Above the gray fog, within that ancient palace that seemed unchanged since time immemorial.
Klein sat in the high-backed chair belonging to The Fool, his spirituality extending to touch the illusory "star" that symbolized himself.
The crimson point of light immediately spread outward, and then he saw himself sitting against the stone wall of the cave.
"As expected, the Book World can't block the space above the gray fog."
Muttering to himself, he reached out and summoned the milky-white short scepter from the pile of clutter in the corner. The azure gemstones at its tip bloomed with clear light, carrying the momentum of a tsunami.
He then raised his viewpoint above the gray fog and saw the battlefield beyond the cave, saw the battered Frost Dragon Ulyssan.
All the snow and ice around it had melted away, exposing massive blackened and cracked rocks and dark soil beneath.
Large swathes of scales and flesh had vanished from the dragon's chest, leaving behind a wound so deep that bone was visible.
Dark blue blood continuously seeped from the wound. The instant it touched the air, it froze, covering the injury with a layer of translucent ice crystals.
Deep within the ice crystals, a thin membrane of icy-blue flesh pulsed steadily, as though a powerful, beating heart were hidden behind it.
The next second, an arrow wreathed in lightning tore through the frigid air, aimed directly at the mangled wound on the Frost Dragon's chest.
Boom!
A thick bolt of lightning descended from the layered dark clouds overhead, merging with the long arrow.
The arrow turned completely silver-white, like a streak cast by the God of Thunder, shooting toward Ulyssan at a speed that was nearly impossible to evade.
Boom!
The silver-white arrow struck a translucent ice wall that appeared out of nowhere,