Chapter 711

A fierce earthquake swept through the Imperial Capital.

The walls and pillars of buildings, unable to withstand the vibrations, cracked and twisted. Citizens fleeing the city under the evacuation order screamed and collapsed.

“Ahhh!”

“Get up! You’ll get trampled!”

“What on earth is happening…!”

They were evacuating as ordered but knew nothing about the dragon.

The only order given to the citizens was to leave the city as quickly as possible. Not a word was mentioned about the dragon’s resurrection.

From the authorities’ perspective, it was a necessary measure. If they had told the citizens that a dragon, believed to have vanished long ago, would appear in the heart of the capital, chaos would have ensued.

Many wouldn’t believe it, and even those who did would likely lose their minds to fear and confusion. A massive uproar was inevitable.

Thus, the citizens had to remain unaware of the dragon’s emergence for the sake of a swift and efficient evacuation.

Of course, hiding the truth about the dragon didn’t guarantee complete prevention of chaos. The violent earthquake shaking the entire city was enough to baffle the citizens who had been enjoying their peaceful lives.

The collapse that followed was no different.

– Kwaaaarrr…!

A deafening roar erupted from underground. The fleeing citizens suddenly remembered: beneath the City of Exra-shapel lay a vast cavern with underground waterways.

Normally, countless pillars supported the ground, preventing any issues…

But in the face of such violent tremors, with mansions, towers, and homes cracking and shaking, could those pillars really hold the weight of the capital?

“The ground… the ground is collapsing!”

“Keres is angry!”

The answer unfolded before their eyes.

The paved roads of Exra-shapel crumbled under the quake. Holes appeared everywhere, and shattered rocks collided with the underground waterways, sinking amidst foam.

“Ahhhhhh!”

“Elpinel! Save us!!”

Those caught in the collapse reached out to the sky as they plummeted.

They either crashed into the water and were swept away or were crushed by falling rocks, dying like shattered apples.

“Damn it! Run! Run!”

The soldiers’ control was lost in an instant.

Panic-stricken citizens watched as their neighbors disappeared into the ground, turned into chunks of flesh.

All they heard were the sounds of collapsing buildings, the splatter of flesh, the splash of water, and the screams of those falling.

“Stop! If you don’t follow the evacuation order…!”

“Screw the order!”

A middle-aged man’s fist smashed into a soldier’s face.

The citizens, having experienced the beastmen riots a year ago, still remembered the terror. They had learned their lesson.

They knew that in a life-threatening crisis, they could only rely on their own fists and legs, not the soldiers’ spears.

Horrifying experiences often strip people of rational judgment. They believed in the irrational lesson and ran, causing utter chaos.

“Ahhh! Don’t push! Stop pushing!”

“Move, you bastard!”

“No! My baby, my baby!”

Citizens, losing balance or being pushed, were trampled. Children, separated from their parents, were thrown against walls.

Their fragile necks snapped, and their tongues hung out as they lay lifeless in the corners. It was a horrific sight.

“Imperial Army!! Cut down those who disobey orders and cause chaos! I’ll take responsibility. Suppress them now!!”

Commanders, their faces twisted, ordered knights and soldiers to kill the citizens.

The true calamity hadn’t even appeared yet, but the screams and death covering the capital were enough of a precursor.

—

Ten minutes had passed since the first earthquake.

Those who had trusted their fists and legs over the soldiers’ spears paid the price with their lives, delaying others’ evacuation.

The Imperial Army regained control only after killing countless citizens, and the evacuation, delayed by chaos, finally began to progress.

It was a small relief for both the army and the citizens. At this rate, the evacuation would be completed within twenty minutes.

But the entity causing the earthquake didn’t grant the Empire such a long reprieve.

– Kwaaaaaaang!

With an explosion that shook the city, rocks shot up like a fountain and fell like meteors. It was a magical sight.

Everyone’s gaze turned to the source of the noise. Those who had left the city walls and those still inside.

And they saw it.

Something so horrifying it seemed to have crawled up from the depths of hell.

“Ah… ugh… ahhhhhh!”

A chorus of screams erupted from hundreds of thousands.

—

It burst through the ground with a splash, surging toward the surface like lava.

The Insect-Dragon, Nidhogg, resurrected by attaching billions of insects to its skeletal remains, finally breathed the surface air and roared in joy.

【 Graaaaaaaaaaaaa!! 】

The sound became a shockwave, sweeping through the area. People, sitting dazed, were crushed by the pressure, their bodies bursting like water balloons, adding crimson to the collapsing buildings’ debris.

It was the rebirth of the strongest creature in legend, the Dragon Species.

…Though its form was severely distorted.

—

“…That’s a dragon?”

Ferne, standing on the roof of a still-standing building, looked down at the surface, sweating profusely but glaring at the grotesque Insect-Dragon with disgust.

Unlike her usual drunken state, she was completely sober.

Ophelia had shaken her shoulders, yelling that if the Empire fell, her life would be over, forcing her to sober up and rush out.

“Disgusting. What the hell is that? If all dragons look like that, Calix must be the most handsome Dragonkin.”

Ferne, too, was seeing a dragon for the first time.

Ancient fairies over nine hundred years old might have encountered dragons, but she wasn’t that old.

【 Grrrrrrr…. 】

The Insect-Dragon, having shattered humans with just its roar, growled as the dust settled, revealing its resurrected form to the world.

“It looks more like a monster than a dragon.”

Lacey, standing beside Ferne, couldn’t help but agree.

To Lacey, the creature that had emerged from the ground was too hideous to be called a dragon.

Its head resembled an ant’s, enlarged a thousand times, with a protruding snout.

Four pairs of eyes bulged from its head, with long horns resembling a stag beetle’s jaws beneath its antennae.

Its body was covered in what seemed like scales, but upon closer inspection, they were the shells of squirming insects.

Three pairs of thick legs with sharp claws supported its body, while hundreds of smaller legs opened and closed like ribs.

Its long tail resembled a dragonfly’s, and its massive wings had beetle-like forewings and thin hindwings.

Inside its gaping maw, a leech-like tongue writhed, dripping acidic saliva from thousands of teeth.

To anyone, it looked less like a dragon and more like a monster made of insects draped over a dragon’s skeleton.

And indeed, it was.

【 Gyaaaaaarr! 】

The Insect-Dragon roared again, fully emerging onto the surface.

“…We’re supposed to stop that?”

Milia swallowed dryly as she muttered.

Has-hal-leur’s warning came back to her. If the Insect-Dragon ever awakened, they were to immediately flee the capital with Emperor Leopold.

She now understood why he had given such a warning.

Even a rough estimate put its size at over tens of meters. A single swipe of its tail could turn an area into rubble.

It was a living disaster.