Published: January 12, 2026
Cover your ears from the dragon’s roar as Panamera assessed the situation.
“The dragon only sustained minor cuts on its back, but the eyes, mouth, and abdomen took significant damage. However, we couldn’t kill it instantly. Thankfully, its breath was aimed away from us—if it had been directed here, it would have been terrifying.”
Panamera spoke calmly. Bola, with a pale face, nodded repeatedly before turning back.
“It’s still moving—are you sure it’s alright?”
Panamera scoffed and pointed to the battlefield.
“Finishing off the dragon is important, but as long as we pay attention to its breath, we won’t suffer heavy losses. Our priority now is to corner the enemy. If we let them escape, it would be a loss for our country overall.”
Just as Bola opened his mouth to respond, black shadows shot out from the Scudetto.
Five large shadows spread their wings and headed straight toward them.
“Wyverns!? Five of them at once...!?”
“Have they gone desperate...? Bola, can you target them?”
“Y-Yes! Everyone, incoming! Aim a little ahead! Ballistas, anyone who can, target them!”
Despite the suddenness, Bola and the others quickly adjusted their angles and prepared to fire.
The wyverns approached with the speed of the wind, but Bola’s team remained steady.
“Ready!? Fire!”
At the command, catapults and ballistas simultaneously launched. The ground shook and the sound of slicing wind filled the air as black boxes and ballista bolts shot skyward.
The black boxes shattered immediately, releasing countless silver, blade-like pieces.
Iron shuriken. They spread quickly, closing in on the wyverns.
Like a storm of iron rain, the blades fired from the catapults sliced through the air, piercing wyvern bodies, wings, and legs.
By some wild instinct, none were struck directly in the head, but many holes appeared all over their bodies. Not a single wyvern remained unscathed.
As the wyverns lost balance at terrifying speeds and began to fall, Bola furrowed his brow and shouted.
“Take cover behind the great shield! Quickly!”
Everyone scrambled to hide at the shout, but Panamera stepped forward with a gleeful smile.
“This is the best outcome. Well done, Captain Bola. Leave the rest to me.”
He activated the magic he had already finished chanting.
“Stay clear, all of you! Burn the enemies before us, Vermilion of Silver!”
Immediately, a triple magic circle appeared before Panamera, and a ball of flames formed at its center.
The flames within each circle seemed to consume each other as they merged into a massive fireball.
The fireball burst outward and sprayed toward the falling wyverns like an enormous great flamespout. The sky turned bright orange as the wyverns were engulfed entirely by the flames.
Beyond the heat, the power of the rapidly burning air altered the wyverns’ falling trajectories.
Seconds later, the burning wyverns crashed to the ground, causing heavy tremors one after another.
“J-Just barely...”
“T-That was close, but...”
The wyverns fell to the ground just before hitting Bola’s forces, preventing a catastrophe.
Bola’s face twitched as he looked at the scorched wyvern carcasses emitting burnt odors nearby, then glanced at Panamera.
Panamera smiled confidently and raised his voice.
“Rejoice! The enemy’s main forces—the dragons and wyverns—are annihilated! Victory is assured!”
His words were met with thunderous cheers from Panamera’s knight order. Bola and his group joined in, and the cheers gradually spread, enveloping the battlefield.
The morale of the enemy soldiers broke without fail.
The frontlines slowly retreated. Eventually, they abandoned the fortress city with its gates destroyed, and the Yelinetta Kingdom army withdrew.
Cheers erupted, and some attempted to pursue, but voices quickly called for restraint.
“W-Why...?”
Bola tilted his head in confusion as Panamera snorted.
“They likely judged that the explosive weapons were more dangerous than the dragons or wyverns. If I were giving orders, I’d say the same. Behind the Scudetto lies a mountain path. Imagine if they threw those weapons at us while retreating. No matter the numbers, it would just lead to needless deaths.”