Meanwhile, high above the sky covered in black clouds and crackling lightning, the roar of jet engines tore through the air. Between the thick clouds, two colossal beings floated — a black, gleaming-scaled dragon and a silver-winged guardian angel, Seraphion. Both of them gazed down, where dozens of human fighter jets were forming up.
"Up there… an angel and a dragon! Commander, what are your orders?" one of the pilots shouted through the comm channel.
At the headquarters, the commander stared at the radar screen showing the two massive figures. With a firm tone, he said,
"Break formation! Platoons 1, 3, 5, 6, and 8 — focus on Seraphion! Platoons 2, 4, 7, 9, and 10 — attack the dragon from the east side!"
Voices echoed simultaneously across comms, and the sky split into two fronts of war.
Missiles launched one after another, leaving long streaks of fire across the heavens.
Seraphion folded his wings and whispered, "Holy Shield."
Golden light wrapped around his body, making every missile that struck him explode loudly — yet leave him unharmed.
"Damn it! His barrier's too strong!" one pilot yelled.
"Unit 3, attack from the rear! Unit 6, attack from the front! Move!" ordered the leader of the first platoon.
More ballistic missiles fired, but Seraphion raised his hand and uttered,
"Reverse Guard."
A radiant shield formed in front of him. The moment the missiles touched it, they bounced back toward the pilots.
The captain of platoon 1 quickly fired intercept missiles.
Two missiles collided mid-air—
BOOM!
A massive explosion rippled through the sky.
The commander studied Seraphion's reactions and issued a new order:
"Unit 8, strike from behind! Unit 6, from the right side! Unit 1, protect Unit 6! And one jet — perform a low maneuver, attack from the left!"
The jets split instantly, following the commands. Missiles fired from every direction.
Front-facing missiles were blocked by the golden barrier.
Rear attacks bounced off the reflective shield.
But—
ONE missile from the side broke through and slammed into Seraphion's body.
The commander grinned.
"Hah! So that's it. You can only use two skills at once."
As both shields vanished, Seraphion burst forward in fury, chasing the first platoon. A fierce pursuit unfolded, but he could not match the speed of modern fighter jets.
Frustrated, he raised his sword.
"Tokeru Kōsen."
His blade and shield glowed like glass reflecting sunlight. The reflection morphed into a deadly beam of heat capable of melting anything it touched.
He fired the beam toward the first platoon.
"All units, disperse NOW!" the captain shouted.
The jets scattered. A missile was fired, but the heat beam bent its trajectory, causing it to explode mid-air.
The captain quickly analyzed the situation.
"He's using his first skill. The second must be the front shield. And that beam draws power from the sun. That means… we cover the sunlight. Then strike when he loses focus."
He issued rapid orders:
"Platoons 1, 3, and 6 — fire smoke missiles!
Platoons 5 and 8, climb above the clouds! Attack from above — strike from behind!"
Smoke missiles detonated, creating a thick cloud cover.
The sunlight vanished instantly.
"What is this!?" Seraphion shouted, losing his sight.
At the same time, platoons 5 and 8 dove from above and attacked from behind.
Seraphion panicked — his forward shield, focused on the frontal threat, shattered from the blind-spot assault.
Seeing the opening, the leader of platoon 1 roared:
"NOW! Fire ballistic missiles!"
Dozens of missiles launched simultaneously from every direction.
All of them struck Seraphion without pause.
Seraphion was blown backward, his body burned — and finally he plummeted from the sky, dead.
"Do we still have missiles left?" asked the captain of platoon 1.
"We still do, sir!" a pilot replied.
"Good. Then let's help platoon 2!"
---
Meanwhile, platoon 2 was struggling against the massive dragon.
"Its scales are too tough! Our explosions can't penetrate — they only make it angrier!"
The leader of platoon 2 replied quickly,
"Attack from all directions! We need to find its weak point!"
Missiles bombarded the dragon non-stop. Explosions echoed through the sky, but the black scales showed no signs of damage.
The dragon retaliated with a thunderous roar, unleashing a thirty-meter-wide blast of fire that incinerated everything in its path.
Moments later, platoon 1 arrived for support.
"How's the situation?" asked the platoon 1 captain.
"We still can't pierce its scales. Our attacks only enrage it. Its flame range is about thirty meters — safe if we stay outside that distance," explained the platoon 2 captain.
"I see… every time it breathes fire, it always opens its mouth for a few seconds first, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
The captain of platoon 1 instantly recognized the opportunity.
"Then we aim for the one part that isn't protected by scales — the inside of its mouth."
"The inside of its mouth?" Platoon 2's captain hesitated.
"Yes. We lure it into opening its jaws. When it does, we fire as many missiles as possible into its throat. After that, we go for the eyes."
"Good idea! Let's do it!"
The captain issued orders:
"Platoon 1, circle around! Attack from 35 meters!
Platoon 2, stand by! Wait for its mouth to open!"
The jets spread out, forming a ring around the target.
Platoon 1 fired missiles to provoke the dragon.
It worked. The dragon lifted its head and opened its massive jaws.
"NOW! Platoon 2, FIRE into its mouth!"
Dozens of missiles shot forward like a meteor shower, flying straight into the dragon's throat.
Seconds later, it snapped its jaws shut—
BOOOOOOOM!!!
Its head jerked violently backward, its body staggering.
"Hit its eyes, NOW!" shouted the captain of platoon 1.
Missiles rained down again — this time striking the dragon's eyes.
Blinded and in agony, the dragon thrashed wildly, unleashing flames in every direction. Trees, buildings, and everything below were reduced to ashes.
"We damaged it! But it's still moving!" shouted the platoon 1 captain, running out of options.
"We're out of missiles!" the platoon 2 commander responded in panic.
The dragon — blind, severely wounded, yet still alive — rampaged uncontrollably, scorching everything in its reach.
"There's only one way,"
the commander of platoon 2 said quietly.
"What do you mean?" asked the leader of platoon 1.
Without answering, the commander accelerated straight toward the dragon's mouth at full speed.
Moments before collision, he ejected from his jet.
BRAGOOOOOOM!!!
The jet pierced into the dragon's mouth and exploded deep inside.
The resulting blast was so massive that the dragon collapsed instantly.
But the commander of platoon 2 was caught by the shockwave.
The blast engulfed him before he even touched the ground.
Silence filled the radio.
No cheers of victory.
No commands.
No voices.
Only a heavy, hollow quiet.
---
A few kilometers from the battlefield, in a refugee area, a group of civilians stared up at the dark red sky.
A man was watching the news on a large screen.
"Ridiculous," he scoffed. "There's no such thing as dragons or angels in real life. Must be CGI or some military propaganda."
Just as he finished speaking, something fell from the sky and struck his head hard.
"Ow! What the—?!"
It was a helmet — the helmet of Platoon 2's commander, still intact, its emblem half-charred.
From inside the helmet, faint static crackled, followed by a trembling voice:
"Commander… are you alright?
Thanks to your decision, the dragon is down…
Commander…?
Commander, please respond…"
The voice slowly faded, leaving only silence.
The man stared at the helmet for a long time, no longer daring to say a word.