When Bash arrived at the scene, the battle had already been resolved. There were many corpses. Around ten bodies were sprawled out. Half of them were charred, and the other half were dismembered.
The figure of the dragon was far up in the sky, and Bash saw something in its mouth. It was a person. Alive. They waved their hands as their body was pierced by the dragon’s teeth. But whatever they were now, their fate had already been decided. They would either be bitten in the air or taken back to the dragon’s nest and devoured… either way.
Bash waited for the dragon to disappear from sight before cautiously approaching the corpses.
Everything had been reduced to charcoal. The ground, which should have been covered in snow, was exposed, blackened, and charred, with remnants of fire. The bodies had assimilated into the charred ground.
“Only this many people fought against the dragon…?” Bash said, growling as he counted the corpses. There were many dismembered bodies, but even looking at the number of limbs, there were fewer than ten. However hard they had tried, they didn’t seem to have the necessary strength to defeat a dragon.
Would intelligent demons be foolish enough to fight a dragon with only a small number of men? It would be safer to assume that they were ambushed while on the move, but it was hard to believe that anyone living in this area would venture out without thinking twice. If the place were so safe, Bash and his companion would have encountered a demon or two long ago.
“Mister, the tracks come from the mountains.”
Zell’s words made him look in that direction, and indeed, there were clear tracks in the snow where they must have traveled. The tracks led towards the mountain. It would be more natural to assume that they originally fought the dragon with a larger group but couldn’t win and retreated, only to be pursued by the dragon.
“Ah! Mister, only one of them is breathing!”
Said Zell, who had been flying around the perimeter. When Bash approached her, he discovered that there was indeed a person who was breathing with a wheeze, although their entire body was charred. Their eyes were open, but the eyeballs were burnt, and it was hard to tell if they were conscious or not. He couldn’t distinguish between male and female, let alone races. However, if the dragon’s breath didn’t instantly kill them, they must have had great magic resistance. If that were the case, they must be a demon or an elf. Although no elf would come this far. They must be a high-ranking demon. In any case, Bash looked at Zell and told her, “Help them.”
“Roger!” Zell sprinkled her powder. The powder, whiter than snow but occasionally tinged with gold, was sold at a pretty insane price and was thrown in substantial amounts. However, the injuries were quite serious. As fairy-like as the powder was, it was not an instant cure, so the charred surface skin began to peel off in shreds. As expected, the whole body was charred. However, deep down, undoubtedly, new skin would have been created.
“Can they be saved?”
“I don’t know. If it’s a demon, well, they have a strong vitality and will probably survive somehow.”
If they survived, the burns would eventually disappear, and their skin would return to normal within a week. However, it was also possible that they would die before their skin could regenerate. Fairy dust didn’t cure corpses. If that happened, they would simply have to assume they had bad luck. It happened all the time.
“The rest of them are dead.”
“I see. Let’s hide before the dragon returns.”
There were no signs of the dragon returning. If it had killed its enemies and filled its stomach, there was no reason for it to come back. But it made no sense to try to reason with a creature whose thoughts were impossible to discern. What they needed to do was get out of there.
“Oh, Mister! There’s a rocky area over there! It might be easier to find a place to hide there!”
“I’m coming!”
And so, Bash and Zell headed towards the rocky area, carrying someone who was dying.
■■■
Bash and his companion found a rocky place to hide from the dragon and killed one of the demonic beasts that lived there in a cave. And there they waited for the night to pass. The entrance to the cave, with its thick icicles, was visible from the ground but not from the sky. After all, the demonic beasts lived in this hole. Just like orcs and fairies, demonic creatures equally feared dragons. If they were native to this area, they would be even more afraid of the dragon. If that was the case, this hole would be hidden from the sight of the large scaly creature.
After waiting for the sun to set, Bash and Zell crawled out of the hole and began to explore the surroundings. Bash carried the person they had just saved tied to his back.
The environment was unexpectedly bright. A huge full moon made its presence felt in the sky. Its light reflected off the snow and faintly shone on their feet.
Orcs were not a race with good night vision, but his eyes were accustomed to the darkness of the cave. Additionally, there was a nearby light source (the fairy), so they could see their surroundings well enough. If there were too much light, waiting for the night would have been futile, but dragons were not nocturnal. So, it was enough.
“It’s lively, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. This is what happens when dangerous creatures live in the forest. You know, forests with elves are peaceful at night. Because they go hunting at night.”
“I see now.”
On the snowy and icy rocks at night, many creatures that were not seen during the day could be seen. There were feathered lizards, quadrupedal beasts covered in spikes all over their bodies, and ball-like creatures that could be either beasts or insects. When these nameless creatures saw Bash, they immediately fled.
“Well, I’ll go take a look.”
“Right.”
Zell left, and Bash watched her. It was quite risky for a luminous fairy to conduct reconnaissance at night. But neither Bash nor Zell cared about such things. They had done it many times since the war. Moreover, it was riskier to do reconnaissance during the day in this place.
And one more thing. They were convinced that they would find something at night. For Bash and Zell, it was just a hunch, but in other words, it was an empirical conjecture.
The dragon flew during the day. Bash hid, and Zell with him. Demonic creatures also hid. And the nocturnal demonic beasts saw Bash and Zell and ran to hide. This meant that there were hunters who hunted demonic beasts at night. Bipedal creatures similar to orcs hunted them at night. If that was the case…
“Mister, there it is!”
“Got it.”
Upon Zell’s words, Bash began to move. After traversing a rocky area and climbing over a hill, he saw it.
The structure built on the edge of the cliff looked like a massive castle. It was illuminated by fire, and the presence of people could be felt. It was a city. Indeed, there was a city, magically constructed in such a way that it couldn’t be recognized in daylight.
“Is that the ‘Gije Fortress’?”
The “impregnable” Gije Fortress. There, a fortress that had never been attacked during the war stood.
