The journey dragged on for several more hours.
But this time .. for the first time .. we stepped onto solid ground.
"We're finally out of that damned desert…"
We exhaled in relief as we entered a completely new region.
A forest ..but not just any forest.
Trees with pitch-black bark. Leaves darker than night.
A suffocating atmosphere thick with tainted aura.
If anything, this place felt even worse than the desert we just left behind.
For now, we decided to stop briefly .. just enough to recover some strength and get a bit of sleep.
Two hours of rest per person.
That was the most we could afford before moving out again.
"How's it looking, Frey?"
"We're getting closer."
I didn't know why .. but the feeling kept growing stronger.
Deep inside that black forest…
We finally saw signs of civilization.
But it was buried ... long gone.
We barely made out what looked like old homes, ancient ruins…
Among the wreckage, we found remnants of strange carvings—old writings none of us could understand.
"This is strange…" Ghost said, scanning the surroundings.
"There's no trace of any corpses."
As he made his observation, Snow spoke up.
"I guess it makes sense if this place has been abandoned for a long time."
But Ghost shook his head.
"Bodies don't vanish this easily. There's always something left behind…"
Spoken like a true assassin.
Whoever once lived here ... they didn't just die.
That was the message Ghost was trying to get across.
Whatever happened here was a mystery…
But I had no time to dwell on it.
"Let's move," I said to the others—and we surged forward again.
Speeding through the trees…
The three of us stopped at the exact same moment .. forced to, in fact.
The earth trembled beneath our feet. A furious roar shook the skies above.
It was a thunderous sound that made us instantly reach for our weapons.
Whatever was coming… it came from above.
"One of those cursed birds again?" Snow muttered.
We'd fought nightmare beasts shaped like giant eagles with canine heads before.
Naturally, we assumed it was one of them.
But those expectations were crushed on the spot.
Eyes wide open, the three of us stared up at the majestic figure descending from the heavens—
With wings that cast massive shadows and skin covered in glimmering white scales, the creature came crashing down.
Ghost and Snow were just as stunned as I was when they shouted at the same time:
A creature they'd only heard of in old, forgotten legends…
And yet, there it was—flesh and blood, right before our eyes.
But that wasn't the real problem…
What truly paralyzed us was the pressure it radiated.
Our awe had distracted us from noticing the severe wounds covering its body.
He wasn't flying toward us.
He was falling ... injured.
He's massive frame crashed into the ground like a meteor, shaking the entire forest.
The impact carved a path of devastation straight to where we stood.
Groaning in pain, the dragon struggled to rise .. his crimson, glowing eyes locking onto us the moment he steadied himself.
The second he saw our figures .. his pupils narrowed in rage.
His roar shook the earth beneath us, forcing all three of us to instinctively leap back.
Snow shouted in disbelief.
He wasn't just speaking .. he recognized us as humans.
And more than that… he was furious.
His jaws parted wide, revealing the swirling crimson blaze within. A devastating beam of fire erupted forth, and we barely evaded it by diving into Ghost's shadow.
The inferno carved a burning path across the landscape, reducing everything in its wake to ash.
"Why do you humans insist on tampering with powers you cannot control?!"
The dragon bellowed in rage, his flames setting the blackened forest ablaze. The corrupted aura surrounding him grew heavier, thick with fury.
Then, with a powerful surge of his aura, he tore us out from hiding.
Staring him down, my mind raced—but found no answers.
This wasn't just a dragon.
He was a being of the Pantheon .. a species that stood at the apex of all others.
There was no obvious way to harm him. His scaled body was like armor forged by the gods themselves.
And yet, he could burn us to cinders with a single breath.
As he opened his jaws again, ready to finish us off, I summoned all the strength I could.
My Hawk Eyes caught something ... a flicker in the eastern sky. A spatial ripple, almost imperceptible.
A black, high-velocity arrow sliced through the air and struck the dragon's neck with terrifying precision.
A pained roar escaped him as a surge of blood followed. The blow had been devastating—lethal.
I stood frozen, stunned, as a creature of the Pantheon fell before my eyes .. felled in a single strike.
His enormous frame began to shrink, his divine form reverting to something more human-like.
A body carved with strange glowing runes.
But blood… there was so much blood.
Snow and Ghost stared at him in silence, their eyes wide.
But mine immediately turned to the sky, to the horizon .. tracing the arrow's path backward.
Using my Hawk Eyes to their absolute limit, I searched… until I found her.
Distant, blurred .. but unmistakable.
A massive bow that dwarfed her height.
A skull mask veiling her face.
She stared directly at us for a moment…
Then vanished .. without a trace.
There was no doubt in my mind.
I narrowed my eyes, turning back to the crater the dragon had left behind.
But not just any human.
My memory was far from perfect, but I could never forget her face.
I had seen her before—in my father's memories.
She was one of the four he encountered on that fateful day .. on the shadow sect ..
They were much closer than I ever imagined.