61 Chapter 61: Crimson Dragon

With the airship spiraling out of control, we were forced to make an emergency landing in the red dragon's nest.

Or rather, Nagano was forced to make an emergency landing in the red dragon's nest, given that she was the only one among us who could pilot the airship. Well, there was actually a couple of pilots in charge of that, but even these seasoned veterans were at a loss when it came to this unprecedented situation.

Without panicking, Nagano took the helm and got the pilots to huddle safely with the rest of the crew.

"We…we're falling!"

I shouted out a warning to the rest. The air stewardesses screamed and clutched each other for dear life.

"Daddy! Mommy!"

"No!"

"I don't want to die!"

"KYAAAAAH!"

Okay, my fault for instigating a panic. I totally regretted shouting the warning now. A mass panic was the last thing we needed at the moment. Instead, I clawed my way to the cockpit, where Nagano had taken up residence.

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"At this rate, we'll be doing a belly landing!" she warned. Wow, she was using modern terms in a fantasy world. Without any landing gear, we would have no choice but to land the airship on the belly, which was going to be pretty rough. "Hold on to something tightly! Otherwise you'll get thrown off the ship!"

"Even if we hold onto something, if we fall like this, then…"

I didn't want to think of the consequences. The airship was plummeting at a speed too fast for my comfort. If we hit the ground at this terrifying velocity, the whole thing would come apart from the impact. None of us were going to survive regardless of whether we were thrown off or not.

However, the captain of the crew – the pilot – remained calm. Nodding at Nagano's words, he gestured for everyone to stay in the cabin. We would be bruised and thrown about in the relatively safe interior of the cabin, but at least we wouldn't be thrown off the ship and into the forest.

Obeying the captain, Alan wrapped both Alicia and Sophia in a firm embrace.

"Both of you! Hold on tightly!"

What a smooth playboy…taking advantage of the situation to get intimate with both of his girlfriends. I wasn't jealous, just amused.

"Ah…ah…"

Nagano was groaning as she fought with the controls. I noticed that she was using her special ability, Sacred Swordsmith, to forcibly wrench control of the airship and make it obey her commands. Mana crackled around her as she channeled stabilizing spells into the airship to slow its crash. I watched her from afar, even as Alan comforted a panicking Alicia and hugged her tightly. Unaware of the milling crew and passengers about her, Nagano focused entirely on stabilizing the airship.

Incredible…is she using magic to forcibly control the airship in mid-fall? As expected of one of the legendary heroes…they're on a totally different level.

Despite slowing the airship's fall, Nagano almost didn't make it in time. The airship skimmed through the canopy of trees, rocking hard as it smashed through wood and leaves. The impact jarred the passengers onboard and shook them loose from their handholds.

"Whoa!"

I fell flat on my face, and tried to scramble to my feet, feeling embarrassed. Wow, that was such an uncool moment.

"Brace for impact!"

Fortunately, Nagano didn't see my humiliating moment. Her attention was solely focused on controlling the airship.

"We're about to hit the ground!"

"Aaah!"

At that moment, Alicia was shaken loose from Alan's grip as a tremendous impact rocked the uh, rocking airship, and she slid away as the entire vehicle tilted to the side.

"Alicia!"

Even as Alan cried out, Alicia fell away from them. Alan tried to reach out for her, but he had his other hand wrapped around Sophia and was struggling to keep the both of them safe as well. He couldn't just let go or he would be sacrificing Sophia and himself as well.

"Alicia!"

His voice full of despair, Alan was about to screw it and sacrifice both himself and Sophia for his number one girlfriend, but I stopped him. He barely spared me a glance, his eyes riveted on Alicia's falling form as she crashed right out of a window, breaking the glass and falling outside of the lurching, listing airship.

"Don't worry, I got her," I assured him when I realized where Alicia was falling toward. Alan glanced at me in disbelief. I understood his skepticism. This was bad. At this rate, Alicia would be blown off the airship. Even if I could heal all her wounds, it would be pointless if she died instantly. I knew that as well as Alan did.

Even so…

"Matsukaze!"

I shouted as I allowed myself to follow after Alicia. Scrambling to my feet, I ran down the tilted cabin and hurled myself out of the window. A huge, mechanical hand was waiting for me right outside, and Matsukaze shoved me right into the cockpit. Even before I was fully seated, my hands were already reaching out for the controls and I urged Matsukaze into a jump.

My titan had been clinging onto the cabin with a solid grip, preventing him from falling. The AI's self-preservation had been pretty spot on. But now I was throwing all those efforts to waste by letting go of the makeshift handhold and propelling myself toward the falling Alicia.

Inside the cockpit, Nagano was unleashing every bit of mana she had as she struggled to bring the violently shaking airship under control.

"A…"

With a yell, she released all her magic at once.

"AAHHHHHH!"

Mana splayed out from her body like lightning, sinking into the enormous airship and wrapping around it in eldritch tendrils. Even as veins popped in her temples and perspiration flowed down her face like rivers, Nagano refused to give up.

With one final burst, she forcibly brought the crashing airship to a halt, juddering across the shattered canopy of the forest and finally skidding to a stop right at the base of the mountain. Miraculously, the airship remained in one piece as it smashed a crater into the earth, fumes billowing angrily from its wrecked frame.

"Hah…hah…"

Nagano panted. After the crash, the passengers had evacuated from the airship. The crew was tending to the damages and hastily making repairs. The airship wouldn't be fully repaired, but with their efforts, they could render it capable of flight, at least until we reached the airbase in Ragalon City. That was enough.

"Are you all right?"

The hero turned to the crew and the remaining party members.

"Yes," Alan assured her, grief overtaking his handsome face. "Although the vibrations were terrifying, there wasn't much of an impact."

"I thought I was going to die," the air stewardess wailed. The other air stewardesses nodded in agreement, their faces stained with tears.

"I don't know how we're still alive!"

"I've never experienced anything so terrifying in my life!"

"I don't believe this! I don't recall ever signing up for this!"

Nagano pointedly ignored their whining and instead raised her head.

"Speaking of which, what happened to Richard's daughter?"

Evidently, Nagano was familiar with Alicia's father, Richard Clarence. Then again, as heroes, they had rubbed shoulders with the nobility and developed close relations with them.

"T…the last thing I saw was her getting thrown off the airship."

Alan sounded like he was going to break down.

"What?!"

Nagano sounded dismayed by the news. If that was true, then she wouldn't be able to explain to the noble how his daughter lost her life under her watch.

"Did she fall out of the window?"

Alan nodded, his shoulders slumping.

"Don't worry!"

Everyone glanced up as a titan jumped off the broken deck of the ship and landed heavily on the dirt, leaving two gigantic footprints. Dangling from his mechanical hand was the stunned figure of Alicia, who looked pretty undignified.

Well, who cares? At least she was still alive.

"I've gotten her," I assured them, still inside Matsukaze's cockpit. As if to emphasize my point, I shook the mechanical hand, causing Alicia to get sick. Ignoring her green complexion, I smiled. "It's good to see that you're all fine!"

Nobody responded. They were all staring at me, their mouths wide open and their eyes as round as saucers.

Huh? Why were they all so surprised? Was summoning a mechanical golem really that special? Well, I guess it was, but even then…

My sensor arrays beeped. Even Alicia was looking past me and over Matsukaze's shoulder. Now I noticed that everyone's eyes weren't on me but behind me.

"Huh?"

I spun my titan around and my holographic visual displays caught sight of the immense being behind us. The gargantuan form of a crimson dragon had reared up high above the forest, towering over even the tallest trees, as it searched the area for any sign of intruders. Its wings spread out, wider than even a building.

The damned thing was as big as a small fortress.

"Is…is that a crimson dragon?" I asked. "Why is it here!?"

"We made so much noise near its nest, so it's not strange that it would come out to check what's going on," Nagano replied wearily.

"I see."

"It seems to have noticed the airship. We need to evacuate the crew members before they get attacked!"

The crew was busily repairing the airship, but they had frozen when they saw and heard the approaching crimson dragon.

"No need for that. I'll ambush and kill the dragon," I replied as I placed Alicia on the ground and spun Matsukaze around to fight it. A mecha against a dragon…this would be one hell of a fight. I was looking forward to it. "While I'm distracting the crimson dragon, can you guys look for the princess and rescue her?"

"We'll try," Nagano sighed. "If only Asakura-san was here. We could use her tracking abilities and locate her highness right away."

"Ugh…"

I immediately felt awkward. I was the one who killed Asakura Akane, after all. Not that I regretted it. The bitch had tried to kill me.

"But you're half-right. Let's attack the dragon. But we'll be doing it together. We can look for her highness after we slay the crimson dragon."

As if on cue, the crimson dragon let loose a breath of fire on the airship. Nagano sprang forward and conjured a barrier to protect the ship. A gigantic block of shimmering energy shielded the ship, protecting it from the flames.

"That's only a temporary measure," Nagano warned, heaving heavily. "My barrier won't last long."

"What should we do?" Alan asked nervously. "Retreat and get reinforcements?"

"No, I'll distract it while you guys attack." I was already moving Matsukaze toward the dragon, unslinging my katana. It appeared that I had lost my Predator cannon during the crash, but that was fine. "I'm pretty eye-catching, what with a gigantic mecha and all. The dragon will most likely focus everything on me."

"…!"

Nagano stared at me worriedly.

"You…are you seriously planning to fight like this?"

"What, you don't believe that I'll be able to fight a dragon with a mecha?"

I laughed and pushed my glasses up my nose. Whatever, it wasn't as if anyone could see me do that because I was inside my cockpit.

"I don't think we can run away anyway, so might as well defeat it. We came all the way here to rescue the princess, didn't we?"

"…"

Nagano considered my words for a moment, and then turned to the air stewardess.

"Air stewardess-san, do you have mana recovery potions?"

"Y…yes!" the air stewardess fumbled about in her uniform. "I don't have a huge amount of potions, but…"

"As long as we have a couple of bottles, it's fine!" Nagano assured her. "Please give me one!"

"Yes!"

"Will you be all right?" I asked through the speakers of my mecha. "You used a lot of mana trying to land the airship earlier."

"Don't worry!" Nagano wiped her mouth after she downed a small bottle of mana recovery potion. "I'm a hero, remember? This much is nothing."

"That's assuring." I smiled. "Thanks."

As the crimson dragon continued to spew flames on the hapless airship, I lunged forward and slashed it with my sword. Blood spurted out as the crimson dragon staggered back, howling in pain. But I mercilessly swung my katana and scored another grievous wound without hesitation. The dragon tried to turn around, but I made use of my superior speed and agility to dance around, lashing out with swift, precise strikes.

That was the signal for everyone to begin. Nagano raised her hands and opened her Gate of Babylon…I mean, summon a barrage of sacred swords.

The crimson dragon whipped its tail out to catch me by surprise, but I brought my katana up for a sword block. There was a horrendous screech as Matsukaze's legs skidded backward, carving two trails in the broken dirt.

"T…Tanaka-kun?!"

"Tanaka-san!"

"I'm all right! Attack now!"

"Ah!"

Nagano unleashed the hail of swords on the crimson dragon, the high-ranked weapons piercing its armored scales and gouging multiple small wounds. As the dragon shrieked, I barreled into it and carved a much deeper and bigger wound with Matsukaze's huge katana.

"Thank Evelyn!" Alan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that my mecha was still kicking actively. "He's all right!"

"Jeez…don't make us worry like that!"

Alicia looked flushed, her hands clenched tightly as she watched on anxiously. Well, don't just stand there and watch! Do something!

As if she had read my mind, Alicia raised her hands.

"Careful! I'll support you!"

"Here I got!"

Alan brought his shield out as he prepared to defend Alicia while she was casting her spell. While she was busy with her incantation, I danced out of the dragon's reach as it lashed out with its claws and tail at a frightening speed.

Wow, the crimson dragon is a lot faster than I thought it would be. For a monster with such a huge body, it sure moves pretty fast…

Without my Predator cannon or the triple-barreled shotgun that I had swapped out for it, I couldn't attack the dragon from range. What a miscalculation on my part. Exhaling, I yanked on my gear stick. In response, Matsukaze swung his katana and unleashed an arc wave, a blue crackling arc of energy that slammed into the dragon and stunned it.

Nagano seized the chance to launch another barrage of sacred swords on the stunned dragon, knocking it over. Dozens of explosions detonated across the colossal dragon as it reeled from the vicious bombardment of magical swords.

The dragon teetered, almost toppling over, but it was far from dead.

"Sophia, let's go!"

"All right!"

The two girls, Alicia and Sophia, had finished their incantations. Behind Alan, they launched their fiery spells that shook the dragon. But unlike the hero, Nagano, their spells lacked the firepower to do anything more than annoy it.

With a grunt, the crimson dragon turned to glare at them. Drawing a huge breath, it then unleashed a massive wave of flames on the two girls. Alicia and Sophia closed their eyes, awaiting their deaths, but it never came.

Instead, the flames merely bounced off a giant shield.

"Are you two all right?" Alan asked as he propped his knight shield up to protect the three of them from the intense flames of the dragon.

"A…Alan…"

But their failed attacks were not in vain. While the crimson dragon was distracted with trying to incinerate them, I plunged my katana deep into its spine, eliciting a screech of rage. The dragon threw me off with a flick of its tail, but Matsukaze landed deftly a safe distance away.

"Sword Core online," the AI told me. I grinned as I flipped the switch.

"About time!"

"Sword Core activated."

Azure mana crackled about Matsukaze's frame and katana, boosting his sword attacks and abilities, increasing the damage and speed. I could turbo boost indefinitely now, dancing about the flailing dragon with increased speed and frustrating it. Swinging my katana, I unleashed two arc waves in succession, hitting the dragon and staggering it. While it was stunned, I boosted forward and slashed it, severing one of its claws.

The pain jolted the dragon out of its shock and it bathed my mecha in flames. However, I floored the accelerator, forcing Matsukaze to hurtle forward into the blazing inferno. At the very last second, Matsukaze disappeared from reality, phase shifting into an alternate, quantum universe, and entirely removing himself out of harm's way. As the environment around me turned gray and incoherent, I focused on phasing into the location behind the crimson dragon. Materializing back into reality, I spun around and decapitated the confused dragon from behind, the katana cleaving through its armored neck. As the dragon fell, its huge body shuddering, I kicked it onto the ground and then plunged my sword into its heart to finish it off.

Best to ensure that it was dead, otherwise it would come back to haunt us. I wasn't about to make the mistake that Kobayashi and the other heroes did, foolishly thinking that the demon race was finished and taking a break from the frontlines just because they killed the Demon Lord. If you wanted the job done, then make sure you did a thorough job before stopping.

Pulling my katana out of the crimson dragon's corpse, I then turned around to check on the others. Alicia and Sophia were still being protected by Alan, Nagano had remained at a safe distance, with another barrage of swords ready, and the crew were watching in awe from the airship, completely taken aback by what they had just seen.

"Wow. There are people who can actually take down a crimson dragon. How interesting…"

The pilot, the captain of the crew, was shaking his head. Evidently, in all his years as a veteran, he had never seen anyone kill a crimson dragon. Then again, the heroes were just recently summoned to the world and he had never seen anyone quite like them either. On the other hand, he was perplexed because the one who slew the dragon wasn't the hero, Nagano-sama, but me. A guy in a mecha. Speaking of which, he probably had never seen a golem before either.

"That should do it."

I stepped on the severed crimson dragon's head for emphasis as I proceeded toward Nagano and the rest, who were gathering in the clearing.

"It's time to search for the princess."

"I can't believe you were serious when you said you can slay the dragon."

Nagano was shaking her head in disbelief as she stared at my mecha. She frowned as she studied it curiously.

"And how the heck did you craft a mecha? Tell me! I want to build one as well!"

Typical. However…

"I didn't build Matsukaze. I summoned him."

"You…what?"

Nagano was staring at me in disbelief. I shrugged, but realized that she couldn't see me.

"I summoned this mecha. I'm sorry, I don't know how to build one."

"I'm sure I'll figure it out someday. Anyway, great job. Even heroes have trouble slaying a dragon, but you went and did it."

"With difficulty," I added grumpily. Despite killing the Crimson Dragon, my Matsukaze had suffered considerable damage from the claws and tail that had left quite some marks on it. Electricity sparked and crackled around damaged joints and exposed wires. Matsukaze wasn't going to last much longer at this rate.

Fortunately, he would be fully repaired when I summoned him again. But the spell and ritual to summon him was quite considerable and time-consuming, so I decided to keep him around until we actually rescued the princess before dismissing him.

"I'll leave the repairs to you guys," Nagano called out to the crew, and the pilot and copilot saluted her.

"Leave it to us, Hero-sama!"

Nagano nodded and turned back to the rest of us. "Well then, let's go search for her highness and get her out of this God-forsaken place."