The one who leaped was Joyce, but what landed on the ground was an enormous black mech.
The appearance of movement other than the dragon's own made the massive beast pause slightly, turning its head to look behind it.
The instant it landed, the samurai longsword on Arahato's back ejected from its scabbard, spinning into the air, flying to a height that even the dragon had to crane its neck to see.
The high-speed flying object clearly attracted the dragon's attention more than Arahato itself. It immediately lifted its head, looking upwards.
And in that instant, the unremarkable samurai longsword suddenly burst forth with an incredibly blinding light. The moment Arahato appeared, everyone from Future City instinctively covered their eyes and squatted down, clutching their heads.
The intense light blinded every living being that looked up. Even the dragon, despite its biological nictitating membrane, let out a慘叫 (bloodcurdling scream/miserable cry) and stumbled back, crashing directly into a nearby cluster of buildings.
The only one who stared directly at that small sun was Arahato. Having leaped high into the air at some point, Arahato now gripped the sun!
In that moment, all of Arahato's thrusters ignited, causing the massive mech to instantly create a huge sonic boom cloud in the air.
Trailing a white mist of liquefied air, the black lightning bolt descending from the sky brought with it a chilling blade of light, crashing down onto the dragon's head. The immense force caused the ground to instantly sink in a circle, and the dragon's head slammed heavily onto the earth.
The ground rippled like waves, rising and falling, but the samurai longsword only managed to pierce halfway into the dragon's hide before its advance was halted.
This grand welcoming gift—the dragon had withstood it!
Its wildly rolling eyeball suddenly locked onto Arahato in front. Then, the dragon's head, as large as Arahato itself, snapped up, thrashing wildly in the air.
A furious roar, accompanied by a visible shockwave, spread outwards. Nearby Homus were directly sent flying, and Arahato, being in close proximity, received a warning: "Under attack by a wave weapon."
But it was only a warning.
Tossed around like a ragdoll twice, Arahato quickly readjusted its posture, kicked off the dragon's head, and pulled out the blade embedded there.
The sword brought with it a shower of blood beads, and a thick jet of blood spurted from the dragon's wound.
It seemed the dragon's defenses weren't that thick after all. Joyce flipped, dodging the dragon's snapping bite, landed on the ground, and immediately activated her thrusters, shooting towards the dragon's underbelly.
When it first landed, the dragon had exposed its belly to him. He could see that compared to other parts of the dragon, the scales on its abdomen weren't as thick or menacing.
The dragon's tail whipped towards the rapidly advancing Arahato like a lash, but at this moment, the dragon seemed to be moving in slow motion to Arahato.
With superior maneuverability and skill, Arahato easily dodged the tail whip, reaching the dragon's "blind spot" beneath it.
The dragon's limbs were still taller than Arahato. Arahato's thrusters fired again, propelling it upwards, bringing the sharp longsword slashing violently across the dragon's belly.
A shower of metallic sparks erupted, followed by the sword piercing the dragon's abdominal scales, tearing open a bloody gash.
Thick blood rained down behind Arahato. The dragon roared in fury again, twisting its body violently, trying to dislodge Arahato from beneath its belly.
But Arahato, like a surfer, quickly changed direction, once again plunging its blade into the dragon's abdomen.
Arahato's mobility far outstripped the grounded dragon. Having endured two bouts of excruciating pain, the dragon roared towards the sky and abruptly spread its sun-blotting wings.
Just spreading its wings whipped up a fierce gale. Schrodinger, who was directing the evacuation, her eyes narrowed.
"Everyone, get down! Grab onto anything you can!" Schrodinger shouted, then decisively dropped the flag and hit the ground.
Cézanne, who had regrouped with them, grabbed Picasso with one hand and Van Gogh with the other, pushing both their heads down as they all dropped to the ground. Darwin "tsked," muttered something about "changing this male body as soon as I get back," and then decisively threw himself on top of the three.
The gale still swept away a large number of people. In the basement, Shu, who had just been feeling slightly better, felt his heart suddenly clench, and a mouthful of acidic fluid uncontrollably spewed from his mouth.
The entire world had shattered in his eyes. Countless colors erupted from the darkness before him, chaotically intertwining, like a net scooping up Shu, this small fish, leaving him to struggle desperately within it.
Until suffocation.
The pain in his body seemed to lessen. Shu's consciousness had reached its limit. After experiencing so much, although his spirit wasn't on the verge of immediate collapse, it hadn't grown strong enough to resist this kind of mental pollution.
The surrounding darkness was about to engulf Shu. His erratic heartbeat grew faster and faster, so rapid that the intervals were almost imperceptible. Yet, his breathing had stopped. Only the core of his life force was making a final, desperate struggle for his body.
"————————"
If anyone could have seen Shu's electrocardiogram at that moment, they would have seen his heartbeat flatline into a perfectly straight, unmoving line.
The heart's final struggle had failed. The pain had shattered Shu's last line of defense, dragging him into darkness...
Shu's consciousness returned for a final moment, but he could no longer stop his pupils from dilating. Because he was left with only one thought.
I think... I'm going to die...
---||---
The tremors outside continued. Arahato soared into the sky, engaging the dragon in a fierce aerial battle. Torrents of raging fire spewed from the dragon's mouth, landing on the ground and instantly creating a sea of flames.
Kiana Kaslana and the others, along with Watt and Nobel, fled chaotically through this rain of fire. Schrodinger and her group opened the passage to the underground town, directing all still-mobile toys and Homus to escape underground.
The world was so noisy, yet Shu's ears were filled only with a deafening hum.
This feeling... it was as if the world had rejected Shu's request to communicate. Shu could only stare blankly at a radio with no signal, all alone.
No one... This time, he was alone again...
A lonely... person...
...
"No... Lady Sirin, you can't go over there!!"
"But he's about to die!"
A faint echo drifted from a distant place. A tiny, sharp pain joined the overwhelming agony throughout his body. Before Shu's unfocused eyes faded to black, he barely managed to capture a fleeting image.
Sirin was crouching beside him. Shu saw her injured, bleeding knee.