A massive creature covered in emerald-green scales flapped its enormous wings, soaring through the sky at high speed.
Suddenly, it swerved left and right, narrowly dodging beams of light that distorted the surrounding space.
If the scene was zoomed out, one would see that this enormous creature was a rather plump, winged lizard with horns.
No—this was a Western dragon.
For centuries, dragons had symbolized calamity and destruction in human mythology. Wherever they appeared, heroes and knights soon followed, seeking to slay them.
And right now, this green dragon was fleeing from a certain Holy Knight—a warrior wielding a divine sword bestowed by the gods.
The dragon turned its head towards the hero, revealing its menacing fangs as fire gathered in its maw. In the next instant, a beam of fire, seemingly capable of bringing about an apocalypse, was unleashed.
"Ha—!"
The holy knight responded by swinging his divine sword with immense force. The terrifying pillar of fire was instantly split in two, veering off to the sides and shooting toward the distant horizon.
"Boom—!"
A massive explosion erupted, setting the land ablaze and dyeing the sky red. To a modern human, it would have resembled a nuclear blast.
The knight, gripping his sword with both hands, assumed a stance for another strike. His blade gleamed sharply before he swung it down with terrifying speed. A radiant slash tore through the atmosphere—no, through space itself—hurtling toward the green dragon.
Sensing the incoming danger, the dragon attempted to evade, but the attack still managed to graze its body. A portion of its legendary, supposedly impenetrable scales was sliced open, blood gushing out.
"Damn you, holy knight!"
The dragon roared in anger. If not for the presence of other heroes in this world, it would have already gone on the offensive.
As an interloper in this realm—having smuggled itself here just days ago—it was wary of drawing too much attention. If it openly fought back, other heroes and saviors would surely hunt it down.
It also didn't want to bring trouble to a kind person from the surface world who had once helped it—someone who had pulled out the divine sword that had pierced its body. For that reason, it had been holding back.
Damn it. If this continues, there will be no way to escape. Should I just use my immense power to forcibly cross over to the surface world? That holy knight wouldn't dare follow me there.
But there was a problem—angels were hidden within the human realm. Just yesterday, it had almost been caught. A certain short angel had even shot an arrow at its rear, leaving it sore for an entire day. If not for wanting to avoid troubling Kobayashi, it would have fought that damn midget angel right then and there.
Then why was it back in the underworld today? Simple. It had returned to gather supplies so it could settle in the human realm more comfortably. But unfortunately, the holy knight had caught up with it.
In any alternate world, passage to the surface world always required crossing through this realm first.
Suddenly, the green dragon's pupils shrank. Directly ahead, a series of glowing symbols materialized in midair. Sparks scattered as countless bolts of lightning surged forth, coalescing into a monstrous form—a dragon made of pure lightning.
Baring its fangs, the lightning dragon lunged at the green dragon with electrifying speed.
In response, the green dragon's eyes gleamed fiercely. Rather than fleeing, it charged forward to meet the attack head-on.
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The moment the green dragon emerged from the black portal, it was greeted by a sprawling metropolis, with towering skyscrapers stretching toward the sky.
Instantly, it felt an invisible force spreading across its body like a vast, inescapable net, sealing away its magic.
With its power, it could forcibly resist the suppression, but doing so would create too much of a disturbance—like a blinding beacon in the dark. That would immediately attract the apostles of this world's gods.
Thus, it did not resist. Instead, in order to avoid alarming the human world, it began to change form.
A radiant glow enveloped its massive body as it rapidly shrank. Moments later, a curvaceous figure emerged from the light.
She had golden hair, vivid crimson slit pupils, and an exquisitely delicate face, like a sculpture crafted from ice. She was dressed in a maid outfit—a white, frilled long dress with a black apron tied around her waist. A red ribbon adorned her collar.
As she was still mid-air, a pair of scaled wings remained extended from her back to facilitate flight. Her dragon horns, however, remained visible.
The dragon—no, the dragon maid—needed to find a way to disappear into the human crowd.
First, she cast a recognition interference spell—ensuring that humans wouldn't perceive anything unusual about her. Then, with a powerful flap of her wings, she accelerated downward at breakneck speed.
Suddenly, a powerful sense of danger gripped her instincts. She veered to the side in a split-second reaction—just as a flash of light streaked past, grazing her hair.
No, it didn't simply graze her—it erased the strands it touched.
Her pupils contracted as she locked onto a figure standing atop a nearby rooftop—a silver-haired young man with water-blue eyes. A strange machine behind him shimmered like a watery veil.
In the next instant, an intense light flared behind him, and an overwhelming beam of energy illuminated the surroundings, temporarily blinding the dragon maid.
Before she could react, something struck her. She could feel her magic rapidly draining away. As her vision cleared, she saw four grayish-white energy strands stretching from the rooftops of four different buildings, converging on her through similar strange machines.
The eerie light was siphoning away her magic at an alarming rate.
It was a trap.
They had anticipated her arrival and set up an ambush in the human world.
"Damn it!"
She roared in frustration, struggling with all her might. Finally, the gray energy strands snapped.
However, by this point, she had nearly exhausted her magic and was now completely restrained by the laws of this world. Flapping her wings a few times, she soon lost altitude, plummeting uncontrollably.
"Uwaah—huh?"
She had braced for impact, but instead of hitting the ground hard, she landed on something soft.
Her panic wasn't because she feared injury—her dragon body was impervious to mere physical damage. No, she had simply instinctively screamed at the sudden loss of control.
Damn it. Damn humans!
Just as she clenched her teeth in frustration, the silver-haired man tossed a metal sphere into the air. The moment it reached her, it expanded into a cage-like net, trapping her instantly.
"Grrr—!"
Baring her fangs, she bit down on the net, but it refused to break. This wasn't an ordinary material—it was not of this world.
If only she had her magic, she could shred this thing like cobwebs.
Was this the end?
Just then, a mirror materialized beneath her, and in the next second—she fell through it.
In an instant, she found herself falling from the sky again—this time in the underworld.
Above her, the mirror reflected the sky of the human realm. Floating beside it was the same blonde woman who had electrocuted her earlier—a woman whose gaze now bore down on her like a predator eyeing its prey.
That arrogant so-called 'Thunder Empress' wasn't letting her go.
These damn humans were too arrogant.
Snarling, the dragon maid prepared to revert to her true form.
But then—something changed.
A black mist darker than night billowed from her body, engulfing the surroundings. The ominous energy swirled like a raging inferno, consuming everything in its path.
The sky darkened instantly. What had been a clear day moments ago was now shrouded in stormy black clouds.
"Thunder Empress, this is—"
The speaker was a short young man, one of the Empress's subordinates.
The sheer malevolence emanating from the dragon maid made his very soul tremble.
"This… this is truly fascinating."
The Thunder Empress, half-covering her delicate lips with a fan, murmured with interest. However, crystalline sweat beads formed on her pale, bewitching face, revealing a hint of unease in her heart. Yet, deep in her eyes, there was an intense longing for something.
Meanwhile, the Holy Knight standing beside her held the Divine Sword, which was trembling as if it were reacting strongly to the scene before it.
Was the Divine Sword trembling in fear?
The Divine Sword was afraid?!
What kind of joke was this?!
"Oh my? What's going on here?"
The voice of surprise came from Kyo, the Ice God, who had just rushed over from the surface world. The horrifying black flames before him sent a chill down his spine.
He could vaguely make out the humanoid dragon at the center of the eruption. Was this suffocatingly evil aura coming from it?
Had it used some secret technique? Or was this its true power?!
At that moment, Kyo felt lingering fear. If he had recklessly taken it away earlier, he would have been doomed.
Suddenly, the sky turned blindingly white as dozens—no, hundreds—of massive bolts of lightning crackled in fury, as if divine punishment was about to be unleashed.
It was as though the existence before them did not belong in this world and had to be erased.