73 Chapter 73: Starligh

"Hey! Don't do anything crazy!" Sanada shouted a warning to Hoshizaki Kozue, but she ignored him and was floating on a huge star-shaped magic flying carpet-thing.

"Let her go," Makoto told him with a shake of his head. "You can't stop her."

Hoshizaki rode on her star-shaped magic flying carpet-thing and sped toward Suzuki, golden light shining around her hands as she called upon stars.

"Oh?"

Suzuki smirked as he watched Hoshizaki approach him.

My plan to stall for time failed…well, not that I ever planned to stall for time the moment Tanaka came out to fight me, but…

"But what?" I asked. Suzuki glared at me.

"Stop reading my mind!"

"No way. Privilege of being a first-person protagonist. I call dibs on reading your minds whenever appropriate."

"Oh, shut up!"

Suzuki turned away from me, annoyed, and focused his attention on the incoming Hoshizaki. As she neared, he leered mockingly.

"What can a little girl do against me?"

"What are you, a male chauvinist?" I yelled even as I stayed on the ground, trying to regenerate. "Who cares if Hoshizaki is a girl or not?! It doesn't have to do with anything! Girls can still be more powerful than guys! You'll regret underestimating her!"

"Tanaka!" Makoto snapped at me, his eyes narrowed into a glare. "Are you fine with getting yourself beaten up into a pathetic state like that? Or else maybe Hoshizaki will defeat Suzuki in your stead!"

"I don't think so," Sanada said seriously. "This time, her opponent is strong. Suzuki-kun is known for his brute strength and genius battle sense."

"Kekeke…I can take care of you without even moving a single step from here!"

Suzuki was so arrogant that he didn't deign to even move a single step from where he was standing. Instead, he generated a gigantic lightning dragon that roared and descended from the heavens, its massive jaws dwarfing the hovering Hoshizaki.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

My jaw dropped when I saw the awesome figure of the golden, crackling dragon that emanated such powerful electricity that I was feeling numb even from where I was half-sitting. Bloody guy, Suzuki didn't pull out this technique at all when fighting me, and he decided to suddenly unleash this technique against poor Hoshizaki?! How was that fair?!

It was obvious that Suzuki never took me seriously from the start.

"Damn it…"

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists in frustration, feeling rage build up inside me. That bastard…I will definitely make him pay for underestimating me.

Big words and all, but how are you going to do that? You couldn't beat him even when he was going easy on you.

Even if I used Thousand Astral Graves, would my enhanced zombies still be able to stand a chance against his devastating lightning? Not to mention that Thousand Divine Lightning Spears that he is charging up…

I didn't know. I guess I had no choice but to try it later…if Hoshizaki didn't defeat him first. Right now she was facing down the colossal lightning dragon that Suzuki had conjured. The monster was bearing down on her, its jaws open wide.

"Starlight Barrier."

Raising a hand casually, Hoshizaki summoned a golden barrier of starlight that solidified in front of her. The lightning dragon smashed into the Starlight Barrier with immense force, its ephemeral form crumbling and flattening against such a stalwart shield.

However, Hoshizaki wasn't unaffected by the tremendous impact, which was sending violent shockwaves across her barrier. She flinched as she was buffeted by the immense impact, even as her golden barrier cracked.

"Annoying dragon," she muttered angrily.

"Kekeke…not bad."

Suzuki was grinning when he saw that Hoshizaki had endured the devastating hit. Below, Nishida looked up in awe.

"Hoshizaki…I can't believe she dared to go up against the boss's lightning dragon in the air. I guess she has no idea what she is up against."

"Kozue-san is actually being beld back," Makoto remarked grimly as he watched the intense aerial battle. "Perhaps because there is no manuverability in the air?"

"Do you need me to heal you?" Aoyama asked as he hurried over, but I shook my head and raised my hand to gesture for him to stay where he was. While Hoshizaki engaged Suzuki in combat, I made my way back behind the wall of wood and sought safety behind the elemental barrier, much to Makoto's disgust.

Yeah, look at me all you want. I didn't care if Makoto thought I was a coward.

"I'm all right."

"Did you just cast a healing spell on yourself?" Sanada asked, amazed, when he noticed that all my injuries had disappeared. I was about to shake my head, but I thought the better of it and merely nodded. It would be troublesome to explain the truth.

"Yeah…sort of."

I stood back up and glanced at Hoshizaki.

"While Hoshizaki-san is holding Suzuki back, I'm going to use the time to summon something." I slowly smiled when I saw the lightning dragon in the sky. "And I might just have the thing."

"What do you have in mind?" Sanada asked. I beamed.

"Might be faster to just show you."

All around me, zombie wyverns and two zombie dragon – one of them being an undead ancient dragon – materialized, their massive wings fluttering and casting the entire valley in an ominous shadow. Raising my hand, which was swirling with terrifying black mana, I bound them to my will, my demeanor stern and determined.

"Oh…a summoning ability." Sanada nodded, nonplussed.

"I see, so that's your special ability?" Makoto whistled, impressed.

"Those are…wyverns and dragons, aren't they?" Lilith observed, her crimson eyes narrowed as she studied their forms.

"They are zombies," I replied with a grin. "I'm a gravekeeper, after all."

"All that black, necromantic mana swirling around them…" Lilith swallowed. "Even I find such magic horrifying."

"But if it's this, then perhaps Tanaka-kun can defeat Suzuki-kun," Aoyama pointed out calmly. Unlike the residents of Restia, my former classmates still thought of magic and special abilities in terms of a game, and so they didn't share the same prejudice.

"Yeah, these are my strongest zombies."

Black mana streamed from my hand and transformed into a dark pillar of light that pierced the heavens. I then clenched my fist and transformed the straight pillar of darkness into black chains before throwing them around the dragons – especially the ancient dragon.

The other four people in my group stared at me with bated breath, not sure what I was doing. They didn't have to wait long.

The ancient dragon lunged at me but I yanked my chain and brought the enormous creature to heel. With a single pull of the chains, I forced the gargantuan ancient dragon to kneel before me, its head groveling in the dirt as it glared at me.

"You've lost to me," I told it. "And as the victor, I claim my right to hold possession of you. I don't know how you're still maintaining those draconic instincts even when you're a zombie, but I guess I should have expected that from something as powerful as an ancient dragon."

The ancient dragon growled nefariously, but I shut it up by yanking on the chains and transforming them into a black energy muzzle that wrapped around its jaws, clamping them shut. Stepping toward the immobilized ancient dragon zombie, I met its defiant gaze and pushed my glasses up my nose.

"We could do it the hard way or the easy way." I smiled, almost as if I was trying to be reasonable. "I know what you want. Freedom…and power. I can't grant you freedom – you're bound to my service forever. But I can grant you power. And…revenge."

The ancient dragon went still at that. I reached out and stroked its jaws, a small strip of the muzzle peeling away to reveal dark scales.

"I know who it is you hunger vengeance against. And I promise you…as long as you serve me faithfully, I'll help you take revenge on your enemy."

The dragon went still.

"Tomoyuki-kun tamed the ancient zombie dragon?" Lilith murmured.

I turned to her, even as I released the chains on the ancient dragon.

"Not exactly…but we've reached an agreement for now."

Behind me, the ancient undead dragon roared in reluctant approval.

"Eh?"

Meanwhile, Hoshizaki was still clashing with Suzuki. She glanced over and saw the black pillar of light surging from behind the wall of wood and piercing the heavens.

The lightning dragon was still roaring even as it continued clashing against the Starlight Barrier. Meanwhile, a shower of comets peppered it, causing it to writhe in agony as it struggled against Hoshizaki's arcane spells.

Suzuki paid his poor dragon no attention, fixing his gaze in the same direction as Hoshizaki and staring at the black pillar of light.

"Looks like Tanaka Tomoyuki is finally ready."

"…"

Hoshizaki didn't seem to want to let me fight, for she coolly turned around and conjured a gigantic meteor that finally obliterated the struggling lightning dragon in a single hit. As the lightning dragon crumbled and disintegrated, Suzuki smiled.

"Not bad…not bad at all! As expected of Stargazer, your spells are as mysterious as always."

Hoshizaki merely glared at Suzuki in an almost expressionless manner, not responding to his compliment. Suzuki's grin widened.

"You killed my lightning dragon. Very powerful, Hoshizaki. You've truly gotten a lot stronger ever since you were summoned to this world."

The golden sparks that were the last remains of the lightning dragon died out, and the illumination faded from Suzuki's face, which fell back into shadow once again. Only his white teeth seemed to gleam in the dark as he smirked.

"But too bad…"

He raised his spear and pointed it toward the sky.

"The 3 minutes are up."

Something is off…no way!

Hoshizaki's jaw dropped when she saw the vast number of lightning spears that had arrayed themselves in the heavens.

Suzuki grinned as he readied himself to swing down his spear and rain down the lightning projectiles that blotted out the heavens through sheer numbers alone.

"Against the second round of attacks, you stand no chance!"

Behind the wall of wood, I was monitoring the battle.

"Hoshizaki-san is still battling Suzuki."

Pushing my glasses back up my nose again (to look cool and smart more than any actual need to adjust them), I watched the battle with Absolute Appraisal.

"This doesn't seem good."

Even without the information on my lenses, I could detect a sharp surge in Suzuki's mana, and all of us could see the sheer number of lightning spears that carpeted the heavens.

"He's attacking again! And his next barrage of attacks has increased in power by 5 times!"

"5 times?!" Makoto repeated incredulously. Yeah. Why would I lie?

"This time…"

Suzuki grinned in delight, triumph flooding his mind as he pointed his spear at Makoto's sturdy wood barrier.

"Your poor little wall of trees…"

He swung his spear down.

BOOM!

The entire arsenal of lightning spears sped downward from the skies and rained down on us in a devastating bombardment that obliterated the wooden barrier in less than a millisecond, tearing it apart and sending splinters and shards flying in all directions. A large swathe of the wall simply disintegrated, as if it never existed to begin with.

"…won't be able to protect you!"

Suzuki gloated as he unleashed his devastating bombardment of lightning projectiles. Before we could scatter, something came plummeting from above.

"It's Hoshizaki-san!" Sanada shouted in alarm. "She's taken heavy damage!"

"Run!"

Even as Hoshizaki crashed back toward the earth, she was more concerned for our wellbeing than herself. Her dress had been torn and tattered in many parts, her star-shaped flying carpet-thing had shattered from the assault, and small jewel-like pieces of broken stars accompanied her fall, almost as if in slow motion.

"Everyone, stand down," I ordered as I stepped forward, as if to catch Hoshizaki before she hit the ground. "I'll take care of this."

Everyone stared at me, bewildered. Makoto, Sanada, Lilith and Aoyama were all rooted in disbelief, pinned to the ground as the devastating hail of lightning spears rained down on them, but frozen by my command.

"Don't worry."

I turned to give them a small smile before I took another step forward.

"I'm just going to light the lightning."

"Seriously!? Still making pun jokes at a time like this?!"

"I needed to get a pun joke into the battle in time!"

Before Makoto could retort, the whole world vanished in an enormous explosion of flame and electricity.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Suzuki roared with laughter as he unleashed the devastating bombardment of lightning spears on our position, his gaze riveted on the countless explosions that blossomed from the area of impact as projectile after projectile slammed into the ground.

"You can't escape this time!"

Gloating gleefully, Suzuki felt his excitement raise along with the numerous explosions that annihilated the ground before him.

Before long, the skies ran out of lightning spears and the explosions ceased, leaving only a fuming crater that was thick with smoke and ash, and still crackling with static electricity that caused one's hair to stand on end.

"Oh, that's another round done…it feels amazing!"

Suzuki pumped his fist into the air triumphantly.

"They should have been slaughtered. I actually beat Tanaka, the so-called hero-slayer who has defeated five of us."

He grinned cheerfully as he sought to check his status.

"I should have broken past level 1,000 this time!"

Nishida jumped out of his hiding place and cheered happily.

"As expected of the boss…he…he actually won!"

"Are you sure you've won?"

From amidst the sooty, gray smoke, a single, dark shadowy figure seemed to emerge ominously, my eyes hidden behind the gleaming lenses of my glasses.

"Eh…?"

Suzuki suddenly felt a cold stab of fear.

As the smoke and fumes dissipated, I remained half-crouched while carrying Hoshizaki's ravaged and wounded body with both hands. She was barely conscious and in a very battered state, but she would have suffered worse injuries had I not caught her before she hit the ground. Straightening up, I grinned at the stunned Suzuki.

"You didn't land a hit on anyone."

Behind me, Lilith, Makoto, Aoyama and Sanada were all unscathed, standing in the crater without even a single scratch or burn.

"What?! So that's why the kill confirmation message didn't appear…"

"What kill confirmation message?"

I couldn't believe it. Even to this present, my former clssmates were still treating this world like some sort of game. Or at least the ones who weren't part of the Iron Knights, anyway. These guys were beyond delusional.

"How is this possible?! That was the 2nd barrage of the boss's Thousand Divine Lightning Spears!"

Nishida was yelling in disbelief, unable to absorb the sight in front of him.

"What happened just now?" Lilith asked, just as bewildered as the two foes.

"Was that some sort of special ability?" Makoto asked skeptically as he examined himself, finding no sign of injuries.

"How did you protect all of us?" Lilith looked at me curiously, thinking hard as she placed a finger on her chin. "How did you pull that off in the face of such a devastating barrage?"

"…speaking of which, where are your zombies?" Aoyama asked, realizing something.

"Did you use your zombies as meatshields and sacrifice them to protect us?" Lilith guessed, looking a little mollified. Hoshizaki turned to glance at her, even as I continued to carry her in my arms. She then tapped my hand.

"No…" Hoshizaki mused as she gestured for me to let her down and then bowed her head gratefully. "That wasn't a barrier or meatshield maneuver. I am sure of it."

"Yet he managed to allow all of us to escape that barrage unscathed…" Sanada was glancing around, still trying to comprehend what had just happened. "This is confusing…"

"It means that you used some kind of spell to conduct the electricity away." Makoto looked impressed, having revised his opinion of me entirely after I saved him and his gang.

"I sensed it," Aoyama agreed with a nod as he approached me, presumably to heal the injured Hoshizaki.

I shrugged as I turned to glance at him. Aoyama continued as he studied me.

"Just now, I saw the lighting spears all get directed away from us and diverted into a single location."

"I can sense it too…" Sanada nodded in agreement as he clenched his fists. "This kind of spell that can render such a devastating attack harmless is terrifying."

"Conducted away…I see." Lilith pondered thoughtfully and stared at the ground. "So that's what this is."

"Yeah," Aoyama affirmed seriously. "If I'm not wrong, you casted a spell to create multiple lightning rods in the ground that attracted and diverted all that lightning away from us."

"Yeah," I admitted with a smile. "I grounded the lightning…or to be more precise, my partner grounded the lightning."

A colossal shadow suddenly loomed over us. The ancient undead dragon stared down silently, but at least he wasn't as hostile as before.

"I've heard that ancient dragons are capable of casting a vast range of spells," Lilith murmured thoughtfully. "But to think they actually have such a spell that is specialized in neutralizing lightning attacks…"

"Yeah, ancient dragons are such awesome creatures."

I stepped forward and patted the ancient dragon's paw to show my gratitude. To reach an understanding with him, I had struck a partnership rather than a servant-master relationship. I wasn't a tyrannical bastard who enjoyed enslaving others – I wasn't Kobayashi Kenji. I would much rather earn loyalty and goodwill than rule through fear.

"Ancient dragons are highly intelligent creatures who are capable of casting the same variety of magic as humans, and on a much larger scale."

My smile grew wider as I glanced at the absolutely stunned Suzuki and his equally shocked crony, Nishida.

"Having an ancient dragon is basically the same as having a mage in your party, only several times more powerful and also very capable in close combat."

Even though the ancient dragon was an extremely formidable foe that required a ton of effort to defeat, having him as one of my summoned undead made all that trouble and pain entirely worth it. Like they said, no pain, no gain.

And I suffered excruciating agony just to defeat this guy. Like I said, completely worth it.

"When Suzuki broke through the wall, I had Ryuu here cast his lightning rods spell and scatter them all over the area. As he did so, I managed to catch Hoshizaki-san before she got hit by the lightning, but since the lightning was all diverted away to the lightning rods, it was a matter of picking the trajectory to avoid getting between them and the lightning rods. And also…Aoyama-kun, you also received my message even during the midst of that thunderous din, right?"

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Aoyama nodded.

"I have, indeed."

"There you go."

I smirked as the rest of my zombie wyverns and the undead lesser dragon emerged from the mountains to tower over the dumbstruck Suzuki. But there was no need for them. The battle was already over, because…

"…in any case, the victor has already been decided."