GATE: Thus the Empire was Nepped!

Chapter 5: Dragon's Fire

The Flame Dragon was moving so fast that IF barely had time to react to Falcom's warning. Even with her superhuman (by Special Region standards) reflexes, she had only just begun to turn the wheel as the creature came roaring past, it's tailwind threatening to flip the vehicle. IF slammed on the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a hard stop.

"Is-Is everyone alright?" IF groaned as she rubbed the back of her neck. She had definitely pulled something with that crazy stop, but there wasn't time to think about it. She looked over the seat to check on her passengers. Despite not wearing seatbelts, the passengers all seemed to be miraculously okay. Compa was rubbing her forehead, implying that she'd hit something, but the blue shimmering around her head indicated she'd had the presence of mind to activate her Guard.

The back door was also open, and Rory was missing.

Noticing that, and having experience with adventurous goddesses, spun her toward the convoy. Sure enough, a red and black figure with a giant axe was charging after the beast.

With a certain adventuress close behind her.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this when I woke up this morning."

Rory mused to herself as she sprinted towards the beast. She had spent the last few months hunting down would-be bandits from the various armies that had been destroyed by the Otherworlders. It was very convenient: she could perform her duties as Oracle, keep an eye on the Gate, and gather information from the deserters before she killed them. It was a win-win-win.

When she heard that the Flame Dragon had awakened early, she set out to investigate. The people who were fleeing would need protection from both the dragon, and bandits. Plus, if she was really lucky, she could give Giselle a good smack upside the head for waking the damned lizard half a century early. Finding a group of Otherworlders riding along with a group of refugees had been a pleasant surprise. They seemed to be good people, from what she could tell.

She hoped they would survive the battle. Falcom, at the very least, had proven very fun to tease.

The refugees had descended into total chaos. Now the barren plains were more like a battlefield; the air filled with dust, fire, blood, the screams of the dying, and the roar of the monster. A cacophony of shattering bones and wood filled joined the mix as carts were overturned or slammed into other carts, their drivers blinded by dust and panic. It was a scene that the Apostle of Emroy was intimately familiar with, though even Emroy couldn't call this a battle, so their souls would be going to Hardy instead.

That was frustrating, though not nearly as frustrating as the dragon's insistence of remaining in the air and out of reach. Rory gave the beast a loathsome glare as it continued to circle overhead, occasionally swooping down to bath a hapless wagon. If it would just get close enough then she could-

There!

It came down again, focusing on a wagon -a floating wagon- that was pulling away from the chaos of the other refugees. It seemed the dragon was trying to keep its prey from escaping, and Rory was going to punish that greed. As it dived towards the wagon, it also came within her range. Her arm shot forward, sending the oversized halberd spinning in a wide arc towards the oversized being. The whirling blade struck it's target, slicing through the membranes where the creature's left wing connected to its body. The monster roared in pain and tried to right itself as its flight path faltered, but with each flap of its wings it tore the gash open wider, and sent a new wave of pain through its body.

Remaining airborne wasn't an option. All it could manage now was a controlled crash landing. The beast managed to get its feet underneath itself, and began, for lack of a better term, hopping along the ground to burn off speed. Finally, the winged beast slid to a halt, raising an even larger dust cloud that reduced it to a menacing silhouette.

Rory grinned in triumph as the halberd flew back towards her. A dragon's wings healed quickly, but it would take time before that could happen. Time that she could spend "convincing" the creature to seek its prey elsewhere. She would have loved to kill it, but dragons were... difficult, even for Apostles. Rory held out her hand as her weapon came back to her, effortlessly snatching the whirling blade out of the air. Yes, she was that good.

"Nice shot." Falcom praised her as she took a battle stance next to the Apostle; IF and Compa running to join them. Rory was impressed; most would-be adventurers would be running for the hills with brown trousers after seeing a Dragon. There would be no shame in it either. These three girls were clearly made of sterner stuff. "So, what's the plan?" The redhead asked Rory as her friends arrived, their weapons materializing in flashes of blue particles. IF was wielding a pair of push daggers, while Compa... Rory had no idea what kind of weapon that was. Some kind of spear maybe?

"Unfortunately, dragons are rather hearty foes." Rory informed her, watching as the giant reptile began to lumber towards them. "It's scales are harder than most metals, and its flames can easily melt steel." A part of her wanted to warn them that no force in Falmart had ever managed to kill a Flame Dragon before, but she doubted they would care.

"Okay, spread out. Compa, try to stay out of sight. Falcom try to draw its attention while I flank to the right." IF ordered before she and Falcom both took off towards the dragon, IF running off to the side while Falcom charged directly at it. Rory took a moment to question the girl's sanities, and if the Apostle of the God of Madness was questioning your sanity then something was very wrong with you.

Still, at the very least she could fight by their side before they were reduced to smears on the ground.

Rory began flanking around to the creature's left side, deciding to join in on IF's plan to strike while it was distracted by Falcom. She would have preferred playing the bait, being functionally immortal and all, but IF hadn't bothered to include her in their attack strategy. How rude. Although... regenerating after being burned alive is rather unpleasant, not to mention tedious.

As the three closed in, the dragon's eyes flashed between each of them, trying to determine who was the greatest threat. In the end, it took the bait and focused on Falcom, lunging forward to swipe at the redhead with its right foreleg. Falcom, in a display of agility Rory had never seen before, dropped to her rear and slid beneath the creature's blow. Then, without missing a step, she rose and continued running under the monster. She even got in a few quick swings at the creatures hind legs and underbelly as she passed beneath it, and once again surprised the Apostle by actually penetrating the creatures scales. It wasn't deep enough to do any major damage, but it was certainly enough to hurt and startle the Flame Dragon.

It was at that moment that Rory and IF closed in to attack. The Apostle spun as she reached its leg, using the centripetal force to enhance her halberd's striking power as she buried in the knee of the overgrown reptile. She'd already taken its flight, now she was trying to rob it of it's mobility on land. Meanwhile, IF decided to put her new anime jumping powers to the test, and leaped up to strike the dragon's shoulder. Her daggers sunk deep into its flesh with a wet, squelching noise. The Guild agent quickly pulled the blades free and backflipped off the dragon's shoulder.

It turned its head, and looked directly at her. Then, with incredible speed, it lashed out with its left foreleg. She might have been able to dodge if she was on the ground, but in the air all she could do was raise her arms and brace herself.

Her Guard held for a split second as the blow connected, before shattering in a flash of blue hexagons. IF was sent flying through the air, her body skipping across the ground like a stone before she finally came to a halt. As her friends cried out and ran towards her, the Flame Dragon reared up on its hind legs, it's already massive body now seeming colossal. The beast raised its head and roared, unleashing a jet of flame towards the heavens.

It understood now that they were dangerous. That this was no longer a hunt, but battle.

The sound of a knock on the door caused Vert to look up from her paperwork. "What is it?" She asked. She wasn't particularly fond of having guards at her door, but it was a precaution that all the CPU's had agreed too. Mostly to keep Neptune from sneaking away.

"The CPU Candidate from Paneptune wants to speak with you." A stern voice called through the door.

"Then send her in!" Vert ordered, not even trying to hide the happiness in her voice. The door opened, and Nepgear barely took two steps forward before she was grabbed and shoved into Vert's bosoms. "Really, you shouldn't even need to ask. Nepgear is welcome to come by whenever she pleases." Vert informed the guards while giving them a stern glare, looking like a chastising older sister.

The two soldiers traded a very awkward glance before closing the door and returning to their posts.

"So, why is it you came to see me, not that you need a reason of course." Vert asked, removing the candidate from between her breasts. Nepgear, who'd gotten very used to this sort of thing, answered without so much as a breath.

"Uni and I have been working on an idea, and we wanted to get your opinion on it." The Candidate explained, taking a tablet from her inventory and handing it to Vert. The taller woman gingerly took the device and began reading, occasionally giving a hum or a murmur would escape her lips as she scrolled through the information on screen. Finally, after several minutes, she gave the lilac haired girl a soft smile.

"A sporting event to improve the cooperation of our soldiers seems like a splendid idea!" Vert praised, giving the shorter girl a pat on the head. "It's a good thing you noticed the tension between our forces. If that had been allowed to fester..." Her voice drifted off, and her face became troubled. Disunion within their forces would lead to more incidents in the future.

"Thanks. It was mostly Uni's idea. I just added a few details." Nepgear deflected, blushing a little at the praise.

"Oh, don't go selling yourself short." Vert told the younger girl, returning her tablet. "We've been friends for a while now. I can see the role you played in this idea was at least equal to Uni's." Vert revealed, causing Nepgear's blush to deepen, which in turn led to Vert's smile widening. Despite everything she'd been through, there was a part of her that would always be Neptune's shy younger sister.

Her musings were interrupted by another knock on the door.

"Messenger from Planeptune is here. She claims that she needs to speak with the CPU Candidate."

"Send them in." Vert ordered, a sliver of irritation evident in her voice. The door slid open, and a young man in the white and purple uniform of Planeptune stepped in. He looked uneasy, especially when his eyes drifted to Vert for a split second. Nevertheless, he stepped into the room and snapped a salute to Nepgear, which the Candidate returned, albeit very awkwardly.

"I have a report from the communications room." The man informed her.

"Oh, thank you." Nepgear thanked the man, waiting for him to relay the message.

When he didn't, she chose to speak up. "What did you need to report?" The man looked uneasy.

"That's... confidential." He told her, glancing at Vert with undisguised suspicion. If the Leanbox CPU was offended, she didn't show it.

"Vert- er, Leanbox is our ally. There's no reason to withhold information from them." Nepgear assured the messenger, doing her best to sound professional. This kind of distrust was exactly what she and Uni were trying to put an end to. Best to start as soon as possible.

"...Very well." He agreed after a moment of contemplation, and it was clear to her that he was still uncomfortable. "The Third Recon Team has missed their regular check-in. Considering they reported a potential End Game Boss Level enemy, we felt it best to inform you." The soldier reported quickly and professionally. Nepgear's eyes widened as she heard this. IF would never miss a check-in, which meant that something had distracted her.

"Is there any way to find out what happened?" She asked nervously.

"We're preparing to deploy a long range drone, but it will take at least fifteen-minutes to reach their last reported position." He didn't mention that they likely not be in their last reported position, nor did he need to.

Neither of them noticed the thoughtful, albeit worried, look one Vert's face.

Move move move move move move movemovemovemovemovemovemovemovemovemove MOVE!

That word repeated in Falcom's head as she desperately dived behind a large boulder, flattening her back against it just as the torrent of flames washed over the rock. The boulder saved her from the worst of the flames, but she could still feel heat blasting past her. She felt the familiar pain of flames licking at her skin, and she could see her Guard slowly decreasing. It felt like the worst sunburn she ever had, or it would be, if she wasn't so familiar with burns.

She closed her eyes and grit her teeth, counting the seconds as she waited for the jet of flame to stop. It didn't help that she could see the fire through her eyelids, and smell the air burning. After half a minute, the bright orange light faded from her vision, and the pain of the heat slowly faded from her skin. She slowly cracked her eyes open, sucking in a few breaths of dry air as she steadied herself.

She peaked out from behind the boulder, which was still glowing red hot, and watched Rory attempt to charge the creature, only to be driven back by a swipe of its tail. Falcom re-summoned Dragon Slayer as she watched the monster for an opening. The Flame Dragon was a uniquely challenging foe. She knew she could damage it, her sword had cut through its scales with almost no trouble before. It was just hard to get a deep cut enough to do any real damage. It was strong to; it hit like a train, and each blow sent them flying like rag dolls.

That didn't happen in Gamindustri. You might get knocked back a little bit, but this thing was throwing them around like it was a sport! Yet another uncomfortable contrast between the Special Region and her home. If they were going to beat the Flame Dragon, they were going to need to change tactics.

Something caught her eyes, and she turned to see IF hiding behind a cluster of rocks, partway up the side of one of the cliffs that dotted the area. The brunette was watching the Flame Dragon closely as Rory continued to try and attack it, though she never got close enough to strike. IF was clearly planning something, and Falcom wanted to know what it was, but she needed to get IF's attention with alerting-

Bingo!

Falcom looked up at the sun above her, shining brightly in the midday sky, and carefully began to angle her sword so the sunlight reflected towards IF. After a few flashes the brunette looked back at her, and Falcom waved at her to make certain she was seen. IF raised her hand in a clenched fist, and Falcom immediately ceased her waving.

She worked with the guild enough to be familiar with their hand signals.

IF pointed to herself, then made three quick, chopping motions with her hand towards the cliff, followed by a final chop towards the dragon.

'I will go over the cliff and approach it from behind'

Falcom frowned. If she approached the dragon from behind, she'd risk getting hit by its tail. Although, it was focusing on Rory, and she kept charging it from the front. That might keep it distracted, but just in case, she'd join in. Falcom pointed towards herself, made three chopping motions towards the dragon, and then made a circular motion with her index finger.

'I will attack it directly, and try to distract it.'

IF nodded, and raised her arm with her hand open. They'd made the best plan they could, now it was time to execute it. Gripping her blade tightly, Falcom leapt out from behind the boulder and charged toward the dragon, her sword held tight in her hand. There were a few hundred yards between her and the beast, so there was little chance it wouldn't notice her. At the very least, she could possibly distract it from IF's approach. She closed the distance quicker than she expected, still not used to her new strength and speed. Considering she was charging a giant flamethrower, she couldn't complain.

Despite her speed, it only took a moment for the dragon to notice her approach. It's two ruby red orbs tracked her movements, and darts of flames shot from its nostrils as it snorted, almost as though it was irritated by her attack. It took a step in her direction, partially turning away from Rory, but only partially. The Apostle of Emroy was readying for an attack of her own, the sadistic smile on her face widening as she saw Falcom moving in. Once Falcom was within reach, its left arm came swinging towards her like a battering ram. Time slowed to a crawl as the mass of scales approached.

Closer.

Closer.

Now!

Falcom pushed every ounce of strength she could into her legs, diving out of the way of the incoming limb. Even though she had avoided the blow, the wind from the claw's passing was almost enough to send her flying. Falcom grit her teeth as she was buffeted by the wind, and rolled forward into a somersault at the end of her dive. Not wasting a second, she continued running forward, and raised her blade to slash along the monster's forearm as she ran. A battlecry tore itself free from her lips as Dragon Slayer carved through the creature's scaly hide. In the end, she'd carved a bloody laceration from its wrist to its elbow.

The dragon had barely begun to draw back its arm when Rory slammed her halberd into its elbow. She definitely hurt it, but that turned out to be a mixed blessing. After Falcom's attack, it had instinctively tried to recoil, and pull it's arm away from the swordswoman. This time, it swung at the duo, and though it hadn't had much time to build up momentum it still hit like a truck. Falcom's Guard flared to life as a barrier of blue hexagons flashed into existence to absorb the damage, but it didn't stop her from being tossed a dozen feet through the air. Rory had no such protection, and so she had to suffer through the familiar irritation of her bones shattering and healing as she was sent flying after Falcom.

It was then that IF struck. One unintended positive of Falcom's and Rory's distraction was that they had forced the Flame Dragon to bend forward to attack them, with the creature nearly dropping down onto all fours. That gave IF a perfect landing pad, and her target had no time to react before she buried her daggers deep into it's back. Once again, the dragon roared in pain and reared back, desperately clawing at it's back to try and remove the pest attacking it.

Falcom pushed herself up, her muscles burning from the effort as she shakily got to her feet. It was frustrating, being tired out so quickly, but she pushed that thought down and returned her focus to the battle. To her satisfaction, the dragon's left forearm was hanging limply at it's side. That was one less limb they'd have to worry about. It continued to stumble around on its hind legs, it's one remaining arm trying fruitlessly to claw IF off of it's back.

"We're finally doing some damage." Rory observed as she dusted herself off. Excitement, born from both adrenaline and sadism, could be heard in her voice. Falcom nodded in agreement, her own face calm and serious, despite being caked in soot, dirt, and sweat.

"Let's take it's legs out next." Falcom proposed.

"Lead the way." Rory agreed, stepping aside and gesturing for Falcom to take the lead. The adventuress wrote it off as one of Rory's eccentricities and once again ran towards the dragon, already planning to cut where she thought it's hamstrings would be located. After immobilizing it, they'd be free to go for the head.

Sadly for them, the dragon's awareness of its surroundings hadn't diminished to the point where it hadn't noticed them approaching. It once again fixed them with it's hateful gaze, growling as the fire began to build in its gullet. Too late Falcom realized what was happening, and she desperately tried to skid to a stop as the dragon sent a literal wall of flame towards her.

Falcom screamed in pain as the flames surged towards her. Even though the fire hadn't reached her yet, the wave of heat that washed over her was enough to drop her Guard and burn her flesh well before the actual fire arrived. Then, as she stood on the brink of incineration, a pair of hands grabbed her from behind and hurled her to the side as though she were a ball.

Falcom looked back, and screamed in desperation as she saw Rory Mercury consumed by the wall of fire. She landed roughly on her back, panting and barely able to think straight. She wasn't sure how long she lay there, that blast of flame seemed to have drained her strength. Was it some sort of status ailment? Or simply another part of this new world's strange logic? She couldn't think clearly enough to ponder that.

More heat washed over her, but this wasn't the cruel burn of the dragon's fire. This was calming, soothing, healing. She could feel her strength returning, and see her HP bar refilling. As her vision cleared, she could see Compa standing over her, the clumsy nurse sighing in relief.

"Are you alright?" Compa asked. Falcom's response was to groan and shakily pull herself off the ground. Rude, but all she could manage at the moment. Her mind was still spinning from what had happened moment's before. She was thankful that IF had instructed Compa to stay on the sidelines and focus on healing them.

"I-I'm good." Falcom groaned as she stood up, her whole body sore despite Compa's healing. She turned to thank the nurse, but was interrupted when something slammed into the ground not far from them. Falcom looked back to the dragon, and saw it's gaze focussed squarely on them.

"Iffy!" Compa cried, running towards the area where IF had impacted. Falcom rushed after her, keeping one eye on the dragon that was lumbering it's way towards them.

IF groaned, rubbing her eyes as she pulled herself out of the pile of rubble she was lying in. She'd tried to shift position, using her blades to climb around on the dragon's back like a mountain climber. Unfortunately, she'd moved at the exact time the creature had attempted to grab her. Which was how she'd ended up lying on a pile of rocks with what felt like a broken arm. She felt a pair of hands grab her and carefully pull her to her feet, while the comforting feeling of Compa's healing washed over her, mending her injuries and setting her broken arm back into place.

Then it stopped.

IF cried out in pain it suddenly felt like her arm was broken all over again. Her good hand flew from trying to clean the dirt out of her eyes to grasp the broken limb, which turned out to be a mistake as it sent a fresh shock of pain through her body.

"Easy, easy," There was an anxious edge in Falcom's voice, despite her attempts to keep control. "Let me get the dirt out of your eyes, then we'll see what we can do for your arm." It only took a few seconds before IF's vision was restored, and the first thing she saw was a very distressed Compa.

"I'm sorry, Iffy." The nurse apologized with tearful eyes. "I ran out of SP partway through the spell. I couldn't heal you all the way." The Guild agent reached out to give her friend a comforting pat on the shoulder. Compa was doing the best out of all of them. Sure, she was covered in dirt and scrapes, but she'd been able to avoid the wyrm's attention by staying hidden and focusing on healing.

Falcom was looking a lot worse for wear. She'd been taking the brunt of the Flame Dragon's attacks, which in turn meant she'd been taking the brunt of the damage. Compa's healing may have erased most of her injuries, but she still looked exhausted from being smacked around so bad. Also… if this fight kept on for much longer, she'd be naked. The stock adventuress didn't wear much to begin with, and the constant fire blasts had singed most of her clothes away.

Though, looking down at herself, IF could see she wasn't in much better condition. Her shirt was ripped in a few places, while her jacket had lost a sleeve and was a lot shorter than she remembered. She wasn't quite as protective of her jacket as her bike and cell phones, but it still sucked. That was one of her trademarks, one of the things that identified her as the Wind Walker of Gamindustri!

That overgrown salamander would pay for this…

"Wait, where's Rory?" IF quiered as she suddenly realized that the Special Region was absent from their group. Falcom's only reply was a solemn shake of her head. IF grimaced and turned back to the Flame Dragon. Its left wing was still drooping, and its left foreleg hung limply at its side. Its body was also covered in dozens of smaller cuts, but they seemed to be irritants, rather than truly dangerous wounds.

The four of them had been fighting that thing for hours. Falcom was exhausted. Compa was out of SP. IF was injured. Rory…

And all they had to show for it were two damaged limbs.

Although, they were holding back.

"Guys," IF started. "I think we have to risk an SP move. Maybe even an EX Finish."

"Didn't Nep Nep and the others say not to use any of those?" Compa asked.

"Yeah, we've got no idea how much damage they'll do here." Falcom recounted.

"Well that thing has been throwing us around like rag dolls, and we've barely been able to do any damage to it." The two shared a look, unable to fault their friend's logic. "I'll start small, I'll only use an SP move." IF reassured them. The silence held for another few seconds, before Falcom gave her a nod.

"Alright, give it your best shot." Despite her trepidation, Falcom couldn't help but smile.

"Kick its butt IFFy!" Compa cheered. IF smiled and turned her gaze to the lumbering lizard that had caused her so much grief. A small grin appeared on her face as she felt the familiar rush of power deep within herself. She held up her good arm, and aimed her palm at the dragon.

Thankfully, one trope seemed to be the same no matter what world she was in: enemies politely sitting back and waiting for the heroes to talk it out.

"Le Delphinus!"

Miles away, another truck was tearing its way across the dusty fields, kicking up a nice cloud behind it.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" One of the occupants, a tattooed girl wearing a cat eared hat, demanded, even though she was using both hands to grip the interior for dear life. The target of her question, a stoic red haired girl, simply shook her head, and jerked the wheel to avoid crashing into another large boulder.

"This terrain is not easy to drive on at high speeds." Cave's cool assessment doubled as an explanation to the blonde as their vehicle rattled and thumped over every bump in the road. There was a crash behind them, accompanied by a yelp of… pain? CC2 looked to the back of the truck, and saw Tekken rubbing her forehead with a crate of supplies spilled all over the floor.

"You okay?" CC2 asked her third teammate. Tekken's response was a familiar, somewhat perverted smile and a thumbs up with the hand that wasn't rubbing the new bump on her head. Satisfied, and a little disturbed, by that response, CC2 turned her mind back to all beating the snot out of whatever had caused IF's team to be delayed.

Not long ago, Vert had sent out a message to all of the Guild's recon teams, informing them that IF's team had missed their last check in and requesting someone go to investigate. Their group was the closest, so, despite being Lastation's recon team, they decided to check it out. Needless to say, with the reports of the Flame Dragon, CC2 was a little on edge. If that overgrown sack of scales even thought about hurting her friends-

A blue-white pillar of energy suddenly erupted in the distance. CC2 cried out in shock as Cave slammed on the break and brought the vehicle screeching to a halt. The trio quickly dismounted the vehicle, careful to shield their eyes from the light emanating from the pillar. It was bright, so bright that all other light seemed dim in comparison.

"This is Le Delphinus." CC2 stated, pulling her goggles over her eyes, though she hadn't needed to say it. All three of them recognized IF's attack, but they'd never seen it this powerful before. Le Delphinus was an impressive feat of magic to be certain, but it had never been this powerful before!

Then, as quickly as it had come, it vanished.

The three wordlessly ran back into the truck and floored it.

As the beam of light faded, IF's team cautiously opened their eyes and looked to see what remained of the Flame Dragon. Amazingly, it was still in one piece, but it was clearly in bad shape. It's scales, once crimson red, were now charred black as coal, and in some places it seemed like they'd been burnt away. It's wings had been largely burnt away, reduced to skeletal frames.

IF couldn't help but gape up at the charred monster. Le Delphinus was powerful, but this was a whole nother level of power from what it usually was. The dragon gave one last, pitiful growl.

And fell.

"Well, that was certainly impressive."

That voice… it couldn't be.

"I've been around for almost a thousand years, and I've never seen magic like that before.

The trio turned around in disbelief. They'd barely gotten over the shock of IF roasting a kaiju, and now they found Rory Mercury had seemingly returned from the dead… She was also very naked.

That seemed to shock them out of their stupor. IF yelped in surprise and tried to desperately cover Compa's eyes with her good arm, while Falcom was doing her best impression of a tomato.

"Yes yes, shock, awe, disbelief, embarrassment. Now could someone please get me some new clothes?!"

A.N. And thus this chapter comes to an end.

I refuse to die!

Sorry this took over half a year to come out, especially after I promised it would be short and would be out quicker. Thing is, I had a lot of ideas for what I wanted to do with this chapter, and I had trouble working them in. Most of them were scrapped. I've also never written a human vs. giant monster fight before, so that also slowed me down a lot. I actually started losing enthusiasm for this chapter, which led to even more delays. Ultimately, I decided to just get it over with, because I'd rather publish one sub-par, rushed chapter, than let the whole story die.

Now to explain what happened this chapter, specifically, why Falcom, IF, and Compa had so much trouble beating the Flame Dragon. The short answer is that logic wasn't working like they were used to. They were operating under a mixture of real world logic and game world logic.

To give a brief summary-

Gamer logic: if you get hit by a giant monster you, lose some HP, and you may be knocked back a few feet and/or suffer a status condition, or be knocked out if your HP drops to zero.

Real world logic: if you get hit by a giant monster, you suffer massive injuries, and will likely be reduced to a red smear on the surrounding landscape.

Hybrid logic: if you get hit by a giant monster, you'll get tossed around like a rag doll, lose some HP, and will likely suffer serious injuries from certain hits.

They also had to worry about the fact that they're much more powerful in the Special Region than they are in Gamindustri, so they were unwilling to break out any of their special moves, and relied entirely on their weapons. I was actually considering having Le Delphinus blind some of the refugees that looked at it, but I felt that was a little too excessive... which probably sounds weird considering I gave the CPU's PTSD and turned the Console War into something out of Warhammer 40K.

Anywho, I'm gonna skip the usual historic segment this chapter, and get straight to the reviews.

Also, ignore chaosshadow19, he's just a troll who attacks anyone that doesn't like Fairy Tail

General: The masses have spoken, and I have listened. Barbecued dragon will now be served in the mess hall.

Evowizard 25: Always a pleasure to meet a fellow history buff, though I never went to college. I learned everything from tv, video games, and the internet. Take that people who said tv makes you dumber!

AMTT94: Very good questions, but for now all i can say is that the Saderan's are in for some culture shock. The CPU's... less so. Traditional fantasy stories do exist in Gamindustri, so it's not much of a stretch to think that a more traditional idea of a god exists in fiction.

And that's it... yeah, not a lot to respond to. Most of the reviews were just people talking about the Flame Dragon.

Next time... I actually have to look through my notes to see what happens next time, but hopefully it won't take eight months this to come out.

Happy Holidays to all of you.