The scene left both Midir and Aila pale with shock. They clung tightly to the inner side of the dragon's forelimbs, swept into this mysterious world of ice along with the sudden impact.
Fortunately, the dragon's massive body acted as a natural shield, absorbing most of the barrier's destructive force for them.
However, in the instant they pierced through, countless shockwaves as sharp as knives still mercilessly sliced their skin, leaving behind a series of startling wounds on both of them.
As the one who bore the brunt of the impact, the Blue Dragon was already riddled with injuries. Its flight became completely uncontrolled, and its massive blue form plummeted from thousands of meters in the air, finally crashing onto a vast frozen river in a state of near-despair.
The eternal ice, which had not melted for ten thousand years, was forcibly ploughed into a crack several kilometers long by the dragon's massive momentum. The dragon finally ceased its struggles amidst a deafening roar.
Midir and Aila were also thrown from the dragon's embrace during the series of violent tremors, drifting like fallen leaves to land beneath a large tree dozens of meters away.
Already exhausted, Midir felt a bone-chilling cold rush over him the moment he hit the ground. He glanced sideways at Aila, who had fallen beside him, and used the last shred of his mana to manifest a fire barrier around them before his vision went black and he lost consciousness.
After an unknown amount of time, the unconscious Midir seemed to hear distant rumbles and explosions, along with intermittent, anxious shouting. He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt as heavy as lead.
He struggled to regain consciousness, but his head was still groggy and his body was too weary to obey his commands. However, the faint tremors coming from the ground made his heart increasingly uneasy.
Finally, after a great effort, he slowly opened his eyes. The scenery before him was still a blur, and he could only see many white shadows flickering in front of him.
It took several seconds for the ghosting vision to solidify. He found himself lying within the barrier he had set before passing out.
Aila stood like a guardian goddess, positioned resolutely outside the barrier.
Her blonde hair fluttered in the wind behind her as she gripped her short blades, engaged in a fierce battle with several tall, thin, snow-white monsters. At her feet, many monster corpses were already scattered in disorder.
“What... happened? Where... are we?” Midir rubbed his aching head and asked subconsciously.
Engaged in the heat of battle, Aila felt a surge of joy upon hearing the voice behind her. She quickly forced the white monsters back, took a step back into the barrier, and leaned down to ask with concern.
The white monsters began to circle the small fire barrier, clearly still fearful of the high temperatures within and not daring to approach easily.
“You’re finally awake. We should be deep within the Valley of Ice now, though I’m not exactly sure where. Fortunately, you set up this barrier; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to protect you from the attacks of so many snow monsters.”
“Snow monsters? Why would such things attack us? If they aren't deliberately provoked, aren't they supposed to be quite timid?”
Midir struggled to sit up and looked at the snow monsters outside the barrier. Their small eyes, set in faces that looked somewhat like monkeys, were blood-red and filled with madness and greed—nothing like the timid creatures he knew.
Aila sighed and explained. “Don't even mention it—it's all because of that dragon. It was heavily injured when it took us through the barrier, and dragon blood was sprayed everywhere. To other monsters, the blood of the dragon race is an incredibly precious supplement. They usually never get a chance to come into contact with such a powerful dragon, let alone one that is heavily wounded. That primal impulse and greed make it impossible for them to resist. So, all the monsters within several kilometers have been drawn here by the scent of blood.”
As she spoke, Aila pointed to the bloodstains on herself. When she had attacked the dragon's eye earlier, the splashing blood had drenched her. Her original outfit was now stained a deep brown by the dried dragon blood.
“Where is that fellow now? How long was I out?” Midir tried to circulate his mana and was pleasantly surprised to find that his body was no longer as extremely weak as when he first woke up, though there was still a slight lack of coordination in his movements.
After a moment of reflection, Aila replied, “Maybe three or four hours? I only realized some scattered magical beasts were tracking me by the scent of blood a while after I woke up, so I can't say for sure. That dragon should be about two or three kilometers away. Given how badly it was hurt, it probably couldn't have gone far.”
Before her voice could fade, another deafening boom echoed from the distance. Clearly, the dragon was once again locked in a fierce battle with something.
“We have to go see,” Midir said, bracing himself against a nearby pine tree as he forced himself to stand. “It should have returned to normal by now. Perhaps we can get some useful information from it. Here, change your clothes first.” As he spoke, he took a set of clothes Aila had left in his storage space earlier and gently handed them over.
Aila looked at the clothes in his hand, her cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment. “Ah? Change here...?” she murmured softly, but she quickly made up her mind. As she took the clothes, she demanded, “Then turn around first!”
Midir gave a small smile and directly waved his hand to gather the surrounding snow, forming a small snow hut around Aila that was large enough for one person. Then, he immediately turned his back.
After a brief rustling sound, the newly changed Aila stepped lightly out of the snow hut. She held the blood-soaked, balled-up clothes in her hand and threw them forcefully toward the snow monsters.
The snow monsters were startled by the object suddenly flying out of the barrier and retreated a few steps. However, once they caught the scent on the clothes that they were so obsessed with, they all turned and chased after the direction the clothes had flown.
“Let's go while they're still distracted. You can move freely now, right? Do you need this lady to carry you?”
Seeing that her plan had achieved the desired effect, Aila felt more at ease and teased Midir as he stretched his body nearby.
“I'm fine. As long as I don't get into another high-intensity battle like before, I should be able to manage.”
Midir tested his joints again and found that his body had not disappointed him. Aside from the small cuts sustained while entering the barrier, most other areas had recovered significantly.
He gave Aila an affirmative look and then waved his hand to dispel the fire barrier. Without further hesitation, the two turned and sprinted toward the direction where the dragon was still fighting.
It wasn't long before the surrounding scenery began to look like a total mess.
Boulders were shattered, trees were toppled, and the earth looked as if it had been trampled by a giant beast, leaving behind countless depressions and craters. The corpses of magical beasts lay strewn across the ground—clearly the work of the Blue Dragon.
Midir could also smell a thick, metallic sweetness in the air. It was the unique, wondrous scent of dragon blood, and it was this very scent that acted like a drug, drawing magical beasts to swarm toward its source one after another.
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