Chapter 32 : Chapter 32
Chapter 32. The Withering of Blood
The snowstorm deep within the mountains was far more violent than at the outer regions.
The swirling snow particles struck people's faces like countless tiny knives.
Logaris West led the three of them through knee-deep snow for nearly an hour.
At last, they stopped before a gentle slope concealed behind a massive boulder.
After pushing aside vines hanging down and covered with icicles, a dilapidated hunter’s cabin appeared before them.
The wooden walls had already rotted, and several fist-sized holes exposed the interior.
Wind and snow poured in through those openings.
“So this is the safe place you were talking about?”
Alice crossed her arms, her lips turning purple from the cold.
“I think the only difference between this place and a sieve is that a sieve does not leak wind by itself.”
Alectos leaned against the doorframe.
The loss of blood from his wounds and the piercing cold had drained the color from his face.
He did not even have the strength to argue back with Alice.
Lilith ignored their complaints.
She silently erased the traces they had left on their way here.
Alice snorted and walked proudly to the center of the cabin.
She raised her staff.
“Watch carefully.”
“Let me show you what real fire magic looks like.”
She began chanting an incantation.
The gemstone at the tip of her staff lit up.
A fireball formed in front of her.
Then with a soft “PUFF,” it crashed into the damp floor.
The flame did ignite.
However, it was accompanied by thick choking black smoke.
The damp wood and rotting leaves caught fire.
The entire cabin was instantly filled with dense smoke, reducing visibility to less than one meter.
“Cough! Cough!”
Alice choked until tears streamed from her eyes.
She frantically waved at her staff, trying to disperse the smoke.
Instead, she only stirred it into an even thicker cloud.
Logaris adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
He truly could not bear to watch this any longer.
He walked to his pack and took out several palm-sized metal plates, several colored wires, and a dull gray low-tier Mana crystal.
Alice was still battling the smoke.
Soon, a series of faint “CLICK” sounds echoed in the cabin.
A few minutes later, Logaris carried a strangely shaped metal device to the center of the room.
He pressed the Mana crystal into a slot in the device.
“HUM.”
A soft sound followed.
A gentle orange glow appeared on the surface of the device.
A steady and warm current of heat silently spread outward, quickly filling the entire cabin.
There was no smoke.
There was no blinding light.
There was only pure warmth.
The cold inside the cabin vanished instantly.
Alice stopped coughing.
She stared blankly at the small “heater,” then looked at the patch of scorched floor she had created.
Her cheeks began to burn with embarrassment.
Yet that was not the end.
Logaris walked to the wall and raised one hand.
Facing the holes in the wall, he calmly spoke two words.
“Matter Reorganization.”
The wooden fibers surrounding the holes began to wriggle and grow on their own.
Within seconds, every gap was perfectly sealed.
The wall became whole again as if it had never been damaged.
Then he casually pointed at an empty bucket.
The moisture in the air rapidly condensed.
Clear drinking water formed and filled the bucket to the brim.
The entire sequence of actions flowed as smoothly as moving clouds and flowing water.
There were no unnecessary Mana fluctuations.
Everything was executed with the precision of a machine.
Alice’s mouth slowly formed a perfect “O.”
Is this person… really a mage?
There were no chants.
There was no staff.
Everything he used consisted of methods she had never even heard of.
This had completely exceeded her entire understanding of magic.
Alectos sat down against the wall.
Feeling the warmth within the cabin, he gazed at Logaris' back with deep respect.
This man’s understanding and control of Mana had reached an unimaginable level.
“Stop standing there in a daze,” Logaris said.
He pointed at Alectos.
“Come here.”
“Let me treat the wound.”
Alectos obediently sat beside the fire.
Logaris crouched down and removed the blood-soaked bandages from his body.
The wound was extremely deep.
Bone was almost visible.
However, that was not the biggest problem.
Beneath the torn flesh, strands of black energy clung like living creatures.
They continuously wriggled and devoured Alectos' life force, preventing the wound from healing.
“I already used the highest-grade healing potion!”
Alice leaned closer to look, her expression helpless.
“It was useless!”
“It could only slow it down slightly.”
“These black threads simply cannot be killed!”
Logaris ignored her.
He extended his index finger.
A tiny point of pure Mana light gathered at the tip.
He gently touched one of the black energy threads.
The black thread recoiled violently as if it had been burned.
Logaris closed his eyes, sensing the information transmitted back from that brief contact.
A few seconds later, he opened them again.
His tone remained calm, as though he were reading a laboratory report.
“A composite decay curse.”
“The method is very ancient.”
“It mixes necromancy with malicious erosion specifically targeting a particular bloodline.”
“The person who cast this curse did not merely want you to die.”
“They wanted you to experience the deepest possible suffering while your life force slowly drained away.”
A bitter smile appeared on Alectos' face.
There was no surprise in his expression.
“Your knowledge is truly extraordinary, sir.”
He sighed softly.
“This is the work of the black mage who serves Prince Remington, the hawkish prince of the Demi-Human Empire.”
“The curse is called ‘The Withering of Blood.’”
“It is one of the most powerful curses in the world today.”
“I have already calculated the progression.”
“In less than half a year, I will die.”
At this point, hiding anything further was meaningless.
Before such an unfathomable powerhouse, honesty was the only reasonable choice.
“About half a year ago, my father—the emperor who advocated peaceful coexistence with other races—was placed under house arrest after Prince Remington, my uncle and the leader of the hawkish faction, launched a coup.”
“As the representative figure of the dovish faction, I became the target of assassination.”
Alectos' voice grew heavy with unwilling bitterness.
“During one ambush, that black mage planted this curse on me.”
“It constantly erodes my dragon bloodline and weakens my life force.”
“I came to the Dragon Mountain Range to search for an ancient dragon inheritance ruin that only those of the ‘Huiyin’ bloodline can access.”
He looked at Logaris.
A hint of pleading appeared in his emerald dragon eyes.
“According to the ancient records of my family, that ruin contains the accumulated knowledge of our dragon ancestors.”
“There might be a solution inside…”
After hearing everything, Logaris looked at him without expression.
“With your current physical condition, forget about searching for ruins.”
“Even a random winter wolf on the outskirts of the mountains could treat you as emergency winter rations.”
The words were sharp.
Yet they were an undeniable truth.
Alectos did not grow angry.
Instead, Logaris' blunt honesty only strengthened his resolve.
He struggled to stand and perform a formal salute.
However, Logaris stopped him with a simple gesture.
“Sir!”
Alectos' voice carried absolute determination.
“I need your help!”
“As long as you escort me to the ruins and assist me in completing the inheritance…”
He took a deep breath and revealed his greatest bargaining chip.
“Inside the ruins, aside from a single bloodline relic that I must retrieve, every ancient knowledge copy, every rare alchemical material, and every sealed magical artifact will be yours to choose from!”
Silence fell over the cabin.
Lilith sucked in a sharp breath.
A complete ancient dragon ruin?
How many treasures could possibly be inside a place like that?
Has this golden-scaled prince lost his mind?
He was offering everything to a man he had known for less than half a day.
Logaris' expression did not change.
However, his mind had already completed countless rapid calculations.
A dragon ruin.
That meant a vast amount of ancient knowledge.
Unknown magical systems.
And… high-tier alchemical materials.
The Dragon Blood Stone he had been struggling to find would have a very high chance of appearing in such a place.
Furthermore, could the “one who will overturn the world” mentioned in the Book of Prophecy be related to this ancient dragon inheritance?
Logaris looked at the sincere Demi-Human prince.
At last, he spoke.
“Deal.”