The moment I read the thread-like thoughts and shouted, dozens of bombs flew into the regressor's field of vision. Fortunately, even before I could warn her, the regressor reflexively took a defensive stance. The Cheonbangyeong moved her body faster than expected, and Cheonaeng, which soared like a snake, precisely split the center of the explosion.
The defense was successful, but the regressor was left speechless by the scene that followed.
As the smoke cleared, Rouket, who had risen into the sky, was looking down at her. He wore wings dozens of times larger than those of the Dragon Hawk Unit, and unlike the mass-produced wings, countless small thrusters were embedded like feathers. At the tail feathers, a large thruster spewed bright red flames to lift his body, and on his talons, rocket launchers gleamed with a blue light.
The Juggernaut of the Explosive Flame Lord, Dragon Hawk. The large four-wheeled vehicle he had been riding was the Juggernaut's form before transformation.
He spread his flame-spewing wings wide and panted heavily.
The regressor's eyebrows twitched.
"What? You're alive?"
"Hmph! Did you think I would die from such a petty attack!"
'That was dangerous! If it weren't for the Repulsion Armor, I would have died...!'
Repulsion Armor. Reading his thoughts, it was a type of armor that surrounded his body with directional bombs, and when it received an impact, it exploded and pushed him away with repulsive force. It was a similar principle to the Repulsion Qigong.
The difference was that it activated even if he didn't consciously will it to. Thanks to that, I couldn't notice it in advance with telepathy. On top of that, he briefly passed out from the shock of the explosion, so I thought he was really dead.
As expected of a Lord, he had the means to protect his own life.
"Hmph! You were hiding a trick!"
"No, I didn't particularly hide it."
"But, I won't let my guard down now! I'll kill you with all my might!"
Along with the shout, the Dragon Hawk's talons opened. Countless bombs dropped beneath him.
Explosions rang out endlessly. Rouket flew through the sky at high speed, throwing all kinds of bombs toward the regressor. The regressor ran fast to dodge, but Rouket kept up at a fast pace.
"Ah, seriously! So annoying!"
The regressor struck the ground with Jijan. The broken ground bounced up, and the regressor stepped on the rising boulders like stairs and leaped up. With Cheonaeng pointed backward, the regressor pushed her body with a storm and dashed toward Rouket like a shooting star.
It was a movement close to a miracle. In the blink of an eye, the regressor flew into the air.
"Ha! You're too slow!"
However, no matter what, she was slower than Rouket, who flew with thrusters. By the time the regressor leaped fiercely, Rouket had already made a large turn and was moving away.
Dragon Hawk's speed was faster than an arrow, if anything, never lagging behind. It was too far to catch up. The regressor gave up the chase and fell to the ground. Instead, she swung Cheonaeng toward the retreating figure.
"Tch! Cheongeomgi, Dankong!"
"Futile!"
She swung Cheonaeng, but an explosion occurred as if repelling it. The regressor steadied the bouncing Cheonaeng and muttered.
"A barrier?"
"Hmph! It's the Dragon Hawk's Storm. Even if I explain it to your stupid head, you wouldn't understand!"
What Dragon Hawk's Storm. It's just iron powder. It's a function of the Dragon Hawk that scatters leftover iron powder into the air.
It's just tiny iron powder light enough to be scattered by the wind, but by Rouket's ability, it becomes a small bomb. The tiny iron powder, designed to explode upon touching something, protected Rouket from the regressor's attack.
Rouket spread his wings even wider and shouted.
"Blade of the Wind? You carry quite a precious item! But even so, you can't match me!"
"That...! You can only run away!"
"I'm not running away, it's strategic!"
Rouket, who had flown to an unreachable altitude, poured out bombs again. Having just swung Cheonaeng, the regressor couldn't dodge. Instead, she surrounded her entire body with Repulsion Qigong.
Kwa-kwa-kwang! A massive explosion followed. Dust spread thickly. Seeing that sight, Rouket shouted with satisfaction.
"Haha! I've finished you off!"
"What? From this little explosion?"
However, bombs were indeed not that great of a weapon. The regressor's stamina, having eaten all kinds of spiritual medicines to grow her strength, was terrifying. Though some soot stained her clothes, she withstood all the explosions purely with Repulsion Qigong and slung Jijan over her shoulder.
"You can only fly, yet you buzz around like a fly! Don't act arrogant with such a pathetic ability!"
"Pathetic ability?! You're just floundering on the ground, yet your mouth is the only thing alive!!"
Rouket soared even higher and shouted.
"Everyone mocked me like you! But the one who wins in the end! The one who stands last, is me!!"
The ensuing battle was loud but a bit tedious.
The regressor attacked Rouket by throwing rocks or using the Blade of the Wind. However, Rouket was so fast that most of the attacks missed, and the few attack means that could hit were blocked by his Repulsion Armor. Even if she hit the wings, the Juggernaut didn't budge against ordinary attacks. Lacking a proper means of attack, the regressor stomped her feet in frustration.
It was the same for Rouket. Light bombs couldn't even scratch the regressor's Repulsion Qigong. He had no choice but to make more powerful bombs, but when they were intercepted in the air, Rouket was caught in the blast instead. And yet, he couldn't dare to approach. Rouket changed his strategy to whittle down her stamina as much as possible.
'Unnecessarily fast! Tch, if it were the Commander, I would have caught him with zero-point aiming. No, if only lightning imbued Cheonaeng, it would be nothing! Is there no clear solution?'
'Damn it. Throwing rocks, shooting wind, and still maintaining Repulsion Qigong? Does she have infinite stamina?'
With time just passing without either side having a proper means, the one who could break this balance was...
Tyr wouldn't be much help against the flying Rouket either. Now wasn't the right timing for Hilde to appear. The only one who could do something was me.
Ugh, I don't want to steal his Unique Demonic Art here... If others find out, they'll suspect my identity.
"Aji. Don't tell anyone anywhere."
"Woof? About what?"
Well, how would a dog know what I'm doing. I reached my hand toward the empty air. The iron powder scattering after the explosion heavily stuck to my hand.
Maximilian's Unique Demonic Art was the power to turn gears. The gears could move freely left and right, and by moving in the opposite direction of his, it neutralized the Unique Demonic Art. You could say it had good synergy with me.
However, Rouket's Unique Demonic Art was the ability to imbue metal with explosive properties. Therefore, even if I stole his Unique Demonic Art, there was no way to block his explosions.
But conversely, I could trigger the explosion he was preparing first. At a moment he didn't intend.
I read Rouket's mind.
Born with a physical disability, he was a mass of inferiority complex from birth. Fortunately, his disability wasn't severe enough to keep him from supporting himself, but unfortunately, because of that, the fights never ceased. If anyone mentioned his deformity in front of him, he would unconditionally charge and beat them down.
As soon as he turned ten, Rouket, who was kicked out of Claudia, became a jackal. However, his congenital deformity became an even bigger obstacle to his life as a jackal. Even if his mount passed over a small pebble, that tiny shock felt like it violently battered Rouket's spine.
Rouket raged. At the pebble caught in the wheel, at his own body, and at his helplessness that couldn't even overcome this—everything.
To him, who kept raging and raging, a fateful encounter appeared one day.
The Magic Federation's Floating Castle.
The finest Juggernaut created by the Golden Mirror, and the sky castle where the Demon King resides. Conscripted for the castle's repairs, he got the opportunity to fly in the sky.
And he was reborn.
Flying in the sky was fast and refreshing. Above all, the pain in his spine that had constantly tormented him was not felt at all.
He strongly wished to reside in the Floating Castle, but it was virtually impossible for a mere jackal to live in the Floating Castle, the core of the Magic Federation. However, during that process, he heard some magician's advice.
'The Floating Castle is not flying in the sky; it is merely land that rose long, long ago and has not yet fallen. If you do not realize that difference, you can never stay here.'
I didn't know if that was the literal truth or if it had some hidden meaning. But it didn't matter. That magician's words moved Rouket.
Returning to the ground, Rouket built a cannon. A cannon that gifts precious steel to someone at ultra-high speed was considered the stupidest weapon in the nations, but Rouket, who dreamed, acted stupidly every chance he got.
Watching the cannonballs fly through the sky until just before they fell, Rouket constructed his own mental image.
If explosions continue to occur. If he soared, burning everything in his body.
It would never fall.
Because it would burn and disappear in mid-air before it could even fall.
Unique Demonic Art, Fireworks.
I read it all. Having grasped the mental image, I reached my hand toward him.
Kwaang! One of Rouket's wings exploded.
The Juggernaut was a special item bestowed by the Golden Mirror to its Lords. It was a one-of-a-kind tool that only a Lord could wield properly. It was designed from the start under the premise of a Lord's ability, and if used by a suitable person, it exhibited infinite functions.
Still, if it was a tool of humans, then I, the king of humans, could too.
I clenched my fist. All of Rouket's wings exploded at once. It wasn't an external attack, but an explosion that started from within twisted his body and wrecked the structure completely. Since it was enough to cause a storm in an instant, the shock Rouket received from being engulfed in the explosion at point-blank range was severe.
"Kuaaak...!"
"Now!"
For the regressor, who was preparing an attack at the right moment, now, when Rouket had lost his balance, was the optimal chance. The regressor swept Cheonaeng slowly upward along Jijan.
Friction between iron and iron produces sparks, but friction between the earth and the sky strikes lightning. Scattering a rather fierce energy to be called mere static electricity, the regressor shouted.
"Cheonjigeomgon, Yeokroe!"
The lightning that started from the earth soared to the sky. The lightning, trying to return to the sky, found a place to stay momentarily in the air. It was a pitiful human staggering amidst the scattering iron fragments, draped in steel all over his body. He was reeling from a massive shock, but the trivial circumstances of a lowly creature were none of the lightning's business.
The lightning spread into thousands of branches along the steel. The lightning, divided into countless tributaries, enveloped Rouket. Caught in the rapids of the lightning, Rouket screamed loudly at the pain of his entire body burning away.
"Kuaaaaaaagh!"
However, it wasn't enough to bring him down. Lightning also knows how to take the easy way out; if there is an easy path, it doesn't even glance at the hard one. Thanks to most of the current traveling up the Juggernaut, the shock to Rouket's flesh was relatively less.
Anyway, the match was decided. Having been hit by lightning following the explosion, Rouket was in no condition to fight any longer.
"Lord Rouket! Are you alright!"
Someone who appeared to be Rouket's subordinate flew in hastily. Because the fight had been so long, countless people were already paying attention to this place. It wasn't strange for Rouket's subordinates, who hadn't dared to intervene, to approach.
"Lord Rouket! This way!"
The person with spread wings caught the falling Rouket from below. She almost fell, pushed by the weight of the Juggernaut, but barely regaining consciousness, Rouket restarted the thruster and was able to regain his balance. Supporting Rouket, she asked worriedly.
"Are you alright?"
"Ugh... 1st Wing. The Dragon Hawk Unit..."
The 'subordinate' answered vigorously.
"Don't worry! Everyone is waiting!"
"...Not waiting. Call them all...! Come and kill those bastards!"
As Rouket suddenly burst into anger, the 'subordinate' showed a troubled expression.
"T-That seems difficult."
"Are you scared?! Have you forgotten that your lives are in my hands? It's an order, attack at once...! Or else I'll blow up all your thrusters...!"
"What 'I' mean is, well."
"What!"
As Rouket distorted his face toward the 'subordinate' who was hesitating.
Something sharp and cold pushed its way into Rouket's body. It was so stealthy and sharp that Rouket didn't realize it until the blade tore through his body.
When he belatedly realized something, opening his mouth wide and letting out a soundless gasp of horror. The 'subordinate' spoke in a leisurely voice.
"Because, they are on the other side of the river from which they cannot return~. How can you call dead people?"
Before he knew it, that face had changed into Hilde's. At the unexpected sight, Rouket glared with wide eyes.
Immediately after, a huge explosion occurred. Rouket caused explosions all over his body to shake Hilde off. Even if Hilde was a master of Qigong, without a place to step, she couldn't dissipate the reaction force. The two were bounced off to opposite sides in mid-air.
Rouket's body spun round and round and fell to the ground. With a boom, he crashed into the ground and, unable to even gather himself, pushed back his cloak. Where the blade had briefly stayed and left, bright red blood was gushing forth to greet him.
"Kuhak...! Cough. Keuk!"