The Red Dragon Just Wants To Do As It Pleases

Pafila interrupted her god, "Your Majesty, you're being arrogant again."

"Indeed, this is merely the optimal choice from our Chromatic Dragons' perspective. Perhaps Bahamut, after lying dormant for so long, also wants to surprise me. It's just that I don't know how much time will be left for us after this divine battle."

"That's true," Pafila responded indifferently.

"Since you insist and David Uthos has already fled without a shadow, let it be. I won't disturb my dear children fighting anymore."

Saying so, the Chromatic Dragon Queen gave orders to her other vassals and faithful followers, including the Chromatic Vassal Ephelomon, through the Pillars of Faith:

"You may begin now."

"Your will, my God."

The myriad Pillars of Faith gradually severed until, eventually, only Pafila remained connected.

"Haven't you already entrusted this task to David Uthos?" Tiamat asked.

"For a matter this important, you insist on not letting me get too involved with him, not even allowing me a glance. What if he causes a big mess and simply runs off with that Sky City?"

Having communicated with her Dragon God for so long, Pafila finally laughed for the first time. "You're finally making jokes, Your Majesty."

After all, they both knew David Uthos had 'buried' his family in the sixth layer of Barto Hell as a precaution, sending only his soul projection to the dangerous lands of Toriel. It was a case of 'the monk may run, but the temple can't.' However, if the plan to destroy The Slaying King Star failed, the consequences would be unacceptable for the entire Chromatic Dragon lineage.

Tiamat had done this simply by heeding Pafila's counsel, no longer risking everything as she had in the past by putting all her eggs in David's basket. Instead, she deployed a saturation strategy. This strategy allowed her forces and David, on the front lines in Toriel, to act as mutual smokescreens, yet each could become live ammunition at any moment.

If she had done this in the past, perhaps after the great sacrifice she made to destroy Gilga in Enser, she wouldn't have found her plans to take control of Enser ruined by the exiled 'Marduk' (Bahamut) using his mortal followers.

But in an instant, the Chromatic Dragon Queen once again entrusted the safety of both herself and her Divine Realm entirely to Pafila.

"I must enter slumber to accumulate power. The battle for the Divine Realm is now in your hands."

She did not trust the other dragons and followers.

With that said, the Chromatic Dragon Queen lazily sprawled back onto her throne. In a moment, as Pafila sighed wearily, Tiamat's five heads breathed long, smooth, and peacefully.

Her 'beloved daughter,' whom she had painstakingly nurtured for nearly a hundred years, had finally ascended to godhood. And Pafila had brought her David Uthos, this 'unpredictable' dragon mercenary force.

After battling Bahamut for countless millennia, she could finally take a brief respite.

「...」

The Shadow Plane was a dimension composed of endless darkness and shadows, where light became twisted and faint. Only distorted and blurred reflections from the material plane could be seen, forming a dim, warped mirror-image world where shadow creatures roamed.

Suddenly, a sharp screech, like a cacophony of demons mixed with the rush of a colossal entity soaring through the air, tore through the silence. The shadow creatures, terrified, prostrated themselves and looked toward the source.

From their perspective, they could only see a massive dark silhouette moving through the endless shadows, like a dark island floating in the void.

It was a giant Hell Engine Flying Fortress disguised with the 'skin' of a Neisser Sky City.

According to historical fragments collected by Dragon Island, combined with information David later synthesized at the Evil Scale Fortress, the Nesseriel Arcane Empire of Toriel was destroyed in the year -339 Dalereckoning. Its ruler, Karsus, in a desperate attempt to counter the existential threat posed by the Phelinom Moak, tried to ascend to godhood using an "Apotheosis Spell." This act threw the Magical Net into chaos, ultimately forcing the Magic Goddess to take her own life to pacify it.

During that Magical Net cataclysm, Sky Cities across Toriel fell like rain. Only the three highest were saved by Mystra, the newly ascended second Magic Goddess. However, two other cities, anticipating the disaster, had used shadow magic to propel themselves into the Shadow Plane, evading the crisis, but their whereabouts remained unknown.

This provided David with a loophole to exploit, which was also the 'infiltration' plan he presented to the Chromatic Dragon Queen: disguise themselves as Neisser migrants and 'return' to the continent of Ferren on Toriel in their Sky City with great fanfare.

As for why only one of the two cities remained? After wandering the perilous Shadow Plane for over a thousand years, wouldn't it be normal for one to crash and burn?

And why were the city's 'residents' so weak? With their empire destroyed for over a thousand years, wouldn't it be normal for their civilization and technology to regress?

Of course, a genuine Ghost Soul City would be protected by a massive shield of shadow magic and enchantments above it, preventing dangerous creatures from the plane from entering.

But this Hell Engine Flying Fortress was like an empty shell, utterly devoid of protection. It relied entirely on Dalonas, an old Devil disguised as an arcane Mage inside the Hell Engine—or 'City Lord's Mansion.' Drawing upon his past experience testing flying fortresses in Barto Hell and even on the Blood War battlefields, he navigated 'blindly' using the map of Ferren provided by Tiamat, recklessly forging ahead.