401 Stabbed
At a distant mountain north of Netherfields, a mountain so tall its peaks were covered in snow all year round, a man in an all-black ensemble appeared in the middle of a frost-covered ridge.
When Draven arrived, the divine energy he sensed grew more pronounced. It seemed like an isolation barrier had been set up outside the mountain to prevent anyone from sensing it, and it was by pure accident a crack appeared. Despite the crack being immediately mended, that short fluctuation of divine energy was caught by Draven, causing him to come and investigate.
As he traced the direction where that divine energy was most concentrated, his boots left deep footprints behind on the snow. The cold air mixed with snowflakes continued to blow in his direction, but the man continued to walk, unbothered by the low temperature.
The divine energy led him towards the steep ridge at the top. The thick snow blanketed the rugged peaks in white, and Draven realized the trace of magic ended in this place.
‘A cave?’
He walked towards that exposed cave-like structure, and at the mouth of that cave, he could see flashing runes that were close to fading, meant to alarm those inside that an intruder had breached the cave.
Draven could not determine the complete nature of the spell, as if the person who casted it had deliberately muddled the lines of the runes so that one could not decipher the origin of the spell. One could only break it through brute force.
‘Seems like the weapon is inside the cave. I have searched all the possible places in this kingdom, and I also checked these mountains before, but there was never an isolation barrier the last time I came. Seems like it was brought here recently. The person who put it here, what is his intention?’
As he pondered over his discovery, Draven reached the entrance of the cave, stopping in front of the energy barrier guarding the cave.
‘Should I break it? I wonder if my entrance would alert those behind this.’
Draven took a step forward, prepared to receive a sneak attack or the activation of a trap, but there was nothing. He took more steps, crossing that protective barrier, but there was still no reaction.
‘If this barrier is meant to keep intruders out, then why did it allow me to enter?” Draven frowned. ‘For…me? Is it prepared especially to deal with me?’
Keeping his vigilance up, Draven slowly strode inside that cave, stretching his senses forward in order to check for the presence of other beings inside the cave. He was alert enough to react to any kind of movement within a split second.
There were holes on the ceiling of the cave, allowing sunlight to enter them along with flutters of snowflakes and wind, causing a thin layer of frost to cover the ground.
The cave tunnel was long and deep, sloping downwards, and aside from Draven’s quiet footsteps and the rustling of his clothes, only the sound of the wind blowing could be heard.
‘Are they simply allowing me in?’
At the end of the narrow cave passage was a naturally formed ice chamber. Icicles sparkled from the ceiling and the walls, glittering like crystals under the reflected sunlight, and the entire ground was covered in undisturbed layers of snow.
Draven noticed there was a platform in the middle, and it was also covered in snow. However, it was the source of the divine power he was sensing.
He stood at the outskirts of the ice chamber, expanding his senses to cover not only the cave but the entire mountain. Perhaps due to the barrier outside, not even small animals could be sensed.
Draven was alone inside an empty cave.
Could he truly be alone when this was an obvious trap?
‘Who can be so strong they are able to hide their presence from me? This level of spell could not be easily casted in a day or two–it had to be prepared for some time. I don’t sense black magic. That means it’s not Zaria Lynx at least.
Unable to find anything more, he walked closer towards the platform. With a wave of his hand, an invisible force caused the snow on the surface to be blown away.
‘A short sword? No, a straight dagger.’
Draven carefully observed the intricately designed weapon, the handle seemingly made of a mix of ivory and wood with its white blade made out of solidified magic.
‘The people who put it here can’t be foolish to leave it without protection. It’s as if they want me to get it.’
Draven tried to sense his surroundings, but there was still no other presence within the cave but him.
‘Something is wrong with this setup. And this weapon…Though it’s emitting divine energy, it feels weaker than expected.’
Some time passed by, but there were no changes inside the ice chamber.
‘Seems like whoever that person is, they won’t come out till I pick this weapon. Let me see what you have prepared for me.’
Draven reached out for the platform, his hand moving towards the straight dagger, yet his senses were on high alert to catch any movement in the vicinity of the ice chamber.
But when his fingers closed around the dagger’s handle, his hand went through it–
Whoosh!
His action triggered a trap, and Draven hurried to cover his face to block an attack. As a Dragon, he had pride in the defenses of his physical body, and most sneak attacks would only leave a scratch on his skin.
However, what he received was no sharp blade or magic attack. A sweet, mellow fragrance reached his sensitive nose, and it was too late for him to react.
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He had expected an offensive spell or binding magic which he could deflect before counterattacking, but he was not ready for this kind of low-level trick which a strong supernatural who could have divine power would use. He had taken a step back when realized what it was.
‘Glass Mist Flower.’
Draven held his breath, attempting to prevent himself from inhaling more, but unfortunately, a single whiff was enough to affect his senses. It was the most concentrated dose of Glass Mist Flower essence–even a divine beast like Dragon could not be spared from its hallucinatory effects.
His thought process started getting messed up, and his vision began to grow blurry. His surroundings flashed before fading, and instead of being inside an ice chamber, he saw…a battlefield.
‘This is just an illusion!’
Magic of the purest darkness attribute began to swirl around Draven’s body, causing cuts to appear on his skin, attempting to forcefully wake himself up from the illusion. And though he was affected by the hallucination, Draven began to see his vision switching back and forth between the ice chamber and the battlefield.
Draven sensed movement behind him. He turned to look at the source of it and–
Stab!
The real form of the straight dagger pierced his heart, giving him pain beyond he could bear.
‘Who–‘
The face of an old friend appeared in front of him, and for a moment, shock made him freeze.