Previous Chapter: The Legend of the Dragon 3
Capital Archul, outside the walls
“HAHAHAHAHA!!! The fortress capital of Archul, said to be the most heavily-defended city in the world, is on fire!!! This power… it’s all mine!!! Ordo!!!”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Once we have Caluamique in our hands, we will conquer the world, and then our armies will break past the barriers and onto the outside!”
“Indeed! With my lord’s overwhelming military might, the conquest of the world and of the kingdoms outside will be done in the blink of an eye! They will prostrate before you!”
The airborne knights ruled the skies. The flame-driven tanks march unfazed by attacks. The beasts have been set loose, rendering the enemy unable to do anything against them.
“Ordo!”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Have the airborne knights attack the royal castle! While we’re at it, get 2 of them to attack Wsyk Manor!”
“Understood, my lord!”
Orders were promptly sent to the airborne knights.
・・・
Wysk Manor
Flame-eating birds flew across the skies like vultures as fires, smoke, and screams emanated from the streets below. Due to the unceasing attacks from above, the royal army couldn’t amass a proper defense. While a third of the original royal army did remain, due to the endless harassment from the flame-eating birds which they could do little to fight back against, their number dwindled. Screams of anger and pain were heard up to the manor, pushing the people there to their limits.
“M-my lady! Please evacuate to the underground shelter now!”
As the screams continued, one of the maids could no longer control herself and asked Enecy to evacuate.
“I understand. Come with us, Sir Muller!”
Enecy tried to pull Muller, who was standing next to her, away but he wouldn’t budge.
“Hurry, Sir Muller! Let’s find shelter!”
Muller began to speak.
“Go on ahead… I’ll stay here.”
Words she found hard to believe entered her ears. Enecy stood aghast.
“W-What are you saying?! Even if you are indeed strong, you cannot hope to stand up against all those monsters alone!!!”
Ignoring her statements, Muller started to walk away.
“Nooo!!! Don’t go!!!”
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind came in, scattering nearby leaves and flowers. Hearing the sound of incessant flapping, Enecy looked up to see knights riding on two flame-eating birds.
“F-flame-eating birds!!!”
The conquerors of the sky, attacking from outside the reach of men, were now in front of Enecy. The knights riding on them looked at her uninterestedly.
“Ah, the daughter of Wysk… How unfortunate. Nothing personal!”
Not giving her any time to flee, the two flame-eating birds unleashed hellfire from their beaks against the defenseless girl.
“Nooo!!!”
2 fireballs flew directly towards Enecy. At that very moment, all she felt was the heat coming from the approaching massive fireballs as she and her maid stood helpless. They knew that they were done for. She closed her eyes. She knew that life can’t even flash before her very eyes as she looked away from the world for the last time.
A moment passed. Then a few seconds. They waited but no fireball came.
“Huh?”
She slowly opened her eyes.
What she saw in front of her were wings as dark as the night sky, clad with scales tough enough to deflect arrows. With sharp, dagger-like fangs, the beast was fear-inducing yet glorious. It was Muller’s beloved partner. Suddenly putting itself in the path of the fireballs in between the flame-eating birds and Enecy, it spread its wings to absorb the fireballs unleashed by the flame-eating birds.
“W-What the?! What the hell is that thing?!”
The two knights trembled before the never-before-seen beast that suddenly emerged in front of them.
“It took our fireballs like they were nothing! What the fuck?!”
Ignoring the chatter between the knights, Muller ordered his beloved wyvern.
“Hey partner! Turn those two birds into fried chicken, will ya?”
Receiving Muller’s orders, the wyvern then turned back to the two birds. Opening its mouth, it converted magic into flames, unleashing them as its magical flame bullets.
Its flame bullets, far faster and more powerful than the hellfire unleashed by the flame-eating birds, engulfed the knights and their birds as screams of pain echoed throughout the vicinity. In a short amount of time, they were nothing but ashes. Muller then turned to Enecy.
“There are a lot of them. Surely, I ain’t gonna do much alone.”
Muller continued.
“However, as of now, I’m the only one that can fight against these airborne threats. My pride as a dragon knight… cannot allow for the one-sided slaughter of innocents!!!”
“P-Please wait!!!”
Foreign Affairs’ Kitamura came running after him. Hearing Muller’s volition to fight, he wanted to stop him.
“Just wait, Muller! This is a civil war! We’re here as envoys of the government of Japan! Meddling in the internal affairs of another country is a big no no!”
“I’m a dragon knight of Louria, not Japan. Seeing all these people massacred like this while I, the only one that can fight right now, simply just stayed put, I cannot live it down for the rest of life. As a fellow country, why don’t you also do something about it? Also… Did Japan come here to make ties with a kingdom that controls beasts that they willingly use to slaughter innocents? Sure, the fundamentals are important, but do think a bit more about whether or not this counts within your scope of ‘national interests.’”
Muller lashed out at Kitamura. Since he was unaware of what Louria did to the Qua-Toyne town of Gim, he was able to say such things without reserve.
“But!!!”
“No time. I gotta go.”
Mounting his wyvern, they took off from the garden of Wysk Manor.
“For fuck’s sake!!!”
Kitamura got a headache from how Muller acted.
・・・
Enecy’s perspective
I can hear hundreds of screams from the streets as intense flames rose from them. Looking up above, I can see the conquerors of the sky, powerful flame-eating birds circling like vultures above their prey. Facing attacks from the sky, the royal army could do little as they tried to fight their own fires in the streets.
I am scared.
“My lady! Please go to the basement now!”
Hearing the words of her maid, I instinctively broke out into a run. However, I didn’t feel Sir Muller was right next to me, so I turned back to try to get him to follow. However, he just turned me down, saying something like he wants to fight for the people.
What the heck. He’s so awesome!
Still, it is my duty as his betrothed to try to not make my future husband throw himself into the throes of death.
At the moment I tried to get him back, flame-eating birds, making hideous faces, appeared in front of me. These things unleashed their hellfire, having killed hundreds or thousands before, at me.
It’s all over.
I can’t even get the chance to make love with a good man and here I am about to leave this damn world. I give up. I pray that this will all end with as little pain as possible. I close my eyes.
“Huh?”
Sir Muller’s dragon was there right in front of me. Since I was frightened down to the bone, I couldn’t hear what Sir Muller was saying. All I knew is that he was probably saying something cool before flying off into the distance. Even if Sir Muller was strong and mighty, I can’t hope too much that he alone could win against the entirety of Mauli’s army.
Ahh… There he goes…
I wasn’t able to stop him…
Why is he so damn hot?!
・・・
Royal castle
“Shit shit shit shit!!! Fuck!!!”
The royal castle was in flames from the unrelenting fireballs raining down on them from the flame-eating birds of the airborne knights. In the midst of these fiery attacks, King Brandea was struck, leaving the kingdom without a ruler. Royal Guard commander Ravell, having seen their great king struck down with them unable to do anything about it, couldn’t help but hurl curses at their predicament. The city that they were supposed to protect was in flames as screams from their beloved citizens permeated the air. He wanted to at least do something about their foes up in the air but besides their bows, no weapon can touch them.
He felt a horrifying sense of helplessness befall over his entire body and mind.
He then recalls the prophecy, which he himself once considered to be nothing more than the ramblings of a madman.
Magical beasts from another world will appear and when they endanger the kingdom, a knight from another world in control of a soaring magical beast, in allegiance with the Sun, will emerge. In the crisis which was born since the founding of the kingdom, the otherworldly knight will lead the way to salvation.
As a realist, being bound by or believing in a prophecy was absurd. However, there was nothing else that he could do. They have tried everything that they could think of. For the first time in his life, he turned to the gods to pray for the realization of the prophecy… for the brave knight to appear. At this rate, the kingdom will fall and thousands of people will be slaughtered.
“Please!!! Please, dear gods!!! Hear me out!!! If… If you’re not only capable of watching over us, please save our kingdom!!!”
Tears poured from Ravell’s eyes.
“Please! Please!!! Please lend us the power to drive these hideous beasts from our home!!! Gods!!!”
The city continued to burn as more attacks rained down from above. The screams were still unbearable as he further sank into despair. Then, he noticed one of the enemy airborne knights descending towards them.
“Heh… This is such a pitiful end if I say so myself. Praying to someone that has no real power in this world…”
The enemy airborne knight got closer and closer.
“Tsk! I’ll make you taste reality, even if it’s just a single arrow!”
Ravell drew back his bowstring. A fireball began to form in the beak of the flame-eating bird.
“Bring it!!!!!!”
At the very moment he tried to loose his arrow, the airborne knight was directly hit by an even bigger fireball as it blew up into charred pieces of flesh and feathers which fell to the ground in flames.
“W-What the fuck?!”
KYUUUUUUN!!!!!
A roar echoed all throughout the capital. Ravell, instinctively assuming that the roar came from a mighty beast, immediately froze in fear. He then looked at the direction from where the roar came from.
“Is that…?!”
At the end of his sight was an imaginary beast, one that he has only ever seen or heard from in fairytales: a dragon.
“Someone’s riding it!”
He was moved by the sight of something so gallant and glorious…
The dragon formed up another fireball in its mouth before unleashing it once more, finding its mark directly on another enemy flame-eating bird. The dragon had made it seem like it was the one who owned the skies.
“I-it’s so fast! Those flame-eating birds are like nothing to it!”
With the sudden emergence of this dragon, the mood in the battlefield suddenly changed.
・・・
The conquest of the capital was moving forward just as planned. Their airborne knights burned away the soldiers guarding the gates as their tanks blew them wide open. Afterwards, the beasts would be unleashed to wreak havoc inside. If there was someone who was making it difficult for them, the 12-horned beasts would then be unleashed. If they themselves were having a hard time, the tanks would cut them down. The royal army, unable to reform into ranks due to attacks from the flame-eating birds, was slowly fading away as individual knights were felled by their beasts. In any case, it would seem that their army was too powerful. The royal army and even the great fortress walls of Archul felt too easy. At this rate, their conquest of the world and of the world outside would proceed without any hitch. A menacing smile emerges on the great mage Ordo’s face.
KYUUUUUUN!!!!!
They heard an unfamiliar roar echo throughout the battlefield. The beast, which single-handedly felled many airborne knights and their flame-eating birds, maneuvered to hurl more fireballs at their allies as it did hit-and-run maneuvers.
“How the hell can it fire from so far away?! And it’s speed…!!!”
Their soldiers started to feel uneasy.
“Even so, there’s only one of them! Group yourselves into 10 and try to hit! It should go down!!!”
The great mage Ordo issued orders.
・・・
Wysk Manor
Duke Wysk was making progress on preparations for an emergency assembly at the royal palace. At that moment, another messenger from the royal palace arrived at the manor.
“What is it this time?!”
He felt irritated at what might be a nuisance to his preparations.
“His Highness, King Brandea, was struck down. As per royal decree, from this moment forth, command of both the government and the royal army is now upon Duke Wysk.”
“W-What did you say?!”
He was aghast at the fact that the king himself had been struck.
“Furthermore, since we are in an emergency and meetings cannot be conducted, all decision-making authority has been temporarily given solely to you, my lord.”
His mind went into overdrive to try and wrap it around the shocking news.
The army was currently doing what it could. If he, someone inexperienced in military command, were to try and take hold of the situation, he would just end up making the situation worse. Furthermore, even if all authority were in his hands, if he couldn’t stop the enemy army from taking the capital, his power would be meaningless.
What the hell do I do in this situation?!
Boom…
The deep sound of an explosion rang out from afar. He looked up to see a single dragon outrunning the enemy’s powerful airborne knights and their flame-eating birds.
“Oh!!! Summon Mr. Kitamura this instant!!!”
Duke Wysk ordered his servants to summon Kitamura from Japan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Three minutes later~
“Due to that, the kingdom is currently beset by harmful magical beasts which have put the continued existence of life in this kingdom in peril. I want to enlist the help of the country of Japan in the extermination of these beasts, which have been killing humans at a surprisingly fast rate. At this rate, this world (island) would fall to them and their master, putting your country in danger of invasion.”
“But… This is still virtually a civil war, is it not?”
The duke chose his words carefully in response to Kitamura’s question.
“The Kingdom of Caluamique’s authority is currently entrusted to me. If the extermination of these beasts are to be successful, I will order my government to form bilateral ties with Japan at the maximum possible speed with as many beneficial outcomes as possible. In any case, I want you to help us.”
Wysk lowered his head.
Also wishing to help them deep in his heart, Kitamura proceeded to contact Japan as fast as possible. Immediately afterwards, the government of Japan ordered the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force deployed outside Caluamique and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force on standby on the escort ships to “exterminate all threats to our fellow countrymen.”
・・・
JMSDF helicopter destroyer Izumo
To anyone who has little knowledge of the military, the helicopter destroyer Izumo looked just like an aircraft carrier. For this particular operation, the Izumo carried 3 AH-64Ds, 5 AH-1Ss, and a single OH-1 scout helicopter from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force as a precaution in the event that something unexpected were to happen to the diplomatic envoy sent to Caluamique. Their new objective was to attack and eliminate the massive beasts deployed in the capital Archul as well as the massive flying birds harassing Caluamique soldiers. However, with over 70 flying beasts confirmed, their attack helicopters lacked firepower, considering also the event that they might run out of ammunition before they could achieve their objectives. Still, they cannot just abandon their fellow Japanese without a fight and so have prepared themselves for the task ahead. Since their aerial refueling tankers are currently deployed to the south, even if they were to head towards their location, it would take another 4 hours before fighters from the home islands could provide air cover. Fleet commander Araki Shōjirō’s stomach panged from pain due to the fact that he was sending his subordinates to a situation where casualties are unavoidable.
“Are you alright commander?”
The captain asked him.
“What do you mean?”
“The commander of the Parpaldian fleet is asking about the deployment of the helicopters.”
“Ah right, they’re also with us this time. According to the deployment agreement, in the event that the use of armed force is warranted, we’d need to tell them of the details. Inform them of what’s going on.”
“Yes sir.”
Two minutes later
“Are you fine with this commander?”
“What is it?”
“This is from the Parpaldian commander. The empire has been entrusted with the task of ensuring the safety of dragon rider Muller. With the obligation to send him back to his country in one piece, we will deploy our wyvern lords to the capital Archul to achieve air superiority. That’s it sir.”
“Oh? That’s great but since that would fall under what I’d call a ‘diplomatic mess’, we need to inform the government first.”
“But commander… They’ve already begun to take off.”
“What?! They’ve been ready all this time?! For fuck’s sake!”
12 imperial wyvern lords took off from Parpaldia Empire’s dragon carrier. With the task of securing air superiority above the Caluamique capital of Archul, they flew off into the clear, blue skies.
・・・
60km southwest of Caluamique
Several dragons were in flight. Proud, powerful wings flapped as they flew at speeds faster than a regular wyvern. Dragon rider commander Reckmeyer, possessing a rating of Grade A in wyvern combat, led 11 of his subordinates through the skies at their wyvern lords’ cruise speed of 300km/h. Eventually, they caught sight of the 9 rotary-wing aircraft bearing Japan’s banner. They were awfully slower than the fighters that flew over the skies of Esthirant and are slower than even the fatter aircraft that pulverized the military base to the capital’s north. However, since they were Japanese aircraft, they must be weapons capable of untold destruction. But then, realizing that no fighters were present, Reckmeyer wondered if Japan didn’t have the capability to project maritime air superiority like they do.
Maybe they just didn’t bring them along this time… In any case, I’ll need to report this to the higher ups.
Eventually, the Parpaldian wyvern lords surpassed the formation of Japanese attack helicopters.
“Haha! See that! We were faster than those punks!”
Reckmeyer booted his manacomms and issued orders.
“We will reach the skies of the capital Archul way before the slow Japanese force. Let’s show them how strong dragon riders actually are! We will wipe those beasts out ourselves! Let’s not give those slowpokes any chance at this fight!”
“Sir yes sir!!!”
Turning off his manacomms, Reckmeyer muttered to himself.
“We’ve lost so much against those monsters fielded by the Japanese army… The empire is still a superpower, dammit! We’ll prove that here and now with his battle! This is my gift to the proud imperial citizens… I will take back our pride!”
The wyvern lord unit of the Parpaldia Empire, having surpassed the attack helicopter unit of the JGSDF, continued to fly towards the capital Archul.
Previous Chapter: The Legend of the Dragon 3
Capital Archul, outside the walls
“HAHAHAHAHA!!! The fortress capital of Archul, said to be the most heavily-defended city in the world, is on fire!!! This power… it’s all mine!!! Ordo!!!”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Once we have Caluamique in our hands, we will conquer the world, and then our armies will break past the barriers and onto the outside!”
“Indeed! With my lord’s overwhelming military might, the conquest of the world and of the kingdoms outside will be done in the blink of an eye! They will prostrate before you!”
The airborne knights ruled the skies. The flame-driven tanks march unfazed by attacks. The beasts have been set loose, rendering the enemy unable to do anything against them.
“Ordo!”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Have the airborne knights attack the royal castle! While we’re at it, get 2 of them to attack Wsyk Manor!”
“Understood, my lord!”
Orders were promptly sent to the airborne knights.
・・・
Wysk Manor
Flame-eating birds flew across the skies like vultures as fires, smoke, and screams emanated from the streets below. Due to the unceasing attacks from above, the royal army couldn’t amass a proper defense. While a third of the original royal army did remain, due to the endless harassment from the flame-eating birds which they could do little to fight back against, their number dwindled. Screams of anger and pain were heard up to the manor, pushing the people there to their limits.
“M-my lady! Please evacuate to the underground shelter now!”
As the screams continued, one of the maids could no longer control herself and asked Enecy to evacuate.
“I understand. Come with us, Sir Muller!”
Enecy tried to pull Muller, who was standing next to her, away but he wouldn’t budge.
“Hurry, Sir Muller! Let’s find shelter!”
Muller began to speak.
“Go on ahead… I’ll stay here.”
Words she found hard to believe entered her ears. Enecy stood aghast.
“W-What are you saying?! Even if you are indeed strong, you cannot hope to stand up against all those monsters alone!!!”
Ignoring her statements, Muller started to walk away.
“Nooo!!! Don’t go!!!”
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind came in, scattering nearby leaves and flowers. Hearing the sound of incessant flapping, Enecy looked up to see knights riding on two flame-eating birds.
“F-flame-eating birds!!!”
The conquerors of the sky, attacking from outside the reach of men, were now in front of Enecy. The knights riding on them looked at her uninterestedly.
“Ah, the daughter of Wysk… How unfortunate. Nothing personal!”
Not giving her any time to flee, the two flame-eating birds unleashed hellfire from their beaks against the defenseless girl.
“Nooo!!!”
2 fireballs flew directly towards Enecy. At that very moment, all she felt was the heat coming from the approaching massive fireballs as she and her maid stood helpless. They knew that they were done for. She closed her eyes. She knew that life can’t even flash before her very eyes as she looked away from the world for the last time.
A moment passed. Then a few seconds. They waited but no fireball came.
“Huh?”
She slowly opened her eyes.
What she saw in front of her were wings as dark as the night sky, clad with scales tough enough to deflect arrows. With sharp, dagger-like fangs, the beast was fear-inducing yet glorious. It was Muller’s beloved partner. Suddenly putting itself in the path of the fireballs in between the flame-eating birds and Enecy, it spread its wings to absorb the fireballs unleashed by the flame-eating birds.
“W-What the?! What the hell is that thing?!”
The two knights trembled before the never-before-seen beast that suddenly emerged in front of them.
“It took our fireballs like they were nothing! What the fuck?!”
Ignoring the chatter between the knights, Muller ordered his beloved wyvern.
“Hey partner! Turn those two birds into fried chicken, will ya?”
Receiving Muller’s orders, the wyvern then turned back to the two birds. Opening its mouth, it converted magic into flames, unleashing them as its magical flame bullets.
Its flame bullets, far faster and more powerful than the hellfire unleashed by the flame-eating birds, engulfed the knights and their birds as screams of pain echoed throughout the vicinity. In a short amount of time, they were nothing but ashes. Muller then turned to Enecy.
“There are a lot of them. Surely, I ain’t gonna do much alone.”
Muller continued.
“However, as of now, I’m the only one that can fight against these airborne threats. My pride as a dragon knight… cannot allow for the one-sided slaughter of innocents!!!”
“P-Please wait!!!”
Foreign Affairs’ Kitamura came running after him. Hearing Muller’s volition to fight, he wanted to stop him.
“Just wait, Muller! This is a civil war! We’re here as envoys of the government of Japan! Meddling in the internal affairs of another country is a big no no!”
“I’m a dragon knight of Louria, not Japan. Seeing all these people massacred like this while I, the only one that can fight right now, simply just stayed put, I cannot live it down for the rest of life. As a fellow country, why don’t you also do something about it? Also… Did Japan come here to make ties with a kingdom that controls beasts that they willingly use to slaughter innocents? Sure, the fundamentals are important, but do think a bit more about whether or not this counts within your scope of ‘national interests.’”
Muller lashed out at Kitamura. Since he was unaware of what Louria did to the Qua-Toyne town of Gim, he was able to say such things without reserve.
“But!!!”
“No time. I gotta go.”
Mounting his wyvern, they took off from the garden of Wysk Manor.
“For fuck’s sake!!!”
Kitamura got a headache from how Muller acted.
・・・
Enecy’s perspective
I can hear hundreds of screams from the streets as intense flames rose from them. Looking up above, I can see the conquerors of the sky, powerful flame-eating birds circling like vultures above their prey. Facing attacks from the sky, the royal army could do little as they tried to fight their own fires in the streets.
I am scared.
“My lady! Please go to the basement now!”
Hearing the words of her maid, I instinctively broke out into a run. However, I didn’t feel Sir Muller was right next to me, so I turned back to try to get him to follow. However, he just turned me down, saying something like he wants to fight for the people.
What the heck. He’s so awesome!
Still, it is my duty as his betrothed to try to not make my future husband throw himself into the throes of death.
At the moment I tried to get him back, flame-eating birds, making hideous faces, appeared in front of me. These things unleashed their hellfire, having killed hundreds or thousands before, at me.
It’s all over.
I can’t even get the chance to make love with a good man and here I am about to leave this damn world. I give up. I pray that this will all end with as little pain as possible. I close my eyes.
“Huh?”
Sir Muller’s dragon was there right in front of me. Since I was frightened down to the bone, I couldn’t hear what Sir Muller was saying. All I knew is that he was probably saying something cool before flying off into the distance. Even if Sir Muller was strong and mighty, I can’t hope too much that he alone could win against the entirety of Mauli’s army.
Ahh… There he goes…
I wasn’t able to stop him…
Why is he so damn hot?!
・・・
Royal castle
“Shit shit shit shit!!! Fuck!!!”
The royal castle was in flames from the unrelenting fireballs raining down on them from the flame-eating birds of the airborne knights. In the midst of these fiery attacks, King Brandea was struck, leaving the kingdom without a ruler. Royal Guard commander Ravell, having seen their great king struck down with them unable to do anything about it, couldn’t help but hurl curses at their predicament. The city that they were supposed to protect was in flames as screams from their beloved citizens permeated the air. He wanted to at least do something about their foes up in the air but besides their bows, no weapon can touch them.
He felt a horrifying sense of helplessness befall over his entire body and mind.
He then recalls the prophecy, which he himself once considered to be nothing more than the ramblings of a madman.
Magical beasts from another world will appear and when they endanger the kingdom, a knight from another world in control of a soaring magical beast, in allegiance with the Sun, will emerge. In the crisis which was born since the founding of the kingdom, the otherworldly knight will lead the way to salvation.
As a realist, being bound by or believing in a prophecy was absurd. However, there was nothing else that he could do. They have tried everything that they could think of. For the first time in his life, he turned to the gods to pray for the realization of the prophecy… for the brave knight to appear. At this rate, the kingdom will fall and thousands of people will be slaughtered.
“Please!!! Please, dear gods!!! Hear me out!!! If… If you’re not only capable of watching over us, please save our kingdom!!!”
Tears poured from Ravell’s eyes.
“Please! Please!!! Please lend us the power to drive these hideous beasts from our home!!! Gods!!!”
The city continued to burn as more attacks rained down from above. The screams were still unbearable as he further sank into despair. Then, he noticed one of the enemy airborne knights descending towards them.
“Heh… This is such a pitiful end if I say so myself. Praying to someone that has no real power in this world…”
The enemy airborne knight got closer and closer.
“Tsk! I’ll make you taste reality, even if it’s just a single arrow!”
Ravell drew back his bowstring. A fireball began to form in the beak of the flame-eating bird.
“Bring it!!!!!!”
At the very moment he tried to loose his arrow, the airborne knight was directly hit by an even bigger fireball as it blew up into charred pieces of flesh and feathers which fell to the ground in flames.
“W-What the fuck?!”
KYUUUUUUN!!!!!
A roar echoed all throughout the capital. Ravell, instinctively assuming that the roar came from a mighty beast, immediately froze in fear. He then looked at the direction from where the roar came from.
“Is that…?!”
At the end of his sight was an imaginary beast, one that he has only ever seen or heard from in fairytales: a dragon.
“Someone’s riding it!”
He was moved by the sight of something so gallant and glorious…
The dragon formed up another fireball in its mouth before unleashing it once more, finding its mark directly on another enemy flame-eating bird. The dragon had made it seem like it was the one who owned the skies.
“I-it’s so fast! Those flame-eating birds are like nothing to it!”
With the sudden emergence of this dragon, the mood in the battlefield suddenly changed.
・・・
The conquest of the capital was moving forward just as planned. Their airborne knights burned away the soldiers guarding the gates as their tanks blew them wide open. Afterwards, the beasts would be unleashed to wreak havoc inside. If there was someone who was making it difficult for them, the 12-horned beasts would then be unleashed. If they themselves were having a hard time, the tanks would cut them down. The royal army, unable to reform into ranks due to attacks from the flame-eating birds, was slowly fading away as individual knights were felled by their beasts. In any case, it would seem that their army was too powerful. The royal army and even the great fortress walls of Archul felt too easy. At this rate, their conquest of the world and of the world outside would proceed without any hitch. A menacing smile emerges on the great mage Ordo’s face.
KYUUUUUUN!!!!!
They heard an unfamiliar roar echo throughout the battlefield. The beast, which single-handedly felled many airborne knights and their flame-eating birds, maneuvered to hurl more fireballs at their allies as it did hit-and-run maneuvers.
“How the hell can it fire from so far away?! And it’s speed…!!!”
Their soldiers started to feel uneasy.
“Even so, there’s only one of them! Group yourselves into 10 and try to hit! It should go down!!!”
The great mage Ordo issued orders.
・・・
Wysk Manor
Duke Wysk was making progress on preparations for an emergency assembly at the royal palace. At that moment, another messenger from the royal palace arrived at the manor.
“What is it this time?!”
He felt irritated at what might be a nuisance to his preparations.
“His Highness, King Brandea, was struck down. As per royal decree, from this moment forth, command of both the government and the royal army is now upon Duke Wysk.”
“W-What did you say?!”
He was aghast at the fact that the king himself had been struck.
“Furthermore, since we are in an emergency and meetings cannot be conducted, all decision-making authority has been temporarily given solely to you, my lord.”
His mind went into overdrive to try and wrap it around the shocking news.
The army was currently doing what it could. If he, someone inexperienced in military command, were to try and take hold of the situation, he would just end up making the situation worse. Furthermore, even if all authority were in his hands, if he couldn’t stop the enemy army from taking the capital, his power would be meaningless.
What the hell do I do in this situation?!
Boom…
The deep sound of an explosion rang out from afar. He looked up to see a single dragon outrunning the enemy’s powerful airborne knights and their flame-eating birds.
“Oh!!! Summon Mr. Kitamura this instant!!!”
Duke Wysk ordered his servants to summon Kitamura from Japan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Three minutes later~
“Due to that, the kingdom is currently beset by harmful magical beasts which have put the continued existence of life in this kingdom in peril. I want to enlist the help of the country of Japan in the extermination of these beasts, which have been killing humans at a surprisingly fast rate. At this rate, this world (island) would fall to them and their master, putting your country in danger of invasion.”
“But… This is still virtually a civil war, is it not?”
The duke chose his words carefully in response to Kitamura’s question.
“The Kingdom of Caluamique’s authority is currently entrusted to me. If the extermination of these beasts are to be successful, I will order my government to form bilateral ties with Japan at the maximum possible speed with as many beneficial outcomes as possible. In any case, I want you to help us.”
Wysk lowered his head.
Also wishing to help them deep in his heart, Kitamura proceeded to contact Japan as fast as possible. Immediately afterwards, the government of Japan ordered the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force deployed outside Caluamique and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force on standby on the escort ships to “exterminate all threats to our fellow countrymen.”
・・・
JMSDF helicopter destroyer Izumo
To anyone who has little knowledge of the military, the helicopter destroyer Izumo looked just like an aircraft carrier. For this particular operation, the Izumo carried 3 AH-64Ds, 5 AH-1Ss, and a single OH-1 scout helicopter from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force as a precaution in the event that something unexpected were to happen to the diplomatic envoy sent to Caluamique. Their new objective was to attack and eliminate the massive beasts deployed in the capital Archul as well as the massive flying birds harassing Caluamique soldiers. However, with over 70 flying beasts confirmed, their attack helicopters lacked firepower, considering also the event that they might run out of ammunition before they could achieve their objectives. Still, they cannot just abandon their fellow Japanese without a fight and so have prepared themselves for the task ahead. Since their aerial refueling tankers are currently deployed to the south, even if they were to head towards their location, it would take another 4 hours before fighters from the home islands could provide air cover. Fleet commander Araki Shōjirō’s stomach panged from pain due to the fact that he was sending his subordinates to a situation where casualties are unavoidable.
“Are you alright commander?”
The captain asked him.
“What do you mean?”
“The commander of the Parpaldian fleet is asking about the deployment of the helicopters.”
“Ah right, they’re also with us this time. According to the deployment agreement, in the event that the use of armed force is warranted, we’d need to tell them of the details. Inform them of what’s going on.”
“Yes sir.”
Two minutes later
“Are you fine with this commander?”
“What is it?”
“This is from the Parpaldian commander. The empire has been entrusted with the task of ensuring the safety of dragon rider Muller. With the obligation to send him back to his country in one piece, we will deploy our wyvern lords to the capital Archul to achieve air superiority. That’s it sir.”
“Oh? That’s great but since that would fall under what I’d call a ‘diplomatic mess’, we need to inform the government first.”
“But commander… They’ve already begun to take off.”
“What?! They’ve been ready all this time?! For fuck’s sake!”
12 imperial wyvern lords took off from Parpaldia Empire’s dragon carrier. With the task of securing air superiority above the Caluamique capital of Archul, they flew off into the clear, blue skies.
・・・
60km southwest of Caluamique
Several dragons were in flight. Proud, powerful wings flapped as they flew at speeds faster than a regular wyvern. Dragon rider commander Reckmeyer, possessing a rating of Grade A in wyvern combat, led 11 of his subordinates through the skies at their wyvern lords’ cruise speed of 300km/h. Eventually, they caught sight of the 9 rotary-wing aircraft bearing Japan’s banner. They were awfully slower than the fighters that flew over the skies of Esthirant and are slower than even the fatter aircraft that pulverized the military base to the capital’s north. However, since they were Japanese aircraft, they must be weapons capable of untold destruction. But then, realizing that no fighters were present, Reckmeyer wondered if Japan didn’t have the capability to project maritime air superiority like they do.
Maybe they just didn’t bring them along this time… In any case, I’ll need to report this to the higher ups.
Eventually, the Parpaldian wyvern lords surpassed the formation of Japanese attack helicopters.
“Haha! See that! We were faster than those punks!”
Reckmeyer booted his manacomms and issued orders.
“We will reach the skies of the capital Archul way before the slow Japanese force. Let’s show them how strong dragon riders actually are! We will wipe those beasts out ourselves! Let’s not give those slowpokes any chance at this fight!”
“Sir yes sir!!!”
Turning off his manacomms, Reckmeyer muttered to himself.
“We’ve lost so much against those monsters fielded by the Japanese army… The empire is still a superpower, dammit! We’ll prove that here and now with his battle! This is my gift to the proud imperial citizens… I will take back our pride!”
The wyvern lord unit of the Parpaldia Empire, having surpassed the attack helicopter unit of the JGSDF, continued to fly towards the capital Archul.
