Chapter 71

It's a bit long and dense. Please read it when you have the time.

Robin leaned back slightly in the seat, feeling the pressure of acceleration on his back.

However, it wasn't that strong. The acceleration from the electromagnetic catapult and gravity lens would have made any movement impossible without countermeasures, but the gravity manipulation runes in the cockpit mitigated it.

The Fafnir, launched slightly upward from the hangar, transitioned to self-flight by firing the thrusters on its back just before the speedometer's reading deviated from the initial velocity.

The twilight dragon could part the air with a mere glance, but for a mechanical dragon knight to soar through the sky, some ingenuity was necessary. Fafnir, realizing this ingenuity through magitech, channeled mana into the runes engraved on the upper chest and deployed a mixed barrier of wind and gravity in a pyramidal shape.

The atmosphere blocking the knight's path was sliced by the sharp barrier, and with nothing to impede it, the knight celebrated the freedom of the sky.

"Nice, not bad. It seems this world's sky will accept us."

The dragon knight's pilot spoke calmly, expressing his feelings.

The core activation experiment had been completed beforehand in the large box, but this was the first time Fafnir had been fully operational since the inter-world transfer phenomenon. Considering the large amount of materials consumed just to start up the machine, it was understandable, but it was almost like a live combat deployment without much preparation, which inevitably caused some anxiety.

However, most of that anxiety was alleviated by confirming that self-flight was possible. The various rune systems necessary for machine control were also functioning without any problems.

Robin, a faint smile on his face, was about to accelerate Fafnir further,

"――――!"

When the fairy dragons launched their counterattack. It was a fireball from the lead individual among the six densely packed fairy dragons.

The intense flames released from the widely opened mouth approached Fafnir with missile-like speed.

"――Fast. Much faster than the fairy dragons from before."

Fafnir fired the shoulder thrusters to evade the line of fire.

The intense flames raced past the upper right side of the tilted machine, but the speed of the projectile was incomparable to the previous fairy dragons.

Even at a distance that appeared small to the naked eye, the precision and speed of the shot suggested that this was indeed a complete form.

"They're not just different in appearance, huh."

It seemed they hadn't feasted on the elves of their own country and the neighboring country for nothing. Not only their appearance but also the amount of mana they stored in their bodies was vastly different from the previous individuals.

The intense flames from earlier were not just a breath attack but had been accelerated by the excess mana.

"――――!"

While Robin calmly analyzed the situation, one of the fairy dragons deployed a magic circle. Green mana light leaked from the six wings on either side, illuminating the magic circle. As soon as the light reached a certain intensity, the magic circles on both wings fired two light projectiles each.

The four light projectiles, transformed into piercing forces, approached Fafnir with undeniable power.

In response, Fafnir tilted the machine and took evasive maneuvers.

However, this time there were four projectiles, unlike the first shot. The light projectiles, approaching at different times, could not be dodged with a single evasive action.

Making an instant decision, Robin stopped the descent by firing the chest thrusters at full power immediately after dodging the first shot, then immediately rotated the machine and reversed direction. The main thrusters on the back, which generated the primary thrust, propelled Fafnir's massive body upward.

As soon as he confirmed that the second light projectile had passed below the machine, Robin dodged the third by firing the thrusters twice. Satisfied that Fafnir's body moved as intended, Robin responded to the final fourth projectile with a corkscrew maneuver. The light projectile passed just below his back as he looked up, and Fafnir was already facing forward.

"Right arm weapon, magic convergence projectile cannon 'Aulvanger,' ready."

Fafnir, having dodged gracefully, prepared its weapon according to the pilot's will.

The steel hands held a pair of guns, one in each hand.

Both were long guns, but their shapes and lengths were different. The silver gun in the left hand exceeded ten meters in length, while the black iron gun in the right hand was more than ten percent shorter.

Fafnir first used the right long gun to capture the enemy group in its sights.

With a sound like the atmosphere crying, mana was charged. The first shot, which also served as a test fire, was set to 30% output. Robin briefly confirmed the charge rate and efficiency displayed on the sub-display,

"――Correction, convergence rate below specified value. Reset output to 20%."

Recognizing that the mana extraction efficiency of the core, the power generation mechanism of the machine, was significantly below the expected value, Robin quickly rewrote the output settings.

As soon as the small fingers encased in the ultra-thin pilot gloves pressed the main trigger, the black iron long gun released the force it had stored internally.

The compressed mana, bundled into a beam, raced forward as a pillar of light.

"――――"

In response, the fairy dragon group deployed multiple barriers.

The fairy dragons, the guardians of the elves, who had regained their original power in exchange for the destruction of two countries, received the light pillar with a multi-layered barrier formed by six individuals, resulting in a laser exchange.

"――――!"

The collision of the highly concentrated mana block and the multi-layered barriers. After a brief stalemate, the light pillar from the black iron long gun began to push through.

The first barrier disappeared, and the second was easily pierced. The third, fourth, and fifth barriers shattered one after another, and finally, it reached the last one. The tip of the light pierced a crack in the sixth barrier.

However, that was the limit. Robin, hearing the warning from the machine, released the trigger and stopped the long gun's beam. The amount of mana supplied to the machine had fallen below a certain threshold. Since the mana consumption from the cannon exceeded the output of the core, which operated on mana stones, there was a limit to the continuous firing time. This was the warning sound indicating that limit.

The light pillar, losing momentum, pushed through the cracked gap, and some of the light penetrated, catching the dragon's form. However, the barrier shell, a spherical barrier centered on the dragon, blocked the intrusion. The light pillar, losing its power, disappeared, leaving the six dragons still standing.

The fairy dragons, the guardians of the elves, had defended against the attack of the unexpected outsider, even with six individuals.

"Nice job. You are indeed the guardian dragons."

While adjusting the core's output balance on the sub-display, Robin praised the fairy dragons for their resilience.

Fafnir used mana stones from this world, refined and collected, for the second core to verify the machine. As a result, the mana supplied to various parts of the machine was insufficient, and the output of the long gun had to be significantly reduced. However, it was somewhat unexpected that the frontal attack was completely defended. It was necessary to reassess the enemy's strength and re-strategize.

With that in mind, the dragon knight's pilot ordered Fafnir to advance.

The back thrusters fired, and the machine accelerated again.

The mechanical dragon knight closed the distance straight toward the group of fairy dragons.

"――――"

The fairy dragons responded with two types of actions: dispersal and withdrawal.

One dragon turned its back on Fafnir and withdrew, while the remaining five spread out in different directions.

If Robin immediately pursued the one that fled straight, the five that dispersed would regroup, form a formation, and chase Fafnir from behind.

In other words, one dragon was a decoy, and the rest were trying to corner the prey. Robin, aware of this, pursued the dragon that turned its back—

"……Huh."

Robin found the situation familiar.

The combined defense in the dense formation earlier and the seamless coordination, likely through a form of communication unique to dragons, showed no hesitation in their actions.

In short, this group of guardian dragons, which possessed overwhelming power compared to the world's regular forces, was actually well-versed in combat tactics against a single, powerful opponent.

They were said to have been mobilized for the final battle against a demon king who sought to destroy humanity, and perhaps the legends were not exaggerated but accurate oral traditions.

Feeling a sense of joy at the enemy's use of combat tactics against a powerful single opponent, Robin considered it a good match for his strategic concept. With a sharp, focused gaze, he looked straight at the main display projected in front of him, a stark contrast to his usual playful expression.

"――――!"

The leading fairy dragon let out a neigh and accelerated, emitting green mana light.

The enemy's silhouette on the central display trailed a light tail, and by the time its color was recognized, the leading dragon's back was already small.

It was a move to use all available mana for acceleration. The individual, flying away from the azure silver dragon knight, was trying to shake off the pursuer with pure acceleration.

In response, Robin demanded further acceleration from Fafnir.

The heavy parts forming the knight's legs began to transform.

The glossy azure and deep silver legs made a metallic sound, mounting to the torso with the knees at the chest and the heels at the thighs. Simultaneously, the medium thrusters inside the skirt-like movable thigh coverings were exposed, all pointing backward. The weapon-holding arms were folded at the elbows, confirming their existence as a fixed cannon.

Next, the two large-caliber thrusters on the shoulders, forming wings, were deployed. The deep recesses of the long fin thrusters had large openings, and their overall shape resembled a long cannon or a broad spear. Other thrusters of various sizes on the machine also pointed backward, opposite the spear-like chest, and all were opened.

The result was a form different from a humanoid. The majestic form of a dragon seeking the highest speed. The form achieved after the transformation, pursuing speed to the utmost—

"High-speed cruise mode—this is the form of Fafnir as a mechanical dragon."

The thrust lever was immediately slammed. The single eye on the dragon's head glowed, and the thrusters, receiving mana from the core, roared.

The thrusters on the shoulders, back, waist, legs, and feet emitted a dazzling light, creating a white light trail. The seventy-two thrusters created a white light that resembled the wings of a dragon. The seventy-two horizontal light wings scattered white light like feathers, providing explosive thrust to the mechanical dragon seeking high speed.

As a result, the meter indicating the relative distance between them rapidly decreased, plummeting toward zero.

"――――!"

Soaring, piercing the sky, accelerating upon acceleration, and still accelerating.

The five pursuing dragons aiming for Fafnir's vulnerable back were irrelevant.

The azure silver mechanical dragon left everything behind with explosive speed, aiming for the back of the leading fairy dragon.

The leading fairy dragon, trying to shake off the pursuing mechanical dragon, poured even the mana used for the barrier into acceleration, attempting a reckless maneuver.

However, the mechanical dragon in high-speed cruise mode surpassed this speed.

The five pursuing dragons, who had to allocate a certain amount of mana for defense, had no chance of catching up. While dodging the occasional breath attacks from behind with minor maneuvers, Fafnir, having closed the distance, aimed the folded right arm at the black iron gun.

The targeting cursor on the shooting control device had not yet locked on, but the distance was sufficient for an effective hit. Without waiting for a lock-on, Robin aimed visually. The light projectile from the black iron long gun pierced the back of the leading dragon, slicing through one wing and a portion of the right side of its body.

"――――!?"

The fairy dragon let out a painful cry and fell to the ground.

It wasn't an immediate kill, as it had missed the vital points. However, it was a significant blow. The large, torn wound was visibly regenerating, but the damage was severe enough to take several minutes to fully recover.

The successful shot gave Robin a sense of accomplishment.

However, an unwelcome fact was also revealed.

"Recharging mana. Next shot available in forty-nine seconds... I didn't expect it to take this long to reload."

It was an unexpected and unwelcome situation. It seemed that the black iron long gun had depleted its stored mana in just two shots. Seeing the reload time on one of the sub-displays, Robin frowned.

The Fafnir he piloted was a restored machine from an ancient excavation—a miraculous preservation of the original prototype with an undamaged core.

Despite the best efforts of the craftsmen of the Seventh Legion, using the latest magitech of Alkymaira, the ancient lost technology was fundamentally different in level, process, lineage, and existence, making a perfect restoration impossible.

In fact, the more Alkymaira's technology was integrated, the more the original form was altered. Some functions had to be forcibly recreated by piecing together multiple runes.

As a result, Fafnir was inefficient in its mana consumption.

It was so bad that it could be called the worst.

To achieve a function with a missing part, it sometimes required expending a hundred resources to achieve one result.

The black iron long gun 'Aulvanger' was one such example.

The long gun, which fired a single beam of pure mana without converting it into a rune, was extremely power-hungry, and even with a direct connection to the generator, it took time to recharge. While it was possible to fire in rapid succession under certain conditions, the current situation required nearly a minute to recharge the mana from the core using mana stones from another world.

The mana stones used in the core were supposed to be carefully selected, but their level was vastly different from the ones brought from the original world.

"Then, it's time for this one to take the stage."

While keeping his right hand on the control stick, Robin tapped the console panel with his free left hand to switch weapons. The main trigger was set to the left arm weapon—the magic bullet loading single-shot gun 'Gandalv'.

Unlike the black iron long gun, which emitted compressed mana as a form of energy weapon, the silver long gun had a structure similar to modern guns.

It had a chamber, contained bullets, and fired when the hammer struck.

However, what was ejected from the barrel was not a bullet. When the trigger was pulled, the fire attribute attack rune engraved on the bullet—'Explosive Flame Spear'—was released. The rune was unleashed from the silver barrel, and a massive flame spear, resembling a thrown spear, was fired.

The silver long gun, named 'The Mage's Mineral Sprite,' was a magic gun that amplified and released the rune engraved on the bullet's tip.

While the 'rank' of the rune depended on the size and quality of the bullet, the long barrel contained a special mechanism to amplify the bullet's effect, making its power comparable to a high-level spell cast by a skilled mage with a full incantation.

Additionally, the bullet contained high-purity mana crystals instead of explosives, and the manifestation of the rune was powered by the bullet's own mana. The mana required for 'Gandalv's' shot was less than one percent of the normal output of 'Aulvanger'.

However, due to the high mana conductivity of the pure mithril bullet casings, the cost per shot was extremely high, and it was often mocked as a 'money thrower' by players who knew the cost, making it a kind of defective weapon.

It was undoubtedly not suitable for mass production or frequent use.

However, if one had the background to absorb these disadvantages, it was undoubtedly the optimal attack method in this situation.

Thus, the amplified 'Explosive Flame Spear' demonstrated its full power, piercing through the barrier hastily deployed by the falling fairy dragon. The flame spear, piercing deep into the dragon's body, exploded, creating a burst of flames in the misty sky. After the red lotus petals scattered, only the dragon's mangled corpse, falling to the ground, remained.