622,

At the very top of a certain high tower stood a long, needle-like spire. It was one of Kakarl's tourist landmarks—the Thousand-Mile Eye Observatory Tower.

Of course, the person standing on top of that needle wasn't a tourist who'd come to stargaze, but a great mage who'd come to show off.

She stood in a pair of high heels, deliberately balancing on the long needle with the heels instead of the tips of her toes.

“Hehehe~ You can see my signal, right~?”

“Anyone would get mad seeing a signal like that, wouldn't they? Wouldn't they?”

The response to Marcina's wicked giggle came from the large witch's hat on her head.

With a mysterious pair of eyes—a sun in the right eye and a star in the left—it also formed a crescent-moon mouth twisted into a wicked grin. The hat was talking.

“It's not enough, still not enough! Your focus isn't as sharp as usual~ Did that man distract you? It's already over, and yet you still…”

Marcina tapped her hat with the staff in her hand, signaling that it was talking too much.

“You'll never understand a girl's heart.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk! I'm the manifestation of your magic. I am you, and you are me. What's there to understand or not understand? Understand or not understand.”

“Yes, yes~”

Marcina had nothing to say. With her mind in a state of extreme concentration, she naturally understood what the hat was saying.

But understanding and accepting were two different things. Marcina understood it, but she refused to accept it.

That was just how willful she was—the willful great mage, Marcina.

“Enough nonsense. Here we go. Watch me put on a magnificent performance!!”

The Great Dragon descended, and the originally calm and peaceful city of Kakarl was instantly swept up by a powerful gale.

The clouds in the sky were blown away as well, exposing a blazing sun in an instant.

Under the intense light, a sapphire-blue dragon appeared amid the shifting shadows.

Marcina saw it. The heretics saw it. Even the Water Shrine saw it.

Everything was about to change that day. At the moment the winds and clouds shifted, Daniel arrived at King Allen's side.

He said nothing, merely nodding once.

“Has it begun?”

Beside Daniel, Sonja nodded once as well.

“All right. Inform my army to move ten miles closer to the city.”

King Allen set down his teacup and jumped off his chair.

“Come on. Let's go see how the Water Shrine plans to keep this show going~”

Meanwhile, the Great Dragon had arrived. Just as King Kakarl thought everything was going smoothly, a white point of light appeared.

King Kakarl, deep inside the cave, naturally couldn't see it. But through a connected member outside, an eye that had been opened provided King Kakarl with a view of the outside.

And there wasn't just one. Views had been set up all over the city, especially at the places King Kakarl intended to attack.

A single point—a white light—appeared in the view that was watching the Great Dragon.

At first, King Kakarl thought she was seeing things.

Only when that point drew closer and the entire view turned white—even the inside of the cave was covered in white light—did King Kakarl understand.

Am I already dead?

Before she could even say the words, the entire heretics' main camp had become a vast hollow.

“Tsk! What a pain. You think you can control this dragon with power like that?!”

With a single dragon cannon blast, the Great Dragon instantly annihilated King Kakarl and everything that belonged to her.

The entire process took less than a minute. Before the strongest dragon of the dragonkin, everything vanished without a trace.

“Sooo~ How powerful would I have to be to control you? ♡♡”

A mysterious voice suddenly appeared. At first, the Great Dragon thought the cannon blast had been so powerful that it had rattled his dragon ears, causing him to hallucinate for a moment.

It wasn't until an itchy sensation appeared along both sides of his dragon body that the Great Dragon twisted around and looked at his back.

A human girl with heart-shaped eyes was looking at him.

“…”

“Hmm? How powerful would I have to be~?”

The Great Dragon thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. How could a human possibly be riding on his back?

“No, no~ You need to fly over to the other side, or I won't be able to explain myself~”

Two ropes formed from magic appeared, one on each side, and flew across the dragon's body.

In the end, the two ropes were tied together, becoming reins for controlling the Great Dragon.

“Hey!! Are you looking to die?!!”

Making a cute, coquettish face, Marcina spoke mischievously.

“I'm this cute~ Would you really have the heart to kill me?”

“Fuck!!!”

With a single roll, the Great Dragon threw Marcina off.