A black dragon that could use some ancient draconic magic to tear open space and gulp down a living elemental? It was crazy, but not impossible.
The whole situation was like watching someone swallow liquid nitrogen for fun, and walk away without a scratch. That wasn't normal.
Either the attacker wasn't human… or they were wearing some kind of god-tier gear.
Bryella was still fuming. It wasn't just the ambush. She got eaten. That crossed a line.
She was definitely going to find that dragon. And when she got her strength back, rip its scales off, one by one.
Seeing her mood boil over, Vane quickly changed topics.
"Let's focus on the white dragon we did find. It's been attacking Deep Abyss Cult forces on its own.
Even took out a few monster outbreaks. We tried to reach out. If possible, maybe we can form an alliance.
I've invited a mage who specializes in dragons. They want to speak with you, Bryella. Would you, "
"No!"
She bolted over to Elara, grabbed her and the white dog at her side, and stormed toward the door.
Dragging both girl and dog, she announced, "I'm going out for a walk!"
"I'm not a pet!"
"…Ugh…"
She didn't care about some random white dragon. All she wanted… was for that black-robed bastard to show himself again. So she could smash him into the ground. And once she recovered her power, track down that black dragon, and settle the score.
At the heart of the region stood Lucrecia, the largest city in the area and home to the Vane family's ancestral stronghold. Their castle stretched along the mountain ridge, with old stone towers biting into the freezing wind like jagged teeth.
Smoky chimneys and sharp spires branched out across the peaks, linking to the thick inner walls and eventually reaching the city's outer defenses. And of course, there were people. A lot of people.
Still, Elara didn't really feel comfortable here. When she first arrived, it was kind of exciting. But that faded fast.
Spending money in a cold, remote place like this? No thanks.
Glacien didn't look thrilled either. Dragged along and stuck babysitting, he stayed quiet, clearly annoyed. Bryella wasn't any better, probably just tagging along without caring much, looking more bored than anything.
Elara sighed. Something about Bryella not smiling always made things feel... wrong.
Their little group trudged through the streets like they were on a forced march. Glacien kept hold of Bryella's hand so she wouldn't wander off.
Elara paid for whatever snacks caught her eye, occasionally warning her not to touch random stuff. Strangely, once Bryella started to understand basic social rules, she became a bit more self-conscious.
The streets were packed, refugees from destroyed towns, sketchy merchants, rowdy adventurers, even disgraced nobles. Soldiers marched past in full armor, and the city was more crowded than ever. Fortunately, food and warmth weren't an issue, mostly thanks to one thing: dead monsters.
The frozen corpses of magical beasts left behind by a certain dragon were still usable in this climate. Sometimes, you'd even find bodies outside the city walls, twisted into eerie ice sculptures.
Warfang had taken over order-keeping. He cracked down on looters and chaos-bringers, even seized resources from anyone tied to the Abyss Church.
He used that to buy truckloads of food from the safer southern regions. The city was bleeding gold just to stay running.
Refugees were put to work fixing buildings, walls, and setting up defenses. The rest? Well, if you complained too much, you got punched Hard.
The Vane family made sure everyone knew who had the bigger fists.
In a world where personal power could level cities, the strongest always won. Even families with gold-ranked warriors had to back down when Vane got involved.
They might grumble, but they still had to smile through broken teeth. That's how this fragile, still-functioning system stayed together.
Elara had heard rumors that Vane was trying to get help from the royal family of the Draegarn Empire, hopefully some high-ranked fighters. With the monster tide growing in the north, it made sense.
If the northern defenses fell, the southern capital would be next. And in this mess, anyone who crossed vane or just rubbed him the wrong way got "cleansed."
Some used it as a chance to settle old scores. Others snitched before they became targets themselves. What happened to them? Elara never found out.
All she could say was, "This really feels like one of those high-fantasy political dramas…"
Naturally, in any world, you'd find religious groups. Here, it was the Church of Holy Radiance, worshippers of the Light God.
But even they were split into three major sects. The one here belonged to the Dawn Sect.
According to legend, at the break of dawn, the god would appear as a girl in white, wrapped in glowing golden leaves. Her role was to crack open the shell of night and let the light spill through.
She'd ring a huge bell from a snowy manor in the mountains, signaling the end of night and the arrival of light.
They called her "Dawn."
Because of that, 6:00 AM, known as Bell Hour, was considered the start of a new day. Most temples in this sect had bell towers, though not everyone actually rang them anymore.
"Hm… I wonder if I can learn some Holy Radiance skills?" Elara's eyes sparkled at the idea.
Radiance wasn't exactly magic, but it worked similarly, and was especially strong against Abyss forces. Considering what was going on in the North, and what might be coming later… yeah, it could be useful.
"Too bad this one's from the Dawn Sect," she mumbled. The main temple for Radiance was probably elsewhere, maybe at the White Noon Cathedral.
She hadn't seen any real holy relics yet, which was a bit disappointing. Still, she had her own Skill Book, so maybe she could learn a few Radiance tricks on her own.
That said, it wasn't easy to awaken Radiance. Even among tons of believers, only a rare few ever got it, and usually after years of prayer and good deeds.
Elara doubted this remote little temple, especially from the weakest of the three sects, had anyone impressive.
Supposedly, the main temple was hidden somewhere nearby, but you needed an invite. She didn't even know where to start looking.
Each sect had their own way of using Radiance. The Dusk Sect leaned into attack spells. White Noon focused on powerful blessings and shields. But the Dawn Sect? Their only specialty was purification.
And purification? From what Elara had seen, it helped with insomnia and maybe made kids sleep better.
Even high-level spells didn't seem that useful. Their healing and attack power were weak, and fewer and fewer people awakened Radiance through them. Over the past few centuries, they'd just slowly faded away.
Compared to the brilliance of White Noon, the Dawn Sect looked like it had been forgotten by their god. But Elara believed otherwise.
The light of Dawn might've been quiet and gentle, but it was pure. And that purification could one day become the strongest weapon against the Abyss.