Chapter 200: Land of Dragons (7)
Buzz—
My hand brushed against the crack-riddled, moss-covered bark of a tree, and in that instant, my head began to tremble.
It was a strange sensation at first; it didn’t hurt, but felt like something was shaking inside my skull, a bit dizzy. Then my vision started to wobble, my face began to tremble, and after two seconds, even my body joined the shaking party. The booming wind in my ears vanished, and the ground beneath my feet swayed, almost causing me to lose my balance and stumble back a few steps. In the blink of an eye, the vibrating tree trunk had vanished from this grand performance.
In the next moment, a blinding white light expanded from a single point before engulfing everything, transforming the entire world into a dazzling white.
Wha—what’s happening…
Panicked, I gasped and took two steps back, looking around wide-eyed, instinctively gripping Captain Gray tightly.
Nothing was left…
Everything around was white, the distance was white, even the ground I stood on was a void of white.
This was clearly different from that bright white light of divine miracles that nearly blinds you; the colossal trees, the surrounding storms, the grass beneath my feet, the faint shouts and screams from beyond the storm, the sounds of battle—all of it had vanished in an instant. I realized I was not in the same spot anymore, not even in the same world.
My brain continued to quiver.
Then, a deep-seated nausea and pain suddenly shot through me like an electric shock, abruptly spreading from my head throughout my body.
“Ugh…”
With a clatter, I dropped Captain Gray, clutching my head in the empty whiteness, groaning uncomfortably.
“Ugh… waah…”
It hurts so much…
So nauseating…
It felt like my soul was slowly being pulled from my body; in a daze, all my senses dulled, leaving only unbearable dizziness, nausea, and a searing pain. The world spun around me, and the white light twisted grotesquely.
“Bleh—”
I couldn’t help but throw up.
But throwing up didn’t relieve my discomfort in the slightest. I dropped to my knees on the invisible ground and violently retched, thanks to my sparse diet, almost all that came up was clear water. My stomach twisted painfully as if my body was being drained; slowly, my vision began to blur.
My consciousness grew hazy.
As my weak body swayed and threatened to collapse, suddenly the world burst into color.
Sooty ashes, rotten black soil—what greeted my eyes were these uncomfortable sights.
The white around me dissipated like a vanishing mist, giving way to tangible ground beneath me. The sensation of touch slowly returned; my hand against the ground felt cold and sticky, and when I looked up, it was covered in disgusting black muck.
A strange smell assaulted my nostrils, making me nearly gag again.
What is this…
I hurriedly got to my feet, shaking the black muck off my hands, realizing I couldn’t do it cleanly. I thought of using a cloth to wipe it, but then remembered I had given it to Ryan.
“…”
Frowning in contemplation, I noticed some drier patches on the ground with a thick layer of ash. I went over and grabbed a handful, rubbing my hands together as if washing, and after quite a while, managed to get the black muck off. I then picked up some ash on my fingertips and brought it to my nose for a sniff.
…Nothing particularly odd about the smell.
This is just the ashes from something burned.
“…Achoo!”
Ash continued to fall from above like snowflakes, irritating my nose. I couldn’t help but sneeze and shook my head, standing up while covering my mouth and nose with my arm. I walked back to retrieve Captain Gray from the ground, then lifted my head, scanning the surroundings with a wary eye.
Before long, my pupils dilated, and I was frozen in place.
This is…
Ash drifted like snowflakes, falling all around me.
Apart from that, a sea of rotting blackness.
Black mud, black boulders, black plateaus, black trees—beyond, a hazy mist, and in the muddy ground lay rotten, stinking corpses of unidentifiable creatures.
Where is this…
Land of Dragons…?
I felt a bit dazed.
The dizzying and nauseating feeling in my head gradually faded, but remnants remained. A buzzing in my ears, I couldn’t resist turning around—behind me, the storm was gone, and the furious battle cries of warriors were replaced only by falling ash and endless black wasteland.
…I’m in.
This is indeed another unknown, desolate place.
But…
I stood dumbfounded for a long while, my gaze occasionally sweeping the apparently endless muck and scorched earth, eyeing the distant, misty, dead tree hills. An eerie atmosphere seeped into my heart, and I suddenly felt anxious and lost.
There’s nothing here… a dead land…
What’s going on…
Is this really the Land of Dragons?
…Then where are the dragons?
I looked up at the sky.
A foggy white mist cloaked the ceiling, flowing slowly like water, thicker than the ground, with grayish-white light filtering down along with the ashes. Other than that, there seemed to be nothing.
I didn’t see any dragons.
Nor demons, and the heretical dancer was nowhere in sight. All I could see was an endless sea of ashes and decay—truly, nothing else.
After dazing for a while, I finally snapped out of the intense shock and confusion, rubbing my aching head. I stepped into the nauseating black muck, advancing step by step until I came across a rotten corpse, almost skeletal with just a few remnants of flesh, reeking horribly.
Furrowing my brow, I pinched my nose and inspected it.
So disgusting…
This place is so disgusting… so eerie… what died here…
Looks like… a dog? Or maybe a wolf?
Animal remains like that… anyhow, it can’t be a dragon…
I stared at the corpse for a while, suddenly recalling something. Holding my breath, I poked it gently with Captain Gray, jumped back immediately, and watched cautiously.
However, the corpse merely wobbled gently and then fell still again.
…It’s utterly dead.
“Whew—”
I patted my chest and let out a sigh of relief.
I don’t know why, but in a place like this, I felt that these things could randomly spring back to life. If I wasn’t mentally prepared, I would’ve likely been scared senseless right then.
…No, I need to confirm this more carefully.
I slowly approached again, raised my scythe to poke at it, and upon noticing no reaction, I pushed a bit harder, flipping the corpse over in the muck. It revealed a white skull that indeed resembled a wolf or dog—the size matched—but it was covered in hooked spines, and its fangs were frighteningly long.
What the heck is this…
Once flipped, the empty eye sockets stared back at me, devoid of bugs or the odd things I’d imagined, but it still sent chills down my spine.
I couldn’t help but shiver.
Let’s leave this place…
Without turning back to look at it again, I swiped the muck off my scythe and quickened my pace ahead. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my chaotic thoughts. However, I didn’t walk far before the foul stench in the air intensified. The number of corpses in the muck grew, with not only that strange wolf-dog but also…!!!
Wait, is that a person…?!
That is…
I halted my steps, sidestepping a particularly deep pit of mud, and approached a strangely shaped black stone. Bending down, I looked at the highly decomposed human-shaped corpse slouched against the stone, my breath quaking, the skin on my scalp prickling as if electrified.
This is a person…
No, not quite a person… but very much like one…
About the height of an adult man, with hands and feet, one head, dried hair disheveled over the shoulders—n*ked except for scraps, the flesh on its face hung like rotten fabric, each strand emitting a stench that nearly suffocated me. Holding my breath, I tilted my head, using my scythe to lift the hair at the ear, looking closely…
The ears of the corpse had completely decayed.
But there was a tiny, sharp bone protruding there, resembling a little animal’s tailbone.
I stared at that bone in shock for a long time, my eyes widening as I stumbled back several steps, covering my mouth to stifle a scream, my mind racing with thoughts, the first one being: so that’s what fairy ears are like—bone included!
No wait!
This “person” is what they call forest fairies!!!
What the heck…
What on earth??
Completely at a loss, my mind went blank, thoughts in chaos, as I barely understood what I was supposed to do.
Wasn’t I supposed to enter the Land of Dragons to slay demons?
Where are the demons… and where is that dancer… why am I seeing the bodies of fairies here… are these the lost fairies from Woodward Forest? Did they come to the Land of Dragons? Died here? Or is…
This really another place entirely?!
“What on earth is going on…”
This is utterly different from what I imagined…
In this chaotic state, I couldn’t help but take a big breath of air, which caused me to choke on the floating ash, leading to a harsh coughing fit. Finally overwhelmed by the unbearable stench, I blinked away tears and hurriedly left, dragging the massive black scythe as I moved towards the unknown.
What to do…
What should I do now… what am I supposed to do…
Should I find a way out? Or should I… find where that dancer is… if this really is the Land of Dragons, she must be here too. Where would she go? Are there any footprints or something… footprints… hmm?
Wait, what is that—
As I walked, I suddenly spotted several bodies sprawled across the muck not far ahead, similarly humanoid, but there seemed to be a strange wolf-dog among them, appearing quite like the one I’d seen earlier, only… it felt a bit different…
To confirm my suspicions, I gripped my scythe tighter and walked quickly toward them.
…No doubt about it.
I hadn’t mistaken it.
These bodies were “fresh.”
Five bodies in total, including the wolf-dog and the fairies—clearly having died recently, they lay in the muck, the dark red bl**d turning the mud a deep brown; it hadn’t even congealed yet.
Thanks to the faint white light filtering through the mist, I finally got a clear look at the fairies’ forms.
They weren’t the beautifully enchanting figures I had imagined, nor were they the agile warriors legendary in this world; although they all bore pointy ears, they were gaunt, with faces twisted like demons, their skin a purplish hue and riddled with large sores, as if they had been corroded by something.
It didn’t seem like the rot was post-mortem—their cause of d*ath was evident; the gashes from crossing swords, and a long, brown crystalline spike embedded in one of the corpses’ chests—this was the doing of that dancer.
She had been here…
Though I couldn’t find footprints, she had definitely been here… she had killed these “fairies”… no, better to call them monsters; even “zombies” felt more fitting than the term “fairy.”
What the heck is going on…
Just as I was focused and terrified, wanting to get closer to examine these bodies, a chilling scream erupted from the dense fog in the distance.
“Wah—”
“Eek!”
The moment I heard that scream, I felt my scalp tingle; it was as if a buzzer went off in my head, and I couldn’t help but let out a tiny yelp. My heart raced as I almost jumped up, Captain Gray swiftly positioned in front of me, staring at the vast, fog-laden rock formation ahead. The shadowy, eerie atmosphere suddenly peaked at that moment, fear quietly blooming in my heart, and I felt the hairs on my neck stand on end.
From the darkness ahead came heavy, rasping breaths.
“What—what is that… what is it…”
