The battlefield was no longer confined to the skies above the Royal Palace.
The ten dragons locked in combat, attacking, counterattacking, dodging, and pursuing, had already scattered toward various districts of the capital.
In fact, the Magicians stationed throughout the city had noticed the small sun in the night sky much earlier, when the Purgatory Dragon and Atlas Flame exchanged breath attacks.
The area overseen by Blue Pegasus and several smaller guilds lay just north of the Royal Palace. Coincidentally, the massive fissure created by the first dragon to emerge from the gate had torn straight through the ground beneath their feet.
The handsome Ichiya nearly tripped as the ground shifted.
Fortunately, the equally handsome Nichiya, the Exceed from Edolas who bore an uncanny resemblance to Ichiya, caught him just in time, preserving his dignified image.
Nichiya had originally planned to participate in the Grand Magic Games and dazzle the entire nation alongside Ichiya.
Out of pure generosity, however, he had relinquished his spot.
Now, Nichiya gazed up at the sky and spotted a sickly green mechanical dragon locked in battle with a fish-like dragon, the two gradually drifting closer to their position.
"MEN~ Ichiya," Nichiya said solemnly.
"Are those the legendary Dragons?"
"Yes, Nichiya," Ichiya replied with equal gravity.
"It is nearly time for us to display our prowess, MEN~"
Nichiya stepped forward, crossing his right foot over his left, forming sword fingers with both hands and crossing them before his chest.
"MEN~"
Ichiya mirrored the pose perfectly.
"MEN~"
"MEN~"
Man and cat, sharing nearly identical face shapes, continued chanting back and forth, generating an atmosphere that strongly resembled some kind of obscure cult ritual.
Strangely enough, this performance was enthusiastically supported by Blue Pegasus's three most handsome members, who ignored the approaching dragons entirely and cheered them on like devoted fans.
Jenny glanced at her fiancé, Hibiki, feeling a sudden urge to join in,but reason quickly reasserted itself.
"Could you please look at the situation first?" she snapped.
"The King specifically ordered us to deal with these Dragons!"
Simon smiled wryly and nodded.
"That's right, Mr. Ichiya, Mr. Nichiya. We should prepare for combat."
"Hmph hmph~ As for that;"
Ichiya calmly brushed his bangs back.
"Master Bob has already prepared a secret weapon."
He paused dramatically.
"And that weapon is, christina!"
Jenny muttered under her breath, "That doesn't really count as a secret weapon…"
Buzz-buzz-buzz
A Pegasus-shaped flying battleship streaked into the sky from the capital's designated airship zone, its sheer size and speed making it look capable of challenging a Dragon head-on.
The members of Blue Pegasus erupted in excitement.
"That's right!"
"We have the strongest battleship, christina!"
The pilot's voice boomed from the loudspeaker:
"Mr. Ichiya, the main cannon is fully charged. Subsequent shots will require cooldown time. Which Dragon should we target?"
"Of course..."
Ichiya fell silent, staring upward.
A moment later, his expression changed completely.
"Oh no! One of those two Dragons is on our side, isn't it?!"
Eve nodded admiringly.
"As expected of Senior Ichiya. You noticed immediately."
Simon sighed helplessly. His comrades were exceptional in every regard, except when it came to offering praise to Ichiya, at which point all sense of proportion vanished.
Inspired, or perhaps already prepared, other guilds followed Blue Pegasus's lead, launching their own airships into the sky.
As Magician guilds, their vessels were naturally equipped with various weapons.
However, they all encountered the same problem almost immediately:
It was difficult to tell friend from foe.
Fortunately, the Kingdom's army reacted swiftly.
Numerous military airships of varying sizes took flight, and moments later, a broadcast echoed across the night sky.
The message was simple:
Dragons with more "proper" appearances, those that looked like traditional Dragons, were summoned by Mr. Rhodes to assist in the battle.
The grotesque, misshapen Dragons were the enemy.
Indeed, compared to the bizarre creatures that had crawled out of the Eclipse Gate, the Purgatory Dragon and Mountain Wyvern appeared almost textbook-perfect in form.
If one looked long enough, one might even find a strange sense of beauty in them, as if each dragon had been painted stroke by stroke by the hand of a master artist.
Seizing the moment when the Chemtech Wyvern and the Life Jail Dragon crossed paths, christina's pilot fired.
A blazing white pillar of light, its power on par with the Magic Concentrated Cannon jupiter, slammed into the Life Jail Dragon's flank.
The tremendous impact caused the massive body to tilt slightly in midair.
And then… nothing happened.
The Life Jail Dragon did not lose a single scale.
Silence fell.
Everyone stared, mouths agape, at the unscathed giant.
"You've got to be kidding…"
"That was christina's main cannon!"
"That kind of power couldn't even scratch it?!"
Master Bob remained relatively calm.
"Legend says that only Dragon Slayer Magic can truly defeat a Dragon. It seems that legend holds some truth."
Unfortunately, Blue Pegasus had no Dragon Slayer, nor did any of the smaller guilds nearby.
The same scene was repeating across the capital.
Guild airships and royal battleships alike seized every opening to bombard the Rock Soul Dragon, Sea Prison Dragon, and Pincer Sound Dragon.
Yet not a single cannon shot inflicted real damage.
At best, the sheer force of impact disrupted their flight paths for a moment.
And that provocation came at a price.
The enraged dragons began targeting the airships directly.
If not for the Sub-Dragons keeping them engaged, the sky would already have been raining flaming wreckage.
Even so, the irritable Pincer Sound Dragon, despite having its tail injured by the Cloud Wyvern, snapped its massive clamp-like horn forward and cleaved a Kingdom battleship cleanly in half.
After venting its fury, it immediately turned back and charged once more at the Cloud Wyvern.
The Cloud Wyvern dodged in time, but the Pincer Sound Dragon pursued relentlessly, the two streaking across the sky like overlapping afterimages above the capital.
The shattered airship exploded.
The soldiers aboard triggered emergency protocols and leapt free.
Most managed to deploy their gliding wings in time and escaped immediate danger.
A few, however, had their equipment damaged in the blast and fell helplessly, badly injured.
At that moment, a completely emerald-green giant dragon carrying three girls swept through the night sky.
She caught those without gliders with precise movements and immediately cast healing magic on them.
For those she couldn't reach in time, she sprayed compressed water spheres to cushion their fall, while Wendy boosted their defenses with enchantments from afar.
As Lucy helped rescue the injured from the Ocean Dragon's back, a doubt crossed her mind.
'She reacts this fast… and her magic is so precise. If that's the case, why did she say she wasn't good at fighting?'
High above, Rhodes's fist slammed into the hexagonal dragon scales with a resounding impact, followed by a cold snort.
"Hmph. Useless."
An arrogant voice echoed from the dragon's back.
"Mother Glare possesses a vajra body. Even another true Dragon cannot harm it, let alone your fist."
Rhodes curled his fingers slightly, electricity and magic rippling along his arm.
"Heh," he replied calmly.
"I was wondering how long you planned to keep hiding."