However, Sonata had the advantage of superior speed, enabling him to dodge the dragon's claws and land powerful punches. Even using the same technique as Alto, his punches were more effective in damaging the dragon.
Sonata retreated, but not before implanting a device in the dragon's chest with his final punch.
"Explode!" he commanded, and the bomb inside the device was triggered by a signal sent from his battlesuit. A deafening explosion erupted, causing the dragon's chest to burst open with blood. Despite the devastating attack, however, the dragon still stood tall and let out a fierce roar.
"Why is it still alive?" Vanay exclaimed as she backed away. She found it hard to believe that the dragon had survived the attack, and began to suspect that Sonata had used low-powered bombs.
Sonata prepared to strike the dragon once again at the same vulnerable spot. He had become accustomed to the dragon's speed and was confident that he could infiltrate, attack, and retreat if he could get close enough to it.
However, he soon realized that he had underestimated the dragon.
In a single attack, the dragon sent Sonata hurtling through the air. His arms were fractured as he instinctively raised them to block the blow.
Alto witnessed what had happened to Sonata and exclaimed, "What on earth happened?"
He rushed to his friend's aid, helping him regain his balance and administering a healing tool that injected nanomachines into Sonata's throat. These nanomachines would work alongside his existing ones to alleviate pain from injuries and speed up the healing and recovery process.
"Didn't you see it?" Sonata asked, surprised by his friend's lack of awareness. "Everything was frozen in place, except for that dragon. Its tail came at me full force and knocked me off my feet."
Alto shook his head, unable to make sense of what had just happened.
From his perspective, he only saw Sonata rush in, and the dragon moved in a strange manner. Suddenly, Sonata was flung away without any explanation.
"Either the time was stopped, or the dragon speeded up time in the blink of an eye," Sonata analyzed from his power which inadvertently mimics the dragon's power during battle. By that monster's power, he received the ability to see a fraction of a second that had stopped before.
Without hesitation, Sonata immediately returned to the fight with the dragon. This time, he used the Chronicle Dragon's ability from the start. As he expected, only he and the dragon could move while this power was active.
It was not just that. Sonata recalled an image of himself, Alto, and three friends on a mission as Silencer Apprentices from memory, followed by an image of a young girl who died in his arms. Some images of his battle against the mutants and several scenes of the genocide in the past popped up continuously.
...Memories from long ago…
The images flooded Sonata's mind like the flow of a river. He saw countless people whom he did not recognize:
... a blue fox demon with hundreds of tails,
... a young man who wielded a black sword,
... a golden-haired woman with an aura like the sun,
… a dragon-horned female warrior,
….and many other foes whom he had not yet encountered.
Suddenly, Sonata received a surge of incomplete information. He heard words like "Hundred Souls," "Fray's Guard," "Eternity," and other unfamiliar terms that seemed to pop up out of nowhere.
Distracted by the sudden influx of information, Sonata was caught off guard as the dragon launched a counterattack. It charged at him with full force, and Alto tried to intervene but was knocked out.
"Stand Still"
Vanay shouted, using her magic to halt the Chronicle Dragon in mid-air. However, she quickly realized that it was not easy to use this spell against a formidable enemy like the dragon, and she could only stop it for a few seconds.
Sonata and Alto were ready for the dragon's next attack. Their powerful strikes caused the dragon's body, cloaked in magical armor, to rapidly deteriorate. Although the dragon attempted to resume movement, it was too late - the damage was beyond repair.
The dragon was about to be killed.
The Chronicle Dragon attempted to control the speed of time to escape the dire situation, but Sonata had complete control of the fight. He moved during the halted time, with the same effect on Alto and Vanay.
"Stand Still" once again, Vanay used her magic to halt the dragon's movements.
The dragon froze in place, poised for its final moments.
Alto quickly embedded several more bombs into the dragon's body before he and Sonata jumped out of range.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Really?!" Despite the explosive blasts, the dragon refused to fall, angering Sonata.
"You might want to reconsider your approach," Alto joked.
Sonata would not back down. They were in a treasure-filled room with limited time, as the Atezia soldiers were likely aware of their presence.
***------------------------------------------------------------------***
Meanwhile, outside the castle walls, the armies of Atezia and Chaos clashed in a fierce battle. Each side utilized their unique abilities and strengths to gain the upper hand.
Although the Atezia Army had the advantage in numbers and equipment, they could not underestimate the Chaos forces. With the aid of soldiers from Sonata's "order," the Chaos held their ground against the Atezia Army.
The two armies fought relentlessly, with the clashing of weapons, the firing of spells, and the booming of cannons ringing out across the battlefield. The Chaos soldiers, known for their ambush tactics, adapted to a direct confrontation strategy, engaging the Atezia Army in a prolonged fight of alternating attacks and retreats.
The Chaos had no choice but to adopt an aggressive approach, as their army grew in size with the addition of traitorous soldiers from the Atezia Army and armed villagers, making their traditional ambush tactics unsuitable.
Sonata's command was limited to only half of Sector One, but even so, his soldiers were a formidable force.
The first unit comprised three hundred infantry and thirty-five psychic troops armed with modern weapons such as rifles, laser rifles, rocket launchers, and jump-jet flying equipment. Some of them rode hoverbikes, and their combat power was a hundred times greater than ordinary soldiers.
The second unit was the robot army, specifically designed for assassination. It consisted of four hundred attack drones and ten auto-pilot spider tanks.
Lastly, the third unit consisted of ten humanoid mechanics born from nanomachines.
The Atezia Army soldiers were no slouches either, possessing formidable strength and abilities. Some paladins among them were even capable of taking down a spider tank.
A spider tank was slowly making its way down a hill, its spider-like legs carefully picking their way through the terrain. However, two skilled paladins swiftly cut off its legs, causing it to tumble to the ground, severely damaged. Despite this, the broken leg soon repaired itself.
Meanwhile, the Chaos Generals, including Tales, had infiltrated the city, and were using reckless battle methods to lead their subordinates. Tales wielded a giant sword with ease, capable of blowing away multiple soldiers with every strike.
The soldiers of Atezia were not ordinary humans, possessing incredible strength and abilities. Some paladins among them were even able to take down state-of-the-art tanks like the spider tank.
As the battle raged on, the paladin leader, Tina the Divine Lightning, confronted Tales, unleashing a powerful bolt of lightning from her holy sword. The lightning scorched Tales' beloved horse, causing him to go mad as he jumped off in time to avoid the strike.
The middle-aged woman was locked in a fierce battle, parrying two giant swords with all her might. She relied on force deflection to mitigate the attacks, while simultaneously sending electric currents through her opponent's blade.
Despite her skill, Tales did not flinch. He had trained his body to resist damage from both fire and lightning, rendering Tina's electric currents useless.
"You are powerful, but you have gone astray with the rebels," Tina grumbled with regret. She believed that a skilled warrior like Tales would have been better off joining the official soldiers and becoming a nobleman.
Tales spat on the ground in response. "I will never lower myself to serve someone like Baldric."
"What a pity," Tina murmured, her disappointment evident. An electric charge formed around her, and she prepared for a final attack.
Tina and Tales charged towards each other with violent force, causing the surrounding soldiers to retreat in fear. Their immense power was palpable.
Not far away, Devan was engaged in combat with a soldier from Sonata's army who had turned a gun on him. Devan was one of the top three holy paladins, and despite being the youngest among top paladins, half the age of both Tina and Waldo, he was highly skilled.
With his sights set on Alkaiser, Devan aimed to take his head.
However, Alkaiser was not one to be caught off guard. He summoned a demon to deal with Devan.
The creature had its body three times the size of a human with a fiery mane and back, and a bull's skull for a head, complete with two pairs of large curved horns. The demon wielded a giant sword longer than its own body in one hand, and a chain and pendulum capable of crushing a person's body in the other.
The demon rampaged through the battlefield, more wild and unrestrained than even Tales. It ran and attacked randomly, smashing through people until blood and flesh fragments scattered throughout the area.
The demon was unstoppable, even for the paladins with their large shields. From a distance, it looked like an elephant stomping on an army of ants.
Kivric, who had fully recovered from a previous attack by Sonata, watched in disbelief as the demon wreaked havoc on the battlefield. He knew that Devan was targeting the demon, but he was currently preoccupied with fighting off the soldiers who were swarming him with bullets.
Kivric realized that he was the only one left who could stop the rampaging demon.