Gears and chains groaned with age as rotten planks slowly carried two battered figures upward.
Ansbach supported the still-dazed Leda as he leaned against the Grand Lift's railing. The wound in his left shoulder had reopened, soaking his makeshift bandage with blood. But he had no attention to spare for it. He simply watched their surroundings warily, his eyes fixed on the approaching surface.
The Grand Lift stopped.
When the railing gate opened, an entirely different atmosphere from Liurnia greeted them.
Altus Plateau.
This was the heartland where the Erdtree's influence ran deepest. The air carried the fragrance of wildflowers, the sunshine was bright and warm, and golden plains dotted with ruins stretched into the distance. Compared with damp, chilly, fog-shrouded Liurnia, it was practically another world.
We were safe.
Ansbach released a long breath, his taut nerves finally relaxing a little. Supporting Leda, he stepped out of the Grand Lift and onto the soil of Altus Plateau.
Then he heard laughter.
Leda was laughing.
It was a soft, dry sound, as though squeezed from her throat. She looked at the peaceful scenery before her, at this land that represented "safety" and "escape," yet her eyes held no joy-only a bewilderment on the verge of collapse.
Then she opened her mouth.
Alarm bells rang in Ansbach's mind. Almost instinctively, he lunged forward to cover Leda's mouth.
But he was too late.
A syllable had already escaped her lips:
"Ha..."
Rumble-
The sky suddenly darkened.
It wasn't storm clouds. An enormous shadow had blotted out the sun.
Thunder rolled, not from the clouds, but from the shadow itself.
Ansbach and Leda looked up together.
Then they saw-
A dragon.
She was snow-white from head to tail, her scales gleaming like pearls in the sunlight. Her four legs were powerful, and her