Summoning the Holy Sword

Chapter 1092: Fated Encounter

The silver-whitish band of light encircled the train calmly, not making a single noise. The pure white train drove on the tracks slowly. The young lady turned to gaze at the scenery outside the window, extending her fingers to constantly twirl her chestnut hair tips. But at this moment, a petite figure pounced on her from the side.

“Big Sister!”

“Woah!”

The startled young lady quickly turned to the girl beside her, who wore a black fitting uniform and had two long, black pigtails tied into a bun. The girl grinned at the young lady, spreading her arms apart to make a frightening and intimidating gesture.

“Did I manage to scare you?”

“Yes... Bubble, you’re too mischievous.”

“Sigh...”

Bubble pouted in dissatisfaction upon hearing the young lady’s remarks, before flopping down on the seat beside her and placing both legs on the seats before her. If they were in other places, perhaps this behavior of hers would draw criticisms. But perhaps due to the off-peak season of tourism, they were the only ones in the entire train. Moreover, the train was on autopilot, so there was no one to criticize her for her rude actions.

“But I’m really bored, Big Sister. Since our guild was lucky enough to draw a pair of complimentary tickets for this ‘Moon Tour’, it would be a waste if we didn;t have any fun. After all, it isn’t easy at all for one to make a trip to and from the moon. Or could it be...” Mini Bubble Gum lowered her voice, widened her eyes, and gazed at the young lady with long, fluttering eyelashes. “You’re still thinking about Leader?”

“Well, I do sometimes...”

The young lady said, before letting out a sigh.

“After all, he left so quickly and didn’t even call me once, so I don’t know what he’s up to now... Honestly, I’m not sure if I should continue to stay in the guild.” The young lady paused, turning to the girl beside her. “How about you, Bubble? What are your plans?”

“Me?”

The girl named Bubble curled her lips and pouted to the young lady’s question.

“I’m Leader’s dedicated cleric, so if he calls quits, there is no point in me staying. Anyway, right now the guild is... sigh, I’m not saying that Old Ryu is doing badly, but I really hate the guild now. Do you understand what I mean, Big Sister? I feel like the more the guild expands, the more boring it gets. We used to be able to do whatever we wanted and as long as Leader gave the word, we would follow his command and attack wherever we went. But now? Old Ryu keeps worrying about this and that. He also said that he wants to mend relationships with the other guilds! Tsk. Back then those worthless trash sneaked away like rats covering their heads when we wrecked them and now, we have to be friendly with them? I just can’t accept this. Hmph! No matter what, those noobs should be the ones eager to beg us for mercy, isn’t it? As for the newbies... they are an arrogant bunch. Back then when I had already started killing bosses, they were still sucking milk! Hmph! Who do they think they are...”

Upon hearing her grumbles, the young lady forced a helpless smile. As a reward to their guild for defeating the final boss of the game and starting a new era, the guild received two complimentary tickets for a trip to the moon. This was the reason why they were here. But in fact, the situation wasn’t as simple as it seemed. The young lady was aware that with the arrival of the new era, the guild was slowly being ‘renewed’. Even though someone like Bubble was one of the founders of the guild, she wasn’t able to get along with many people due to her personality. In the past, there was always that one man who accepted her for who she was, but he was nowhere to be found now and she wasn’t that passionate about the guild. Even though there were supporters who wanted her to take over as the new guild leader, to her, the game was no longer fun without that man around. Moreover, there was completely no news from that man ever since that day and this left her somewhat concerned. As a result, she was no longer as interested in the game as before. Due to this reason, both of them decided to put down their duties and participate in this ‘Moon Tour’ during the reformation and renewal of the guild. They knew that perhaps after they returned, their duties would be replaced by newcomers. But now, it didn’t matter to them anymore.

Boom!

At this moment, they heard a deep and loud impact. The train that was moving steadily shook slightly, before coming to a halt entirely. Shortly after, the radiance dimmed abruptly and the inside of the train turned pitch-black.

“What happened?”

Facing this sudden change in situation, the two girls exchanged astonished looks with each other. Bubble lunged up, ‘floated’ to the side and pressed the buttons. But there was no response apart from the emergency light flickering in the carriage.

“The autopilot failed? Wait, there’s no signal at all!”

“What should we do?”

The young lady knitted her brows slightly, while Bubble spread her arms apart helplessly.

“It’s fine, they should realize the issue soon. We’re in the Americas Region, I suppose... Hmph, it must be some annoying system malfunction. That’s why I said people can’t just believe in foreign goods blindly! Damn it. They counted on those idiot cowboys who moved their manufacturing factories to our country and what can they even create by themselves?! Whenever there are problems, they push all responsibilities to others! Boeing has closed down, so what are those people still acting so arrogantly for? I will definitely lodge complaints after I return! I will sue them until they go bankrupt!”

Rumbles...!

The ground shook once again, leaving the two girls taken aback. They approached the window and scanned around them. At the same time, in the dark starry sky, several radians flashed and a string of exploding flares erupted in the distance.

“... What’s going on? They filming Star Wars or something?”

At the next moment, Bubble received her answer.

A bright, dazzling light torrent erupted from below and shortly after, an enormous, dark shadowy figure lifted its head, lasting a glaring light beam that enfolded three to four fighter aircrafts. Then, sparkles from the explosions flashed and at the same time, the shadowy figure expanded its wings and swooped down from above in a swift motion. Its huge, strong tail swung nimbly, striking down the two fighter aircrafts behind it.

Looking at this scene, the two young ladies widened their eyes in astonishment.

Dragon?

A monster that would only appear in games, animations, and fantasy movies was currently soaring in the starry sky, diving down, and breathing dragon breaths to destroy the buildings on the surface completely. Then, it rolled, dodging the several missiles fired at it. The two young ladies witnessed a series of blue light as deep explosions erupted once more in the distance.

“W-What’s that!” Bubble gasped. Even though her voice was shaking from anxiousness and terror, she had almost lay entirely on the window ledge and was staring at the unbelievable scene with wide open eyes. “A dragon? Is that a dragon? Big Sister, I’m not dreaming, right?! Is it because I fell asleep from boredom that I’m able to make such a dream?”

“I don’t think this is a dream...”

The young lady appeared much calmer, but the trembling hands betrayed her.

“But it isn’t the time for this now. We should think of a way to get out of here.”

“How can we leave? We don’t have extra spacesuits and this is only a train for tours. Besides, it has lost control and we can’t even send out an SOS. Also, we’re so high up now, don’t tell me we have to jump... Woah!”

Almost simultaneously, a blazing burst of dragon breath brushed the train, taking down the fighter aircrafts above and causing the train to creak in its powerful impact. The tightly-fitted metal plates of the train began to tremble. The emergency siren blared from time to time, reminding the passengers that it was no longer safe.

“Woah, this is awful... hmm?”

As Bubble felt a headache, she saw the enormous ‘dragon’ suddenly lifting its head and glaring at them. For some unknown reason, she felt as though the pair of eyes flickering in golden radiance was looking at her. She stared blankly, but quickly realized that something was amiss...

“Big Sister, don’t you think we’ve seen this ‘dragon’ before somewhere?”

“Hmm?”

The young lady lifted her head and turned to the ‘dragon’ curiously. But shortly after, her expression changed slightly because at this moment, a missile had streaked across the sky and was heading toward it vertically. Looking at this scene, the young lady grimaced. She pulled back the girl whose head was outside the window and held her to the ground.

“Lay down!”

The missile landed on the enormous dragon.

———!

In an instant, the brilliance that was enough to burn or even blind their eyes exploded. The strong airwaves resulting from the powerful impact engulfed the fluttering dust on the moon’s surface, causing them to disperse and scatter in all directions. Not only that, but the train on the tracks also shook non-stop. Even though they were on the moon and some weapons of mass destruction were weakened due to this fact, judging it in terms of a trump card, it actually wasn’t weakened that much.

After a few moments, the intense blow ended entirely. In the sound of crackles, the crumbling train couldn’t hold on any longer. It rolled and fell over the tracks.

“Ahhh!”

All of a sudden, an enormous, black claw extended and caught the falling train effortlessly. The two young ladies widened their eyes in confusion. They looked out the window and took in a deep breath of cold air immediately. It was the pitch-black, gigantic dragon before them, looking at them with its golden eyes. For some unknown reason, they felt something strange with its gaze...

At the same time, a crisp, melodious voice rang in their heads.

“I didn’t expect to see you two here, Miss Canary and Miss Bubble.”