Misunderstanding

Chaos erupted.

No matter which world, people react the same way in the face of danger.

Screams filled the air as people fled away from the direction of the balcony, shoving each other aside in their frantic desperation to escape. However, the thirty-odd people fleeing in panic could not all fit through the single door simultaneously, not when guards stationed outside were also trying to come in. 

The handful of knights who were able to unsheathed their swords, their expressions shifting from fear to composed vigilance.

They don't seem shocked? Don't tell me they have monster-infested Rifts in this world too?

[It's a Drake!]

[This is bad! Of all demonic creatures, it has to be a Drake. This Drake should be a 4th-tier demonic creature that can do range attacks. It's not easy to shake away if it locks onto a target—]

[How can a Dimensional Gate appear within the palace grounds?! What are the imperial mages doing?!]

"Secure His Grace!" one of the knights shouted.

Drake or whatever that thing was called, Ryujin didn't care. 

What he knew was one fact—these white-scaled monsters do not appear on their own. 

This one had just stepped out of a Rift, which meant more were likely coming. 

This wasn't a time for heroics. It was time for running.

He turned to bolt toward the door, only to find it blocked.

Attendants, ministers, and priests had jammed the exit in their hurry to escape, forming an absolute mess of limbs, robes, and panicked yells. It looked less like an evacuation and more like a terribly coordinated mosh pit.

Roar!!!

A tremor shook the floor as the Drake let out a piercing roar. 

Below the balcony, the maze garden had been reduced to rubble, smashed hedges and shattered marble fountains littering the once-pristine grounds. 

The creature swung its massive tail, toppling an entire gazebo like it was made of toothpicks. 

The knights below had already engaged the rampaging monster to a fight, their gleaming swords bouncing off its thick white scales with little effect. Rather than aiming to kill it, their formation was meant to control its movements.

People clad in strange cloaks—mages?— stood in formation, chanting hurried spells that sent glowing golden shields over the soldiers. The shields cracked on impact, barely holding up against the beast's monstrous strength.

Just as Ryujin felt there was no more need to run, the Rift vomited one Drake after another.

The knights could manage one monster, but three?

A second glance at the raging battle below gave him his answer.

Nope. They can't.

The knights fighting the Drakes were struggling. 

One of them barely dodged a claw swipe, rolling to the side as another was sent flying into a crumbling stone pillar. 

At this point, the balcony and the entirety of the wall facing the garden had been destroyed, exposing those inside Ryujin's bedchamber to the danger.

One of the Drakes roared at them.

"Your Grace, stand behind us!" a knight shouted, and he barked off instructions to the priests with them. "Give Blessings to the ones engaging the Drakes! Heal those with injuries!"

The priests gathered their wits and obeyed the knight. Their divine magic visibly strengthened those in the frontlines, while the mages chanted a spell that slowed all the creatures down.

But their actions were not enough. 

The three Drakes remained unscathed, their rampage only delayed. It was only a matter of time before those things broke through their fetters.

When is the backup coming?!

Ryujin grimaced.

This is bad.

The problem was—he was still stuck here.

A terrified minister stumbled and collapsed in front of him, hands clutching at his robes as he cried out in fear. An attendant tripped over his own feet, and he couldn't make his legs move. A few others huddled together, paralyzed.

Ryujin frowned. 

He wasn't trying to be a hero, but if he didn't move, these idiots were going to die.

Resisting the urge to curse, he grabbed the nearest fallen attendant and dragged them toward the corner of the chamber, pushing them out of the way of the incoming debris. He reached for another, yanking them back just as a chunk of the ceiling collapsed exactly where they had been standing.

The action didn't go unnoticed.

"His Grace—His Grace is protecting the attendants!" a trembling voice cried out.

"No, he's getting them out of—" One minister started, then paused. "Wait. Yes! Yes, of course! He is still a swordmaster, even in his current state!"

"We're safe! His Grace will kill the Drakes himself!" a priest declared reverently.

Ryujin almost choked. Excuse me?

Another violent quake shook the chamber. 

This time, the floor itself began to crack. Ryujin barely managed to stumble back before a section of the floor crumbled, crashing into the battlefield below.

"Your Grace, please wait!" one of the knights shouted, taking position between him and the encroaching destruction. Another knight handed him a sword.

"We know a swordmaster is strong, but a patient like you should at most handle one Drake. We shall hold the two beasts here until the Commander and Vice-Commander arrive!"

Ryujin wanted to scream, Nooooooooo! I can't fight! but all he could do was keep up his mute act, staring at them in silence as more people misinterpreted his inaction as something profound.

I literally just don't know what to do, Ryujin thought in despair.

Another deafening roar from the Drakes cut through the palace. The knights pushed forward, swords flashing, but it was clear—they were barely holding on.

One of the monsters reared back, white scales gleaming under the sunlight, and opened its maw wide.

The gathering energy inside its throat was all the warning Ryujin needed. His eyes widened.

Oh, hell no. It's about to breathe fire, isn't it?!