A dazzling flash of light rose above the dusky sky of the Imperial Capital. The light was so bright that it could be seen from the Central Knightsâ fortress located not too far away.
âHuh? Whatâs that?â
Johnstein Pilgram, a foreigner, saw the flash of white light brightening the Capital and his eyes widened.
âYou idiot! Itâs the rally signal! Whyâre you just standing there?! Get everyone armed and gather at the training ground!â
By his side, one of the senior knights yelled at him before ordering all the knights who had been training to go and fully arm themselves.
At that moment, a second flash of light shot up into the sky. This time, it was a flash of ominous red light.
âWar alert! Highest level [1]!â
It was an urgent signal that only appeared when a foreign enemy was invading the Imperial Capital. With a hard expression, the senior knight rushed the knights.
A beat too late, the emergency bell rang out and woke up the inhabitants of the Central Knights fortress; all the troops stationed there shouted for their armor and horses.
âThose who are ready, depart for the Imperial Capital first!â
At the order of the Central Knightsâ commander, the knights who were ready to fight quickly ran out of the fortress. Soon after, all the knights who were ready quickly set off for the capital, leaving only the bare minimum number of people to protect the fortress.
âThe heavy cavalry of the Imperial Guard is over there, sir!â
A cloud of dust could be seen from far from the capital. A senior knight shouted when he glimpsed the flag of the Imperial Guard through the dust storm.
âThe soldiers that the Empire sent to the Central Army are also there, sir!â
There was more than one cloud of dust. From the east and west, dust clouds were rising up from almost every direction.
Seeing the cavalry rushing towards the Imperial Capital from all directions, the commander of the knights spoke with a hard face.
âDid a monster appear in the Imperial Capital this time?â
The Imperial Capital had never sent up a flare before, so when it happened, the knights were terrified that a monster, so powerful that the knights of the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Defense Forces couldnât deal with it, had appeared.
âQuickly! Something must have happened in the Imperial Capital!â
The knights sped up even more at their commanderâs order.
The Central Knights pushed their horses hard without letting them rest. The Imperial Capital greeted them with a continuous ringing of the bell.
The top of the walls was packed with archers who had arrows nocked on their bowstrings, while catapults and ballistae were placed at critical locations, ready to be fired at any moment.
âWhat on earth is going on?!â
âThere is a report that something massive is flying towards the Imperial Capital from the southwest!â
If there was something flying towards the capital from the southwest, then there was only one thing that came to mind.
âIf thatâs the case, then wouldnât it be the direction the Indomitable Grand Duke is coming from?â
âThatâs correct, sir. The Indomitable Grand Duke is returning to the Imperial Capital.â
The commander of the knights became even more confused.
The Indomitable Grand Duke was a highly influential person with a great reputation on the continent, and in Adenburg, he was a great knight with a good reputation as a war hero and was the husband of the Empress. The commander couldnât understand why they were readying to fight such a nobleman as if he was the enemy instead of welcoming his return.
His questions only grew when he arrived at the central square in front of the Imperial Palace.
âOh, my God. They are the high-ranking Royal Mages of the Imperial Capital that even the Imperial Palaceâs Mage Corp would give-in to.â
They were the Royal Mages who were considered to be headaches of the Mage Corp since they never left their labs after enlisting. The Royal Mages were extremely high-ranking mages that even the Imperial family had a hard time dealing with because of their excessive pride in their status. However, right now, there wasnât just one, but dozens of those troublesome people gathered here in the central square.
The commander of the Knightsâ Order stiffened as he looked at everyone gathered at the square. Including the knights of the Central Knightsâ Order, it was a tremendous force that would be more than capable of destroying the capital of any kingdom in an instant.
âThis is the video recorder that arrived today. sirâ
A mage approached him and held out a crystal orb.
âI will explain in detail after you watch the video first, sir.â
Before he could say anything in response, the mage pulled up the image stored in the video recorder into the air.
The scales surrounding its body were as beautiful as if they had been painstakingly crafted from platinum and gold. Its body was terrifyingly elegant and strong without a single superfluousness to it. Its pair of wings, where each one was a different color, was so massive it looked as if they could cover the entire sky.
âWhat on earth is thatâŚâ
The commander of the Knightâs Order was at a loss for words at the presence of the creature that didnât seem to belong in this world.
âThis is the new dragon acquired by the Indomitable Grand Duke.â
The mage spoke as he looked at the dazed commander.
âYouâre telling me that is a dragon? Like the Drake or the Wyvern?â
He couldnât believe it. He couldnât accept the fact that a creature with that kind of overwhelming presence was the same species as the Drake, who was usually dismissed as a mere monster.
âI cannot believe that.â
When the commander of the Knightsâ Order continued to express strong denial without being able to take his eyes off the video, the mage finished with his explanation.
âTaking into consideration the Indomitable Grand Dukeâs last words before he left, as well as the overwhelmingly commanding presence of that creature, it is the Mage Corpâs conclusion that that is a true Dragon.â
What on earth was he saying now?
He already couldnât believe that the dragon, something that had always been dismissed as a simple myth or legend since there were no records left of the species, truly existed. But now, that dragon was flying towards the Imperial Capital? Not only the commander of the Knightâs Order, but all the other Central Knights, looked dumbfounded.
âIf that is not the Dragon, then what could be considered as a Dragon? It seems as though the Indomitable Grand Duke has succeeded in finding the true Dragon.â
The mage pointed a finger at the image as he spoke to the knights.
The knights couldnât raise any objection to the mageâs words. Just as the mage had said, if that wasnât a dragon from the legends, then they couldnât think of any other words to describe the creature in the video.
âEven if that dragon was with the Indomitable Grand Duke, we cannot just sit still and watch such a great beast flying towards the Imperial Palace where Her Imperial Majesty resides. Am I not correct?â
âAh, Marquis Reinhardt.â
Who knew when Marquis Reinhardt had joined, but the head of the Imperial Guard joined the conversation.
âIf, on the off chance, that massive bastard gets out of control and starts rampaging, itâll be a big disaster that we cannot afford.â
At that, the commander of the Knightâs Order was convinced. Just like the Marquis had said, the presence of the dragon was too intimidating for them to simply trust the Indomitable Grand Duke and allow it to enter the Imperial Capital.
âEither way, thereâs not much we can do right now.â
At first, Marquis Reinhardt had thought of meeting the Indomitable Grand Duke on the plain right before the Imperial Capital, but he said they could not give up the defense and advantages that the Imperial Capital had reinforced for over hundreds of years.
âIf we had seen the video even a bit earlier, I might have stopped the Grand Duke from entering the Imperial Capital at all costs. No, even now, I wish the Grand Duke would turn around.â
The Marquis sighed as he looked at the Empress surrounded by the knights of the Imperial Guard and mages.
âBut then, heâs the hero of the Empire and Her Imperial Majestyâs spouse. We canât continue to keep him outside the Imperial Capital, can we?â
For a joke, it was a bit too harsh; but at the same time, the Marquis was head of the Imperial Guards that had to protect the Empress and the Imperial Family. And so the commander of the Knightâs Order subtly encouraged him.
âThe greatest force in the history of the Empire have all gathered here. Although many soldiers have been deployed to the Central region, it shouldnât be a problem to protect the peace of the Imperial Capital with the amount of knights and mages here, even if something bigger than a dragon were to appear.â
The commander was not only comforting the Marquis, but he was also trying to motivate himself, who had frozen just from watching the video.
He was afraid that if he didnât remind himself of the existence of the many superhumans gathered in the square, then he wouldnât be able to respond properly to any emergency that might occur.
The dragon in the video was more massive than any other creature he had ever seen before.
But it didnât take long for the commander to realize how weak his determination and resolve was.
A sharp-eyed knight perched high on a spire shouted as he saw a massive shadow approaching from the southwest sky.
âAll mages! Prepare your spells in advance so you can cast them at any moment!â
âKnights! Ready your swords!â
The sounds of mages casting spells and knights grasping their sword hilts with iron gloves resounded throughout the square.
A sound similar to a large sail unfolding on a ship could be heard, and then instantly after, a huge shadow fell over the square.
The knights and mages looked up into the sky and froze.
They saw scales that were much more radiant than seen in the video. A Dragon with an overwhelming presence was looking down at them from the sky.
The knights could feel their hands gripping the swords trembling before losing strength. The mages let out a groan as the magic they had gathered scattered.
It wasnât a matter of blocking or not blocking.
Just seeing the Dragon dulled the figurative swords the knights held in their hearts, while the magesâ ego shattered.
The Dragon took over the square the moment it appeared.
[I donât think youâll be getting any thanks from them for your consideration.]
Kim Seon-Hyeok smiled bitterly at Eddaâs words.
Even with the Imperial Capital right in front of him, he had purposefully slowed down. Personally, he wanted to fly to the Imperial Capital right away and see Ophelia and Victorius, but he was afraid that the residents of the capital might be frightened by Eddaâs sudden appearance.
Since the capitalâs citizens would be seeing her for the first time, he was giving them time to adjust to Eddaâs overwhelming presence.
But it would have been better off if he hadnât done that.
Eddaâs presence wasnât something they could overcome simply by preparing themselves. Instead, it was looking more like he was boasting of Eddaâs majesty in front of more people.
But, there was nothing he could do. Even if he wanted to leave Edda behind and enter the Imperial Capital alone to avoid the commotion, Edda didnât want to separate from him for a single moment.
âUgh, letâs get down first. Weâre doing more harm by staying up here like this.â
Edda nodded her head gracefully at his words and began to descend slowly.
As if they were nailed to their positions, the superhumans didnât move until Edda had completely descended.
âWait here a moment.â
In the square where not a single sound of breathing could be heard, Kim Seon-Hyeokâs footsteps rang curiously loudly.
âYour Imperial Majesty.â
Walking past the frozen superhumans, he finally came in front of Ophelia; he knelt down on one knee.
âAs requested, I have returned safely.â
Her gaze had been fixed on the dragon, but now, she looked down.
Perhaps she had only been focused on Edda; she began trembling when she finally saw him.
An expression quickly crossed her stiff face â it was an expression of deep longing and joy.
âI hope Iâm not too late?â
âYouâre late. The Grand Duke is late again.â
Contrary to her scolding words, she stepped closer with light footsteps.
âYou said youâd be back soon, but itâs already been a few months.â
Before she could finish scolding him, she felt a warm touch on her cheeks.
Then, from her cheeks to her shoulder, then to her chest, warmth spread all over her body.
As he held Ophelia in his arms, he proclaimed.
âGrand Duke, youâre always just full of talk.â
Once again, contrary to her words, Ophelia hugged him tighter.
Having expressed some of his happiness through the brief hug, Kim Seon-Hyeok slowly let her go as he spoke.
âDo you remember what I said would happen when I returned?â
She looked up at him with big eyes. He kissed Ophelia on her forehead, then pointed behind him.
âI promised that there would be no one who dared to threaten the Empire anymore.â
There was a proud dragon who was arrogantly looking down on the many superhumans gathered there.
âThis is the beginning.â