Chapter 2998: Assembly of the Dragon Maids

"Don't let them come out yet—speaking of which, is little Lianna ready?"

Luvia asked, and immediately the little unicorn's voice came from behind them—

Neigh~

A golden radiance appeared at the hatch on the deck, and then a timid little beast clad in golden armor walked out of the cabin, carrying a displeased-looking little Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya on its back.

That little beast looked utterly terrified.

Xia De had of course finally brought that set of "Golden Lion Armor" onto the ship. He didn't intend to let the cat take risks, but having Amelia wear it while venturing deep into the woodlands would be a good idea.

And tonight, the one responsible for looking after the group of chocobos that had come aboard the ship for shelter—Agerina—had earlier proposed that since the armor could be worn by a person, and could also be worn by little Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya in her "Big Golden Cat" form, then in theory it should also fit the little unicorn.

Hence the little unicorn now appeared on the deck wearing the majestic golden armor. On this long snowy night, if not for the little beast looking so frightened it was nearly trembling on all four hooves to the point of fainting, that suit of armor radiating a soft golden glow actually did make it look quite imposing.

Of course, although she was very scared, little Lianna also noticed Emilia being knocked flying all over the place above the burning great tree in the distance. The little beast summoned her courage, her pure-white wings on either side spreading at once, and then, heedless of danger, she took a few running steps and flew straight up into the sky.

So Miss Swift, who had followed it out, anxiously shouted at the little beast's retreating back:

"Wait! Come back! Leave little Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya behind!"

But the little unicorn had already flown far away, carrying the ill-tempered cat and plunging straight toward the distant battlefield. Amid the unicorn's "Neigh~," the light from the horn on its head barely parted the white fog before it.

And when the little beast made contact with the white fog, the armor wrapped around it immediately radiated an even more dazzling warm light, protecting it from the erosion of time's power.

Although an adult unicorn's combat prowess rivals that of a great dragon, in tonight's battle even great dragons cannot be considered a force capable of playing a decisive role. Therefore, although the young little unicorn looked quite majestic as it joined the battlefield, the role it could play was nothing more than serving as a mount for Emilia, who wasn't skilled at flying.

The little unicorn's appearance was so conspicuous that it naturally drew the attention of others. Before it could rendezvous with Emilia, an ordinary Paradox Worm scattered around the battlefield immediately flew toward it, but after a "Meow" that only the little beast itself could hear, the worm inexplicably plummeted straight to the ground.

So that pure-white little beast was absolutely not scared by the battlefield—only it knew what the most dangerous thing here truly was.

"Little Lianna~"

Emilia thus successfully rendezvoused with the unicorn carrying the cat. She swung her sword and once again blocked that black worm-person. Seeing it turn direction, trying to charge toward the giant Xia De's head, she couldn't be bothered to deal with the cat that had appeared for some unknown reason—cat in one arm, sword in the other, she shot straight upward in pursuit.

The little unicorn, wrapped entirely in golden armor, immediately spread its wings and flew higher, but no sooner had they accelerated than the worm-person flying ahead suddenly turned its head back, and its right hand thrust toward Emilia's chest like a black longsword.

In that split-second flash of lightning, the fatal sense of crisis caused all her latent potential to erupt at this moment. An instant became eternity in Emilia's eyes; at this moment everything in the world froze in place, and only she could move.

She could see the traces of muscles bulging beneath clothing as Xia De not far away strained to uproot the tree with both arms; she could see the flames in the hands of Sister Sister Daifulin on Xia De's shoulder frozen in midair like a petrified tide; she could see her own little beast's pure-white fur blown backward by the night wind; and she could see the snowflakes before the face of the worm-person right before her eyes—a face even more hideous than she had thought moments ago.

"Meow~"

The cat's cry in that frozen instant was so abrupt. After her gaze shifted, Emilia saw the cat she was holding still licking its paw in this frozen moment. Noticing that Emilia had noticed it, the cat tilted its head up to look at her.

In those big eyes was a look of curiosity—curiosity as to why the elf was so surprised. And that furry little face and those quivering whiskers made Emilia feel this cat really was extremely cute.

"Kitty, can you help me? Like putting on armor at Moon Bay?"

She didn't understand why this cat could still move now, and then felt all of this was nothing more than a hallucination of her own in that single instant.

And little Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya indeed couldn't help the elf either. It let out a lazy "Meow~," then stepped up on Emilia's arm, stood up, and with a flick of its tail, spat a tiny flame at the hideous worm-person before it.

Because at this moment it was only an instant, that little golden flame likewise hung suspended in midair.

So Emilia understood: aside from this cat, only a few people had ever breathed flames like this. Whether this cat was truly helping her, or whether her own instincts had conjured a life-saving hallucination, she understood either way.

The power once obtained through a promise in the Fifth Epoch suffused her whole body, and the thirteen-ring Life Ring behind her manifested in that single instant of fatal crisis. The echo of the 【Pipe of Time】 in her hand shook space and time, and that power, which did not belong to Emilia Xenod but had merely been lent by the promise, was brought forth because of the nature of the "Battle of Time."

Red bubbles were the scent of a delicious dinner, green bubbles the sweetness of black tea, blue bubbles the breath of the sea, black bubbles the smell of brand-new clothes, pink bubbles carried the scent of milk, and there was also the lullaby's tune that brought peaceful sleep.

The five-colored bubbles converged in one place. As the frozen time resumed its flow, the flame the cat had spat vanished because the elf hadn't caught it, and Emilia Xenod also cried out those words from the bottom of her heart:

"Help me, Miss Dragon Maids!"

The worm-person, mid-turn to strike, continued closing in on the elf—then was sent flying with a single swat from a transparent giant claw that swung out from the void.

"Mystic Lock—Assembly of the Dragon Maids!"

The Mystic Lock unfurled, and beneath the snowy night sky the dark, filthy jungle was no more. Giant trees and a giant stood in the air, and below their feet lay the brightly lit academy city of St. Byron at night.

Red, black, green, and pink dragons flew up from the city beneath the Mystic Lock. The thirteen-tier ancient dragons lined up in a row and breathed flames that utterly dispersed the fog enveloping the surroundings.

The blue dragon that had already been flying in the air then joined them; Miss Elaiss, of the twelve rings, temporarily reached the thirteen-tier the moment she joined the Mystic Lock.

The spectacle of the Mystic Lock drew everyone's gaze around the battlefield. Most people hadn't realized where the giant dragons in this Mystic Lock had come from, but a few ring-wielding mages who had visited St. Byron vaguely recognized that the brilliant ancient city beneath their feet seemed to be the predecessor of the modern academy.

"I see—so this is the power she brought back from the past, thirteen-tier ancient dragons?"

The elven forces that had already advanced to the edge of the hills were also drawn in. Mr. Eldron, the "Lord of the Hidden Valley," watched the giant dragons flying overhead with a certain reverence.

"Do you know these dragons?"

The "Construct Master" of the Church of Creation, who was fighting the worm's tail alongside Vanessa, asked the witch who was squinting toward the treetops. Vanessa actually didn't want to bother with him, but out of consideration for their alliance she still said:

"Didn't that red dragon appear during the Battle of Moon Bay?"

Mr. Ptolemy Albert, the coroner who had already entered the forest, looked up toward the city direction at the sky reddened by firelight, his gaze piercing straight through the void to see the interior of the Mystic Lock:

"Dragons... time dragons?"

As for those aboard the "Radiant Messenger," at the edge of Emilia's Mystic Lock, Luvia teasingly said to Sylvia beside her:

"You see, Miss Miss Difa actually has quite a few rivals."

Five dragons flew past the flying unicorn and arrived above the treetops. Xia De, who was still straining to uproot the tree, also caught a glimpse of these beautiful giant dragons in his peripheral vision, but at this moment even he couldn't tell whether Emilia had summoned real entities, or whether they were merely manifestations of power.

The five-colored giant dragons gathered in one place. Amid resounding dragon roars, scorching dragon breath plummeted from the sky toward the giant worm still resisting Sister Sister Daifulin's power. This flame, like an upended sea, ignited together with the Primal Fire the hill floating in the sky. Ordinary dragon breath certainly couldn't harm these Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu, but all five giant dragons possessed the power of time.

This attack by the time dragons, who had once signed a pact with the Tree Father, directly grievously wounded the core power of the "Watcher." And so within that cascading sea of fire, the Primal Fire finally burned through the floating earthen wall, and in turn directly ignited all the white fog.

The rumbling explosion was not the loudest sound at this moment, because amid the earth-shaking upheaval, the giant Xia De, his face flushed red, finally uprooted that great tree.

Black roots, dense as tentacles, emerged from beneath the soil of the hill, and so the hill disintegrated, transforming into burning fire-meteors that fell downward.

And Xia De, who was hugging the tree, took a deep breath, then freed one hand to grab the body of the worm coiled around the trunk, and amid a piercing shriek tore the worm off the trunk.

The burning great tree was tossed aside by him. The "Blight Tree" itself posed no great danger so long as it didn't absorb too much curse, so it could be left entirely alone for now. Gripping the trembling worm's body with both hands, he took another deep breath, and pure silver Moon Fire spewed directly from his mouth onto the worm's body.

And so dragon breath, Primal Fire, and Moon Fire together seared the worm at this moment. Beneath the three-colored flames, the worm's shrieks grew quieter and quieter, and the force of its trembling grew weaker and weaker.

"These flames can't kill this worm—this Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu is itself a concept."

Sister Sister Daifulin's cool, clear voice rang in Xia De's ear: before the Primal Fire had fully recovered, it couldn't kill this kind of apocalyptic Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu either.

"I have a way—here it comes!"