The dragon battle had heated up dramatically.
The combatants huffed breath attacks at each other and inflicted physical injury by striking with hands and tails. Since both parties had huge bodies, the fight was vaguely ugly and confusing but the potential damage they could do was terrifying.
Slowly, gripping my daughters' hands, I attempted to get away from the center of the battlefield. If I'd been on my own, I wouldn't have minded joining the fray, but if they took a direct blast of cold breath like that earlier one, the lives of my daughters and Halkara would be in danger.
Every so often, stray blasts nearly hit us, so I blocked them with fire.
"It sounds like this is simple harassment and no one's seriously trying to kill one another, but they're all dragons, and the scale is enormous. If ordinary humans got involved, they'd just die."
"Ahhhh… I can't do this anymore… My legs are quaking, and I think they're going to freeze up…"
"If you stop moving, you die. Walk, even if you have to force yourself."
"A-all right…"
Halkara was on the verge of tears, but I needed her to tough it out. There was no other way.
Now then, the question was, Where would we actually be safe? At this rate, backing up would be better than going forward.
That said, the blue dragons had charged into the rear of the venue here and there, too. Since our opponents could fly, they were naturally able to circle around behind us.
The party plates were getting flipped over and stomped.
Hmm. This was pretty exasperating.
I could understand simple envy of someone else's happiness.
Unless you're a saint, everyone feels like that sometimes.
But actually breaking things was unforgivable.
You shouldn't actually kill the normies with fire, and you shouldn't trash parties.
I wanted to yell at them to stop screwing around like this. Actually, I wanted to join the fight.
That said, protecting the noncombatants came first at the moment. This was no time to leap into the bloody, violent fray.
Slowly, slowly, we retreated.
Laika was spitting out flames and fighting alongside the bride and groom.
As I would have expected from someone who'd challenged me to a fight, she could hold her own. She was probably the strongest of the red dragons.
She was so good that, although female dragons were significantly smaller than their male counterparts, she was managing to take on two males at once.
"Fight well, my apprentice."
We migrated to a grove of trees that was still nearly undamaged.
"Falfa, Shalsha, you should be all right here, so wait a little longer. I'll save you, I promise."
"Uh-huh. I'll be patient…"
"You're a good girl, Falfa."
Falfa was desperately fighting back tears.
"Mom, I'm sorry we're making you worry."
"That's nothing to apologize for, Shalsha. You haven't done anything wrong, have you? Don't feel you have to when it's not necessary."
Shalsha tended to be a little too serious. Still, right now, saving them was the important thing.
Halkara was muttering, chanting something that sounded like a strange Buddhist sutra.
"Halkara, what's that?"
"It's a charm handed down among the elves. It lets you reach your destination safely without being attacked by animals in the woods, and it never fails. My grandfather said nobody who's chanted this has ever encountered dangerous beasts in the woods."
I wonder if this is the other-world version of suddenly becoming religious in times of trouble…
A blue dragon landed right in front of us.
Not only that, but it was an uncommonly large one. Its gaze seemed somehow sharp and cold.
"You people are friends of the Mount Rokko red dragons, aren't you?"
"And what if we are?"
"I'll rip off one of your legs right here. If you get hurt, it's bound to completely wreck the red dragons' wedding."
Something in me snapped.
"Sorry, but this is going to hurt a—"
"Listen, you. Are you seriously planning to frighten small (fifty-year-old) children just to pester someone? It's a bad sign when your brain works that way at your age, don't you think? Just what kind of hopeless, bottom-feeding life are you leading anyway? What have you lived for all this time? You gonna brag to people like, 'I scared tiny children!' or something?!"
By nature, I tend not to get worked up, but for the first time in a long while, I might have lost my cool.
"Huh? Well, I mean, that's what we came all the way out to this mountain to d—"
"You know that's no reason!"
I closed in on the dragon rapidly, raised a leg—not caring that I was wearing a dress—and kicked him.
Thwok!
The dragon's face warped in obvious pain.
Of course, that wasn't enough.
After all, this guy had actually declared his intent to hurt my daughters.
As a mother, there was no way I could condone that.
This time, I punched him with my right hand.
Krakk!
It was a combo attack that gave him no opportunity to strike back. I wasn't about to let him go on the offensive.
"O-ow… Wh-what are you, woman…? What kind of trick is this?"
Trick? There's no trick.
I'm just level 99, that's all.
Using Levitation, I rose until I was even with the dragon's face, then kicked it over and over.
I finished with an uppercut to the side of his nose.
Apparently, I'd given him a concussion, and the dragon hit the ground.
For now, I'd gotten the noncombatants out of danger.
This dragon was already unconscious and drooling and probably wouldn't be up to fighting for a while.
"Mommy, you're tough! Woooow!"
"I really respect you, Mom…"
"Thanks, you two. If you cheer for me, I'll get even more into this!"
Just then, an idea occurred to me.
There were no enemy dragons in the grove beyond us.
In other words, if I overwhelmed all the enemies, absolutely no harm would come to my daughters.
All right. Guess it's time for a little rampage.
If all they wanted was to bully people, crushing them wouldn't upset me whatsoever.
I'd inflict emotional scars they wouldn't forget for a century or two. They'd pay dearly for angering the Witch of the Highlands.
"Halkara, take Falfa and Shalsha and go hide somewhere."
"A-all right! Wait, Madam Teacher, you're going out there?"
"It's fine. I won't let a single enemy dragon come over here."
I grabbed the tail of the dragon I'd beaten.
It wasn't completely impossible he'd wake up, so I thought I'd take him along.
Lugging the dragon, I ran toward the battlefield.
Not much time had passed, but the uproar had expanded.
Technically, since this was a fight between dragons, that was only natural. At that size, it was hard to miss.
Ditching my blue dragon luggage in an appropriate-looking spot, I used Levitation to close the distance quickly.
"I'm taking out all these blue jerks!"
If you aim for their faces, dragons are easy to defeat, I'd just learned.
I launched Flame spells at the dragons' mugs with gusto.
"Waaaaugh!" "Eeeeeeek!"
They screamed. If you go for the face, even humans will flinch. Sorry, but I'm showing no mercy.
In lieu of a greeting, I hurled fire.
Some of the dragons spewed cold breath at me, but it was a dumb idea.
After all, I was blasting flames, so I was obviously capable of canceling it out.
If you think human fire spells are nothing to write home about, you're sorely mistaken.
For my finishing blows, I decided to rely on physical attacks. I'd considered using Lightning Attack spells, but it's incredibly hard to adjust the power on those. I thought killing somebody would be too much, so I wanted to strike the final blow a little before that happened. I was careful to avoid senseless killing.
As a rule, I struck at their faces, trying for a KO.
Since they were intelligent beings, an attack to their heads and the brains inside would probably petrify them and keep them from moving. Then I'd hit them with a flurry of blows.
Three dragons fell heavily, and I was off to a promising start.
Maybe I'll use a Wind spell this time.
I soared up above the dragons' heads, then sent a whirlwind straight down onto them.
Buffeted by the maelstrom, two dragons crashed to the ground.
"Lady Azusa! Thank you very much!"
Behind me, I heard Laika's voice. She was soaring through the aerial battlefield.
"These jerks really got on my nerves, so I decided to thrash them. I won't be satisfied unless I punish them!"
Even as I spoke, I decked a new dragon. Punishment by fist.
People say that when you hit someone, it hurts you as well, but I didn't feel much pain. Besides, even if I had, I would have endured it. This was war.
"Laika, we've got to hurry up and finish things here, then head for the volcano. It sounds like they're attacking there, too!"
"All right! Thanks to your efforts, Lady Azusa, we have the upper hand here! If this keeps up, we'll win!"
Now that she mentioned it, the number of blue dragon combatants had dwindled. I thought I'd taken out about a third of them myself. Well, sure, if we took down that many, things might work out somehow.
We continued the clean-up, and then—
"What in the world are you?" a flying blue dragon suspiciously asked.
Oh, this is the other side's leader.
"You're, um, Flutter-Tail?"
"It's Flatorte! What manner of human are you? How are you able to physically beat a dragon?"
Since she was curious, I gave her an answer.
"It's like that saying 'Rome wasn't built in a day,' I guess."
"What's Rome?!"
Oh, of course. She wouldn't know of any cities called Rome.
"There's an ancient city by that name. Anyway, if you work at it steadily, even your physical attacks improve. It works the same way in video games, you know?"
"What's a video game?! You keep spouting nonsense!"
Fighting seemed to make the memories of my past life stronger. After all, back then, the only times I did battle were in video games.
All right. Enough chitchat.
Given the option, I wanted to take the boss character down in style.
I intentionally turned my back on Flatorte.
"I'm not letting you get away! We picked this fight, and we're going to win it!"
As if I'd run.
On the contrary—I'm not letting you get away.
I turned my hand toward myself and created a wind.
It launched me backward, and I closed in on my opponent.
Then, using the momentum from my air current—I sent a roundhouse kick into the bridge of her nose!
Thwock! A satisfying crack rang out as my attack struck home magnificently!
That wasn't enough to take her down, though. As you'd expect of a leader.
"Dammit! I'll freeze you!"
Honestly. 'When all you have is a hammer…' It's all these people can do.
With all my might, I sent a fire blast at the enemy.
My flames erased the cold breath, then struck Flatorte right in the face.
"Hot! Hoooot! I'm burning!"
It's your own fault, you know!
I soared up until I was above Flatorte's head, then descended in a rush.
"Witch Heel-Drop!"
The high heel I'd worn for the ceremony drove mercilessly into her head.
"Gah…hah…"
Flatorte plunged to the ground.
"I win."
The leader's defeat turned the tide, and the terrified remnants of the blue dragons fled.
"Well, I'd say it's safe to assume we've got them under control."
Slowly, I descended to the ground.
They may have been dragons, but they hadn't been all that impressive.
Actually, being a small fighter against big opponents had ended up making things easier for me. I'd been able to accurately strike their weaknesses.
"Lady Azusa, you truly did the work of a dozen people out there!"
Laika rushed up to me, her hands free.
"Well, I was really just helping out—or maybe being self-reliant."
"Lady Azusa, do you think you could get onto my palm for a moment?"
Laika put out her large dragon's hand—on an animal, it would have been a front paw, but dragons are higher animals, so they use the word hand, just like we do. Obediently, I complied with my apprentice's request.
Then Laika held me up, in front of everybody.
I felt a bit like a pet hamster on display.
"Friends! Lady Azusa has done it! This is the power of the Witch of the Highlands!"
I see; so this is like the victor's platform in an MVP interview?
"I was watching, and she was truly astounding!"
"Long live the Witch of the Highlands!"
"I'd expect no less from the world's strongest creature!"
There's absolutely nothing feminine about the moniker "world's strongest creature," so I really wish they wouldn't… Still, they do seem to be complimenting me, and that's nice of them.
However, it was too early for the grand finale. The fight wasn't over yet.
"Now we have to go to the mouth of Mount Rokko. If they capture that, things will get unpleasant."
"You're right. Quite a few sightseers are up there as well, and there's a risk that ordinary people may be pulled into this. Not only that, but because of today's wedding, only a few dragons remain on hand, and I'm not sure whether they could fully protect it…"
In that case, we really do have to hurry.
"Laika, take me up to the crater!"
If the situation went south up there, the wedding ceremony would get even worse.
Conversely, if we managed to stop the damage on that end, we'd at least be able to continue with the nuptials. Since we'd won this battle, we could probably settle for "all's well that ends well."
"Yes, ma'am! Please get on."
Laika grasped me gently, then placed me on her back.
"All right, let's go! Dragons who can still fight, follow us!"
***
We took to the sky with Laika in the lead.
We were flying faster than we ever had.
When I looked back, about five dragons were following us.
Those numbers were probably good enough for now.
The crater wasn't belching too much smoke, but even so, it took quite a bit of courage to enter it.
"The inside of Mount Rokko is a large cavern, and many dragons make their home in it. It's also fairly common for humans with ties to the dragons to journey here."
True, as we advanced further in, a sort of human town came into view.
"When we host people such as tourists and government officials, we take human shapes and entertain them there, in surroundings similar to a human settlement. There are dragons who spend most of their lives in human form as well."
"I see. At a glance, though, I'm not seeing any signs of a battle in progress…"
We were getting closer and closer to the town inside the crater but found no indications that anyone had laid waste to it, and I didn't see dragons fighting anywhere.
"What? How strange… They can't have been annihilated already, can they?"
Laika verbalized the worst-case scenario.
That would be too much. Please let everybody be okay…
Laika landed on the outskirts of the town, and I got down off her back.
She assumed her girl form, and we searched the hamlet together.
It was virtually the same as its human counterparts. The main street was lined on either side by buildings made of stone or brick.
"It's unnaturally quiet."
"I think so as well…"
This was a completely unexpected development.
We'd assumed we'd find a ferocious battle unfolding here, too, yet it was eerily silent.
Unsettled by the situation, we traveled deeper into the town.
"I want to make my sister's wedding a good one, somehow… I want it to be a success…"
I heard Laika murmur quietly.
"It's all right. We'll end everything safely, and they'll be able to finish your sister's wedding."
I laid a hand on Laika's back, trying to reassure her as well as I could.
Just then, abruptly, I heard an unfamiliar sound.
"Uu… Ghuuuuh… Uuuuh…"
What was that? A groan?
It sounded like a dragon, but…
Uneasily, we went on, and then we met a shocking scene.
Five blue dragons lay sprawled across a plaza.
They didn't seem to have any strength left to fight. They were all lying limply.
A magic circle or something like it was shining below the plaza. Had this spell done that?
"Does this technically mean we won?"
"It does appear that way, but that isn't a spell I'm familiar with. I wonder who cast it…"
Laika seemed dubious. I didn't know what kind of magic it was, either.
"Is it a curse-binding spell to restrain one's enemies? No, that's not it. This leeched power from them, weakening them until they couldn't move. It's a nasty bit of work…"
While we were performing our on-site investigation, an acquaintance turned up.
"What, it's you? Fancy meeting you here."
When I turned toward the voice, there stood Beelzebub.
"Huh…? Yeah, this is an odd coincidence. What are you doing here?"
"Well, it is a tourist spot, as you well know. This crater is home to some excellent hot springs. I stop by once in a while to relax and soothe my fatigue."
A hot springs visit, hmm? That explained why Beelzebub was here, but…
"Um, what happened to those dragons over there?"
"They were being rowdy, so I taught them a lesson."
Beelzebub spoke as if it was nothing.
"I was taking a stroll through town when those wyrms showed up. They were spouting dunderheaded nonsense about kidnapping sightseers and lowering the place's value as a tourist spot. So I went out and smote them."
Beelzebub picked up a pebble, then chucked it at the immobilized dragons.
"This is a spell that causes extreme weakness. It's handed down only among demons, so you two may not know about it. Perfect for apprehending criminals, yes?"
"You defeated five blue dragons by yourself?!"
Laika sounded mystified.
"Hmm? Why would I be beaten by a paltry five? I can spit icier cold breath than they can. I'm a higher demon who's lived for three thousand years. I'd never lose. Honestly, don't insult me."
Beelzebub's face flushed red, and she looked miffed.
"You, too, Azusa. You don't believe I'm just another petty foe simply because you beat me with a cheap trick last time? Next time, when we fight fair, I cannot say how it will end! After all, I am strong!"
"Um, that doesn't matter right now."
"Wait, hold it! It cannot possibly not matter! It is of utmost import!"
I went up to Beelzebub and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you! You've averted a crisis for the red dragons!"
"Agh! Do not cling to me so! It's shameful! Besides, I didn't do it for you people. Those poor excuses for dragons were full of themselves, so I taught them a lesson, that's all!"
"Hmm? Beelzebub, you smell nice, like you just got out of the bath."
"That's because I did just get out of the bath—and that is not important! Unhand me!"
What I learned today:
Beelzebub > Dragons
***
We returned to the wedding venue right away and reported that all was well at the crater town.
With that, the battle was safely brought to a close.
As soon as I got back, I rushed straight to my daughters and Halkara.
"I was scared, Mommy!"
"Mom, thank you for coming."
"I was thinking about carving my last words into a tree…"
My daughters (and even Halkara) hugged me. Though, there was no room for the elf to latch on to me, so she reached around from behind and embraced that way whether I liked it or not.
"You didn't come back, Madam Teacher, and I was truly worried. I thought you might have fallen into the dragons' clutches. Falfa and Shalsha started worrying, too, because of me… We were beside ourselves."
Whoops. That's another problem with getting back late, isn't it?
"I'm sorry. I really didn't have the time to turn back."
"You had it harder than we did, Mom, so it's all right."
"You did come back, Mommy, so I forgot the sad things!"
I hugged my daughters tightly, over and over.
Cleaning up the rest also went relatively quickly, thanks to a certain someone.
Beelzebub cast that weakening spell on the blue dragons who had attacked the wedding and immobilized them, too.
Now there was no risk of a sudden second bout with these guys.
"Hell's bells… I came here for the baths. Why do I have to do odd jobs?"
Beelzebub grumbled, but in the end, she did paralyze them all for us.
"Thank you. Now there's nothing to worry about."
"For hell's sake. If you make such shameless requests, it's embarrassing to refuse."
Little by little, I was learning how to manage Beelzebub.
She was the type who couldn't say no when people asked her for things.
…Although I did feel as though I might be a pot calling the kettle black.
Moving along, everyone wanted to resume the wedding immediately, but there was still one thing left to do first.
"All right. Time to pay up."
I was smiling, but this incident really had infuriated me. Some things are okay in this world, and some are not.
"Flutter-tart, switch to your human form. We'll have an easier time talking that way."
"It's Flatorte! Remember my name correctly, would you?!"
"Human, now. We're going to talk."
Reluctantly, Flatorte changed to her human shape.
Although her figure was human, unlike Laika, she had a dragon tail sprouting from the back in addition to her horns.
She wore a rather pretty pink dress, and her long hair had a purple sheen.
However, since the weakening spell was in effect, she was flat on the ground.
"I assume this is good enough… What do you want?"
I asked Laika to handle the actual negotiations.
"First, regarding the compensation for the damages of this battle, we'll be charging you this amount."
Laika, who was also in human form, showed Flatorte a piece of paper.
"Blerrrgh… Y-you want that much? Isn't that more than the cost of the wedding?"
"It includes compensation for mental anguish and for injured parties. Of course it's a lot. If you don't like it, would you rather be immobilized here forever?"
"Th-that would be a problem…"
Losers couldn't afford to complain.
"All right. I'll accept that condition."
Great. The bargain was struck.
Still, I wanted to take the chance to get one more thing settled. We just happened to have a perfect third party on hand for this.
Pulling Beelzebub after me, I went over to Flatorte.
"All right. There's another pact I want to make with you, in addition to the damages."
"A pact?"
"Right. A nonaggression pact between the blue and red dragons. Naturally, attacking for purposes of harassment is out of the question."
"N-no, but… I'll lose my reason for living…"
Maybe it's against the rules for somebody with no intention of marrying to say this, but this is probably why she's single.
"If you don't agree, you'll never go home again," I said to Flatorte, smiling.
"Yeeeeeeeek! Your smile is scary!"
"So agree, then. All right?"
"Fine… I'll agree to it! I will! So forgive me!"
"Lady Azusa… You were thinking about this?"
Right… I hadn't even told Laika about my plan yet.
"That should bring peace to Mount Rokko."
"Thank you so much!"
Laika thanked me profusely, and my mood improved a bit.
The pact between Laika and Flatorte was safely sealed. Laika's strength was top tier among the dragons, and her position let her act as the representative of her tribe.
I poked Beelzebub lightly.
"Your turn. Do it right."
"I know. I just have to say it, right?"
Beelzebub cleared her throat.
"Furthermore, I and Azusa, 'the Witch of the Highlands,' witnessed the conclusion of this pact. If the treaty is broken, you will dishonor both me and the Witch of the Highlands. Remember it well."
Flatorte turned pale. In a way, she looked ready to hack up a powerful blast of cold breath.
"There's no way I could ever beat the Witch of the Highlands and the Lord of the Flies."
"Of course not. We'd wipe out your pitiful blue dragons in five minutes flat. If you do not want that, then straighten up and live an upright life."
Flatorte held her head.
"I should never have done this…"
And so all the postbattle cleanup was safely finished.
The wounded blue dragons staggered home, while Flatorte stayed behind by herself to serve as a hostage until the damages were paid.
"Beelzebub, thank you for everything. We found a good compromise."
"You are the only one who could work the Lord of the Flies like a dog. In return, you must invite me to something fun."
"Yes, if we hold any events, I'll call you."
Beelzebub was a thoroughly good person.
"I'll be counting on you from here on out, too!"
I've always been the person people turned to, so it was a relief to have somebody I could lean on. While I was at it, I hugged her again.
"No need to cling so, much less over and over!"
Now all we had to do was get on with the wedding.