness.

At the same time, her senses started to recover.  It was as if a painting that had been neglected was brought out into the light.  Her world had been black and white, but color was returning.  Her sense of smell, sound and touch came back to life once again.  Shapes around her came into focus.  Arrieta smelled the thick scent of blood.  It was enough to make her nose go numb.  There was an enormous amount of blood around her, and her body was dyed red with it.

Moreover, she realized she was holding something in her hands.  Arrieta became startled when she realized she was holding onto a corpse of a Dragon Majin with a broken neck.

‘Did I fight with the enemy?’

She moved her body in a flash.

Pah-jee-jee-jeek!

Her sword blocked the halberd that was being swung at her back.  The magical energy of the weapons repulsed each other.  It created a white spark.

‘Enemies.’

She didn’t know what was going on, but her enemies were targeting her.

When she realized this fact, her body reacted.

“Hoohp!”

She yelled as she pushed away her enemies with surprising strength.

“Shake free and roar! Power of the Dragon!”

She spoke a cantrip infused with the power of the Dragon Arts.  A storm of mental waves hit her enemies. While her enemies staggered, Arrieta assessed the identity of her enemies.

‘Dragon Demon king worshippers. There are…three more to go.’

At the same time, the memories leading up to her trance started to return.

She had gone through with the Dragon Slayer’s Ritual with the Storm Dragon.

It had felt like the longest fight of her life.  The fight felt like it lasted an eternity.  In the end, she was able to defeat the Dragon, and she had taken the Dragon’s power.

‘I see.  I’ve won.’

Even she was having a hard time believing it, but she had won against a Dragon in a one on one battle. This was why she was overflowing with energy.  She felt as if she would be able to win against another Dragon right now.

“Shit! This is completely different from our intelligence!  We were told the three of us would be able to capture her…..”

The Dragon Demon king worshippers were taken aback. They had mobilized the Storm Dragon to bring down the Western Border Fortress, yet it was neutralized through the Dragon Slayer’s Ritual.  This was why they decided to assassinate Arrieta.  Their plan was to put the continent into a state of confusion, and the Western Border Fortress had to fall for this plan to work.  Arrieta had strayed far from the fortress to conduct the Dragon Slayer’s Ritual.  It was a golden opportunity for them to kill Arrieta.

The only problem right now was the fact that Arrieta was drastically stronger than what their intel had suggested.

The intel was considered to be relatively fresh, since they had assessed her capabilities when they tried to capture her at the Balan Forest.  However, Arrieta had become incomparably more stronger after she received instruction from Azell at the Dukedom of Tarantos.

From the beginning, she possessed great potential for a Dragon Majin.  Even Kairen had acknowledged her talent.  Moreover, she had trained her basic foundation ad nauseam.  This was why she was able succeed in the Dragon Slayer’s Ritual after learning the secret techniques from Azell.

“It is hardly necessary to say this, but….  I’ll have to thank Azell again.”

Arrieta let out a smile.  This caused the Dragon Demon king worshippers to grind their teeths.

“Koo-oohk.  Is this the doing of the great sinner Azell Karzark!”

“It wasn’t enough that he caused harm to the king.  Now he is interfering with our great work!”

At his words, Arrieta’s expression turned peculiar. She queried them.

“Azell Karzark?  What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play innocent with me, Dragon Demon princess!  The Azell you were with confirmed that he is the Azell Karzark!  It has been verified!”

“…….”

For a brief moment, Arrieta looked at them in a dumbfounded manner.

‘Are you saying Azell is the hero Azell Karzark?’

In the past, Azell had said the same thing to her.  At the time, she had a hard time believing his assertion.  Still, if she went over the memories she had with him, it didn’t feel implausible either.

So he really was telling the truth?

“Hahaha.  This is quite humorous.  I unknowingly received instructions from the legendary hero.”

Arrieta had queried Azell about this subject several times.  She remembered a particular conversation she had with him.

‘These are precious techniques, yet you are teaching it to me for no cost.  Are you sure about this?  I’m not sure why you are doing this.’

‘It’s all right.  However, I want you to promise me one thing.’

‘Ah, of course.  I won’t pass on these techniques to anyone…..’

‘I want the opposite.  I don’t want you to hesitate in sharing it with everyone.  I want you to gather as many people under you, and you have to wake them up to the reality of this era.  That is the only cost I want from you, princess.’

‘Why?  Sir Azell, why are you going so far…..  How can you gift everyone your techniques without any reservation?’

‘We need power to confront the darkness that will arrive once again.  Our enemies put enormous effort over time to manipulate the history of humanity, and our true powers were stolen from us.  Our fighting techniques should have evolved as time passed after the Dragon Demon war.  However, we lost the essence of our fighting techniques.  We have regressed.  If those that still possess these lost techniques rise up once again, we will be faced with a bigger calamity than the Dragon Demon war.’

…at times he had spoken about the Dragon Demon war as if he had been there.

He talked about how the warriors of this era were inferior in quality.  The martial artists of this generation wasn’t lacking in resolve or talent.  They had been castrated in terms of techniques, and the limitation it caused was frightening…...

She had been taught by Azell as he pointed out these problems.  He broke down his techniques down to the basics, so she would be able to teach it to others.  He had been meticulous in his teachings.

Arrieta hadn’t forgotten the promise she had made to Azell.

She didn’t hesitate to teach the people under her.  She didn’t hold anything back.  It was an era where the essence of Dragon Arts and the Spirit Order had been assaulted by the Dragon Demon King worshippers.  The forces under Arrieta, Seigar and the Dukedom of Tarantos could be called the strongest force in the human realm right now.

“It would have been better if I knew this earlier.  I am envious of my teacher.”

As she mumbled those words, Arrieta used Instantaneous Movement to appear behind the Dragon Demon king worshippers.

“Koohk!”

The Dragon Majin magician shot a thunderbolt towards her.  However, the attack was in vain.  The thunderbolt passed through empty air.  It had been her clone.

From the opposite side, Arrieta attacked in a fearsome manner.  She clashed with the warrior wielding a halberd.  She glared at him as she yelled out loud.

“Shake free and roar! Power of the Dragon!”

Her cantrip turned into a storm of mental waves.  The magician, who had been trying to support the warrior, flinched immediately.

However, the two warriors gritted their teeth as they defended their mind. They were taught battle tactics and secret techniques from the warrior training facility within the Plain of Darkness.

“Do you think that will work a second time…….”

Pah-hahk!

One of the warrior charged forward in a frontal attack.  However, his eyes widened before he could finish his words.

Arrieta had been clashing with the warrior holding the halberd, but in a flash, she passed by the halberd wielding warrior to cut down the other warrior.

‘Shit.  Did she mess with my senses……!’

The storm of mental waves was a bait.

In response to the harsh storm of mental waves, the two warriors had created a stiff mental wall.  However, the structure of this mental wall was simple.  Arrieta used this flaw to slightly tweak their senses.  The information that was transferred from their eyes to their brain was delayed by a beat.  It allowed her to easily slice through their defense.

“Oh Evil Darkness, Rend Apart!”

She used Instantaneou Movement to flip the field then she brought down her sword from up high.  A torrent of light came pouring out following the trajectory of her sword.

“Koo-ahhhhhk……!”

The scream was drowned out by the sound of the explosion.

Unfortunately, the warrior with the halberd pierced through the explosion.  The magician had been killed, because his reaction had been too slow.  The warrior had been able to defend against the attack.

However, Arrieta snorted when she saw this.  The warrior was immediately puzzled by why Arrieta hadn’t followed up with an attack.  Soon, he found out the reason why.

Zzuh-ung!

Someone else had ambushed him from behind.

It was a young knight with curly blond hair and a baby face.  It was Giles Vince.  When he realized the Dragon Slayer’s Ritual was over, he had sought out Arrieta.

“Princess!  I’m sorry for being late!”

“You could have taken a little more time to get here, and it wouldn’t have mattered.”

“You should just scold me instead.”

Giles let out a bitter laugh as he moved in to dispatch the warrior wielding a halberd.  Giles  spoke.

“…you are human.”

“Why does that matter?”

“I’m not obligated to tell you anything.”

The halberd wielding warrior recoiled in fright.  He had suddenly heard a voice emanating from right next to him.  He turned his head in surprise to look at the source of the voice.

‘Oh no!’

However, no one was there.  Giles used this opening to get inside his guard.

A halberd had the advantage of unleashing devastating attacks with its long reach.  However, the warrior had fallen for Giles’ trick, and it had created an opening.  Giles had closed the distance, and the halberd’s advantage had been neutralized.

“Koo-oohk!  You are merely an unbeliever!”

All Dragon Demon king worshippers were self-conceited.

‘These unbelievers do not know the forgotten techniques.  They don’t stand a chance against me.’

Up until now, the Dragon Demon king worshippers had always been superior in terms of techniques compared to their opponents.  The unbelievers had lost the techniques dealing with the mind and the senses, so how could they compete with him?

However, the Dragon Demon king worshipper didn’t have this advantage over Giles.  Giles took advantage of the warrior’s weak spot, and he had neutralized the only advantage the warrior had over Giles.  He had neutralized the weapon’s long reach.  The halberd wielding warrior was barely able to block the sword strikes that were coming at him like a storm.  He glared at Giles.

The warrior’s mental wave had been cultivated into being as sharp as a blade, and it impacted on Giles’ mind barrier.  If he could mess with Giles’ senses, he believed he could turn the table.

Zzeeeeeng!

When he put on a smile of satisfaction, he was hit with a sharp headache.

“Ooh-ook……?”

“You’ve already suffered under the princess’ attack.  Do you really think I’m an idiot that knows nothing?  This isn’t just self conceit.  You are the idiot.”

When the warrior attacked what he assumed to be a weak point in the mental barrier, Giles sprung a trap he had prepared.  When the mental wave hit the mental barrier, a counterattack immobilized the halberd wielding warrior for a brief moment.

Pah-ahk!

Giles separated the warrior’s head from his body.

After defeating his enemy, Giles took a knee to pay his respects to Arrieta.

“I congratulate you for defeating the Dragon.”

“I still can’t believe I was able to succeed.”

“Even after seeing it with my own eyes, I’m also having a hard time believing in it.”

At Giles’ words, Arrieta let out a bright smile.  The Dragon’s corpse was lying amidst the broken trees.  Its neck had been torn away, and an enormous amount of blood had poured out.  The surrounding region was dyed red with blood, and half of Arrieta’s body was soaked in blood.  It was a ghastly sight.

Arrieta asked him a question.

“How’s the situation at the fortress?”

“It is all wrapped up.  The prince was able to kill the leader.”

“I see.  The remaining enemy force might rally and attack the fortress.  Let us return.”

“What are you going to do with the Dragon’s corpse?”

“We’ll have to return for now, and we’ll bring back enough manpower to take the corpse back with us.  We’ve already killed the two mutant orcs and the Dragon Demon king worshippers that worked secretly behind the scene.  However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any more left.  We should be on our guard.”

“Understood.”

“Also…….”

Arrieta stopped speaking for a brief moment, and she broke out in sudden uncontrollable laughter.  Giles looked at her in puzzlement.  She laughed as she spoke in a playful manner.

“These guys said that sir Azell is Azell Karzark.”

“What?”

“Last time, he spoke about it as if it was a joke, but it seems he was telling the truth.  If I tell Enora this fact, I wonder what expression she would make.”

The situation at the fortress had been precarious, so she had evacuated Enora to the back.  Arrieta was looking forward to telling her this truth.

Suddenly, Giles spoke.

“If it’s Ms Enora….  She will probably be shocked by something else.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’ll probably faint at how you look right now, princess.”

“Mmm.  Is it that bad?”

“This might sound rude, but it would be best if you washed yourself once with water.”

“I’ll do so.  However, sir Giles….”

“Yes.”

“You don’t seem too surprised?”

“Isn’t it the same for princess?”

“Yes.  It is surprising how easily I accepted this truth.”

“It might be the same for Ms Enora.”

“That won’t be any fun.  Do you think Seigar will be surprised?”

“I believe so.”

The two shared conspiratorial laughter.