Eternal VI

Anlek's voice was answered only by hollow echoes. The Grand Duke's expression looked exactly like a sea where dark clouds were gathering, as though an unprecedentedly terrifying storm was brewing. Few noticed that beneath his furrowed brows, a trace of worry lurked in his eyes. He had suddenly begun to fear that damned dragon was still here.

But when he saw that his question had gone unanswered, Anlek instead breathed a sigh of relief. He was no Brando; he had never heard of a dragon being so cowardly. Anlek had actually seen a giant dragon once, when he was young, on the battlefield of the Holy War. He had witnessed the mount of His Majesty the Cruzian Emperor, Emperor Grantodi, with his own eyes—the Cruzian royal family had maintained a tradition of signing contracts with giant dragons ever since Gilt, King of Flames. That was one of the reasons this empire possessed such confidence.

He had been deeply impressed by the arrogance of giant dragons, so he had no doubt that a sinister, crafty, despicable giant dragon was still waiting here to ambush them. Seeing Anlek's expression relax, the others nearby finally dared to speak. A wizard stepped forward and said, "My lord, we suspect that dragon exploited a blind spot in our thinking. It probably placed the trap on the ceiling of the cavern. Please allow us to inspect it."

Anlek nodded, but still added, "Hurry. That stupid dragon should be back soon."

The wizards nodded and got to work. Sure enough, before long they found a huge Magic Array atop the ice hall. As the wizards of the Circle of Unity examined the array, they couldn't help laughing and crying when they discovered that it was actually a teleportation array.

In other words, those unfortunate fellows earlier had