Chapter 57: The Dragon Proclaims Destruction

—Afternoon.
Bronya was pacing back and forth, visibly anxious. Although she knew that as a commander, she shouldn’t display such restlessness,
the truth was that after being sent to the frontlines, her personal guards had been replaced by people arranged by the Supreme Guardian.
These so-called "protectors," who were actually monitoring her, all hinted that her mother now held reservations about her and even wanted to tighten her control over her.

But Bronya had no such intentions. She simply hoped her mother would come to her senses in time.
If they could reach a consensus, at least they wouldn’t have to end up in a life-or-death confrontation...
Yet her mother hadn’t given any explanation, forcibly transferring her from the administrative center to the frontlines. Not a single letter she sent had been replied to.
The political implications behind this were already clear.
All Bronya felt was heartbreak and disappointment.

"...Was I too naive?"
She murmured softly in her heart.
"To think that my mother still had room to turn back, and that my desire to dissuade her was also wrong."
Just the thought of that inevitable confrontation filled Bronya with a sense of frustration.
She knew she couldn’t let herself be tied to a doomed chariot by such personal feelings, but she couldn’t help wanting to try and stop the broken brakes.
What was the right thing to do?
Was there a more perfect solution...?

These distracting thoughts kept growing, leaving Bronya hesitant. But whenever this happened, it was as if a poet’s voice whispered in her heart:
—When you truly face a crucial, life-changing decision, there is no middle ground.
You must choose one or the other. You must make a decision.

Her decision was to prevent Belobog from sliding into the abyss of destruction and to preserve the light of human civilization.
If her mother had lost her rationality as a helmsman, then Bronya, as the successor, had to intervene...
But if intervention wasn’t enough, she would have to choose between her mother and the people.
Even if it meant shattered familial bonds, the past gone forever, and mutual resentment, she had to do it.

Just as Bronya was about to open the window to let in some air and calm her restless thoughts—
Heavy footsteps echoed outside the door. The sound of Silvermane Guards’ armor clashing together was, to Bronya, like a "symphony of protection."
The guard’s voice soon followed.
"—Commander Bronya, Lieutenant Dunn requests an audience."
"Let him in."

Bronya stopped pacing and sat back at her desk. Her training in emotional control quickly brought her back to her composed state.
Lieutenant Dunn entered the room three breaths later. Clad in heavy Silvermane Guard armor, he looked like a walking iron tower, even needing to duck slightly to avoid hitting the doorframe.
He stepped inside and quickly saluted with a standard Silvermane Guard gesture. Bronya lightly touched her chest in return.

Although the Supreme Guardian had repeatedly warned her not to lower herself to communicate with the guards—she was a born leader, not a cog in the machinery—
Bronya believed that seriously and rationally understanding her relationship with them was the correct way to lead. Getting too close to them would only affect her judgment as a commander.
People naturally ranked others in their hearts based on closeness.
Who was more important, who was less so—these were inevitable.
But for the soldiers carrying out orders, this was inherently "unfair."
No one wanted to die, and everyone hoped to build a good relationship with a leader as approachable as Commander Bronya. Even if it didn’t guarantee a smooth promotion, at least they wouldn’t be prioritized for suicide missions.

Over time, how could the army’s morale thrive under such conditions?
However, Cocolia’s assumptions were always based on Bronya’s excessive compassion and lack of proper governing principles.
In reality, the orders Bronya gave might not have been what Cocolia considered qualified for a commander, but they were undoubtedly the choices that maximized soldier survival rates and mission success rates.

Bronya respected every Silvermane Guard who gave their heart for Belobog, and she treated them with dignity. This was evident in her daily interactions.
For this reason, it was only natural that the guards loved and respected Bronya more than the cold and ruthless Cocolia.
Unfortunately, Cocolia later saw this as Bronya winning people over.
She naturally praised this, not caring about her own reputation among the guards.
As long as the guards still obeyed her, it didn’t matter. If the guards listened to Bronya, and Bronya listened to her, it was a good loop.
So, Cocolia never changed her attitude toward the guards, even exploiting them further.
She even justified it as paving the way for Bronya’s bright future.

"Commander Bronya, I have an important matter to report."
Setting aside the growing mother-daughter conflict, Lieutenant Dunn wasn’t thinking about any of that.
Although he was one of Bronya’s guards, his stance was firmly on Cocolia’s side.
It wasn’t that he was heartless or saw Bronya as merely a command from the Supreme Guardian.
He respected Bronya and recognized her as the acting commander of the Silvermane Guards.
But as a veteran from Cocolia’s era, he had witnessed her rise from a wise ruler to the tyrannical dictator she was now.
Dunn didn’t know what had caused this change, but from the moment he became a Silvermane Guard and swore loyalty to the Supreme Guardian to protect the people—
he would never question Cocolia’s orders.
As long as she didn’t violate fundamental principles, Dunn, as a soldier, would only consider what a soldier should consider.
He was aware of Cocolia’s arrangements but didn’t see any major issues.
To most people who were in the know or only partially informed, this was just a small mother-daughter disagreement over personnel arrangements. Surely it wouldn’t escalate to a life-or-death situation?
Even if the Supreme Guardian was in the wrong, expecting her to apologize was like hoping the rift would disappear on its own tomorrow.
If both sides could give each other some room to step back, once the anger subsided, their mother-daughter relationship would surely return to normal. Why should soldiers like him worry about family matters?

Moreover, Dunn’s energy wasn’t focused on this. For the past few days, he had been studying the high-quality equipment sent by Serval and had completed preliminary tests.
He placed the one-time protective shield he had brought with him in front of Bronya, his tone excited.
"Look, this is the latest invention from Serval—well, former research department member Serval—a one-time protective shield!"
Dunn’s enthusiasm was almost fanatical, as if his rock-and-roll spirit had been ignited.
"This new equipment can protect Silvermane Guards from a fatal attack. Based on my tests, even if I went all out, it would completely block the attack, leaving only a sensation like a mosquito bite)."
He slapped the shield onto the table, slightly calming his excitement before continuing.
"According to our calculations, if we can equip this new gear, our casualty rate could drop by at least 5% to 10%. And there’s supposedly a matching tech armor in the works.
If Big Sis Serval is telling the truth, we could soon turn the tide. At the very least, in defensive operations, our comrades’ lives would be guaranteed. Even in counterattacks, we could significantly reduce the number of casualties!"

Bronya listened in a daze. It wasn’t that she didn’t long for the scenario Dunn described, nor was she unmoved by the new equipment. She also held no bias against Serval, who had been expelled from the research team on trumped-up charges.
She just didn’t understand why this was happening now.
Though it might sound strange, it was as if her intuition, like when she had gone to the lower district, was telling her that she was at a crossroads in life.
Once again, she had that feeling.
But this sense of strangeness didn’t come from the protective shield or Lieutenant Dunn—it came from outside.

Bronya suddenly stood up and quickly walked toward the door, ignoring Dunn’s puzzled gaze. At the same time—
A loud, resonant roar echoed from the city’s rear, so distant that even those on the frontlines could hear it clearly.
As the frontline guards rushed to assemble to defend against the monsters,
in the administrative district center,
Pela stared in shock toward the city walls, where a "monster" that shouldn’t exist had appeared.

Its presence caused anomalies across Belobog’s sky— howling winds and turbulent currents.
The dragon’s massive body blotted out the sun, its four pairs of mist-colored wings and its eyes filled with unrestrained destructive desire.
It opened its mouth, and a highly condensed sphere of destructive energy began to form, signaling—
that a great destruction was about to descend.