This World of Ours (Part 6)

Pitter-patter.

Ah. It's trickling down.

Pitter-patter.

"-I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand up on the earth."

Why are you here, Mister Rain?

Pitter-patter.

"And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God,-"

Have I not told you that I never liked you...?

Pitter-patter.

"-I myself will see Him with my own eyes, not another's. How my heart yearns within me... Amen."

Please just go away...

Pitter-patter.

Why... how did this all happened?

Why, why does it have to be you...?

Please... someone... please just answer me...

Pitter-patter.

-x-X-x-

Umu.

The Clock Tower's sure is calm when the atomic bomb was dropped again three days ago. Are they perhaps not surprised or horrified by the destruction of science? Or are the majority of them simply ignorant of technological prowess?

Oh. By the way, I was the one who ordered countless sacrificial charges during the war. Ah, yes, I was also the one who flew over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Additionally, I have finally gained a Title for my deeds during the Second World War.

[Merchant of Death]

Effect: All future bargains and trades will be twice as smooth

Sadly, I wasn't awarded a Noble Phantasm even though I technically created a legend. Perhaps businessmen are just not worshipped?

It went something like: an anonymous magnate who invested in various military businesses during the Second World War. He is known for raising the severity of the war through his mass-produced yet high quality weapons. Thus, he was blamed as one of the primary reasons of the war's increased causality.

One word: Capitalism.

Well, the governments needed a scapegoat to blame for some of the deaths so I was the perfect target. Nevertheless, I did get something out of all the businesses I ran.

[Golden Rule]

Rank: C

The skill that refers to the measurement of one's fortune to acquire wealth.

At this rank, one can live a lifetime untroubled by money.

Hooray for no more money trouble!

Charlotte has graduated from the Department of Curses of the faculty of Jigmarie two years ago, and decided to remain in the Clock Tower in order to build connections with the other families.

Well, she's clearly staying here in order to be close to me. I'm not complaining. Her presence makes my daily lives a lot more colorful and I have to protect her to complete the quest. That's killing two birds with one stone.

Anyway, it's time, as all the requirements have been met.

...

Dragon Kind.

They are members of the Trascendent Kind and are considered the pinnacle of the Phantasmal Species.

Dragons are extensions of the world that were created in a form that is independent from nature with intelligence. They have members in all three classes of Magical Beasts, and they are considered to be the greatest species within each corresponding class.

Due to their being Monstrous, Phantasmal, and Divine class dragons, they have been involved with mankind since before the Age of Gods, and left many legends in the field of Thaumaturgy because they have freely intermixed with humans in the past.

Dragons are creatures that generate magical energy merely by breathing, their lungs acting as spiritual worlds, and they possess traits from other types of monsters. It is possible for a human to have the blood of a dragon, whether induced artificially or from having Mixed-Blood.

Dragons each have an attribute, and their strongest weapon, Dragon's Breath, capitalizes upon it by using breath to spread it excessively over the wide area of effect as a torrent of Mana.

Due to having a constitution value which transcends that of humans by far, it is not unreasonable to think of a single dragon being able to destroy a whole country when equally spreading the damage from its breath throughout a whole army.

Currently, I am facing such a menacing foe.

ROAR!

At the monster's roar, the crimson sky shook as the haze of ashes descended onto the burning land. The sea of red parted itself and a giant figure showed itself. The scaled lizard scanned his territory and glared at a lone figure.

Grrrrr.

On the red sea's beach was an ash-white wyvern. Zerureusu stood before the giant bravely. It growled at the opposite beast and revealed its sharp fangs in a threatening manner.

Zerureusu, Bright Field Wyvern

Strength: 35

Endurance: 35

Agility: 50

The giant red dragon has relatively short limbs and a long tail and neck. Its body is filled with a magma-like substance which pools at the base of the tail, the chest, and at each shoulder. Each of these pools directs magma flow to certain parts of the body. On its back are a pair of wing-like appendages that are seemingly useless in terms of flight.

Dire Miralis, Lord of the Tainted Sea

Strength: 88

Endurance: 95

Agility: 72

The wyvern flapped its wing and flew up. It inhaled in Mana and a beam of concentrated light elemental was fired from its mouth. The wyvern version of the Dragon's Breath traveled to the massive red dragon and hit directly on its head.

However, Dire Miralis merely shrugged the wyvern's greatest attack off like nothing and snarled contemptuously at the lesser dragon that actually dared to defy him. Zerureusu, who was one the higher ranking wyverns was like nothing in front of a true dragon.

Globules of magma fired out from the cannon-like chutes on the dragon's wings. The lava meteorites rained down on the ash-white wyvern and immediately knocked it to the ground. As if that wasn't enough, the magma balls exploded upon impact and dealt serious wounds to Zerureusu.

"Aoo!" The wyvern roared in pain. It felt its scales being devoured by the crimson death. At the next moment, the fire elemental in the area lowered to the extreme degrees as they gathered towards the dragon's mouth.

Dire Miralis glared at the impudent beast before him. It believed that such a weakling was a shame to their race and it has to be taught a lesson by him, a true member of the Dragon Kind.

Then, a plasma-like red beam was fired. The air trembled and the earth cried. The Dragon's Breath reached the ash-white wyvern in no time and annihilated it to nothingness.

It was an instant kill.

Just as the red dragon was about to return to the red sea, it sensed a spike of magical energy from its behind. It quickly turned around and spotted a small creature standing on the water's surface.

Without warning, a ray of light rained down on the giant lizard. Hundreds of beams made up of pure Prana assaulted the dragon, flooding it with a blinding radiance. The entire beach was ruined, and the sea water near it was evaporated.

However, when the steam settled, the figure of a completely unharmed Dire Miralis appeared. It had felt no pain even though it was just hit by a barrage of countless A-Rank magical attacks.

The highest class of Mystery cannot be defeated with another higher class of Mystery

The scene of hundreds of High-Thaumaturgy being blocked by its natural resistance would send any Mage to despair because they simply stood no chance against such an inhuman creature.

All of a sudden, its instincts went off and screamed at itself. The massive red dragon raised its head and tried its best to locate its senses' origin. There, standing on the shore not far from his previous position was the human.

A dark purple sword was in his hand. The Divine Construct howled, shining like the brightest of the lakes and the furthest stars. The holy sword wielded by the Knight of the Lake proved itself to be a legend once more as the magical energy overflowed, and the courageous man dashed at the crimson menace.

Understanding that the human's weapon was not to be underestimated, Dire Miralis opened its mouth and charged up another Dragon's Breath. The red plasma was fired and it reached the sprinting man in no time.

Yet, the man merely smiled and approached the Dragon's Breath bravely. The landed vibrated once more and an earthquake hit the beach. However, the scaled lizard widened its eyes as it saw the human literally phased through its ultimate attack.

Arondight was swung down on the Dragon's neck. Unfortunately, it missed. Dire Miralis has used its massive, heavy tail to parry the holy sword. Although it managed to successfully block the Noble Phantasm, it still suffered a deep cut in its appendage.

"Arondight - Overload: Breaking All Restraints - Overloaded Light of the Lake!"

All of a sudden, as if a switch was flipped, blue light shined on the dragon's wound and a radiance of vast magical energy overflowed from the wound. It rapidly covered the scaled beast, causing it to howl in agony.

The light swallowed the entire dragon and a huge crater was created by the blast. Nevertheless, Dire Miralis was a true dragon. It would not fall by a single attack even if it was from a dragon-slaying Divine Construct.

Globules of magma shot out from the massive creature's wings and once again bombarded the seashore. Fenric tried to avoid the raining meteors, but he simply couldn't seeing how many of them were produced.

He was inevitably hit by one of them, then followed by another, and another, and another, and another, till most of his body was destroyed by the magma bursts. Witnessing its assailant killed, Dire Miralis roared in delight and a shock wave manifested from its proclamation of victory.

Alas, its cry of triumph was short-lived since it was abruptly cut off by a pillar of light that materialized in the sky. The human has somehow regenerated his body in a few seconds and caught it off guard...!

"Rhongomyniad: The Lance that Shines to the Ends of the World!"

Without giving the massive red dragon a room to breathe, a brilliant crimson spiral descended on the magma beast. For the last time, the beach was assaulted by an unequaled light, and finally ending the Lord of the Tainted Sea's reign of terror.

For killing a Low-class Dragon +30,000,000 EXP

For bathing in and drinking the blood of a dragon for the first time +10 to all stats

You have gained the Skill: [Dragon Slayer C]

[Dragon Slayer]

Rank: C

The skill provided for those who have took down a member of the Dragon Kind. It is not a talent given from heaven, but from killing a dragon. It can be said that the anecdotes themselves have become this Skill.

At this rank, grants improved attack power and defense power against members of the Dragon Kind.

-x-X-x-

"Hmhmhm~"

'He's late.'

"Hmhmhm~"

'He's late for... 5 minutes.'

"Hm, hm, hm~"

'How can do he do this to his precious little sister? Well... I am 24 years old this year... but it doesn't matter! Age doesn't matter, a lady is always a lady! And a man who can't adhere to his promise is a scum! The scum of scum! Stupid! Useless! Idiot! Despicable! Wastrel! Cheapskate! Miser! Scoundrel! Vermin-'

"Hey, hey, hey, I can feel the negativity from tens of meters away." At that moment, a voice sounded from her side. Turning her head, Charlotte found her brother taking a seat next to her with a smiling face.

"Hmph. It's your fault for being late." She added more honey into her milk tea and mixed the cup without giving her brother another glance.

"Oh come on, Char, I was busy with an experiment." Fenric called for a waiter and tried to appease his angry sister.

"Those Mystic Eyes again?" Charlotte crossed her arms below her perky chest and frowned. "What's the point of spending so much time on a pair of low-level Mystic Eyes? Although you're the first in our lineage to awaken them in a long time, they're pretty much useless compared to the other ones."

The Mystic Eyes Charlotte was talking about was the Mystic Eyes of Gravity that once appeared in the Leiqritus family long ago. It was a simple type that was ranked purple in the Noble Colors System, and not much attention was paid to it.

Mystic Eyes may be the symbol of great status to the Magi, but the useless ones are mostly ignored because many Mages have better ones. However, she did not know, that the pair of eyes Fenric possesses ranked way above the ones she was imagining.

They were both natural and artificial, created with the help of his bloodline, magical mutation, and... something else. He couldn't make something on the level of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, the Mystic Eyes of Distortion or the Mystic Eyes of Petrification... but he came quite close.

The Mystic Eyes of Gravity were not created through mere Magecraft. He tried to comprehend the perception of reality in an alien sense, a Magician's sense, a Phantasmal Species' sense, and he managed to develop a pair of lower class Mystic Eyes that can slightly control gravity.

Nevertheless, he was not satisfied with the power to increase gravity by mere two times. Double gravity can barely hurt ordinary human unless they are exposed to it in long-term, not to mention the supernatural creatures.

That's why he evolved them.

[Self-Modification]

Rank: C

The skill to remold one's own body or merge one's own flesh with body parts of others. The higher the ranking in this Skill, the further away one is from being a proper hero.

At this rank, physical performance can be enhanced, and the replacement of body parts including the heart is possible.

Fenric has invested his time on improving his physical prowess, magical mastery, and the development of Mystic Eyes for the past four years. The results are amazing as he has finally succeeded in creating two new bodies to inhabit in.

The first and his main body is the exact copy of Arthur Pendragon from Fate/Prototype, while the second and backup body was of Goddess Rhongomyniad from Fate/Grand Order.

As a healthy male, he'd prefer to keep his gender, but switching it to female during precarious moments may benefit himself as well. A good example would be attacks or Noble Phantasms that can bend the laws of reality and affect those of certain genders.

Although he knows that he is immune to all mental interference, including those brainwashing Noble Phantasms of Mata Hari, Medb, etc. He is still not entirely sure what would happen if it only effects the physical side.

However, there is a huge difference between the homunculi and the real ones. The original ones have dragon or divine blood while the artificial puppets were created with mostly high-ranking Phantasmal Beasts materials that he has harvested for the past years. The homunculi also have white hair and red eyes instead of blonde and green.

[Mystic Eyes of Force]

Rank: B

The skill where one has possession of Mystic Eyes, capable of imparting magical effects upon a subject and interfering with the outside world. The Mystic Eyes of Force can manipulate kinetic energy to a certain degree.

At this rank, kinetic energy can be better controlled through the usage of magical energy and Psychic Power. However, living beings cannot be affected.

It may sound insanely powerful, but the problem is that he can only affect non-living objects that are accelerating or decelerating. Plus, it requires great focus so he can't fight properly when he eyes start glowing purple.

It's impossible to pay attention to all his bullets and charge them up during battle, though they are quite useful for creating A-Rank physical attacks during ambushes. The accuracy is especially inaccurate, so the Mystic Eyes can only act as diversion or cause faulty area of effect attacks at best.

"I'm a happy man as long as I have them." Fenric smiled and gave the waiter his order. "Oh? Are you perhaps jealous?" Seeing Charlotte's pouting face, he chuckled. "So you are!"

"Shut up!" The blonde woman gritted her teeth and stomped on her brother's shoes.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Take it easy, okay?" The black-haired man widened his eyes in an act of pain and tried to remove his foot from hers. "I'm sorry for being conceited, pretty please, stop hurting your brother." His attempt to push his sister away only ended with his hands being slapped.

"...Ahhh, where has my little Char gone to, she's all grown up and may turn into a bride any day now." Fenric smirked and blew air into Charlotte's ears. The blonde woman yelped, causing him to successfully free his foot. "You used to be so cute when you are stalking me."

"Stop bringing up our childhood as excuses!" Charlotte face flushed red. "I am now an independent Mage who has almost mastered the Craft of Curses!" She downed the milk tea in one go and glared at the opposite man.

"Yes, yes, you're a great Magus." Fenric, much to the blonde woman's chagrin, simply grinned "Now, shall we have lunch?"

"...Fine." The younger sibling sighed and glanced out the cafeteria's window. They have always met up here no matter when and where. Although they both have their own rooms and workshops in or near the Clock Tower, this window seat has been reserved for them since she enrolled into this irritating place.

'Why won't you be truthful to me after all this time?' Charlotte gazed at her brother, who was skillfully cutting a sizzling steak. 'Do you really think that I don't know your secrets?' She smiled nostalgically and touched the locket he gifted her.

'How is this made of silver... it's clearly mithril. And there are also so many components that I do not know of...' Her eyes softened slightly and a sunny smile formed on her face since she understood how much her brother cared for her. Closing her eyes, she sipped her tea and noticed that it was empty. 'Huh.'

"Here, Char." Fenric picked up the teapot and filled her cup. He then picked up the milk mug and added the perfect amount into the steaming tea. "Flawless, right?" He gave her a cheeky grin and mixed her favorite milk tea.

"Thanks brothe-" Drip, drip. "Oh?" She turned her head and discovered droplets of water stuck onto the window. "Ah." Charlotte raised her brows and felt the cold window with her hand. All of a sudden, more droplets fell down and the sky slowly darkened. "Look, big brother..."

"-it's Mister Rain."