The battlefield was no longer limited to the airspace above the Royal Palace.
The ten dragons entangled in battle, attacking, counterattacking, evading, and chasing each other, had mostly flown to various parts of the Royal Capital.
In fact, as early as when the Purgatory Sub-Dragon and Atlas Frey were spewing fire at each other, the mages in the Royal Capital had already noticed the small sun in the night sky.
The area under the care of Blue Pegasus and some small guilds was to the north of the Royal Palace, and the crack opened by the first dragon as it emerged almost passed right under their feet.
The dashing Mr. Yiye nearly tripped and fell because of it.
Luckily, Two Nights (a cat from the Edolas World who looks a lot like Mr. Yiye) quickly offered support, helping him maintain his dashing image.
Originally, Two Nights intended to participate in the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts, stunning the national audience alongside Mr. Yiye.
However, to give Simon and Fairy Tail a chance to compete, he graciously ceded his spot.
At this moment, Two Nights looked up at the sky, seeing a ghastly green mechanical dragon battling a fish-like dragon, seemingly approaching their direction during the fight.
"MEN~ Mr. Yiye, is that the legendary dragon?"
"Yes, Two Nights. It's almost time for us to showcase our skills, MEN~"
Two Nights hooked his right foot over the left, crossing his hands in a sword gesture in front of his chest: "MEN~"
Mr. Yiye mirrored his pose symmetrically: "MEN~"
"MEN~"
The man and cat with identical faces continued the "MEN" ritual countless times, radiating a strange atmosphere that resembled some unknown cult ceremony.
Yet this act was endearing to the most handsome trio in the guild, who, ignoring the approaching giant dragons, cheered for Mr. Yiye and Two Nights like a cheerleading squad.
Jenny looked at her fiancé Hibiki with a desire to join in, but her reason kicked in just in time:
"Could you guys please check the situation first? The King did ask us to deal with these dragons!"
Simon agreed with a bitter smile, "Yes, Mr. Yiye, Mr. Two Nights, we should be preparing for battle."
"Hmm-hmm~ About that..." Mr. Yiye confidently flipped his hair, "President Bob has already prepared the secret weapon, which is... Christina!"
Jenny whispered, "That doesn't really count as a secret weapon."
Buzz buzz buzz...
A flying battleship shaped like a Pegasus flew rapidly from the designated flying-ship position in the Royal Capital, appearing capable of battling dragons in both speed and size.
The members of Blue Pegasus were all invigorated: "Yeah, we have the strongest battleship, Christina!"
The voice of the pilot echoed through the loudspeaker: "Mr. Yiye, the main cannon is fully loaded and requires preparation time for the next shot, so which dragon should we attack next?"
"Of course..." Mr. Yiye pondered, then his eyes widened in shock, "Oh no! One of these dragons should be on our side, right?!"
Ive admired, "No wonder Mr. Yiye thought about this so quickly."
Simon sighed helplessly, lamenting that his companions were capable except when Mr. Yiye was involved, at which point they tended to exaggerate his abilities.
Perhaps inspired or already prepared, other guilds also dispatched their flying ships after Blue Pegasus's Christina took off.
As a mages' guild, there were at least some weapons installed on the ships.
Soon, they too realized the same problem: it's a bit hard to distinguish between friend and foe.
Fortunately, the Kingdom's military responded, sending more flying warships of various sizes.
Broadcasts sounded in the sky, indicating that the more dragon-like dragons were summoned by Mr. Rhode to assist in battle, while the weird-looking ones were the enemies.
Indeed, compared to the weird-looking dragons crawling out from the Eclipse Gate, the Purgatory Sub-Dragon and Mountain Sub-Dragon appeared quite 'proper.'
After a while, they even seemed beautiful, as if skillfully drawn by a master artist.
Christina's pilot timed the overlap of the Purgatory Sub-Dragon and Life Prison Dragon, firing the cannon.
The blast, equivalent in power to the Magic-guide Cluster Cannon Jupiter, struck the Life Prison Dragon squarely under its wing.
The powerful impact slightly tilted the Life Prison Dragon's body in the air.
And then... nothing happened.
Everyone's mouths gaped open as they stared, dumbfounded, at the intact giant dragon.
"You must be kidding?"
"That was Christina's main cannon!"
"Such power couldn't harm it at all?"
President Bob remained calm: "Legend has it only Dragon Slayer Magic can defeat dragons, and it seems true."
However, Blue Pegasus lacked Dragon Slayer Mages, and the surrounding small guilds were in the same predicament.
The same scenes played out elsewhere.
Ships from various guilds and the Kingdom fired at the Rock Spirit Dragon, Marine Sub-Dragon, and Sword Sound Dragon.
Yet, not a single shot successfully harmed the giant dragons.
The best result merely affected their flying posture momentarily due to the impact force.
The consequence was that these flying ships became targets for the dragons.
If not for the Sub-Dragons' distraction, the sky might be raining 'dumplings.'
Even so, the aggressive Sword Sound Dragon, despite suffering a gash from the Cloud Sub-Dragon on its tail, rammed the Kingdom's large flying ship in half with its pincer-like horn.
After venting a bit of its anger, the Sword Sound Dragon turned to charge at the Cloud Sub-Dragon again.
The Cloud Sub-Dragon dodged swiftly, with the Sword Sound Dragon relentlessly chasing, maneuvering as fast as an afterimage above the Royal Capital.
The broken flying ship exploded, and the crew activated emergency measures, jumping to save themselves.
Most managed to deploy gliding wings in time, facing no immediate danger to their lives.
A few had their equipment damaged in the explosion, suffering heavy injuries and helplessly plummeting.
A completely emerald giant dragon, carrying three girls, darted through the night sky, agilely catching and providing Healing Magic to those without gliding gear.
For those it couldn't rescue in time, it cleverly enveloped them in water bubbles, with Wendy striving to enhance their defense.
While helping injured persons on the Marine Sub-Dragon's back, Lucy wondered perplexedly: Clearly, with such quick reflexes, joining the battle should be sufficient, right? Why say they're not good at combat?
...
Rhode landed a punch on the hard hexagonal dragon scale, followed by a cold snort.
"Hmph, it's useless."
An arrogant voice came from the dragon's back: "Earth Mother Dragon Maser Grey possesses a diamond-like body, not even a real dragon can harm it, let alone your fist!"
"Heh, I thought you'd hide forever."