Dictator From Outer Space

Leobold was more interested in the circumstances surrounding the Dragon War than who won it.

He wanted to know the purpose of the war, the reason why information was blocked after it ended, and the true power of the gods and dragons.

“What I’m curious about is why the war happened. In this era, only the fact that the gods and dragons fought each other and various races took sides according to their beliefs and interests is known.”

“I know a little bit.”

Valgard’s attitude was quite softened after seeing his power.

He spoke with a low voice, as if recalling that time.

“I heard that airships were not very active in this era, is that true?”

“That’s true. We were like beggars until we landed on the floating continent.”

“What’s the floating continent?”

“It’s an island that rose up north of Astera after the war ended. There are thousands of them, so they look like a continent.”

“I didn’t know that… Anyway, in my era, airships were common. Even ordinary people rode airships and competed for how high they could go.”

“How high was the record for the highest altitude?”

“About 15km or so… I’m not sure.”

“That’s strange. The current airships can’t reach that altitude.”

“I don’t know about that, but there were many rumors about airships flying in the sky at that time. They said they were invading the realm of the gods.”

“The realm of the gods…”

“The location of the Astera Pantheon was a topic of discussion in many temples. There was a heated debate over that issue, but most of them concluded that they were far away in the sky.”

“So you started a war because you invaded their realm?”

“There was also a divine mandate at that time. I remember it was a divine mandate from Urgos, the god of knowledge and magic, from his temple. It said to stop any further research on ether engineering.”

“Why?”

“Nobody knows. Anyway, that caused a lot of noise within the temple. The dragons naturally didn’t like that divine mandate.”

It seemed obvious that there were many conflicts between the gods and dragons.

But he wasn’t sure if that was enough reason to lead to a war.

Valgard suddenly said he was hungry and asked for food.

“Give me something to eat. Anything is fine.”

“Arma, bring him something generous.”

As if he had prepared beforehand, Arma appeared shortly with a tray full of food.

Valgard smiled with his ferocious face and said.

“A person who is generous with food can’t be called a villain. I like you.”

“Let’s talk after you eat.”

Leobold waited until he finished his meal.

He also drank some strong peppermint tea as an aftertaste and finally finished his meal.

“Hmm, it’s disappointing for something prepared by a count. Has ether technology as well as food culture declined?”

“That’s right. Compared to 200 years ago, there is no progress to be seen. People seem to have forgotten something and act accordingly.”

“…I think that’s the work of those pointy ears. They always didn’t like what we did.”

“What exactly did the elves do?”

“One of my missions was to assassinate Ailid, who was researching magic related to memory.”

“Ailid? Do you mean the elf who became the founder of Elvrande?”

“Probably yes. You look like Elvrande didn’t reveal Ailid’s death, right? Well, they are like that anyway.”

If this was revealed, Elvrande would use all means to kill Valgard.

Ailid was more than a national treasure.

“That’s beside the point, but magic related to memory… Don’t tell me they used Yggdrasil’s branches to erase the memories of all Asterans?”

“I don’t know for sure, but it makes sense and has a high possibility even if they tried something sinister. Those pointy ears should all die.”

It seemed unlikely that they would go that far, but seeing them use Yggdrasil’s branches to cause famine in nearby kingdoms, he couldn’t deny it completely.

It was possible that they abused Ailid’s great research and buried everything.

Leobold was lost in thought when Valgard stroked his chin.

“Wait, there must be quite a few pointy ears alive now.”

“They’re probably making trouble in the Grand Council.”

“That’s good. To celebrate my new life, I have to go kill them.”

“By yourself?”

“I’m Altema’s champion and godslayer. Well, I might be a bit inferior to you, but I don’t think I’m lacking in killing a few pointy ears.”

“Godslayer. I didn’t know that a mere champion could kill a god.”

Valgard snorted.

“The Astera Pantheon is nothing special. The powers they give us are just powers, not true strength. They might feel like transcenders to ordinary Humans, but they’re nothing to me.”

“So you’re saying that champions are superior to them in pure combat power. Which god did you kill?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Is that also because of a vow? I’m starting to get annoyed by your questions.”

He threatened to smash him if he lied, and Valgard’s eyes twitched.

“Damn, I don’t remember. Do you think the Astera Pantheon is one or two? There are hundreds of them, how can I feel who I killed in battle?”

“You should have said that earlier.”

Leobold withdrew his gaze.

It was a great gain to know that he could kill a god.

After all, the Astera Pantheon was not really gods.

The only being he recognized as a true god was the Prophet.

Valgard looked at him with curiosity.

“By the way, who are you? How did you get a power similar to a dragon?”

“I have to have a secret or two, right?”

“Damn, I knew you would say that.”

“What I can tell you is only one thing. I need a skilled person for my purpose, and you’re no exception.”

“So I have no choice… I guess.”

“You have nowhere to go in this era anyway. You’ll cause trouble wherever you go and eventually perish. Without Goliath.”

“If only I had my Goliath…”

“Are you talking about the one that looks like a dragon? The gray one?”

Valgard’s eyes widened.

“You found it? Where was it?”

“If you swear to become my subordinate, I’ll tell you. I’ll even give you back Goliath. Well, what will you do?”

“…You’re always like this, aren’t you? You corner me in an alley and cut off my escape. You’re very good at that.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. I want to hear your answer.”

“I owe you for saving me and I have nowhere to go anyway… Fine, I’ll entrust myself to you. Just tell me who to kill.”

“You don’t have anything to do for now. It’s not time to show your power yet.”

“By the way, didn’t you say you had a dragon to help you earlier? Let me meet him. I’m curious how he survived that war.”

Leobold couldn’t say that Jigaleon didn’t fight and only ran away.

‘He’s a dragon, but he might be weaker than a champion.’

He made a plausible excuse.

“I have some business to attend to, so I’m not in the territory right now. Instead, I’ll show you Goliath.”

“You’re calling me ‘you’ now, instead of ‘sir’. Maybe soon you’ll call me ‘you’.”

“Are you complaining?”

“No, let’s see Goliath first.”

***

Goliath, in the shape of a dragon, was stationed in a hangar on the outskirts of Lantis City.

He was so huge that he was not standing like other Goliaths, but lying down. 

This made Valgard lose his temper.

“Damn, why did you leave him like this?”

“Because he has a tail. And I can’t just expose him to the public.”

“I heard there are still Goliaths in this era.”

“Maybe, but none of them are as monstrous as this one. His shape is quite different too.”

“It seems that 200 years have taken away not only the food culture and ether engineering, but also the Goliath manufacturing technology.”

“Just try it.”

“Are you sure?”

Leobold nodded and Valgard quickly took the key sword and started Goliath.

On a dark night, the hangar opened and the giant dragon-shaped Goliath rose up.

There was no risk of being exposed because all kinds of magic, including optical camouflage and invisibility, were spread over this area.

“Albion… You’re still intact despite the long time. The output is a bit low, but it will recover.”

“His name is Albion. Does he have any weapons?”

“The weapons are all over his body.”

A faint ether formed on Goliath’s body, and even his tail had hundreds of spikes and a long sword.

Leobold nodded.

“He fights by getting close to the enemy and using his whole body.”

“He has enough power to shred even the Astra Pantheon. If you had seen me fight with Albion, you wouldn’t have ignored me.”

“Why did you die then? Why were you sealed in the underwater temple?”

“…It was to protect Altema. That’s all I can say.”

“I won’t ask any more. If you feel like telling me later, talk to Arma. She knows everything, including the circumstances at that time.”

“I don’t want to say that to a maid, no matter how much you favor her.”

Some bureaucrats also said that, making him wonder if he should give Arma a title.

“She’s my ears and eyes. The only person I can trust with everything.”

“That much? I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Valgard moved Albion for a while and then asked suddenly.

“Aren’t you worried that I’m riding Goliath?”

“What are you worried about?”

“What if I make a mistake and step on you?”

“Do you think you can beat me with that toy?”

“A toy? This is Albion, who was made after Altema, who even insulted the gods!”

Valgard was excited, but he forgot his words when Leobold’s ether heart reached its maximum output.

「Entering overdrive mode.」

At this point, Leobold looked almost like a golden man.

Ether overflowed from his body and Valgard stared blankly at it.

“Is this beyond Altema… Is this your real power?”

“Not 100%. According to research, there is room for further increase.”

“Altema…”

Valgard got off Albion and approached him on his knees.

“I lost. Damn, this is unbeatable. My life is yours. Do whatever you want.”

“You better not betray me. I’m a mean and stubborn guy who doesn’t forgive traitors.”

“You sound like a villain introduction.”

“I can’t deny that I’m a villain. I have ambitions to conquer Astra.”

Valgard burst into laughter.

“Do you want to be an emperor or something? Well, with that kind of power, you can dream anything. But what are you really? A god’s avatar who survived the war?”

“I’m neither a god nor a dragon. Just a human.”

“I don’t believe it. If you were in the war, we would have won.”

“What if we did?”

“Who knows… At least it wouldn’t be a world where the elves are thriving.”

“I like that idea.”

They chatted for a while and disappeared, and somewhere golems appeared and cleaned up.

***

“Valgard… Graneo. He wandered as a mercenary and settled in my territory. He has a warm heart despite his appearance, so please welcome him.”

Graneo’s surname changed to Gran in Zoljié, and he frowned once, but didn’t make a fuss.

He was not affiliated with the security organization led by Granden, but with the floating continent squad.

He was so strong that he had a separate blocking circuit engraved on his ether heart, and Zion felt it and tilted his head.

“Why did you put something weird in your ether heart?”

“You’re a dragon? Hmm…”

No matter how much Leobold wrapped it up, he couldn’t hide his true abilities.

Moreover, Valgard’s body had various magic circles engraved on it, which were now obsolete.

One of them was to see through the essence of things.

He noticed Zion’s combat power and showed disappointment.

“Blue dragons are not such weak races… You must be a coward to survive until now.”

“What? Lord, don’t tell me you revealed my identity?”

Leobold shook his head and Valgard glared at him.

“I’m Altema’s champion. Let’s fight when we go to the floating continent.”

“This guy?”

Zion was angry, but he didn’t dare to attack Valgard.

He didn’t know where he picked up such a guy, but he was strong enough as a human, and if he rode Goliath, he seemed to surpass him.

He hastily whispered in Leobold’s ear.

“Hey, lord, what’s going on? Why is Altema’s champion here?”

“He’s a guy I picked up from the pirate army. His skills are as you feel, and he’ll be fine if you step on him a little.”

“I look like I’m being stepped on right now.”

Is that so?

Leobold was so high up that he couldn’t understand the gap between them.

Anyway, Valgard was strong enough to make Zion nervous even without riding Goliath.

He showed this and asked Zion for a handshake.

“You’re a young dragon, huh? I’m curious who your ancestor is, but let’s ask that later… Let’s get along well.”

“Uh, um…”

Of course, 700 years old was not a young age for a dragon.

Zion was mistaken for a young dragon in Zoljié and couldn’t correct him. 

He reached out his hand.

Fortunately, Valgard seemed to like him just because he was a dragon.

Zion was dragged by him and looked back involuntarily.

“Lord, save me!”

Leobold ignored him.

He couldn’t afford to turn back into his dragon form, or else Valgard would find out his age.

Anyway, he and the rest of the floating continent expedition left the domain with various materials.

Their goal was to build a forward base on the floating continent.

It was a base that included residential facilities and a proper mooring station, so it was planned to be operated by humans. Some soldiers were assigned to be under Valgard’s command.

The reason he was sent was because of the dangers of the floating continent and the nearby airship fleets of various countries.

He didn’t know what they would do, so he needed someone with outstanding combat power.

A ship was also assigned to the base, but it was not a big problem because it was being built at the shipyard in the domain.

“It looks like the 500-ton airship will be completed in three months. After that, we plan to expand the shipyard and increase it to a thousand tons.”

The ships that would float on the sea were also almost finished.

When he had enough ships to form an expedition, he would be able to take over the pirate army as well.

But the expedition that left for the floating continent brought an unexpected report.

“Lord, the Elvrande fleet is demanding a toll. They say they’ll fire their ether cannons if we ignore them.”

Elvrande finally drew their swords.

They had been watching Leobold’s expedition dig up all kinds of resources on the floating continent, and finally ran out of patience.

Captain Hampton knew that, so he tried to run away from afar, but he reported that he couldn’t because there were too many ships.

“It looks like more than 100 ships, I’m sorry, my lord.”

“It’s not your fault. But can’t you run away by operating the engine at maximum and raising the altitude?”

“It looks difficult. There’s also Zaium’s fleet nearby…”

It happened to be near an ascending air current, so it seemed that they wouldn’t be able to avoid a collision if they went up.

At that moment, another report came from Valgard.

“Those Zaium guys are asking us to hand over our new recruits. What should we do?”

They said they wanted to take over their new recruits, but they actually wanted to search their ships and investigate their engines to steal their secrets.

Arma made a hologram of the results taken by Siviri satellite in front of Leobold.

“They blocked our way.”

If they ignored them and went up, they would be bombarded.

Also, it took some distance to raise the altitude of an airship, but both fleets didn’t give them that distance.

The size of both fleets was so huge that there was no way to escape.

“Choose one of them. This is my specialty.”

Leobold chuckled and ordered Arma.

“Fire the ether laser. Set the output to barely pierce through the atmosphere and attack the ship on the left side of the Elvrande fleet.”

“Reflector bits ejected, ether laser fired.”

A thin beam of light from Siberi satellite passed through the reflector bits and headed toward Terra planet.

The laser that barely penetrated through the atmosphere hit the Elvrande fleet directly and some airships caught fire.

The power was poor, but by chance, their ether propellers were destroyed and their sterns exploded.

Bang!

“Aaah!”

“The ship is exploding!”

Normally, there would have been a commotion as sailors jumped off everywhere.

But at this altitude, jumping off meant nothing but death for them.

Levitation magic had its limits and most of the elves were swept away and fell as their ships tilted.

In the meantime, Elvrande fleet suddenly fired at Zaium fleet.

“How dare you humans attack us? Fire! Don’t spare them!”

They mistook the laser attack for an ether cannon.

Hundreds of cannons aimed at Zaium fleet and thick beams of light flew like arrows.

Zaium fleet, which was unexpectedly hit by fire, also immediately retaliated and the scene became a mess with nearly 200 airships exchanging fire.

Leobold called Hampton and ordered him.

“We’re lucky. Now. Raise your altitude in the direction where they are not.”

“Aye!”

The expedition quickly increased its speed and altitude and left the scene.

Both fleets were caught up in a sudden battle and couldn’t respond even though they lost sight of the expedition.

A little later, Valgard asked in a subtle tone.

“Was that your order just now? It doesn’t look like an ether cannon no matter how I look at it.”

“Imagination is free, you know.”

“I heard from the sailors that you are a hero from another world… Did you attack from a giant ship hidden somewhere?”

“I’ll have to shut up those sailors soon.”

But he doubted if that would work.

Until recently, it was only a rumor known to the influential people, but now that the sailors knew, it seemed like a matter of time before children would run around saying they were heroes.

Anyway, the expedition was able to land on the floating continent without any damage.

The sailors went down first and unloaded the golems and materials, and the forward base began to be built.

Valgard stepped on the floating continent and muttered.

“It’s surprisingly warm here. It must be because of the branches of Yggdrasil.”

That was also his mission, to find them.

But he felt something strange.

There was something that resonated with his ether heart on this place.

“It’s not a dragon, but something like a fragment of a god… You’re a cute one. I’ll find you.”

Meanwhile, the Elvrande and Zaium fleets that missed the expedition were pouring out a tremendous amount of fire.

Due to the sudden outbreak of the battle, the treaty that both sides had signed for a year was broken.

There wasn’t much time left, but it was clear that the treaty was broken and both sides tried to blame each other.

—Elvrande fired first! Anyone with eyes can see that!

—Who are you trying to blame for your preemptive attack?

Since it was such a place, there was no evidence left and joint investigation was impossible.

As a result, the peace mood that had been barely established between the two empires was shattered in an instant.

Leobold predicted that Elvrande’s madman Kairos would move now.

“Let’s see how good you are at assassination.”

Or maybe he would call it assassination when there were no witnesses left after killing them all?