Ep 8. Pay Your Respects. (3)
“There it is.”
At Bruton’s notice, Serenis glanced down. True to his remark, there was a rather strange hollow in the midsts of these woods – and from within it, Serenis could feel a hint of inexplicable chill despite the distance between them.
“So…the ancestral kin you described is frozen in that pit. Do you not know their name?”
“No. The name was never passed down.”
“…I see.”
The four dragons began to descend down into the pit. Although one was a human boy on the outside.
Serenis squinted her eyes as an unexpected brilliance greeted her.
Even though the sun had almost completely set now, the innards of the pit were brightly lit in a blue light emitted from the enormous figure of ice encased at its bottom. When they finally landed, Serenis took a brief moment to take in her surroundings.
The night sky seemed so far distant. Without the stars shining above, she would’ve believed it to be a simple pitch-black ceiling.
And beneath the darkness was an endless expanse of blue ice, glowing in the brilliance of its chill. At the centre of this pit was what seemed like a gigantic ice sculpt, unmistakably that of a dragon’s upper body.
“Brr…it’s so cold in here!”
“Cold? Seriously? This is cold for you?”
“Oh shut it, you’re made of metal. I’m sure you can melt, but you can hardly freeze.”
Watching the two girls bicker, Bruton chimed in.
“Come to think of it, I don’t recall you ever sneaking out into the deserts, Raizel.”
“That’s because none of you old bones let me go anywhere.”
“And since when did that stop you, hm?”
“Literally never. I can attest it.”
“…You two are just jealous I go places.”
“You’re not still pouting over not having your parents around, are you Raizel?”
“Shut it, Ilias.”
Serenis was hardly paying attention to the chatter going on behind her. She simply took in the scenery, expanding her senses to detect any anomalies within the pit.
Unfortunately, the entire pit was an anomaly.
‘…The mana in the air is so dense.’
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While better than an environment lacking in mana, extremely dense environments like this weren’t exactly healthy either. For starters, they interfered with most forms of mana detection. They could also shift the environment towards an extreme of one spectrum, which for this pit, was undoubtedly its chilling cold. And if exposure was prolonged, overly potent mana could also produce abnormalities to the individuals residing within.
But above all else, even Serenis had to admit the grandeur scale of this pit.
“Bruton. Even though you said this is a seal, I cannot help but think it as an extravagant grave.”
“Hm.”
Bruton stepped forward, scanning the ice statue. This wasn’t his first time seeing it, but it certainly was his first time looking at it as a grave.
“It very well may be. The pit was considered dangerous, and elders forbade us from ever entering it. Once I was an elder myself, I never did take an interest in exploring the pit myself.”
‘…All of you are children to me.’
Serenis only kept the thought in her head as she walked along the narrow cliff of ice, leading closer towards the sculpt. It was almost as if it had been purposefully built to lead worshippers closer to their idol of god.
Was this really a seal?
And who could this dragon possibly be?
Noticing Serenis walking off, Ilias quickly chased after her.
“So, um…lord? Do you think your heart is in this pit somewhere?”
“…I’m not too certain myself.”
Something must be causing the extreme mana density in this pit. It could be her heart, the lingering essence of this dragon, the seal that was used on it, or something else altogether.
And the easiest way to find out would be…
‘To ask them directly. Assuming they’re alive.’
Serenis cautiously put a hand against the ice. The chill immediately began to pierce her skin.
She grimaced, feeling a surge of mana rushing into her.
‘It’s too pure.’
Mana could take many forms, and ice was no exception – otherwise, ice magic would never be able to exist. But when said mana’s source was a sealed dragon, it could not possibly be this pure. It’s not like the dragon was awake and conscious to camouflage the color of their mana either. It should’ve been tainted, however faint they may be – either from the dragon itself, or the spell that sealed them.
When Serenis retreated her hand, she openly concluded out loud:
“…It’s a corpse.”
“A corpse?”
“Or a very intricate sculpture. Either way, there’s no living dragon that’s sealed inside this pit. It’s been dead for at least five centuries. Which would mean the ‘seal’ is long gone as well.”
Seals that imprison a living being wear off when the target dies. This much was obvious.
The two girls looked at Serenis indifferently, but Bruton seemed moderately surprised. Shocked, even.
“Hm…are you sure? Perhaps the mana’s density is interfering with the reading?”
“Not when I’m in direct contact like this.”
Serenis showed her hand. It was already starting to turn purple from a bad frostbite.
“Which means, your elders wanted to keep younglings away for a different reason.”
“But why would…”
“We’re about to find out. Raizel?”
“Yes?”
“You’re not afraid of some ice touching you, yes?”
“Of course not.”
“Good. Go ahead.”
Serenis pointed at the statue with her thumb, tipping her head towards its belly.
“Charge.”
Bruton furrowed his gaze.
“Charge? You don’t mean-“
Raizel knew exactly what their lord meant as she dashed past their confused elder.
With both her arms crossed in front of her head, the steel dragon launched herself into the ice, breaking it open like thin glass.
“Woohoo!!”
Bruton and Ilias speechlessly watched in dismay as Raizel’s figure disappeared into the depths of the sculpt.
Serenis nodded approvingly.
“Atta girl.”
The grand dragon of ice now had a gigantic hole punched right through its stomach. It almost looked like a tunnel that had been blown open with gunpowder.
Serenis jumped in after Raizel, right into the sculpt’s innards that had been burst open.
“...”
“…”
The two dragons outside stood in a daze as their newest troublemaker followed their original troublemaker into what looked like a heap of trouble.
“You know, your mother must be waiting for us outside. I should get going-“
Ilias grabbed her father by his wrist. He froze on the spot like a criminal that was caught red-handed.
“…Ilias?”
“Let’s go after them, father! Doesn’t this look exciting?!”
My dear daughter.
I should never have let you anywhere near that crazy metalhead.