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Hundreds of players gathered, gasping in awe as they watched. The dragon was gargantuan in size, blocking out a large portion of the sky, but he made little sound as he descended and landed.

His four legs were large and thick enough to support his body, and his wings were similarly enormous. His jaws were lined with ferocious fangs, and his two draconic eyes had a yellowish glow, though there was also a third blood-red eye in the middle of his forehead.

And amidst all that…

“Foolish humans! Behold the harbinger of calamity, the Corrupted Dragon Fafnir! Will thou prove thyself worthy to face this challenge?!”

The sweet voice of a girl came from atop Wyndham’s Central Tower, echoing far into the distance. She wore a black dress resembling the night’s darkness, while her white shoulders were exposed, shining brightly even at night, and her crimson eyes gave her a rather bewitching allure amidst it all.

She looked down at the players with her arms crossed and a mocking grin, the full moon shining brightly behind her. Then she broke into loud laughter. She was just like a Demon Lord in control of the night.

…At least in the start.

“Hm? What was that? Oh…I just have to read this?”

Hey, your mic is still live! Everyone thought the same, hearing the girl’s reaction to seeing a cue card appear behind the scenes.

“Ehem… All of the institutions destroyed in this event won’t be usable until they’re rebuilt! So be mindful of that when… Why would you ever do that?!”

Eventually, the girl could not keep going and shouted back at the organizers. Her reaction was understandable, as this was the Starting City, and many players constantly utilized the services there. Diminishing that productivity for an event seemed like an insane decision.

The players all looked at the girl with a bit of pity, as the things she was told to read had pushed her to break character.

◇◇◇

“Unbelievable… Whoever is behind this event must have been dropped as a child!” After giving her speech, Crim went back to the other Demon Lords while grumbling about that. The rest just grimaced awkwardly but avoided giving their impression.

“So tell me, Sorleon. What’s the situation down there looking like?” Regaining her composure, Crim spoke to Sorleon, who was currently observing the movements of the players below with a conflicted look.

“Hmm, they have plenty of archers and spellcasters to deal the first strike. They also have a unit of tanks to slow down the dragon, and a backline of healers and reserve tanks, so they can retreat and recover when necessary. Basically there’s everything they need to conduct a large-scale fight…” Sorleon did not seem very sure of how to continue after that.

Instead, it was Shao who spoke up, as he was also looking down. “…They’re getting way too many orders at one time. That wouldn’t matter if they’re all well trained and trust their leader, but in their case…”

The three looked down at the players on the ground and…

“Sounds unlikely.”
“That probably won’t happen.”
“They’re cooked.”

The three sighed at the same time and expressed how they felt.

◇◇◇

He’s not giving us any room to breathe with those orders. One man thought that as he followed a group of attackers, hiding behind a large rock outside of the city.

Whoever had taken the role of leader was clearly experienced, so even though his orders were constant, they were still perfect. But that perfectness was also mentally taxing for the players.

This group was meant to deal the first strike, and if they performed well, it was their chance to deal the most damage in the entire fight. But that would only be possible if everyone cooperated correctly. And when it came to that…

“Hey…when are we going?”
“The dragon’s leg is right there…”

Overtaken by ambition, fear, vainglory, and many other emotions, the players became gradually more restless.

“Alright… Get ready everyone.” Their leader told them that. In response, the players started to draw their bows, looked into the scopes of their guns, and the spellcasters got ready to start chanting, waiting for the dragon to come in range.

The Corrupted Dragon Fafnir was also walking around the wall, getting closer to the rock where the players were hidden. He was only ten steps away from coming in range of the spellcasters, and then five…

…And a moment later.

“Rahhhh!!” Unable to bear with the pressure, one of the players rushed forward.

The spellcasters were not ready yet, but that player still moved out. Seeing that, other players followed him, spurred by a desire to not be left behind, forcing the fight to start.

“You idiot, stop… Ugh I guess this is it. Everyone, commence the attack!!” As their leader hastily gave new orders, the archers started drawing their bows and the spellcasters started chanting.

But their reaction had been too late.

“Everyone, fire at-” The leader’s commanding voice was cut off, almost like a speaker that was unplugged.

The large dragon turned its head, shooting a black beam at the leader giving orders in a loud voice. Other players who were around the leader were also caught up in the blast, and they all vanished from the battlefield in the snap of a finger.

Without someone to give them orders, the tank players were at a loss, unsure of when to move forward. Some decided to go forward on their own, but without clear indications, they were quickly crushed under the dragon.

Meanwhile, the backline was falling out of order too, their attacks mistimed and with no effect, as the dragon swiped them away with its tail before burning them with black flames.

Those who remained alive were terrified by that situation and they all began to run away.

One of the players in the attacking team, Suzaku, clicked his tongue in annoyance. The girl who accompanied him had nearly forced him to take part in the event, and now…

“This is why I didn’t want to be here!!” His regret for that decision only continued to mount, as he had been against the idea from the very beginning, and his enthusiasm only turned more bleak.

Their leader’s orders had not been wrong. Everything would have worked out correctly if everyone just followed the orders correctly.

Sadly, this was a large-scale raid battle, where any player could enter if they so wanted. So, in the end, it was impossible to expect them to have the discipline necessary, and they were best described as a disorderly mob in the most non-insulting way.

Amidst all of that chaos… Suddenly, there was a streak of light that landed on one of Fafnir’s eyes, making it burst.

A sniper?!

It was no easy feat to land such an accurate shot from a long distance, not to mention that the dragon’s head was moving constantly.

Looking around the wall, Suzaku saw her, a girl holding a rifle, sitting on the edge of a lookout tower, Fafnir also found her nearly at the same time, enraged by the fact that she had just destroyed one of its eyes, and unleashed a breath attack on her.

“Run-?!” Suzaku instinctively started yelling at her to run away, but there was no need for him to do that.

The girl had already shot out a wire of some sort, and used it to pull herself to another tower, and so the dragon’s breath could not touch her.

Then Suzaku saw three things like swallows fly off her back, and he could only assume that was a Skill of some sort.

“Hinagiku!”
“Leave it to me!”

The girl with the rifle shouted loudly, and another girl replied on the ground, near Suzaku. Looking around, he noticed a girl with large fox ears and tail move out from the confused players, running toward the enormous dragon.

Seeing that, Suzaku began running too, following the fox girl.

“Are you crazy? You can’t do this alone!”
“I’ll assume that means you’re strong too then! Thank you very much for helping us!”

There was not a single trace of fear in her face as she replied instantly. Instead, she looked overjoyed at the prospect of fighting a foe so powerful, her golden eyes shining with enthusiasm, and looking almost like a crazed berserker.

What a terrifying child.

Suzaku felt a cold sweat run down his back when he saw her, but he could not afford to dwell in those feelings, “Ughhh alright! I don’t care anymore, I’ll go too!”

His pride would not allow him to just sit back while a younger girl acted more courageously, even if the girl clearly had far better equipment than him.

Screw all of this, why do I always have such bad luck whenever a girl is involved?!

He continued to grumble in his mind as he followed the fox girl, who ran at an incredible speed.

“It shouldn’t take long before those who got taken out to respawn! Let’s stay alive until they’re back!”
“Yes of course. Let’s do so!”

Suzaku sighed in relief, seeing that at least she was still listening. The two left the main group of players who had fallen in chaos, deciding to buy time until everyone else could regain their bearings.

And so, after being forced to take part in the battle, now he once again felt like he had no choice but to confront the enormous and powerful dragon with little help…

Afterword:

“Representative! Theia II is going off the rails with the event!”
“But why?!”