The ice dragon looked sideways at its wingtips across the white clouds, the mist flowing through its wings like water, and the gentle coolness penetrating its fine scales was very pleasant, but it didn't make it feel much better.

The sun was shining on its back, but for those under the clouds, it was another cloudy day in winter. It couldn't see the earth under the clouds, and of course it couldn't find the black door that had disappeared from the ground of Madame Raven's Castle, but it was an impossible task in the first place—no one knew that it would appear there, and most of it was in the dark and deep underground, and it was flying around in the sky like this, and it would be hell if it could find it.

Scott simply wanted to send it out so that they wouldn't keep arguing, and he knew it well, but he was annoyed and helpless.

Sometimes it thinks it might as well leave this world that "has nothing to do with you" and be free to be a dragon, but it can't.

It couldn't forget what Scott had said to Ed...... His death and return, his mission and his inevitable death.

It had suspected it for a long time, but listening to Scott say it himself, every word still froze its heartbeat.

It tried in every possible way to dig out the so-called "mission". If he never finished, he probably wouldn't die...... But Scott can't lie, but what he doesn't want to say, no one can dig out.

At first it tried to keep up with Scott, but that made them both extremely irritable, and they almost got into a fight several times. It then obediently went about its "mission" every day, but in fact had the cheekiness to fly back to Enshiya and spend most of its time in Inglis's library. Or racking your brains to dig something useful out of that cunning old man...... That was a great test of patience.

There are not many elves, humans or dwarves who have been resurrected by gods with some kind of mission in their long history, and there are only "sages" like Scott who have changed from a paladin of one god to another - there is also some kind of rule between gods and gods to keep their power balanced, and such behavior should not be allowed.

And "if you complete the task, you have to continue to die"...... It was more like some kind of deal with a demon, but the demon couldn't bring a person back to life. It is even more impossible to give him such great power.

It even tried to squeeze something out of Copas...... After failing once or twice, it didn't bother to try again, and the seemingly gracious pastor was always smiling, and every word was slick and watertight. It was useless to be so inscrutable, and it only wanted to claw him to the ground.

And all the ancestral memories and knowledge in its head are also not of any help.

The growing sense of powerlessness made it despair. Many times it flies like this blankly, thinking again and again that it is better to fly back to the isolated island on the icy sea. Take a long night's sleep......

But every time. It flew back to Tonbutch, the temple under the tower.

It was tethered to some kind of invisible rope...... That's a bit sad for a dragon. It would probably be despised by all of its kind, if it had any kinds.

Scott has no qualms about publicly declaring it his "younger brother". It's a strange relationship that can confuse many people for a while, but people are always very good at finding reasons for what they believe, and it doesn't care if it's evil or ...... "holy" in the eyes of those it doesn't care about.

Although the latter word really makes it itch all over its body and have to fall off.

The clouds thinned out, and the northern land, which was lonely in winter, rushed into its view. It pondered whether to fly back to the ice field to see if Ed's fool was still crouching like a rabbit in the hole he had dug out, or flying towards Collins. See if the fog has lifted......

No one could dispel the fog from Collins, not even Scott. That plain went from being a "holy place" to a forbidden place. Kriesburg and its villages to the north became more isolated...... Now that the war has not subsided, that may not be a bad thing.

It lazily spreads its wings and glides on the current. When its eyes were about to close, a strange sensation suddenly hit it, making it dizzy for a moment, and it could barely keep its balance on a shaky basis. It was fleeting...... But definitely not its illusion.

The mist-shrouded plains of Collins will give it a similar feeling, but not so intensely.

It took control of its body and looked down in surprise. The ground beneath him was not Collins, but a rocky ridge near the southernmost tip of the Black Rock Range.

It cautiously flew low downward. The entire Black Rock Mountain Range is the territory of the Black Rock Dwarves, and those expressionless guys with stone heads and even faces carved out of stone don't care who they are, if they find it, it will definitely take a few more arrows...... I can't fight back yet.

In a wasteland surrounded by rocks and sparse red oaks, it once again felt the tingling pain that seemed to have been struck by lightning. It was undoubtedly some kind of magical remnant of the fluctuation—a familiar fluctuation.

It probably found the Black Gate...... What the hell.

This unexpected "good fortune" made it strangely uneasy, and Scott repeatedly warned it to beware of traps, not to fly too low if it found anything, let alone to hit the ground, and to go back immediately. Because apparently, some people regard it as the most evil mastermind, whether it is the plague or the war, it is all its conspiracy...... But it's just flying around as it pleases today, how could anyone know that it would pass by here and set a trap to wait for it?

It circled slowly twice, and there was no movement as far as the eye could see, and there didn't even seem to be a rabbit in this barren place......

It finally lost patience, simply folded its wings, and landed on the ground, its gaze sweeping over all the shadows under the rocks.

The dragon's keen eyes could see through the invisible, but it still didn't find anything suspicious.

There was a strange smell in the air, like rocks that had been scorched by fire...... But there was not a trace of any burning around, only the withered yellow weeds swaying weakly in the breeze.

The fluctuations of magic are getting weaker and weaker. The black door, which was jumping around irregularly and irregularly than it wanted, had probably left the place, and all it felt was a little trace.

It raised its wings in exasperation. It's even more frustrating to have such a little useless discovery than nothing, and it would be nice if some little monster came out of hell and let it tear it apart......

Speaking of which, the black gate that runs around should leave a bunch of monsters like it did in the ground of the Raven Castle...... But they never seem to have heard anything like it.

Maybe the door had jumped to another world at all—it thought listlessly, and began to wave its wings, ready to leave. It hadn't rained for a few days around here, and the flying dust and grass clippings had gotten into its nose, tickling it to sneeze......

A small sound caused its wings to freeze in mid-air - someone really sneezed...... But not it!

It quickly stretched out its tail and slapped it along, clearly sensing that someone was nimble to dodge its attack, and its body brushed its scales and jumped to the side.

"Get out!"

It roared, turned and pounced. If the guy hesitated a little under the dragon's might, it would have been able to catch him......

But the other side is clearly prepared. A small figure deftly emerged from the crack in the rock, and before he could see what the creature looked like, he slipped into another crevice...... The tip of the ice dragon's tail couldn't even get into such a small slit.

The ice dragon stopped attacking and looked around warily. It can smash rocks...... But if someone was ambushed here trying to kill it, this slippery snake creature couldn't be the only one.

But the surroundings were still quiet, no one else jumped out, and there were no giant nets, spells, or dwarves falling from the sky...... or the ground that suddenly collapsed.

It hesitated, perhaps to leave immediately, as Scott said...... But isn't that just an escape!

The ice dragon let out a low roar of exasperation, jumped onto the rock, and took a deep breath along the narrow gap—

"Wait, wait, wait!" shouted the man who was cowering inside, poking his head out like a groundhog and looking up at the ice dragon's huge golden eyes, giving him a friendly, big smile.

"Hey, how about we talk about it first?" he said, "I'm a little afraid of the cold." ”

The ice dragon held his breath and glared at him, staring at his limp-haired brown curls and gray-green round eyes, his black pupils dilating in a daze, and his eyes widening in disbelief.

"You see, I don't want to hurt you, but I don't want you to hurt me either. It's also a wonderful fate that we can meet here, why don't we shake hands amicably and go our separate ways?—— oh, if you don't like it, it's okay not to shake hands. ”

The little guy was serious and rambling, and there was no fear on his face with a little baby fat like a child who hadn't grown up. His smile is innocent and bright, he speaks briskly and sincerely, and he sings with a certain cheerful rhythm that can easily make people let their guard down.

He always did that...... Even if he caused countless troubles, no one could bear to blame him.

Something got into the ice dragon's heart...... Something warm and soft that makes its nose sour.

It can't be – it warns itself. It's probably just some kind of spell to let its guard down...... But it was still unconsciously deflated, and lowered its head and whispered, "Nia?"

The moment the name blurted out, a cold light shot out of the crack in the rock and flew straight towards its unsuspecting chest.

(To be continued......)