The trio at the foot of the mountains watched as the dragon surveyed the people in the fortress, silent and frozen in incomprehension. Its red eyes blinked, and then it opened its mouth and hissed something.

“Did it say something to them?” Rdrag asked.

“Likely,” replied Mercyaa.

“Why doesn’t he attack?”

“Studying a new race,” Hebanyac answered. “And they had better not disappoint it.”

“Are you saying he wants to be friends?”

“I don’t know. I can’t read minds.”

A couple of minutes of oppressive silence later, the dragon sensed something and shook its head and turned and met Hebanyac’s gaze and roared so loudly that all the players in the fortress dropped their weapons and covered their ears. Gra saw the monster’s rib cage heat. The air shuddered.

“Officer, what should we do?”

“Wait!” Gra shook his head negatively and admitted to himself that he did not know how to figure out which moment would be the most appropriate to attack. It all depends on his decision.

Mercyaa lowered his binoculars and said with a stammer:

“Is it? Is it growling at us?”

A fierce voice in an incomprehensible dialect sounded in Hebanyac’s head. The dragon, so massive, turned carelessly toward the trio and strolled towards the dungeon.

“Holy crap! He’s coming after us!”

“Let’s go inside. He can’t get us there,” said Rdrag.

As soon as they were about to leave, the signal flare of readiness flew from the side of the western fortress where the second military commander Lettarongan was and from the side of the eastern fortress where Bernavi was in charge. Gra noticed a bright light in the sky and saw the dragon with his left hand drive the tent with its protective field underground like a nail and crawl towards Mercyaa, Rdrag and Hebanyac.

Ghoton twitched. His eyes fluttered open. He opened the HUD, selected the friends tab, found Gra’s nickname and began to message him:

Stop! Under no circumstances now do not...

A message from the defense squad officer popped up in huge yellow letters on the HUDs for all players:

It’s trying to close the entrance to the dungeon! Let’s not let it do it! Let’s start the attack!

No sooner had Ghoton finished his message when he heard several hundred defenders strike their shields with their swords, and then he saw the glow from the massive application of «Irritation». The dragon stopped and jerked around at them and bellowed something with a disgruntled look. Gra, along with his wife and a few mages, used the «Shackles» spell and released chains from the tips of their swords and shackled the enemy. The creature fidgeted and howled out of control, barely able to keep its balance on its hind legs.

Zeeaa waved to the first squad. They nodded back and a huge protective dome appeared over the central square. Ten seconds later, on the orders of their commander, the mages, without a hint of synchronicity, loaded the first projectile into the cannon’s muzzle, endowed it with the element of water, and used a wind spell as it went off. The cannons, with the sound of a shepherd’s whip, fired their cannonballs, which flew into the monster with an eerie screech. Zeeaa looked on in horror and did not understand how this could have happened. She cursed and wrote into her squad’s chat room:

From now on, act only on my command!

Ghoton, bewildered and discouraged, stood staring at the shameful disorganization. His men waited for orders and glanced apprehensively at one another. The dragon, meanwhile, threw off its shackles and stepped out of the control of the «Irritation» and flapped its wings and tail tossing the cannonballs far into the forest.

“Stand by!” shouted Ghoton. “Let’s use the «Waterjet spell». All together on my command!”

The mages pulled the glass jars from their waist straps, opened the lid, and with a flick of their fingers, connected the mana and water and directed it forward to where Ghoton had created the water ball. The energy filled the sphere, increasing its size. When the officer felt that all the power had accumulated and reached its limits, he shouted:

“Shoot!”

The mages simultaneously put their right palm out in front of them, and all the players in the fortress felt a slight shock wave. The water ball flattened, shrank, and released its full power forward, right into the dragon’s chest. Ghoton ordered the machine gunners to fire, aiming for the eyes, and the large-calibre bullets showered the target with a metallic hail at the same instant.

The dragon opened its mouth and absorbed the powerful spell until it was completely gone. The bullets bounced and ricocheted off its scales. The wizards in Ghoton’s attacking squad cried out loudly.

“How can a dragon absorb water?”

“Won’t it extinguish him inside?”

“I don’t know, but its rib cage is still burning with lava!”

Others, stunned and dumbfounded, gawked at the grandeur and power they felt inwardly that the Vanguard would never achieve.

“Everybody, quiet!” Ghoton barked. “Let’s see what happens next.”

The players of the Top Secret guild looked at each other. Some faintly waved their heads toward the officer, others made a faintly positive nod in response. They drew their knives, and while one of them prepared to give the order, no one paid attention to the way the dragon took the donjon in his hand and threw it at them. Ghoton touched the white brickwork of the wall and, with a spell, built a defense in front of them that held back the blow. He turned and told no one to be distracted. Everyone listened to him and hid their weapons back.

Gra raised his sword above his head and ordered the attack. His men ran forward. The dragon let out gray smoke from its nose, opened its maw, and let out a blaze that was hot enough to melt the bricks, not to mention the defenders in the rear-guard themselves. Their improved armor turned to molten metal, which spread across the ground like a puddle of lava. The players crumbled into ashes. Ash and sparks swirled in the air. Fires erupted in the green zones. The air shook and vibrated. The front ranks of the defense squads miraculously survived. Gra and his wife turned around to see many of their comrades, who had nearly been struck by dragon fire, boiling alive in their own armor, screaming in pain and pushing their self-destruct buttons to get out and end their suffering.

The dragon did not stop there; it soared high, destroying a couple of towers with its wings and doing a pirouette in the air and floated over everyone’s heads and releasing blood-red flames from its mouth, which turned a quarter of the fortress into ruins in an instant. The players were frightened and darted away. They no longer obeyed any orders, for they valued their lives and the experience they had gained.

Zeeaa was giving orders, controlling every action of her subordinates: “Load the cannonballs, light the fuse, use the water element.” During the shot, she told to increase the wind speed of the shot and the rotation. But even after she took control of the organization, her men continued in ridiculous and clumsy actions to load the cannons and fire. Now and then, something did not go according to plan. Her deputy’s small unit, which supplied the concrete cannonballs, had gone out of business altogether, and his men had disappeared somewhere. She was nervous, screaming and frantic, she was confused, she did not know what to do.

The dragon froze in mid-air over the central square and released furious flames into the dome. The mages struggled to contain the onslaught, spending vast amounts of mana to support their defense. Zeeaa backed them up with her power, knowing that they would not last much longer.

Ghoton ordered his squad to help the units in the central square.

“Use earth spells.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to use water against fire?” someone in the squad asked, and the others supported him.

Ghoton realized he did not have even a second to explain his thoughts. Every word spoken now would cost the players their lives. He showed an afterthought. The officer stopped his hands in a half-crouch position against his chest and concentrated. About a hundred stone fragments rose from behind the walls of the fortress. They transformed into smooth spikes. Ghoton could hardly keep his concentration. Sweat covered his forehead, his hands and body trembled, his breath frantic, the veins in his eyes burst. “It’s hard...” he muttered, but still unleashed a lethal volley at the dragon. A third volley of cannon fire erupted from the central square.

The dome collapsed, and most of the mages died of exhaustion. The dragon bent and spun sideways like a drill, dodging concrete projectiles. It did not notice, though, as Ghoton’s spell slammed into its side at breakneck speed. It nearly tumbled to the ground, but three meters from the ground, it flapped its wings and landed onto the roof of the largest building, destroying several machine gun turrets along the way. From there, it unleashed more flames and watched with pleasure as the little men ran toward the exit, knocking each other down on the way out.

“Orders are not to be questioned!” Ghoton shouted. “There’s plenty of smoke down there as it is. If the water comes into contact with the fire, there’ll be steam everywhere, and the coordinated fighting will be impossible. No one will see anything. For Christ’s sake! Besides, he absorbed the last attack. You can’t beat him with that element.”

Gra stood still and did not move. Barracks, houses, and walls were collapsing next to him. Players who did not die immediately tried to get out from under the rubble and called for help. The first lava rivers appeared there, with wounded defenders walking beside them like zombies, some without an arm or a leg, some burning to the ground and falling to their deaths. Ashes spiraled in the air, like the first winter blizzard, and settled on the surface. Panic broke out on the fortress grounds. Through screams and shrieks, everyone heard the continuous machine-gun fire and cannon shots. Someone took charge of the retreat, but before he knew it, dragon’s terrible fire burnt him.

Ghoton ordered his units to replenish their mana and wait for Gra’s orders, thinking to himself, why is their leader slow? There is an urgent need for reorganization.

The defense officer, meanwhile, heard his wife screaming and ran up to her and pulled her out from under a pile of rocks. Together, they ran toward the south exit, ignoring anyone and everyone. The players, mutilated by the dragon’s destructive power, were now and then tangled under their feet, reaching out with their arms, trying to grab and cling to their cloaks, begging for rescue, but in the end all they saw was the back of their leader fleeing away. Bullets ricocheted off the dragon’s scales and sometimes hit their own. Players received a PK debuff and died a minute later. Several shots hit Gra as well, but the officer’s armor held the blow, leaving a couple of bruises on his body.

Ghoton watched as hundreds of players ran to the south gate, crowding and leaping over the wounded. It horrified him when he also saw Gra and his wife there.

Where are you running to, you bastards? Fucking Gra! Get everyone back where they belong! Shouted the attack officer into the voice chat. Zeeaa heard that too and shuddered in fear, but decided not to retreat and hold her position.

We can’t beat that kind of power, Gra replied. Run! Run for your life! Alive we can still help Yleen, but not dead.

Ghoton felt the wizard’s hand, flinched nervously, and turned around, expecting an attack. But nothing happened.

“I think we should retreat with the others,” said a player from the Top Secret guild.

The attack squad officer gestured for everyone to stop.

“Stay where you are.”

“We’re going to die!”

“No,” answered Ghoton, feeling inexplicably sure that he was right. “As soon as reinforcements arrive, we’ll turn the tide of the battle, stick together, and get ready.”

About ten concrete balls flew into the dragon from the central square. This time, the simultaneous shots and cluster worked as intended. The sinister creature could not repel the attack completely. One projectile struck it on the head, awakening its primal rage. The madden monster jumped down and tailed off three barracks, where about a hundred players were hiding. All died. On top of everything else, the impact also hit the fleeing officers of protection squads. They collapsed to the ground, their ears beeping. The HUDs glowed red. Gra’s body counted over seven serious injuries, but despite that he could get up and reach out to his wife and saw her legs crushed by the bricks. She reached back with tears in her eyes. The dragon made a dash and landed right on top of them, and flattened both of them with its foot. The ground shook again, and all the players within a couple of miles lost their balance and fell and then ran on all fours.

Ghoton saw the death of the leader and commander of their army. He turned his head and spoke in a barely audible voice, “No, no, no, no, no.”

“What happened, officer?”

Ghoton was suddenly silent, watching the total chaos. This game spared no one. He turned toward his squad and, gathering his strength, stood up and answered in an angry, dry voice:

“Our leader panicked and fled and died like...”

The roar of the dragon, which released a terrible blaze into the largest cluster of players at the south gate, drowned the next part of the sentence out. Everything it touched was burned and destroyed by the fire. The alchemy lab building exploded and a mushroom cloud rose in its place. The gray, opaque smoke filled the western and southern parts of the fortress with a suffocating cloud. Rivers of fire grew larger and larger. The air was red hot. Zeeaa and Ghoton put on gas masks and inserted a high oxygen capsule. Both could feel drops of sweat dripping down their backs, legs, and faces. In the HUD came the first warning: weakness.

“Let’s use the «Stone Spikes»,” Ghoton ordered. “Come on! Hurry!”

The two hundred mages, along with the officer, concentrated and unleashed an earth elemental attack. The dragon turned, opened its mouth, and spat liquid lava, which repelled the attack.

“Fuck!” swore Ghoton. “The bastard adapts to our attacks.”

“What are your orders?”

“Hold your positions. We’ll find its weakness.”

“This is not a battle, officer. This is a massacre!”

“If we don’t win now, we won’t have a life afterwards. The dragon is unlikely to stop after one ruined fortress. He’ll get to everything and he’ll end up in Otron. Is that what you want?”

“Probably not.”

“Forget about our differences. The most important thing right now is not to lose.”

“Yes, officer.”

Zeeaa saw many of the nearby players’ hair and clothing ignite from the fiery winds and terrible heat. Mages tried to cool themselves with water elemental spells, but their mana was running low. They fell to the ground, weakened and battered. Most of those who could still move scurried away. Only fifteen loyal comrades stayed with the officer of attack squads. Together, they took up positions at the five cannons and fired a new volley. This time, the target was less than five hundred yards away. A new hope that dissipated in the same minute. The dragon playfully whisked the concrete cannonballs toward the south gate and took out about three hundred machine gunners and left another hundred under the rubble to die. The devastation did not stop the deserters. They ran past their comrades, concussed and dazed. Fear, cowardice, terror, panic, fright, confusion, bewilderment, and a dozen other mixed emotions overwhelmed the players in the epicenter of hell. No one wanted to die. Everyone understood the consequences and fled, but no one succeeded. The dragon flew up and soared over their heads, and burned everyone and everything.

Ghoton turned to his squad and said:

“This happens to those who run.”