The sea was a deep, gleaming blue, and even the seaside flowers and grasses brimmed with life.
With winter gone and spring returning, everything was waking up again.
All of a sudden, a thunderous blast erupted from the ocean. Waves surged sky-high, and a sphere of light shot into the sky.
When the light dispersed, two figures appeared—a black-haired young man in a long coat and a blue-haired girl in a feathered robe.
The blue-haired girl was cradled in the young man's arms, cheeks flushed, eyes half-lidded, looking completely spent.
Shichen glanced at the drowsy Aqua and could only laugh and shake his head.
This was already the third time, and Aqua still couldn't handle his… intensity, even though he was being gentle.
Some goddess, huh?
All that early bravado really had just been talk.
They climbed higher until the town below was a blur, and only then did Shichen nudge Aqua.
"Aqua, didn't you want to feel what it's like to fly?"
"Mm… Shichen… I'm so tired…" she murmured, barely able to open her eyes.
"Don't you want to ride a dragon?"
"Dragon!" Aqua perked up a little, blinking groggily, her eyes misty.
"Okay, stand steady first," Shichen said with a smile, setting her down.
"Eh? How are we in the sky?!" Aqua jolted fully awake, instantly wrapping herself around him like an octopus, her legs clamped tight around his waist.
"I told you I could fly, didn't I?" Shichen soothed, patting her back.
"So it was true!"
"Why would I lie to you?"
He hadn't taken any quests lately and had been idle every day, so he'd never had the chance to show Aqua and the others he could fly.
Not that he was the show-off type anyway.
"So where's the dragon?"
"You'll see in a second."
Shichen kept one arm around Aqua. He raised his left hand, and a green "Δ" sigil appeared on the back—
not a triangle, but delta.
In the next instant, green mana surged over his entire body, roiling and gathering above his head.
"Roooar!"
With a majestic dragon's cry, the power coalesced into a colossal, serpentine dragon—a long, massive, emerald-green dragon.
Its body was entirely green, patterned with yellow ring-like markings that ran all the way to its head.
It had two limbs with wrist-like joints ending in three claws; two long, flat horn-like structures crowned its head with two smaller horns beneath them; its gums protruded, and two distinct fangs jutted from the tip of its upper snout.
This was the fifth familiar he'd awakened when he absorbed the blood of Saber—Artoria.
The Dragon of the Skies, sovereign of the heavens—Rayquaza.
And with it, he himself had gained the ability to fly.
"Waaah! It really is a dragon! But why does it look like that?" Aqua stared up at the massive creature overhead, wide-eyed and fully awake now.
"It's an Eastern-style Dragon of the Skies—Rayquaza," Shichen explained, admiring its dashing form.
"An Eastern dragon? I've heard a little about those."
"Cool, right?"
"Super cool! Can I ride it?"
"Of course. Rayquaza!"
"Roooaaar!"
Rayquaza threw back its head with a long roar, then twisted its body and snaked into position beneath their feet.
Still holding Aqua, Shichen stepped onto the back of its neck.
"Whoa—!"
The solid footing only made Aqua more excited. She grabbed the horns on either side of Rayquaza's head, savoring the feel, practically glowing with pride.
"Rayquaza, move out!"
Naturally, Rayquaza didn't budge.
"Shichen~" Aqua looked up at him, aggrieved.
"Heh. Rayquaza, head that way. No need to go too fast," Shichen ordered with a smile.
"Roar!"
Rayquaza answered and banked toward Axel.
Even "not too fast" was anything but slow; Aqua's long, silky hair whipped wildly in the wind, not that she cared in the slightest.
"Amazing! This is incredible!"
Right then she seemed to have completely recovered her stamina—no sign at all of the exhaustion Shichen had just put her through.
And to think she'd been begging for mercy a moment ago.
Maybe goddesses just recover faster.
Rayquaza's speed was nothing a carriage could match. Even throttled back, the trip from Arcanletia to Axel took barely a dozen minutes.
If Shichen were flying on his own, he might have been a bit slower.
"Look! What's that?!"
"What kind of monster is that? It's huge!"
"We're done for! A monster like that will wipe out our starter town!"
"What terrifying mana—way beyond that Dullahan!"
"Why would something like that show up over our town?!"
"What do we do? Where's Shichen?"
"He might not be able to handle this one either—wait! Look! There are people on it!"
"Isn't that—?!"
A behemoth like Rayquaza appearing over the starter town—of course everyone noticed.
Its overwhelming mana and oppressive presence smothered the townsfolk in fear.
Despair spread like fog.
But Rayquaza was flying low enough that sharp eyes on the ground soon picked out Shichen and Aqua.
"That's Shichen!"
"And Aqua!"
"Why are they on that thing?"
"Don't tell me… Shichen tamed it?"
"For real?"
"Incredible! As expected of our starter town's hero!"
"Shichen!"
Their fear evaporated in an instant. People waved excitedly, catching Shichen's eye.
"Shichen, look! The townsfolk are waving at us!" Aqua tugged at his clothes, thrilled.
"Wanna go down and talk to them?"
"Pass. I'm wiped—I can't even walk. I'm going home to sleep."
"Hehe… funny, considering who was acting all cocky at the start."
"Ugh… it doesn't make sense. I don't even hurt anymore, and shouldn't you be the one who's tired?" Aqua muttered, flustered.
"That's true for normal people. I'm not like them."
"No wonder you're such a flirt—you even had your way with Darkness," Aqua pouted.
"Uh… you knew?" Shichen froze.
"Hmph~ I'm a goddess. What can't I see?"
"Right… just don't tell Megumin and the others."
"Why not? They're already into you, and this world isn't even monogamous."
"It's different—they're still young. Not something they need to know."
"They're not that young. Time works differently here; they're actually quite a bit older."
"Really?" Shichen couldn't remember that bit of lore.
"I'm this world's goddess—of course I know," Aqua said, hands on hips.
"Alright, alright. Either way, I'll tell them myself when it's time," he said, ruffling her hair.
"Suit yourself."
"But aren't you jealous?" Shichen asked, curious.
"I'm a goddess—how could I be… okay, maybe a little. I'd prefer if you only doted on me," Aqua mumbled, sulking.
"Then why—"
"Because you're too good to me. By the time I came to my senses, you were already a flirt."
"Relax. I'll keep being good to you."
"That's more like it."
Back at the villa, Shichen was just about to dismiss Rayquaza when Megumin burst out the door.
"What a huge monster! Shichen, why are you on top of it?" Megumin's eyes gleamed red as she stared at Rayquaza.
"It's called Rayquaza. It's mine—of course I can ride it."
"S-so cool! I want to ride too!"
"Of course you can."
"Then hurry up and let me on! I wanna ride!" Megumin flailed with excitement.
"W-what is that? It's so big! So scary!"
"Oooh—! I wonder what it'd feel like to be crushed under it… it must be amazing!"
Yunyun and Darkness came running out as well.
"Don't worry, Yunyun. Rayquaza's mine and listens to me completely," Shichen reassured her.
"Really? As expected of you, Shichen—amazing!"
"Hehe~ Want to fly around on its back?"
"C-can I?"
"Of course."
"Then I want a turn!"
"Me too!" Darkness chimed in.
"No problem."
Shichen patted Rayquaza's head and had it land. After Aqua got off, the other three scrambled up, buzzing with excitement.
He didn't rush to invite Frieren—there'd be plenty of chances later. She might not even care for this sort of thing.
After saying goodbye to Aqua, Shichen took the three of them to roam the skies.
Everyone wants to fly; no one can resist the freedom of the open sky.
He spent the whole day taking Megumin and the others on joyrides, though only around the Axel area—go anywhere else with a beast like this, and it would definitely cause a commotion.