Alus The Star Runner - 2

"Alus the Star Runner… Wh-what do you…? What more do you want…?!" " "

…striking fear into a legend.

"You have already stolen my treasure! You have already robbed me of my pride! What more is there to take from me?!"

"…What more…?"

Still perched on the stony summit, the wyvern cocked his slender neck to the side. He didn't seem to understand the question.

"I'm simply doing the obvious…" There came a loud crack.

Alus only had to turn his body slightly to avoid the abruptly shot and colossally sized arrow.

"Star Runnerrrr!"

The deadly shot had come from Harghent the Still's Dragon Slayer ballista.

Incapable of successive shots, he nevertheless released the bolt not at Vikeon the Smoldering but toward the interloper.

"Y-you… Don't you dare interfere!" "..."

In response to the man's voice, the wyvern simply lazily shook his head and took flight.

A sack was tied around his body, as if he were a minia traveler. "Damn you… Damn you to hell, Star Runner…!"

As Harghent spouted resentful curses, Vikeon looked up at the sky. The wyvern had just taken off, but his silhouette was already disappearing. Vikeon couldn't follow him. Alus's speed far surpassed that of a normal wyvern.

The dragon attempted using his incendiary black smoke breath to intercept the champion.

In truth, his action was itself the answer to his attempt.

This black dragon was the same as the minia.

Tangled up in the valley floor…he could only conceal his body from the powerful enemy in the sky and try intercepting any attacks that came his way. He had been forced to realize that should he take flight, he stood no chance against the wyvern. It had been physically carved into his body that,

in these skies, there was another creature who ruled above him.

In the mind of Vikeon the Smoldering, he could no longer use his wings to fly.

"Go gipyaeis. Jyguegyuorg." (Fly upon Tileet winds. Dry up the billowing moon!)

Vikeon mustered all his strength and unleashed his breath toward the shadow he caught in the corner of his eye.

He didn't find his mark. Far too fast, the shadow flew around over his head.

Wyverns had evolved their capacity for flight beyond the abilities of dragons.

"I don't believe it."

This time, it was Harghent who expressed his astonishment.

Coming to a halt directly above Vikeon's head, Alus the Star Runner

gripped in his hand an inconceivable weapon for a wyvern.

An iron gun barrel. A wooden stock. He saw it for only a moment, but for someone like Harghent, who led rifle troops of his own, there was no mistaking it.

The wyvern held a piece of technology that had been brought to the world by the Visitors—known as a "musket."

A wyvern, holding a rifle.

In the fleeting moment as the dragon switched to the defensive, a bullet flew.

"Hngggh… Graaaaah!"

There was a popping sound. It was not the sound of the gun but instead of the giant dragon's flesh…as his remaining eye burst.

The muskets in this world had picked up improvements several generations in advance through Visitor-gifted knowledge and were more accurate and capable of rapid fire compared to counterparts that had existed in the Beyond.

However, even with that being the case, for someone in a three- dimensional high-speed aerial battle to cleanly pierce through the membrane that covered and protected a dragon's eyes in one shot…

"...…I'll go ahead and tell you… The western cliff…poison bullets… from the Arboreal Sky Spire…," Alus announced quietly as Vikeon's anguished roar shook the air.

He was clearly boasting about this part of his collection.

"It's processed from mandrake poison, you see…and starts affecting the nerves first…"

Relying on his voice, Vikeon still tried to aim his ire at Alus.

It was impossible to compete with the champion in the air. The damage to both eyes and his left arm had robbed Vikeon of combat options.

His only remaining advantage was his dragon breath, a skill impossible for the wyvern body to employ.

"Go gipyaeis—" (Fly upon Tileet winds—)

"Kylse ko khnmy. Kilwy kokko. Kukaei kyakhal. Konaue ko kastgraim." (From Alus to the Nimi Pebble. Flowers bud. Part the husk and crack it. Trickling water. Pierce through.)

Ga-shunk.

Thin needles sprouted up from the dragon's right eye.

The round object buried inside his socket instantly transformed, boring deeper into Vikeon's brain.

Word Arts were transmitted according to one's mental speed, and the incantations weren't necessarily proportionally stronger the longer they were. Nevertheless, even with that being true…

The transfiguring Craft Arts came slightly faster than the dragon's single breath.

"...It's pointless, Vikeon. I shot that bullet, after all…"

"Gaaugh… Gah, graaaaaaaaaugh…!"

"You're going to listen to me now. After all, I did the same thing with that spear sticking out of your side, right…?"

"Enough!" Harghent shouted while letting another arrow fly.

Once again, the shot was aimed toward Alus, but he avoided it with ease.

A foolhardy attempt.

"That's enough, Star Runner…! My mortal enemy! Why do you steal my quarry?! Y-you intend on saving the life of a man like me?!"

"…Harghent. You know…you ask some strange questions…"

The wyvern looked down at the dragon writhing in unbearable pain.

An evil dragon, a feared calamity, who had warded off minia expeditions against him for hundreds of years.

A single wyvern, deformed and slightly smaller in stature than an adult minia.

Finally, the sole reminder of his lost forces, the Sixth General of Aureatia.

It was plainly clear who was in control of the current situation and who among them would meet their end.

The one at the apex of this three-person food chain answered— "Of course I'm going to try and save my friend…"

—with a reply Harghent had known for a long time.

He was right.

To the general who had slain hundreds upon hundreds of wyverns, his should have been the name he reviled above all others.

Alus the Star Runner.

Harghent loathed his existence more than any other. A being such as him should have never existed.

"I'm not your friend…! I'm an Aureatia general! The wyvern-slaying Wing Clipper Harghent! P-past or present, I'll never give a damn about someone like you!"

The black dragon was dying. Harghent watched him slowly perish before his eyes, the dragon's muscles trembling, the strength draining from his wings.

It was almost the same death as a wyvern's, as if he shared the same lifeblood.

"…I see… You mean to become the king of soldiers, then… Good for you…"

Alus simply looked on, as drearily as usual, as the light faded from the old legend's eyes.

As if neither joy nor pleasure existed within the wyvern's heart.

"That's right…! To rise up the ranks, I killed hundreds of your brethren, too! Even at my age, I want for even more prestige! Which led me…to enact this foolish and hopeless expedition."

Killing a dragon should not have been possible. It was a childish dream from the start.

That day was not the first, either. Up until that point, many of his men and fellow citizens had died for the sake of his shortsighted dream.

He had earned the scorn of many. He had elevated himself to his lofty position at the cost of countless lives.

"…I know. That's why I respect you, Harghent…"

Alus rested his sack on the ground. All the treasures he had gathered during his travels around the world jangled within.

"I like to show these off…even to the ones I end up killing after…"

Stealing and collecting things was his true nature. Alus the Star Runner was no longer a wyvern and instead was closer to a dragon, greedily collecting treasure.

"A shield from the central mountain's briar marsh…a whip I picked up in Kidehay…I even have plenty of magic bullets…"

The many triumphs of Alus over the years had made their way to Harghent's ears as well.

As he was consumed by a terrible struggle for power, awkwardly clinging

to his own authority while nothing ever went his way, he had heard rumors about the star-running wyvern's adventures in treasure collecting.

"..."

"…But I won't show them to you."

Harghent desired even more riches. Further heights of fame. A stabler life.

That wasn't really it, though. The only thing he wanted…

"After all, you're an impressive man, Harghent… If I show my hand, you'll gain the advantage…"

…was to best Alus, who was different from himself in every possible way.

Best the only person, different in race, who would affirm Harghent's ugly greed—his old friend.

"You're wrong. I…I haven't been able to get ahold of anything. For these past years, I've only…idly watched—"

"I heard. There's some huge Imperial Competition in Aureatia… They're all searching for the Hero, aren't they…?"

With the three kingdoms joined, eventually some new form of government would try to emerge.

The monarch could no longer serve as the sole national icon to maintain control over the citizenry.

They were searching for the stalwart champion who had slain the True Demon King—they needed a Hero.

At the moment, most of the generals were working toward that goal. Being the one to bring forward the Hero meant becoming the patron sponsor of a new national icon.

Even if, for example, that heroic individual was of unknown origin. "I should enter."

…Yes, Harghent was certain that Alus would naturally usurp that honor.

This wyvern had traveled the world by himself, managing to seize everything he desired with his hands alone.

Harghent knew how many impregnable dungeons Alus had conquered. He knew he had amassed rare and wondrous treasures from far and wide. He knew he had bested enemies previously believed invulnerable.

Even having lost a majority of his troops, if Harghent could simply back Alus the Star Runner, who was sure to win the Imperial Competition…

"...Oh."

Alus's calm murmur made Harghent take notice.

"Gnngh… Graaaaah!"

It was the death throes of Vikeon the Smoldering, thought to be dead. The black breath that erupted from his gaping maw looked at that moment on the verge of drowning them both in blinding smoke.

"Alus, get away…!"

The breath passed over him. His vision was completely obscured. Harghent only managed to quickly warn Alus but was unable to push him out of the way. Unlike Peke.

However, the breath avoided Harghent.

"Great…and I just said I wouldn't show you anything…"

In one of his hands, Alus held a small ornament that looked like a necklace. Making use of its mysterious functionality, Alus was able to divert the dragon's searing breath.

It seemed to be some piece of supernatural equipment, like his magic bullets. The magic items in Alus's bag were as numerous as the many legends he had conquered and looted. No one knew exactly how many mystical treasures and magical artifacts he had in total.

Relying only on the contents of his bag, he could employ any combination of tools and tricks to turn the tide of battle.

He was practically invincible. "…Greatshield of the Dead." "Groooaaah…! Star Runneeerrr…!" "…One more."

Alus immediately vanished. Not even a flap of his wings could be seen in his high-speed flight.

Moving too fast even to leave a shadow behind, there came a blinding flash of light.

Fsshhhrrk. The horrifying noise of something burning persisted.

Harghent wondered if it had been a sword.

Supposing the non-minia wyvern had the technique to instantly unsheathe

a sword in the blink of an eye. Supposing the sword itself had a grand blade of light, too grand to ever be sheathed. Supposing said sword of light cauterized the impenetrable scales of Vikeon the Smoldering and that it was possible for it to split the dragon in two, then yes, it was a sword.

"Hillensingen the Luminous Blade."

The legendary dragon was cleanly bisected, nothing but two wasted chunks of burning flesh on the ground.

Harghent wanted to say he was incredible.

When he had first met Alus, in a town along the sea, he had been unable to even move his three arms.

He wanted to acknowledge the wyvern's shocking diligence, the sheer force of will required to accomplish what he had.

Nevertheless, this was the one thing Harghent could not do. As the years had worn on, and even now as everyone spoke in whispers about his bad reputation, he refused to admit defeat in front of Alus.

"...Alus." " "

"It's just as you said. I… No… Not only I, but every one of the ambitious Twenty-Nine Officials of Aureatia are searching for a Hero to one day support. They are trying to gather the strongest in the world together. If you're half as strong as you claim, then you should announce yourself as a candidate, too!"

"…Really now."

It appeared that Harghent's friend was already aware of his motives.

"N-nevertheless, I won't choose you. Have someone else choose you as their champion. I…"

"…Okay."

"I won't be able to seize any glory with your strength." "Okay."

The wyvern's replies remained curt, and he turned his body toward the setting sun.

His voice was low, but there was a haughty edge to it.

"…To me, that hunger of yours is truly admirable… You have my respect… Someday, you'll become someone much more amazing than myself, Harghent."

Did he mean those words?

Could Harghent truly reach the same heights as the wyvern champion who endeavored to claim all this world had to offer?

Having lost everything, did he even have time to reach that peak? "…Alus!"

The wyvern took flight, soon fading into the setting sun.

He was off to find a new object of pursuit. Perhaps he would fly to a whole new world.

And then one day, his conquests nearly at an end, he would claim the

mantle of Hero.

"Where are you planning to go, Alus?" "...The Great Nagan Labyrinth." "That city is rubble. Why go there?"

"…I only ever have one thing on my mind. Conquest. There's something I want there…"

The sun over the Tileet Ravine began to sink below the horizon.

Everything Harghent had lost was becoming blanketed in darkness. Harghent thought about why Alus had left without parting words.

He had no regrets. At the very least, he certainly didn't regret watching Alus depart into the sky.

…Because he believed in his own definition of evil.

Evil is when you betray your own beliefs.

He could wield any type of weapon under the sky with his supernatural aptitude.

He possessed a vast array of superpowered magical items, gathered together from all corners of the world.

He challenged an endless succession of opponents and dungeons and came out on top every time.

He was the fastest living creature in the sky, his hunger driving his conquests even into the domain of dragons.

He was the rogue wyvern…

…Alus the Star Runner.