[How can this be?]
[7th class....! The Dragon of Despair!]
[How can that being already be here? The Destruction Demon Army was annihilated!? Whatever happened that allowed it to come here? Just who, and how?]
[Kugh....]
Spiera momentarily tried to look at the Flying fortress where Yu IlHan and his army were residing, but endured doing so with her superhuman will. Yu IlHan also noticed what she was doing. At least, he could realize that she had done that for him.
That was why he was more confused.
"....Humans really are unpredictable. They aren't just evil, nor just insane, nor just single-minded."
"Spiera is not a human but an angel."
"But I still can't understand her."
"Spiera won't fall for IlHan, right....?"
Yu IlHan had no confidence that his concealment would work against a 7th-class being, but looking back, it seemed his enemy did not see him. His gaze was fixed on Spiera.
[Only you here are capable of making this scene. Yes, how was it to behead a dragon?]
[Very satisfying. I think beheading you will be even more sensational.]
Spiera raised her spear. The 7th-class dragon Echjar burst out in laughter at Spiera's words.
[Interesting, very interesting! It was worth it for me to come here!]
[It is only now that you're at your leisure. Do you not see the dragon blood flowing on this spear?]
Spiera was provoking an enemy on a higher league than hers without fear. The angels were shocked at her attitude, while contacting Heaven or casting defence magic on her. Of course, the enemy seemed confident as he slowly walked out of the gap in the skies.
[I wanted to leave at least one... No, now that this world became a higher world, if I acquire this world, dragons will naturally keep appearing in the future.]
[You'll acquire this world?]
[I alone am enough to fight you bitches, but.... The Army of Brilliant Light will also come here soon. We decided to hand them a treasure of the Destruction Demon Army. Well, if you're frustrated, why don't you ally with the Garden of Sunset?]
Even though the dragon knew the alliance would not happen, it provoked the angels. An overwhelming mass of mana that covered its enormous body, enough to eclipse the combined size of all dragons Yu IlHan had hunted, now materialized into large, sharp weapons.
[Were you so proud to kill a dragon? Well then, how about you show your skills to me as well.]
[You oversized lizard. I'm joyful that I can break a corner of the Destruction Demon Army today.]
The materialized mana charged towards Spiera and the nearby angels. The angels all cast defensive magic, but the weapons easily penetrated it, and, as their movements had already been read, they instantly pierced the angels and their defences.
[Khhak!]
[My LORD!]
"E, eeeek."
Over ten angels died on the spot. Liera's hand, grabbing Yu IlHan's shoulder, tensed. Although she had left the Heaven's Army, she could not leave her feelings for the individuals behind either.
"It's not that the angels are moving slowly. That guy's mana is hindering the angels' movements...!'
"I'm also analyzing it right now."
Yu IlHan's voice, which replied to Liera's words as she clenched her teeth, was also full of nervousness. Currently, he was focusing all his attention on recording everything within his range of senses with the Record skill, but as the enemy was of 7th class, he was feeling pressure. Falling Down would probably not work either.
The reason was simple. The enemy's mana reserve was way too large. An overwhelming amount of mana that Yu IlHan could not bear was hindering him from recognizing, recording, and restricting the enemy! And this was relatively fast, since he had concealed himself.
[Haaaaaaap!]
While all other angels had given up on resistance, only Spiera shouted and swung her spear towards him – with the Great Cosmos-severing Spear that killed the 6th-class Teraka instantly, despite the concealment!
[Fuu.]
However, the shield the enemy formed in less than an instant with just a snort blocked that strike. Spiera's full-out attack continued several more times, but the shield blocked everything.
[Hm.] He muttered in exclamation.
[You are especially strong for a 6th class. However, that's it. You cannot reach me. No, oh, is that it? Was this to buy time for your allies to retreat?]
The moment the dragon's wings unfolded widely, the moment flames filled the air! – the wings of the angels that tried to flee while leaving Spiera could not endure and melted like the wings of Icarus. And then large-scale ice magic followed! Spiera desperately swung her spear to cut through his mana, but even the traces of the magic were enough to freeze part of an angel.
[Oh, Lord God.]
[Please give us salvation. If you cannot save me, please bestow salvation upon my colleagues…..!]
[That damned God, that disgusting God! Call him out here, I SAID CALL HIM OUT!]
The more the dragon's wings flapped, the more it snorted, the more angels groaned in pain. Only the sole 6th class, Spiera, was holding out relatively well.
Yu IlHan was worried that Erta might be within their ranks, but fortunately, she could not be seen among them. It seemed that she had fled early on.
Mystic retreated the moment the dragon appeared, but judged that it was not enough and reported to Yu IlHan.
[Master, I think we'll be affected soon. I can nullify it, but the concealment would probably wear off in the process.]
"Yes, flee. We need to flee."
Even with Yu IlHan's reckless attitude, he could not enforce it on the army he had, there were still loads of 3rd class beings here, there's no way he could let them go against a 7th class!
Even Yumir, a 4th class, and of the same kin, had a nosebleed while standing on the outer wall of the Flying fortress. Although he seemed to have been greatly inspired by the extreme limits his race could reach, any more than this would be dangerous, even for him.
"Mystic, I will now send the Flying Fortress and the Guardian Fortress to a safe region... the concealment would wear off immediately, but there should be no problems in defending yourself on the spot, so don't worry about that."
[Concealment will wear off...? Master, you?]
"I, I.... of course, gotta kill that guy."
Even the ever-confident Yu IlHan could not keep his confidence in this situation. He felt his own voice trembling and let out a laugh. However, he did not plan to retreat here.
"As long as the battle is within this continent, no one will catch me, so I have the confidence to survive. Moreover."
I said this last time, but a person's heart is mysterious indeed.
He muttered it in his heart and looked at Spiera, who was facing off against a 7th-class dragon. Although he never changed his mind to screw her up, and was also building his plans towards that...
"I can't send her off so easily like this. If I did that, I'd die due to the tugging on my mind."
"You really are an idiot. Though, that side about you is cool as well."
Liera did not stop him. Instead, she stood by his side quietly. This was her expression of never leaving his side even if she had to die.
"That magic formation can cover for the two of us, right?"
"I can't help it, I guess."
Yu IlHan accepted her with a bitter smile. Yumir, Na YuNa, and Yu IlHan's other subordinates who had seen the two wished to go with them, but he shook his head firmly.
"You guys are too lacking. Moreover, I'm going to come back alive, so don't look at me as if I'm going to die there."
"But Your Majesty, we met after such a long time..."
"I said I won't die."
"But...."
The most worried was Na YuNa.
"Mr. IlHan. Let's just all escape to Earth, please?"
"Miss YuNa, if we don't proceed, what remains is only regress. Fleeing will become a habit. We'll have to face that guy anyway once the Earth becomes a higher world."
Although Yu IlHan didn't know this, his words were similar to Teraka's. And Teraka had met a vain death after saying those words.
Of course, Teraka and Yu IlHan had differences, but whether that would work against a 7th-class being, he did not know. Looking at the rampaging dragon, he thought he had acquired enough records, but even the most amazing records would lose their meaning without the ability to realize their potential.
Despite that, Yu IlHan's voice was full of confidence.
"Go first. I'll finish it off real quick and come back.'
"Uuuu, that's really dangerous though. Mr. IlHan, you idiot, iiiiidiot!"
Having felt that she could not stop him, Na YuNa muttered in dejection and hopped towards him. Even Liera, who would have normally blocked her, let her be for now, and Na YuNa could be embraced by Yu IlHan. She dug her face into his chest and spoke.
"I'm going to curse you if you die. I'm going to reveal the contents of the "New Folder" on your pc or the entire D drive!"
"I'm fine with everything else, but please delete the 'English lectures' folder."
"Iiiiiidiot."
[Kahak.]
While Yu IlHan was persuading his subordinates, the battlefield was progressing rapidly as well. Over half of the angels that came to Dareu had died, and half of that number safely escaped the battlefield, and Spiera, who was swinging her spear without holding back in order to buy time for the others to flee, was already half-dying.
[Hmm, you're not enough.]
However, at this point, Echjar felt awkward.
[You should not have been able to kill Teraka so easily with that much power.]
[Why don't you test me? You have not brought out my all!]
[Hah.]
At the same time, the dragon swung his wings, and the generated wind assaulted Spiera. She ended the assault with several strikes of the Great Cosmos-severing Spear, but the aura she could not sever left a shallow wound on her body. Right now, even that light wound was very serious for her.
[Your attack power is strong indeed, but something is definitely lacking. Just what could it be? So that's it. You lack speed and concealment.]
Echjar reached the conclusion quickly.
[There is someone else. There is someone else that I don't know about, in this place!]
At the same time he shouted that, a violent surge of mana exploded outward with him at its center! Yu IlHan immediately activated the magic formation to send everyone except himself and Liera, but he couldn't withstand the shock of the mana explosion safely, even with five Aegis shields stacked together.
"Kugh."
"Kyaak!"
The shock that even an Infernal Dragon body could not withstand struck Yu IlHan. However, it was fortunate that Liera wasn't seriously injured as he had embraced her.
[I definitely felt something. But I still cannot know where that is.]
[Dragon, did you get Alzheimer's after living so long? I said there was no such thing.]
Spiera laughed at him and took up her spear. Although her blood-covered arms were trembling minutely, the aura at her spear tip was still as bright as ever.
[You must not be thinking that only the Destruction Demon Army possesses 7th-class beings.] You were too reckless. You've blown this war very far out of proportion.]
[Do you think I fear anyone? I am the King of Dragons. The 13th Battalion Commander of the Destruction Demon Army, Echjar!]
Echjar's attention, which had been headed to a certain someone hiding in the area, fixed on Spiera yet again. Liera thought that this was the perfect time to do a surprise attack, but Yu IlHan shook his head.
"What he showed from the beginning until now is all a feint. From the moment he appeared, he knew of my existence, and he has not let go of his wariness towards me. You remember how the 5th-class giant was prepared for my surprise attack, right? This guy definitely has something as well."
However, the option on Yu IlHan's gauntlet – calling out a shadow to distract the others – was not ready to reuse yet. He wondered if it would work even if he could use it.
"Then... then what are you going to do? We can only run away."
"Actually, it's not quite like that either."
Yu IlHan watched as Spiera attacked with all her might, and the dragon only snorted and prepared a large-scale spell, while he prepared his own skill as well.
What would be consumed was 1,300 4th-class magic stones and 15 5th-class magic stones. This was a tremendous requirement to prepare for a single skill, but he could only use them all, as the 'target of accompaniment' for the skill was, after all, quite a high-tiered being.
"If it is found out that I used this method, I wouldn't be able to use it again, and though I thought about using this against Spiera, this is a method I did not plan to use without Erta's help…"
"IlHan..."
"However, against an opponent that's firing large-scale magics like nothing, it should be possible. It's probably trying to discover where I am, but..."
That would instead be his downfall. Yu IlHan noticed that the skill was ready and waited nervously for the right moment.
[Die, beast!]
[Kroaaaaaaaaar!]
Not yet; Spiera had just commenced an attack on him.
[You'll do what with this puny attack? It's so funny that I don't know what to do, you angel!]
His mana puffed up. The mana forms a meticulous structure and turns into magic.
The magic activates. The shiveringly cold icy aura that spread from him instantly spread towards the surroundings and put not only Spiera into his attack range, but Yu IlHan and Liera as well... and at that moment.
"Now!"
Yu IlHan activated the skill.
The skill's name was Warp, and the destination was none other than Earth.
The rarest of skills, Warp, that allowed him to leap worlds with others if he consumed additional magic stones. The 'target that the user wants to' in the skill explanation did not necessarily refer to allies; it could be anyone he wanted to accompany him.
In other words, if he wished to, and had enough magic stones to consume, even Echjar could be drawn into the Warp skill, and that meant…..
"Kuuuuuugh."
"Ugh."
[....What?]
The four beings who were safely warped to Earth spoke with different expressions. Yu IlHan and Liera in pain, Spiera in confusion and panic, and.
[Kkuaaahk!]
Due to the fact that he attacked a 'lower existence' 'first' in a 'lower world', Echjar screamed as the pain of his qualifications as a higher existence being stripped from him began.