Daniel stood in front of a large window that had its curtains spread wide open. Outside, a group of six magicians were spread out in a circle in the backyard of the property. Daniel frowned as the magicians painted glowing red lines in the ground, using up a thick liquid from a barrel that they had created earlier. Nearly half the grand duchess’s fortune had been used up in creating that liquid. It made his chest hurt when he thought about the ingredients inside.

“Daniel.”

Daniel flinched and turned around. Standing on his table, there was a miniature person, Apollonia, who was flickering in and out of existence. Daniel dropped to one knee. “Grand Duchess,” he said. “The ritual is proceeding as planned.”

Apollonia’s image flickered as she sighed. “The banquet hasn’t proceeded as planned. That crazy, barbaric demon lord killed my clone,” she said while inspecting her nails. “I told her the ritual was taking place here. She said she’d let the ritual finish because she wants to kill a devil. Accommodate her when she arrives, but make sure she dies to the devil when she fights it. I don’t care about the methods you use: poison her, maim her while she sleeps, stab her in the back mid-fight, anything goes as long as she dies, understood?”

“Yes, my liege,” Daniel said, his expression unreadable. His face was still pointed at the floor. “I will punish her for killing you, even if it was just a clone. There will be—”

Screams rang through the air. Daniel shot to his feet, drawing the sword by his waist. A moment later, an earth-shaking roar echoed through the night, bringing silence to the whole fortress. Faint words drifted into his ears, but he couldn’t quite make them out. He whirled around, pressing his face against the glass of the window. The six ritualists outside were crouched down, covering their heads while trembling.

“What was that?” Apollonia asked. “Has she already arrived?”

“I’m … not sure,” Daniel said, a deep wrinkle appearing on his forehead. He opened the window, but before he could jump out, Apollonia’s image climbed up his arm and onto his shoulder. He glanced at her before lowering his visor. Then he leapt outside, landing on the ground with a heavy thud. “What happened?”

The six ritualists remained crouched, unmoving, and a heavy thumping sound answered him instead. The thumps resounded like a heartbeat, growing louder as time passed. The treetops swayed as gusts of wind pushed against them. Daniel raised his head and froze in place as a massive dragon hovered above the backyard, every flap of its wings causing miniature tornadoes to form on the ground with a booming sound.

“You … didn’t summon that, right?” Apollonia whispered. Even though she wasn’t present in her real body, her projection was pale and shivering from the pressure coming from the dragon’s glare.

The dragon’s head swiveled a few times as if it were looking for something. It landed on the ground, ignoring the trembling men, and brought its head closer to the barrel of glowing red liquid. Its nostrils widened as it took in a deep breath through its nose, sniffing the fumes coming from the barrel. Its head tilted a few times before it sniffed again. It blinked before turning its gaze onto the men, who were frozen like statues. A low growl echoed from its throat. “What is this?”

“Daniel,” Apollonia whispered directly into her trusted retainer’s ear, her face passing through the metal helmet. “Can you slay a dragon?”

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Daniel nearly collapsed. “That’s impossible, my liege. Knights only kill dragons in stories.”

“Hey,” the dragon said, its tail thumping against the ground. The house shook, and the men fell over as screams shook the air from the distance. “I asked a question.”

“That’s—”

Before one of the ritualists could respond, another dragon crashed into the ground from above, knocking over the trees and destroying a part of the house. Luckily, the first dragon had lifted the barrel off the ground or the contents would’ve spilled over. Daniel swallowed his saliva. “My liege, what do I do?”

Apollonia’s head turned to face the first dragon. Then it turned to face the second dragon. They were so large that she couldn’t keep both of them in view at the same time. “Daniel, just do your best to survive. The ritual doesn’t matter anymore. I can’t lose you.”

“What’s that?” Alora asked, pointing at the barrel in Vur’s paw. “Juice?”

“I don’t know,” Vur said. “It smells like dragons though, right?” He lifted it, bringing it close to Alora’s face.

Alora sniffed it a few times before wrinkling her snout. “It smells like Dad after he sheds some scales,” she said. Her brow furrowed. “It smells exactly like Dad’s shed scales….” She turned towards Daniel and plucked him off the ground, dangling him above the treetops as she brought him close to the barrel. “Oi, what’s in this? Dragon scales, right?”

“Th—”

“Hey,” Vur said, interrupting Daniel. He patted Alora’s shoulder. “You have to be more intimidating. Like this.” He glared at Daniel with glowing eyes, a golden rune pulsing on his forehead, nearly causing the knight’s heart to stop. Then Vur nodded and met Alora’s gaze. “See? Dragons have to be intimidating when they ask questions. That’s what Grimmy said. You’re still a baby, so I’ll teach you.”

Alora ground her teeth together as she gave Vur a withering glare. Then she snorted and turned her attention back onto Daniel. She bared her fangs and asked in a low growl, “What’s in this barrel? If you don’t tell me, I’ll, uh, squish you, I guess.”

“Wrong!” Vur said. “You don’t threaten people with words. Your posture and attitude should already imply the threat. Try again.”

Alora blinked at Vur. “You’re really undermining my scary image here,” she said. “How am I supposed to intimidate him if you embarrass me like this?”

“O mighty dragon, I think you’re plenty intimidating,” Daniel said, his voice wavering. “You are correct about the summoning reagent. Dragon scales, phoenix feathers, roc claws, wyvern wings, hundreds of precious herbs and minerals have been dissolved inside. I—”

Vur poked the knight’s stomach with his claw, causing the knight to fall silent immediately. “Did you see that?” Vur asked Alora. “I didn’t even say anything and he knew I was threatening him. That’s why he stopped talking.”

“Alright, whatever, Mr. Adult,” Alora said, rolling her eyes. “Now we know why we sensed a dragon here. He’s using my dad’s shed scales like some kind of pervert.”

“P-pervert?” Apollonia asked from Daniel’s shoulder.

“Isn’t he?” Alora asked. “He, like, rummaged through our stuff and picked up our shed scales. What, did you take our boogers too?”

“Vur! Alora! Why’d you two go ahead like that!?”

The two dragons turned their heads towards the side. Tafel, Alice, and Mr. Skelly were running towards them, panting for breath. Vur blinked. “I’m the leader. Leaders are first.”

Tafel’s expression darkened. “You couldn’t take me with you?”

“You left the room first,” Vur said and shrugged. “It’s not my fault you weren’t there to take with me when I went ahead.”

Tafel sighed. “Okay, dragon logic always wins, I get it,” she said and shook her head. She frowned at the half-completed spell circle painted on the ground. “What’s going on here? It looks like some really intricate space magic spell’s design. Are they opening up a portal?”

“A summoning ritual, I think,” Alora said. She placed the knight onto the ground by Tafel. “He said something about a reagent made of Dad’s old scales and phoenix feathers.”

Tafel’s eyes lit up, then they dimmed again. “Eh? Weren’t you that really rude knight from earlier today?” she asked, wrinkling her brow. “Whatever. You’re going to complete this ritual, and I’m going to watch.”

Daniel turned his head and met Apollonia’s gaze. Both of them were at a loss.