Chapter 752

The fairies’ goal is to kill me, not Nidhogg, so stepping back now would be pointless.

That explanation had enough persuasive power to convince my comrades.

They knew it too. Without the intervention of the Dragonkin, facing the Fairy Guardians alone would inevitably lead to sacrifices.

So, we climbed back up the mountain range and headed toward the hill, into the hell of black flames where the frenzied dragon was rampaging.

—

While rushing toward the battlefield, I gave brief instructions to my comrades, advising them on how to fight.

They were all veterans who had been through various battles, so they’d probably handle it well… but you never know, right? Fighting fairies is a first for us today.

A few words of advice wouldn’t hurt.

“Damien, cut down the wind spirits the Guardians are riding. Your sword can do it.”

“Got it.”

Damien, with his free flight ability, hero-level swordsmanship, and Jin’s Silver Sword capable of killing spirits, was instructed to bring down the enemies in the sky.

Even though spirits bound to the World Tree would eventually revive, it wouldn’t be a simple process, so at least they wouldn’t be resummoned during this fight.

“Milia, stay hidden and snipe when you see an opportunity. After firing an arrow, move to another location immediately.”

“Okay! I’ll sneak around diligently!”

Milia was best used as a sniper, striking and retreating to create openings. Going head-to-head in a shooting match with the fairies would just get us overwhelmed.

But staying in one spot would mean getting bombarded by high-level spirits and spirit arrows, so hit-and-run was the only way.

“Nigel, Ja-han, Ophelia, Rana. Stick together, cover each other… protect and support one another. Leave the killing to me and Damien. Focus on holding the line without getting hurt.”

“Yes!”

I grouped the remaining four together.

Rana was a given, but the other three weren’t strong enough to fight alone. If they separated, they could be taken out in an instant.

Sticking together, they could at least hold a defensive line against the Guardians.

“Ah, and Rana, are you okay? You’re not badly hurt, are you?”

“I’m fine. I’ve already healed.”

Perhaps happy about my concern, Rana smiled brightly, pointing to her slightly reddened cheek.

“Good, that’s a relief. Still, be careful not to get hurt.”

I was worried she might be seriously injured, but it seemed it was just a minor burn. Seeing how quickly she healed was reassuring.

“Hey, Ha-shal-leur. What about me? What should I do?”

Asha, the last remaining combatant, turned to me and asked.

“Did you bring the machine gun?”

“Yes! It’s built into my shoulder armor!”

Asha shrugged and pressed a switch on her pauldron, causing the metal cover to click open, revealing a rotating triple-barrel gatling gun inside.

“Wow…”

I let out a low whistle. A built-in shoulder gatling. A weapon overflowing with dwarf-like romance.

Though smaller than a typical machine gun, its power, range, and ammo capacity were somewhat ambiguous… but guns hurt no matter what. Even in this form, it would be enough to pierce armor and shred flesh.

“Good. Use your jetpack to zip around the battlefield and provide covering fire whenever the others are in danger. Make the fairies give up attacking and retreat.”

“Leave it to me!”

Asha grinned triumphantly, pulling down her helmet’s visor. Her eyes, hidden behind the translucent screen, glowed with excitement.

“Right. Like I said, everyone, fight while protecting yourselves. This isn’t just about slaughtering those long-eared bastards.”

After using the chaos to slaughter all the fairies, we’d have to take down the Dragonkin too.

Seeing how they attacked our comrades without hesitation, it was clear they had no intention of resolving things peacefully.

If they could get their hands on the Dragon’s Remains, they wouldn’t care about the Empire’s protests.

So, we had no choice but to kill them all.

Leopold wanted a peaceful resolution through a show of force rather than direct conflict… but he never said to retreat and give up the remains.

On the contrary, he said to secure the remains no matter what.

Well, even if Leopold had ordered a peaceful resolution, my choice wouldn’t have changed.

I had no intention of sparing those who attacked us first.

“Everyone, charge!”

As the ridiculously long breath of the Insect-Dragon faded into thin traces, we threw ourselves toward the hill covered in mud and steam.

—

======[ Tersillius ]======

‘Things have gotten so tangled…!’

The Fairy Guardian, Tersillius, riding atop a high-level wind spirit, looked down at the battlefield and let out a sigh.

A sense of defeat, comparable to the time of the racial wars, struck his chest.

The battle, which he thought would be resolved without much difficulty, had completely derailed due to unforeseen variables.

—

After using a snowfield bear as a familiar to locate the target and tracking their movement, everything had gone smoothly until they were finally caught.

“The short-lived races are gathered, but… the target isn’t visible.”

“Are they hunting alone? No, that can’t be. If that were the case, they would’ve come alone. So… are they planning to lure the dragon to a hill for an easier fight?”

“Given their straight path, it’s safe to assume they know Nidhogg’s location. So… they’re heading for the summit of that peak.”

The Fairy Guardians, having spotted Damien’s group at the base of the hill, quickly deduced the situation. Even without Ha-shal-leur among them, the terrain and their gathering suggested everything.

They weren’t beings who had lived hundreds of years for nothing.

“What should we do? Wait for the target to appear and ambush them? Or deal with these ones first?”

“Dealing with them first would be better. If the target is heading for the summit, it’ll take considerable time for them to return. Eliminating the two heroes beforehand would make killing the target easier.”

Tersillius decided to ambush Damien’s group to eliminate them early.

With the dragon, the target, and the two heroes causing chaos, it would be too risky to intervene later. Taking them out while their forces were divided was the best move.

Tactically, it was the right decision. The other Guardians, including Ereneisia, agreed.

Thus, the fairies stealthily approached Damien’s group, preparing their spirit arrows.

Everything was going smoothly. Some fairies even silently thanked the World Tree for their luck.

But their luck ended there.

“Damien! Enemies! Southwest, spirit arrows incoming!”

As soon as the fairies summoned their spirits and nocked their arrows, the red-haired woman leisurely smoking a magical cigarette suddenly stood up and pointed to their hiding spot.

Ophelia’s mystic eyes, which visualized the flow of mana, had caught the fairies’ preparations.

“They noticed…?! How…!”

The fairies, unaware of this ability, were understandably flustered.

But that wasn’t the only unexpected variable.

Even though their perfect ambush had been foiled before it even began, that alone wasn’t enough to turn the tide. The power gap between the two sides was still overwhelming.

“Open fire! Wipe them out!”

The fairies, lying in the snowfield, sprang up and unleashed a barrage of spirit arrows at Damien’s group. Explosions of fire, ice, and lightning swept across the ground.

“Ugh…! We can’t hold out like this…!”

“Those sneaky long-eared bastards…!”

Damien’s group struggled to block the spirit arrows, but it was clear they were barely holding on and would soon collapse.

“Good. Keep pushing!”

Tersillius savored the sweet taste of victory, curling his lips into a smile.

The second variable appeared right after.

“Kuhahaha! The scaleless ones are gathered here!”

With a roar that was more ferocious than hearty, a group of Dragonkin burst onto the hill. Their approach was far quicker than the fairies had anticipated.

How could the fairies have known?

The Dragonkin, even without tools like the Soul Compass, could vaguely sense the dragon’s location through an instinctual pull in their blood.

Though it took some time due to the vagueness, they eventually reached the hill where Nidhogg was hiding.

What followed was utter chaos.

The Dragonkin, charging with their scales clashing, began tearing through both humans and fairies alike. The fairies, now forced to deal with the Dragonkin first, were thrown into disarray.

And then, the third variable fell from above.

The Sword of the Starry Sky, the last heir of the Median family, descended with a massive Insect-Dragon in tow.

Their return was ten times faster than expected.

How could they have known? The target wasn’t running down the peak but flying through the sky, spewing flames.

It was a fatal miscalculation due to a lack of information.