Chapter 30 : Chapter 30
Chapter 30: First Encounter in the Mountains
Logaris stepped forward and walked straight into the ankle-deep snow.
Lilith looked at his utterly decisive back and could only sigh before resigning herself to follow.
Inside, she wailed silently that her dream of becoming a carefree landlord seemed to be drifting farther and farther away.
The outskirts of the Dragon Mountain Range were far more dangerous than ordinary people could imagine.
The cold wind cut like knives against the face.
The two of them had not even traveled for half a day before encountering their first unwelcome visitors.
“AWOO—”
More than a dozen demonic wolves the size of calves leaped out from the snowy forest on both sides, their eerie green eyes fixed on the two intruders.
Lilith immediately tensed.
Her right hand instinctively moved toward the poisoned dagger at her waist.
“A bunch of trash. Finish them quickly.”
Logaris' voice was calm, and he did not even turn his head.
Lilith sighed and drew a pair of steel daggers from behind her waist.
She flexed her wrists.
In an instant, her entire demeanor changed.
The timid, money-loving expression vanished, replaced by the cold efficiency of a top-tier assassin.
The wolf king let out a roar, and the pack lunged forward.
Lilith moved.
Her figure turned into a bolt of black lightning weaving through the pack.
Each swing of her twin daggers precisely slit open a wolf’s fragile throat or pierced an eye socket.
There were no dazzling spells and no earth-shaking explosions.
Only the faint “shhk” of blades cutting flesh echoed repeatedly through the silent snowfield.
Lilith did not even activate her Anti-Magic field.
Against beasts of this level, pure physical strength and combat technique were more than enough.
In less than a minute, every wolf lay on the ground, twitching before falling silent.
Lilith flicked the blood from her daggers, sheathed them, and returned to her harmless appearance as she jogged after Logaris.
“My lord, it is done.”
She spoke with a hint of pride.
Logaris merely gave a quiet “Mm.”
His pace did not slow at all.
Lilith pouted.
How boring.
Would it kill him to offer a compliment?
“The one who will overturn the world…”
Logaris repeated silently in his mind.
What kind of person could that possibly be?
Or was it merely a title for some powerful existence?
The two continued deeper into the mountains, eliminating several more waves of reckless magical beasts along the way.
For Lilith, who was at the sixth tier, and Logaris, who stood at the peak of the fifth tier, these encounters were nothing more than appetizers.
They did not even qualify as a warm-up.
When they arrived at a wide snowfield, Logaris suddenly stopped.
Lilith almost crashed into his back.
“My lord, what is it?”
“There is activity ahead.”
Logaris closed his eyes and carefully sensed the Aether fluctuations drifting through the air.
They were chaotic and intense.
High-intensity magical bombardments mixed with the sharp sound of blades cutting through the wind.
Someone was fighting.
And the battle was not of a low level.
He took out a glove embedded with three gemstones and put it on.
With a light tap of his fingertip in the air, an invisible ripple spread outward from the two of them.
Their figures, sounds, scent, and even their sense of presence were erased all at once.
“Stay close and suppress your aura.”
Using the invisibility spell, the two silently approached the source of the disturbance and hid behind a massive snow-covered boulder.
Logaris leaned out slightly and looked toward the battlefield.
The center of the snowfield was a complete mess.
Seven or eight assassins dressed in tight black clothing and wearing metal masks were surrounding two individuals.
Their movements were extremely agile, their coordination flawless, and their attacks vicious and cunning.
And they were all demi-humans.
Sharp beast ears or swaying tails behind them revealed their identity.
The ones being surrounded were a man and a woman.
The girl looked young, perhaps sixteen or seventeen.
Her jet-black hair stood out vividly against the snow, and her ruby-like eyes were filled with anxiety and stubborn determination.
Black hair?
That was rather rare.
Logaris silently evaluated her.
In Logaris' impression, such hair color was uncommon.
The girl held an ornate staff and continuously cast spells.
Fireballs.
Ice spikes.
Wind blades.
The display was dazzling and colorful, looking extremely impressive.
But in the eyes of someone like Logaris, it was riddled with flaws.
Her mana control was crude.
Her casting wind-up was far too long.
Her attacks lacked any structure, essentially throwing spells around randomly.
Several times, her spells nearly hit her own ally instead of the enemy.
Flashy but impractical.
That was Logaris' evaluation.
The one truly holding the battle together was the man.
He was tall with dazzling blond hair and handsome features, though his face was pale and blood stained the corner of his mouth.
His arms and neck were covered with fine golden scales.
His eyes were not human either—they were emerald dragon pupils.
A dragon-type demi-human.
He held a heavy sword, and each swing produced heavy gusts of wind pressure.
Again and again, he blocked the assassins’ attacks, maintaining a narrow zone of safety for the black-haired girl behind him.
But he was clearly reaching his limit.
His wounds were increasing, his movements growing slower, and each breath came with heavy gasps.
“Hey! Gold Scales! How much longer can you hold out? Is that all the strength your Golden Dragon bloodline has? If this drags on any longer, I am going to run out of mana!”
The black-haired girl complained while dodging awkwardly.
The dragon demi-human called Gold Scales did not turn around.
His voice sounded hoarse from exhaustion.
“Miss Alice, run! I will hold them off!”
“Run? Easy for you to say!”
Alice snapped irritably.
“Let me remind you that the contract never said I had to sprint through this cursed place on two legs while racing a pack of long-tailed dogs! If you die, who am I supposed to collect the remaining payment from? Hurry up and use your trump card!”
She threw another Fireball.
The spell was easily dodged by one of the assassins, exploding into a crater in the snow in the distance.
The leader of the assassins seemed to lose patience.
He made a hand signal.
Three assassins suddenly changed targets.
They bypassed the dragon demi-human and lunged toward Alice from three different directions like ghosts.
The dragon demi-human’s expression changed dramatically.
He tried to retreat to defend her but was tightly entangled by the remaining assassins.
“Miss Alice, be careful!”
He roared, and the golden scales on his body shone brightly.
Forcing the enemies around him back, he turned and rushed toward Alice.
But it was already too late.
Three daggers gleaming with cold light had already reached her.
Alice’s sharp tongue finally failed her.
For the first time, her beautiful face turned pale.
She screamed—not so much from fear as from anger, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
In a panic, she grabbed a handful of glittering powder from the alchemical pouch at her belt and flung it forward without hesitation.
“Flash Dust! Blind your dog eyes!”
Behind the boulder, Lilith’s hand had already moved to her dagger.
She looked eager to join the fight.
Should she act?
She glanced at Logaris, waiting for his order.
But Logaris still did not move.
He simply observed quietly.
All his attention was focused on the dragon-type demi-human.
Golden scales.
In the Demi-Human Empire, bloodline determined status.
Among dragon-type demi-humans, the Golden Dragon bloodline was the most noble.
It was the symbol of royalty.
A young demi-human carrying the Golden Dragon bloodline, accompanied by a mage girl, being hunted by mysterious demi-human assassins in the Dragon Mountain Range…
The amount of information contained in that situation was enormous.
Logaris' mind raced.
He glanced at the group of assassins, none of whom exceeded the fourth tier.
Assessment complete.
Trash-tier soldiers.
“Prepare to move.”