Published: January 22, 2026
“Demonic beasts on the surface…? Hey, Oswell! What the hell is this!?”
The Hero shouted angrily at the Man in Red Robes, who was standing nearby, as he witnessed the surreal sight of a massive horde of dragons emerging from a hole in the sky.
“As you can see, Your Highness. This horde of dragons will ravage this land!”
The Man in Red Robes spread his arms wide and proclaimed loudly.
Above them, the dragons that had appeared looked down quietly, like trained ferocious beasts awaiting their master’s command.
That was exactly how they appeared — waiting for orders from their master.
(A controlled horde of demonic beasts, huh. This is troublesome.)
“Don’t be ridiculous! If you do that, innocent civilians will get caught in the crossfire! I won’t allow that!”
The Hero retorted angrily at the Man in Red Robes.
Although the invaders were the ones speaking, it was true that when I arrived at Rugau, the battle had already begun but there was no harm to civilians.
The material damage was severe, but the casualties were limited to the domain’s soldiers and the 《silver rabbits of the night sky》 explorers who had engaged first.
They had drawn a minimal line, refusing to harm civilians.
“How naive. Such sacrifices are trivial… In the face of my objective, they’re insignificant.”
But the Man in Red Robes was about to cross even that boundary.
There was no need to show mercy to this guy.
“Now, dragons! Start by destroying Rugau!”
At that command, the dragons waiting in the air formed ranks like an army and began moving en masse toward Rugau.
“Stop! My men in Rugau—”
“Ah, they are obstacles and will be eliminated as well. The scenario goes: ‘Your Highness and the guards were killed by the 《silver rabbits of the night sky》 explorers. I wasn’t in time, but I used demonic beast summoning to avenge Your Highness and annihilate Rugau.’ That’s the script. So Your Highness will die too. Thanks for your efforts so far.”
The Man in Red Robes outlined his sloppy scenario as the Hero suddenly dropped to his knees, suffering, and eventually coughed up blood.
“This is the result of Your Highness’s failure to meet our expectations. Truly regrettable. But rest assured, the empire you cherish will continue to prosper under us, so die peacefully.”
“Oswell, MacLeod…! You planted something in Father’s mind…! What are you conspiring?!”
The Hero spat blood but forced himself to shout questions at the Man in Red Robes.
“You’re persistent… I thought I had given you a lethal dose of poison, but the ancestral reversion… you just won’t die. Thank you for the valuable information in your final moments. Your role is over. Now—”
The Man in Red Robes muttered something, drew a small blade, and approached the Hero to strike.
But before the blade could reach the Hero’s neck, a massive explosion shook the air.
—Thanks to my heavenly flash and multiple super explosions (explode) from the Robe Woman.
◇
After the Man in Red Robes gave orders to the dragon horde and was conversing with the Hero, I called out quietly to the Robe Woman, just loud enough for her to hear but not the Man in Red Robes or Hero.
“Hey, Robe Woman.”
“I already told you, my name is Shion—”
“Lend me a hand. You don’t want the empire falling into their hands either, right?”
I didn’t want to rely on someone like her, but if I hesitated, this territory would be truly devastated.
No matter how weak these dragons were compared to the ones infesting the dungeon, their numbers made the threat real.
I alone couldn’t handle it.
Annoyingly, I had to admit she was the most powerful mage I had ever met, proven in our battle half a year ago.
Right now, the most efficient way to wipe out a wide area was through a mage like her.
I had to put aside my personal feelings and make the best move.
This woman appeared just as the fight with the Hero reached its climax, as if she intended to help me.
That meant my losing to the Hero—and the territory falling to the empire—would inconvenience her.