The howling of the wind in the sky grew heavier, and the blade of death did not fall on my neck as immediately as I had expected. There was a commotion behind me, but my head was pressed against a stake, and it was impossible to observe what had delayed my death. The desire to survive that had just been extinguished was rekindled, and I found that the hand on my neck was not as strong as before.

I have to live. I secretly adjusted my kneeling position, raised my left knee, let the forefoot of one foot hit the ground, prepared to jump, and then ran out of this hellish place in an S-shaped line while dodging the archer's attack. I don't know how successful it is, my hands are still tied behind my back, and I'm not even sure that I'll be able to run safely, but I don't have any other choice.

The wind rises, and the sand blows. Sensing an opportunity, I kicked my left foot the ground. The hand that held the back of my neck didn't mean to suppress me, and I easily knocked it away. With all my strength, I jumped over the guillotine in front of me.

The moment I landed, something changed.

The sudden and loud tremor caused me to lose my balance and fall to the ground. However, this small setback did not stop my survival attempt, and I immediately relied on my legs to stand up again and run again, all the while turning my head sideways to find the source of the shock.

When I looked back, I saw that the watchtower from which the shaking had come had collapsed in half, and at the top of the watchtower was a huge ...... Dragon.

That's right, it's the dragon of Western mythology. Huge as a mountain and as dark as night, it crouched at the top of the watchtower, folded its wings, and looked down with majestic eyes. I followed its line of sight, and everywhere it looked, everyone trembled.

Shocked, I almost forgot for a moment that I continued to run, this was no longer the real world I was familiar with. Maybe in hundreds of thousands of years of evolution on Earth, my race didn't tie into the food chain with it, and while I was terrified of this big guy, I wasn't as depressed as everyone else. I took a deep breath and withdrew my gaze, forcing myself to refocus on the most important thing of the moment, running for my life.

The dragon let out a roar that shook my scalp and blurred vision, and I almost fell again. The originally calm sky was also stirred by the roar, and the wind and clouds changed color, lightning and thunder, pouring anger on the earth. The female officer was the first to break away from the influence of the dragon, snatching a pair of bows and arrows from the hands of the soldiers who were in a daze beside her, pulling the string and shooting in the direction of the dragon.

The dragon completely ignored the impotent arrows. It flicked the tip of its foreclaw against the tower wall, and a pile of rubble flew towards the female officer, knocking her and a few of the hapless eggs next to her to the ground.

When the surrounding soldiers saw the death of their commander, they realized the current crisis and took off their bows and arrows to fight back. The dragon roared and flapped its wings, and several huge fireballs spat out of its mouth, falling from the sky and smashing into the crowd on the ground.

The entire stronghold was quickly mobilized and attacked the dragon from all sides. The dragon hovered above the stronghold, raining down the flames of death.

……

There is an old saying that the praying mantis catches the cicada and the yellow finch comes behind. Now a group of praying mantis is fighting with the yellow finch, but it has made my golden cicada come out of its shell. The scene is chaotic, and I will naturally not let go of the God-given opportunity.

It's also fate, I bumped into an acquaintance on the way out. The rag from the middle-aged man's mouth had been ripped off, and he was now acting with two soldiers. He saw me and waved at me, probably to let me pass. Everyone is a comrade-in-arms who shares hardships and hardships, and they have killed too much together, and without any hesitation, I decisively joined this old brother's team.

I'm curious to see why there are two soldiers following him, and judging from what happened to me and the other dead, the group of soldiers wanted to execute him. What puzzles me even more is that these two soldiers, dressed in red and blue, belong to two camps, but now they share their previous suspicions. But this old man didn't give me a chance to think, he quickly cut the rope that bound my hands with his dagger, and beckoned me to flee with him after the two soldiers.

The escape went smoothly, the soldiers in the stronghold were killed and wounded, the living were fighting against the strong enemy in the air, no one was paying attention to our movements, and I suspect that most of the people here did not even know who we were.

We came to a cliff. The cliff has a drop of five or six meters, and is connected by a tower that connects the top and bottom to the bottom. From this tower to the top of the cliff, you can escape this land of right and wrong. The leading red-clad soldier pushed the door open, and we quickly rushed into the tower.

As we swirled up the stairs in the tower and were about to reach the exit, the unexpected happened again. The wall suddenly shattered, and the red-clothed soldier who was running at the front was at the point of impact, and was hit by a large number of collapsed stones, and fell down the stairs. The blue-clad soldier who walked in second place did not stop because of this, and in the face of unexpected situations, he reflexively jumped high and easily jumped over the destroyed section of stairs.

The subject of his protection jumped over in the same way, leaving me on the other side of the breach. The ruined staircase was a bit long, the sudden change slowed me down, and I had little experience jumping long distances, so I had to stop.

At the critical moment, I made a new decision, took a few steps back and started running. As I was about to get to the gap to jump, a large mass of creature came in through the gap in the wall, forcing me to stop again.

It didn't take long for me to understand what had just happened. The dragon from the sky flew here, broke through the walls, and stuck its huge head into the tower, blocking my path. Seeing that I was in prison, the blue-clothed soldier on the other side of the stairs thought that he was no match for the dragon, and dragged the middle-aged man to escape to the rooftop.

The dragon looked at me with its bowl-sized eyes, and I watched at it at the same time. The situation of the big eyes and small eyes did not last long, and from its jewel-like crystal clear pupils, a fierce killing intent came out. I don't have any idea of this creature's way of thinking, but I can clearly feel that I am once again on the verge of life and death.

The dragon emanated short, sonorous syllables from its mouth, and the syllables seemed to contain a strange amount of power.

I was so dizzy by the dragon's loud voice that I had barely taken two steps before I could slump to the ground like a lamb to the slaughter.

A dragon's breath erupted from its mouth, and scorching flames struck me from behind me, mercilessly washing over my body, rolling around me, and finally engulfing my tiny figure completely.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

As the morning sun shone through the ruins, I crawled naked again, my skin dirty from the smoke and fire. This time I woke up naturally, and the flames that were still burning around provided a comfortable temperature.

Yesterday's baptism of the dragon's breath burned my clothes to the ground, and I survived safely. This kind of supernatural event is too incredible for me to delve into it, after all, surviving a plane crash is already a very outrageous thing.

Aside from the fact that I almost died at the hands of the dragon, the appearance of this dragon aroused my intense curiosity. It's the first time I've seen this amazing creature, and if I have the chance in the future, I'll definitely study the aerodynamic layout of this large ornithopter. The dragon is capable of spitting flames, presumably secreting some flammable substance.

There was also a corpse near me. I think back to yesterday and remember that he was the red-clad soldier at the front, who was unfortunately affected by the dragon as it broke the wall. I walked up to him, stripped off his clothes and put them on myself, and put on his light armor. The leather in the conspicuous place is wrapped in red dye, which can be clearly identified, and the next time I encounter this powerful army, I should be one of my own.

It's so scary and exciting to be caught beheaded, and I don't want to go through it a second time. As for the corpse of this brother, I threw him into the fire next to him. I don't know if there is a custom of cremation here, but I always feel a little sorry to put him on the ground with only a big pair of pants left.

I stepped out of the ruined tower, and was greeted by an even more dilapidated stronghold. There used to be a number of stone towers and barracks scattered here, but now not a single complete building can be seen. There were ruins, pits, and burning fires. The destructive power of that dragon yesterday was truly astonishing.

There were corpses all over the ground, and there were probably no living people here. Even if there are living people, they should slip away as quickly as the two people who walked in front of me, and they will never stay in this land of death until now.

The dragon is now gone, and I can at least assume it won't come back. Because this place has been crushed to rubble, there shouldn't be anything left that interests it, or that it has served its purpose and leaves.

Thinking of this, I was a little lost.

What the hell is this place? Why do you have such mythical creatures?

The scroll that had been wrapped around his waist was missing, and he was probably burned to ashes by the dragon's breath along with his clothes. Now I really have nothing.

……

I scoured the ruins for some water and food, picked out some necessities and put them in my backpack, and followed a slightly paved path to the edge of the colony.

What should I do now? After a few unbelievable incidents, I had no clue at all about the collapse of common sense. After a moment of quiet thought, I decided to leave the wasteland and find a place to stay for the time being.

Pushing open the gate of the stronghold, a fresh breath came to my face, blowing away the stale smell that permeated the walls.

An avenue stretches down the hill and ends in view. The mountains are covered with trees or snow, and a small river runs through the forest. The peaks and mountains in the distance are like gatherings, and there is no snow and fog.

I lifted my gaze from the vast deserted forest, rested on a nearby mountain, and took out the telescope I had just found to take a closer look. The mountain stands out in its pristine setting, with a large number of stone buildings standing on top of the hill that contrasts sharply with the surrounding forest or snow.

The workmanship of the telescope seems to me to be rough and vague in terms of details, but the general layout is barely clear. A wide stone staircase leads from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, and from the mountainside the scale of the staircase becomes smaller, and the platforms on both sides are like terraces that progress up to the top, and stone arches stand neatly on the platform. Behind the top platform is a large stone wall backed by a mountain and covered with snow. There is a large gate on the stone wall. Based on the proportions of the door, I suspect that the interior of the mountain may have a cave.

Judging by the stone buildings on this hill, it should be a regular area inhabited, and I may be able to get some information and help there. So, on this sunny morning, I headed for my first destination.

============= the author's words ========================

4E201. At noon on the 16th of Lastseed, the protagonist is attacked by a dragon at the Helgen Fortress. In the early morning of the 17th, the protagonist leaves the ruins of Helgen, and from then on he has the freedom to do whatever he wants.