Ch.234The Ether Dragon has arrived~

Chapter 234: An Ether Dragon Has Arrived

In the outer universe, strange things appearing was a fairly common occurrence when managing an interstellar nation in the galaxy.

Of course, I was naturally in the panic room, having been in the middle of drinking tea.

From Artraia, who would be handling affairs at the imperial palace right now, to the lower classes scavenging garbage in some slum in the capital.

It could be said that maintaining one’s own defensive posture was a basic etiquette(?) for living in this world.

Of course, there were always those who disregarded such etiquette(?) and boldly imposed their own will.

Such people were typically lunatics who, upon receiving warnings like “Something is falling from the sky, run away quickly!” would instead approach to get a better look at the falling star.

Fortunately, the fact that such people didn’t exist in my vicinity probably prevented my extreme stress from manifesting as hair loss.

And even if such people did exist, these events weren’t necessarily bad.

‘When something like a meteor passes by, given our system and mentality, as long as it benefits us, it’s not a problem.’

If handled well, it could even boost the Sebelli Empire’s chronic “stability” issue for free.

As long as it didn’t crash into the surface and destroy facilities or cities, it was honestly a welcome event.

Meanwhile, as I was having these strange thoughts and cooling my stress-fatigued mind—

-Beep beep beep!

“Minister, I just heard that Ka’zan Ground Defense Command has activated the planetary defense shield.”

“Hmm.”

I nodded at Riel’s report, left the panic room installed in my office, sat on the sofa, and then—

Lifting my half-cooled tea, I spoke to Riel.

“If the planetary defense shield has been activated, we’ll get to see a spectacular meteor shower after a long time.”

“That’s right, the citizens of Ka’zan will be delighted for a while.”

Seeing Riel echo my earlier thoughts, I nodded again.

“Hmm… By the way, has there been any additional contact from the Orbital Defense Command or the Capital Defense Fleet about what appeared through that warp reaction?”

By the time the first warning is received and the planetary shield is activated, there should have been more than enough time to identify whatever it was.

Yet my terminal still showed no notifications—was there some problem?

“Umm… just a moment, I’ll check with Alina.”

At my words, Riel put both hands on her headset.

She closed her eyes, made a subtle expression, and performed the surreal act of spinning the antenna on top in circles.

After a moment—

“Confirmation complete. Alina is connecting the Orbital Defense Command’s external environment detection camera to the screen in your office.”

“Wait, I didn’t ask for that much.”

“It’s too late now, so just watch.”

Completely ignoring the words of the empire’s third-highest authority, Riel turned on the office screen without hesitation.

But the moment we saw the screen—

“Whoa.”

“…”

Riel and I couldn’t help but doubt our own eyes.

That was because on the screen, which took up an entire wall of the office…

There was something I remembered from 21 years ago, before my possession.

A being that in games would either destroy my fleet when I tried to raid it, or due to a bug, two would appear instead of one, hunting my fleet instead of being hunted, giving me real-time PTSD.

And now, a species known as a relative(?) of Artraia and simultaneously a member of the Ethernia royal family.

An “Ether Dragon,” said to survive even the destruction of the universe, could be seen emerging from a spatial portal with extremely severe injuries.

-“W-what in the world is that?!”

-“Judging by its condition, it seems to have engaged in combat with something unknown and fled here…”

Naturally, the agents at the Orbital Defense Command, who had gone on combat alert after detecting the warp reaction—

Were showing undisguised bewilderment at the fact that an Ether Dragon of all things had appeared.

But if it had simply appeared, our confusion, including mine, would have ended at that level…

It was hard to believe this was the same body covered in “dragon scales” that boasted the highest durability in the game…

Countless lacerations and penetrating wounds on the Ether Dragon’s body were leaking blood, something unknown, and energy in real-time.

The fins and limbs characteristic of that species were in tatters, looking extremely precarious.

The problem was…

-“Wait… Commander? Doesn’t that Ether Dragon seem to be descending?”

-“…What?!”

“Oh.”

“…”

Just like that, the Ether Dragon that had suddenly appeared with severe injuries began to fall toward the surface of Ka’zan where we resided.

Moreover…

-“Commander, the Ether Dragon’s descent course has been confirmed!”

-“Where is it heading?”

-“At this rate… it will directly hit the Imperial Palace on Ka’zan’s surface!”

Although the Imperial Palace was protected by the double walls of the planetary defense shield and the palace’s own shield,

This was essentially equivalent to a continent-sized life form performing a full-power body slam against the palace where His Imperial Majesty resided.

-“Emergency alert! Emergency alert!”

-“Activate orbital defense batteries! Prepare to intercept!”

-“Call the Capital Defense Fleet! Right now!”

As a result, our Orbital Defense Command had no intention of just watching such a crazy situation unfold.

They called in the Capital Defense Fleet, which was deployed in the outer defense line(?) of Ka’zan, while simultaneously mobilizing all available firepower.

They were attempting to intercept the “falling” Ether Dragon.

But the important point here is, as I mentioned earlier…

If the equation Ether Dragon = Ethernia “royal family” in this world applies to this severely injured Ether Dragon,

Then what our Orbital Defense Command is trying to do can be summarized as…

“For whatever reason, they’re trying to kill a severely injured blood relative of a powerful nation’s leader by blasting them with artillery!”

Isn’t that what they’re doing?

‘Ah, no, you crazy fools.’

And just as I was thinking this and about to make an urgent call—

-Ring ring ring!

[Time Pause]

With an unfamiliar alert sound, the world froze once again.

Before my eyes, a new event message appeared.

[Event: Falling Doesn’t Always Mean Collision.]

[The Ether Dragon that suddenly appeared in Ka’zan’s orbit has lost consciousness due to severe injuries and is falling toward Ka’zan’s surface.]

[At this rate, it will either suffer serious damage from the sincere interception attempts of the Orbital Defense Command,]

[Or even without being intercepted, collision with the planetary defense shield could result in fatal damage.]

[But either way, the important point is that an Ether Dragon—]

[That is, a member of the Ethernia “royal family”—would be harmed by the Holy Sebelli Empire’s attack.]

[If handled poorly, this could create serious problems for the Holy Sebelli Empire.]

[Choice 1: Cancel all interception attempts and deactivate the shield. That being is not an enemy! (Linked event progression, increased chance of positive events and traits)]

[Choice 2: Ignore it. (You will regret this.)]

It was an event disguised as a choice, but with such an obvious correct answer that even a three-year-old wouldn’t choose wrong.

But in this case, it felt more like—

The system UI had hastily thrown together this event due to an unexpected situation.

So I didn’t feel the usual unpleasant feeling I got from the typically obvious-choice events, and immediately selected option 1.

[Choice 1: Cancel all interception attempts and deactivate the shield. That being is not an enemy! (Linked event progression, increased chance of positive events and traits)] <Selected>

Then I released the time pause, grabbed my terminal, and urgently contacted the Orbital Defense Command and the Planetary Ground Defense Command.

“This is the Minister of Diplomatic Enforcement, Duke Arto Virtorius Sebelli! Cease interception immediately! And deactivate the shield! That Ether Dragon is not an enemy!”

Of course, the commanders of both headquarters showed quite a bewildered reaction to my sudden contact.

“Quickly! Hurry!”

Since speed was of the essence this time, I drove them with a “urgent” voice completely unlike my usual tone.

-Fzzzzzzz…

As the planetary defense shield dissipated, I watched the Ether Dragon breaking through the atmosphere beyond it.

And at that moment,

I was left speechless as I watched the Ether Dragon burst into flames from the friction heat generated by its mindless atmospheric entry.