CH 107

Chapter 107

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : The Fairy And Great Beasts Of The Prairie, Part 17 — Two Kinds Of Beasts

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

A roar echoes throughout the area. Miranda prepares to die—— No, she was immortal, so she wouldn’t die, but even if she did not, she was prepared to have her body shattered. But no pain came to the body, and soon the hit was silent. Miranda had managed to keep her eyes open from her experience as a warrior until the moment she received the direct hit from Dragleo, whereas any living creature, even a woman, would have instinctively closed their eyes, but it seems that her vital mind couldn’t keep up with the events that occurred above her head.

Soon after, Alfiris helps Miranda up. Miranda still seems to be in a daze.

「What was that now?」

「It was Phalanx.」

Phalanx was standing in the place where the Dragleo was, in a battle stance. Dragleo is nowhere to be seen.

「What about that guy?」

「He’s blown far away.」

「Roughly one small mountain has been skipped over.」

Looking in the direction where Aerial points, there is a mark where the rock seems to have been chipped away, as if something had indeed been blown away in a straight line.

「Is he dead?」

「No, not even a decent amount of damage.」

The bitter look on Phalanx’s face as he answers surprises everyone, but the reality they don’t want to admit comes with a loud laugh from Dragreo.

「Hahhahhahha!!! I’m fully awaaaaaaaakkkkkeeeee!!!」

「Tch……」

Phalanx clicked his tongue. It was no wonder, Phalanx did a blow that caught Dragleo off-guard. And without any acceleration or deceleration. If this doesn’t work, how many moves are left to make? At this point, Aerial began to look uneasy.

「Father, are you holding back?」

「Not at all. I hit him with the intention of smashing him to pieces, but it doesn’t seem to be working.」

「That’s absurd. With one single blow, you can kill Behemoths, Father.」

「He’s not so easy to deal with.」

In the meantime, the Dragleo came running towards them. It was incredibly fast, so fast that he could easily fly over a mountain.

「Fight… MEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!」

「Stay back a little bit, we’re going to do it with a bang!?」

Phalanx also kicks the ground with its hind legs to intercept. Just as it looked like the two would collide, Phalanx struck Dragleo in the side, but this time he was well guarded by his left arm. He’s still blown so far to the side that he spins around three times, but Dragleo laughs and rushes forward again and again without regard.

From there, it was a tremendous fistfight. No, because of the difference in reach, Phalanx was beating him unilaterally. Dragreo also seems to be guarding tightly against the blows, so much so that a roar and shock school develops with each blow. Of course, with each blow, Dragleo is forced to retreat, but gradually his retreat is becoming less and less. On the contrary, his foot that stepped into the area became more and more powerful. It was as if strength was rising with each strike. Phalanx was also throwing precise blows one at a time at first, but gradually it was moving away from a one-sided beating to one that was desperately trying to keep Dragleo at bay. Gradually, impatience and irritation begin to appear on their faces.

Finally, Dragleo withstood the blow of Phalanx.

「!?」

「Fuuuuuuu… Oraa!!!」

Dragleo’s longest blow catches Phalanx in the side, but he isn’t the Lord of the Prairie, to go down with a single blow. He counters directly into Dragleo, but this one also held up. The two exchanged blows.

Both fighters exchange blows that are tantamount to explosions, with neither guarding the other. Sweat, saliva, and blood are splattered, and their outer surfaces turn red or black as they look, but neither is willing to retreat at all.

Alfiris and the others had no choice but to watch the tremendous battle, but finally Phalanx lost his balance.

「My chaaaaaance!!」

Without a moment’s pause, Dragleo delivers a deep body blow to Phalanx. Phalanx spits out a mouthful of blood, and is blown back to the wall behind him. It was a completely insane sight to see a human punching away at a giant beast over 5 meters long, but Dragleo’s behavior was even more insane.

He walks behind Phalanx and holds its tail in his hands. Phalanx seemed to lose sight of Dragleo for a moment and was slow to respond.

「Mhhmmmmm… Fiiiiiiiiiiigghhhhhtttt!!!」

Phalanx is swung around in a circular motion with itself at its center. The speed of Phalanx gradually increases, and suddenly the body of Phalanx leaves the orbit of the circle and appears above it.

「Diiiieeeeee!!!」

Just as Phalanx seemed to stand still in mid-air, as if time had softly stopped, it was immediately hit by a tremendous force and slammed into the ground with such force that the roar and shockwaves echoed all over the place, as if the eardrums of Alfiris and others were about to be ruptured.

Alfiris and her group were blown away by the tremendous shock wave, but when they looked at the area where Phalanx had struck, they saw a small-scale crater. Phalanx did not twitch, as Dragleo’s tremendous muscular strength was evident.

As it was, Dragleo approached to finish off Phalanx. At that moment, Aerial almost jumped out of the way, but Alfiris stopped her by hugging her.

「Let go, Alfie!」

「It’s not over, Aery!」

Dragleo is completely oblivious to this exchange. He probably didn’t care about Alfiris and others. Now he’s completely focused on his greatest prey, Phalanx. But how much can Aerial do to a monster that can withstand a single blow from Phalanx?

As Dragleo approaches Phalanx, his eyes turn white—— Just as Dragleo was about to recognize him, the red eyes of Phalanx caught him by the glint and grabbed him by the head.

「Nuuuoooooohhh!!?」

「It’s been a long time since I licked the dirt, kid…」

Phalanx clamps down on Dragleo with more force than a vise, and he slowly gets up, spitting out the gravel in his mouth along with the blood. Dragleo also managed to shake it off with both hands, but there were six hands of Phalanx to grab him. He squeezed both hands, and Dragleo couldn’t move at all. Dragleo had no choice in the matter.

He wondered what he was going to do with it, but then he quickly let go of all his hands. Dragleo was stunned as he was thrown into the air, but when he looked up, he saw that Phalanx was combining two hands. The arms were covered in blood vessels and muscles were rising and falling.

「Wait a…」

「There’s no need!」

Phalanx’s arm swung down as it was. Dragleo has no way to change its posture in the air. As with the earlier Dragleo, a tremendous shock wave hits the surroundings. No, the shock wave was much stronger than the previous one, and this time Alfiris and the others were completely blown away.

Dragleo also dives waist-deep into the ground while forming a crater, but he also fires a powerful blow, still with his hands clasped, toward Dragleo’s side.

Dragreo blows away like a puppet with broken strings, but this time phalanx does not slow down in its pursuit.

「Hyuuuuuuh… Kah!」

As soon as Phalanx took a deep breath, a large fireball shot out from his mouth toward Dragleo. As the ball hit the ground, the surroundings were enveloped in a tremendous amount of light and heat. A heat wave as if you were facing a volcano. The bomb should have landed far, far away. They can only speculate, but the point of impact was nothing compared to this heat. It was a fireball like a small sun.

「This is as good as it gets…」

「Father!!」

The moment Alfiris’ hand loosens, Aerial rushes to phalanx like an arrow released. Her arms folded in front of her chest, she looked like a girl of her age who was worried about the safety of her family.

「Aerial… I’m getting old. I’m getting a little out of breath.」

「What are you talking about? It was impressive. That guy will now be…」

「I told you. That guy is not that naive.」

「…Huh?」

Aerial stares at the drop-off point of the Dragleo with an expression of “no way.” Although far away, Aerial, whose eyesight is far better than that of an ordinary human being, saw what appeared to be a human being trying to move there.

「That’s ridiculous!? He’s still moving alive!?」

「Fuu. Aerial, do you remember the emergency evacuation route?」

「Of course. You don’t expect me to tell you to run away?」

「That’s right. With Alfiris and the others, of course. I will do everything in my power to hold him back.」

「………I understand.」

Aerial spins around on her heel, grabs Alfiris’ hand, and leads her toward the cave.

「Pack your bags, Alfie. We’ll be out of here soon.」

「W–Wait!? I thought he’s already beaten?」

「He won’t. He’ll be back any minute.」

「No way!? What is that guy!?」

「You think he’s alive within that karmic fire?」

Nia also could not hide her surprise. Nia, who is usually calm in battle, was a bit flustered.

「Yes, I saw it with my own eyes. And Father said,『I’m going to stall him.』I don’t think we can… beat that guy.」

「!?」

Alfiris and the others were absolutely mortified. What kind of human being would be impossible for the strongest Magical Beast on the Prairie to defeat? No, rather, is that big man a human being? But now is not the time to ponder such questions.

「…All right, Aery, is it alright?」

「Yes.」

「I’m going to go do my business, then I’m going to the place where we had lunch.」

「…Thanks.」

In truth, there is no way she can afford to do her stuff. Alfiris is in essence telling her to go and say goodbye to Phalanx. When she saw Alfiris and the others running to get ready, Aerial also ran to Phalanx at full speed.

「Father, Father!」

「What’s the matter, Aerial?」

「I… Aerial, do not want to be separated from you, Father!」

「…」

Aerial jumped on him without any reason, and Phalanx looked troubled. Aerial looked as if it was about to cry.

「Why do you look at me like that… I’m your avenger, and I’d rather you be happy when I’m gone. I regret that I can’t let you kill me.」

「No! …No, that’s not true. You are more than a parent to me…」

Aerial nuzzled her face into Phalanx’s back and shivered slightly. Phalanx gently patted Aerial’s head.

「Don’t say another word… your own parents will be sad.」

「That’s not true. My parents will understand.」

「…Go now. From now on, nothing will bind you. Live as the wind leads you, live as your heart desires.」

「Father…………Thank you.」

When she looked up, there were already no tears on Aerial’s face. She was not even allowed enough time to cry.

「Godspeed, Father.」

「Mhm.」

They exchanged only a few words, and never looked at each other again. Aerial envisioned the escape route in her mind, and the eyes of Phalanx clearly caught the sight of Dragleo, who was smiling broadly and moving toward him with a smile on his face.

「Walking with ease through a sea of flames, you monster!」

Phalanx is chattering through his teeth.

「Let’s see how well I can do…」

Then, as if in a gesture of coincidence, Phalanx and Dragleo kicked the ground at the same time.