Black Badger

Ami shot upward at incredible speed.

If I hadn’t once traveled riding a Skybird, I would have certainly suffered from oxygen deprivation. Even so, a Skybird had never been this fast.

Ami killed the Butterfly on the way up.

Still holding me with both hands, she pierced straight through the Butterfly’s torso as she ascended.

Torn yellow wings fluttered violently.

“Are you breathing alright?”

Her voice reached me through the roaring wind.

“We’ll be going down soon.”

I didn’t have the strength to answer.

Ami, like me, had no facial protection—yet she spoke so calmly.

And she was doing this while carrying me. I felt the body holding onto me begin to slow down.

We had risen high enough.

Time to descend.

“Going down.”

Ami changed her position in the air, almost as if swimming through the sky.

“Get ready.”

I lowered my gaze.

As she shifted her body, the scene below unfolded beneath my feet. The clouds that had encircled the dragon and us were dispersing. With the Butterfly dead, the vortex had lost its center and was scattering with the wind.

But even so, a faint trace of the wind’s former core remained.

Following that clean tunnel of sky, Ami dove like a hawk.

The wind—far fiercer than any earlier gust—slashed across my eyes and skin.

The black wings approached at terrifying speed.

Scales came into sharp focus.

The world narrowed.

Ami released me.

“Tie it!”

Her wires shot outward.

“Get ready to cut!”

There was no time to respond.

Everything happened in an instant: Ami’s wires coiling around one of the dragon’s wings; Ami pulling the wire taut as she dove almost to the ground; the wing stretching tight, prepared for cutting; and my blade leaving its sheath midair.

It was normally impossible to cut dragon hide unless I amplified strength through absorption.

But now the sword had acceleration.

At this speed, it was possible.

Right before impact—

I steadied myself and swung.

Srak—

Blood burst outward.

KRRRRAAAAAAAK!

The dragon’s scream slammed into my ears.

My body was soaked in blood. I hadn’t severed the wing completely, but half the joint that connected it to the body tore away. An enormous amount of blood showered down.

The iron stench stung my nose sharply enough to make me dizzy.

In the rain of blood, I braced myself for impact with the ground.

But Ami caught me at that very moment.

Holding me tightly, she skimmed low across the ground and landed.

“Got it!”

Ami cried brightly.

“It can’t fly properly now!”

Tatatatatatatatatang!

Gunfire from Ricardo and Yun.

Their bullets struck the reverse scale. The reverse scale finally tore off. Blood sprayed from the red wound that replaced it.

Standing on solid ground, I took in the scene with something close to awe.

At this rate, we might bring it down in record time.

Of course, we couldn’t lower our guard.

As I reset my stance, the dragon scattered blood into the air and ascended.

“Ugh!”

Ami shrieked.

“How is that thing still flying?!”

“It’ll keep flying unless we rip the entire wing off.”

That was the nature of dragons.

The only good news: the Butterfly was dead now. The rain still fell, but it wouldn’t last long.

Watching the enormous shadow sweep across the ground, I tapped the radio.

Once back on the ground, the radio worked again.

“It still has two cannon blasts left.”

I spoke into the device.

“If you get hit by the second electric cannon, anything dies instantly. I can’t deflect that one.”

[Looks like it~.]

[Don’t you have to ground yourself to deflect the third one too?]

The gunfire stopped; the dragon had risen too high for bullets to reach.

Watching the dragon prepare its second cannon blast, I answered:

“Yes. We have to pin it to the ground.”

“Should I try pulling the wound shut with wires?”

Ami tilted her head as she asked.

The air began prickling again. The lightning rods had been obliterated by the last cannon. We could try relocating to a building farther back, but moving during the charge-up would expose us to the blast.

I fixed my eyes on the blue sphere forming in the dragon’s mouth.

“First priority is avoiding the second one.”

Less than two minutes before it fired.

“Is anyone injured?”

Brief replies came back—everyone fine.

Even Sophia’s voice appeared. I hadn’t been able to visually confirm her earlier, which had worried me. Relieved that all members were alive, I kept watching the dragon.

At least everyone had enough skill to dodge.

But we couldn’t keep taking risks like this.

We had to finish it quickly.

“It’s coming.”

My hair rose.

Thunder fired the electric cannon.

KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-BOOOOOOM!

A blast so blue it turned white tore across the ground.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Every traffic light exploded.

The asphalt ripped apart. Not only the asphalt—soil, gravel, underground cables. The ground in the cannon’s path became a landscape of devastation.

Some of the charge seemed to jump through the water to other spots.

I had focused entirely on dodging, unable to check on the others.

But after the second cannon ended, I saw the seniors staggering up from the ground. Yun and Ricardo were grimacing and rubbing their arms—electrical burns.

Kai was yanking a chunk of building debris out of his arm.

We needed to end this as fast as possible.

I glanced at Ami hovering in the air.

“Tie it.”

“Yes.”

She answered briefly and soared upward.

The moment she took off, I spoke into the radio.

“Ricardo, Yun—when Ami descends, grab the wires and hold!”

[Yes.]

[Yesssir~.]

“Kai. When the opportunity comes, fire a shell straight into its mouth.”

[Okay.]

The low, gravelly reply came.

Watching Ami’s wires spread like an executioner’s noose, I gave the final order.

“Kallak. The moment I divert the third cannon, get under it and unload your submachine gun into the reverse scale.”

If everything went smoothly, that would finish it.

Rain mixed with dragon blood continued to fall.

Through the rain, Sophia’s icy voice spoke:

[Understood.]

Ami’s wires twisted around the dragon’s wounded wing.

A scream of pure pain tore through the air. Thick drops of blood splattered down and dyed the road.

But Ami didn’t pay it any mind, descending so fast it was hard to track with the naked eye.

Yun and Ricardo were already sprinting to where she would land.

They grabbed the wires simultaneously—and pulled with Ami.

Thuuum!

Good.

Thunder was dragged downward.

Not without resistance. With one wing restrained, it clawed wildly with its intact wing and talons, trying to strike the three seniors. But wisely, they didn’t try to block the talons.

They dodged the stabbing blows, then pulled the wires again.

I released a sword slash to divert the dragon’s attention from them.

Thuuum!

“Look at me.”

The slash cut through the air and struck its eye.

A growl seeped from its jaws. Despite part of its cornea being torn away, it didn’t even blink.

Meeting its furious gaze, I lifted one corner of my mouth.

“Don’t get distracted. Look at me.”

And fire the third blast.

A new gust erupted—created by its intact wing.

I braced my lower body, ready to channel the attack.

This had to be its final cannon.

We had to make it so. If we missed this chance, we would need to dodge two more cannon blasts—and almost no buildings remained. Dodging would become nearly impossible, and even if we managed to dodge, the chain of smaller lightning strikes afterward would hit us.

So fire.

I watched the blue sphere forming in its mouth.

Aim straight at me.

The air began to howl.

Crackle, crackle.

Crackle—

Crackle....

It’s coming.

“Release the wire!”

BOOOOOOOOM!

The cannon fired.

I drew.

With the drawn blade, I received the cannon blast. The moment I received it, I slammed the sword into the ground and let the energy flow downward together with the slash. It was swordsmanship learned after hundreds of drills.

Swordsmanship learned solely to fight Thunder Dragons.

The electricity-laced slash tore through the ground.

KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-BOOM!

BANG!

As the dragon staggered from the slash and opened its mouth, a gunshot resounded.

Kai’s shell.

A shot unaffected °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° by the gusts from the dragon’s wing or the rain still pouring from the lingering cumulonimbus.

The shell traced a clean arc—

—and entered the dragon’s mouth.

So perfectly it was almost pleasurable.

KRRRRAAAAAAAAK!

The dragon spat blood.

A massive torrent.

Blood poured from its lowered head like a waterfall.

Dark red drenched the ground. The sound of fresh blood splattering into the pooling mess drowned out even the rain.

It was almost over.

I pulled my sword from the ground and sprinted toward the dragon.

At the same time, I saw Sophia sliding smoothly beneath the waterfall of blood.

She positioned her submachine gun beneath its body.

Tatatatatatatang! Tatatatatatatang! Tatatatatatatang!

Continuous gunfire.

The roar of the bullets swallowed every other sound. And as it continued, the creature’s presence began to fade.

Its life was burning out. Even as the Thunder Dragon coughed blood, it couldn’t even try to escape Sophia’s barrage—despite not being restrained by wires anymore.

One mostly torn-off wing. A mouth soaked in blood. A shredded cornea. Blood spraying from the torn reverse scale.

Once her ammunition ran out, I would deliver the final strike.

Thinking that, I ran toward the dragon—

Then saw something horrifying.

The moment I saw it, the back of my neck prickled violently.

The area around the dragon’s heart was swelling with a pale blue light.

No.

“Kallak!”

I sprinted like a madman.

“Kallak! Get out of there!”

The dragon’s death cry.

Thunder’s last resistance—a final attack containing everything it had left.

This one had power rivaling the electric cannon. Enough power to erase a mountaintop.

Its strength wasn’t entirely gone yet, but sensing death, the Thunder Dragon unleashed a final act of vengeance.

A last strike for pride—for the one who brought it down.

If it hit, it meant instant death.

I dropped low and slid beneath its jaw.

Then, from the pool of blood, I grabbed Sophia—who was struggling to regain her footing—and turned aside.

As I watched the dragon’s heart swell into a beautiful white-and-blue sphere that pushed its scales outward—

I knew I was a little too late.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The shockwave slammed into me and sent me tumbling across the ground.

A burst of agony flashed through me.

Then—nothing. No pain. Just the sense that something was missing. And the strange feeling of my clothes getting soaked strangely fast.

But it didn’t hurt.

Only when I tried to push myself up with my arm did I realize something was wrong.

I was missing one side.

“Hilde!”

Ami’s voice split the air—full of terror and shock.

The emotion was so clear, so sharp, that even I felt my knees weaken just hearing it.

“Hilde! Hilde!! Hilde!!”

“You...”

Ricardo was deathly pale.

He had been running toward me—but the instant he saw my condition, he slowed, horror etched across his face.

“You... what... what is....”

I lifted my head to respond—

And someone grabbed the back of my neck.

“Ugh.”

A strong hand shoved me against the dragon’s corpse.

I didn’t know who it was. The person pressed me firmly into the carcass, then grabbed my remaining wrist.

He forced my palm open and pressed it to the dragon’s corpse.

As if to say: Absorb.

Ah. Right. In this situation, I had no choice.

With half my body pouring blood, there was no alternative.

In times like this—even I used absorption.

But wait a second—

Suppressing the wave of instinctive revulsion—

Something cold touched the back of my neck.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzt!

“Gk—!”

A strangled cry ripped out of me.

My nerves jolted violently with unbearable pain. A familiar feeling. My vision sharpened, sparks bursting white before my eyes.

The same sensation I’d felt in the mansion of that bastard Aku.

My body began absorbing—not because I chose to.

“When it’s done, tell me.”

A cold, flat voice fell above me.

“I’ll stop then.”

What the fuck—when did he learn this?

I writhed in pain. During that time, the dead creature became nourishment and began rebuilding my body. A colossal flood of energy surged into me. It sealed wounds, rebuilt flesh, created blood.

All good—except that the absorption rate was out of control and torturous.

Gritting my teeth, I twisted my head.

“Stop...!”

“Your hand isn’t grown yet.”

My handler answered coolly.

“You planning to live without a hand?”

No—my point is I want to absorb, but at my own pace.

I want to control it myself!

Of course I didn’t have the breath or sanity to say any of that.

My nerves thrashed wildly. This was why I hated absorption. The alien sensations. The unwanted memories it dragged up. The way it overloaded the body.

Useful when necessary... but still wretched.

By the time Yun finally released me, my body had no injuries left at all.

Panting, I collapsed onto the blood-soaked ground.

The world had gone quiet—deathly quiet.

As I took in the unmoving surroundings, I jerked my head and glared at my trainer.

“Where did you get that?”

“Falcon.”

Yun answered while holding a long, pen-like silver device.

His face was a frozen mask.

“He sent it personally. Said no matter what happens, keep you alive.”

“That son of a—”

I raked my wet hair back, spitting out a string of profanity.

After wiping my face a few times, I shook my head to clear it.

Blinking, I shook off the water clinging to my lashes.

Focus, Hilde.

“Anyway—thank you. Thanks to you, I recovered.”

“Your arm grew back.”

Ami, who had been standing in a daze beside me, murmured softly.

“I thought you were dead when your right arm just... vanished. But your right arm grew back like a lizard tail....”

“Was it disgusting?”

I looked up at Ami with a bitter smile.

“My apologies. It’s not the most pleasant sight.”

Even my own kin were often horrified.

Only the children of the World Tree could do this. Even among my kin, this form of regeneration was unsettling. Many who witnessed it were traumatized.

Ami stared blankly at my right arm, then slowly looked up at me.

She shook her head—not in denial, but in disbelief—and lowered her gaze again to my arm.

Silence settled with the rain’s fading patter.

Ricardo stood still beside her, unmoving.

After a long moment, he suddenly bent down—

“...You’re intact.”

Still holding my right arm in his hands, I looked up at Ricardo’s green eyes.

“I have no injuries anymore. A dragon’s corpse is excellent nourishment.”

Ricardo held my arm for a long time.

His face showed no clear emotion, but he was still pale. The hand gripping my arm trembled slightly.

I had truly frightened my squad.

My mistake.

They had performed perfectly—flawlessly.

As I looked at them with sinking guilt, I suddenly remembered something crucial.

Ah.

I snapped my head to the side.

And saw Sophia Kallak standing motionless.

“Senior.”

Thankfully, she was unharmed.

“My apologies. That was my mistake.”

Sophia—who had been staring blankly at my arm—slowly lifted her head.

Very slowly. When her eyes met mine, her face was filled with shock.

I looked straight at her. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

At the senior who, for the first time, gazed at me with emotion—not hatred or resentment.

Throughout the entire mission, she had carried out every instruction I gave.

“I assumed it didn’t have enough energy left to self-destruct. That’s why I ordered you to go beneath it and shoot the reverse scale. It was a fatal misjudgment. There’s no excuse. I am truly sorry.”

For a moment, I had thought I would lose her.

I was immensely relieved that I hadn’t. Truly...

She didn’t answer. Not even a shift in expression. But seeing the stunned, speechless senior, I couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

Genuinely.

“Thank you for following orders so well.”

The rain weakened.

Warm sunlight slipped through breaks in the clouds as I smiled broadly—

Right as Ami burst into tears and threw herself at me.