"Guys, why do I feel a chill down my back..."
A short Saxon soldier rubbed his hands together and said this to the others beside him.
Another, taller soldier shivered and replied:
"Me too... feels like it suddenly got colder."
A burly soldier slapped the tall one on the head.
"Enough with the 'me too.' Of course it's cold when the wind picks up in winter. Get a fire ready. It'll be dark in another ten minutes or so.
Leave two men on night watch. We should be pulling back to England tomorrow morning. Even breathing feels wrong in this damned place.
Alvis, how's the intelligence gathering coming along?"
The man named Alvis took out a roll of parchment and answered:
"It's all here, Captain."
"Good. Then tomorrow we'll..."
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
One startled cry after another interrupted him.
"Wha... cough, cough!"
Why is my chest so cold?
Puzzled, the captain looked down at his chest to find the reason-and saw a pale golden longsword thrust straight through it!
Was the sword getting shorter? No, its owner behind him was withdrawing his weapon.
"You're the captain? Be grateful for my mercy."
The sword's owner spoke from behind him.
Who is it?
He couldn't help turning to look, but before he could glimpse the figure, his head had already been severed and fallen to the ground.
With the last momentum from the turn of his neck, his head finally rolled far enough for him to see his killer. The killing had been so clean and decisive, yet the one responsible was a boy with white hair and silver eyes?
"Who are you?"
"Sovell Pendragon. The one who's here to send you to God."
Indeed, it was Sovell, who had been watching for some time. After activating his concealment Magecraft, he had gradually approached these foreign soldiers.
Once he learned why this squad had come, he pierced the captain's heart with a single thrust, then cut off his head, granting him a quick death.
As for revealing his true name and appearance, that hardly mattered. There was no need to hide anything from dead men. Letting them understand why they died was a kind of mercy, too.
Sovell stopped concealing his expression, and all his killing intent poured out!
When did he get there?!
Run!
Fuck military orders!
If we don't run, we'll die! We'll definitely die!
Such thoughts raced through the other soldiers' minds. Cold sweat soaked the backs of their clothes, and they could no longer hide the terror on their faces. Every soldier began fleeing in a different direction.
A voice laden with cold rang out from the white-robed boy's lips:
"Arrow."
Thirty arrows of wind materialized in the air, adjusted their aim, then shot forth!
By now, the fastest soldiers had already run dozens of meters, but despair soon seized them. A transparent barrier shimmering with blue light stood right before them!
And Sovell's thirty arrows had already locked onto every one of them...
Thump!
The sound of chests being pierced began to ring out.
That was the first.
Thump!
The second.
Thump!
The third.
Thump!
The fourth.
Thump!
Thump!
The thirtieth.
After those thirty sounds, the forest fell silent save for the rustle of fallen leaves in the wind.
Damn it! Damn it! What the hell is this wall?!
Alvis had also fled to the Wind Wall. Finding that he couldn't pass through it, he picked up a stone and repeatedly battered the transparent barrier before him. Ripple after ripple spread across it, but the barrier did not budge.
He raised the stone high and hurled it at the Wind Wall with all his strength.
But rather than striking the Wind Wall and being blown away, the stone was caught by a dragon's claw.
"Your captain mentioned 'intelligence gathering' just now?
Come on, tell me all about it. Maybe I'll let you live."
Sovell had made only thirty arrows precisely so he could leave Alvis alive.
As he questioned Alvis, he drew his killing intent back into his body. He intended to use as gentle a tone and expression as possible to find out what they were planning, then kill him.
Even if the man refused to talk, he could simply use the Mystic Eyes of Submergence to search his mind.
But the deaths of his companions and the boundless terror had already pushed Alvis over the edge. Before Sovell could say another word, his mind completely broke...
"Ah, ah! Stay away! Monster!! You're a monster!!!"
The next instant, a silver dragon's claw struck.
BANG!!!
Alvis was sent flying by a single blow and slammed into a distant tree. The savage dragon's claw had shattered every bone in his body, killing him on the spot!
Clang-
A sound like metal striking metal suddenly rang out.
By now, Sovell's eyes had turned bloodred. His pupils, too, had become the vertical slits of dragon kind.
Mystic Eyes of Submergence!
Had Alvis still been alive, he would have seen that every part of Sovell's body was now covered in white dragon scales!
Sovell's dragon blood...
Had run wild!
"No! Stay away!"
"Monster! You're a monster!"
"Evil dragon! You'll go to hell!"
The anguished words of those who had suffered in the past were stirred once more by the fear of these foreigners today, echoing in the boy's ears.
"No... no... this isn't right...
I'm not a monster... I'm not a monster... I'm not a monster!
Get away! Get away!
AAAAAH!!!"
A dragon's roar mingled with Sovell's cries as he broke down, resounding through the entire Jungle.
Wild beasts within several kilometers fled in terror. Those closest to Sovell were killed outright by the force of the roar!
Sovell's dragon heart pounded violently. Magical energy generated out of nothing poured outward without restraint, and savage winds howled between heaven and earth.
Dead leaves on the forest floor were swept into the air, then shredded by chaotic blades of wind!
The nearby River Severn surged with waves, its current turning swift and turbulent.
In the blink of an eye, dark clouds filled the sky, lightning flickering within them. The place had truly become a hell on earth!
Meanwhile, a pair of dragon horns began slowly growing from Sovell's head.
Then a sigh came from somewhere:
"This boy really never gives me a moment's peace."
A faint voice, seemingly carrying the fragrance of flowers, drifted through the air.
A white-robed man with long, iridescent hair appeared amid countless flower petals.
In his left hand, he held a little black dog radiating an ominous aura by the scruff of her neck. With the staff in his other hand, he tapped the ground twice.
Thud. Thud.
The next moment, petals danced through the sky on the wind. In an instant, the Jungle littered with dead leaves became a boundless sea of flowers.
It was Merlin!
Ever since Sovell left Avalon, Merlin had been using Clairvoyance to watch his movements. Though it was something of an invasion of privacy, it was harmless-or so Merlin believed.
When Merlin, watching from his cabin, saw the man Sovell had spared utter the word "monster," he immediately thought, This is bad.
He immediately left Avalon in his Incubus spirit form and rushed here. Fortunately, he had made it in time.
He had also brought along Barghest, who had been devouring the dead soldiers' souls and fear, lest the gale blow her off to who knew where.
Aside from the deaths of some wild beasts and the gruesome end of the unfortunate man who had called Sovell a "monster," nothing else had gone wrong yet.
"Where the Magus of Flowers stands is never hell, but a paradise filled with hope."
The flippant incantation flowed from Merlin's lips.
"Untouchable Land of Fantasy (Bubble of Avalon)."
Before you continue