DK – Chapter 43-44: Fire of War IV

I cut down the soldiers, who were overwhelmed by our intensity, with my dragon longsword!!

And turn into a storm!!

There’s no need for mana in a Strauss Storm!! There’s only the need for your trained body, polished techniques, and dragon longsword!!

“GHAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOHHH!!”

Zephyr charges into the enemy crowd while roaring!

Stomping with his feet, cutting with his claws, and mowing down with his tail.

He cannot spit out fire anymore because he doesn’t have the mana to.

But that doesn’t matter! Our hearts are still beating and there’s blood flowing in our bodies!! That’s why, Zephyr!! Kill! Kill!! Kill!!

Show them fear!

Zephyr, people are cowards!

When shown something scary, they can’t move!

And yet…for some mysterious reason, they still want to ‘see something scary’.

They can’t help looking at it, because their instincts seek it!!

See? Their eyes are chasing us. You can tell, right?!

We are going to pull the enemies to us!!

We shall become their most fearsome existence!!

With that, no one will be able to attack Riel, Mia, and Sharon!!

We are going to gather their fear and killing intent to us only!

Rampage.

Rampage the hell out.

Swing my sword, cut them down, and head to the next one. My face is grinning.

I am smiling as I bathe in blood.

Hey, it is tough, but…it is also fun, right, Zephyr? 

You are the dragon and a Strauss is the devilish swordsman. This combination cannot be matched by any army. Even within battle, even when on the verge of death, you can enjoy it.

We are that kind of deranged beings. We have a hunger that can only be filled in the fields of battle. 

Killing people and proving our mettle is unbearably exhilarating. 

Don’t reject it. We are warriors. We have to be the warriors among all warriors!! 

That’s what a dragon and a dragon knight are!

“Garururuuuuuuu!!” (Zephyr)

“Uoooooh!!” (Solje)

Hahaha!! We are going wild here!

Kill, murder, slaughter!!

Cut, slash, sever!! 

Zephyr rampages, and the screams and rain of blood of the people were dirtying the sky.

My sword dance edged death into the ground!

*Swish!*

“…That hurt.” (Solje)

“H-Hiiiih!!” 

…You piece of shit. A spear got me on the stomach. But as if I care. I broke it in half and, without minding the wound, I cut off the head of the enemy that hit me. 

Bleeding begins to happen at my side. Oi oi, anemia on top of mana exhaustion? I am staggering here.

Aah, Zephyr is also covered in blood. Of course he is. We are both attacking an enemy army after all!! 

It is painful. We are tired.

Every part of my body hurts and it feels as if I might be ripped into pieces. 

But…But I am smiling.

Zephyr seems to be having fun, too.

The dragon rampages as if it has gone mad and bites one of the soldiers.

That’s right, eat him!! Bite and rip them to shreds, and bathe those Empire pigs with the blood!!

I smell the scent of blood and revitalize myself. I cut down everyone in my way, then, my dragon longsword dug into the waist bone of one the bigger dudes and wasn’t coming out.

“Muh?” (Solje)

“…That guy is weakened after having a spear pierce him!!” 

“W-We can kill him!! If it is now, we can kill him!!” 

What a rude thing to say. 

Weakened? Me?

Hell no…however, I see…maybe because of the blood and fat that flew about, my grip is slipping, and I can’t hold the handle properly, huh. Hmph, what, so I am actually weakened.

“DIEEEEEE!!” 

“You are noisy, you pig!!” (Solje)

I let go of my dragon longsword and punch the face of the soldier that was coming at me. Getting on top of the enemy that’s now sunk on the ground, I rain punches onto his face. He soon dies.

The bones of his face were broken way too much after all. With the insides of his head being destroyed, anyone would die. 

I snatch away the sword of his already dead body and cut down several men who were scared.

“Y-You monster!!” 

Guh?! Damn it, an arrow got my back.

It hurts…but as if I will falter…! 

I ignore the enemy at my back and attack the soldiers in front of me. I cut all of them down. But, damn it. The sword was broken now.

Ignore it.

I twist my body to evade the thrusted spear and counter it with a right fist. His neck’s bones broke and he falls just like that. I throw away the useless broken sword and take the spear from the corpse.

I receive the arrow shot at my back with my left hand as I turn around. He was aiming for my head. He must have noticed that a brat from the Strauss won’t die unless you crush their head…and that’s exactly right!!

But the arrow pierced my palm. Damn it, it hurts. The retribution for this will be terrible!! 

“Hiiih! D-Don’t kill m—” 

I strike his head with my spun spear. Did he die? No, it might have been a bit shallow. But that’s fine. He shouldn’t be able to get up for a good while.

I use my teeth to break the arrow, and pull it out with those very same teeth. It made me feel a bit better. 

Opening and closing my hand, I confirm if I can move my fingers. Kukuku, the movement of my middle finger is bad, but the tendon hasn’t been cut. The other ones are decently okay.

If I don’t put any mind to the pain, I might be able to pull out 75% of the power… Now then, I spin the spear and ready myself to play on the battlefield.

Now that I think about it, I learned this from my oldest brother. 

Spin the spear while dancing; Dragon Dance. This is a technique normally done with a dragon spear, but well, I can’t complain on this occasion. 

I spun my spear, and by relying on the centrifugal force and physical strength, I go about killing several people. 

After mowing them down, I threw the spear and skewered one.

Barehanded now, I laugh.

“Hahahahahahahaha!!” (Solje)

“W-What’s with this guy?!” 

“D-Did he go crazy? Even though he is covered in blood and is on the verge of dying…” 

“He is on the verge of dying…right?” 

“B-But…isn’t his laugh overflowing with power…?” 

That’s right. How scary, it looks like my mana is recovering. Also, my life force is welling up from the depths of my body. 

I take out the spear that was pierced on my stomach. 

It is a big wound. Doing a stupid ‘treatment’ like this will only leave a big wound opening and blood would flow out of it like crazy, but…it soon stopped. 

“I-Impossible…I-It healed?!” 

“Without the blessing of a priest…a wound like that?” 

“…N-No way…that’s not possible!” 

I see. It is Zephyr. The exhausted Zephyr is eating soldiers like crazy. He bites off the head of the humans and indulging in them.

He has already put several people into his stomach. By digesting them, he is taking their mana and healing himself…and he is sharing his mana with me too. My Zephyr is a good dragon that cares for his Doje.

I am connected with Zephyr through the eye of Ares. My body is being poured mana.

It is as if a dried up wasteland had a downpour? …I can feel mana filling me up and overflowing. That overflowing mana is mixing with my blood and hardening my wound.

Well, it is not as if it has been ‘healed’ like those guys are saying. It is more like a hastily made crust has covered the wound. But if blood isn’t going to pour out like crazy, there’s no problem. 

Thanks to that, I can still move. What Zephyr is sending to me is human mana, so it matches well with me. 

The mana riding in my blood is being sent through my whole body. I inhale the air of the iron reeking battlefield and fix my breathing. Oxygen and mana are refreshing my broken body. That’s why it looks like I can fight for a little bit more…

“…Ares!! Come!!” (Solje)

I call Ares!

The dragon longsword flies from somewhere to my hand stretched up to the heavens. My fingers grab Ares. 

Hm, this is a nice feeling. Strength is returning to me. That’s right, as if I will let you go again, Ares!!

“H-He called his sword with m-magic?!” 

“The D-Demon Lord…this guy is not human!!”     

“…Kukuku! What a nice compliment.” (Solje)

Yeah, if what you fear the most is a Demon Lord, I will become that.

The Demon Lord that I know…is frightening and strong like an ogre…

…Right. 

…I really liked the country that his Majesty had made…

There was the elf granny’s pharmacy, a young and incompetent dwarf blacksmith, fairies who were playing pranks while betting their own lives, a whole lot of humans living in it…and in the sky there were dragons flying by the side of birds.

Windmills decorated the sight, and the wind steadily going down the fields were spinning those big fans. 

In the evening, the sun sinking from the faraway mountains was incredibly beautiful…dyeing the village deep in those mountains in a red tint…and there was everyone there within that red landscape…

Aah…it was a good country.

I see…

Something like that was nice, huh.

I want to protect a place where a variety of people can be together, just like his Majesty Verius.

“…I see…in that case…I can’t kick the bucket here.” (Solje)

“Hiiih!!” 

“H-His eye is…shining gold!!” 

“…This is the color of the Demon Lord’s eye.” (Solje)

The mana of Ares inside of me is filling up. The sight in my left eye has recovered. The darkness goes away and the world was clearly reflected once again. The magic eye is completely back, hell yeah.

Zephyr must have finished ‘replenishing nutrients’. With the meat of several tens of people worth inside his stomach, his stomach is swelled up. You have eaten a whole lot, so grow up big, okay?

“Garurururururu!!” 

Zephyr groans with his blood filled mouth and glares at the Empire pigs -with the same golden shining eyes as me!!

“Let’s goooooooo!!” (Solje)

This is the duty of dragon knights. If my dragon is singing, I also sing. 

The charge resumes. 

I swing the dragon longsword and cut them down without any distinction. I filled my left arm with mana and called a giant lightning to the battlefield, zapping the soldiers. 

Zephyr is rampaging by my side. Crushing soldiers with his claws and fangs, changing his now filled up mana into fire, and spitting out a fire breath together with the human flesh that’s still in the middle of being digested. 

This stream that is mixed with fire and blood is changing the soldiers of Yuandart into cinders. 

I jump into the crowd of enemies while confirming this with my magic eye.

Cornered enemies are tough. Their natural cowardliness gets dyed over by fear and desire to survive, becoming aggressive towards me as they attack.

The sparks of blades echoes and wounds were made in both of our bodies. 

It is painful and straining. I am already reaching my limit. 

Even so, I move my body and defeat my enemies.

“Gyaruuu?!” (Zephyr)

“Zephyr!!” (Solje)

I react to the dragon’s scream and run. Ignoring several enemies, I jump, and crush the head of the soldier stabbing a spear into Zephyr. And then, I reach towards the spear that’s pierced in Zephyr.

“Stay still!! I will take it out immediately!!” (Solje)

(Doje, your back!!) (Zephyr)

Zephyr sends the soldiers who were aiming for my back with a headbutt. That’s right, by protecting each other, we can kill even more enemies.

We are already at our limit after all…!

“It is out!!” (Solje)

I take out the spear, but the wound is deep. I look at the eyes of Zephyr. Zephyr can understand this. 

“…Fire.” (Solje)

That’s right. By calling fire, I burn the wound of Zephyr and close it. Sorry, it would be better to use healing techniques, but a dragon knight who has been cursed by way too much blood has no affinity to those kind of techniques.

(Thanks. The bleeding stopped, that’s why we can still go.) (Zephyr)

“That’s right, we can still fight!!” (Solje)

Zephyr and I put our backs facing each other, and with fire breaths and fire shots respectively onto the enemies filling our vision, we send them flying…

But…

(…I ran out of fire.) (Zephyr)

“Same here!! We will be relying on our body from here on, Zephyr!!” (Solje)

“Garururururururururuuuuu!!” (Zephyr)

Our mana has run out with all this. Because the mana mixed in our body goes away together with the bleeding after all. We have wounds that we have stopped the bleeding, but new wounds are made along the way…

What’s left now is a barbaric melee. 

My stance is already broken and I am simply swinging my sword. Kicking and punching.

The bones in my fist are cracked and my wrist is paining. 

A slash of the enemy hit my armor. Shit, it dented my armor!! It will take me even more money!! 

I push the enemy as if leaning on him. My breathing is getting rough. I feel pathetic, but I can still fight!!

“Oooooh!!” (Solje)

I swing my dragon longsword with brute strength, and at the third strike, I hit the helmet of the enemy. The head of the target got crushed like a tomato and red is spread around. 

There’s no end. There’s arrows and spears flying from all directions. Crushing them with my sword, I charge on and slam onto them with my body. Without the time to finish them off, I fight with the next enemy. 

Blades had injured mine and Zephyr’s body several times. 

Red. Red blood is coming out from us as well. This is bad. 

(It is rough, right, Zephyr…?) (Solje)

(…Yeah.) (Zephyr)

(I see, it is the same for me. But do your best. You understand, right?) (Solje)

(Yes…the black wave is coming.) (Zephyr)

(That’s right. We can still fight!!) (Solje)

“Uoraaaaaaaahh!!” (Solje)

“GHAAAAAAAOOOOOOOHHH!!” (Zephyr)

We laugh while singing, and right after we bring death with blade and fang to the Imperial soldiers, they finally reach our place.

Chapter 43

“Don’t go dying, youngsters!!” 

“Uaaaah!!” 

“Guoooooh!!” 

“Higyu—-” 

The Empire soldiers were slammed into the sky or were stomped.

A black ‘cow’ invaded my sight. That’s right, it is a Behemoth. The beloved steed of the dwarf Gyarigan. 

“BHAOOOOOOOOOHHH!!” 

“Hahahaha!! Sorry for the wait, Wing Commander’s son!! And the dragon!!” (Gyarigan)

Jumping down from the back of the cow, the short dwarf veteran swings a giant hammer and crushes the bones of the soldiers one after the other. 

“…It is Solje and Zephyr, old man. Did you forget?” (Solje)

“No, I do remember!!” (Gyarigan)

Really? 

General Gyarigan ran with speed unbelievable of that small body of his and was clearing out the enemies. That’s right, the enemy is already crumbling. 

Not only General Gyarigan, but the elite warriors of the Ludo Kingdom have appeared here after all. 

The cavalry units and the infantry units. The Imperial army’s formation had been broken through by them. The war is over now that it has reached this state. 

“…Let’s sing, Zephyr!!” (Solje)

“GHAAAAOOOOOHH!!” (Zephyr)

“Uoooooh!!” (Solje)

We celebrate victory. Hehehe, how pathetic. Is it because I have been hit a good number of times in the head? My nose is bleeding. 

But our shout worked and the Ludo Kingdom soldiers also shouted. They chase after the Imperial soldiers that are running away. 

“…Hehehe, I am tired.” (Solje)

“…Doje, there’s still enemies though.” (Zephyr)

“There’s tides in war, and also phases to it. It has been decided.” (Solje)

“Is it over?” (Zephyr)

“Yeah. To put it simply, it is like we are in the chewing phase.” (Solje)

“The eating kind?” (Zephyr)

“Yeah, no matter how tough the food is, once the teeth bite through and you can chew it, the subsequent chews will be easier, right? That way you can bite them as much as you want and the resistance weakens as you go, and it makes it easier to eat.” (Solje)

That’s the same for war. 

The firm formation had been cut open by the sharp blade of the cavalry, and the infantry flows into the opening, destroying the insides. 

That way the resistance weakens steadily, and with enemies from all sides, they are killed without being able to deal with it. 

Just like how I was hit by the attack of a small fry onto my side. If a person gets attacked from everywhere, they are weaker. It is not that I made a mistake there. Animals have a limit to how much they can cope with, and they won’t be able to keep up when it passes it. 

“…You are right. Ludo is eating the Empire.” (Zephyr)

“Nice boy, that’s how it is.” (Solje)

The fangs of the Dragon have already crushed the army and is trying to swallow them in their big mouth.

The Empire soldiers who understood their defeat were trying to retreat, but…the Ludo Kingdom’s army was not giving them mercy. 

They plan on annihilating the seventh division to the point that they won’t be able to work again.

In due time, the Empire soldiers should notice that they can’t escape. Even if they run away, they will be chased till they get killed. In that case…everyone should throw away their weapons and take the only path that can save them -surrender. There’s no worth in killing nameless soldiers. 

“…Doje, we won!!” (Zephyr)

“Yeah, that’s right. Let’s go for Maje and the others.” (Solje)

“U-Uhm, Captain.” 

“Hm?” (Solje)

Right in front of my exhausted self, there’s a single dog.

A big dog. 

Has it come to eat the dead flesh in the battlefield? What a greedy wild dog…wait, that’s not it.

“…What, is that you, Jean?” (Solje)

“Y-Yes!! It is Jean! Great work out here!!” (Jean)

A giant dog…no, a giant wolf…that’s not right either, the werewolf mercenary, Jean Redwood, was sitting like a shepherd dog as he said this to me. He is a young 21 year old mercenary. 

So Jean really did come here.

Or more like, everyone came, right? 

“…The others are okay, right?” (Solje)

“Eh? Y-Yes!! Of course, everyone is wounded to a certain extent, but they are all okay.” (Jean)

Jean’s nose works well. To a point where he can report the amount of blood our comrades on the battlefield have bled.

It is most likely not only his sense of smell, but magic mixed into the equation as well. Well, I should leave the analysis of that ability to the Scholar-san.

“I see. And so, why are they not here?” (Solje)

“They were acting as bodyguards for her Majesty. Well, they were ordered to go fight as well midway, so they charged into the enemy army. Everyone is alright-ssu yo.” (Jean)

“That’s a relief.” (Solje)

“Or more like, Captain and Zephyr are the ones in the worst state-ssu.” (Jean)

“…What, so we are the most wounded. That’s pathetic.” (Solje)

“That’s not true… Just how many hundreds did you two kill?” (Jean)

His light brown eyes were sparkling. Our doggy junior was directing admiration at us with praise. It is kinda itchy. But it looks like Zephyr likes it. He is looking at Jean…with stomach grumbling.

Jean runs away scared.

“…Ah, the meat…” (Zephyr)

“Z-Zephyr, you can’t. I am family, you know?” (Jean)

“…Yeah, I know.” (Zephyr)

“You can’t call your family, meat. Definitely not!!” (Jean)

“…I know.” (Zephyr)

“If you understand, that’s fine.” (Jean)

Jean is in the shape of a wolf, and Zephyr probably ate wolves and bears when he was living in the valley. 

Seeing him while he is tired, of course his stomach would growl.

“…I am glad we introduced him to Zephyr when we were at the base.” (Solje)

If we didn’t…he might have ended up accidentally eating him.

Jean reports to us after having run pretty far away.

“W-Well then, we will be hunting down the escaping ones and earning pocket money!!” (Jean)

“Got it! Work diligently!! Don’t go biting the armor and opening holes in them, got it? Their equipment is our merchandise!!” (Solje)

“Yes sir!!” (Jean)

The dog-like diligent subordinate of our crew runs into the battlefield to get money for our small business. 

Zephyr’s stomach growls again. When looking at it from afar, it only looks like a big dog. 

Biting the legs or the butts of Empire soldiers, he drags them to the ground and is having them killed by the Ludo soldiers. 

How can this be? He is already the very definition of a wild dog. 

When I met him deep in the forest for the first time, he gave out a scarier feeling though. That he might be a handsome boy with a lonely atmosphere to him… But the more he gets business-like, the further and further he gets away from a cool mercenary…

“…Educating subordinates is difficult.” (Solje)

“Ah, Maje and the others are coming.” (Zephyr)

“Oh, you are right.” (Solje)

“Solje, Zephyr, you guys were alright!!” (Riel)

“Onii-chan, Zephyr!!” (Mia)

Ooh, my important family is coming here. Nice, this is a moving moment…

“Oi, Captain Solje! If you are okay, go work!! We are gonna chase them too!!” (Riel)

“Mia hasn’t killed enough!!” (Mia)

Zephyr and I look at each other. 

Hehehe, the mercenary girls seem to not have killed enough. 

Well, of course. That’s an instinct of mercenaries. If your limbs work and there’s enemies…you gotta attack them. 

“Zephyr, can you run while having us on your back?” (Solje)

“I can.” (Zephyr)

“…Then, we can’t go resting yet.” (Solje)

“Everyone, get on.” (Solje)

Zephyr lowers his head and lets us ride him.

“…Now that I think about it, where’s Lamia?” (Solje)

“The Poet-san said he will be getting the Mimic back!” (Mia)

Mia tinkers with the gimmick of the armguard and tells me this while changing it to slingshot mode.

Right, I was going to forget about it. That’s important, so we have to get it back. Well, if he is the one getting it, I don’t have to worry.

“Let’s go, Zephyr!! Let’s kill the Empire pigs while lining up with Behemoth.” (Solje)

“Garurururuuuuu!!” (Zephyr)

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