Drip.
Cloudy mudwater seeped from between the cracks in the rock, winding down the stone surface and pooling in the fine channels below.
Drip.
Damp vapor seeped into the gaps between rubble, earth, and overlapping corpses.
Pfft—
An arm caked in mud broke through the surface.
Harvey coughed violently as he crawled out of the sludge.
His once-gray robe had become rotten rags reeking of filth.
Without bothering to clear the mud and grit from his mouth, his hands instinctively groped at his chest.
Empty.
Panic crawled across his mud-smeared face.
He hurriedly threw himself beside the pit he had lain in moments ago, clawing aside rubble and dirt, overturning rock slabs stained with black blood one after another.
Only after he had thrust half his body into the collapsed hollow, shoved aside those heavy severed limbs, and felt around in the darkness for a long while did he confirm one thing—the egg was gone.
Above him, a gap had opened in the collapsed rock wall. Daylight mingled with rain, falling over his anxious face.
He forced himself to calm down and closed his eyes.
[Commune with Nature]
His perception spread through the rock strata in every direction.
Earth, rubble, seepage, remnants of roots—the land silently sent the information back into his mind.
A moment later, his tense shoulders relaxed.
That stupid dragon that had yet to know the affairs of dragons was still there...
Harvey let out a long sigh of relief.
Since Velsadorn had not left, the dragon egg had most likely been taken back by it.
What surprised him, though, was that it had not simply hugged the egg and moved to another nest to hide.
Grown up now? Got more backbone than before?
He drew his gaze back from the light overhead and looked around.
In