“Leave the task of carrying the wounded to me!”
Lian puffed out her chest, her voice rising an octave. “Brother Starlight, you’re responsible for our safety! You shouldn't have to worry about carrying the wounded!”
Starlight raised an eyebrow, his gaze shifting between Lian’s petite frame—standing less than 1.6 meters tall—and the tall dragon woman on the ground. “Are you sure? She looks at least a head taller than you...”
“O-Of course I’m sure!” Lian stuttered, the tips of her ears turning slightly red, but she still stubbornly stood on her tiptoes to gesture. “And look how thin she is; she’s definitely not heavy!”
“Oh! Brother Starlight, don't you know wind magic? You can cast a Lighten Spell on both of us or something...”
“Fine, have it your way. If you need help, just call me.” Starlight shook his head helplessly. He formed a hand seal and cast a spell on Lian and the dragon woman, and a gentle breeze immediately lifted their bodies slightly.
Starlight had Lian double-check the direction of You, then led the three of them cautiously toward the depths of the Dragon Nest.
As they went deeper, Starlight keenly sensed that the atmosphere of the entire Dragon Nest was becoming increasingly oppressive. A suffocating gloom permeated the air, making even breathing difficult.
Although he didn't know what the Dragon Nest was supposed to look like, based on Yserazor's descriptions, the dragon's hatchery definitely shouldn't be this deathly silent.
“I say, Little Gold, do you dragons usually live in such a gloomy place?” Lian’s question echoed Starlight’s doubts. She frowned as she looked around, asking in a low voice.
“I don't know! I’ve never been here before!” Little Gold shrugged. “To be precise, I was still an egg when I was here. How would I know anything else?”
“Sigh... Night Lotus Valley is much more comfortable.” Lian sighed. A faint green light flickered from her fingertips as she continuously channeled mana into the unconscious Blue Dragon behind her. “I can't stand staying in this hellhole for another second.”
Lian hadn't been idle along the way; she had been using her mana to treat the Blue Dragon behind her.
Under her meticulous care, the Blue Dragon’s injuries had improved significantly.
By the time they passed through the last stretch of twisted primeval forest and reached an open rocky beach, the Blue Dragon’s breathing had become steady and strong, and she could wake up at any moment.
This rocky beach was completely different from the previous environment. Greyish-white rocks were spread out in an orderly fashion beneath their feet, and the nauseating stench of decay in the air had faded quite a bit.
But Starlight felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen this scene somewhere before.
“I can feel that Uncle is very close!” Lian suddenly stopped, her eyes flashing with a look of pleasant surprise.
She activated her bloodline power once more, her slender finger pointing excitedly toward the end of the rocky beach. “Maybe... maybe he’s already noticed us!”
Starlight narrowed his eyes and looked as far as he could in the direction Lian pointed. However, with his human vision, he could see nothing unusual at the end of the greyish-white beach except for a few jagged rocks.
He scanned the surroundings cautiously again. The open beach offered an unobstructed view, and there truly didn't seem to be any hidden dangers.
So, they continued down the descending slope.
As they walked, Noah, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up. “Little Star, don't you think that stream over there is strange?”
“The stream? What’s strange about it?”
Starlight instinctively looked at the small stream nearby. It was the river channel extending from the forest. Due to the obstruction of the forest and rocks, the originally turbulent water had slowed down considerably by the time it reached this point.
“I feel like the composition of the water isn't right. Go take a look,” Noah replied.
Starlight was slightly taken aback. He immediately walked to the stream, knelt down, and lightly touched the surface of the water with his fingertip.
Indeed, the originally icy stream water was unnaturally warm here, as if it had been tainted by some kind of power.
Even stranger, if one observed closely, a very faint dark hue could be seen in the water, like a diluted ink stain.
“Are these dark elements...? Why would dark elements appear in ordinary stream water?” Starlight asked suspiciously.
Lian and Little Gold also approached. Lian’s nose twitched slightly as she whispered a warning, “There’s a faint fishy smell in the water, a bit like blood... but not quite the same. Anyway, it makes me very uncomfortable.”
Little Gold suddenly frowned. “No, that’s not blood. It’s dragon mana. But who would go through the trouble of leaking mana into a water source?”
As the three of them speculated, a flash of light crossed Starlight's eyes, making him feel a momentary daze. A familiar sensation crawled up his spine.
This feeling was like a premonition of certain events, a sensation he had experienced several times before.
Whether it was avoiding Hitral’s massive maw or reacting in time to the assassin’s self-destruction, this reaction had helped him immensely.
However, Starlight could not control this near-danger-premonition ability; it only appeared passively each time.
The fact that this sign had suddenly appeared on this empty rocky beach was clearly not a good thing.
“Something is definitely wrong. About three hundred meters ahead, there’s a hidden space with something inside.”
Noah’s warning broke the silence, and the three of them looked into the distance.
Hearing Noah’s words, Starlight immediately became fully alert. Things they couldn't see with the naked eye could be detected under the scan of soul power.
Since only Noah among them could perceive it, it meant that the person who constructed that space must have reached the Saint Rank.
Through soul resonance, Starlight’s vision briefly overlapped with Noah’s. He finally saw the distorted space in the distance; it looked like a sudden oil stain on transparent water, emitting unsettling ripples. The previous sense of crisis was emanating precisely from there.
“Brother Starlight, is there really something over there?” Lian asked.
“Yes, we need to bypass it quickly. We can't stay here!” Starlight nodded and made a decisive judgment.
Without teammate support, rashly investigating an unknown space was practically asking for trouble.
Just as the three of them were about to retreat, a weak groan came from behind Lian. The Blue Dragon woman, who had taken human form, fluttered her eyelashes and slowly opened her eyes.
“Uh... where is this?”
After seeing the surrounding environment clearly, her pale blue pupils suddenly shrank, and she cried out in alarm, “Inside the Dragon Nest? How did I...”
The woman struggled to sit up from Lian’s back. Her slender fingers suddenly gripped Lian’s shoulder tightly, her sharp nails nearly sinking into the flesh.
The pain caused Lian to instinctively drop her, but the fallen woman didn't seem to care at all. She scrambled up and stared fixedly ahead.
“That space... I remember this aura... cough cough cough...”
Little Gold stepped forward and grabbed her wrist, asking in a commanding tone, “Slow down. Tell us exactly what happened!”
“...It’s Lord Cantia... my King... no... she is... no longer... we must flee quickly! Fast!” The woman’s emotions became exceptionally agitated. As if she hadn't heard Little Gold’s words at all, she kept shaking her head.
“What is going on?” Little Gold frowned, feeling completely baffled.
But regardless, for an adult dragon to show such extreme emotional turmoil, it definitely wasn't something ordinary.
“Let’s go. Her state is very strange; she might be affected by the surrounding environment!” Starlight didn't overthink it and immediately pulled everyone along, intending to leave this den of trouble.
But before they could even take a step, a female voice with a hint of malevolence suddenly rang in their ears.
“Now that you’re here, why be in such a hurry to leave?”
Although the voice sounded sweet and delicate, it made Starlight’s skin crawl with goosebumps.
“Behind you, Little Star!”
Noah’s voice suddenly rang in his mind. Starlight reacted instantly, throwing a Sphere of Annihilation behind him as a pure reflex.
Rate on N.U.
