The dragon tore through the sky and vanished. At the ravaged hunting ground he left behind, snow and wind continued without pause, slowly filling in the shocking scar.
"Sa."
Two shallow footprints appeared in the snow as a figure with hidden presence and form emerged. Several other figures were suddenly pulled out of the snow and brought before him, kneeling respectfully.
"I saw it. The recent setbacks do match what you reported," he said after a brief pause, a smile spreading to reveal sharp, inhuman teeth. "But do not worry. It is only an ancient White Dragon that got lucky and borrowed a bit of power from that sacrifice. It barely broke the spatial seal and has some skill, but that is all."
A glow of Magic lit up in his hand as he gathered the nearby Ice Element, and an ice flower even formed in his palm. It was a small nuisance, but not a real problem for him, and this power had already shown him the dragon's limits. It was nothing more than leftover fragments from a pitiful sacrifice.
With a smile, he spoke softly. "Arrogant ancient dragon, whether you truly noticed our great work or tried to interfere on purpose, no one can close a door that is about to open. No one at all."
"We do not mind sweeping away the dust before the door."
He lowered his head slightly and addressed the kneeling figures. "Report the situation. There may be room for an extra seat on the final stage. That dragon will burn like a moth in the fire."
They bowed deeply. "Yes, Priest."
"The spider's web is already woven. You may take pride in it, as the first act of the rehearsal before Their descent."
"Incoherent Babble... hey, the texture is actually pretty good."
Even though only one chapter had passed, Belial had already forgotten what he said before, sprawled over a giant elephant more than twenty meters long and eating in huge bites. Look at that thick hide, ordinary blades could not cut it, and even an anti-tank cannon would probably fail. Its muscles were stronger than a crane, and with a swing of its trunk and a single step, it could crush the ground without even trying.
Its bones were even harder, with a density several times that of steel, strong enough to support such massive weight and power. Just imagining how tough they were said enough. Because of this strength, even eating it felt more satisfying than other monsters, making it one of the few in the beast tide worth Belial using his claws on personally.
"Pretty lucky this time, the quality is really high."
The average strength of the monsters was far higher than what he had met before, and several had even survived his usual cleanup breath. A few of them had the nerve to counterattack him, which was impressive. Belial felt this really was not his fault, since he was just flying in the sky and barely holding back his drool when some flying idiot smashed straight into his mouth.
Some of the stronger ones in the beast tide even dared to use magic to try to knock him down. Such enthusiastic greetings were hard to refuse. To show his gratitude, he could only eat a bit more.
The huge dragon stood among corpse piles like small mountains, opening his bloody maw and grinding entire bodies from head to tail, bones included. Pools of blood had already frozen into dark patches, and beyond them lay hundreds or thousands of creatures turned into solid ice or shattered frozen statues. Cold wind howled through the broken terrain, as if providing a bleak soundtrack to the scene.
Crawling in the snow was an unknown figure who had taken precautions yet still shook from the cold. He glanced to the side and saw a companion whose skin was already forming frost patterns, the body cracked and stiff with ice. That companion had only brushed the edge of the attack and failed to escape the range by a tiny margin, really just a tiny bit.
Though the man was usually quiet, his silence now felt heavy. Even to him, the scene before his eyes felt deeply wrong. That lord had said this was only a probe, but a few breaths from the dragon had erased everything, so was this really an ordinary dragon?
As advanced cannon fodder, meaning a devout believer granted more favor, he used a blessing rooted in his soul. Drawing power from faith, he sent what he saw and a fragment of his thoughts to that lord. To him, that lord was a guide who led lambs out of the pen, the living image of his faith, and someone who had always planned perfectly and seen the end long ago.
Holding onto that belief, he silently recited prayers to steady himself and sent everything over. "..." "..." "..."
Huh? Usually the next oracle and guidance of fate came quickly, pointing him forward. Why was it different this time?
"...This is still within my expectations."
It was the lord's voice. He immediately pressed himself flat to the ground and listened closely. The voice seemed to come from the depths of his soul, stirring his heart just as strongly as ever.
"As expected, that dragon believes such actions can hinder our great work. In truth, it has already fallen under my lord's divine punishment and lost its reason, reduced to a beast that only kills."
Just hearing it felt like a cleansing of body and mind, making his faith grow even stronger. "That creature must also be heavily drained. Magic and dragon breath on that scale cannot be sustained for long, even by a dragon."
He nodded, then thought about it and added, "But my lord, that dragon only used dragon breath once."
"..."
Silence followed again, but after a moment the voice returned, sounding slightly different than before. "There is no need for concern. From now on, that dragon will only become fuel for the coming great work. What it does now is merely overdrawing itself."
"And my most trusted assistant, for now become my eyes and ears, observe its path. One day, what was lost will return, and our god will return to the high heavens."
"Yes. One day, our god will return to the high heavens," he murmured with deep devotion. Still lying prone, he forced himself to draw an eight-pointed star over his chest.
He touched the octagonal amulet hidden in his clothes and carefully confirmed that the ancient White Dragon had flown away. With light steps, he followed, his figure swallowed by the endless wind and snow.
Also within the wind and snow, in a subsidiary city somewhere else, two girls sat across from each other at a table. One had black hair and the other ice-blue hair, both looking around fifteen or sixteen years old. The table was covered with fresh ingredients, rolled meats, fresh vegetables rarely seen in the Northlands, sausages, fish slices, poultry, and mushrooms.
Fei'er looked serious as she lowered a slice of fatty monster meat, held between two thin wooden sticks, into the bubbling copper pot. After carefully checking it for a while, she fished it out, dipped it in sauce, and eagerly put it into her mouth. "Mmm... it tastes a bit different, but it's really good."
The flavor was nice and the texture was great, making all the effort of running through shops and caravans to gather spices feel worthwhile. Just thinking about the taste made everything feel worth it. Stare.
"Mmm..." "Alright, stop looking at me like that. I was just testing the taste, really. I trust you this much, how could I leave you without your share?"
She personally prepared a small bowl and respectfully handed it to the expressionless girl in front of her. "Icelis, do you really insist on using a fork? No other meaning, it just feels like eating this with a fork is kind of... uh."
Smack.
Icelis was already tired of fumbling with the extremely inconvenient thin wooden sticks. She truly did not understand why such awkward tools existed in Fei'er's homeland. She casually formed an ice fork in her hand and opened her mouth wide.
"Dip it in this. It tastes better that way."
"Mmm..." After tasting it, her brows lifted slightly and her eyes curved into a pleasing shape. She then stuffed food into her mouth without restraint, cheeks puffed up like a hamster.
She really liked the thing called chili. It was stimulating and not cold at all, and if Fei'er had not stopped her, she would have shoved her whole head into the chili jar. "I told you you'd like it. So about what we agreed before, could you..." Fei'er clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture. "As long as you do it, we'll have money. With money, we can eat this every day!"
Icelis tilted her head and nodded. From her slowly recovering memories, she knew money was how humans measured value, though she did not understand why it was represented by different little stones. That did not matter, as long as money meant she could keep eating this.
Fei'er brought over a basin of water and looked eagerly at Icelis, who was standing on a chair. She held it in for a while, making cute gurgling sounds as she prepared, then lowered her head. "Mmm... ptoo!"
She spat into the basin.