Dragon Kingdom, the border.
This was the battlefield where the Dragon Kingdom and the Beastman Country collided.
Unlike before, the Beastman Country seemed to have run out of patience. This time, they had deployed massive numbers of Beastmen, surrounding the Dragon Kingdom and invading from every direction.
Under the frenzied assault of countless vicious Beastmen in all manner of shapes, the Dragon Kingdom could not hold the line. They were driven back step by step.
In less than a month, several cities had fallen with ease.
The Dragon Kingdom's army had been forced to withdraw behind the walls, relying on guerrilla tactics to harass the Beastmen and buy time.
They even used suicidal self-destruction attacks to painstakingly set up defensive lines, slowing the Beastman Country's advance by only a little.
But that was all it did: delay the inevitable. The soldiers knew it. If this continued, the Dragon Kingdom would lose without question.
"Cough… damn Beastmen."
The air was thick and foul, and every breath made them cough. On the battered, crumbling ramparts, Dragon Kingdom soldiers kept watch.
One soldier coughed as he cursed under his breath. It was all because of the Beastmen.
"Hell… I don't even know if this city can hold against their army."
Another soldier sounded utterly defeated. Those on the front lines understood the Dragon Kingdom's situation better than anyone.
Humans were not as strong as Beastmen to begin with, and this time the Beastmen had come in full force. Without reinforcements, there was no way they would survive.
"The Kingdom, the Empire, the Slane Theocracy… are they really going to just stand there and watch the Dragon Kingdom fall?"
A soldier shouted in indignation. As a fellow human, he could not understand it.
Beastmen had marched into human territory. This was a matter of survival for their entire race. So why was no one willing to help?
The captain heard him, but said nothing. He only let out a sigh, bitterness written all over his face.
He knew more than the average soldier.
The Kingdom and the Empire were locked in a fierce war. They had no time to spare for the Dragon Kingdom.
As for the Slane Theocracy, the Dragon Kingdom paid them a huge sum every year, and they would normally provide support. But for some reason, there had been no word from them this year.
"The Queen is here!"
The captain had been about to try and rally morale, but an astonished shout cut him off.
In an instant, the soldiers on the walls stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes to the same point.
The heavy, hopeless mood lifted at once.
On a battlefield filled with despair, Draudillon, despite her loli-like stature, gave the soldiers tremendous courage.
Just as the Dragon Kingdom's Prime Minister had said, Draudillon did not need to do anything. As long as she maintained that loli appearance and her innocent demeanor…
That alone was enough.
But even as they grew excited, the soldiers were also confused.
Her Majesty should have been in the royal palace. Why was she here?
Surely she had not come to die.
And more than that, Draudillon, the Dragon Queen, was following behind five unfamiliar figures in black robes, looking oddly obedient.
In fact, Her Majesty even seemed happy.
Even the highly placed Prime Minister of the Dragon Kingdom had his head lowered, his shoulders shaking as if he were… laughing wildly.
"The Dragon Kingdom is saved… the Dragon Kingdom is saved…"
Soldiers closer by clearly heard the Prime Minister muttering to himself.
That only left them more bewildered.
Saved?
By who?
Those five strangers?
Could they really stand against the Beastman army?
As those thoughts raced through their minds, Draudillon and her group had already climbed onto the city wall.
"Your Majesty!"
The soldiers dropped to one knee in salute. Draudillon said nothing, instead turning her gaze to the figure beside her.
"Rise."
A calm voice drifted out from beneath the hood. Several soldiers frowned, and a few even looked up in displeasure.
Her Majesty hasn't spoken yet. Who are you to give orders?
"Grandfather, the Beastmen who bullied me are over there."
Draudillon quickly stepped in, pointing toward the Beastman army's encampment while subtly signaling the surrounding soldiers to hold their tongues.
As she spoke, she even scrunched her brows in a cute little frown, worried that the soldiers' reaction might displease the Brightness Dragon Lord.
"Brightness, don't keep such a stiff face. You're scaring Draudillon."
Naohara reached out and pressed a hand onto Draudillon's head. Ignoring her puffed-up expression, he gave it a firm rub.
The texture wasn't quite on par with Evileye's, but it was still pretty nice.
As for Draudillon, though she disliked her hair getting all messy, she quietly tilted her head up a little to make it easier for him.
After all, this was someone even her grandfather treated with utmost respect.
If the Brightness Dragon Lord, a True Dragon Lord, acted so deferentially toward him, then he was very likely a True Dragon Lord as well, and almost certainly stronger than her grandfather.
Right now, Draudillon felt both relieved and troubled.
Relieved because her grandfather had returned. The Dragon Kingdom was saved.
Troubled because he hadn't come alone. He had brought four more terrifying figures with him.
Anyone who could chat and laugh with her grandfather was unlikely to be weaker than a True Dragon Lord. That left Draudillon walking on eggshells, afraid of offending any of them.
"Understood, my king."
The Brightness Dragon Lord's lips twitched slightly. Thinking back to the earlier battle, if anyone had been frightening, it was definitely you.
By now, the soldiers around them had gone completely silent.
What had they just heard?
Her Majesty called him Grandfather?
Her Majesty's grandfather… wasn't that the founder of the Dragon Kingdom, the legendary Brightness Dragon Lord?
No wonder Her Majesty had been so well-behaved. No wonder the Prime Minister kept muttering that the Dragon Kingdom was saved.
The soldiers' faces lit up with ecstatic joy.
Now they understood. They understood everything.
Noticing the shift in their emotions, the Brightness Dragon Lord paid them no attention. They were nothing more than frail humans.
If not for Draudillon, he would not have cared in the slightest about this childish war between the Dragon Kingdom and the Beastman Country.
To a True Dragon Lord standing at the pinnacle of the world, a conflict of this scale was hardly worth his notice.
He would rather spend that time indulging himself.
"Brightness, have fun."
The Heavenly Dragon Lord stepped forward. Though he did not know what had happened during the earlier fight, he could tell that the Brightness Dragon Lord had suffered a heavy loss and needed an outlet.
The Beastmen who had tried to capture his offspring, Draudillon, for breeding were the perfect target.
"Those filthy Beastmen… I'll make them understand pain."
The Brightness Dragon Lord did not respond further. Even if the Heavenly Dragon Lord had guessed something, it did not matter, so long as he had not witnessed that disgraceful scene firsthand.
Seven-colored light flared.
The Brightness Dragon Lord leapt from the city wall. With a thunderous roar, a colossal dragon manifested in midair.
Under the soldiers' fervent gazes, the Brightness Dragon Lord turned into a streak of brilliant seven-colored light and shot toward the horizon, vanishing into the sky.