Bathed in blinding light, Megumi felt as if she were floating, followed by a sudden, sharp sense of weightlessness.
As the light gradually faded, she found herself surrounded by dozens of others who seemed to be in the same situation—people likely transferred from the surface world like her.
These must be the temporary summoned heroes Miss Eris had mentioned earlier.
There were both men and women, all unfamiliar faces. Some had different skin tones, clearly hailing from all over the world.
Some wore gleaming golden armor befitting classic fantasy heroes, others were dressed like priests similar to herself, and some looked straight out of an anime—draped in robes and staffs like stereotypical mages.
Incidentally, her own appearance had slightly changed—especially her hair, which now shimmered with streaks of blue and white.
Her eyes had also turned the same color.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!"
The sudden roar of explosions drew Megumi's attention.
Looking in that direction, she witnessed a sight straight out of a disaster movie: from a massive, black miasma-filled hole in the sky, laser-like beams were raining down upon the earth.
Gigantic craters were blasted into the ground, and she saw tiny human silhouettes fighting back—some glowing with magical or spiritual light, firing beams of energy into the sky to intercept the attacks falling from above.
What lay before her was an unprecedented, utterly fantastical super-magical war.
She was frozen in awe, her hands trembling uncontrollably.
The rumbling noise was so loud it drowned out any attempts at conversation between the newly summoned heroes nearby.
Many of them had gone pale and seemed to be begging the gods speaking into their minds to send them back to their original world, they wanted no part in such terrifying combat.
"Miss Kato, if you want to return now, we can—"
"No. I want to give it a try, Miss Eris!"
Her voice, initially shaky, grew firm and resolute.
"Yes! That's the spirit! After all, this is divine power drawn directly from me, a goddess. As long as my divine power isn't completely depleted, you won't die. Oh, and try not to get hurt, okay? Since we're synchronized now, any injury you feel, I'll feel too."
"Miss Eris, you too?"
"Huh? Not me, I'm just the assistant."
"Oh, that's a relief then."
"Relief my foot! Were you even listening to me?! Megumi!!!"
"Huh? Lady Aqua, are you talking to me?"
"You... you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?! Aaaaaaaaah—! I don't want to be your guiding goddess!"
"Huh? That's perfect, then please pass it over to Miss Eris—huh? Lady Aqua?"
"In your dreams!!! Hmph! Did you really think I'd fall for that? Think again. So—OWOWOWOWOW!!!"
Suddenly, a wail of agony erupted in Megumi's mind—the unmistakable shriek of the infamously unbalanced water goddess.
The reason? A massive mechanical dragon, cloaked in darkness, had just fired its black-red laser breath in their direction.
Several of the rookies vanished instantly in the attack. Although Megumi wasn't hit directly, the shockwave slammed into her, sending her flying dozens of meters through the air.
"Hurry, cast your protection spell!"
Even without Aqua's frantic urging, Megumi was already doing just that.
Through the pain, she raised her staff, and with a flash of light, her entire body was enveloped in water-blue magic—significantly boosting her basic attributes.
Another flash—this time, a purification spell—to cleanse the lingering evil energy that had latched onto her.
"Sacred·Spellbreak!!!"
She activated a powerful spell in a panic. A massive magic circle, easily hundreds of meters wide, manifested before her and released a flood of holy light.
Above the magic circle, a massive evil dragon—its fangs bared—was engulfed by the light.
In that moment, it was like someone had doused the creature in gasoline and lit a match.
White flames erupted across its body, and it let out a bone-chilling howl. Eventually, it fell from the sky like a malfunctioning machine, smoke pouring from its scorched body.
"Ahhhh—I can't breathe!"
Aqua's miserable screams rang out again in her head.
Why? It was simple: Megumi had just pulled an enormous amount of magic in an instant.
While Aqua had an absurdly large magic reserve, that didn't mean she could supply such a huge output all at once.
To put it simply, it was like turning a faucet all the way up suddenly. The pressure had to increase rapidly to match the demand, and to Aqua, it felt like suffocating under immense pressure.
Of course, if Aqua were casting a big spell herself, there wouldn't be a problem. It's her body, her power, her control—she could manage any output she wanted.
Ignoring the goddess's pitiful shrieks, Megumi forced herself back to her feet.
"ROOOAAARR—!!!"
A monstrous roar so powerful it made the earth, the air—no, the entire world—shudder and cry out in terror.
Megumi staggered back and sat down heavily on the ground, staring in horror as something began to emerge from the deepest part of the sky's massive black hole.
In that moment, she felt the gaze of hell fall upon her. Her entire body was instantly stripped of warmth, as if thrown naked into an icy cavern.
The chill pierced to her very soul.
That hole in the sky wasn't just some portal—it was the very entrance to Hell. What had come out earlier were merely foot soldiers. Now, the king of the abyss was about to emerge.
The miasma pouring out of the rift grew even thicker. The surrounding climate began to change with it. Thick, dark clouds re-formed above, plunging the sky back into a starless night.
Suddenly, within the black vortex, two glowing red dots appeared—unmistakable eyes, brimming with fury, hatred, bloodlust, chaos… everything malevolent.
As the red eyes came closer, lightning from the surrounding thunderstorm illuminated what they were attached to—a monstrous head.
Then came the neck. And then a colossal body that crushed the breath from Megumi's lungs just by existing.
Its wings stretched wide—wide enough to blot out the sky.
It was a dragon. A true dragon. A colossal one. To it, humans must be no more than grains of sand.
The sheer scale of it made everyone feel hopeless.
It was over a kilometer tall and several kilometers long—a monstrous titan of destruction. If it fell to the ground, it would cause the earth itself to scream.
It was hard to believe something like this was man-made.
This was a beast straight out of an apocalypse—a doomsday creature from the Book of Revelation. The darkness coiled around it threatened to engulf the entire world.
Could a hero really defeat something like this?
Megumi couldn't help but think that.
And she wasn't alone.
Because in that moment, it felt like…
Only someone godlike could slay a monster like this.