Chapter 356 - Up Your Sleeve

Suddenly, Albus contorted itself back while in midair, using its long neck to bring its head towards its side in an attempt to capture the beige-haired girl in its jaws. 

"Huh--?"

Aiko noticed, but it was too late for her body to move as the shadow of Albus' head loomed over her, approaching swiftly. 

--Before the jaws could ensnare her, the platform beneath her feet disappeared, causing her to free fall through the air. 

"Ah---!"

The beige-haired noble girl screamed out naturally as the height she was left descending was fear inducing.

"Stop your screaming, I've got you!"

Macheo yelled up at the girl as he waved his hand, summoning a gentle wave to catch the girl in a soft embrace, letting her fall directly into the young man's arms.

They both immediately fell red from the unexpected closeness. 

"…Thank you…"

"Yeah…whatever."

Macheo subverted his gaze as his cheeks were as red as a tomato, setting Aiko down as they both watched Valerie in the air.

But, something was off—the colossal dragon wasn't seen occupying the air alongside Valerie. 

"Where…?"

As Macheo muttered the singular word quietly, a massive impact crashed against the soil behind him—caving beneath a boundless weight that descended. 

This doesn't make sense, Macheo thought.

He knew what it was that arrived behind both him and the girl, but it was simply too much to believe; the speed the dragon possessed simply exceeded belief. 

"Look out!"

Fedrin yelled desperately as the sleek creature clad in iridescent white loomed over the two youngest of the group.

"…Dammit!"

Macheo finally managed to turn himself around, finding his eyes meeting directly with the colossal sphere that was Albus' eye, inhibiting a size relative to the young man's entire body as its pupil dilated at the sight of the human.

Aiko was standing even closer to the grand beast—standing frozen as it parted its maw to unleash a bellowing roar that embodied a thunderstorm. She had a front seat viewing of its maw, seeing its sable flesh with silver teeth stained with blood and entrails of its recent, fresh prey. 

I'm going to die. It's going to kill me. It's going to eat me, Aiko thought. 

"Move!"

Grabbing onto the white silk of Aiko's neat robes, Macheo forced the words through his teeth as he tossed the girl behind him. 

"Macheo?!"

Aiko yelled out in suspense as she was flung back, reaching out to the blonde-haired young man dressed in sable, leather armor—the sight of the dragon nearing its hungering jaws to Macheo engrained itself into her mind. 

With a powerful snap, it's colossal jaws slammed shut, completely engulfing the prince's entire being in its mouth as the wind cracked and rained with the beast's saliva. 

"Dammit, kid…"

Valerie muttered as she clenched her fists, hanging in the air as she witnessed Albus' hunt.

"Macheo…!"

Still laid out on the grass, Aiko yelled out as she crawled forward, still reaching out though Macheo no longer stood on the battlefield. 

Wielding his staff while narrowing his eyes, Fedrin took in a heated breath.

I'm a coward. In all of these years, I'm still a failure as a warrior. That young man…in his time in this world far below mine, he has become a much better warrior! I'm ashamed…! Who am I going to save with cowardice still clinging to my soul? Fedrin thought. 

Before the high elf could commit to flinging a spell at the dragon, he realized it had fallen completely still—not approaching the young girl laid out on the white grass. Albus' head began to vibrate, jittering before suddenly--its jaw was forcibly spread open from an unseen force. 

"Don't mistake me for food, you oversized lizard!"

Standing atop its sable tongue, Macheo yelled out with strain as pillars of water helped him hold the dragon's mouth open. 

With his hands pressed against its black gums, saved only from its abundant, gooey saliva by the grace of his sable gloves, the young prince huffed before smiling wide. Jumping out from Albus' maw, Macheo rolled onto the grass just before the dragon's jaws slammed shut once more. 

"Blegh…"

Macheo looked at his body in disgust at the coating of saliva that ran across his sable, leather garments and somber coat. 

Being directly inside of it...I definitely felt the same weakness from before. There is something more to it than just raw power, Macheo thought. 

"Macheo!"

Throwing herself at the prince, Aiko bombarded the young man with a hug without a second thought, though Macheo's attention wasn't diverted as he looked up at the draconic knight still in the air. 

"I figured it out! Anything in a certain proximity to that dragon has its power weakened! I'm guessing it outright halves it!"

Macheo's discovery was aimed at the ears of the other three, but he pointed these shouted words to Valerie for one reason--she was in the perfect position to make use of this information for herself. 

"...I gotcha!"

Realizing what the prince wanted from her, Valerie smiled wide as she pointed her lance to the sky of trees once more, raising her magical energy as it manifested tangibly into a coat of blazing crimson around her platinum-clad body. 

From where I'm at in the air, and its place on the ground--I'm probably outside of the range of its ability! Valerie thought. 

"Kojin: Heart of The Hearth!"

Valerie's words roared like the flames she brought into existence; spawning from the summit of her lengthy, mystical lance, a seal spiraled out like strings being woven as they coalesced into a radiant seal. 

A twin of the same, far-stretching seal manifested above the dragon like a burning cloud, rotating at the same speed of the original that sat above the burning lance. 

If it's strength being weakened...something like this should be fine! Valerie thought. 

Before Albus could move forward, a circular cage descended from the rotating seal above it, trapping it within a prison of translucent, heated walls. 

"That's what I'm talking about…!"

Macheo celebrated alongside Aiko, who was still at his side--something the young man only just properly realized as he felt the warmth of the girl close to his body. Noticing this, he quickly looked away as he stood up as if pretending it had never happened. 

"Will that hold it?"

"We better hope it does."

Macheo answered the beige-haired girl's question as they looked at the pillar-like prison of radiant heat that pinned Albus down. 

As the dragon attempted to break free of the cage using its body, it was repelled by a burst of flames that made it recoil.

Thinking to himself, the high elf was still processing the nature of the dragon's unique ability--delving deeper into its functionality. 

"Weakening…? That makes sense…"

Fedrin muttered to himself as he looked at his hand, clenching it as he felt his grip feel off. Though it felt to be more than that; with his experience and self-awareness of his own strength, the high elf put together this information and completed it. 

It isn't simply just halving our strength; in the middle of battle, I wasn't able to realize how my body felt, but I definitely recognized the Pulse I used earlier moved slower once it came closer to Albus...I believe it is halving more than our strength, Fedrin thought. 

"That's not quite right…"

The high elf spoke up, moving closer to Macheo and Aiko. In contrast to the triumphant veil that hung over their heads with the compromised dragon, Fedrin's broad expression didn't seem optimistic as he held his hand to his chin.

"What're you talking about?"

Looking at the elf, Macheo raised an eyebrow as his crimson eyes settled on the Purgatory veteran. 

"Halving...I believe it isn't just halving our strength, but everything: strength, speed, mana, stamina, durability…"The ability to halve all"...it's frighteningly simple; I believe that's what we're up against." 

"That doesn't surprise me. No wonder we've been unable to do anything to that damned lizard yet."

Macheo replied with a sigh as the slime coating his body was washed off with an aura of water he briefly manifested, stepping past Aiko and the high elf.

"What're you planning to do? It's likely that the barrier holding him right now is put under the effects of his halving as well…it'll fall soon; it probably knows that and is patiently waiting to strike."

Fedrin spoke as he kept his eyes on the silhouette of the dragon trapped within the pillar of imprisoning flames. 

Asked this question, the golden-haired prince looked down for a moment, scratching the back of his neck as he glanced at the Akitein girl behind him. 

"…I've got something I've been working on."

Macheo brought in a quick breath as he looked down for a moment, clenching his hands as if bolstering a fickle flame left within him. 

Above all, desperation seeped through his pores as he recognized the threat looming over them. 

It's now or never, he thought. 

"What is it…?"

"A new spell I created. My very own grandiose magic."

"Grandiose magic? Something like that…you can use that?"

Aiko looked at the Lucrauvian prince with a glint of disbelief in her amethyst eyes as she watched his sable books trek through the ivory grass as he stopped, standing across from the bound dragon. 

"I didn't finish completing it, but I guess…I've had some real motivation laid out in front of me."

Macheo glanced back at the girl with a smile that accompanied the warmth in his crimson eyes; a look that gained the trust of the girl. 

That's right; I'm not just fighting for myself anymore, am I? Fighting for love…my family would disown me if they witnessed this. But to hell with them. I'll change that twisted mindset—I'll make Lucrauv a place where even spring flowers can bloom--just like Akitein, Macheo thought. 

"Keep him there for me, Valerie."

Macheo asked as the draconic knight hovered closer, who nodded her head in response with a smile—entrusting the young man as well with whatever card he had up his sleeve.

"Fedrin."

"Yes?"

The high elf looked up at the golden-haired prince who had a bashful expression, ruffling his own locks despite the sorry condition he was in.

"I hate to ask this but…can you lend me some mana? I need a lot of it for this, and that halving ability cut down my mana by a ton while I was inside of its mouth…"

Macheo explained, shutters at the recent recollection of the repugnant experience. 

Holding a small smile as he closed his eyes, Fedrin nodded his head as he extended his hand, "You needn't explain; you're my ally, after all."

"Thank you."

Macheo accepted the man's hand, feeling the exchange of mana begin as a subtle, verdant glow illuminated at their embraced hands. 

"Apologies, but I don't have much left myself…will this be enough?"

"It's plenty. I appreciate it, comrade."

Thanking him with a confident glint in his crimson jewels, Macheo turned back to face the temporarily imprisoned dragon before raising both of his hands.

At this movement, an array of his magic-bound, circular platforms manifested in the air, surrounding the bound dragon as it growled low. 

My innate ability made me a target to my devilish family. In a family that put strength above all, they saw it as a disgrace—an ability without any potential.

I made the best of it, but I believed it myself…I decided to prioritize my mastery of magic rather than my ability, so I was ignorant to it…the possibility that lies when I use my magecraft and ability in tandem, Macheo thought. 

Zoning out any outside interference, he focused intently as moved his hands, conjuring a thin layer of water over each of the glowing, white seals that acted as platforms. 

Manifesting and controlling his magic from a distance was difficult, a meticulous duty that required a level of concentration that made him perspire simply from thinking.

I learned early on that my platforms had a certain property to them; they reflected objects off of them—it'd almost be better to say it "rejects" things. Though, I also learned early that my platforms aren't great shields, but work well in increasing my own speed if I use them as stepping stones, he thought.

Taking in a breath while the others watched him with anticipation, he didn't flinch at the dragon's lashing out at the barrier, keeping his concentration even as shockwaves and tremors resounded from Albus' wrath. 

I've only been thinking short term, but when I lay my ability out alongside my other tools…something amazing can happen; a doorway to the domain of gods opens—my ticket to the throne, Macheo smiled.

Squeezing his fists, the glow of the circular, flat platforms the size of a human head, amplified, condensing to the center as a certain heat began to bubble. 

Reject, he thought.

With this thought, a single droplet of water bounced from one of the multiple dozens of radiant platforms at an incredible speed.

Another followed. And another. Repeating as they swapped positions; the platforms were angled in such a way that they launched from one platform to another in a set course, gaining more and more speed, more and more heat. 

Dancing around the imprisoned dragon, the dozens of high-speed water droplets quickly began to reach such a speed that the air hissed. Even faster, they inhabited a heat that turned their aquatic essence into something bordering magma. 

Watching this seraphic, sideways storm rapidly build up, the other three were left agape at this magecraft as Macheo smiled. 

"This is it…my grandiose magic: King's Rain."