C317: Veil is Unmatched

“Veil?”

What are you trying to do?
This is supposed to be a story where Alexander burns everything to ashes… I mean, settles things peacefully.

“…I’ve been feeling pretty grumpy.”
“Why?”
“Dragons have been in the limelight recently, save for me! I’m supposed to be the most well-known dragon here!”

Um, okay… Your point?

“I want to hog just one scene! Then earn Junior’s respect!”
“Junior’s not old enough to retain anything that’s happening right now, though…”

But even Platy’s advice fell on deaf ears.

“Let me handle this one, Alexander! I’m going to use my power to splendidly solve this problem!”
“Very well,” readily approves her brother. “I do want to see the power of someone in the service of Lord Saint. Bloody Mary should be a worthy opponent for that.”
“Yeah!!!”

I-Is this okay?
Sure, Veil is strong, given that she’s a dragon.
Still, Mary, the second eldest, might be too much for her…

“I don’t know about that, Dear,” says Platy.

She walks up next to me with Junior in her arms.

“Remember, the people who live on this farm have powered up one way or another. I bet Veil is no exception since she’s one of our oldest residents.”
“Huh?!”
“She’s always been strong, so I can’t tell how exactly she’s changed, but we’ll probably see today the fruits of her time here.”

The fruits of her time here?
I can only remember her eating and sleeping all day!

Those days gave her a new power?!

“Veil? I think I’ve heard that name before,” says Bloody Mary, the noblewoman in black. “She’s one of the ten most powerful children of Father, aside from Alexander and me. I wasn’t expecting you to be their ally. But…”

Huh?
So, Veil is that strong, even among her siblings?!

“But how can you be so foolish as to think you can challenge me, the mightiest of dragons?”
“Isn’t that Brother Alexander? You only come after him!”
“Ngh!”

Mary’s expression twisted as if Veil had hit the bullseye.

“Fine. If you want to die that badly, be the guest of me, the rightful Geyser Dragon!”

The beautiful woman in black transforms into her jet-black dragon form, Veil following suit.
And in an instant, they both soar high into the sky.

“Ack!”

Can’t they go a little more slowly? The sudden gust is causing dust clouds to form.

The two confronting dragons glare at each other in the sky.

“My poor, ignorant sister. There is an unbridgeable gap between you and me that bears the prefix Grau, even though we’re both Grinzel dragons,” says Mary. “Realize the difference between us and back out while you still can. I still need to deal with Brother Alexander and Ardheg later. I can’t bother myself with each one of you!”

A jet-black aura vigorously emanates from Mary’s body.
It condenses and materializes into several bullets.

“Have a taste of my secret arts: Darkness Meteor!”

At her statement, black shadow bullets were unleashed.
One shot seems enough to blow up an entire island, yet countless of them are headed toward Veil.
Surely, not even she would be able to survive such a brutal attack…

A battle between dragons!
They have the power to kill their own kind.

I shuddered at this thought, but something even more astonishing happened.

“Bwehh!”
“Hunh?!”

Veil dispelled the horrifying black barrage like it was nothing.

“That was one lousy trick, Mary. Did you really think you could beat me with just that?”
“You’ve got to be kidding! Only Alexander could withstand that attack!”

As if shocked to have her lethal move nullified, the black dragon draws back.

“You underestimated me. Did you think I was always weaker than you?”
“Excuse me?!”
“I’ve grown. I lived on this farm, ate all kinds of food, and got stronger. But what gave me the most strength was…Junior!”

Junior?!
What about my son?!

“Junior taught me what love is, and it has made me stronger. With love, I am unmatched!”

She’s starting to sound like a successor of some deadly martial arts style.

“Witness my newfound power after I discovered love!”

A fierce dragon aura that surpasses even that of Bloody Mary’s circulates Veil.

“My dragon aura imbued with love is a hundredfold stronger than before! Take this, Secret Art: Ai, Love, Je t’aime!!!”

The light ray emitted by Veil is much larger and more intense than Mary’s black bullets.
This one big ray looks like it could easily swallow a giant dragon…

“Hieeeeeeeeeee!!!”

Mary frantically evades the attack and throws away her pride as the strongest dragon in the process.

“Ah… I would’ve been goners if that had hit me…”

Veil succeeded in striking fear into the second-ranking dragon.

Platy was right; she was also influenced by the farm in her own way.
No matter who you are, growth in any form is a good thing.
Veil is amazing. Veil is commendable.

“Darn it, she dodged that? I won’t miss this time! Ai, Love, Amore!!!”

She mercilessly launches a barrage of light beams of the same scale, not giving Mary enough leeway to attempt another dodge.

“Noooooooooooo! I’m gonna dieeeee!”

Everyone could tell this brutal beam was enough to kill her.
Or so we thought…

“Uooooooooooooooh!!!”
“I’m gonna die! I… Huh?”

Another dragon steps in and intercepts the light beam.
He thrusts his arms out and uses his dragon power to create a shield and block Veil’s attack.

Well, color me surprised.

Who could withstand an attack so powerful that a direct hit could’ve killed the supposed second-strongest dragon?

Was it the true strongest dragon, Alexander?
No!
Alexander is standing next to me in his human form, looking up at the same scene as us.

Then who?

“Oh? Isn’t that Ardheg?”

Indeed, it was Ardheg in his dragon form!

“Sis Veil! Your prank has gone too far!” he says, brushing off the light particles he just blocked.

“Wow, you actually managed to block my love attack. Did you have a drastic power-up after becoming Geyser Dragon?”

Surprisingly, Veil is at ease even though her special move was intercepted.

“Dragons killing each other is meaningless! Please be more mindful, Sis Veil and Sis Mary!”
“A-Ah…”

Mary, who just had a narrow escape from death, stares dumbfoundedly at her dashing savior.

“Y-You’re Ardheg?”
“Certainly. I understand you’re upset a young dragon like me has been appointed as Dragon Emperor, but please calm down!”

Would you look at that; he’s like a wise ruler trying to contain the situation. Is he quickly becoming aware of his new status as Dragon Emperor?

“All right, let’s see how strong you’ve become, Ardheg! Ai, Love, Aloha!!!”
“Ahhhhhhhh! Sis Veil, why are you firing another attackkkkk?!”

Despite that, he still manages to stop Veil’s attack.
Maybe it really is because he gained power after becoming the Geyser Dragon?