Even if he rushed to the remaining spots, absorbing their power would not be enough to unlock anything meaningful. That left Belial stuck, since killing enemies that gave no rewards left him with no options. After cleaning up these few leftovers, there was little else he could do.
The reason for this was simple. Kwenfield had taken a heavy loss at the hands of a certain dragon, and because the Great Dragon killed too ruthlessly, the remaining monster forces were far below expectations and could no longer attack other cities. Between dealing with the Ice Spirit and contending with the the Lord, Belial had wiped out much of their high level strength, making the original large scale ritual impossible.
At the very least, the core goal of the final ritual had to be preserved. Because of that, Kwenfield cut off many rituals in other locations, recalled resources, and filled the gaps. It was like a gacha game where the original goal was to collect a perfect set, but now just hitting the guaranteed minimum would count as success.
Everyone now knew that the unreasonable Great Dragon was hunting ritual nodes specifically. No one understood what the dragon was thinking, but continuing would only mean throwing lives away. For now, retreating and avoiding direct conflict was the only choice.
Flames burned a hole in the void, and the first thing thrown out was a blood soaked human stump. Salva rolled across the ground, leaving a trail of blood, before being pinned in place by a massive foot. Kwenfield spoke coldly, his face darker than his black robe, saying he had warned him that the dragon was not simple.
Salva laughed while coughing blood, admitting that the dragon exceeded even his imagination. Black sludge surged from his mangled stump, regrowing an arm that clawed into his own skull, stirring his brain before he pulled himself free from the remnants of memory. He muttered about seeing such a creature for the first time and marveling at what dragons could be.
Kwenfield erupted with visible anger, flames of decay burning through the void and casting twisted shadows. Even so, he forced himself to restrain it, as Salva's failure was not entirely unexpected. The preparations and strength used had been within normal limits, and there was little more to say.
However, touching the sealed ice demon spirit crossed his bottom line. This involved the descent of the great the Lord, and using a demon spirit would inevitably cause consequences. His voice was cold as he stated that Salva knew exactly what that meant.
The madness in Salva's smile faded only slightly as he argued that the dragon's unknown Magic made their original plan nearly doomed anyway. Since the dragon pursued Blessed Power, he believed it was better to admit that until the the Lord descended, they had no way to deal with it. Kwenfield fell silent, then demanded something actually useful.
After withdrawing his flames, Kwenfield acknowledged that even at full strength they could not trouble the dragon. Even using Laws made it uncertain whether invoking part of the the Lord's authority would be enough. More importantly, their goal was the ritual itself, not mutual destruction with a dragon they still did not fully understand.
Salva calmly explained that using the ice demon spirit would draw the attention of the true Ice Spirit, and that might already have happened. Sitting back down, fully regenerated, he smiled and said that while the dragon was their problem, it was not necessarily an ally of the the Lord. If they gave both sides a reason, the dragon and the Ice Spirit could clash.
He poured himself another cup of coffee and looked toward a sealed chamber deep inside, where the demon spirit body was kept. With a cruel smile, he said the solution was simple. They would return the demon spirit to its rightful owner.
Vann finished reading the information gathered by Wolfguard and let out a slow breath. As usual, he pulled a metal flask from under his desk and took several gulps. Conditions across the regions were improving, with monsters almost wiped out, Abyss Church strongholds uprooted one after another, and the nobles who had colluded with them dragged out and publicly executed.
After the Lord returned, Dotleivy seemed far more sensitive than before. Even though matters involving Abyss Church could not be openly used as evidence, digging a little deeper was enough to justify killing those nobles several more times over. Even so, Vann still felt uneasy.
"The most important priest, and another assistant, have almost vanished without a trace…"
The files contained figures branded with a unique Magic, suspected to be Kwenfield and Salva, appearing at what seemed to be a secret gathering place for nobles. The undercover agent who sent this information committed suicide without hesitation after noticing his thoughts being twisted by an evil god's faith. This report was also linked to another file that had just arrived.
Vann set the first document aside and picked up the second. The location was an abandoned city that had already been slaughtered by monsters and should have long been buried under snow, yet the scout was drawn there by extremely violent fluctuations of multiple Magic. It was suspected that several beings at least at Silver level, possibly up to Gold Rank, had fought there, with large numbers involved, and that Salva might also have appeared.
Based on the scout's report and the joint analysis of Vann and Dotleivy, a hall-level existence might have appeared there, very likely one of the two key targets on the watch list. Along with this information came several branded images. Some showed an aerial view of the city, likely taken by trained hawks or similar animals, and analysis suggested that at least one fifth of the city had been directly struck by large-scale ice-element Magic.
The caster of that spell was also suspected to be hall-level, based on residual elements and traces of Magic, with final confirmation stamped personally by Dotleivy. Another aerial image was taken not long afterward, likely less than half an hour later. From the ancient castle at the city center extending roughly twelve kilometers west beyond the walls, a massive fan-shaped scar had appeared.
At the origin of that fan were traces of blockbuster molten rock that had cooled and crystallized, with surrounding snow also blockbuster melted. It was inferred that an extremely high-level fire Magic had been used there. On the white snowfield, a black swath of blockbuster earth showed through, dusted with frost, as if a giant had scooped a spoonful out of a cake, leaving behind a shocking wound.
A small number of human corpses were found in the city, including some already recorded as dead, yet there were also signs of extensive recent human activity. "…"
Vann narrowed his eyes and pulled out a third photo. This one was not of a city, but of a living creature. The image was unclear due to distance, showing only scales and claws, but it was still enough to stun him.
A colossal Great Dragon with a ferocious appearance and crystal-like spines along its back was emerging from a mountainside. It was spreading its wings as if about to take flight, with tamed storms coiling obediently around it. According to a mage knowledgeable about Great Dragon who happened to be in the Northlands, analysis of claw marks left behind and body proportions in the photo suggested something alarming.
This creature was suspected to be a White Dragon Great Dragon, but compared to typical White Dragon, it was far more muscular and savage in appearance, with some traits leaning toward Black Dragon. Beyond the unexplained blockbuster spines, even the bulging muscle patterns differed from normal Great Dragon. Most shocking was its size, far exceeding the ancient dragon tier, with body length alone more than twice that of an average adult Great Dragon.
Vann opened a drawer and took out a thick stack of other photos from a folder. They varied in size and source, but every single one depicted the same Great Dragon. He compared them one by one with the latest image, even though others had already confirmed they showed the same individual, because he wanted to see it himself.
"Is this really a dragon?"
The question hung heavily in his mind, his brows twisting into a knot. The idea was hard to accept. A creature strong enough to repel a hall-level opponent and more than ten others including Gold Rank could still be explained, since Great Dragon were naturally powerful and exceptional individuals did exist.
A strange appearance could be tolerated as well. But the size was absurd. Early reports estimated a body length of around thirty meters, and nearly every new sighting showed further growth. Now it was at least over fifty meters long, meaning that if it was truly the same individual, it had grown by more than half in just a few months.
Vann had listened in a daze as equally stunned analysts delivered this report. It sounded ridiculous. This was a Great Dragon, not a mushroom that grew just by drinking water. From hatching to adulthood took at least a century, with most growth happening during long periods of sleep.