“You lot!”

The royal knight commander’s voice boomed out, drawing the attention of the many gathered soldiers and Heroes.

Compared to the other places, there were more soldiers gathered here than Heroes… and that was for one reason and one reason only—

After all, this was a military base… nay, not just a military base, this was essentially the military headquarters of the Holy Astal Kingdom, located in the southwest.

“Soon, there will be an attack from the demon king’s lackeys… but do not let fear grip you! We mustn’t lose hope! We can and will beat this invasion, and drive demonkind out of this world for good!”

In a sense, he exemplified the exact problem with this world. That desire to eliminate everything that was different from oneself.

And yet, in another sense, that was the exact embodiment of this world’s central principles.

The desire to eliminate… or at the very least, stay away from anything that differed from the self.

Elves, dwarves, and mermaids, each of which kept to themselves and interfered not with other races unless approached.

Drakonids, who couldn’t be pinned to one place and thus couldn’t be approached.

Dragons who hated all life, vampires who believed they ruled the world, witch covens in eternal isolation, and humans who destroyed everything else—

All that adhered to that central law… that Decree, of isolationism. As though forever shackled to it.

But of course, lacking this knowledge, this was not something any mortal could even conceive, let alone think about. No, the royal knight commander was just focused on crushing the enemy in front of him. Pulverising the demons until not a scrap of cloth or a shard of bone was left.

In the midst of his fervent speech, he was interrupted by a loud cracking sound, as though a pane of glass had been shattered to pieces… Looking out the window, to the field below, there was a crack in the sky, and a giant magical circle, like a massive prison, had spread out below the base.

The third point of the Hexagram. The final point of the first triangle.

To enforce it, to create it, to sacrifice lives to it, she had arrived. From the crack spilt forth miasma, thick and dark, dripping to the ground, in addition to—

A single girl, wearing a uniform over her shoulders like a cape, a pair of horns on her head and a pair of wings on her back, a bright-red stole draped over her shoulders.

“Don’t tell me… a dragon…?!”

The royal knight commander recognised that kind of appearance. Though similar to a drakonid, she lacked the claws, and her horns, wings and tail were far bigger than a drakonid’s could ever be…

As if to confirm his exact fears, she spoke.

“I am the fourth Apostle of the Demon King, Imperial Red Darkness Dragon Davna! As a representative of the Demon King, hallowed be His name, I hereby declare your deaths for the sake of this world!”

She who would burn everything to a crisp had arrived.

As might be expected from a dragon, none of the soldiers could even get close. Invariably, everyone and everything was burnt to a crisp before getting anywhere near close enough to swing a sword.

And yet, as if that wasn’t enough, she also rushed around the field, jumping from prey to prey, absolutely obliterating everything she left behind.

Dragons. A calamity given mortal form. Creatures often said to be on par with gods.

She was displaying every last ounce of that ridiculous, overflowing power, leaving only charred, mauled corpses in her wake…

And yet, out of nowhere, she froze up for a moment—

“Ah, I forgot…”

With the most innocent, unsullied of voices, she spoke, like a sweet little girl.

“I was supposed to test these, wasn’t I?”

On her waist sat two… well, they were undoubtedly weapons, given they sat in the places one would normally holster a sword, but they were unlike any kind of weapon any of the soldiers had ever seen.

However, when she drew the pair of weapons, some ‘nearby’ Heroes… which is to say, Heroes who happened to be able to see her from a distance, froze up, and one of them spoke…

“That’s… those’re… guns…?!”

Indeed, what she had unholstered, despite looking slightly blocky and futuristic, was a pair of handguns, pulsing with magical energy.

However, a soldier, unable to understand the power of modern weaponry, must’ve figured they were simply wands or blunt weapons, because he rushed in—

Bang.

One moment, a gun was aimed at him, and the next, he was dead. Shot square between the eyes.

“Hmm…”

The little dragon tilted her head, perhaps unsatisfied with the gun’s destructive power, as she looked at the man’s corpse.

With a flick of her wrist, she sent another charge of magical power into the gun, and a moment later, she once more unloaded its contents into a human’s head…

“Hmm-hmm…”

She canted her head this way and that as she kept shooting, ending life after life. Certainly, there was a certain kind of satisfaction in running around shooting people with these, and they went far beyond the power of a bow or a crossbow, not to mention they were easier to use, but…

For comparison’s sake, she fired a single spell in a random direction, blowing to bits a squad which was rushing at her.

“The spells are more fun…”

Indeed, this little dragon wasn’t considering practicality, or power, but merely what was the most fun. Actual comparisons of efficiency had no meaning, considering how much more powerful she was than the enemies, so this was her only grounds for comparison.

Of course, Tempest had drilled into the poor dragon’s skull that she needed proper feedback, so she could hardly say she hadn’t used the things because she got bored halfway through…

So instead, she opted to switch back and forth between the guns and her spells, balancing play and work even while taking life after life.

Of course, her regal commands as an Imperial Dragon were a no-go—those took too long to cast, and even if the enemies could not truly harm her, she had no desire to be smacked across the face by their weapons.

Like an innocent child playing with a colony of ants, she kept playing with the group of humans, with no regard for the value of their lives.

And then, one man came onto the battlefield—

And he dodged her attack.

Instantly, she froze up.

Tanned skin. Silver hair, perhaps from age. Well-built, with a dark red cape hanging from his shoulders…

She didn’t recognise his face, but his description matched with what she had been told of the royal knight commander.

“Oh… Ooh…”

For a moment, she froze up…

And then she licked her lips, a ferocious, bloodthirsty grin on her face.

She stared him down like a predator standing in front of its prey. Completely abandoning all reasoning, she entrusted her body to her instincts, and her instincts told her to hunt him down with all her might.

And thus, she holstered one of her guns, drawing her ceremonial dagger in its stead to call forth her part of the Obsidian-stained castle.

From the gap between worlds, the power of Obsidian leaked inside.

And thus, she began singing.

“I know not my parents, or even their love.

Nay, I know not even one person of my own race.”

The Obsidian-infused madness spread out with her at its centre, infusing the world itself with untold power as her words rang across the battlefield.

Her world began to encroach on the ruling Decree, creating a miniature, perfect world for herself.

“Aah, and yet, ‘tis fine that way, I do not mind.

After all, though I may lack family, I have that person, and that alone is enough.”

From beneath the ground, as though tearing asunder the very world, chains burst forth, shackling the dragon in place.

The Obsidian shifted hue to deep crimson and suffused her gun, glowing red-hot with unbelievable, overwhelming, absolute power.

“However, my heart yet overflows with boundless love.

And thus I ask ye, whom should I turn that love to?”

For the sake of her family, those she loved, the one she devoted her existence too, she would destroy whatever he asked her to destroy, with accuracy unmatched.

If told to kill, she would kill. If told to destroy, she would destroy. If told to obliterate, she would obliterate, until absolutely nothing was left, and she would let nothing get in the way of the commands she was to follow.

“The answer is, of course, naturally, without doubt, that person.

For that person’s sake. For that person’s happiness. To be with that person.”

She would stop at nothing. Her hellish flames would consume everything that dared get in her way, without exception or remorse. Even if she had to shackle herself to Him, she would never leave His side.

She beseeched Him to allow her craving to manifest.

“Amen.

As the Apostle of War, I invoke—

Stigmata of Innocence—

Manifest, my Craving -

Angra Mainyu—

Demon God of Perversion

Daeva Akatash—

Forever-burning Hellfire!”

Her gun glowed a malevolent, blazing red, shining its light on all the soldiers unfortunately present.

With the brightest of smiles, she aimed its muzzle in a random direction and fired, again, and again, and again.

The ultimate weapon to obliterate all, Daeva Akatash. Though the chains significantly restricted her ability to move, she simply didn’t need that anymore.

Her bullets veered wildly off their natural paths, finding their ways into the hearts of soldiers all the way on the other side of the battlefield as though they had a mind of their own.

Distance and aim alike meant nothing in front of her.

If she shot, she would hit. Absolute accuracy against any target, no matter what, who or where, regardless of the circumstances.

Dodging was entirely, completely, utterly impossible, on a fundamental level.

If one were able to bear the brunt of her blows, the story would be different…

But of course, there was no such person here. To begin with, this was modern weaponry—no one was equipped to handle blows from a gun.

Not to mention the magic circles surrounding the muzzle, further enhancing the attacks’ destructive power.

A shot, an explosion. A shot, a conflagration. A shot, a pillar of flames.

Without moving the slightest bit, shackled in place by her own craving, she devastated the entire battlefield, creating crater after crater where once a person had stood.

With the most innocent of grins on her face, she completely smashed everything to the tiniest of pieces, ending too many lives to count and offering their souls to the Hexagram.

A massacre. There were no other words for this phenomenon. This could hardly even be called a fight.

And the one who had provoked her into going all-out, intentionally or not…

Well, she had already wiped him out twenty shots ago, though she had not even noticed such, as consumed with primal, instinctive bloodlust as she was.

In a sense, she, too, was following this world’s Decree of eternal isolationism.

But this was not out of a hatred of all life, like most dragons possessed…

No, and in order to figure that out, all one had to do was look at the bright, sunflower-like smile on her face as she hummed a cheerful tune.

“~𝆕”