Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 448: The Sword of Damocles (8)

Dragon Raja 3

The painting was titled “Transformation into Hell”.

Beneath the painting sat a girl dressed in shrine maiden attire. Erii was curled up in the shadowy corner, hugging her knees. The light from the oil lamp didn’t reach her. Chisei knelt halfway in front of her and met her gaze before gently embracing her.

“Brother, what’s happening outside?” Erii wrote on her notebook and showed it to him.

“It’s very bad, truly terrible,” Chisei whispered. “So your brother will be very busy, taking care of things. Erii, be good.”

Erii nodded vigorously.

Chisei opened the suitcase, revealing the clothes that the extravagant Lu Mingfei had bought for Erii: “Change your clothes.”

Erii, without hesitation, removed her shrine maiden outfit right in front of Chisei, down to just her underwear. No one had ever taught her that girls shouldn’t change clothes in front of men, and Chisei, in her mind, wasn’t considered a man—he was just something reliable called “brother.” After some deliberation, she chose her favorite, a white taffeta knee-length dress, along with Roman-style high-heeled sandals, and tied her long hair back with a white ribbon. Chisei silently watched as this girl, who had been curled up like a cat beneath the mural, became radiant within minutes, and he smiled quietly.

He showed her the passport and bank cards he had prepared, one by one, and then stuffed them into a small bag, handing it to her. He hugged her again. “Erii, you look beautiful in this dress. I like this version of Erii. I’ve always been wrong. You should have your own life, like an ordinary girl—fall for someone, go on adventures, be sad for him and be happy for him. That’s what it means to truly live, even if only for a few years. That’s the proof that we’ve lived. I’m grateful to Lu Mingfei, but sadly, I won’t be able to thank him in person.”

He helped Erii into a warm jacket and a transparent raincoat, pinching her cheek gently. “From tonight onward, your name is no longer Uesugi Erii, and you have no ties to Yamata no Orochi. If anyone asks, never reveal your original name. Your new name is on that passport, do you remember?”

Erii stared at him blankly, then nodded. Mentally, she was much younger than her peers and couldn’t grasp the full meaning of his words, but she had long since grown accustomed to trusting Chisei. If Chisei told her to do something, she would do it.

“Erii, you’re such a good girl.” Chisei kissed her on the cheek. “In truth, I haven’t done much for you over the years—far less than what Lu Mingfei did for you in just one week. I’ve always treated you as a substitute for my brother. Looking after you made me feel like I was still a competent brother. I really am such a fool…”

He couldn’t continue, so he hugged her again, this time lifting her up into his arms.

He carried the tall Erii out of the shrine, where an armored Mercedes was already waiting. He placed her in the back seat and gently patted her head for the last time. “I wish we had more time to play Street Fighter together.”

He closed the car door and waved for the driver to depart. The Mercedes sliced through the rain and sped down the mountain. From the shrine, it would only take 40 minutes to reach the military airport in Yamanashi Prefecture, where a Bombardier business jet was waiting to take Erii to Korea. The passport Chisei had prepared for her was a Korean one, and her new name was Kim Heewon. Chisei had been preparing for this for years but had never fully committed to putting the plan into action. He had given Erii a new identity and used his personal savings to buy her a small apartment in Seoul’s Gangnam district. He chose Korea because cosmetic surgery was so common there that a naturally beautiful girl like Erii wouldn’t stand out among the thousands of girls who looked alike.

Tonight, he had finally made the decision. Even at a time like this, he couldn’t bring Erii to the battlefield. To him, Erii was indeed a sister, not a weapon. This love was personal and had nothing to do with greater causes.

The shrine priests gathered around Chisei as he boarded the helicopter. In the storm, the black bird soared into the sky. Chisei looked down at the shrine below. It had once been the ancestral temple of the supreme family in the underworld, but now it was empty. The eternal lamp flickered before the Buddha, on the verge of going out. The priests had tied white cloths around their heads—this was Yamata no Orochi’s final battle.

“Connect me to Principal Anjou,” Chisei ordered.

At the Tokyo Meteorological Bureau.

“The coordinates have been entered. The Divine Punishment system has completed its self-check. When Sky Watcher reaches Tokyo’s airspace, the Damocles Sword can be released. Fourteen satellites will correct its trajectory, taking into account factors like wind speed, cloud cover, and shifts in Earth’s magnetic field. That tungsten rod will hit Red Well precisely. The impact area will have a diameter of 3.4 kilometers. It’s surrounded by barren mountains, so there should be no innocent casualties—except for those in Red Well,” Deputy Director Carl reported loudly. “There are 54 minutes until Sky Watcher reaches Tokyo’s airspace.”

The Gear Department techies, having learned of the god’s existence, had initially panicked with cries of “Mom, I’m scared,” “That bastard Principal tricked us,” and “I don’t even have a religion—can someone recommend one to me before I die?” But after realizing that their whining wouldn’t save them and that the Principal wouldn’t offer them any escape routes, they had shifted their focus. Now, it was all about “strangling that deformed god,” “letting it know what it feels like to be humiliated by science,” and “even its mother won’t escape.”

When it comes to fighting gods or anyone else, these madmen were certainly true to their word. The team’s efficiency soared, and within just 15 minutes, they had fully decoded the activation sequence for Divine Punishment, taking full control of the weapon.

“Make sure the precision is spot-on. If you drop it in Tokyo, we’re talking casualties in the millions.” Anjou circled Red Well on the map.

“Although that weapon was designed by the Gattuso family, in the hands of the Gear Department, its effectiveness will be 200%,” Deputy Director Carl said, as aloof and proud as ever. “We’ll make sure that rod lands straight in Red Well. With the force of that shockwave, no living being will survive!”

“Then we have only one remaining question: Will the god still be there when the Damocles Sword strikes?” Anjou put on his headset. “Viper, how far are you from Red Well?”

“Viper reporting. We are flying at full speed. ETA to Red Well is approximately three minutes.”

Upon receiving the coordinates from Chisei, a helicopter that had been on standby immediately took off from the Kisarazu base, heading toward the Tama River. The Tokyo government had been granted authority to mobilize the Self-Defense Forces, which essentially meant Anjou had that authority. His voice, mimicked by Eva, had issued orders to the Kisarazu base under the name of Kozen Heiji. Volcanic eruptions had generated massive amounts of ash, rendering the satellite’s infrared cameras useless. The only way to determine the situation at Red Well was to conduct a risky reconnaissance by helicopter.

“Project the image onto the big screen!” Anjou commanded.

The live feed from the helicopter immediately appeared on the screen. The light helicopter was flying over the mountains, with the storm covering the Tama River region. Falling leaves swirled in the canyons, resembling a deep green tide. Visibility was poor, but the system highlighted the location of Red Well in red. Anjou stared intently at the red marker.

He trusted in the power of Divine Punishment. Both Pompeii and the Gear Department had deemed the orbital kinetic energy weapon reliable, so there was no doubt about its efficacy. The only question remaining was whether the god, as they speculated, was truly at Red Well.

They had very little information about the god. According to Yamata no Orochi’s historical records, it was sometimes described as a colossal creature like the Yamata no Orochi itself. Other records claimed it was a fragment of bone taken from the White Empress. Even if they had the finest weapons, facing an unknown opponent made predicting their chances of success impossible.

The ground shook. Fiery magma slowly flowed down the mountainside as Mount Fuji erupted once again. The first eruption had melted all the snow on the summit, and now the supervolcano was pitch-black, with magma solidifying as it flowed. Trees on the mountainside spontaneously ignited before the magma even touched them, turning to charcoal.

The god was awakening from its long slumber, exerting its will without restraint. Although they had witnessed Fenrir’s Shiva’s Dance of Destruction, capable of obliterating a city, this incomplete White Empress still shocked Cassell College. It could potentially destroy an entire country—an existence far beyond the rank of the Four Monarchs.

If this incomplete White Empress could cause such devastation, what could the ultimate Black Emperor accomplish? Just the thought sent chills down their spines.

“Viper reporting! Snow ahead! Viper reporting! Snow ahead!” came the astonished voice of the pilot through the headset.

Anjou had already seen the strange sight on the screen. Even though Mount Fuji’s thousand-year-old snow had melted, the mountains near the Tama River were covered in thick snow. These mountains were only a few hundred meters above sea level, far below the snow line. Despite the storm, the snow remained. Viper flew over the white, glassy peaks, as if soaring over Siberia in the dead of winter. This phenomenon defied all natural laws. Just hours ago, the satellite images had shown the mountains as dark green. This was a clear sign that Viper was approaching the god. Anjou clenched his fists, and the sound of his knuckles cracking echoed in the room.

Series Navigation

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