Volume 7, Epilogue  

"Th-The gorgeous guy dragon disappeared!"

"All we did was bring the gun over... W-Was that enough?"

It was after the silver dragon Pavel Galad had disappeared.

The two "helper" high school girls came over to Hal and the three witches who had exhausted all their energy in a short amount of time.

They were Funaki-san, who had fired the magic gun, and the accompanying Mutou-san.

"You were lifesavers. Really, thank you very much," Hal thanked them sincerely.

The reason why he had handed the magic gun to fellow club members who had entered the combat zone was because it suddenly occurred to him that "when a nearby high school student opens fire on him without warning, even Galad would be startled, right?" as well as—A bit of pride.

Galad had definitely studied Haruga Haruomi and his allies, the witches, in depth, and apparently learned quite a lot of knowledge about human society.

But no matter how enthusiastic a learner he was, Pavel Galad was ultimately still a dragon hero who loved battle. How serious could his interest in "humans" be...?

Wanting to send Galad the message "don't underestimate humans," he had given his magic gun to his fellow club members.

Regardless of the gun's location, Hal could instantly sense it and remotely imbue it with magical power. If necessary, he could summon it with a single thought. At the time, he had entrusted Funaki-san with the magic gun on a momentary whim as insurance.

Unexpectedly, he was roped into a return match, and with a handicap condition to boot.

Hal had no choice but to turn his "momentary whim" into a "trump card." As a result, he had to create a situation where he and Galad were pitting their techniques of assured annihilation against each other at least, so he proposed the five minute deadline rule in an attempt to make effective use of the "passing high school girls."

"Luckily, that guy accepted my suggestion..."

It was a great gamble combining all kinds of factors.

He had asked the Mutou-Funaki team to standby near the Kiyosu Bridge road. After Orihime and the girls saved him from his dragon transformation, the Mutou-Funaki team had rushed over to the school in five minutes.

More importantly, there was a secret hero behind the scenes.

"Here's your gun back! I've never seen a magic gun that talks and tells me what to do. It made me jump in surprise!"

"It was pretty haughty. And quite amusing too."

"Hahahahahaha."

Mutou-san chimed with a comment while Funaki-san handed the magic gun over.

Laughing artificially, Hal accepted the gun. The great guardian of the magic gun who had led the way for the two high school girls spoke directly to his mind.

(Brat, know that I do not mind if you were to prostrate yourself with tears of joy to express your gratitude.)

(I'm surprised you can say that so brazenly. While I was a dragon, it seemed like you were enjoying the show quite a bit.)

(Kukukuku. After all, it had nothing to do with me. A perfect way to kill time.)

Residing in the magic gun, the former dragon king Hinokagutsuchi replied conceitedly.

That being said, she still agreed to Hal's request to bring his two classmates and the magic gun over here while he was fighting Pavel Galad. I guess I could let it slide this once?

"By the way, what happened to Sakuraba-senpai?"

"Well, as you know already, he values gathering data even more than his own life."

"He said he had to capture the battle just now as photos and videos... So lugging his equipment, he ran up to a building's rooftop~ What amazing perseverance," replied Mutou-san with a wry smile.

On the other hand, Funaki-san looked very impressed.

Hal laughed in response too while thinking about another question. After the match was decided, that dragon king girl should be flying over here instantly in all likelihood—Princess Yukikaze—But why hasn't she come to find me yet?

In the next instant...

The three witches, who had used up a great deal of their stamina in battle after battle, looked up in surprise.

"Senpai, look!"

"The magic of dragons can even do that!?"

"Harry, it looks like... We haven't won yet!"

Sudden warnings. Their gazes were directed towards an unexpected revival ritual.

Particles as tiny as sand were gathering at a point in the sky to create a dragonoid form. A body reaching ten-odd meters in length, a long and thick tail, sharp teeth—It reached completion swiftly in ten seconds.

"Pavel Galad huh...?" Hal said quietly.

The dragon manifested in the sky was very similar to his old foe.

However, the beautiful body of lustrous silver-white was no longer.

The revived Pavel Galad's body featured an ugly surface color of black, gray, and steel. No part of it was smooth. It was like an alloy forcibly mixed and created by pouring concrete and asphalt fragments into molten steel—

"The instant he suffered the critical blow, he used those materials to forge a new body!?"

"Hohohoho, correct, Haruga Haruomi. This magic is difficult to control... I only succeeded after going through great trouble, so it is with relief from the bottom of my heart that I sigh now. It would appear that the curtain has yet to fall for our duel."

The indomitable warrior smiled with satisfaction using his grotesque body.

Should he be called a dragon or a combat automaton made in the shape of a dragon? Regardless, Pavel Galad's tenacity and magical power had reached frightening levels.

Naturally, the xenomorphic dragon was holding the dragonslaying sword.

The match had yet to be decided—which was why Princess Yukikaze did not arrive.

Hal gasped. Would he be able to emerge victorious? Since the enemy had used such reckless means to revive, he should be in poor shape, but Hal's magical power was in short supply too, making him akin to an empty shell.

The remaining leviathan, Minadzuki, could not use pseudo-divinity again either.

The only option was entrust fate to Haruga Haruomi's marionette—the Crimson Queen.

However, the body was no longer a simple puppet. Probably sensing Hal's nervousness, the queen opened her jaws slightly, growling so softly that one had to listen carefully to pick it up.

The soul inhabiting the Crimson Queen—the basic instinct of dragonkind began to awaken.

Fighting in such a state, would what happened earlier repeat itself...?

The Tyrannos of the sword, who had gone as far as to replace his entire body, said to the terrified Hal, "Although the time limit you actively proposed has passed, I also spent substantial time on my revival, so both sides are at fault. Now let us restart—"

Galad probably wanted to say "restart the battle."

But he did not get to finish his sentence. Instead, a noise resounded all around.

—Cling clang cling clang cling clang cling clang cling clang cling clang!

It was the metallic sound of chain links bumping against one another. Five chains flew in from the sky, entangling Pavel Galad's neck, right elbow, left elbow, right knee, and left knee.

Then a girl's adorable voice read out holy words of death.

"I hereby pray to my seal that shines in the sky, the Chain of Heavenly Imprisonment. This time, that dragon that narrowly escaped death—Send him to hell."

These were command words.

In the next instant, the five chains effortlessly dismembered Pavel Galad's body, tearing him apart.

The head and limbs of the xenomorphic dragon, formerly silver, flew in the sky.

Next, as though adding a finishing blow, a shot of laser breath struck Galad's chest—the location where the heartmetal lay dormant—thoroughly eliminating any possibility of revival.

Witnessing the entire process, Hal muttered to himself, "Rushalka...?"

It was the blue wyvern that had delivered the finishing blow to Galad.

She suddenly materialized in the air over the middle school's yard that had become a battlefield. Adorning Europe's strongest leviathan's head like a crown were runes of Ruruk Soun.

A total of sixteen symbols, signifying "O jailer of heavenly imprisonment and chain of the executioner, accomplish your second mission."

The five chains that had killed Pavel Galad were shot from around the center of this series of runes.

"You are too careless, Haruomi. What's the point of cornering the target if you're going to let him revive? That's why amateurs are such a pain."

With wings outspread, Rushalka was waiting in the sky.

The girl directly under her lectured Hal. This was frank advice from a combat expert, the silver-haired witch dressed in a durable military jacket.

"Asya-san!?" "Asya!?" "You're okay!"

Seeing their companion return safe and sound, Orihime, Luna, and Hazumi were very emotional.

Asya raised her hand lightly in acknowledgement and quickly walked over to Hal.

"Asya... Thank goodness you're okay, but that rune is—"

"That one, the dragonslaying rune you guys retrieved from the Dragon Palace Court, belonging to the former dragon king called the Gray Aristocrat. I dug it out and recycled it," said Asya calmly.

Of course, Hal was intrigued.

"Don't you need that kind of stone to activate a dragonslaying rune!?"

"That's right. It's all thanks to Pavel Galad stockpiling those flints—secret treasures of the sea of stars. I stole a couple of those stones from the deepest part of his barrier and returned to Earth, then went to school to find the dragonslaying rune kept in underground storage. I'm glad I rushed like mad, because I barely got here in time at the critical moment."

After explaining how things happened, Asya showed a weary expression.

"But pushing myself this much made me hungry. Got any food?"

"Nope. I don't carry extra food around."

"Haruomi, how can you be so useless when you're my childhood friend...?"

"Don't you keep emergency rations on your person? Why not eat that?"

"Finished it a long time ago. Right now, I need to replenish at least nine thousand calories of nutrition."

"At least ninety thousand, if you ask me."

In other words, Asya had become a Tyrannos just like Hal.

Incredibly, upon seeing his childhood friend who by all logic should have changed a lot, Hal felt a wave of nostalgia instead.

Probably because there were no signs of Asya's recent nonchalant spate of inexplicably feminine behavior. And her appetite too. Genius Asya's outstanding magical power originated from excess intake of food—This hypothesis was very well-known in SAURU.

Hal nodded firmly.

He even thought, Now this is truly Haruga Haruomi's childhood friend.

However, many questions surfaced in his mind. He had not sensed Asya using the Rune of the Twin Katana single-handedly at all. How did she return to Earth? Trying to claim someone else's dragonslaying rune as your own was supposed to have a very low success rate. Did she succeed by luck alone?

But these questions had to wait until later.

"Haruomi, the great demon lord is about to descend at last..."

"Yeah. Coming at me one after another, I really wish they'd give me a break..."

The white dragon king slowly descended upon the school yard where Hal and the others were.

Wearing a one-piece dress of pure white, the beautiful maiden was standing on her flying surfboard. Princess Yukikaze, the dragon king who had inherited the Rune of the Arrow.

"Fufufufufu. Haruomi, you have finally earned the right to stand before me. I, Yukikaze, almost gave up on you!"

Back when he returned to Tokyo New Town after an absence of three years, never in his wildest dreams did Hal expect this future to be in store for him.

To think that he would embark on an adventure revolving around the threats to mankind that were dragonkind and the dragonslaying runes. He had been in the presence of dragon kings so many times that he had lost count.

However, Hal had a feeling. What was about to start would be the most intense battle to date.

Uncertainty and fear surged in his heart. Hal straightened his back and gazed straight at the white dragon princess' adorable and beautiful face.