Under pressure as terrifying as an ocean overturning, his heart had almost stopped beating entirely.
The Bloodline Crystal embedded in his heart valve like a nail quietly shattered, its fragments swiftly melting into the organ.
At that moment, time seemed to stop.
In his daze, Dago felt himself return to the dream he had experienced when he first received the "Behelet" bloodline transplant-
An endless snowfield, raging wind and snow. This was a world that belonged entirely to ice and snow.
He stood atop a steep, snow-capped ice peak, raised his head, and saw crimson suns and moons beyond the hazy snowfall.
Those were His eyes.
Suddenly, a pair of "crimson suns" rapidly grew larger. An ancient dragon's head, more immense than glaciers soaring tens of thousands of feet high, broke through layer upon layer of wind and frost and silently drew close to Dago, watching him without a sound.
Compared to Him, Dago was as insignificant as a speck of dust.
Yet at that moment, Dago felt extraordinarily calm.
He gazed steadily at Him, seemingly having forgotten why he had come here.
After an unknown length of time, Dago slowly reached out.
His fingertips touched the serpentine scales on the dragon's forehead, their patterns resembling the veins of ancient glaciers.
On one of those dragon scales, he saw a blood-red rune, as intricate and exquisite as a snowflake.
He gently stroked the pattern and spoke softly.
"So beautiful."
The next instant, the ice and snow falling throughout the world before him-
Froze in place, stopping.
Then began to rise.
Until they boiled!
Across the vast hills of the Fairy Ancient City Ruins, heaven and earth lay silent.
The streams of energy that had gathered in spirals across the sky like countless sunset clouds had also dispersed at some unknown