Chapter 69

“Guoooooohh!?”

Dorgu soared through the air from the impact of the dropkick. He collided with the ceiling and then plummeted back down, hitting the floor on his back. A tremor akin to an earthquake shook the area, and the floor began to cave in around the impact site.

“This… h-how is this power possible… from the likes of you…!”

Having smashed through to the floor below, Dorgu continued to shatter the ground beneath him. He tore through successive floors with blinding speed. Between his massive frame and the energy of the fall, his momentum was unstoppable. Without any way to resist, he kept dropping through the levels of the castle.

“Ha-ha! What a pathetic sight!”

Meanwhile, I let out a roar of laughter as I fell. It was an incredible rush. I hadn’t expected the move to land so perfectly. That said, I was about to be swallowed by the collapse myself. That would be a bit too stupid, so I needed to grab onto something.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, I was scooped up by Alice as she flew in from the side. She held me in a perfect bridal carry. Alice looked down at me in her arms.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, you saved me.”

I offered my thanks from her embrace. After a mid-air flip to kill her momentum, she hovered at the height of the original floor. She seemed to have mastered the Powered Suit already; her aerial mobility was second to none.

“Now then, what happened to that guy?”

I scrambled onto the back of the Powered Suit and checked the situation below. Dorgu had fallen all the way to the first floor. The interior of the castle had become a vertical shaft, offering a cross-section view of every floor. A crater had formed on the ground floor as well, looking as if a meteorite had struck it.

Lying on his back, Dorgu propped himself up on his elbows. His movements were visibly sluggish. Even for someone like him, that last hit had clearly done some damage.

“Jack Aaron! I… will never, ever forgive youuuuu…!”

In a fit of rage, Dorgu inhaled. Thinking it was another shockwave, I suddenly spotted a pale blue light deep in his throat. Sensing the danger instinctively, I shouted an order to Alice.

“Something nasty is coming. Dodge!”

Immediately after, a breath attack was unleashed. Alice guarded the laser-like beam with defensive magic. While holding the breath at bay, she performed a sharp pivot to evade. From there, she began a spiraling descent down the castle’s central shaft.

The breath chased after us persistently. It sliced through the floors along its path, yet showed no signs of stopping. He didn’t seem to care at all about the damage to his own castle.

“The bastard’s gotten serious!”

Clinging to the back of the Powered Suit, I drew the revolver from my hip. I cocked the hammer with my thumb and stabilized my aim by resting my arm on Alice’s shoulder. Dorgu was wide open while firing his breath; he was focused entirely on burning us to a crisp. The balance between his reason and instinct had likely crumbled under his fury.

Descending at the speed of a roller coaster, I lined up the sights of the handgun. I felt neither tension nor fear. Consequently, my aim didn’t waver. I pulled the trigger quietly.

“Here’s my resignation signature. Make sure you receive it.”

The bullet I fired struck Dorgu square in one of his eyes. Fresh blood sprayed, and a scream echoed through the hall. The eye was completely ruined. Even if it regenerated, he’d be blind for a while.

“You arrogant trashhhhh!”

Dorgu shook his head as if to escape the pain. The stray breath attack carved through the castle’s interior. Several floors shifted, and the collapse of the entire building became a visible reality. If we stayed too long, we’d end up buried alive.

Having finished his breath, Dorgu stood up. He was covered in blood, but there was no sign of him dying yet. I could still feel a staggering amount of bloodlust and vitality.

I reached into the storage box on the back of the Powered Suit. It was packed with the arsenal we’d transferred from the Golem Car. I pulled out a black bomb and dropped it toward Dorgu.

Dorgu raised his axe.

He seemed to intend to swat the falling bomb away with his axe.

“Do you really think a tiny thing like this could defeat me—”

The bomb burst just before the axe could make contact.

A black light erupted, and Dorgu abruptly fell to his knees. The cratering of the first floor intensified, and the ground began to lurch and shake.

That black bomb was a Dark-element Spirit Bomb. Upon detonation, it increases gravity for about thirty seconds. While it lacks direct destructive power, in this current situation, it was the perfect weapon.

“Ha-ha-ha! That’s what happens when you let your guard down in a fight like this!”

I hammered the immobilized Dorgu with a continuous barrage from my rocket launcher. I used every last bit of ammunition remaining in the storage box on Alice’s back.

Dorgu tried to counter with his breath and his axe. Even under the increased gravitational load, he moved by sheer brute force, maneuvering skillfully to minimize the damage. It seemed the rocket launcher wouldn’t be the deciding blow.

Dorgu let out a throaty laugh.

“Where are you aiming? Do you think this much is enough to kill me!?”

“I don’t. That’s why I’ve prepared the next move.”

I dropped an additional Dark Spirit Bomb. The black light erupted once more, bathing Dorgu’s entire body. Finally, the first floor collapsed completely, unable to withstand the immense load.

“Nguu…!”

Panicked by the ground crumbling beneath him, Dorgu tried to claw his way up by grabbing the edge of the upper floor. He was doing everything he could to avoid falling into the basement. We weren’t about to let that happen.

“Alice, let’s do it.”

“Leave it to me.”

Alice nodded and began firing a massive volley of magic arrows. I sniped with my revolver. Our combined assault, relying on sheer volume, destroyed the fingers Dorgu was using to hold on. His blood-slicked grip slipped, and Dorgu began to fall.

“GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

With a scream, Dorgu was swallowed by the collapsing floor, falling into the basement along with the rubble. Seeing this, my grin widened.

“Good, good. The preparations for the burial are complete.”

So far, everything was going mostly according to plan. This was a scenario I had considered as one of my options. I knew exactly what was in the basement. And this time, I intended to use it.

“We’re going after him.”

“Understood.”

When we reached the basement, Dorgu was buried in rubble. Beside him was a large blue crystal, floating in the air and rotating slowly.

That was the City Core. It was a different color than the one in the Imperial Capital, but there was no mistaking it. I had researched beforehand and knew a City Core was located beneath this castle. That was exactly why I had lured Dorgu here.

I grabbed a random bomb and toyed with it lightly.

“Wake up already. If you dawdle, your city is going to blow sky-high.”

I tossed the bomb down as I spoke. Dorgu looked up in a panic.

“You… you madman…!”

He crawled out from the rubble and reflexively shielded the City Core with his body. The falling bomb detonated against Dorgu’s back. A few of his scales shattered, but he didn’t move an inch. Taking that opening, I leaped down from the Powered Suit, falling in a straight line toward Dorgu’s back.

“Prepare yourself, you lizard bastard!”

A kick fueled by free-fall slammed into Dorgu’s back. The sensation of destruction traveled up through the sole of my foot.

“GOHAH!?”

Dorgu barely managed to keep from collapsing. He braced himself with both legs, enduring even as the floor cratered beneath his weight. I landed and smiled, machete in hand.

“Don’t think it’s over yet. From here on, it’s bonus time!”

Holding the dragon-material machete in a reverse grip, I began stabbing Dorgu’s back repeatedly. I drove it through his scales without care, ripping it out to flay the meat. I slashed again and again, then crushed the exposed flesh and bone under my boots.

“Gugh… you… you monster… aaaaaagh…!”

Dorgu was enraged but unable to move. It was because the City Core was right there. He knew that even slight damage could cause it to malfunction and trigger an irreversible explosion. Thus, he had no room to counterattack and was forced to simply endure my assault.

“Sorry, but I’m going to use you for some target practice.”

“Fuu… GUGHAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

I took a running start and kicked the back of his head, causing Dorgu to momentarily lose his balance. A strange noise echoed from beneath him—the sound of metal grinding against metal. Dorgu’s body had made contact with the City Core.

Noticing this, I picked up the pace of my attacks.

“Come on, come on, give up already! It’s game over for you!”

“Stop… it…! If this continues… the City Core will—AAAAAGH!”

Under the fierce assault, Dorgu finally collapsed. The City Core was pinned entirely beneath him, and it began to creak and groan violently under his weight. The screeching grew louder and louder.

“Alice!”

At my call, Alice accelerated her descent with her thrusters and landed on Dorgu’s back. The sound of his spine shattering echoed through the room. The impact was like that of a missile.

“…Gugh, gah…”

Dorgu’s body remained broken. It seemed his regeneration couldn’t keep up with this much damage. He was already unable to move, much less counterattack. In that moment, I gouged a small hole in Dorgu’s neck with the machete, stuffed a bomb inside, and lit the fuse.

“Alice!”

“Grab on!”

I took her outstretched hand, and we retreated into the air at once using her thrusters. From above, we looked down at the basement. Dorgu pushed himself up onto all fours. The City Core, distorted by the weight, was showering the room with sparks.

Dorgu, drenched in blood, glared up at us and screamed my name.

“JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRROOOOOOOOOOON!”

In the next instant, the bomb embedded in his neck detonated. Dorgu’s eyes rolled back as he staggered and fell onto the City Core. Unable to withstand the weight any longer, the City Core cracked and shattered.

“!!!!!!!”

Dorgu let out a scream like a thunderclap. His convulsing body caught fire, sparking and crackling with electricity.

“It looks like an immense amount of mana is flowing into him from the broken City Core,” Alice explained calmly. “Under such an excessive supply, a physical body will perish in an instant. It’s like trying to stop a torrential flood with a wooden twig.”

Alice’s commentary was clinical. Boiling blood erupted from every one of Dorgu’s orifices as he convulsed. White smoke billowed, and his remaining eye burst. He would not be getting up again. It seemed even the Great Dragon-Man couldn’t survive the mana of a City Core.

—And so, Dorgu, one of the representatives of Eurea was dead.