“Why’s that?”
“How am I supposed to know?!”
Saito pulled a blackboard from below his seat, followed by a chalk. It was amazing that such things were in a zero fighter. It looked like the previous pilot used this to communicate. Saito passed it to Louise.
Louise wrote the words, “Come over here,” on it, and, raising it out of the cockpit, waved it a few times.
The dragon knights nodded their heads and approached the Zero Fighter; forming a pack, they continued flying ahead. Rather than continue being fired upon, might as well give it a try.
Saito shut his eyes and prayed:
“Please don’t let be something like the Happy Little Snake again…”
Saito turned back and, watching the approaching enemy dragon knight squadron, pulled the Happy Little Snake’s tongue.
Nothing happened.
Damn it! Next time I see Colbert, I’m going to beat the crap out of him! I don’t care if you're a teacher or not, I’ll worry about that after! Of course this is only if I survive and return, but I’ll still beat you up! thought Saito, clenching his fist in rage.
Just then –
Various objects blew out from the wings of the Zero Fighter.
They were the circular objects that he saw floating from the metal box when they left.
The sound of the object’s lighting up, overlapped with Louise’s explanation:
“I really think that my talent is almost too frightening! A metal rocket powered by combustible powders and fitted with magical artifacts enchanted with ‘Detect Magic’! You may call them…Little Flying Snakes! Since it uses its reaction to magic to approach the enemy, if you have any allies in the area, make sure they are gathered around you! To prevent harming your allies, it doesn’t react to anything within a twenty meter radius!”
Emitting a clean rattling sound, the roughly ten or so rockets launched themselves backwards, headed towards the pursuing dragon knights.
Several of the large, powder-powered rockets collided with the Albion dragon knights, and exploded with several bangs.
As the cloud of smoke dissipated, only half the pursuers remained.
The remaining dragon knights, their wind dragons having lost their will to fight, halted their pursuit.
“Yes!”
Saito and Louise cheered as they hugged one another.
As the tightly packed dragon knights began to separate, the sight ahead of them was again ominous.
Saito turned his view to the front –
The smile on his face faded in an instant.
Upon seeing this, Louise’s smile also disappeared.
“What’s going on?”
Louise slowly turned to where Saito was facing.
Appearing ahead of them was a flock of dragon riders, its numbers exceeding a hundred.
Albion’s dragon knights were unrivalled.
It wasn’t just their natural skill; even their numbers were totally unrivalled.
The surrounding dragon knights quickened their speed.
Nonetheless, they could only charge forwards.
It seemed they had accepted that.
But… there were countless enemies before their eyes.
Innumerable magic arrows began flying towards them from the enemy dragon knights, all directed at Saito’s Zero.
To withstand an attack from this many projectiles…he couldn’t dodge it even if he tried.
It’s almost going to impact!
Suddenly, Saito witnessed something that shocked his very being –
A dragon knight unexpectedly jumped ahead of the Zero, and using himself and his wind dragon, blocked the approaching magical arrows.
After having been struck by the magical arrows, the dragon and its rider fell from the skies.
“W-what’s going on?!”
The first to realize what was happening in front of them was Derflinger.
“It looks like they are using themselves as shields.”
“Shields?”
“Yup. As long as you guys reach Dartanes, the mission will be a success. They probably received the order to sacrifice themselves if necessary.”
The countless horde of dragon knights continued to approach.
A massive fireball came next. Again, a dragon knight appeared and shielded the attack, before promptly dropping down.
“Hey! Hey! Stop doing that!” Saito exclaimed.
Derflinger moved towards Louise:
“Hey, missy, when I give you the signal, just pull the lever down there below the seat. That’s the last weapon that uncle installed.”
The legendary Derflinger could be said to be unrivalled in his knowledge in the field of weaponry. Louise nodded while quivering.
“My partner’s mind is in a bit of a mess at the moment, so it seems you’ll have to do it. Do you understand?”
At that instant, Saito’s squadron and the horde of dragon knights brushed past one another.
The enemy dragon knights were just like the ones before, rising up immediately, and pursuing from behind. The remaining eight dragon knights began separating from Saito’s Zero.
“Hey! Hey! What are you guys planning to do?!”
The one riding at the head of the pack smiled to Saito and waved his hands. Like how one would wave their hands goodbye once class had ended in school, it was truly too simple a way to bid farewell.
He was always the one that was friendliest to Saito; the captain of the 2nd Dragon Knight Squadron. A slightly chubby, blonde-haired boy who had once won the bet as to whether the “Zero was a dragon or not”. Like Saito, he was seventeen years-old, with a sweetheart waiting for him back in his village… parents who awaited his return… he had told him that becoming a dragon knight had been his dream.
Saito suddenly remembered, he hadn’t even asked for his name.
The eight dragon knights turned around together.
Following the lead of the seventeen year-old blonde-haired young man, knights who had only become friends yesterday charged headlong together into the pursuing pack of dragon knights.
To allow Saito and Louise to escape –
It was all for this objective and nothing more.
“Turn back! Turn back already!” Saito frantically yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Now!” Derflinger instructed loudly.
Hearing his command, Louise immediately pulled the lever below the seat.
Swoosh. The sound of various objects separating could be heard from behind.
From below the wing of the tail, emerged a hidden object.
It was a metal cask many times larger than the rockets before.
The rocket, invented by the Fire-mage Colbert, left the craft and ignited.
Phooooom! All that could be seen was a pale blue smoke, before the Zero rapidly picked up speed, as though it had been kicked by something.
At the same time, the dragon knights were quickly swallowed up the enemy’s massive squadron… and quickly faded from view.
Louise panicked once she realised that Saito planned to turn around and head back. Derflinger also guessed Saito’s plan, and warned loudly:
“Partner! Don’t pull that stick! If we were to turn around at this speed, this thing’s going to tear apart!”
The abrupt warning made Saito lean tensely back into his seat, screaming,
“We only met yesterday! Those guys actually killed themselves for us! Even though they only met us yesterday! Isn’t this screwed up to you?!”
“I know that as well! But! But! Our mission is to use the Void spell at Dartanes! They were sent to protect us to ensure that we safely reached the objective! If we are to turn back now, and cause the plan to fail as a result… wouldn’t that make their sacrifice meaningless?!”
Saito rubbed his eyes, and facing forward, muttered,
“I… I didn’t even know their names!”
To be saved by someone you didn’t even know the name of, or to be killed by someone you didn’t know the name of; is that what war is?
“Don’t kid me! How can I accept such a thing! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!”
Saito cried. To yell and scream like this was meaningless; he knew that, but he couldn’t bear to not yell out.
The Zero Fighter, flying at a reading close to 450 kilometers an hour from the speedometer, flew forwards.
Despite being in the violently shaking craft, Saito was trembling all over for another reason.
After shaking off the enemy, how long they flew for, they didn’t know.
After what seemed like an eternity, a port appeared over the horizon before their eyes. On the open expanses of a mountain, on which stood numerous steel spires used to anchor the ships floating in the skies… several things that resembled a docking bay could be seen.
“That’s the port of Dartanes…”
“Go up.”
Louise said softly into Saito’s ear.
Saito raised the Zero Fighter towards the sky.
In the wake of the speed boost, the Zero Fighter slowly lost speed.
Once they had reached a suitable height, Louise stood up, and opened the cockpit.
Gusts of wind blew in.