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GRRRRRR!
GRAAAAAAOOHHH!

The Phantom Dragons bared their fangs and threatened Inglis, who herself was walking up to them as if they were nothing. Their killing intent swelled. A sense of intimidation that seemed to shave even the very air. The fun smell of the battlefield. For the Dragon God, it was just a physiological phenomenon that it produced unconsciously, and yet it was imposing.

The main body of the dragon seemed to be still buried within the ground, but the Phantom Dragons gave off a similar sense of strength as when King Inglis confronted them.

「Fufu…I’m glad to see you’re cheerful.」

A smile appeared on Inglis’ face. She undid the hypergravity sorcery that she always applied on herself. She was tempted to just plunge right into the sea of Phantom Dragons and enjoy fighting them to warm herself up, but she’d have to hold off on that.

She needed to see if wearing this Shrine Maiden costume allowed her to communicate with the Dragon God or not. She undid the hypergravity sorcery for that sole reason.

「However, for now… why don’t we talk for a while?」

Inglis converted Ether into mana and manipulated it to wrap herself within it. To be more precise, what she wrapped wasn’t herself, but the Shrine Maiden costume that she was wearing. She made the wavelength of the mana into one similar to the Ice Sword sorcery that she often used, the wavelength that produced cold air and ice.

The Shrine Maiden costume that she saw in her previous life as King Inglis were imbued with a strong mana within it. Using some rare materials, creating articles as such was possible on the Midland back then, but the costume Inglis was wearing right now was nothing more than a plain, aqua-blue attire.

Rafinha’s hobby was to dress Inglis up, and she made her own accessories and dresses for it. She even said that, in case she couldn’t become a knight, she’d open her own shop and become a tailor.

Rafinha found this fabric while they were procuring supplies for the mission, and she bought it because she liked the color.

However, if Inglis deliberately poured her mana into this costume, the costume would shine with a faint shimmer of mana.

Grrrrr!
Graaa……
Guuu!

The Phantom Dragons instantly quieted down and split off and gave way to Inglis.

「Ooh…?」

It seemed to have worked. Even though Inglis walked past several of the Phantom Dragons already, they only watched her from a distance and didn’t do anything.

「Yes! It’s effective!」
「All that hard work was worth it!」

Rafinha and Pullum shouted with joy.

「Anyone else will be get attacked, so I’ll go ahead by myself, okay?」
「Be careful, Glis.」
「Yeah, Rani. It’s all right.」

Leaving those words behind, Inglis walked further towards the tail of the Dragon God that was towering like a giant tree. More and more Phantom Dragons materialized, increasing their numbers by folds, but they still didn’t come to attack Inglis.

The effect of the Shrine Maiden costume was extraordinary. On an unrelated note, the movements of the Phantom Dragons were perfectly coordinated. None of them acted out of place and tried to attack Inglis.

「……」

Though, that, in itself, is pretty boring. They should have let me have some bout before I reach the Dragon God. These Phantom Dragons aren’t very facilitating, huh. They aren’t exactly an organism, so maybe that’s why they don’t really have any individuality.

However, it is also a fact that they have more power than run-of-the-mill Knights or some inferior Magic Stone Beasts. I have them right before my eyes, and yet…

I understand that I should prioritize talking with the Dragon God now. I understand, but…I want to fight the Phantom Dragons too. They are enemies I’ve faced in my previous life, so this is a perfect opponent to measure how strong I have become after I’ve been reborn as Inglis Eux.

When I’m standing in the middle of them like this, I can’t help myself from the urge of stopping the flow of mana that I permeate into the Shrine Maiden Costume so that its effect is stopped and make me a target to be attacked from all possible directions. This is painful, the same kind of pain as holding back my hunger.

「Aah……What a waste…」

Grr?
Gao…?
Guu?

The Phantom Dragons seemed confused when Inglis looked at them desirously.

「……Let’s pretend I can’t see them!」

Inglis kept her gaze down to her feet, trying to avoid seeing the Phantom Dragons. After all, just seeing them tempted her badly. Then… for better or worse, Inglis finally reached where the tail of the Dragon God was without anything standing in her way.

It was the size of a giant tree, covered with sharp, pointed scales that gleamed in the color of silvery ice as it continued to emit a sizzling white frosty aura. The very air around it was frozen, as glittering crystalized moisture was drifting around.

「……」

Inglis’ body trembled. It was such an intense cold that if she stayed too close to it for too long, she would have frozen over. Her body, clad in nothing but a thin Shrine Maiden costume, naturally shivered.

This fierce cold air that stung her skin was proof that the Dragon God Vufailbane was alive and kicking. It’s great to know that the main body was as lively as the Phantom Dragons. Fighting it would make it worthwhile. She needed to talk to it first, but now she didn’t have to worry about the Dragon God being out of shape for sleeping too long.

「But……」

But there is one thing that bothered her. The thing that was in front of her was a Dragon God. There’s no way it didn’t notice Inglis approaching it so close. How could it allow Inglis to get so close to it without saying any warning or appeal?

Has the Dragon God actually been calling out to Inglis, just that she couldn’t hear what it is saying? The costume shows its effect on the Phantom Dragon, though?

Just thinking wouldn’t solve anything. Inglis decided to call out to the Dragon God herself.

「O’ Dragon God Vufailbane……Do you hear my voice?」

She waited for a good ten seconds, and yet there was no response.

「……?」

Inglis craned her neck, then walked even closer to the tail. This time she touched the tail directly and poured more mana into the Shrine Maiden costume.

「O’ Dragon God. Can you hear me? If you can, please answer me!」

But again, still no response.

「? Hmm…?」

It’s still alive, for sure. Inglis could acutely feel its power, as strong as it ever was. However, it was unresponsive to Inglis, a vulnerable girl who approached it. It didn’t even respond to her calls. The fact that the Phantom Dragons was acting as though Inglis wasn’t an enemy should mean that holding a conversation should be possible, but…

「……Are you, maybe still sleeping?」

Its body was reactive, but its mind was still in the dreamland. If it were to be compared to a human being, would its condition be something like that? Inglis was no expert on dragon physiology, so she had no idea how long a Dragon God’s slumber would last.

It might awaken soon, or it might stay like this for years, or even decades. Obviously, Inglis couldn’t wait so long. She wanted to hear what happened after her previous life, she wanted to fight it to her heart’s content, and most of all, she was hungry. And as for securing food, it wasn’t for Inglis alone, but also for the sake of the people of Alucard as well.

Which means, there is only one other way…