The shadow of wings swept across the city of Tino. People on the ground shaded their eyes and gasped as the massive figure of a dragon wheeled above them. Its scales glinted like dark bronze, its vast wings beat thunder into the air, and its rider — Dragon Knight Eren — leaned forward in the saddle, glaring down at the world beneath him.
"Is this the Kingdom of Loos?!" he shouted, his voice carried by the wind.
On the city wall, soldiers sprang into action. Over a dozen twin-mounted 14.5mm anti-aircraft guns swiveled upward, barrels glinting. The crews jammed ammunition belts into place, hands steady despite the sight above. For many of them, this was the first time seeing a dragon outside of stories.
A city defense officer snapped the straps of a black bust armor across his chest and joined them. His eyes widened with awe, even as his lips curled into a grim line. "By the gods… this is the first dragon I've ever seen. It looks… mighty."
One soldier, his face hidden beneath a steel mask, asked nervously, "What did he just say?"
The officer lifted a construction loudspeaker — crude but effective — and aimed it skyward. His voice thundered across the plain. "This is Tino City of the Loos Kingdom! Dragon Knight, explain your purpose and land immediately!"
---
A Mistaken World
Eren pulled his dragon higher and scowled down, confusion twisting across his face. "Tino City? Loos Kingdom?" His thoughts spun in disbelief. "But this should be Nord Kingdom territory!"
In his memory, the Nord Kingdom had stood proud, nearly ready to crush Loos. He believed Lusia had gone there as part of her mission. But now… now the truth glared back at him.
The Nord Kingdom was gone. The Loos Kingdom had counterattacked. They had not only defended themselves but had occupied the Nord capital.
If that was true, then where was Lusia? Why hadn't she returned to the Tongsley Empire? Why had she vanished?
The knot in Eren's chest twisted into rage. His voice thundered across the city: "Did your cursed king of Loos kill Lusia?!"
The soldiers stiffened at his words. To insult their king — His Majesty Gavin Ward — was unforgivable.
The defense officer raised the loudspeaker again, his voice sharp with fury. "Dragon Knight! I don't know who this 'Lusia' is. But you are trespassing on the lands of Loos! Land now to prove you mean no harm — or we will open fire!"
---
Arrogance of the Sky
Eren's laughter cut the air like a blade. "You… order me?" His eyes blazed with contempt. To him, these were nothing but insects in iron shells, lowly mortals shouting from behind stone. How dare they give commands to a dragon knight?
His voice rose into a roar. "Burn them!"
The dragon's throat glowed, sparks spitting from its jaws. The soldiers on the wall paled as they realized what was coming.
"He's about to breathe fire! Shoot him down!" the officer bellowed.
The dragon's chest heaved. Eren sneered. "Weak, worthless mortals! I will burn your city to ash! None of you will live to tell the tale!" He believed it — believed utterly that no mortal weapon could harm him.
---
Barrage of Steel
"Open fire!"
The city wall erupted. Fourteen heavy machine guns roared at once, their barrels flashing, tracers streaking upward like lines of fire. The sound was deafening, a storm of metal ripping through the air.
The dragon was massive, but its size betrayed it. There was no missing such a target. The barrage struck home.
"ROARRR!"
The dragon screamed, a horrible, shuddering sound that shook stone and bone alike. The fire in its throat backfired, spewing harmlessly into the sky as bullets shredded its scales. Blood sprayed into the wind like crimson rain. Chunks of flesh ripped free, scales splintered, and great wings tore under the barrage.
Eren was thrown in the saddle, his whole body convulsing as agony flooded through the bond. Every wound the dragon suffered echoed in his own flesh. Pain raked across his nerves, tearing screams from his throat. He coughed blood, eyes wide with disbelief.
"This… this can't be…" His voice cracked into madness. "I am a dragon knight! You are mortals! Mortals cannot hurt me!"
But the truth rained red around him.
The dragon's scream split the heavens, then faltered into silence. Its vast body began to spiral downward, wings broken, blood trailing behind like ribbons of fire.
---
The Fall
"Clear the wall! Clear the wall!" the officer shouted. Soldiers scrambled back from the parapets, boots clanging as they ran.
"BOOM!"
The dragon hit like an earthquake. The city wall shook, dust exploding into the air. Stone cracked. Its vast wings crumpled and sagged across the battlements like torn canvas. The beast's massive head drooped over the wall, its eyes dulling, its once-proud neck punctured by dozens of bloody holes.
Blood poured down onto the city gate in thick streams, splashing onto workers and carts below. Men and women screamed and scattered — not in fear now, but in shock at the sheer scale of the fallen beast.
"The dragon has fallen!" one voice cried.
Then another took it up. "The dragon has fallen!"
And then the city roared.
---
Mortals Cheer
The people of Tino erupted into cheers. Workers dropped their tools, embracing one another. Refugees wept openly. Soldiers lifted rifles above their heads and shouted until their throats cracked.
"We did it! We killed a dragon!"
A veteran among them — an old man with scars on his arms and dust on his face — stared in disbelief. He had once been a soldier of Nord. His memories came rushing back:
Ten years ago, under King Ragnor III, Nord had marched a hundred thousand strong against a province of the Tongsley Empire. They had laughed at their enemy… until one dragon knight came. Just one.
The dragon had blotted out the sun. Arrows, bolts, blades — nothing harmed it. In a single afternoon, the knight had broken an entire army. The veteran had run for his life, and the screams of his comrades had haunted him every night since.
And now… now he stood on the walls of Tino and saw the impossible. The Loos army had shot a dragon from the sky.
His hands shook as tears spilled down his face. "All these years… I thought they were gods. But they bleed. They die. Just like us." He straightened, voice breaking into a triumphant cry. "Long live the Kingdom of Loos!"
The shout caught fire.
"Long live the Kingdom!"
"Long live His Majesty Gavin Ward!"
The cheers surged like a storm, rolling through the city, echoing across the plains. For the first time in memory, the people of Loos could say proudly:
Their kingdom had slain a dragon.
---
Aftermath
The dragon's body slumped across the wall like a grotesque banner. Its blood soaked the stones, dripping steadily into the dust. Eren, broken and bleeding, hung limp in the saddle. His pride — the arrogance of dragon knights — lay shattered with him.
The soldiers gathered, still breathless. Some stared in awe, others laughed with relief. To them, this was not just a victory. It was a symbol — proof that the invincible could fall, that the proudest enemies could bleed, that the age of fear was ending.
Above them, the setting sun painted the battlefield red. And beneath it, the people of Loos shouted until the air itself shook:
"We shot down the dragon!"
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