I bust out of the subway entrance in my Vularen form, not a care in the world for whether anyone sees me or not. It's the middle of the night, but the plaza is brightly illuminated, and I find myself surrounded by a large number of heavily armored soldiers carrying tower shields, standing in a close formation around me. Well, they had more than enough time for this, it took several hours to get in and come back out, after all.
With a quick glance I see that there are some people in heavy robes, who are most definitely mages, but the principal himself isn't here. They stare at me in determination, not a single one wavering at the sight of a gigantic Wulfar - which is basically what a Vularen is to these people - thinking that they can take me down with their numbers. Well, if I was a normal animal, they would, but it appears the old man either wasn't informed of my appearance or didn't inform them of what I really am.
I have to admit, there are quite a few, and it's safe to assume that their shields are magically reinforced, like Gram's is. The mages are protected by rows of soldiers and seem to be chanting, ready to unleash their spells on me. While I've had experience in one magic battle and now have the dragon's template, I'd rather not get hit by those. In fact, I don't really want to fight here, but I need to clear them away from the dungeon's entrance, else Hestia and the others will have to face them. I'll leave behind a pile a bodies for Asoko to regain her mass with, although I still kinda feel like doing something while she's in her loli form. Guess I'll just have to ask her for it directly.
Thus, I expand explosively and transform into a dragon. I whip my tail around and send a group of soldiers flying with no regard to their heavy shields. Their eyes go wide at the sight and I see panic spreading through their ranks, as several mages forget to continue chanting. Once again, they let surprise get the better of them, even going as far as to drop their spells in shock, just like some of them did in the battle against me in my dorm room. It must mean they never had any real combat experience and are basically like scholars being sent to the battlefield.
Gathering plasma in my throat, I prepare to fire at them, when the first spell seems to be completed and is unleashed on me. It's a heavy shower of icicles, but they harmlessly bounce off my carapace. This takes the wind out of my sails and I stop to look at the mage in pity. To think he chanted for so long just to achieve such an underwhelming result, I almost feel sorry for him. Almost.
Alright, I'll end this quickly. I expand to my full size for just a moment, swallowing several dozen soldiers without even giving them time to react. Contracting while spinning around myself, I form tentacles that catch anything living, and stuff it inside me, immediately dissolving the bodies and throwing out the indigestible pieces like armor and weapons.
Then I harden my body and go Hedgehog Mode Ver. 2. With my increased size I cover the entire plaza with thousands of spikes that leave tiny gaps not even a mouse could pass through. Of course, I'm repelled by shields and armor, but the sheer number of spikes find their ways into gaps between armor, or simply push away and crush those who successfully block them into the walls of the surrounding buildings. Forming hooks, I pull those who have been impaled towards me - a considerable number of soldiers and several mages - and throw them into the entrance to the dungeon. That should be enough for Asoko. The rest is for me. A glutton? Me? Hey, it's a cute character trait, alright?
It's ok if I let some flee, since I don't want to waste time hunting every single one down. Changing back into my human form, I cover my body in dragon armor, form a skirt and take off into the skies in Chaos Warhead form. My target is the citadel, which is brightly illuminated in anticipation of my attack. As expected, Thorvadis knew about me but must have either underestimated my power or deliberately not told those who came to intercept me about my power. Their blood is on his hands in either case.
Just as I cross the area above the citadel walls I feel my body hitting something invisible and breaking through a moment after. No, that wasn't the sound barrier, as I'm traveling nowhere near as fast to achieve that. So this must have been a sort of barrier to keep any aerial intruders out. The fact that I broke through so easily feels like a joke to me. I struggled against this level of magic just a level ago? I can't even laugh, when I think that my own inadequacy was the reason for Kamii's disappearance.
Crashing through the window to the principal's office with my hardened body, I spread my reinforced wings and stop with a mighty gust of wind. Thorvadis is standing at the door, accompanied by Basarab and two other teachers whom I don't know, all looking at me in shock. Your facade is crumbling, old man; I used to be unable to read your face, but now you're showing more and more thoughts directly on your face. Well, it's to be expected, when the unexpected happens.
"Wai-" Basarab begins, but I point at him and my finger extends into a spike, piercing his throat without giving him enough time to employ the magic in his voice. He flaps his mouth open and closed, but no sound emerges from it. Looking down at the spike in disbelief, his hands shakily approaching it as if trying to pull it out himself. I retract it and he coughs up a mouthful of blood, staggers backwards to lean on the door, before sliding down against it.
"I'd prefer you don't talk." Once certain that he can't use his throat anymore, I turn my attention to Thorvadis. "Now, let's nego-" He suddenly has his wand at the ready and points it at me. Wait, I came to nego-
"Superforta Puson!" He shouts, upon which an invisible force hits me and throws me out of the window, onto the field outside. Apparently that was space magic, and more specifically, a gravity spell. While a lot of it was most likely canceled out by the dragon's magic resistant carapace, it was enough to push me almost to the middle of the field of the academy.
"Graviton!" I hear Thorvadis' voice coming from above. The light of a gigantic magic circle, which covers the entirety of the field, begins to shine under my feet. Oh shi-
In the next instant I feel an immense pressure coming down on me, which even my magic resistance can't dispel. My knees buckle and bend, as I fall on all fours, before being pressed flat on my stomach. This is a gravity trap, prepared in the knowledge that I would be coming here sooner or later and that a fight would break out. The fact that this wasn't used in our last battle means that it takes time to set up, which they didn't have back then. So, sending me far away knowing that I would return was just for creating this?
Regardless of the why and how, I think this might be pretty bad. I can see that several teachers rush into positions all around me and point their staves at me while chanting. My skin may be magic resistant now, but seeing as this gravity spell is holding me in place, they can just keep raining down magic on me until I'm whittled away. I need to get out of here somehow, and quick!
My body is flattened against the ground and I slowly lose my form. Maybe I can extend myself forward and out of the space using a small appendage in the same way as I traveled through keyholes before. Stretching myself out towards the edge of the circle slowly, I strain all of my amorphous muscles to move even a little bit. I can feel the power of gravity increasing slowly but steadily, and if the teachers' spells don't get me, this one will eventually. I can't maintain a solid form while affected by this gravity, so I can't use the dragon's carapace properly either.
"Waaait... dooon't..." I press out between my clenched teeth, before I let them melt away, fearing they might be torn out of their sockets soon. I don't think they can hear me through this gravitational field anyway, as I see the mages move their mouths but their sound is overshadowed by the spell's roaring noise.
One of the teachers seems to finish his incantation and swings his staff around. A ball of light forms above him, a spell that reminds me of the one Luna used under the mountain. It's plasma, my biggest weakness! I need to somehow avoid this, and while I may be able to do something about one such spell by shifting my form around, it's going to be impossible to avoid several such spells.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Just before the mage can shoot the plasma at me, an icicle pierces his chest from behind and he loses control over his spell, causing it to rain down on him and melt his entire body away. Through the distorted space inside the magic circle I can make out two blurry people run towards me from a distance.
The moment I spot the blue translucent skin, I know who it is. Vitalis is coming to my aid, even going so far as to kill a teacher in the process. I can see her mouthing Onee-sama, even though I can't hear it. The smaller figure next to her has horns, and by association, must be Lenoly. No, I don't want to pull you into this! But now they've done this much, there's no going back. It means they made up their mind to stay on the side of the demons - or maybe just my side.
Alright, I can't show my cute kouhai such a sorry sight of me struggling against something like this! Increasing the density of my body through muscles and layers of magic resistant armor plating, I slowly return to a humanoid form. For the first time I find it difficult to maintain my form even though I'm concentrating on it so much, but this is nothing compared to what will happen to those two, if I don't get out of here soon. Pushing myself off the ground slowly, I watch as several teachers turn around to them. I just need a part of me to leave this circle, then I can pull my entire mass out through it even if I have to sacrifice a small piece at the end.
Lenoly's clothes begin to burn and I think for a moment that she's been hit by a spell, but then her horns burst out in flames as well, as she begins to run forward in a blaze. Her steps leave flaming footprints as she swings her arm around and a wave of fire shoots out from her palm. Several teachers' robes catch on fire and their spells are interrupted as they try to put them out. She seems to be unexpectedly strong, despite being just a student at the academy.
From the corner of my eyes I see Thorvadis floating down from his window on the third floor, and I know that the two of them won't have a fighting chance against this old man. They took the teachers by surprise, but he was able to see everything that happened from above and assessed the situation properly, before joining the fray. His expression shows that he's going to take them out of the equation, in one way or another.
"Ssstop... iiiiit... Dooon't... youuuu..." I try to speak, but it's futile, since no sound seems to escape this magic circle. I see Thorvadis' mouth moving and his wand points at Lenoly, who happens to be the one in the front. She's pinned down by a much smaller scale gravity spell, but since her body isn't as strong as mine, she can't get up again.
Vitalis throws an icicle at the old man, but the same shield that redirected my spike earlier still seems to be in effect, as it bends the projectile around him and shatters it against the wall of the academy building. Once again, he chants and in the next instant, Vitalis' body is blown apart.
For a moment, I stare in disbelief, before something inside me snaps.
It seems that several teachers have completed their spells and are throwing them at me, but my body expands explosively to its full size, until one point finally gets outside of the circle. Within an instant, my entire body is flattened by the gravity, but I pull enough of it into the part that's no longer caught in the spell and separate myself from it. The now soulless matter I leave behind is annihilated by the many spells that rain down on it, as well as by the gravity itself, now that there's no will in it trying to keep its form.
But I'm already on the move, as I swing my arm around in a bladed form, and cut apart the closest mage while running towards the surprised principal. There's no more room for negotiations after what he just did. I'll kill everyone here and at least save Lenoly. Regarding how to find Kamii without help from the academy... I'll think about that later.
"THORVADIIIIS!!!" I roar and transform into the dragon form while coming down on him with my jaws wide open. With this size and the natural state of the magic resistant carapace, he won't have any means to defend against me in time, and I'll break through his puny barrier with sheer force.
Then something slams into me from the side and pushes me away, causing me to tumble into the academy's wall. When I look up, I see that it was a dragon with a red body and a stocky build - one that I've seen before.
"Dregana!" So she's returned. Fire explodes from the gaps between her rugged armor plates and she roars at me menacingly, making herself look bigger than she already is. I return the gesture and gather plasma in my throat, aiming to take everything in front of me down with a shotgun blast. She rushes forward and rams into me, her heavier build much more suited for physical combat than the one I have taken on. The impact scatters my breath towards the sky and I'm flung backwards, crashing into the academy building with my back once again.
"Enough of this!" My rage boils over and I transform into a gigantic version of myself, covered in the dragon's carapace, making me look like I'm wearing rugged armor. Dregana's breath explodes into my face just when I do and robs me of my vision, but I swing my arm around and disperse it through the wind pressure. Breaking out of the building, I stomp forward and swing my fist to knock the dragon woman out. But I stub my toe on something painfully, causing me to trip and slam down into the ground face-first.
When I look back, I see Ninlil standing where I tripped, her tiny frame in stark contrast to the massive hammer she's wielding. As expected, she's a strong demon, but I never thought I would get to face her under such circumstances.
"Ohnd Spyd!" A familiar voice resounds through the night and a gigantic spear of light pierces my chest, gouging out a large part of it and burning a hole into the ground underneath it. I turn my gaze up to the ceiling of the academy and find Arcelia standing there, with her eyes open for the first time since I've seen her. They have no irises or pupils, but are glowing a bright white, banishing the darkness around her face. The ardent fervor of a believer is clearly visible in her expression, as she stares at me in righteous fury.
"Raaaaaaah!!!" This situation is turning out really badly for me and I scream in despair, as I pull my body together to a human's size, gathering all the density of my mass together into the small frame like I did in the gravity circle. Feeling strength overflowing inside me, I turn to look at Thorvadis, my main target. Dregana's large front claw comes down on me and I block it with one arm, stopping it in exchange for being pushed into the ground slightly. At the sight, I can see surprise on her dragon face.
"Anima Procursus!" My back opens like a flower and I shoot forward with my feet shredding the earth underneath. I see a spirit spear flying towards me and dodge it by twisting my body and changing my trajectory. This causes my feet to leave the ground, but due to my increased weight I immediately land again. However, due to the momentum, I flip over and very nearly fall onto my face.
But I'm in the zone right now!
I transform mid-flip and my body is inverted, causing my head to turn into my feet and my feet into my new head. With a heavy step, I correct my posture and run forward. Ninlil jumps between me and my target, swinging the heavy hammer at me. But if I can block Dregana's weight, I can take this on without trouble. I bring my arm around and turn it into a club made of dragon armor, causing our two weapons to impact in midair and repel each other. Using the backwards momentum, I let my entire upper body spin on top of my abdomen in a move that would have completely destroyed a normal human's spine. My other arm extends and swats the small cat girl out of the way, as I continue on my path once more.
However, that seems to have been enough of a delay for Thorvadis to finish a spell.
"... En La Abismon." He speaks the last words of the incantation and points his wand at me. I feel an immense force pulling from behind me and turn around, to see that above the magic circle a black hole has formed. Dregana has transformed back into her human form and is grabbing onto a large piece of rubble, while Ninlil is holding herself steady with her hammer. My feet leave the ground before I can even consider anchoring myself into it with spikes, and I curse my increased density, as I frantically reduce it by returning it into the void that is my interior.
"Damn you!" I scream and throw my arm around towards Thorvadis, turning it into a large spike to pierce him with. A spirit spear from Arcelia severs it and prevents my final attempt to kill the man responsible for everything. Then I'm caught by the gravity magic circle and pulled down onto the ground, as the black hole suddenly disappears.
For a moment I think that maybe something went wrong. But seeing the principal's expression, I can tell that it worked as intended. With a wave of his wand, the gravity within the circle is reversed and I feel weightlessness for a split second, before being throw into the air at the same speed as I was being pulled down earlier.
I'm reminded of the story Senka told me about how the first primordial Crawling Chaos, the parent of maou-mama, was dispatched, and my figurative heart feels like it's going to stop. I watch as the ground quickly grows more and more distant, until I can see the entire citadel, then the entire city, before I break through the clouds and move further and further away from the ground. My night vision is unable to keep up with the distance and soon everything goes dark.
When the light of the sun appears on the horizon and illuminates the outline of the planet before me, I become fully aware of my situation.
I've been thrown into space.