Chapter 170

Once again, I immerse my body into the frigid permafrost.

The sunlight fiercely shines upon the land, and signs of life beginning to bloom can be seen everywhere.

Perhaps the term “permafrost” has now become an old tale.

With the chill emitted by the giant gone, spring slowly finds its way to the earth.

—

The issue was the floating island.

The fog from the floating island was spilling over like some kind of waterfall, flowing downwards.

The sight of white smoke gently descending was quite spectacular, but knowing its true nature, it was rather unsettling for me.

—

If there had been any life nearby, they would’ve surely fallen victim to this phenomenon.

Fortunately, this land was barren.

Though slightly apologetic to the new lives that will sprout here, today’s agenda is to deal with the floating island.

Although it hasn’t stretched long enough to reach the ground yet, the fog continues to descend from the middle of the sky and earth.

—

I levitate my body and slowly approach the floating island.

The fog seems thicker than before, trying to seep into my body.

By channeling magic power into Aarue, I activate the ‘Space Block’ ability.

—

A barrier in the shape of a sphere expands in a straight circular form.

Thanks to having equipped devices that replenish magic power efficiently, even as the fog fiercely strikes the wall, my magic remains steady, calm like the sea.

—

“Haa…”

—

I exhale the breath I’d been holding.

I might have been unconsciously tensed up.

The real exploration begins now.

Cutting through the impenetrable fog, I move towards the center of the island.

—

The ground beneath my feet feels moist.

This sensation grows stronger as I venture further inside.

It becomes sticky, almost glue-like.

The color of the soil shifts from ordinary brown to an ashen red.

The feeling of the ground pulling at my feet is incredibly uncomfortable.

—

Even the system only identifies it as ‘ground.’

There’s nothing particularly special about it.

—

Reaching the center of the island rather quickly, there lies a massive cave.

Low and thick fog continuously flows out from the cave entrance.

It’s clear that this is the source of everything.

—

As I take a step forward, the fog splits and flows around me.

Covering my spherical space densely, it completely blocks my forward view.

The relentless flow of fog eventually obscures my vision entirely when I stand at the cave entrance.

The swarm of fog seems to attack me ceaselessly, as if it holds hostile intent.

—

Ignoring it, I enter the cave.

Even if my vision is blocked, replacing my eyes with magic power is something I’m already accustomed to.

Slowly walking along the rough and uneven path indicated by my magic.

Following a path that descends slightly underground without end.

—

Whenever I encounter a fork in the road, I send out a bit of magic to scout ahead.

Avoiding confusion, I proceed straight ahead, eventually reaching a fairly deep underground location.

A massive cavern.

A place where fog is constantly generated and flows endlessly.

—

At the center of this place lies the grotesque remains of a colossal dragon.

The fog partially hides it, but it’s not a pleasant sight.

—

[Life is needed…]

—

The eerie noise spreading within the fog sends chills down my spine.

—

Then, something takes form within the fog.

Churning and forming into the shape of a foggy dragon.

—

[You… give your life.]

—

I don’t know exactly what it means, but it’s clearly an enemy.

Simultaneously, I open the system to identify the essence of the fog dragon before me.

—

[Night Moon Origin Core]

—

Core.

So, if I destroy this, will everything return to normal?

I’m not entirely sure yet.

For now, my focus is solely on eliminating this hostile dragon.

—

The fog dragon’s first attack begins with a massive breath.

I firmly plant my feet to maintain balance against the impact.

My previously expanded Space Block is adjusted minutely to cover just my body, reducing its size.

—

Adjusting the Space Block like this consumes more magic power compared to simply expanding it in a circle, but I judged that receiving the breath with a circular block would pose too great a risk.

During battle, doing it this way is better.

—

The sword ‘Huehr’ glows as it confronts the storm of fog.

—

There’s no sound.

Only the immense collision of magic powers exists.

The dazzling swirl right before my eyes and the ceaseless depletion of magic power.

Even though I slash with my sword, the fog surrounding me doesn’t disappear.

The fog that engulfs me slowly starts to rise from the floor.

—

[Merge with me…]

—

I lightly thrust a piercing strike towards the unpleasant voice emitting from the fog dragon.

Though my precise strike cuts off the dragon’s head, soon after, the space fills with fog once again.

Meaning that regular magic attacks are ineffective.

—

Fog isn’t good with fire, right?

I cast a spell to ignite flames all around.

—

[Hmm…]

—

The fog dragon, with a mysterious smile, swallows the flames with its mouth.

Together with that, the control of the magic power under my dominion transfers to the fog dragon.

From the dragon’s mouth flows a dense foggy breath.

—

Could this be why dragons were easily defeated?

An existence that absorbs spells and makes them its own.

It was a devastating counter to magic.

—

Though the fire pushed the fog away initially, after the fog dragon swallowed it, the traces were replaced with denser fog.

Thus, I had no choice but to withdraw all my magic.

In the end, the only option left is to settle this with my sword.

—

Would it work to blow it away with wind?

I create wind pressure with my sword, lifting the entire fog.

—

Yet, the fog maintains its form and flows gracefully throughout the cavern.

I could see the ridiculous shape of the confused fog dragon, but I couldn’t stop the fog breath shooting from its mouth.

—

Clasping my hands, I deploy a momentary domain.

Since directly receiving the breath would burden my magic power, I slow down the speed of the breath covering the entire cavern.

—

If I accelerate the flow of the fog greatly, will it disappear?

I stretch the time of the slowly spreading fog far into the future.

Despite being infinitely accelerated, given endless time, the fog didn’t vanish.

It merely flowed calmly in its place.

—

“Hm…”

—

There’s nothing I can do about the fog flowing around me.

Whether it was fired or generated.

—

So, the best course of action I can take now is to somehow deal with the fog dragon marked as the Night Moon Origin Core.

Raising my sword, I slowly advance.

Since the space is somewhat narrow… If my vision is limited by the fog and my magic keeps being drained…

Isn’t widening the space the solution?

—

Thus, I adjust my breathing and draw a long piercing strike.

The multiple connected forms of the sword create one shape.

—

[…!]

—

If the floating island collapses… It would be a somewhat regrettable event.

Thinking that, I carve out a massive hole underground on the floating island.

In the narrowing conical shape, shadows invade our space, but beyond it, the scenery clearly shows the sky.

—

Through the newly opened space, the fog slowly flows out.

The dissipating fog falling like a downward-flowing waterfall significantly reduces the density of the cavern.

Accordingly, the fog dragon’s form becomes slightly clearer.

—

Creating several more openings by repeatedly sending piercing strikes, I transform the cavern into a thoroughly perforated area.

The sharp strikes cutting through the cavern spit out large rocks.

A wide-open space allowing us to see the sky is unmistakably revealed.

—

The movements of the fog dragon slow down.

Is this the right approach?

The uncontrollable flow of fog escaping outside is overwhelming.

I could faintly sense the slight panic of the fog dragon.

The dragon, now fully formed of pure fog.

—

The gentle breeze sweeps away the faint remnants of fog lying on the floor.

With the obstructive fog cleared, we two stand in perfect clarity.

It meant that the fog which had been troubling us had washed away and disappeared.

—

[What foolishness…]

—

“Hmm. We’ll have to see who’s really acting foolishly.”

—

[Language… communication…?]

—

What’s so surprising about that?

I raise my sword again and slash at the fog dragon’s neck.

—

A creaking sound occurs as my sword is stopped by something solid.

Not the feeling of cutting through empty air, but proof of substance.

Smiling at that fact, I strike the same spot again with my sword.

—

Of course, the dragon wouldn’t let that happen easily.

The form of the fog dragon disperses into mist and moves elsewhere.

Appearing at the very edge of the cavern, it spews out thick fog without restraint, filling the cavern as it was at the start.

Instead of flowing toward the spaces I slashed with my piercing strikes, it creates a slight barrier, trapping the fog inside, making it thicker.

—

Within that space, meticulous control and regulation are evident.

That’s why I accelerate time towards the fog blocking the greatly opened space.

Even if I can’t make the fog disappear, its control cannot last forever.

—

[…!]

—

The situation returns to the initial state where I cut through the essence of the fog dragon.

The endless fog being spat out helplessly flows outwards, reverting to the situation of pouring water into a bottomless pot.

Unless this fog dragon can emit enough fog to cover the entire world, the victor in this situation can only be me.

—

At the center of the dragon floating in the sky.

I strongly stab my sword towards that point.

—

Accelerated time.

In that subtle gap where even a momentary response is impossible, the core of the dragon is pierced by my sword.

Since I don’t think it will die with just one strike, I hasten the dragon’s life limitlessly as soon as I reach it.

—

[Khh…]

—

With that small utterance, unable to comprehend its meaning, the fog dragon loses its form and disappears.

—

Watching that scene, my hands begin to tremble slightly.

The enormous magic power contained in a single slashing strike.

Moreover, the strain on my body for using abilities quickly and powerfully was quite significant.

Having poured nearly everything for a short-term decisive battle, my head feels slightly dizzy.

—

As the fog dragon vanishes, a lump of condensed fog descends.

—

[Broken Night Moon Origin Core]

—

Thinking this might be useful for something, I put it in my bag first.

Immediately afterward, the system buzzes, announcing my victory.

—

[C. Exploration of the Fortress Drifting Through Dimensions Successful!!!]

[Exploration Reward Achieved!]

[1. ‘Clear Interval’ Dimension Coordinates Acquired

2. Ownership of Floating Island Acquired]

—

The definitive victory announcement from the system.

Relieved by that news, I slump down onto the spot.

Considering only the difficulty of the battle, it wasn’t particularly high, but since I poured all my strength into it, it was quite exhausting.

Tiring while attacking, you could say.

—

The acquired coordinates of Clear Interval may not be very useful, but the ownership of the floating island might come in handy.

I don’t have any idea how to use it yet…

But perhaps there’s a way to utilize it somehow.

—

The flowing fog has stopped.

Then, the fog flowing downwards and the dense fog spread across the surroundings began to take some form.

—

Red-colored fog. Blood-red flow.

Some clump together to form white bones, others shaping parts of bodies.

The dragons from the floating island seemed to have transformed into fog and are now gradually returning to their original forms.

—

Still, it was somewhat fortunate.

Seeing these scattered entities regaining order and each taking the form of dragons indicates hope.

Otherwise, the lineage of dragons would have been irreversibly severed.

—

Slowly turning around, I gaze at the flow of fog in the crumbling underground cavern.

The lumps tied at the center separate into individual forms, and the sight of fog attaching itself to bring something back to life is honestly quite creepy.

If they recover fully, we’ll deal with that then.

Since I don’t know how much time it will take, I leave them as they are for now.

—

Whatever happens, I’m satisfied that I’ve taken a firm step towards returning to Earth.

It was an utterly tiring day.

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