The Red Dragon Lord is OP, but Insists on a Pop Culture Invasion!

Chapter 276: Chapter 223: Zog is Going to Hell

The red-eyed customer suddenly slammed his fist into the glass display case holding the Lego Twin Towers.

"BANG!"

The glass shattered on impact. Shards sliced open his fist, and blood began to pour out.

As if he couldn’t feel the pain, the man continued to strike at the model.

The Twin Towers collapsed. Tragic!

It seems anything named "Twin Towers" is destined to collapse.

"Sir, I wouldn’t advise doing that." Ben knew that people who caused trouble in the store usually met a grim end. "Sharp Fang! We need you here!"

Sharp Fang was the store’s Beastman Guard.

His appearance was so unsightly that he usually stayed out of the main storefront, for fear of frightening the customers, young and old.

"Son of a bitch! Who’s causing trouble?!" A lean, powerful Beastman stormed out in a rage. Two massive, sharp tusks, adorned with metal rings, jutted from his mouth.

"Sharp Fang was about to win this match!"

Winning this match would have let him rank up to the sacred Gold Tier, a height he had never before reached.

"Sharp Fang!" Ben pointed at the red-eyed customer, who was still smashing things.

With teleportation-like speed, Sharp Fang zipped over to the customer and trussed him up.

It was Zog Group policy for handling troublemakers: capture them alive if possible. It was harder to claim damages otherwise.

After tying the man up, Sharp Fang stepped out of the store and glanced at the street.

"Something’s not right!" Sharp Fang held out a hand, signaling for Ben not to come out.

"What’s wrong?"

"People like that, they’re everywhere."

Sharp Fang immediately activated the store’s defensive barrier, sealing the entire building.

"Stay hidden in the store," Sharp Fang instructed Ben.

"Where are you going?" Ben asked.

"The slums. Don’t come out until it’s safe."

Zog had given all his subordinates in the city a standing order: in the event of any city-wide emergency, they were to rally at the camp in the slums.

Ben watched Sharp Fang’s figure recede into the distance, completely bewildered.

He walked to the edge of the barrier, wanting to see what was going on outside. Just as he approached, someone slammed right into it.

Just like the man who’d been tied up, their eyes were bright red, and they had lost all reason.

They slammed against the barrier again and again.

Terrified, Ben stumbled backward and fell to the floor.

Soon, more and more people gathered outside the store, like the ravenous zombies from *Shadow of Evil*.

"Dad!"

Ben scrambled upstairs. He had to tell the adults what was happening. He ran to the second floor, shouting as he went, and frantically threw open the door.

"Outside... outside, there are..."

He couldn’t finish his sentence. To his horror, he saw that his father, his uncle, and the other employees had all become like the people outside.

"You were supposed to be a nobleman!" his father, Kan, yelled, charging at him.

Ben saw his chance and slammed the door inward with all his might.

"WHAM!"

The door knocked Kan to the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, Ben fled to the attic.

’For some reason, smacking his father with the door felt strangely satisfying.’

He fled to the attic, deadbolted the door, and then piled a heap of junk in front of it as a barricade.

Only then did Ben have time to catch his breath.

’What in the world was happening?’

’A zombie apocalypse? He’d actually brainstormed a similar plot for a new board game script.’

’But this wasn’t quite it. Those people still retained some capacity for thought.’

Ben walked to the attic window and looked outside.

The street below was in utter chaos. Several shops were already on fire.

’I hope Dad and the others don’t set the toy store on fire too.’

’That would be disastrous. The barrier sealed the place off; no one could get in or out.’

Ben paced anxiously around the small attic. ’What did they do in all those apocalypse survival novels I’d read? How was he supposed to save himself?’

In his panicked state, he suddenly heard a faint roar. It wasn’t loud, but it made his heart pound uncontrollably.

’What was that sound?’

’Don’t tell me Twin Tower City is facing more than one crisis.’

’It’s over, it’s over. Am I going to die this young? I haven’t even become a master board game designer yet!’

The roars grew louder and more frequent.

Even the floor began to vibrate.

It was as if some colossal beast from ancient times was awakening.

Ben mustered his courage and climbed out the window. ’Even if I’m going to die,’ he thought, ’I want to know what’s happening.’

He looked in the direction the sound was coming from.

In the distance, he saw waves of the chaotic crowd clutch their heads, flee for a few steps, and then collapse.

They fell in neat rows, like wheat being reaped.

The roar grew clearer, making him so tense he could barely breathe.

’Was the sound coming from the sky?’

Ben jerked his head up.

The sight that met his eyes made him forget to blink.

’Dragon!’

’A red Ancient Giant Dragon!’

Its colossal body blotted out the moon, its majestic red form filling nearly half the sky.

Each beat of its burning wings stirred up a furious gale, making it hard for Ben to keep his footing.

’This was the legendary Zog?’

Ben realized the identity of the colossal beast.

For some reason, amidst his terror, an inexplicable sense of excitement and thrill welled up inside him.

’What a powerful and beautiful creature!’

"WOO-HOO—"

Ben held onto the window frame with one hand and cheered, ready to meet his end.

Zog drew nearer and nearer, until it filled his entire field of vision.

He finally understood the meaning of instinctual, irresistible terror.

His legs trembled uncontrollably. He sank into a squat on the windowsill, wanting to cheer again but unable to make a sound.

His mind was in turmoil. It seemed that when faced with a danger it was powerless to solve, the brain simply chose to give up.

In the last moment before he lost consciousness, Ben saw Zog turn its head and look at him.

He gazed into those eyes, which roiled like molten lava, and slowly closed his own.

Before he fainted, a strange thought surfaced in his mind.

’Why did those eyes look so familiar? Especially the gaze... I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before. It’s a complete mismatch for such a majestic body. How should I put it... it felt... cheeky...’

...

Twin Tower City quickly fell silent.

The city hadn’t been this quiet in many years.

Barely a living creature stirred. Humans, Dwarves, Beastmen, Elves, and even the large number of people who had suddenly been transformed into Tieflings—all lay collapsed on the ground.

It was like a city of the dead.

After a few minutes, small teams began to emerge from the slums. They moved in an orderly fashion into the various districts, checking the people on the ground one by one.

The normal ones were left where they were. The red-eyed ones were tossed into a Teleportation Array.

The other end of the Teleportation Array was the large park in front of the Zog Group Headquarters.

Although located in the suburbs, Zog insisted on naming this park Central Park.

Since they already had their own awesome Twin Towers, it was only reasonable to have a Central Park as well.

Red, gold, and bronze—three Giant Dragons converged in the sky above Central Park.

Twin Tower City had never witnessed such a spectacle since its founding.

A massive Hypnosis Magic Array had been cast over the entire park. It was the work of El and the other elders of the Mage Guild, ensuring that the poor souls under the Illusion Technique would not wake up.

People didn’t take up that much space as long as you packed them in tightly enough.

With the sheer size of Central Park, fitting tens of thousands of people wasn’t an issue.

Zog, Furin, and Doudou—some shrinking down, others shifting into human form—approached El, who was maintaining the Magic Array.

"So, figured anything out yet?"

"It’s manageable. While the Illusion Technique is new, it’s not overly complex. We can dispel it with a single, large-scale spell. As for those who were transformed into Tieflings, we still don’t understand the principle behind it."

"Is this only happening in Twin Tower City, or is it happening everywhere on the Continent that has a Magic Vision Device?"

Elsa replied, "I’ve checked the network. Similar incidents have occurred in major cities across the Continent, but not in sparsely populated areas. Also, no other city has been hit as hard as Twin Tower City. The effects elsewhere are limited to small areas. This must have been an operation specifically targeting us."

"Tsk—"

Zog was getting annoyed. He was facing nothing but problems.

A new enemy of unknown origin had suddenly appeared, and he had far too many old enemies to count.

Second, they didn’t understand the principle behind the enemy’s spell. Without that knowledge, there was no way to prevent it from happening again, and the entire Magic Vision Device market would grind to a halt.

Just then, a Teleportation Array flared to life, and the Cardinal of Twin Tower City arrived.

"Good evening, Mr. Zog. The Church can offer you its assistance."

"And the price?" Zog didn’t believe for a second that the Church did charity.

"We need you to make a trip to Hell. The Lord of Hell invites you."