The battle began quietly.
The moment she verified the retreat, she moved.
"It's been a while, Veldora. I'll ask, but won't you consider joining me? If you do, I can teach you how to use your power properly, and you can go wild as much as you like. Of course, you'll have to be picky about where, though."
"Kuahahahaha! Big sister, I'm not the same as I used to be. My mastery of power is already perfect. Besides, going wild isn't the only thing I enjoy anymore. I've grown up, big sister!"
"How cheeky of you... Very well. In that case, let me test just how much you've grown!"
The words they exchanged were few.
Velgrynd never expected Veldora to bend to her will through words alone, so she didn't even feel disappointed as she shifted into a combat stance. Her original plan had been to control Veldora through Rudra's dominance, making persuasion largely pointless.
With that in mind, she needed to weaken Veldora quickly and have him subdued before Rudra arrived.
With that thought, Velgrynd launched a preemptive— Scorching Breath.
A super-high-speed breath attack like a single, tightly focused beam of light hurtled toward Veldora. Normally, Veldora's fire immunity rendered flame damage ineffective against him. But without a moment's hesitation, Veldora dodged Velgrynd's breath.
"Oh my? I didn't expect you to dodge that. You weren't just bragging, were you? Perhaps you've improved a little?"
"Kuahahahaha! Big sister, your breath attack seems to carry an acceleration-destroying effect. If it hit me directly, it would trigger a magicule overflow and drain my power just trying to control it. Avoiding it was the natural choice."
At that moment, Veldora had intuited that an Ultimate Skill effect was layered on top of the breath attack.
This was confirmed by the appraisal analysis results of his own Ultimate Skill, "King of Investigation."
Slightly surprised that Veldora had correctly identified her attack, Velgrynd launched her next assault.
Simultaneously, she moved at blinding speed to position herself above Veldora.
Veldora, who had been dodging multiple breath attacks at once, realized too late that he was now looking up at Velgrynd from below.
As fast as ever, he thought. But he noticed she no longer felt as impossible to track as she once had.
Meanwhile, Velgrynd was pleased to have secured the killing distance. At this range, she was confident she could maintain absolute superiority over Veldora.
"Let's end this, Veldora. After all, you can never escape from my grasp!"
With that declaration, she unleashed a simultaneous barrage of Scorching Breath attacks from above.
Multiple pillars of flame connected heaven and earth. It was, in a sense, a Cage of Flames.
But Veldora read through every attack and executed a magnificent evasion. Even surrounded by the Cage of Flames, he wasn't hit once—not even grazed.
"Kuahahahaha! It means nothing if they don't hit!"
He shouted his rehearsed line with delight.
Tch! Velgrynd clicked her tongue in irritation.
Admittedly, failing to land a single hit at this stage could be considered a miscalculation. She had clearly underestimated Veldora.
But...
*My real attacks start now!* She still held an absolutely dominant position.
Velgrynd decided to hold nothing back and go for the kill in one move.
"Oh, is that so? But you see... you're already caught in my trap. I'll seal your movements with a burning embrace! Scorching Embrace!!"
Velgrynd's positioning above Veldora was deliberate.
Below was the ocean surface. The Scorching Breath that Veldora dodged naturally came into contact with seawater, causing steam explosions. The explosions alone wouldn't damage Veldora, but the evaporated seawater turned to steam and enveloped him.
Through Velgrynd's ability, that steam became a fine red rain, pouring from below upward.
The Crimson Cage that would trap Veldora was now complete.
The bestowal of the Ultimate Skill "King of Mercy."
An ability that amplifies a target's thermal energy—in other words, forcibly increases their momentum. At moderate levels, it could even enhance physical performance, but pushed too far, it would accelerate energy depletion.
At maximum effect, the target would be accelerated by their own generated heat until their body burned to ashes.
In essence, it was an ability to freely manipulate the energy composing a target's body.
Like an embrace, the red rain gently formed a membrane around the imprisoned Veldora.
Those caught in the Scorching Embrace had no choice but to surrender their fate to Velgrynd.
Even for a fellow "Dragon
Velgrynd was certain of her victory and was about to order Major General Zaldo to activate the Magicule Disruption Ray—when she froze.
The presence of the Veldora she thought she'd captured had vanished.
*What!?* Velgrynd was bewildered by the unfamiliar sensation of panic.
And from behind her came Veldora's triumphant laughter: "Kuahahahaha! As I said before—it means nothing if they don't hit!"
In truth, Veldora wasn't nearly as relaxed as his triumphant tone suggested.
Just before the Crimson Cage was completed, the danger-prediction ability of his Ultimate Skill "King of Investigation" had blared its maximum warning.
He tried to react in a panic, but it was immediately obvious that the situation wasn't simple enough to solve by blasting it away with "Storm of Destruction."
The moment he thought *This is bad!*—the "Investigation of Truth" within King of Investigation produced the optimal solution.
Using "Storm of Destruction" as-is gave less than a one percent chance of escape.
However, by focusing the Storm of Destruction into a concentrated beam, he could produce a "Roar of Destruction"—and the analysis showed this would dramatically increase his success rate.
Even so, the success probability using the "Roar of Destruction" was only fifty percent.
But then, "Probability Manipulation" activated.
Against an equal-rank opponent, he could double the probability in his favor.
What had been a coin-flip escape attempt became, thanks to King of Investigation, something that went entirely in Veldora's favor.
And so, Veldora escaped the crisis.
Velgrynd was genuinely astonished.
She had looked down on her younger brother, thinking him inferior—someone who could only rely on brute force. Yet he had escaped from a situation that should have been absolutely impossible to flee from.
She had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Veldora had reached the same heights as she had.
Velgrynd acknowledged Veldora and faced him as an equal.
It was the moment she decided to get serious.
--- On the big screen, a titanic battle between monsters was playing out.
No, seriously—there was no other way to describe it.
If it had only been the Empire's airship fleet, he wouldn't have worried about Veldora winning. But when the crimson dragon suddenly appeared, he'd been caught off guard.
That must be one of Veldora's sisters—the "Scorch Dragon" Velgrynd.
Yet despite the clash between two immense powers, the fight was extraordinarily controlled and highly refined.
When Velgrynd used her ultimate technique to try to end things immediately, he'd panicked, thinking Veldora had lost.
It wasn't that he was all that worried—Veldora could be revived even if he died—but he'd been so flustered that he'd ordered King of Wisdom to calculate spatial coordinates.
He was about to use Spatial Transfer to rush to the rescue when he remembered that Veldora could be resurrected using his skill.
Having remembered that, he was now watching at a leisurely pace.
The battle had reached a stalemate.
They were matched in speed.
Veldora was also controlling his power at a high level, enabling high-speed movement. He was holding his own against Velgrynd, who was supposed to be the fastest of all Dragon Species—not giving an inch.
It seemed his secret training was paying off.
There was no audio, so he couldn't tell, but he secretly hoped Veldora wasn't striking cool poses and delivering cocky lines that would put him in danger.
That said, from what he could see, Veldora was starting to overpower her at several points.
In terms of raw power alone, Veldora was superior.
His strength had been significantly reduced by the seal at one point, but it had apparently recovered.
Veldora's magicule count surpassed Velgrynd's, though his magicule control was slightly inferior.
However, Veldora's King of Investigation appeared to have superior capabilities compared to Velgrynd's skill.
After all, it seemed to be an almost omnipotent skill.
To put it bluntly, weren't "Probability Manipulation" and "Investigation of Truth" so overpowered it was unclear what they couldn't do?
Honestly, if someone could use those abilities to their full potential, was there anyone who could beat them? That was the level he was thinking at.
The new ability Veldora had created—the Converging Storm Attack—appeared to be dealing damage to Velgrynd.
It released waves at unavoidable speeds, and the effect activated with a delay.
In short, it was like an electromagnetic wave—an "invisible wave" traveling at supersonic speeds. Estimated at over Mach 100. If you failed to dodge it, the storm effect was impossible to defend against.
Since the attack had already hit, there was no dodging or blocking it.
Truly, he'd developed an absurd technique.
As expected of Veldora—he was genuinely impressed.
If things continued like this, Veldora would win. The moment he was certain of that— The situation rapidly took a turn for the worse.
In the worst possible direction.
Suddenly, a hundred Imperial airships that had been in retreat surged forward.
He'd been watching without paying them any attention—that was his mistake.
Several figures clad in gleaming armor appeared on the bridge of one ship.
Were they completely shielded from the storm by a barrier? They walked forward with perfect composure.
*Hm? Who the hell are those guys?* The moment that thought crossed his mind—it happened.
A single man, the only one not wearing armor—dressed in the old Japanese Imperial military uniform—fired a small pistol.
Huh? He was momentarily speechless.
A bullet couldn't possibly work against the strongest Dragon Species— But the speed of that bullet made him tense up.
It pierced through Veldora's body at speeds rivaling his own roar—over Mach 100.
Rather than punching clean through, the magical energy embedded in the bullet was released inside Veldora's body.
Veldora's movements stopped, and he began writhing in pain.
Immediately after, the Crimson Cage once again enveloped Veldora, and the hundred airships activated their Magicule Disruption Rays at maximum output.
All they needed was to immobilize Veldora for a single instant—that was victory.
The man in gleaming armor raised both hands toward Veldora.
And then—searing pain shot through his soul.
As if something was trying to tear his soul right out of him— 《Announcement.
Master and individual name: Veldora's "Soul Corridor" has been destroyed.
Ultimate Skill "King of Storms" — Storm Dragon Summon and Storm Dragon Release are now unusable.》 —The reason for his pain was suddenly made known.
What?
You're saying you're taking Veldora away from me?
From me... Veldora?
Don't screw with me, you bastards!!
An overwhelming sense of loss and savage fury erupted within him simultaneously.
"My Lord Rimuru! It's too dangerous to go there right now!!"
Shion's words didn't register in his ears.
*I'll kill you, you pieces of shit!!* Consumed by rage, he threw off their restraint and rose to his feet.
With the power unleashed by his fury, no one in the Monster Nation could stop him.
You people... have made me angry.
If that's what you want, then I'll give it to you.
A blessing called annihilation.
You've touched my reverse scale.
Blind with wrath, he teleported toward Veldora.