บท 158: Wizards
Hearing Drako's statement, everyone simultaneously put on their guard and prepared to fight.
The one who appeared from the depths of the mountain was an old foreign woman in a purple robe.
Augusta of the Purple Flame, Drako had already met her briefly at the Utsusemi Agency fortress.
Augusta had brought a girl in Gothic style clothing, her disciple Walburga, along with several wizards.
"We have been surrounded."
Lavinia says as she looked at Augusta, she was in front of them.
As she had said, the wizards had surrounded the group. Not having noticed when they had been surrounded, Tobio and the other students were especially surprised.
Augusta looked at Drako and the others squinting.
"As I had heard that there was a hard fight between the remnants of the Utsusemi Agency and the Shi Akuma, I thought that, if I came here with my disciples, I would find the dragon and Glenda's disciple," Augusta said with a voice that sounded pleased.
Later, a chill began to settle over the area. It seemed that the coldest winter had fallen upon them, and it was spreading throughout the area.
The source of this outbreak was Lavinia. Her expression had become terribly cold, and when the breath could already be seen, she said the following.
"This is just great. As I help my teammates, I'll eradicate them all."
The old witch showed a bold smile, obviously trying to provoke Lavinia.
"Those scary eyes are very different from you, Glenda's disciple."
In this state of increasing tension, a loud voice echoed from the sky.
"Hum, one of the Longinus, Incinerate Anthem, Chief Mourner's Crucified Stand of Purple Flame. Then the user is the Wizard of East Oz."
In a tall tree, standing on a branch, was the figure of a silver-haired girl... Valina. As for when she had climbed the tree, Drako hadn't noticed.
She had probably decided to make her entrance cool, so she had chosen that spot.
Wings of light were coming out of her back, coming from her Sacred Gear. As she crossed her arms, Valina said to Augusta with a magnificent smile.
"I am Valina Lucifer. The being who carries the white dragon inside her. As the bearers of Longinus, I wish to compete with you by all means."
Natsume was frightened when she saw that Valina was climbing a tree so high.
"Va-Valina! It's dangerous, come down from there! You can also provoke them from the ground!"
But... Valina ignored Natsume. She and Augusta shared glances.
The witch laughed with a "Kah Kah Kah"
[AN: that laugh is disgusting to read and write.]
"Oho, so a little girl like you is the White Dragon Emperor of this age. Also, as rumoured, she is the successor of Lucifer. This is quite interesting."
"Well, maybe you'll enjoy this too."
As she spoke, Valina flapped her wings of light, descending to the surface.
Everyone prepared combat positions. Tobio had his scythe, Jin his sword, Byakusa sat on Samejima's shoulder and Natsume commanded Griffon.
Drako summoned [Gandiva] without thinking, and prepared to annihilate whoever made the first move. Thalia, who was at Drako's side, fulfilled her role as supervisor.
"Somehow, I don't really understand, but... Is it right to say that Purple grandma is our opponent?" Koga broke the silence.
The boy seemed quite lost in this situation.
Augusta moved her cane and drew a magic circle in the air as she spoke.
"It's all right. It seems that your tastes understand."
At the old woman's reply, Koga nodded and said, "I see, I understand now."
"Well, then I guess this is the sequel of our fight.
Blitz."
Koga, advancing along with Blitz, extended his right glove and acted on it with his left hand. The gauntlet began to release an ominous glow.
Simultaneously, Blitz, who was next to him, began to release a deep black aura from his entire body, which resonated with the glow of the gauntlet.
The vibrations caused the atmosphere to shake violently, and when the gauntlet made a sound, Koga raised his voice.
"Balance Breaker."
Si-Xiong Hundun Over Booster!!!
A massive aura filled the area with Koga and Blitz in its centre, and a dazzling glow spread along with it.
When the light stopped, what was there was a shimmering black exoskeleton armour. It had a bestial shape where the head and limbs resembled those of a dog, and what looked like the long, hardened fur grew from the back of the head.
In the center of the body, right in the center of the chest, there shone something that looked like a gem.
Blitz, who used to stand next to Koga, was gone, while the suit looked very much like Koga's Sacred Gear.
As Drako suspected, this was an artificial balance breaker. He didn't know about this before. Drako knew about Artificial Sacred Gears and Counter Balance, its form of Balance Breaker. Still, he had never heard of an artificially created Balance Breaker of a natural Sacred Gear.
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[Koga Hyousuke]
Race: Human
Status: Normal
HP: 75/93
Strength: 853
Defense: 360
Magic: 560
Agility: 1285
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The Balance Breaker was obviously based on the Scale Mail (Balance Breaker the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing).
The Boost to Statistics was really interesting, but there was something that Drako had noticed.
Koga's total HP had decreased by activating the Balance Breaker. It was evident that this Balance Breaker was far from perfect and was a double-edged sword.
Valina seemed to have understood the similarity of this Balance Breaker with her Sacred Gear, as she nodded in admiration.
"I see, so the research that uses our armour as a reference has already gone so far..."
Augusta, who had been watching this, held her hand to her chin with great interest. She was looking at the gauntlet on Koga's right arm.
"He used it to force the Balance Breaker... No, it seems to be a kind of madness. Is there some degree of compensation for that? In any case, you can say that that man is ruthless. I guess we have to act, too. Walburga."
At her teacher's call, a girl dressed in loli gothic-style came out of the back, dancing as if she were happy to be in the limelight.
"Yessir, Oshi-sama."
"You will cooperate with Abyss Team along with the other wizards, and have fun with that boy."
"Ufufufun..." Great! What an interesting idea."
Walburga's gaze went through everyone present, but her gaze stopped at Drako's figure. Her innocent eyes were cold as he watched Tobio and the others. Still, they were terrifyingly warm as they landed on Drako's body.
Drako's body trembled as he saw her licking her lips with her tongue. The otaku instincts that he had earned in his previous life screamed "YANDERE DETECTED! Escape," but he forced himself to keep his composure.
Though he was now a dragon, some things were marked in the depths of his unconscious.
"Now, I..."
Augusta's eyes turned to Lavinia.
"I think I should tell you about Glenda. However, I will only do so when you can defeat me. Come along, ice princess."
Augusta quietly disappeared into the nightly darkness of the mountain.
In response to Augusta, Lavinia worried about what to do next.
She wanted to pursue her, but she couldn't leave her companions behind. Lavinia decided on her companions and formed a magic circle directed at Augusta's subordinates.
However, Drako put an arm on Lavinia's shoulder.
"Go," Drako said seriously.
In Drako's eyes, there was no doubt, and that filled Lavinia with confidence. She nodded with a face full of emotion, she knew Drako was doing this for her.
Drako knew how important this was to Lavinia, so he let her have a chance to fight Augusta.
"Yes, go and give that witch a good thrashing! We'll take care of this!" Natsume encouraged Lavinia.
Lavinia turned to see how the others were cheering her on. She immediately turned to pursue Augusta.
"Drako, everyone, thank you!"
Lavinia ran off in search of Augusta.
With Augusta and Lavinia leaving, Walburga gave instructions to the wizards.
"Well, then, first of all, let's blow it up!"
When Walburga raised her hand, the magicians also raised their hands in preparation, forming magic circles.
They were about to shoot magic with them, but the sound of the air being cut off echoed nearby, and before the eyes of Tobio and the others, two phenomena occurred at the same time.
In an instant, the magicians' magic circles were destroyed.
The first of the phenomena was a kind of black whip that moved from one side to the other at great speed throughout the area, broking the magical circles.
As for those long, narrow things, they grew out of the head of Koga's armour. It was something that took the form of a hair whose rigidity had been altered and was destroying the magical circles of the wizards as if they possessed a will of their own.
At this, Walburga smiled boldly.
"Wow, that's a good method of attack! Isn't it fun?"
Walburga was also forming a magic circle, from which she was about to release magic. In response, Koga's hair that had acquired the hardness of a whipped spread.
Just as he had destroyed other magic circles, it was hoped that he would also destroy Walburga's magic circle.
But... Walburga's magic circle repelled Koga's attack.
Without a doubt, she had improved at a monstrous rate in these two months. Drako had no doubt that she was a genius among geniuses, Walburga was on Lavinia's level.
Probably, to counteract the ease with which Drako defended himself from her magic, she worked on creating magical circles with more powerful spells.
However, that wasn't enough.
She had barely repelled Koga's attack when the second of the phenomena occurred. The magic circle had been instantly destroyed, and all Tobio and the others saw was the remnant of an arrow.
"Unbelievable!"
Even Thalia couldn't help but be surprised at the power that arrow carried. Not only that, but the arrow itself was exquisite. She had not seen anyone create an arrow of that level from magic, except for Artemis divine arrows.
"Guys, it's obvious Lavinia's heading into a trap. Would you do me a favour and keep her company while I take care of this? Tobio, you're the temporary leader."
Drako wasn't the only one who thought that, since it was obvious. Everyone was worried about Lavinia's safety at the moment. But she was strong, so she wasn't going to have any problems in the short term.
"Minagawa-san, Nanadaru-san, Samejima-kun! Come on! Don't go too far from me, Sae!"
Tobio did not disappoint Drako, and acted immediately. This was not the time for hesitation, and Tobio demonstrated his innate ability to lead at this point. One did not become the strongest fighter in Grigori without innate talent.
Yes, without a doubt, Tobio was the strongest fighter in all of Grigori. Although Drako could not tell if Vali was stronger than Tobio in his Diabolos-Dragon or not, it was a fact that Tobio could easily fight Vali in his Juggernaut Drive while Tobio used the first version of his Balance Breaker.
[Tobio with his Abyss Side Balance Breaker (the upgrade of his Balance Breaker), Perfectus Tenebrae Lykaon et Fortis Densus Laelaps (Dark Demon Beast of the Abyss or Dog God of the Hero's Eternal Night Blade), is extremely strong. With this one, he reaches the semifinals of the Azazel Cup, defeating teams composed by gods and other Longinus like Dulio Gesualdo. He can cut through god-class defences with ease, with Canis Lycaon in that state he can cut through literally anything. He can even use the godly fire of the god Ame-no Ohabari, the god who killed Izanami while being born.]
That's what Drako expected from Tobio, a warrior of the highest order loyal only to him. A person capable of leading the best group of killers like SlashDog Team.
"Valina, Koga, you go with them." Drako did not hesitate to order the remaining two.
How could Drako let them steal his experience?
Valina, who trusted Drako to death and was also concerned about Lavinia (though she would not admit it), nodded and followed Tobio.
"It can't be helped. It's annoying to be under Tobio Ikuse's instructions. Yet, I'm interested in the forced Balance Breaker of this man named Koga. While I fight there, I may have a chance to see him up close."
Koga did not react at first, probably because he was not used to receiving orders.
He frowned.
"Why should I listen to you?" he asked.
He had every right to ask. A boy that Koga knew nothing about was now ordering him around out of the blue.
"Shigune Nanadaru. You're in love with her, aren't you?"
Koga squinted dangerously as he looked at Drako.
Suddenly, Koga felt danger and dodged quickly, an arrow brushing past his cheek.
"Relax that look, I don't like it," Drako said in an unemotional voice.
"Shigune is in my care from now on, as my mission is to bring back the remaining Shi Akuma. However, there are no specifications as to whether they are to be dead or alive."
Drako did not have the time to try and convince Koga to join him peacefully, and he did not want to waste time-fighting him either. Drako could transform into a dragon and overcome him in power, finishing him off quickly.
"Tch, I'll listen to you for now."
With that, Koga turned and left.
"So, are you ready for a bloody show, daughter of Zeus?"
Drako gave Thalia a half-smile.
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AN: Prepared for the grind?
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