Chapter 578

Chapter 200 – The Land of the Great Dragon Part 7

Buzz—

The moment my hand touched the tree bark, covered with cracks and moss, a tremor surged through my mind.

It was a peculiar sensation. At first, it wasn’t painful, just like something shaking incessantly within my head, making me dizzy. Soon after, my vision started to shake, my face trembled, my teeth rattled, and two seconds later, even my entire body began to tremble. The immense roar of the storm faded away, and the ground beneath my feet swayed, nearly causing me to lose balance. I stumbled backward, taking a few steps back, and in an instant, the image of the trembling tree trunk had vanished.

In the next moment, white light invaded, spreading from a single point before my eyes, instantly engulfing everything, turning the world into a pure white expanse.

What… happened?

I felt somewhat panicked, gasping for air as I took two more steps back. I looked around, instinctively gripping Captain Gray tightly in my hand.

There was nothing…

Everything around was white, far away was white, and even the ground beneath my feet was a void of white.

This was clearly different from the usual blinding whiteness caused by divine light. The great tree, the storm surrounding it, the grass underfoot, the faint cries and screams beyond the storm, the sounds of battle—all had vanished in an instant. I realized that I was no longer in my original location, nor was I in the same world.

My brain continued to tremble.

In the next moment, a deep-seated nausea and pain surged through me, as if an electric shock had spread from my head to the rest of my body.

“Ugh…”

With a clatter, I dropped Captain Gray and held my head in the vast white void, groaning in discomfort.

“Ah… Uu…”

It hurt…

It made me feel so nauseous…

As if my soul was being gradually separated from my body, everything became hazy. All that remained were unbearable dizziness, nausea, and bone-chilling pain. My vision spun, and the white in front of me began to distort.

“Guh—”

I couldn’t hold back and vomited.

But the vomiting did not alleviate the slightest discomfort. I fell to my knees on the unseen ground, retching uncontrollably. Since I hadn’t eaten much, what came out was mostly clear water. My stomach ached violently, as if it had been emptied. Gradually, my vision blurred.

My consciousness became muddled.

My body swayed, about to collapse when the world suddenly regained color.

Falling ashes and rotten black soil came into view first, things that did not make one feel comfortable.

The white in my vision dissipated like dissipating fog, gradually fading. Solid land appeared beneath me, and the sensation of touch slowly returned. The hand that had been resting on the ground felt cool and sticky; looking up, I saw it was covered in disgusting black mud.

A strange smell hit me, almost making me want to vomit again.

What is this…

I hurriedly got up, shook off the black mud from my palm, but found it wouldn’t come off completely. I tried using a handkerchief to wipe it, but when I reached for it on my left wrist, I found it was gone. It then dawned on me that I had given the handkerchief to Ryan.

“…”

After pondering for a moment, I noticed some relatively dry spots on the ground, covered with thick layers of ash. I went over and picked some up, rubbing it on my hands as if washing them. After a long while, I finally managed to clean the black mud off. Then I pinched a bit of the ash and smelled it.

… There was nothing particularly odd about it.

This was just the ash from something that had been burned.

“… Achoo!”

Ashes kept falling from above, sometimes irritating my nose. I couldn’t help but sneeze, shook my head, and stood up, covering my mouth and nose with my arm. I walked back to pick up Captain Gray, then looked around warily.

After a short while, my pupils dilated sharply, and I froze in place.

Here…

Ashes fell like snowflakes, gently descending within the range of my vision.

Apart from that, everything was decayed and black.

Black mud, black boulders, black highlands, black trees. In the distance, there was a thin mist, and in the muddy ground, there were decaying bones, stinking and unidentifiable.

Here… Where am I?

Is this… the Land of the Great Dragon?

I felt somewhat disoriented.

The dizziness and nausea in my head gradually subsided, though some remnants still lingered. My ears buzzed incessantly, and I couldn’t help but turn my head—I could no longer hear the storm behind me, nor the enraged shouts of the warriors outside the storm. Instead, there was only endless ash and scorched earth.

… I’m in.

This place was undoubtedly another unknown, vast expanse.

However…

I stood rooted to the spot for a long time, occasionally surveying my surroundings. I gazed at the seemingly endless mud and scorched earth, and the distant hills shrouded in a thick fog. A strange atmosphere gradually enveloped my heart, and I suddenly felt uneasy, not knowing what to do.

There was nothing here… a dead land…

What’s going on…

Is this really the Land of the Great Dragon?

… Where are the dragons?

I looked up at the sky.

A white mist hung overhead, flowing slowly like waves, denser than the ground. Grayish-white light mixed with the ashes, sprinkling down. Apart from that, there seemed to be nothing else.

I didn’t see any dragons.

Nor did I see any demons, or even the heretical dancer. All I could see was endless ash and decay.

After a long while, I finally snapped out of my extreme shock and confusion, rubbed my throbbing head, and stepped forward, wading through the nauseating black mud. I moved toward a spot where half my body sank into the mud, coming to a stop beside a skeleton, so rotten it was barely recognizable, emitting an unbearable stench.

Frowning and pinching my nose, I looked.

How disgusting…

This place is so disgusting… so eerie… What died here…

It looks like… a dog? Or maybe a wolf?

Some kind of animal’s remains… definitely not a dragon…

I stared at the bones for a while, then suddenly remembered something, and despite the nausea, I forced myself to look closer.

At first, I gently prodded with Captain Gray’s sword and immediately jumped back, watching carefully.

However, the skeleton only swayed slightly before settling down again.

… It was completely dead.

“Huuu—”

I patted my chest, exhaling lightly.

I don’t know why, but I always felt that in such places, something like this might inexplicably come back to life. If I wasn’t mentally prepared, I would be scared out of my wits.

… No, I need to confirm this again.

I slowly walked over, raised my scythe, and poked it. Feeling no movement, I used a bit more force, flipping the skeleton in the mud, revealing its stark white skull. It looked like a wolf or a dog, about the same size, but with spikes growing on its head and terrifying fangs.

What the hell is this…

After flipping over, the skeleton’s empty eye sockets faced me. There were no bugs, nor any strange things as I had imagined, but it still felt creepy.

I couldn’t help but shiver.

Forget it, let’s leave here…

I turned away, no longer looking at it, waved off the mud from my scythe, and quickened my pace, taking a deep breath to calm my chaotic mind. However, after walking a short distance, I noticed the stench of decay becoming more intense, and there were more skeletons in the mud—some like the strange wolf-dog, others humanoid…!!!

Wait, is that a person…?

That…

I stopped and sidestepped around a deeper section of the mud, walking to a strangely shaped black rock. Bending down, I stared at a human-like corpse leaning against the rock, highly decomposed. My breathing trembled, and my scalp tingled as if electrified.

This is a person…

No, not a person… but it looks like one…

About the height of an adult man, with hands and feet, a head, withered hair scattered on the shoulders, naked, the flesh hanging like tattered cloth, emitting a foul odor that almost suffocated me. Holding my breath, I turned my head sideways and used the scythe to lift the hair, examining its ear…

The skeleton’s ear was completely rotten.

But there was a sharp, thin bone, like a small animal’s tail vertebra, standing there.

Staring at that bone, I stood stunned for a long time, suddenly widening my eyes, taking several steps back, almost gasping as I covered my mouth. In an instant, my thoughts raced, and the first idea that came to mind was: So, elves have bones!

No!

This “person” is the forest sprite they mentioned!!

What the heck…

What the heck??

I was completely at a loss, my mind blank, thoughts chaotic, almost not knowing what to do.

Wasn’t it supposed to be about slaying demons in the land of dragons…

Where are the demons… where is that dancer… why am I seeing the remains of sprites here… are these the missing sprites from Woodworth Forest? Did they enter the land of dragons and die here? Or…

Is this actually somewhere else?!

“What the hell is going on…”

It’s nothing like I imagined…

In my confusion, I couldn’t help but take a deep breath, then choked on the ash floating by, coughing violently. Finally, unable to stand the stench here, I left quickly, tears welling up, dragging the huge black scythe, continuing towards the unknown direction.

What should I do…

What should I do now… What should I do…

Should I find a way out? Or… find where the dancer is… If this really is the dragon’s homeland, then she must be here too. Where could she have gone? Are there any footprints… footprints… hmm?

Wait, that—

As I walked, I suddenly saw several corpses lying in the mud not far ahead. They were also humanoid, with what seemed to be a strange wolf-dog among them. The body type appeared similar to what I had seen before, but… there was something different…

To confirm my guess, I braced myself, gripping the scythe tighter, and walked over quickly.

… That’s right.

I didn’t see wrong.

These corpses were “fresh.”

The wolf-dog, sprite… there were five in total, seemingly just dead, lying in the mud, their dark red blood mixing the mud into a deep brown, not yet solidified.

With the faint white light seeping through the fog, I finally saw the sprites clearly.

They didn’t look like the beautiful elves I imagined, nor the agile, battle-ready warriors of legend. These sprites, though having pointed ears, were emaciated, with faces like wicked ghosts, skin a bluish-purple, and large areas of decay, as if corroded by something.

It didn’t seem like the decay formed after death; I was very sure they had died recently. Their cause of death was clear—the crisscrossing sword wounds, and a slender brown crystal spike stuck in one of the corpses’ chests, which was done by the dancer.

She has been here…

Although I couldn’t find any footprints, she has been here… she killed these “sprites”… no, rather, monsters, even zombies would be more fitting than “sprites.”

What’s going on with these things…

Just as I focused intently, fearfully wanting to get closer to examine these corpses, a sound like ghostly wailing suddenly came from the thick fog in the distance.

“Wooooo—”

“Eee!”

Hearing that sound instantly, my scalp tingled, my head buzzed, and I couldn’t help but let out a soft cry, my heart nearly leaping out of my chest. Captain Gray swiftly appeared in front of me, blocking my view, as I looked at the immense rocky cliff ahead, shrouded in mist. The eerie atmosphere reached its peak, and terror quietly grew within me, making my hair stand on end.

From the darkness in the distance, heavy breathing could be heard.

“W-Wha-What…?”

I instinctively started backing away.

“What is that… what is that thing…”