Chapter 40: The Dragon’s Railgun

“Alpha Squad, Alpha squad, this is the helicopter support detachment. Come in when you hear me! Come in when you hear me!”

Three Apache helicopter gunships were heading to the location where the ground squad had signaled for help. The buzz of their propellers either chased or aroused the curiosity of the forest’s many denizens.

The Boeing AH-64 Apache, despite its shortcomings, was one of the world’s best in terms of integrated performance, having followed the United States of America’s forces across major battlefields.

One of the pilots listened carefully into his headset in hopes of making out any trace of response.

He checked the signal and confirmed that it was adequate. Even within the jungle, it should have been easy to communicate.

“FUCK, there’s no response. I don’t know what the hell happened down there… Increase flight speed and stay alert!”

“Yes, sir!”

The thick green forest canopy made it nearly impossible to make out what was happening on the ground. Despite their anxiety, they could only proceed towards the distress signal’s location.

Suddenly the officer saw a golden flash from the corner of his eyes. His instincts kicked in as he prepared for a missile strike, but the helicopter’s warning systems remained inert. In that case, it wasn’t a stinger missile or any kind of projectile. Just as he was about to look closer at the light’s location, he felt a jolt as the aircraft’s metal shell was struck by something.

“What the hell is going on!!!”

The next moment the helicopter was split in two, and both halves fell into the thick of the forest before detonating into burning wreckage.

Its passengers had not realized what happened, but those on the two other helicopters saw everything.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!”

“I DON’T KNOW. IT LOOKS LIKE SOME KIND OF LIZARD!”

“DON’T BE STUPID!”

“WAS THE ALPHA SQUAD WIPED OUT BY THAT THING?!”

“SHUT UP AND FIRE ALREADY! DON’T LET IT GET CLOSE TO US!”

Flustered but organized, the soldiers readied their weapons to launch a barrage of ammunition into their target.

Louie had not presented himself directly to the helicopters at first. In his demigod dragon form, he would barely need to yawn before turning all three into scrap metal. But as a juvenile dragon – even a super one – he needed to act more prudently. Pitting his body in a direct confrontation with advanced weaponry would be dangerous and inefficient.

Thus he opened his offensive with a sneak attack. Lunging from below he had split the first chopper in two with his tail.

At this, the other two readied their weapons for a counterattack.

Each Apache is typically armed with Hydra rocket launchers and Hellfire anti-tank missiles. Equipped beneath the fuselage are M-230 chain guns with a firing rate of 600 rounds per minute each.

Louie could not guarantee that his body could withstand the missiles or the chain guns. He might be happy to try it after his next evolution, but for now, he would focus on not getting hit.

At his current speed, the choppers would barely be able to lock on to him, to talk less of hitting him. And like his first attack, he had decided to take them on through special means.

“[Aura of Fear]!”

Louie activated the Aura of Fear of the Crown of Dominance. An invisible aura emanated with Louie as the center. In an instant, it stretched out to fill a thousand-meter radius.

Countless animals fled from the zone in a chaotic stampede.

The humans within the area were hit by intense hallucinations. Visions of hellish landscapes permeated their psyches as a profound fear took hold of their souls. The pilot of both aircraft lost control of their bodies and the helicopters began to tilt. They continued spraying bullets from the chain gun, but none of their ammunition hit Louie.

“AHHHHHHH——-”

“MAMA MAMA——”

“DON’T COME HERE, DON’T COME HERE!!”

BOOOM BOOOOM BOOOOOOOM——-

Terrified screams and explosions rang through the forest. In the cruel landscape of smoke, fire, and burnt flesh, Louie remained a cold and composed countenance.

This was the biggest weakness of Earth’s technology or the biggest weakness of humans. In the world of San Soliel, the existence of occupations gave the inhabitants special powers. Although [Aura of Fear] was strong, the people there had a certain level of resistance towards it. For those people in the higher ranks of their occupation, the power was greatly reduced or even useless. This was not the case for the humans of Earth, so the ability was able to display its full power.

The humans of Earth were nearly defenseless against attacks on the mind and soul. Compared to annihilation-type magics, attacks on the mind were a bigger disaster!

The moment Louie activated the Aura of Fear, the humans had begun to go insane. Perhaps they would recover with time, but the trauma would definitely remain and resurface on occasion.

Louie flew over one of the helicopters and casually raked his claws across its side. There was a burst of sparks as the aircraft crashed onto the forest floor in a sea of flame.

He looked at his unblemished claws and smiled in satisfaction. Then he opened his mouth and centered the last helicopter within his vision. This was a perfect opportunity to practice his new ability.      

A deep static sound seemed to permeate the surroundings as his light converged on his location. Small but ferocious lightning sparked around his maw before a crackling burst of light was released towards the remaining helicopter.

The lightning instantly penetrated the last aircraft, accompanied by a violent explosion. And so the veteran piece of machinery met its end in a completely unexpected way

This electric ability, which was the biggest enhancement of his evolution and gave him a powerful attack power, was exactly an—

Electromagnetic cannon!!!