At first, neither Isse nor Alan noticed that the strange vortex beneath them had attracted their full attention. After a few moments, Alan realized that the ice dragon was flying imperceptibly towards the center of the vortex, and that it seemed to be getting lower and lower from the ground.

"Is!" he shouted, "don't come any closer, it's not right!"

"But I didn't ......," the ice dragon replied a little dazedly, and suddenly began to panic.

It flapped its wings hard, trying to pull it up, but it staggered in mid-air, forcing Alan to lean down and clutch at the protruding thorns on its neck.

A force silently captured the ice dragon, causing it to unconsciously fall into the whirlpool. The power was too faint to even be detected, but it grew stronger as it began to resist. With each flick of its wings, it didn't look like air, it was heavy, sticky silt, and its heart beat more and more slowly, as if it was encased in solidifying magma.

"Is?" Alan shouted.

His voice was a little panicked, but not weak. The ice dragon realized that the power that was dragging it into the whirlpool had no effect on Eren - the surrounding trees were not pouring into the whirlpool, and the animals of the forest were not sucked in...... This vortex seems to have an effect only on it as a magical creature.

Allen's body slid to the left as it shook involuntarily, and it almost fell. The ice dragon looked around, gritted its teeth, and suddenly plunged downward, its long tail curling up Allen, and threw the old man as gently as he could into the nearest forest.

The crutches that the old man didn't have time to grasp fell and disappeared into the wriggling mud in an instant. But as the ice dragon expected. The old man rolled on the ground, quickly got up, and easily stood firm. Calling its name worriedly, it was not pulled any further towards the whirlpool.

It relaxed slightly, and the huge vortex that was slowly approaching in front of it exuded an indescribable, strange and dangerous aura, and it tried its best to pull upward, but it was still pulled down little by little.

Anger arose.

This is clearly a trap - and clearly against it. Encountering this kind of thing for two days in a row made it so depressed that it couldn't help but roar.

A loud roar echoed through the mountains and forests. It took a deep breath and spat into the whirlpool. The frozen sludge stopped turning for a moment, but soon, a crisp and loud cracking sound rang out, and the mud pool beneath him churned like an ice-breaking river in early spring. The semi-truncated tower was pushed out. It almost hit its body, and it was quickly swallowed back, and the huge vortex seemed to spin faster.

Now that power doesn't just want to drag it down - it almost wants to crush it. The ice dragon roared and persisted, and for a moment even broke free, but it was in mid-air, and there was no way to borrow strength, only the strength of its wings, and they were already getting more and more sore.

Alan shouted its name and limped around the whirlpool. But he couldn't help it.

Sensing another line of sight, it turned its head and saw the tiny figure again in the sparse woods.

"Nia" is standing there. Quietly look up at it. It couldn't read the look on his face, and it couldn't understand why he had set another trap after letting it go—the Rifas swamp hadn't been like this for no reason, after hundreds of years of silence.

But it doesn't have the energy to think so much anymore. For the second time in two days, it realized that it was in fact stupid and useless, which frustrated it...... But it doesn't intend to give up there.

"Nia" was within the range of its breath - it suddenly discovered.

It knows how fast Nia can go...... If that's really Niya.

But it still froze him there.

As it began to inhale, Nia suddenly moved. It's not about running farther...... Instead, run to the whirlpool. His steps were light and bouncy, still as energetic as he remembered. As he ran to the edge of the whirlpool, he glanced up at Is, pulled something out of his belt bag, and threw it at the center of the whirlpool.

The ice dragon watched as the small, translucent colorless gem-like thing drew a long arc, and countless facets shimmered strangely in the not-so-strong sunlight, and then fell accurately into the middle of the vortex.

The surface of the whirlpool rippled—a strange sight that no one had ever spoken, as if two different forces had collided together, one rapidly spreading outward to cancel out the other that was constantly spinning, and at the junction of the two ripples, the tiny cracks that appeared and disappeared quickly looked like the scales of some animal.

The weight, as if the whole sky had fallen and pressed down on the body, was gone.

The ice dragon was light, and involuntarily rushed upwards for a long time before stabilizing his body. It lowered its head and watched as Nia looked up and smiled at it, as if it was a little sad and a little helpless.

Without thinking, the ice dragon lunged downward, grabbed his thin, short body like a teenager forever, flew back to Allen's side, impatiently swept away a few bare trees, and fell.

It won't let him run away this time...... Whoever he is.

It tightened its claws and pressed Nia face down to the ground, trying to make sure he couldn't break free, but it unconsciously let go, as if fearing it would crush him.

But "Nia" did not struggle.

The frightened Allen's face turned pale, and he staggered a few steps closer to it, looking down at the person who was pressed under the claws of the ice dragon in a daze, and he couldn't make a sound for a while.

"Uh...... Hi Alan. ”

Nia looked up a little embarrassed, raised her barely able left hand, and grinned at him, her gaze unconsciously resting on his right leg.

After a moment, Alan let out a long sigh and took two steps back, leaning feebly against a rowan tree.

"Let him go, Is......" he said, "he is Niya." ”

The ice dragon hesitated.

"Are you sure?" it asked, "that he runs away as fast as a mouse, and may not be able to catch him next time." ”

“...... Hey!" Nia shouted as if she had protested.

"I'm sure. Alan smiled wryly, "Just as sure as you are." ”

The ice dragon unconsciously lowered its head and sniffed at the small, warm body beneath its claws. He had the smell of trees that it was unfamiliar with, like trees scorched by lightning on a summer day...... But it also has the familiar flavor of a strange mix of potions, saltpeter, and spices for barbecue.

It silently raised its claws.

Nia didn't get up immediately, but turned over on the ground, lay there on her back, looked at its huge body, and sighed sincerely: "...... The more you look at it, will you continue to grow? I can't believe it, I've hugged you!"

The ice dragon turned its head in exasperation - it probably wouldn't be able to hold its head up for the rest of its life in front of those who watched it grow up.

“...... Where are you from, Nia?" asked Alan softly.

Nia sat up, facing Allen, and scratched the back of her head a little uncomfortably, "You know that, right?"

“...... There's no place I know where anyone can come back alive. Alan looked him in the eye, "I'm sorry, Nia...... I'm sorry I didn't save you, but I need to know why you came back. ”

"Honestly, it's the first time someone has fallen into that place alive. Nia grinned and held up a finger, "You don't know, I'm rare there. ”

The ice dragon stared at his back. His tone was lighthearted...... But the muscles in his body tensed instantly.

Moreover, he didn't really answer Allen's question.

For a moment, Iss just wanted to know what he had been through in that place that no one wanted to talk about...... Nia could easily take the conversation in the direction he wanted, but in Alan's eyes, this trick was usually not very useful.

"Tell me why you're back. Alan insisted.

“...... Did you know that Hell is not actually like we used to think, there is no living thing except all kinds of monsters and demons running all over the ground, the earth will constantly crack apart, spewing scorching flames, and the flames will be full of pained souls wailing incessantly...... No, it's not like that. The place is always changing, sometimes it's a huge forest, sometimes it's a pink desert, sometimes everything becomes transparent...... You never know what it's going to look like in the next moment. Nia briskly continued to talk to herself, "I'll tell you, it's actually quite fun. ”

Is's eyes widened - even a dragon, and all of its ancestors, had never heard of this. What hell is like is mostly imagined by intelligent beings who are terrified of that place......

“...... Nia. Alan was unmoved, "You know you'll have to tell me sooner or later." ”

Nia sat there, looked left and right for a while, folded her arms, and began to bargain: "Look, I don't want to lie to you, so Alan...... Can I tell you half of it? Because the other half, well, if I tell you, I'm going to die a terrible death, really. ”

He tried to make his tone easier, but the fainting end was visibly a little shaky.

Eren was silent for a moment and nodded. Even if he knew that Niya's fear and uneasiness were probably just a disguise, he always knew when to give in.

Nia breathed a sigh of relief and waved her arm at the Rheif swamp, which had calmed down but had turned into a huge quagmire: "I was sent out to destroy something...... As you may already know, someone has made a door out of nowhere, and some of the little monsters in Hell have been able to escape from it. You may not believe it - I couldn't believe it at first, but the guys in Hell value order a lot, and they don't like it at all, especially since they didn't make the door themselves......"

“...... Kuromon?" Iss said in surprise, "You're going to destroy Kuromon?".

(To be continued......)