“HURRY!!! WE NEED TO MOVE NOW!!! SPLIT UP INTO YOUR TEAMS AND TAKE THEM OUT!!!” [Cain]

Cain’s voice urged the soldiers following him as well as the heroes. There wasn’t a shred of the cool-headedness he usually showed on his face and it was proof of just how desperate the situation was. Leaving behind forces to defend the castle, the group swiftly moved through the streets and broke off into their assigned teams.

“RAAAWWWRR!!!” [???]

Multiple horrifying roars could be heard piercing through the air all around them.

“KYYYYAAAAHHHH!” [Random citizen]

“S-SAVE ME!” [Random citizen]

“RUN! RUN!” [Random citizen]

“UWAAAHHH~! MOMMY! DADDY!” [Random citizen]

Screams of pain and horror were born in response every time. The gentle light of the morning sun was overshadowed by an eerie orange glow that came from the houses set aflame and dark columns of smoke.

“EACH TEAM, EVACUATE THE CIVILIANS AND ELIMINATE ALL THE DRAGOONS IN YOUR AREA! PROTECT OUR CITY!!!” [Cain]

With their fighting spirit raised to the limits, the brave men and women went in different directions and charged at the enemies that were feasting on the powerless civilians. Attacking from the east were ten dragoons that were nearly four times a grown man’s height.

They flew in the sky like birds and landed at the edge of the city. With four powerful limbs, a thick tail, hard red scales, a long neck and a pair of bat-like wings, these monsters looked like western dragons from folklores.

However, their appearance had one difference compared to the mainstream ones which was their four golden eyes. Every one of these creatures had two pairs of eyes instead of one. Using them to seek out prey, the dragoons rampaged through the streets as they breathed fire and roared loudly.

People tried their best to escape from the personifications of death, but there were already many victims. Dead bodies littered the streets of collapsed buildings, burnt or half-eaten. Ryner watched this carnage with sleepy eyes from the roof of a house.

Just as dawn broke out, Elura was engulfed in panic because of the sudden arrival of these creatures. Charles, his family, the nobles and anyone who couldn’t fight were hiding inside the castle with many knights protecting them.

Under the king’s order, the army was quickly organized and mobilized to deal with the catastrophe. The heroes that were their strongest fighting force were also dispatched, leaving behind a very worried teacher.

Ryner, along with Maya and Evelyn, snuck out of their rooms and observed the situation. The dragoons were attacking from the outer perimeter, so the three of them left the center of the city and went towards the burned streets.

They hopped on the roofs of the buildings to avoid the flood of people that were escaping from their own houses. Maya had to carry Ryner who was too slow without body strengthening magic. Evelyn easily kept up with the beastman’s speed.

“Seriously… It was just yesterday when things were going according to plan, but now everything literally went to hell.” [Ryner]

While his two companions looked tense and were frowning at their predicament, Ryner had his usual sleepy-looking expression. No, it was more accurate to say that he looked bored, tired. He was like someone that was forced to watch the same movie over and over again for countless times.

“Ryner, should we join the fight?” [Evelyn]

Evelyn asked with a sword in her hand that appeared out of nowhere. It was an elegant weapon with a thin blade and it had a simple golden hilt with no guard.

“Things are getting pretty chaotic.” [Maya]

Maya, on the other hand, didn’t have any weapons and simply knocked her fists together.

“Give me a sec to think.” [Ryner]

Ryner quickly contemplated his possible actions. He scanned his surroundings that were devoid of people while bringing up what he learned from Kelly. Given that the opponents were dragoons that took a team of A ranks to take a single one down, he shouldn’t be fighting because of his bet with Alice.

He wondered if he should escape from this burning city and go to another one. There, he could patiently bid his time until he won the game with Alice, away from childish heroes, controlling kings and rampaging dragoons.

Just as he was thinking this, he caught a lone dragoon in his view that was about to step on something. Looking at where the front leg was coming down on, he saw a little girl with long blonde hair that was curled up and crying in a weak voice while kneeling on the ground.

“*Hic sob* mommyyy~!” [Little girl]

For some reason, as if noticing his stare, the girl brought her small hands away from her tear-covered face and turned towards Ryner. Just as the sole of the foot of the dragoon touched the top of her head, their eyes met and it felt like time slowed down. Inside those blue eyes that lost their light, he could see something very familiar. Sadness, fear and despair filled them.

The child that wasn’t even ten had the same eyes as the other kids in the facility he grew up in. She had the same eyes that he saw every time he looked in a mirror when he was growing up. Then, whatever their exchange was, it ended in a heartbeat. Ryner watched as the dragoon’s leg crushed her body. A wet, crunching sound filled his ears.

The girl died as they continued to stare at each other. When the monster raised its huge leg, the body was unrecognizable. There was a pile of meat and bones in a puddle of blood. With its prey dead, the dragoon began to chew the food that it already had in its mouth.

Sticking out of its jaws lined with sharp teeth was the upper body of a woman that resembled the little girl. She had beautiful locks of blonde hair that were dirtied with blood and dirt. Her face smeared with blood had a vacant expression. Her hollow blue eyes were opened wide and she continued to stare without blinking. Even as she was slowly being chewed on, she continued to stare at Ryner. Eventually, her body disappeared when the dragoon tilted its head upwards and swallowed her corpse.

“Tch!” [Ryner]

Sporting a pained expression, Ryner angrily clicked his tongue and looked away. However, he instantly stared at the dragoon again with cold eyes and threw his plans out of the window. It was already too late to look away.

“Maya, Evie, can you two deal with enemies on this level?” [Ryner]

“Of course, Master.” [Maya]

“They won’t be a problem.” [Evelyn]

The two replied in a strong voice, ready to fight anytime he wished.

“Then, split up and kill as many as you can. Regular soldiers can’t deal with this and those kids probably can’t handle it either.” [Ryner]

“What about you?” [Maya]

“Will you be alright?” [Evelyn]

“Yeah, just go as wild as you want.” [Ryner]

The two were concerned about him since they knew that his magic was limited for whatever reason and his safety was their first priority. But, they didn’t say anything when he looked at them and instead went out to eliminate the dragoons. That man wasn’t going to listen to them, not when he harbored such hostility towards his enemies.

With his two companions leaving his side, Ryner jumped down from the building and rolled forward to soften his landing. Then, charging at the dragoon that just finished its meal, he took out from his pocket dimension a black assault rifle that had a large barrel to accommodate the chainsaw attached under it. It was hidden by plates of metal that would move to the sides when the fore-end was pulled to the back. After the Predator broke it, Ryner fixed it on the Avalon.

While running, he aimed his firearm at the monster and pulled the trigger. A burst of bullets flew towards its head and bounced off the scales after creating sparks upon collision.

“Guess not, huh.” [Ryner]

He casually muttered to himself. Confirming the hardness of the scales with that attack, Ryner stored away the rifle and took out another weapon just as his foe looked in his direction. In his left hand was a hand cannon. It was steel grey and resembled a flare gun with a round, oversized barrel.

Pointing the muzzle at the dragoon that roared to intimidate him, he fired a missile at the base of its neck, slightly above its chest, which resulted in a loud explosion.

“RAAAWR! RAAAAWWWRR!!!” [Dragoon]

The dragoon staggered and roared in pain. Its scales were blown off and its charred, bleeding flesh was revealed underneath. But, it was still alive. It angrily approached the prey that was running at him and breathed fire, but Ryner jumped to the side to avoid the sea of flames and broke through the door of a small house.

Moving quickly, the red-scaled monster set the house on fire and then proceeded to trample it to the ground. Having reduced it to rubble in a matter of seconds, it scanned the wreckage to find its target and feast on him.

But, while it was in the middle of its search, three missiles simultaneously flew at him from its left and hit the base of its neck. Its head along with its neck was blown off with a bright explosion more powerful than the last one. The reptilian monster lost its life without understanding what happened to it as blood seeped out from the charred hole of its neck. Its large body loudly fell on its side and spilled blood on the streets.

“Surprise~.” [Ryner]

Confirming his kill, Ryner’s expressionless face went back to being sleepy-looking as he looked away from the scope of his rocket launcher. Kneeling down to stabilize himself, he was supporting it on his right shoulder. Having hid himself and quickly exited the house through a window, he stealthily moved to the top of a building on the left of the dragoon and took out his weapon from his pocket dimension.

It was colored black and had a rectangular shape with round corners. The front had three holes so that three missiles could be fired at the same time. The back had a cylinder attached to it and it was the magazine that contained the ammunition.

Putting his weapon away, Ryner looked around him to find his next opponent. He had used his fight to test the hardness of the scales protecting the monsters and was confident his “bigger guns” could easily kill them, like it did just now.

“Really… Fighting sure is nice.” [Ryner]

He said to himself in an emotionless voice and jumped down from the roof after locking on to another target. He ran through the deserted streets that had burning buildings, rubble and corpses, driven by an urge to eradicate all enemies.

“Damn you! DIE! DIE! DIE!” [Random guard]

In another part of the city, a guard yelled in anger as he and four other shot magic at a dragoon that burned a poor man to a crisp before feeding on him. Balls made of fire, spears made of ice, bullets made of rock and blades made of wind, the magicians tried to kill it with everything their mana pool allowed them to conjure, but their spells bounced off its scales.

Reacting to the attacks, the dragoon turned its attention towards them and spat fire from its jaw. The guards tried to flee, but they couldn’t escape from the bright orange flames and were set ablaze. They screamed and rolled on the ground to put out the fire that burned their clothes and heated up their armor.

Such a sight was common around the city that looked like a picture from hell as civilians desperately ran for their lives. The soldiers that weren’t in battle were leading them away from the monsters. The castle had opened its gates in this time of crisis to serve as a shelter. The center of the city where the royal family and the nobles lived had not been reached yet along with the west part of Elura.

“It’s no good! We can’t kill them!” [Random guard]

“Shut up and shoot it until your mana pool’s empty!” [Random guard]

“Why the hell is a flock of dragoons attacking a city?! This never happened before!!” [Random guard]

Panic and confusion reigned as humans tried to defend their home against the invading monsters. Magicians would shoot long range magic attacks at them while magic users would strengthen their bodies and slash at their legs. However, the red scales easily warded off both spells and swords.

Amongst the struggle, a ray of hope lit the way to victory. Running like the wind, the strongest knight in the capital, Knight Commander Cain charged at the dragoon that was about to fry more brave soldiers.

“Hahh!!” [Cain]

With a shout, he brought down his sword on its neck, breaking the scales and cutting the flesh. Blood spurted and dyed the scales crimson.

“RAAAWRRR!!!” [Dragoon]

The dragoon roared in pain and tried to stomp on its foe, but Cain held his position and blocked the leg that was coming down on him with his sword. The sharp claws that could cut through steel threatened to shred him to pieces, but his blade properly stopped them.

“RAAHH!!!” [Cain]

With his muscles bulging under his armor, he pushed the leg away and jumped up to its neck, where he had inflicted the serious wound. Attacking at the same place again, his weapon cut deeply into the bone. In response, the monster roared in agony and fell down, convulsing in pain before its movements gradually stopped until it ceased breathing.

“Knight Commander!” [Random guard]

“It’s Knight Commander Cain!” [Random guard]

“Amazing! He killed it in two hits! He cut through its defense!” [Random guard]

Seeing such a display of power, the soldiers’ morale was raised.

“Evacuate the civilians! If a dragoon appears, keep your distance and distract it with ranged spells until reinforcement arrives! Those who can’t use magic are to keep away from them! The army and the heroes have been deployed over the city! We will win this! Stand fast, men!” [Cain]

Quickly giving out orders along with a short motivational speech by using the heroes’ fame, Cain then bolted off towards the closest enemy. The knights that followed him joined the guards and bolstered their forces. They helped in guiding the civilians to safety and getting those stuck in the rubble out.

“That’s right! We have the heroes with us!” [Random guard]

“All of them are S rank like Knight Commander Cain!” [Random guard]

“They’ll kill all the dragoons for sure! Elura won’t be destroyed! Elea Kingdom won’t fall!” [Random guard]

Although everyone was motivating themselves to fight again, deep down, the old knight was feeling uneasy.

“(Ten dragoons attacking the city… Such a disaster would spell our doom, but with thirty S ranks, we’ll make it… Is what I’d like to say… Those youngsters may not be up to the task. If only we had more experienced forces.)” [Cain]

“RAAAAWWRRR!!!” [Dragoon]

Putting his worries aside, he set his sights on the rampaging dragon a hundred meters ahead of him and readied his sword. His enemy also noticed him and was about to set him aflame. However, the two never got a chance to duke it out.

A strange, loud explosion that he never heard before suddenly reverberated through the air and a projectile pierced the side of the head of the dragoon. As a trail of blue light faded, the top of its skull was blown away along with brain matter and red blood, splattering everywhere.

The dragoon swayed on its feet for a few seconds as if it didn’t know that it had been killed. Then, its heavy body fell down. Cain, who had stopped in his tracks, watched with a surprise expression, unsure of what just happened.

Turning his eyes in the direction of where that attack came from, he saw a man lying on his stomach on top of a building about seven hundred meters away. In his hands was a strange object that looked similar to the black gun he had seen before, but it was much bigger.

Noticing the head of unkempt black hair, Cain unknowingly smiled and continued to hunt down the remaining dragoons. His worry that he harbored since the start of the disaster had been alleviated a bit.

That man didn’t exactly serve the kingdom alongside him, but right now, he was an ally. He took on Ryan with his bare hands and with no magic. He defeated a monster in the ruin that could have annihilated him as well as the heroes. That man could do what the heroes couldn’t. That man was an experienced and reliable force.

“Railgun’s got some good effect on target, huh. Dragoons really are like normal dragons.” [Ryner]

While the Knight Commander was running at amazing speed, Ryner watched him leave through the scope of his black railgun. It resembled an anti-tank material rifle with a thick, rectangular barrel that was split horizontally. Blue lighting danced between the gaps as the gun charged its shot before firing a bullet that travelled at 3000 m/s straight at the now dead dragoon’s head.

“Damn it, I don’t have a good view from here. I should have just stayed at the castle and shot on a high tower.” [Ryner]

Ryner complained about his sniping spot and scanned his surroundings. The building’s height was too low. He couldn’t properly see all of the dragoons that were sometimes raising their heads to look for prey and sometimes lowering their heads to eat said prey. The beasts were all on the ground and none of them were flying in the sky.

There were also people running around in the sea of buildings and soldiers fighting the monsters to keep them safe. Among them were probably the heroes as well as Maya and Evelyn. He didn’t want to shoot in a crowded battlefield and kill someone by mistake. The dragoon from before was alone, either because everyone escaped from that area or they were all eaten.

“Gotta stick with plan A.” [Ryner]

Ryner said with a lazy expression and stored away the railgun in his pocket dimension. He decided to go on the attack instead of waiting for a chance to shoot. For every second he waited, someone might be dying a gruesome death. The girl and the mother’s eyes were burned in his memory and they pushed him to move forward. He might just see them again tonight.

“Everything I do is for myself…” [Ryner]

He muttered in a low voice and looked at a part of the city that was being brightly lit by a jet of orange flame. A dragoon was breathing fire at some poor citizens from behind the buildings.

“No backing down.” [Ryner]

Having found his next target, Ryner jumped down from the roof and rolled forward. Now safely on ground-level, he ran towards his next battle.

*Author* Here's the first part.

Looks like the arc is dragging on too long for some people. I agree. It's taking longer to write than I thought.

But, there are way more characters in this one and more events too than the last one.

Skipping details and not laying the groundwork will make it feel like Ryner's going through a faceless world.

My story's not high quality, but I plan on making it a good one.

Anyway, what do you think about this next question?