Ed unconsciously reached out and brushed the deep lines and dust build-up on the stone statue.

He came here to find the truth...... But countless truths have been lost to history. The orcs claim to be the same creatures of the gods, but the elves and dwarves flatly deny that late-born humans cannot truly understand the history of the thousands of years before their birth, and all that has been passed down is a variety of contradictory legends.

If there really was a god who created orcs like Andukh, the god of the mountains, and was forgotten after this genocide, would he still exist? Or if a demon from hell ...... Or a human being, like a crow, born with magical powers, or even a mighty dragon, can really become a new god by the power of faith, and there is no longer a distinction between good and evil, but only the embodiment of some kind of power and consciousness, will the ancient gods accept him, or destroy him? Or will they not allow this to happen at all? Humanity is fortunate enough to find its faith among the stars, to know that it was born at the hands of the gods, and to know where its soul will be, and what about the gods? Where did they come from? Where is the tomb of the departed gods......

His thoughts drifted away, and for a moment Ed had completely forgotten what he was here for, until a cold wind came from nowhere and entered his collar.

He shuddered and finally returned to reality - he didn't know if he could find the truth, and he didn't know if his persistence would have any meaning after thousands of years, but now, it was a quest he couldn't give up.

He looked around, a little unsure of which collapsed hallway the older guard had told him was "ahead".

Torches stuck in the wall. The flames moved with the wind, and Ed shrugged. Walk in the direction where the wind is blowing.

He thought he had probably hit the right one—the winding passage faded into darkness, no longer guided by the light of fire. Ed grabbed a torch in his hand. Slow down and keep going.

It seemed as if the wind was pouring in through the tiny cracks, crashing between the walls, and a strange whine gradually grew in the darkness, like a speeding arrow grazing against your ears.

The torch in his hand flickered in the directionless wind, and the fire shook violently a few times before suddenly extinguishing.

Ed stopped suddenly, and for a moment his hair stood on end—the moment before the fire went out, he seemed to see a vague figure in front of him.

The sudden disappearance of light left his eyes dark. The heart pounds uncontrollably. He's not afraid of ghosts or anything...... But the guy who showed up in the middle of the night probably wouldn't have chatted with him as friendly as the two guards before.

He stood still for a few moments, until his eyes could barely make out some outlines in the darkness, and finally made sure that it was not his hallucination—that it was indeed a man standing in front of the fallen stone bricks, and there was a familiarity, though not recognizable.

“...... Is?" he whispered, hesitantly moving forward.

Isis should be drunk in bed by now...... With what he knew about his friends, pretending to be drunk and then going out to investigate alone didn't seem to be something Iss would do. But the tall figure ...... He shouldn't admit his mistake.

A faint light streamed through behind him. A pair of golden eyes shone brightly, reflecting a terrifying light that seemed to burn with rage...... But it was bitterly cold.

That's really Is...... But there was neither a drunken trance nor the temperature that Ed was familiar with—the temperature that belonged to humans. Even when he was furious and destroyed Christsburg. Neither is his eye...... It's like a dragon through and through. His pupils, which should have dilated to a full circle in the darkness, were now constricted into a thin slit, a strange appearance that made Ed suspect that he didn't see him at all.

“...... Here she is. ”

In the midst of a suffocating dead silence. Isis suddenly spit out this sentence without a head, and his voice did not rise or fall.

“...... She?" Ed asked quizzically. “...... You mean Lydia is here?"

"She's here. Isis repeated in a low voice, and the white wings suddenly unfolded behind themselves without warning.

The next moment. The ice dragon's huge body propped up the narrow corridor, and with a few dull loud noises, the smashed walls began to collapse, and large and small stones fell down, but it seemed to feel nothing.

The dragon jerked its head up, its long sharp horns slashing a series of sparks across the stone bricks, and in a low roar, the already sturdy ground trembled beneath its heavy body.

Instinctively, Ed took a few steps back to avoid the falling rocks. Raising his head, the night sky was already clearly visible, the ancient fortress that had stood for nearly a thousand years seemed to be completely destroyed by a boulder falling from the sky in the blink of an eye, and the moonlight sprinkled on the scales of the ice dragon, reflecting a silvery white.

The scene reminded him of the Silver Tooth Mine - I wonder if the dwarves had filled the hole.

The ground shook violently, and Ed had to hold on to the wall to avoid falling. He watched as the ice dragon shrunk up, jumped up in the extremely limited space, and slammed the weight of his entire body into the already fragile ground.

It wants to move on to the next level...... This was their plan, but Ed didn't expect it to be done in such a simple and crude way!

The ground sank, and the dragon that fell with it looked as if it had been swallowed in an instant, but the ground shook - the space below didn't seem to be very deep.

Ed stayed for a moment, the exclamations and running of the people in his ears gradually became clear, and Scott would probably be there soon......

He rushed to the fallen pit in front of him and jumped without hesitation.

The person was still in mid-air, and a white shadow flashed in front of him. The ice dragon's tail swung like a serpent, slapping firmly at him—no, maybe not so strongly.

Ed was slapped to the side from afar, sliding off the ground for a while, his bones falling apart, but he was aware enough that it didn't look like an uncontrolled attack, and that no matter what happened, Iss would at least recognize him - he knew how powerful the ice dragon's tail was, and even if it was swept away, it would be enough for him to break a few ribs.

He got up, not bothering to look around him. Not far away, the white dragon fluttered like a madman, as if in a kind of irrational rage, which made him more and more frightened.

"Is...... Is!" he shouted, approaching little by little, despite the danger, hoping that his voice would reach his friend's ear.

"Calm down, Ish, what's wrong with you?......"

Rubble was still falling overhead, and Ed could only hold his head in disarray, dodging as he tried to run to the ice dragon, if he could see its eyes—if he could make it see his, maybe calm the dragon, as he had done in Klossersburg......

Something suddenly grabbed his body and dragged him backwards violently.

Startled, Ed instinctively wanted to fight back—if he knew who had attacked him.

However, the force that grabbed him was invisible, and it didn't seem to intend to hurt him, but only dragged him far away into the corner.

Another figure jumped down. The moonlight illuminates his shining blonde hair, and it also stops Ed from struggling in vain like a mosquito trapped in a cobweb.

Scott came sooner than he expected.

"Is...... Stop!"

The "Sage", who was always more like a paladin, strode towards the ice dragon, his steps firm and powerful.

He was answered only by a roar of rage, and there was nothing but pure and raging anger in his voice.

The loud sound shook Ed's breath and his chest ached. The moment he couldn't help but reach out to cover his ears, the power that bound him was gone.

He fell to the ground, his knees hitting the ground hard, but he immediately jumped up and rushed towards the ice dragon.

The stones that had been smashed by the ice dragon swept past him and slammed into the wall. Ed was a little worried that the remaining fortress would rock and fall on their heads...... But he was more worried about something else.

He had never seen Isis so angry...... Enraged as if his part of humanity had died completely, all that was left was the proud and cold soul of a dragon...... Teeth rattle unconsciously. He suddenly remembered the fear that had struck him when he had found Iss more than a year ago, in the cave above the cliff, when he had almost been trampled to death by the giant ice dragon - he knew that Iss really wanted to kill him, he had just been trying to deceive himself.

If he hadn't had that crystal ball around his neck then, if he had actually died there...... What will happen to all of us?

His heart was beating hard, and he suddenly regretted everything—they shouldn't have been here, he shouldn't have let Iss know anything that even he wasn't sure about, maybe some secrets should always be secrets...... Something bad is happening, very, very bad things...... And he was powerless to stop it.

"Scott......" he shouted, his voice sharply out of tune.

But after this cry, he didn't know what else to say.

He was powerless to stop it.

"Iscontia Allen Christus!" Scott stood in front of the runaway ice dragon without flinching, "Whatever madness you're doing, stop me!!"

The ice dragon spread its wings and roared to its feet, then slammed back to the ground.

It jerked its head down, Sensen's fangs approaching Scott's body like a sword, and the wind that he spat out as he spoke ruffled Scott's blonde hair, and even Ed behind him could feel the chill in it.

"Crazy?" the ice dragon's voice was low and hollow, as if all emotions had been burned out in the frenzied venting just now, "Scott Christus, you don't know what it would be like for a dragon to really go crazy. ”.

(To be continued......)