R-a - Volume 3 - Chapter 31

R-a - Chapter 189 (Live in editing-v2)

Time seemed to pass by at a crawl.

With Hanben leading them, their pace actually increased a small amount. The air was full of tension, something that was palpable to even the least observant members of Micheal’s group.

The sounds of wildlife had long since faded. At the start of their journey, Micheal had been able to pick up the noises that regular animals made as they grazed on grass or plants, travelled from one area to another, and in general just existed.

Mystical mountainous areas or Magic Forests weren’t solely inhabited by Magic Beasts, after all. The vast majority of their inhabitants would be regular animals, though even regular animals were stronger than average if they grew up here.

The path they followed now, however, was almost dead silent. Not a peep could be heard, from even a stray goat or crying bird.

The only creatures still making noise at this point were small, random insects, an irritant that existed even in this magical realm.

By now, an hour and a half had passed since they first interacted with the undead Drake. In that time…

The Dragon had flown past them 5 times.

Its presence was uniquely horrifying each time it flew by. The Dragonfear it instilled wasn’t something one could grow used to, it shocked Micheal’s group to the core. By this point, half of the group was a nervous wreck, only capable of moving forward because of the rest of the group’s urging.

Each time it flew by, the Dragon yelled for a Toren to come out. Micheal’s necklace continued to be activated again and again, gradually giving him a small headache, but still working.

His heart plummeted every time the Drake passed them, a feeling of helplessness settling upon his shoulders.

If the Dragon noticed them, there was almost nothing Micheal could possibly do to escape it. It was incredibly frustrating to have to weather this. If he had known this would happen, he likely would’ve put off looting Yvvtal’s Inheritance until after he saved Myla.

“One hour left, everyone. Keep holding it together, we’re almost through.” The Guide’s voice was a hushed whisper as he waved at everyone, catching their attention.

They had just entered a small, open valley, following alongside a gentle stream. The undead Dragon had passed by roughly 35 minutes ago, meaning it could return at any point.

Micheal nodded as the Guide spoke, his eyes cool.

All things considered, everything hadn’t gone that horribly. While this was a harrowing experience, the Dragon’s presence prevented any Magic Beasts from making a move on them, transforming their journey into a surprisingly safe one. Well, safe if you ignored the huge Dragon.

Initially, the Dragon had simply flown around angrily roaring. In its last couple of passes, however, the Drake had made several attacks, launching meteors of black fire from its mouth at anything that dared to move or make a noise while it was present.

Thankfully, it hadn’t noticed Micheal’s group. That, or even if it had, it wasn’t annoyed enough at them to take them out as long as they laid low.

With that said, there was only a single hour left until they could escape these mountains.

In Micheal’s previous life, this undead Drake had never before left the Dragon Mountains, even during times where it had chased a group of warriors that had antagonized it. Given that, Micheal thought it likely it was unable to leave these mountains for whatever reason, perhaps because of some type of magical curse that a Toren had hit it with. That would explain its current obsession with finding a Toren.

As long as he could survive another hour, he would be fully in the clear.

“This way!” The Guide waved for everyone to follow him as he began to jog alongside a stone trail that led out of the valley they’d entered a few minutes ago.

Time continued to drip by.

10 minutes… then 20 minutes… then 30 minutes…

Micheal couldn’t see the edge of the Dragon Mountains, but he could feel a layer of excitement settle upon the group as they got closer and closer to the end of their journey. Unfortunately, the north end of the Tansol Pass didn’t have a special, man-made cave allowing easy access in and out, meaning they had to brave the open.

When they were roughly 23 minutes away from the end of the Dragon Mountains, as most of the group was beginning to feel optimistic about their chances, something finally happened.

Micheal’s group had just moved over from one trail to another, following a rather rocky path that had meandered up and down the lower half of a mountain. Just as they clambered upon a low stone outcropping, they saw, farther up the path, something rather unexpected.

Another group, led by a Guide.

Or, rather…

Half of a group that had been led by a Guide.

Roughly 13 individuals were standing or laying on a connecting stone outcropping, a mixture of groans and moans coming out of them. There was a group of 6 warriors dressed in all black, several of them cradling broken bones, a man and a woman dressed in green leather armor and carrying a young child that was wrapped in a grey shroud, a trio of female Byrens wearing stained brown leather, and a horribly burned monk wearing brown robes that had partially fused with his flesh.

As for the other half of their Group, including their Guide…

A solid half of their stone outcropping had been obliterated, melted rock and earth melding together in a messy lump that was still steaming. All signs of the other members of their party were completely absent, incinerated in a huge, flaming meteor cast by the undead Drake.

“A-a-another Guide!” The moment Micheal’s team crossed onto the outcropping, the half-dead group spotted them. The woman carrying her child was the first to speak, her face alighting with hope.

“Thank the heavens…” The woman’s partner covered his face with his hands, his body visibly trembling with relief.

“It seems we have a chance again.” One of the three female Byrens wearing stained brown leather spoke up, her eyes glowing with hope.

“Sally up, men!” The leader of the six black-garbed warriors spoke aloud, a faintly militant air about him.

“Arrgh…” The injured monk merely groaned.

The reactions of the others were most positive. The complexions of those still living all lit up, save for the badly injured monk.

In fact, upon seeing the other group, the monk collapsed completely to the ground, lying still.

“Careful!” One among the female trio of Byrens rushed over to the downed monk, her voice full of concern. The other two quickly followed behind, their eyes alert.

After a few seconds, the first Byren shook her head sadly.

“Father Bontu’s dead.” The remnants of that group of Byrens collectively sighed, a morose mood overtaking everyone. The six warriors dressed in black all deeply bowed their heads, as did the parent Byrens. The trio of female warriors clasped their hands together and nodded, performing a ritualistic gesture that indicated great respect among some Byrens.

Micheal took this all in stride, a frown appearing on his face as he began to plan ahead.

“Everyone, keep remaining calm. You all will merge with our group, but you need to obey my orders and follow what I say.” Micheal’s Guide also took things in stride, instantly taking command.

The injured members of the new group all nodded, speaking a few quiet words of appreciation.

“Sir Guide, we’ve got many injured. Is there any chance we can take a break for a-“ The mother of the child began to speak, her voice compassionate.

Hanben interrupted her,

“We’re almost out of these mountains, everyone will need to bear with their injuries for now. Our immediate safety is far more important.” He waved off her worries as he began to gather everyone up.

Micheal eavesdropped as he heard the group explain what had happened to the Guide.

The undead Drake had passed by them several times, just as they had Micheal’s group. However, on its last pass, the Dragon had coincidentally flown over them at the same time that a Low-Tier Magic Beast had found the group.

The Magic Beast, a Red-Fanged Magpie, had struck out in fear and rage, unable to cope with the Dragonfear. It apparently hadn’t made much noise, but it had been loud enough to attract the undead Drake’s attention.

The Dragon had responded by sending a ball of deathly, black flames crashing down on the group, directly killing half of them, as well as the Low-Tier Magic Beast.

The monk in this group, Father Bontu, had used a special Martial Art that created a small shield of white light to protect the latter half of the group. His technique had been enough to stave off the brunt of the attack. Unfortunately for him, it was a technique that required he stand outside of the shield to activate it.

His sacrifice allowed the latter half of the group to live, but at the cost of his own life. It was a tale of heroic bravery and selflessness, a story that truly lived up to the expectations of honor that guided Byren society.

The fact that the monk had been able to partially block such a powerful attack and protect so many, even if it had been a casual, non-serious attack from the Drake, just went to show the incredible potential the Martial Artists of the Second Layer held within them.

It took only a few short moments for everyone to get ready. No one wasted any time as they began to set out once more, rushing to leave the Dragon Mountains as quickly as possible.

Micheal’s heart grew cold, however, as he made an unfortunate conclusion.

The Dragon had passed by their group several times, scanning this area of the Dragon Mountains over and over. This had, by far, been the longest it had taken to reappear.

With that thought in mind, Micheal began to plan more actively as he studied his group, readying himself… just in case.

And, sure enough, around 7 or 8 minutes later…

The air began to tremble.

The atmosphere began to darken. Energy seemed to flutter as a wash of emotions began to slam into almost everyone present. Terror, horror, rage…

Fear.

The undead Dragon had returned for one final pass.

Its massive, boney body glittered with darkness as it soared high in the sky, roaring out continuously in anger. Micheal’s Artifact continued to remain activated, glowing subtly in his shirt.

All this continuous activation had begun to strain not only Micheal’s mind and Soul, but also the Artifact itself.

The Aura Nullification Necklace was a very powerful Artifact, one of the best for its relatively cheap price. However, the sheer power difference between Micheal and the undead Dragon was rather extreme.

Micheal could tell that the necklace was reaching its limits. He had gone well beyond what it was built to handle. It wasn’t enough to break it, not yet, but it was getting close.

They hadn’t made it far from where they had picked up the new group. They moved from one mountain to another, following a similar rocky trail, but that was it. When the Drake began to appear this time, they had found themselves precariously perched on a thin stone outcropping, with little to no cover.

Almost as one, everyone fell to the ground, holding themselves as still as possible. The Dragonfear that began to blast into everyone had the added benefit of preventing almost everyone here from moving beyond basic trembling or shaking, meaning no one was able to make any flashy, attention-drawing actions.

No one made a sound…

…yet.

As the huge Dragon flew about overhead, radiating utter horror, a quiet moan caught everyone’s attention.

All of the adult Byrens remained still with lips sealed, not even making a peep. Almost everyone here knew that if they drew the attention of the deadly Drake, they would die, plain and simple.

However, among everyone here, there was one being that was not aware of that.

“Uhh…” The small, baby Byren cried out quietly, tears streaming from its face as it tried to understand what was happening. The small green gem on its forehead lit up faintly, picking up even more keenly on the terrifying energy that the Dragon gave off.

The roaring Dragon overhead continued to fly about, soaring back and forth as it scanned the area for the presence of a Toren. While it did that, Micheal watched it throw out two separate meteors of deathly fire, corroding flames that gave off a feeling of death, presumably at creatures that moved or made noise.

Everyone’s gaze turned to stare at the little, baby Byren. The parents of the baby, the Guide, the various members of Micheal’s group and the half-dead group…

Tension and fear colored everyone’s gaze as they stared at the baby, not only battling with the intense Dragonfear, but also desperately praying that it would remain silent.

The baby cooed quietly several times. For a few moments, it seemed as if it might fall into silence, frozen stiff like everyone else. Its parents were unable to cover it up or comfort it, physically unable to move due to the Dragonfear.

The Dragon continued to roar about overhead. By this point, several minutes had passed and it had flown over much of the area already. In fact, it was close to turning around and returning to sweep the other way, still yelling about a Toren.

“Uhh…UHH…” Just as things seemed as if they might work out, the baby began to shake once more. Its eyes opened wide as it stared at the fearsome image of the Drake up above them, its hands trembling.

As this took place, in the darkest depths of his own body, Micheal could vaguely sense Yvvtal's presence beginning to stir.

Everyone watched in slow motion as the baby opened its mouth, its tiny hands clenching tight as the child prepared to scream.

Just before it could do that, however…

Micheal leaned over and punched the baby.

His blow to the chest was as light as possible, infused with Ki energy that rushed through the baby’s body. Micheal guided this precisely, doing his utmost to prevent any actual harm from coming to the small Byren. He used the Ki to try and flush out the erratic energy waves that were knocking into the baby, causing its body and mind to panic.

Micheal grunted silently as he felt a huge feeling of strain settle upon him.

At the same time, the baby’s eyelids fell closed as the erratic energy was successfully forced out, sending the baby drifting off to sleep.

Just pushing the Dragonfear inducing energy out of a tiny baby had cost Micheal a full half of his energy reserves. Still, the move had worked, just as he had hoped.

Of all of the people present, Micheal had stuck near the two parents and their child, figuring that they would be the most likely ones to endanger him. His initial plan was to force out the Dragonfear energy to protect the baby’s mind and stop it from making noise, while his backup was to simply cover its mouth.

As the baby fell asleep, the Dragon above twisted and turned for a few moments.

It then roared loudly again and began to fly to the south, its presence slowly leaving the sky as it left their line of sight.

Yvvtal's presence vanished once more, burrowing so deep that it seemed as if the Fallen Deity's spirit might never appear again. Micheal noted that down with a hint of suspicion, filing the feeling away to consider later.

The terrible fear began to leave everyone as the mood calmed. The panic and horror fled from the present Byren’s eyes as the situation returned to normal.

Well, mostly normal.

Almost everyone present was currently glaring at Micheal, half with outrage, half with gratitude, as if they couldn’t make up their mind what to feel.The mother of the baby looked like she wanted to rip Micheal's throat out as she huddled down, hiding the child from him, as if he might attack it at any moment.

Micheal simply shrugged.

He had just punched a baby after all.

He couldn’t really fault them.

Even if they knew he had saved their lives by doing that...well, it still looked awful.

Upon considering this further, he decided that, should there ever be a next time, he would instead knock the baby's chest with a couple of his fingers in a much less offensive-looking strike. In the moment, he hadn't been completely sure he would be able to handle it without going all out, and had thus focused purely on control, ignoring appearances.

Regardless, the two groups rallied forth and immediately fled from the mountains, finishing up the last bit of their journey without any more hiccups. The towering undead Dragon was left wandering the area of the Tansol Pass, ineffectually raging and trying to find the Toren hidden within Micheal’s body.

Meanwhile…

The only thought on Micheal’s mind as he finally left the Dragon Mountains, moving onto a large, sweeping grass plain was a simple one.

‘Let’s go.’ His eyes gleamed, a small smile appearing on his face as he parted ways with his group.

He’d finally made it to the territory of the Silent Sword Sect. From here, it was only a short journey to reach where the majority of Farians were living: The Woolen Forest.

There was only one thing left to do after that...

Set a trap.

.