NOVEL NEXT “Lady Eris, something leaped out from the Highland!”
Just as Leone said, the silhouette of something flew away from the Highland.
“Is that…? Mister Dragon?!”
What Rafinha meant by Mister Dragon was Vufailbane the Dragon God. While the entity that leaped out from the Highland wasn’t Vufailbane, it was indeed a dragon. However, it wasn’t a flesh and blood dragon, but a mechanized form of a dragon, resembling a flygear and flygear carrier.
“Oooohh…! Is that the Mecha Dragon God…?!”
When Vufailbane transformed into the Mecha Dragon God and was subsequently taken over by Abel the Archlord, he immediately flew back to the Highlands, depriving Inglis of the fight she wanted. Meeting him again here would be delightful. This one, however, was considerably smaller than Vufailbane, but there were several of them, so Inglis wouldn’t complain.
“No, it’s not. They’re Mecha Dragons…! The Highlands’ defensive weapons…! They are mechanized, modified living dragons.”
“So they’re like baby Mecha Dragon Gods.”
In other words, if the base body was that of a Dragon God, it would be a Mecha Dragon God, and if it was that of an ordinary dragon, it would be a Mecha Dragon.
“Well, that sounds appropriate. I’ve never seen a Mecha Dragon God before, though…”
“They seem to be deployed to intercept the Magic Stone Beasts.”
“Considering the circumstances, that seems to be the case.”
“What a waste…! I mean, let’s help them so that the Mecha Dragons suffer minimal damage!”
“You just want a piece of the fight, Glis…!”
“It’s been a while since I’ve had any challenging battle, ever since my spar with Lord Jeldegrīva…!”
And of course, she had supplemented it with more training, but there is no better training than actual combat. Inglis was sure that, even at this moment, the Duke of War was diligently continuing his training. Inglis, too, must pursue every opportunity to grow as much as possible so that she won’t be left behind when they eventually meet again.
Her goal was to win with her own strength without relying on a Hyrule Menace. She knew the challenge was formidable, but she was determined to unlock the door to High Ether using her powers.
“Look, I won’t stop you but don’t go overboard and start attacking the Mecha Dragons. You’ll put us in trouble,” Eris warned Inglis.
“With our position, we’ll crash right in the middle between the two!”
“I hope we don’t get hit by one of the Mecha Dragons’ attacks…!”
“Don’t worry about that, Leone, Liselotte. We’ll be there before they commence their attack…!”
“…! Are we going into Accel Mode, Glis?!”
The Star Princess was equipped with an acceleration mode that made it significantly faster than normal. However, it wasn’t something that lasted long. Rafinha asked Inglis whether they should activate it.
“We’re not. Once we use it, we can’t use it again for a while, so let’s save it for later!”
It’s better to save your trump card for when the time comes. Besides, Inglis had something she wanted to test…! Inglis jumped up on the bow of the armored bird (flygear) and focused her attention.
“Dragon Roar…!”
Inglis crossed both arms in front of her body, fingertips touching her shoulders. From there, she traced a path along her arms to her chest, waist, and legs, completely aligning the movement of her fingertips with the Dragon Roar as they glided over her body.
Simultaneously, controlling the mana she downgraded from ether, Inglis enveloped her entire body with a mana wavelength similar to the one used for generating ice swords, applying it to solidify ice into the shape of armor.
The flow of mana shaping this armor mirrored the effect observed and imitated from the Artifact once wielded by King Charleas, the Dragon Claw. It transcended High Grade Artifacts, representing a Super High Grade Artifact—one that complemented the Dragon Fang bestowed upon Raphael.
The movement of this mana, in perfect sync with the Dragon Roar, induced a mutation.
The fusion of mana and Dragon Roar—a Dragon Sorcery. It created not just ordinary ice from magic but a shimmering azure armor resembling the armor projected by the Dragon Claw, an artifact crafted from dragon materials.
The Azure Armor, infused with the strong Dragon Roar, emitted a loud roar akin to that of a dragon as it materialized.
“An azure dragon armor…?!”
“Miss Inglis, wh-, what is that…?!”
Leone and Liselotte exclaimed in surprise.
“It’s an implementation of Dragon Roar. Dragon Sorcery, I think? Instructor Rochefort showed me many times the effects of the Dragon Claw that His Majesty entrusted to him, and so I was able to recreate it.”
As an armor, it offered formidable defense, and the power encasing Inglis’ body further enhanced her physical abilities. However, the flight capability of the original Dragon Claw was too complex for her to replicate. In a sense, it was a less powerful version of Ether Armor.
Less powerful, however, only when compared to an Ether technique. Its greatest advantage was that Inglis could use an Ether technique with this Dragon Sorcery.
Layering both Ether Armor and Dragon Ice Armor would surely elevate Inglis’s capabilities.
“Wh-, what…? I thought the Dragon Claw is a national treasure…?”
Indeed, King Charleas had only recently entrusted it to Rochefort. This occurred just before Inglis and her group set off for the Highland.
Rochefort returned from a royal summons with the Dragon Claw just as Arles was accompanying Inglis for a special afterschool training session.
“Is that okay?”
“Okay or not, it’s already done. I keep saying this time and time again, but I have to say that this is impressive,” Eris commented with a shrug of her shoulders.