There once lived a great and terrible dragon,
who could wield hellfire as his own and burn a kingdom to ash in a single night.
We called him the Flame Dragon Lord.
This evil being, covered in the blood of his enemies,
wreaked a path of death and destruction like never seen before.
Countless Heroes rallied to face him,
to end his apocalyptic terror,
but all were turned to ash in mere instants.
"Flame Dragon Lord"
The Flame Dragon Lord and his dark followers
appeared seemingly at random, committing reprehensible acts of terror,
forcing thousands of innocents to live in fear of their next horrific appearance.
In the midst of this chaos,
the Princess of Eos disappeared.
The king rallied his soldiers to search for the missing princess,
but just as they had left the castle defenseless,
the Flame Dragon appeared behind the castle walls,
with the princess as his hostage...
"Property #12: A Well-Defended Home"
Flame Dragon Lord!
We have you surrounded!
If you value your life, surrender the castle
and release my daughter!
Respond, or we shall take your silence as a declaration of war and attack!
Our noble kingdom will never bow down to those who consort with darkness!
You'll rue the day you chose to bring harm against this great kingdom!
How did I end up in this situation?
When you escaped the labyrinth and made your way into the castle proper...
This is the palace!
You panicked and tried to run away. Wh-What do we do?
Let's jump out the window!
Hey! What do you think you're doing?
Not you again!
Then, you ran into the Heroes.
Damn you, Flame Dragon Lord! Now you've come to attack the royal palace?
I'm leaving right now!
Then they started chasing you...
Hey, drummox! Stop treating me like a sack of potatoes!
Halt, Flame Dragon Lord!
What? The Flame Dragon Lord?
Come on! You're hurting me!
Halt, Flame Dragon Lord!
Wait, is that the princess?
Dearia! Help me!
With this sword of justice, I smite thee...
so I took care of the Heroes.
Your Majesty!
The Flame Dragon Lord has taken over the palace, and he has the princess!
What?
I think that about covers it.
My, he looks quite angry.
Could this get any worse?
It seems the king believes you kidnapped Nell, Letty.
I know! You could just tell your dad what really happened!
Please?
Absolutely not!
Have you already forgotten how my father brazenly insulted me before?
Have some tea, father!
Oh, thank you. I'll have one of these, too.
I didn't say you could have a cupcake, too!
Nell!
I refuse to speak to him until he comes crawling to me for forgiveness!
All this over a cupcake?
Couldn't we use magic to escape, Dearia?
Unfortunately, no. Huh?
This castle is warded against teleportation magic
to keep out potential intruders.
You could've told us that earlier!
M-Maybe we could go back into the sewers and teleport from down there?
Do you not remember how lost we were down there? No, thanks!
Very well.
Let us defend ourselves.
Huh?
"Building Basics with Dearia"
It's time for...
Building Basics with Dearia!
"Building Basics with Dearia" "Castle Defenses"
Today: castle defenses.
Castles are built to defend their dwellers from outside threats.
Let's build ourselves a line of defense. You may need this knowledge later, Letty.
He sure is into this.
When did he get his own TV show?
First order of business...
The heck?
"PYAAAA!"
Control and seal off all outer gates, and take care of the guards.
"PIIII!"
Now, all the important access points are under our control.
Wonderful work, Piyovelt!
I hope we're doing the right thing...
All that's left is the drawbridge.
Charge!
But the royal army has likely crossed it already, so no need to worry about that.
Huh?
Doesn't that mean that huge army's gonna come charging in here?
Calm down. It will be all right.
The castle is surrounded by a moat and only has one point of entry.
This restricts the flow of enemy combatants into your defenses.
"It's too narrow!" It's too narrow!
This restricts the flow of enemy combatants into your defenses.
"Gate: Sealed"
And our three layers of defense should be more than sufficient.
Let's move onto our counterattack.
Yes!
Wait, Nell!
What are you doing? Let go of me!
You should stay here in the castle. We're gonna go fight your dad, after all.
Don't you think I know that?
Huh?
Your Majesty, the inner gates are sealed!
But even knowing that...
I can't abandon my friends when they're in trouble!
Others might, but I could never forgive myself if I abandoned you here!
Papa?
She said we're her friends.
So I'm going to do something for Nell... and all my friends!
The forces you see down there...
are the vanguard of the royal army.
That's quite obvious!
Observe the surrounding area.
This is a defensive layout called a "Lion's Den."
With the next gate to the side, intruders cannot attack in a straight line.
It also leaves them open to focused fire from the surrounding walls.
But we don't have any archers.
Letty, go breathe fire on them.
No way! My tongue can't handle the heat!
I've called for reinforcements.
Wait, who?
The gnomes!
We'll pelt them with rocks.
Ready, aim...
Fire!
Enemy attack!
The Flame Dragon Lord?
I don't know!
Suppression fire is one of the basics of warfare.
There are loopholes and betreches in every wall.
Ow!
Winding passages make it all the easier to attack from multiple vantage points.
You can also lurk behind corners to ambush enemies.
No way, no how, that is not happening!
Status report!
Enemy reinforcements are barring us from proceeding further!
We believe they're with the Flame Dragon Lord, but we've yet to spot him!
Then I'll infiltrate the castle via the secret passage!
You mustn't, Your Majesty!
There may be others within the walls besides the Flame Dragon Lord!
Has anyone actually spotted him?
Uh...
Did you see that dragon just now?
Wait, what?
I saw the Flame Dragon Lord go that way!
I'll be safe he...
Sorry!
What was that? The Flame Dragon Lord?
I saw a red dragon peek out of a trap door, then run away in a panic...
What in the world?
Is he mocking us? Curse you, Flame Dragon Lord!
Is someone talking about me?
Perhaps they're laughing at you for being such a loser.
You were supposed to ambush them from the trapdoor,
but you ran off as soon as they spotted you.
Knowing my father, he'll probably withdraw to regroup.
We can escape when he does!
We just have to hold out a bit longer!
They're still going?
Just go home! Do you know how annoying this is for the few of us?
Not only that...
We've reached the last gate!
But they've breached all of our defenses except for the last one!
Where did those gnomes go?
As soon as they disappeared, we lost all of our defensive ground!
They went home at five.
Make them stay late!
We treat our workers with respect, thank you.
Come, this is a wonderful opportunity to teach you about the portcullis.
It would behoove you to have a reaction sometimes!
Typical Dearia.
The portcullis can be used for both defensive and offensive maneuvers.
It's opening? It's open! The portcullis can be used for both defensive and offensive maneuvers.
First, raise the lattice grating...
Why?
Once the enemy enters...
Now's our chance! Charge! Once the enemy enters...
Move to the inside grating and close it...
No! We're trapped!
Trapping the enemy.
We're trapped!
Curse you, Flame Dragon Lord!
These small openings are called "murder holes."
"Hot! Hot!"
Add just a little boiling water. Hot! Hot! Hot!
You're not making instant ramen, here... Hot! Hot! Hot!
You can use rocks, arrows, and hot oil, too,
or employ trapdoors that drop the enemy into pitfalls.
Wow!
Oh, no!
They're trying to use ladders to climb the walls!
Huh?
And we don't have any archers to stop them. What to do...
Flame Dragon Lord!
Your Majesty, it's too dangerous!
Return my daughter safely to me and your life will be spared!
But if there is a single scratch on her fair skin,
I'll flay your hide and drape it across the castle gates!
Nothing is more precious to me...
Nothing is more precious to me than my beloved daughter!
No amount of treasure could replace her!
Nell, let's retreat into the castle!
Could you show us the way?
Very well.
Letty, we'll be discovered quickly if we hide there.
Dearia!
Could you help me with something?
Search every room top to bottom!
The food stores, the privies, everywhere!
There you are, Flame Dragon Lord!
Stop, Your Majesty!
It's dangerous to go alone! Halt!
Your Majesty!
You will not have my daughter!
I-I didn't take her in the first place!
The door won't open!
Your Majesty, are you all right?
Father?
How did you know I was here?
You came alone? But...
Nell!
Are you all right? Are you hurt?
I'm fine. Did he mistreat you in any way?
Not at all! Do you know who I am?
Of course I do!
Thank goodness...
I'm so glad you're unharmed...
Please, forgive me, Nell.
Give me three whole cakes and I will. Of course.
That's a lot of cake...
With lots of whipped cream. Of course.
Seems it went as planned.
Thanks for casting a spell to seal the door.
You used yourself as a decoy to lure the king here. I'm impressed by your bravery.
I figured it would work, since he was so mad at me.
I just really wanted Nell to talk with her dad.
I had a feeling they wanted to make up with one another.
After I was kicked out of my home, I felt so abandoned.
But after seeing Nell and her father...
I started to wonder, maybe my father kicked me out to help me.
Or maybe he did abandon me. Who knows?
What a wonderful thought.
If that's how you've come to see things, then I see no problem with it at all.
Okay!
The Flame Dragon Lord?
Stay back, Nell!
Wait, Father!
I'll handle him!
Father, you don't understand!
Let go of me!
I believe I understand.
My daughter...
has caused you nothing but trouble! My deepest apologies!
She was no trouble at all!
I'm sorry for getting her involved in this mess.
Why won't it open?
It must be magic!
Someone, call a mage!
You protected my daughter this entire time,
yet I let myself be swayed by those foul rumors about the Flame Dragon Lord.
What are they saying about me now?
I'm just glad you heard me out. The Heroes would have just attacked.
Heroes are a different breed entirely.
All I can say...
is that every race has good and evil amongst them, human or otherwise.
So, you were looking to live and work in our man-made dungeon?
Actually, after all this ruckus, I think I'll look for somewhere else...
Then you'll be continuing your journey?
Ooh!
I want to come, too!
You have royal obligations to deal with all this "ruckus."
Aww.
He's like, actually mad!
So, I was wondering how I should get out of here...
Your soldiers look ready to skin me alive.
Open this door!
I can't dispel it!
Curse you, Flame Dragon Lord!
I have just the thing.
Hey, wait!
It's fairy dust. Use this to fly away.
That's where you were hiding it? You know I've been wanting to play with some!
We'll tie up any loose ends ourselves.
Thank you.
How do I use this stuff?
Here, let me see.
I apologize for all the trouble. Here, let me see.
It's quite all right.
I can't believe my daughter was traveling with the Demon Lord himself!
This may not be much of an apology,
but I took the liberty of listing all the items requiring maintenance in the palace.
My, thank you.
Here, bend down.
Close your eyes.
This will give me the power to fly?
Temporarily, yes.
It's a magical placebo that gives you flight if you believe hard enough!
Wait, then it's all in my head?
They do say that if you believe, your soul will be saved!
I think that's talking about something totally different.
Don't open your eyes yet!
O-Okay!
See you again soon, Letty!
R-Right! See you again someday!
Soon, I hope.
Oh, let me give you this. Papa? Papa!
Here.
This is pretty!
It's half of a fairy stone.
Each half will lead you to where the other half of the stone is.
When things calm down over here, I'll come find you. Try not to die before then, yes?
C'mon, don't joke about that!
We should go, Letty.
Oh, okay!
I just need to believe, right?
It's no use, I can't...
Wait... what?
I-I'm flying! For the first time in my life, I'm flying!
Thank you so much, Nell, Your Majesty!
Safe travels.
Let's be off, then, Letty.
Right!
Be sure to land before the magic wears off!
Thanks for all your help!
Flying is so incredible!
Oh, right! I've flown one time before this!
Hey, Dearia?
Yes?
This world sure is fascinating, isn't it?
Varney.
What?
This world sure is fascinating, is it not?
Wow, took you long enough to figure that out.
Huh? Was that a weird thing to say?
No, Letty.
It sure took you long enough to figure that out.
Hey, don't be mean!
After barricading himself and the princess in the castle, and a long day of battle,
the Flame Dragon Lord vanished as suddenly as he'd appeared.
His heart stolen by the princess' unrivaled beauty,
he swore not to attack the city his beloved so cherished.
Or so one legend of the Flame Dragon Lord, passed down within the capital, claims.
My heart was stolen by her beauty?
Is that how they spun it? The royal propaganda machine is remarkable.
What's wrong with that?