At the height of the rivalry between Iblisloids and Dragon Bone Soldiers, as both sides fought for recognition and market share in W City, Regalia was engaged in an unofficial meeting with Hisberk, the chairman of Dragon Corp.

Even while soldiers shed blood on the battlefield, the rulers exchanged smiles, maintaining their composed facades. When Hisberk proposed the meeting, Regalia accepted without hesitation, fully aware that there was no need to worry about her safety. Among the elites, it was an unspoken rule never to harm one another—a violation would bring condemnation from every city.

"Welcome, Chairwoman Regalia."
"Thank you for the invitation, Chairman Hisberk."

The two met at Dragon Sky, the towering headquarters of Dragon Corp. They greeted each other with smiles, but the words they exchanged were laced with sharp undertones.

"I’ve seen some interesting developments from your company recently."
"My researchers are quite talented."
"Haha! I didn’t expect a copycat so soon. You must have an incredible team. It seems your company is full of surprises, possibly because of your youth."

You copied our androids, didn’t you?
Yup. Your tech was delicious.
Brat.

Behind the cordiality, their words were weapons, but they also exchanged agreements—talks of collaboration and mutual benefit, offers to share technologies and fill each other's gaps, in essence, a sort of collusion.

Regalia had no reason to decline, and as she shook hands with Hisberk, she calculated the potential gains for Iblis Corp.

"Now that we’ve reached an agreement, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask."
"Please, go ahead."
"Who exactly created those androids?"

The tone shifted, and Hisberk’s words grew short. Before Regalia could even frown, Hisberk had closed the distance between them, lightly gripping her arm.

Her two bodyguards, Vira and Kitty, who had been standing behind her, moved to intervene, but with just a glance, Hisberk froze them in place.

“Guh—!?”
“M-my lady…!”

Both Vira and Kitty, guards of A-rank hero level strength, were instantly overpowered. Regalia realized the situation was far more dangerous than she had anticipated. Immediately, her regal aura awakened.

Locked in the dragon’s gaze, she forced herself to push back the overwhelming pressure pressing down on her body.

“You must know this is incredibly rude.”
“Oh? You’re still standing? I suppose managing a company at your age isn’t something done by luck alone.”
“The other corporations won’t stand for this, Hisberk.”
“You speak like a king, but your words are no different from those of a commoner, child.”

Hisberk looked down at Regalia with clear disappointment.

"Only when you can overcome every situation with your own power can you truly call yourself a king. As you are now, you're far from it."

“…I assume you didn’t do all this just to offer me advice?”
“Ah, yes. Let me ask again."

The dragon's eyes bore into Regalia, piercing through her memories and soul with a predatory intensity.

"Where is the one who created the Dragon Bone Soldiers?"

Hisberk’s obsession enveloped Regalia, a being who had spent hundreds of years alone, desperate to meet another of his kind after so long. The weight of that obsession pressed down on her, and she sighed inwardly.

'It’s that damn scientist again.'

At this point, it seemed like every problem in the world was caused by that scientist.

Beeeeeep!

The alarm on my wristwatch blared, signaling an emergency. Grabbing a few tools from the lab, I quickly left the room, with Ayla—now transformed into her magical girl form—following close behind.

As I stepped into the hallway, I saw combat personnel rushing around. Amid the chaos, I spotted Galrm, casually stretching as if he were preparing for a light workout, and Arima, clicking her heels as she finished applying her makeup. I frowned.

“…Did neither of you get the alert? Why are you so relaxed?”
“I’m about to fight, gotta loosen up.”
“This is my combat mode. Do you have any idea how important stage makeup is for a mage?”

Seeing how nonchalant they were, I could only chuckle. Well, they had their reasons, no doubt.

Scratching my head, I turned to Arima.
“Arima, can you teleport us to D City?”
“Hmm… that might be difficult.”
“Excuse me? What do you mean by that—?”
“I’ve been trying, but it’s not working.”

Hearing this, I was reminded that Arima’s teleportation wasn’t a superpower but a form of magic. And now, she was no longer the only magician in the world.

As numerous stories would tell, dragons were the lords of magic—the ones who had gifted it to humanity. No dragon was ever inferior to a human in the use of magic. Not even to a grand magician.

If a human prodigy who mastered magic could be called a grand mage, then a dragon at that level would simply be called a juvenile.

“So, magical travel is out of the question?”
“Yes. I might be able to get us nearby, but entering the city directly is a no-go.”
“…Fine. Just get us as close as possible. I’ll handle the rest.”
“Alright, ♠.”

Crackle, crackle!
With a wave of Arima’s hand, the space around us split open, revealing a vast, empty wilderness. A long, lonely road stretched endlessly into the horizon.

Once Leviathan arrived to join us, we stepped through the gate and found ourselves in the middle of that barren land. After we landed on the desolate road, Arima turned to me, curious about our next move.

Without a word, I reached into my pocket, pulling out a small, square robot about the size of a toy.

“Falcon, I need your help.”
[Yes, Master?]

Falcon emerged from my hand, instantly expanding to its full size. I climbed into the cockpit, large enough to comfortably fit all five of us, and gave the order.

“Fly, Falcon. As fast as you can.”
[Yes, sir.]
“Destination: D City.”

Like a hawk hunting a lizard, we soared toward the dragon’s lair.

Inside a solitary confinement cell.

Regalia sat, casually fiddling with her wristwatch. To Kitty, her guard, it looked like the restless fidgeting of a nervous child.

“…Please be patient, my lady.”
“Hmm? Patient? What do you mean?”
“I thought you were worried about your safety.”

Hearing this, Regalia gave her an incredulous look.

“Why would I be worried? I’ll be rescued soon enough.”
“I don’t understand…”
“I’ve already called the executives. They’ll realize something’s happened to me and come to save me shortly.”

Kitty tilted her head in confusion. This was Dragon Corp’s secret detention facility, cut off from all external communication. Their captors hadn’t even bothered to confiscate any of their belongings, confident in the impenetrability of the facility.

Kitty had already tried using her phone to contact the outside world, but it was completely blocked. How, then, had Regalia managed to call for help?

“Is it… that?”
“Yes. A device created by my scientist.”
“That… can’t be possible—no, I’m sorry, my lady.”

Kitty sighed, feeling the weight of everything that had gone wrong ever since they’d taken in that street rat. It seemed like every problem stemmed from him.

But that scientist was clearly favored by her lady, so Kitty swallowed her complaints.

'Well, he is skilled, I’ll give him that…'

Though his talents seemed to cause more trouble than they were worth, she thought bitterly.

As Kitty silently cursed the scientist, a loud thud echoed through the room. Given the soundproofing of the facility, whatever caused that noise must have been enormous.

The rumbling continued for a few moments, and then, with the instincts of a trained bodyguard, Vira moved quickly, pulling Regalia and Kitty into a protective embrace.

“My lady!”

A split second later, Vira’s barrier enveloped them just as the ceiling of their cell was ripped clean off. Something enormous had torn the roof off the building like peeling the lid from a can.

The cloudy sky above came into view, with streaks of vapor trails stretching across the heavens.

“Are you alright, my lady?”
“…I’m fine, but that—”
“What in the world just happened—?”

As Vira and Kitty helped Regalia up, they were momentarily speechless at the sight before them. It was a scene straight out of the kind of children’s cartoon the boss often enjoyed watching.

In other words, a giant robot and an even larger dinosaur were locked in combat, throwing punches at each other.

[Boss!? Are you alright!?]

Hearing the scientist’s voice come from the robot’s mouth, Regalia smirked and turned to Kitty with a knowing look.

As if to say, I told you so.