Soon, word of a spy within the city was reported to the kingdom's higher-ups, instantly plunging the entire city into martial law. The Tiefling Guard mobilized urgently, deploying to every major traffic artery, while wyverns patrolled the skies in search of suspicious figures.
Several spellcasters were dispatched across the city's various districts to divine the intruder's whereabouts.
Langpu took a keen interest in this uninvited guest. After all, according to Nocturne's report, the interloper was quite a powerful caster, capable of unleashing spells of at least the fourth circle.
In a quiet corner of Northwind Keep's southern district, a squad of hobgoblin line infantry marched past on patrol, completely oblivious to the fact that what lay before them was an illusion rather than ordinary scenery.
Behind that realistic mirage, Olivia was using magic to treat her wound and soothe the necrotic, toxic mist.
Polymorph was an intricate art that transformed from the inside out, and adopting humanoid form was often when a dragon was at their most vulnerable. Throughout history, many silver dragons had been ambushed and slain while maintaining human shape, and Olivia had no intention of becoming another casualty.
Watching the patrol troops come and go with tense vigilance, Olivia turned the thought over in her mind.
The screech of wyverns echoed from the distant skies. If this continued, her position would inevitably be exposed.
"I have to get out of this city."
"If this drags on, it might even draw out that red dragon."
A faint gleam flickered in Olivia's blue-gray eyes, allowing her to survey the full panorama around her and make the soundest choice.
"Annoying antimagic field," she muttered under her breath.
After a lengthy process of constructing the spell's matrix, Olivia finally activated Greater Invisibility, vanishing into total transparency once more.
Yet just as she slipped through the gates under magical concealment, intending to leave the city behind, the detection wards at the entrance suddenly blared, their runes flashing violently.
The spellcaster stationed at the south gate immediately shouted, "Surround this area! Someone is casting magic!"
The hobgoblin line infantry swarmed the intersection, sealing it off so tightly that not even water could slip through, while the wizards unleashed detection spells, forcing the invisible Olivia back into view.
"Damn it!"
Olivia gritted her teeth.
She had to admit the defenses here were brutally tight—tight enough to catch even her unprepared.
Having spotted their target, the hobgoblin line infantry loosed a coordinated volley, sending dozens of bullets whistling straight toward her. Meanwhile, the wyverns overhead screeched and dove, eager to claim the credit for capturing the intruder.
The scene devolved into utter chaos.
"Roar—!"
A furious roar completely at odds with her slender frame tore from Olivia's throat.
At last, shimmering motes of mana flared around her entire body. The figure beneath the robes swelled violently as thick billows of white smoke erupted outward.
Silvery, metallic scales; two smooth, gleaming horns; and a frill rising high above her head that swept down her neck and stretched all the way to the tip of her tail.
When the smoke cleared, the slender maiden was gone, replaced by a true silver dragon—second only to gold dragons among the metallic kin.
Without hesitation, the silver dragon swept her wings, conjuring a tempestuous gale as she soared into the sky.
"Ah!"
"What is that?"
"A dragon! It's a dragon!"
"What a gale!"
The hobgoblins below were thrown head over heels by the ferocious wind, left with no choice but to fire blindly and fruitlessly into the sky. Even the diving wyverns panicked, wheeling in disarray through the air.
Seizing the opening, Olivia spread her wings and glided away, putting distance between herself and the perilous city.
From atop the city walls, Langpu looked up into the sky, tracking the distant silver silhouette.
"A silver dragon?"
"She seems somewhat familiar."
Langpu stroked his chin, lost in thought.
***
*Boom!*
Dust billowed from the ground.
Olivia landed heavily and resumed her human form.
Within the borders of the Kingdom of Cinders, the form of a silver dragon was far too conspicuous. Had she not been pushed to desperation, she never would have fled in her true body.
"To think I was actually discovered."
Olivia furrowed her brow tightly. Never could she have anticipated that this city would prove so thorny to navigate.
She lowered her hood, revealing her delicate features.
Gazing back at Northwind Keep several miles away, Olivia tightened her grip on her staff, her blue-gray eyes clouding with gravity.
"The Kingdom of Cinders... just what kind of country is this?"
"Even honest, simple farmers are bound to their war chariot, made accomplices to an evil dragon—and they even defend him of their own accord."
"It is truly unbelievable," Olivia murmured.
Just then, a distant golden glow interrupted her thoughts. A golden phantasm formed in the sky, resembling a blazing, sun-like fireball that only dragonkind could perceive.
"This is..."
Olivia's eyes went wide. An overwhelming wave of surprise washed over her face, leaving her practically ready to leap with joy.
"It's the signal Anhel and I agreed upon!"
"Could he still be alive?!"
Over the past few years, Olivia had frequently thought back to the words the gold dragon had spoken to her. His parting requests had once weighed on her like an immovable stone.
Now, this familiar signal offered her an unmistakable sliver of hope—perhaps her fellow dragon really was still alive.
Yet as her eyes traced the signal back to its point of origin, Olivia's expression abruptly froze.
—It came from the Iron Dragonwing Palace.
The lair of the "Lord of Cinders," and by all accounts the most terrifying monster's den in the realm, from which none were said to have ever walked out alive.
Why would a message from a gold dragon appear there?
Was the slumber merely a facade, masking the fact that the red dragon had long been gravely wounded and ripe for the kill?
Or had Anhel found a method to bind the red dragon and save the entire Northlands?
All of it was nothing more than Olivia's own speculation. If anything went awry and the red dragon was awakened, sheer despair would await her.
Silver dragons and red dragons were natural archenemies.
Clashes between their two kinds were ferocious and lethal, though silver dragons usually held the upper hand—typically because they relied on allies to stand against their foes together.
This time, however, she might be fighting entirely alone.
Olivia stood in place, lowering her head slightly as her slender hand gripped her staff tightly, hesitation clouding her face.
Anhel's radiant figure before his departure seemed to materialize once more before her eyes, his resonant, resolute voice echoing in her ears:
"I will bring true justice and order to all of Anzeta, and even to all of Elezerg. That has always been my goal, even if it costs me my life."
"...Olivia, when the time comes, I will leave a message here, telling you everything I uncovered about that red dragon at the cost of my life."
As though having reached a final decision, she murmured softly to herself,
"I promised you I would see this through."
"I am not fighting alone."
At last, Olivia lifted her head. Within those beautiful blue-gray eyes shone a resolute, unshakeable light—just like that of the gold dragon who had bade her a solemn farewell all those years ago.
Chapter 243