In the dazzling light of the magical explosion mid-air, the Grēlius people were caught off guard and blinded. In the last moment before the intense light stole their sight, they saw a blurry, gigantic shadow.
Following closely was a howling gale that momentarily reminded them of the storms often seen on the island. What unsettled them even more was the whistling sound that accompanied the gusts of wind.
After all, the magical explosion was not just a blinding flash bomb. Most people quickly regained their vision and immediately noticed the colossal creature casting a shadow over their own military formation.
Measuring fifteen meters in length with wingspans surpassing the length of its body, the pale giant dragon glistened under the sunlight like Tianbai jade, its scales shimmering faintly. Perched atop the dragon's spine, a silver-haired young woman brandished a sword, overlooking everything from a position of superiority. The emerald twin pupils in her eyes seemed to be brewing with murderous intent.
"Dragon?!"
"Fire! Aim for the sky!"
The Grēlius army reacted swiftly. In the face of the blatant hostility, they wasted no time in ordering an attack. The barrage from the magical gunner squad and the arrow rain from the archers were unleashed towards the sky simultaneously. However, the arrow rain was rendered meaningless by the storm barrier conjured by Aya using Dragon Magic; it was effortlessly deflected, with some arrows bouncing back to cause minor injuries to Grēlius infantry under the influence of tail feathers and gravity, forcing them to shield their heads with shields.
The magical blasts from the gunners could at least have some effect on the storm barrier. Nevertheless, the power of these compressed magical projectiles was at best equivalent to a level three or four attack Magic. While more than sufficient to harm ordinary soldiers and low-level swordsmen, when faced with a large Magic-tier barrier, most of the projectile's force dissipated upon piercing through, leaving behind only a gentle breeze.
"Aya, I suddenly understand how Xiang Ling must have felt... Hero units on the battlefield are truly exhilarating."
Tiran stood on Aya's back, grumbling through their pact, "Too emotional. Is this what it means to dominate the weak? Bring it on. Looking back at the enemies faced by Aya and oneself, each one was tougher than the last, with most being above the standard. Occasionally encountering foes without a Holy Rank also required considerable effort to defeat. The difficulty was so high that one almost forgot that they and Aya were among the elite of this world."
"It feels like grinding through a high-level dungeon a hundred times and then returning to the beginner village to take down little boars in a fit of rage..."
"I say, miss, be serious. We are in the middle of a battle..." Aya fanned her wings in embarrassment, relying more on generating lift through driving wind elements.
"Hey, we are not at the same level as them. No need to be so serious..." Tiran glanced down and noticed that the army below had fallen into disarray due to their ineffective attacks, likely devoid of any means to pose a threat to the storm barrier.
However, at that moment, the storm barrier below suddenly came under heavy attack, with explosions resounding and causing violent tremors.
"What's this?"
Aya was slightly surprised and ascended to a higher altitude. The magical power restraining the wind elements finally gave way under the continuous bombardment, leading to the collapse of the barrier.
After the dispersal of the magical explosion's light screen, Aya surveyed the situation below.
"So, these things can also be aimed at aerial targets?"
Seeing those ominous black gun muzzles below, Aya felt a bit bewildered. In her mind, she inexplicably recalled the colossal Skybreaker Cannon used by the notorious Hermes in the Magitech Kingdom, rumored to have the power to penetrate dragon bodies. A sense of unease crept into her heart.
Fortunately, these field artillery magitech cannons, which could be pulled by mules, did not have such large calibers. However, they were still potent in terms of firepower. If one took a direct hit, it would certainly be a painful experience.
"Roar? More energetic than I expected."
"Of course, they are soldiers, not gangsters. Do they really think they can scare us by roaring?" Aya rolled her eyes.
"Don't take advantage of me, little Aya." Tiran chuckled and patted the scales on Aya's neck.
"Sorry, I was wrong." Aya backed off decisively.
Tiran frowned slightly. "Don't back off so quickly. I need some resistance to feel satisfied."
"Are you a sadist..." Aya felt her eye twitch.
"Well, forget about that for now. Aya, quickly hide, they're about to fire again."
As Tiran said, the Gréus Army swiftly adjusted their cannons for air defense and unleashed another round, magical explosive shells bursting in the sky like fireworks.
Aya, not foolish enough to maintain a large target for them to hit, retracted her wings and transformed back into human form, enveloping herself and Tiran in magic to maneuver through the artillery fire.
"Where did they go?! How did they suddenly disappear?!"
"Don't let your guard down! Recharge and prepare for the next round...watch out for evasion!"
Boom!
A pillar of fire descended, hitting a magitech cannon in the middle of its recharge, the high temperature explosion sending soldiers within a five-meter radius flying, burning them to charred corpses before they hit the ground.
"Destroy all the magitech cannons."
With tens of thousands of troops to deal with, Aya and Tiran were not sadistic murderers. Soon, through efficient communication under their contract, they split up and started swiftly dismantling the Gréus magitech cannons.
The duo flew past one magitech cannon after another, with some Gréus archers, musketeers, and a few competent officers attempting to halt their progress, but most were stopped with a single blow.
"This is the sixth one—"
Aya swung her Catastrophe Branch in the air, and the lava greatsword melted another priceless magitech cannon into an unrecognizable alloy heap. However, as Aya descended to strike, she sensed something speeding towards her flank.
"What in the world is that!"
Instinctively raising the lava greatsword to block, the spear-like light pierce through the blade, striking against her scales.
Thanks to the protection of the Catastrophe Branch, the impact was softened, saving Aya from serious harm.
"Aya, are you alright? It seemed like you got hit just now."
"I'm tough, don't worry." Aya replied, glancing at the man riding a horse, wielding a technologically advanced blade made of multiple rectangular constructs.
"Stop right there, you troublemaker! Do you know how much those cannons you destroyed are worth?!" Gréus's commander furiously scolded.
"Um...how much?" Aya asked absentmindedly.
"...Each cannon's core components alone are worth at least six hundred thousand average gold coins!"
The commander paused upon realizing what he said, not expecting Aya to be genuinely curious.
"Is that expensive?!" Aya was dumbfounded. Most countries in the Western Continent issued their own currency, with different values based on the precious metal content. As a top-tier nation, Milanía had higher gold content in its coins, yet even so, the value of a cannon was at least five hundred thousand Milanía gold coins when converted.
Wait, so if I steal ten of those back, won't that pretty much clear the debt owed to Li?!
Ah... but the ones that have already been burned probably won't be worth that much.
Right.
"Lady Tiran, Lady Tiran, please show mercy! Don't break their cannons! 500,000 each, 500,000 each, we can get money back by stealing them!"
Without even bothering to communicate through the contract, Aya quickly shouted towards where Tiran was.
"…What the hell?"
The commander's face turned dark, hey, focus on the battle, you jerk!
But since they had identified them as enemies, there was no need for more words. The commander himself was a skilled warrior, having obtained the rank of a great knight from the Knight Association five years ago. Combined with a magic core that contained the cutting-edge magitech technology of Garius and a technological blade, he could be considered a practitioner of both magic and martial arts.
Even though he was astonished by the existence of a dragon knight, according to the data assessment provided by the Federal Research Institute, he could face off against an adult dragon as long as he had the technological blade.
—At least against ordinary dragons.
Magic elements gathered on the crystal-shaped blade, initially displaying a crimson color. The surroundings of the blade also twisted with reflections due to the high temperature, and at the same time, the magic absorbed by the blade washed over the commander's body, completing a strengthening enchantment.
"Take this!"
With a roar, the fiery blade descended, only to be caught by the giant ice hand formed by Aya's instantaneous completion of the Dragon Language Magic · Frost Giant's Hand.
But what slightly surprised Aya was that the temperature of the blade made it difficult for even a high-level ice magic like the giant ice hand to fully resist, showing signs of melting as it couldn't grip the blade.
However, if freezing wouldn't work...
"Torrent!"
The frost hand turned into rushing water in an instant, with the blade turning a large amount of water into steam while more torrents bypassed the blade, forming high-pressure water blades attacking the commander.
The sharp water blades still managed to cut the commander's shoulder and back as he twisted his body to evade them. However, what worried Aya was that the guy remained calm and composed.
In the next second, the color of the blade changed.
The originally released fire element suddenly transformed, with verdant green vines entwining the blade, taking root upon contact. These vines, relying on their strong vitality, absorbed the water that composed the water blades.
"You can do that too?"
Aya was a bit bewildered, something's not right, bro.
"Aya, what are you doing? Hurry up with your actions!"
"I'd like to be faster too, sis... But we've encountered some trouble with this guy here."
"Don't mess around, we're running out of time, we need to go back and check out the castle."
"It's mainly because there's something quite interesting here, and it seems valuable too, don't want to damage it..."
Aya sighed. He had come to realize that anything with technical value was valuable, so that commander's blade, which could switch attributes freely, wouldn't be cheap either.
"Where are you looking? The opponent is right in front of you!"
At that moment, the commander, who had been on the ground, suddenly propelled himself to a height impossible for an ordinary human to reach, while at the same time, the blade transformed into lightning attribute and viciously struck down towards Aya.
"Sorry, a certain lady asked me to finish it quickly."
Aya calmly glanced at the blade that was about to hit his forehead, then suddenly, at a speed that the commander could not comprehend, he spun around to the man's back.
Dong.
The commander's consciousness plunged into darkness.
