Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Dragon's Lair (1)
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I advanced with utmost concentration. With every step, the futures of Ayla, Ppippi, and the dragon not yet hatched hung in the balance, so I had no choice but to proceed with the utmost caution.
-Slip!
-Grip!
-Pip!
Of course, I wasn't the only one responsible for them. When it felt like I might slip, Ayla clamped down on the hem of my clothes and held firm. When the sparkles became confusing, Ppippi flew low over the ice floor, checking the colors for me.
"Ugh, we've only made it halfway."
-Pip pip!
"...Right, right. Halfway there. Halfway. I'll think positively."
I handed some jerky from my pocket to Ayla and shared an energy bar with Ppippi. Stroking the dragon's egg, I muttered,
"You're lucky you don't need to eat yet."
-.....
Filling my stomach even a little cleared my mind.
I wonder if the others are still far off?
'They must have seen the flare...'
Since I picked the mountain sunleaf, the entrance should still be open. Plus, I'd already disarmed the falling space trap, so they should pass through without issue...
Even if the falling space trap had reset, with Lloyd, Khalid, and Didier there, they could disarm it easily.
Am I being too impatient?
'Or maybe...'
Something happened?
I shook my head. Nah, no gloomy thoughts. They'll be here soon.
Before that, I need to cross this floor and disarm the trap. I stood up again, scanning for ominous sparkles as I walked.
How long had it been?
'Almost there.'
Five lines left. So close now that the sparkles were even more intense, dazzling my eyes just to look down. I moved with care.
Reaching the end, solid granite flooring awaited me. This sense of stability! Tension melted away, my legs going weak, and I collapsed onto the ground.
"Whew. A short break should be fine, right?"
-Piii~!
Leaning back against Ayla's body, I caught my breath and surveyed the surroundings. The walls, made of volcanic rock and granite, featured beautifully carved mountain scenes. A meticulously rendered silver mountain range, with a dragon resembling Tundra roaring toward the sky at its center.
'Tundra's inside here, huh.'
Going in alone is scary. Better to wait for the others. I glanced back subtly. The path we'd come was dizzyingly far. To let the others walk freely, I need to disarm the trap soon. I quenched my thirst with water from my canteen and rose again.
Disarming the ice floor trap was simple. I scanned the blooming mountain sunleaves around me. Unlike the transparent ones on the opposite side, these retained their white color before water touched them. If I drip a drop of water on each white mountain sunleaf to make them transparent like the others...
-Crash!
-Clang!
-Crackle!
The fake ice floors would all shatter. Now only the safe ice remains. Reassuring. Though even safe ice could kill you with one slip, so still need to be careful.
-Grind grind grind...
-Whoooosh...
Then, an eerie sound came from behind. I instinctively assumed a defensive stance and looked back. There, the wall split precisely in half, centered on Tundra.
As if inviting me in, the door stood wide open.
-Gulp.
An ominous aura wafting from within made me swallow dryly without thinking.
-Pip pip!
Ppippi on my shoulder cried out fiercely. Its wings flapped so violently that the feathers brushing my cheek felt like slaps. I grabbed Ppippi, silencing it, and crept forward on tiptoe.
-...Drip.
-Drip...
Somewhere, water droplets fell.
Past Tundra's statue, a vast darkness greeted me. A heavy, massive darkness with tangible weight.
The dragon's shadow.
-Whoooosh...
The sound like a blizzard whirlwind was Tundra's breathing.
Using [Sun Light], a faint glow settled on my fingertips. I scattered the light to illuminate our view.
Wings of steel-like membrane wrapped around its coiled body. Beneath them, gleaming silver scales, each like a shield crafted by a master artisan with utmost devotion. The scales rose and fell slowly with Tundra's breath.
-Whoooosh...
I walked in rhythm with Tundra's breathing, racking my brain on how to wake it gently and safely.
-Hummm...!
Then, I spotted 'it.'
Beneath claws transparent and sharp like carved crystal lay a massive ice chunk like a glacier fragment. Inside swirled a golden magic circle, and within that...
'Earte's fragment...!'
A sparkling white gem like a diamond.
'I see.'
Tundra had been guarding Earte's fragment.
Even I, no expert in magic, could sense the spell encasing Earte's fragment was extraordinarily powerful.
Tundra had poured so much power into safely sealing it that it fell into a deep slumber.
What it thought was a brief 'nap' for recovery kept demanding sustained energy to maintain the spell, preventing an easy awakening.
It was sealing a Fragment of the Origin God, powerful enough to represent a piece of the world itself.
Unlike the Dark Forest, thanks to Tundra, Earte's fragment hadn't fallen into dangerous hands. A relief.
'First, wake Tundra and persuade it. It should listen to reason.'
A dragon that accumulated wisdom over eons might know much about the Origin God.
'Feed it, give it a calming pill, and talk.'
The opponent might be a higher being than me. Handle it right, and we could resolve this bloodlessly...
-Grind grind grind...!
"...Huh?"
The granite wall behind me was closing fast. What the—?! I dashed toward Tundra's statue at the entrance. Is this a trap too? No way! Amid the chaos of thoughts, light through the wall dwindled. Am I trapped? As I pushed harder to run,
-Boom!
-Thud!
A roar like rocks colliding echoed everywhere. Simultaneously, the wall halted, leaving about three meters. Not stopped—'blocked' fits better. The massive granite wall ground on, but something forcibly held it.
'...What the hell?'
I cautiously hid behind Tundra's statue, suppressing my presence.
-Thud, thud, thud.
Heavy footsteps approached.
I could distinguish all my companions' presences. These weren't any of theirs.
"Finally..."
A low mutter in a middle-aged man's voice.
'...Crows.'
I peeked carefully from behind the statue at the flickering shadow's owner.
'That guy...!'
* * *
"Hah, haah...!"
Aquila sprinted madly across the snowfield.
Her curly orange hair whipped wildly in the claw-like wind, green eyes like delicate plants streaming endless tears. The tears froze helplessly on her cheeks in the silver mountains' merciless cold.
'How, how could that person...!'
Not just her body—her mind, her soul felt frozen. Her head wouldn't turn, no proper thoughts formed. All she could do was run frantically through the snow, gasping. She knew rapid breathing in the silver mountains' harsh cold could freeze her lungs solid, but her pounding heart sucked in all the air, leaving no choice.
She had to escape.
That 'thing' still lingered in the snowfield, pursuing her. She had to flee as fast as possible.
'That thing.'
Aquila had never seen anything so horrific in her life. She'd heard plenty from her grandmother and village elders about yetis, but nothing like 'that.' The actual yetis she'd seen climbing the silver mountains weren't like 'that' either.
Singed fur, melted skin. Cloudy eyes, charred lips revealing jagged teeth and blood-mixed saliva, three or five arms, exposed bones and heart beneath a torn chest!
A monster stitched from burned yeti corpses!
Without Khalid, Didier, that mage, and witch, Aquila might already be crushed in its grasp.
-Run!
Thanks to them, she barely survived. Hurry back to Lloyd and El, report this. They should be around here. Aquila found the optimal path on the mental map every Sherpa carried. She ran again.
-Ooooooh...
The monster's wail echoed distantly. It was definitely still chasing her. Like a little fox, Aquila leaped rocks, plowed snow, searching for Lloyd and El's traces.
'Around here, around here...'
Those two are slow on foot. So definitely...
-Thoom!
"Kyaaah!!!!"
Sadly, the monster was faster. It extended its charred arm from its right side, snatching Aquila's nape. She thrashed wildly. But her small body couldn't escape its grip.
-Shing...
But.
-Slash!
What if a knight's sword, unknown to betrayal?
-Thud!
-Spurt!!!!
A flash gleamed, and Aquila hit the ground. Along with the arm that grabbed her. Black blood sprayed from the monster's arm.
-Kraaaaaah!!!!
"...El."
"Yes, Lloyd."
Lloyd whispered, aiming at the monster before him.
"Go to Theodor."