Compared to the Asura Kingdom and the Holy Country of Millis, the Shirone Kingdom was just a small realm on the Central Continent. Its territory wasn't even as large as the Fittoa Region of the Asura Kingdom.
Given its modest strength, finding a "Sword Saint" within the kingdom would likely prove difficult. Wood couldn't understand how veteran warriors like Paul, an advanced swordsman, and Zenith, a Saint-level healer, could possibly be in any danger in such a place.
However, Rudeus, as a "reincarnator" with certain "cheats," wasn't prone to making baseless claims. Wood trusted that Rudeus wouldn't raise concerns without reason.
As they pressed forward through the raging snowstorm, the group's pace was clearly slowed. Even though they were wrapped in thick winter coats, the biting winds felt like sharp blades cutting into their skin.
In addition to battling the harsh elements, they had to contend with external dangers.
"Roarrrrrrr!"
A loud dragon's roar echoed through the air as a massive flying dragon swooped down from the sky, its talons aimed straight at Eris and Rudeus, who were seated on the back of the Magic Wolf King.
The dragon was smaller than the wolf in body size, but its wingspan was far larger, covering the entire length of the Magic Wolf King. The flying dragons that inhabited the King Dragon Mountains were known to attack any trespassers who wandered into their territory.
The sudden dive of the dragon caught them off guard. As the powerful beast beat its wings, the stormy wind it generated was so strong that Eris and Rudeus were blown back, unable to open their eyes to retaliate.
Fortunately, they were not alone. Just as the dragon's claws reached down for its prey, Wood and Ruijerd acted in unison.
Ruijerd darted in front of Eris and Rudeus, using his spear to block the dragon's descending talons. At the same time, Wood leapt high into the air. With a flash of his blade, the dragon's wings were sliced open, blood spraying out before the creature crashed to the ground.
The downed dragon barely had time to react to its injuries before the Magic Wolf King pounced on it, snapping its neck in a single bite. The dragon lay lifeless—killed within seconds.
A creature as formidable as a flying dragon, which possessed power equivalent to an advanced swordsman or magician and the advantage of flight, had been felled so quickly by Wood and his companions.
Had any other adventurers witnessed this scene, their jaws would have surely dropped in shock.
This was a dragon—a beast so mighty that even an S-class adventuring party would struggle to defeat one without significant effort. Yet, this one was dispatched in mere moments.
Even more surprising was that Wood and the others didn't even bother to collect the rare materials from the dragon's body. They simply left it behind as they continued on their way.
The flying dragon wasn't the only one inhabiting the King Dragon Mountains. As they journeyed deeper into the range, more dragons began attacking them. Their numbers increased, as did their strength.
Thankfully, with Ruijerd and the Magic Wolf King holding the front lines, Wood and Rudeus were able to safely channel their magic. Together, they unleashed a combined Saint-level wind and fire spell. Despite the dragons' natural resistance, the powerful magic overwhelmed them, sending the beasts plummeting from the skies like falling leaves.
After the dragon swarm retreated, recognizing that these humans were far too dangerous to engage, Wood and Rudeus thought the worst was over. However, the commotion caused by the Saint-level magic had drawn the attention of another presence in the mountains.
The Human God, hiding deep within Rudeus' consciousness, seemed to sense something. With a sly grin of triumph, he disappeared from the area, but not before leaving a parting gift for Wood and Rudeus—his essence lingered heavily on both of them.
Dragon God Orsted, the son of the First Dragon God and the hundredth Dragon God in line, had traveled to the future using the secret reincarnation technique of the Dragon Tribe with one goal: to eliminate the Human God.
Orsted's abilities were nothing short of a cheat. Using the Dragon Tribe's secret techniques, he could reincarnate endlessly. If he failed to defeat the Human God by the year 530 of the Dragon Calendar, he would retain his memories and leap back to the year 330 to begin his pursuit once again.
Yet, despite more than two hundred cycles of reincarnation, Orsted had never managed to defeat the Human God.
Each time he returned to the past, the future replayed in the same way. However, in this cycle, Orsted discovered an anomaly—a "teleportation incident" that had never appeared in previous timelines.
Realizing that history was now diverging, Orsted believed this anomaly might be the key to defeating the Human God. He began investigating the "teleportation incident" and eventually discovered that it was caused by a girl from another world.
Determining that this girl was a crucial variable in the battle against the Human God, Orsted took her under his wing and traveled across the world with her in search of clues to the god's whereabouts.
As they passed near the Red Dragon's Maw in the King Dragon Mountains, Orsted suddenly sensed something. Grabbing the girl beside him, he sped off toward a certain direction.
In the blink of an eye, the scenery changed before the girl's eyes. She found herself in a vastly different environment, facing a group of strangers.
Two identical twin boys, a red-haired girl, and a tall green-haired man—these four were unfamiliar to her. And then there was the large wolf-like creature standing beside them, surrounded by the corpses of many dragons.
After a brief moment of shock, the girl steadied herself. She reminded herself that she was now in another world, and given all the bizarre things she had seen already, this was hardly the strangest.
After all, the man next to her had claimed to be a "Dragon God."
Wood and his group had just finished clearing out the dragons. All they needed to do was cross the next ridge, and they would be out of the King Dragon Mountains.
But when they saw the man and the girl suddenly standing in their path, their bodies froze.
It was as if the very air around them had solidified. Even though neither the man nor the girl had attacked, simply being in their presence sent chills down the spines of both Wood and Ruijerd.
There was no mistaking it—this was fear.
It wasn't the cold wind that caused this sensation; it was a primal, instinctual fear, the kind that only came from standing before a being far more powerful than anything they had ever encountered.
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 400+ at p@treon.com/Betek (@->a)