The White Whale let out a sky-shattering wail, a twenty-meter-long, gruesome wound stretching from its side to its dorsal fin, hot blood pouring down like a waterfall, dyeing the grass below a crimson red.
The White Whale howled and flew into the dense fog.
Carlisle watched as the White Whale disappeared into the fog, then raised his left hand.
"Al Goa!"
As the incantation fell, a giant fireball, tens of meters in diameter, suddenly condensed in the night sky.
It blasted towards the direction where the White Whale had vanished with destructive force!
Boom
The shockwave spread in a ring, and amidst the deafening explosion, a massive body was violently slammed to the ground, kicking up a giant wave of dust tens of meters high.
Carlisle landed lightly on the ground.
He squinted, looking into the distance, where the Earth dragon carriage carrying Subaru had already become a small black dot on the horizon.
"I finally made it…"
The White Whale's figure was faintly visible in the dust.
Carlisle took a deep breath, his sword tip pointing forward, magic power condensing around him once more.
"Come on…"
—
"Woah! We're saved!" Otto's hand, still gripping the reins, trembled, his voice filled with the relief of surviving a disaster.
"I never thought we'd encounter a passing Knight in such a wilderness who would come to our rescue.
We're so lucky, Subaru!"
"Otto! Stop the carriage immediately! We have to go back for him!"
"Eh?" Otto turned his head in confusion.
"But that Knight seems to be handling it with ease…"
"He's not just some passing knight!"
Subaru's voice suddenly rose.
"I know him! That's Carlisle! If we leave him to face the White Whale alone…" Her voice suddenly choked, memories of the last loop flashing before her eyes, Carlisle, covered in blood, dragging his broken body to shield her.
Otto was startled by the girl's sudden agitation.
"But, but Mr. Carlisle doesn't need to fight the White Whale to the death, does he? He could totally…"
"You don't understand!" Subaru practically screamed.
"That idiotic knight won't back down even if it costs him his life!"
Her voice was tearful.
"Last time… last time it was because of this…"
Subaru bit her lip hard until she tasted blood.
How could she not have noticed?
There was no dragon carriage beside Carlisle, which meant he had been chasing them on foot the entire way!
Facing the White Whale in a state of severe exhaustion… just imagining it made her shiver.
Otto hesitated, speaking.
"But if we go back now, wouldn't it just…"
His words cut off abruptly.
The Earth dragon suddenly let out a terrified shriek, and Otto's face instantly turned pale.
The Blessing of the Word allowed him to hear the most terrifying sound.
He looked up.
In the fog-churning sky, two massive shadows were approaching.
One White Whale flew directly towards Carlisle, while the other… the White Whale with the gruesome sword wound, was locked onto their dragon carriage.
"Two… two of them…?" Otto's voice trembled, out of tune.
Subaru's blood seemed to freeze instantly.
The sight before her completely overturned her understanding.
Two?
No, she suddenly turned her head towards the direction of the roaring magic in the distance; there was clearly a third one fighting Carlisle!
How could this be… All the books she had read clearly stated that the White Whale was a unique entity.
But the mournful whale cries tearing through the night sky at this moment cruelly declared the fallacy of that common knowledge.
Otto pulled at the reins, almost collapsing.
"Why are there so many White Whales?! Am I having a nightmare?!"
The Earth dragon, urged on by him, galloped wildly.
The shadow of the White Whale grew closer, its gaping maw revealing layers of sharp teeth reflecting cold light, and a stench like rotting flesh emanating from deep within its throat.
The breath of death assailed them.
Just as the White Whale's fangs were about to crush the dragon carriage-
Boom!
A crimson fire burst from Subaru's chest!
Flames condensed into the shape of a blade in the air, accompanied by a clear, resonant dragon roar.
"Flame sword Draw!"
The burning blade precisely struck the White Whale's upper jaw, and a blinding golden light erupted the moment the holy flame touched the beast's flesh.
The White Whale let out a heart-wrenching wail, its fangs severed at the roots, blood pouring down like a torrential rain.
The dragon carriage, seizing this opening, narrowly escaped the brink of death.
Subaru stared in shock at the flaming longsword suspended in the air, the familiar emblem on its hilt making her instantly recognize the weapon.
This was… Carlisle's sword?!
But why was it here?
Pandora's chilling voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
"That stubborn sword… refused to come to me…"
"It possesses power beyond the world's rules…"
The Flame Sword automatically met the White Whale that lunged again, but Subaru clearly felt a difference; while the flames on the blade could burn the beast, they were far from the world-destroying power she remembered from Carlisle's fight with Puck.
A terrifying realization surfaced in her mind.
The Flame Sword was clearly unaffected by Return by Death, but the power it displayed now was leagues apart from when Carlisle fought Puck.
If it could truly unleash its full power, the White Whale would have been cut down with a single strike, which meant… this sword could only unleash its true power in Carlisle's hands!
"Otto!" Subaru grabbed the edge of the carriage, jumping to the other side of the driver's seat.
"Leave the dragon carriage here! We'll ride the ground dragons separately!"
Otto's eyes widened.
"Eh? But, but- woah!" He pointed at the flaming longsword suspended in the air, his jaw almost dropping to the ground.
"What's with that flying sword?! Is it, is it cutting the White Whale?!"
"It's protecting me," Subaru quickly explained, her eyes fixed on the White Whale's movements in the distance.
"But I have to get it to its true owner!"
"More importantly…" Her voice suddenly lowered.
"I need to figure out what exactly is attracting the White Whales to chase us!"
Otto's expression gradually changed from shock to confusion: "Although I don't understand anything Subaru is saying…" He glanced at the Flame Sword, which was maneuvering around the White Whale, and suddenly a light bulb went off.
"Wait!
Since this magical sword is protecting Subaru, does that mean we're safe now?"
"Theoretically, yes."
"Eh, so protecting me is just a bonus?"
"Are you still worrying about that at a time like this?!" She yanked the reins.
"Listen!
If my guess is correct, the White Whales are after me.
You'll be safer acting alone!"
"But, but…"
"No time to explain!" Subaru leaped onto the Earth dragon.
"Remember!
No matter what happens, don't look back!"
(The male lead's combat power is the second strongest in the kingdom, not the second strongest in the world.
In the original work, he's probably around T2.5, and he'll only evolve to the original T1.5 level after fully mastering Flame Sword Blaze.)
Examples of original T1:
First Sword Saint Reid
Divine Dragon Volcanica
World's Origin od Laguna
There are only two original T0:
Current Sword Saint Reinhard van Astrea
Witch of Envy Satella
...
Read advance chapters on p@treon
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Join disc0rd link in synopsis.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.