Ghoton pulled out his pistol, aimed as high as he could, and pulled the trigger. The flare zigzagged upward with a crackle and hiss, and then exploded in a toxic red under the clouds, releasing millions of little magnesium sparks. Immediately, sirens howled throughout the fortress with such a noise that most of the players’ ears perked up. The light attracted the dragon. The players in the attack squad turned toward the west wall and saw their target:

“It’s the size of half our fortress!”

“How can that be!”

Many laughed in fear, some froze and stared, while others lost all hope of victory in an instant.

The soldiers of the defence squads ran out of the barracks and stood five yards from the exit, staring up at the gray sky, which seemed blacker and darker than usual. Others shoved their backs, trying to get a glimpse of the living dragon. Ghoton hid in the shadows of the outermost building and kept the trembling in his hands to himself.

“Why is it so scary? Do I not believe in victory?” he asked himself. “It’s just a game. Pull yourself together. Come on!”

The legs of the officer of attack squads did not obey his orders. He sat there like a frightened girl and could not move, though he wanted to.

“Where is Gra? Why doesn’t he say or write anything? Where did he go?”

Where is Gra? Ghoton asked in the voice chat for officers, but others did not know the answer to his question.

Both officers of protection squads had badges with the sound and microphone crossed out in front of their aliases.

In Ghoton’s head, thoughts were creaking, switching, scrolling through a million possibilities and outcomes.

“Officer! Officer! What’s wrong?” asked a player who ran out from around the corner.

Ghoton turned his head and saw a frightened boy of about eighteen.

“We need you! Hurry! There’s a dragon flying!”

Something inside the officer’s head fit into place, and he raised. A huge number of people crowded the boulevards and avenues. Everyone was waiting for orders and did not know what to do. The alliance chat room was bursting with messages. The wind was picking up and blowing people off their feet. Tough Rise guild’s flag of the was flapping on the tallest tower and tore and part of it flew away. Ghoton walked past the main masses and clusters, looked no one in the eye, and responded to questions like, “What shall we do?” and “What are the directions?” with the phrase, “Wait, Gra will give orders soon.” He noticed players with dirty, unattended weapons sitting under trees in a small alley, in the shadows of buildings, and on roads within his line of sight. All looked away, staring at the floor and praying that death would bypass them. No one respected the formation, for Gra had held none of the promised rehearsals.

“They fear even more than I do.”

Ghoton looked around for the officer in charge of the battle, tugged at the shoulders of the soldiers, and asked:

“Where the hell is Gra?”

Everyone was silent, shrugging their shoulders. Finally, one player pointed to the tower and said he had seen the officer go in there with his wife a couple of hours before. Ghoton went in the showed direction. His squad’s chat room was bursting with messages: Where are you? What should we do? He ignored them.

***

“Get ready!” Zeeaa shouted and jumped out of her chair. “We’re going to give this thing a hard time. Quickly! Quickly!”

Her people had taken up positions, but many had not yet returned from off-line.

“Don’t look at me, look at...” a cruel and long cry from the sky drowned her last words out. “What are you doing? There should be three of you manning one cannon. Why are there five? And only one here, eh? We’ve been through all this, haven’t we? Stop staring at me! Look at the sky! Shit! We should’ve recruited more girls as magicians. At least they’re more responsible.”

“Zeeaa,” one newcomer turned to her, “I don’t know what to do.”

A dozen more joined him with the same question.

She cursed and quickly explained their mission to them: “the first mage loads the concrete core, the second, during the shot, uses a torsion spell and increases the speed of flight, the third endows the core with a magical element.”

A shadow covered the fortress. The dragon landed on the west side of the fortress and blew smoke from its mouth. The ground shook. Its enormous hind paws clawed at the fourteen-meter-thick stone wall, which was more than half-ruined under the weight of its enormous body.

“Jesus Christ,” someone shouted behind Zeeaa.

“He’s three times the size of a Flying Fortress.”

Zeeaa stood there with her eyes bulging, thinking about how not to show fear to her people. Her heart was pounding hard as to get out of her chest, and her breathing seemed to stop.

***

No sooner had Ghoton reached Gra, when the dragon’s landing knocked him to the ground. He fell and hit his shoulder. A sprain, no big deal. The players picked him up, but they were not looking at the officer of attack squads, but at a creature twice the size they had imagined it to be. Ghoton rose and ran towards the tower, constantly stumbling over the uneven ledges of the paved road, wiping drool from his mouth and trying to stifle his involuntary groaning. The dragon roared, its forelimbs resting on the ground, which cracked and sagged under its weight, and its long serpentine neck crawled over the roofs of buildings and the heads of people. Ghoton turned around and cursed with fear, and collapsed again and ran on all fours. He opened the door and heard the screams and groans of Gra and his wife. He wiped his drools, took a deep breath, went downstairs and kicked the door with his foot and screamed:

“Fucking dragon!”

They - both naked and sweaty - turned towards him.

“The dragon! Fuck! Dragon! Get the fuck upstairs! People are waiting for orders while you’re fucking here. If you’ll disable voice chat again, I’ll personally order you to be fired upon as a traitor!”

Ghoton did not wait for Gra to get dressed, grabbed him by the beard, and dragged him upstairs. The officer of protection squads stepped outside with his pants in his hands and raised his head and froze.

“Orders! Orders!”

Gra did not react. Ghoton punched him with all his might and brought him to his senses. He shook his head and thanked and wrote in the alliance’s general chat: Take your places, prepare for battle. Listen to my instructions! Then he put on his pants and ran to the front lines on the western front:

“Don’t be afraid, boys. These shields can withstand temperatures of up to a thousand degrees.”

“But our bodies won’t!” someone shouted. “We’ll be boiled alive!”

“Put aside your doubts! Tonight, for the first time in this game, we’ll slay a dragon! Prepare yourselves! Prepare yourselves!”

The melee and magic defenders in the front rows gazed at the dragon’s enormous neck, looming over their heads. The scales shimmered with little golden lights, visible only at close range. Huge, sharp spikes along its neck, its spine. The front muscular paws touched where no one was standing. The dragon stretched farther and farther until the western wall collapsed under its weight. It stumbled back, but did not crush anyone, and continued to peer at the foreign creatures with interest. The first flanks retreated a few feet back. Gra was already standing in front of everyone, with his wife beside him.

Ghoton tried not to look at the dragon’s serpent neck above his head and ran to his magical detachment on the eastern wall. On the way, he crossed paths with his men on the rooftops of the towers and nodded to them for encouragement. On the way, some players were sneaking into buildings and barracks, and the defenders’ line in front of the central square was disorganized as they leaned backward one step at a time. Especially, cunning individuals went down into the sewers and ran through the pipes outside the fortress. The rest camped right on the road and went offline, saying that’s how it was.

“Nobody scatters! Get into formations! Goddamn it!” Ghoton shouted, while he was in a state of prostration and could not control himself. He walked as if he had drunk half a litre of vodka.

All who hide and those who turn a blind eye to it, after the battle, will get the debuff ‘enemy of the race’, wrote Ghoton in the open chat of the attack units. Now your courage and ability to fight are needed more than ever.

He continued walking at the sound of the players’ heavy and rapid breathing. By the end of the journey, it was getting easier.

The dragon, meanwhile, scrutinized the walls, the buildings, the cannons, and sniffed the machine gunners at the south wall, exposing bloody fangs, serpent tongue, and spreading ashy breath all over the perimeter.

“Are you all right?” Ghoton asked and turned to the two hundred mages on the wall.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Everyone who heard him nodded nervously in response. Some shrugged.

More confidence, gentlemen! Listen to my commands and all will be well! No one will die! The devil is only scary in appearance.

Ghoton watched the dragon’s muzzle, its eyes and behavior, and sensed some kind of catch.

***

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! It’s coming after us!”

“Let’s go inside. It 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 darted, he turned on the voice link and was already shouting:

Stop! Under no circumstances do not...

As he froze in fear as he saw it - and, all the other players saw it - in the main interface, in huge yellow letters, a message from an officer of the defense squads:

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

Before Ghoton could object, 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. 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 it 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 keep in its 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 vanguard themselves. Their improved armor turned to molten metal, which spread across the ground like a puddle of lava. The players crumbled into dust. Ashes and sparks swirled around the fortress. 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. However, 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 compact 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 yards from the ground, it flapped its wings and landed on 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 officer of the defense squads, 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. Yet 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...”