“Anyone have any idea why Alan wanted us to go without him?”
Alex asked, he was sitting in the passenger seat besides Maxwell, who simply shrugged.
“If he wanted us to know, he would have let us.”
“Make’s sense.”
But he was still curious as to what it was. He had seen the look Alan had when he told them all to leave… so.
“But still, have any idea? You are the one that spent most of the time with him ever since we came to this godforsaken planet.”
He wasn’t going to give up easily, especially since he knew Maxwell had to have some idea. He had agreed easily to it as well, which was unlike him.
“It’s probably related to the aura manuals he was reading, something about fire and not.”
Maxwell sighed, and spilled the beans in order to avoid getting harassed by Alexander. He knew he would keep asking until he got the answer. He missed Alan’s company already. When it was just those two, they would spend their time in silence, something Maxwell greatly
preferred if he was being honest.
Alex was too talkative.
“I wish he would teach me one.”
Alexander said, thankful that Olivia and Emma had kidnapped Festul for the time being, he knew saying it in front of him would get him electrocuted at the very least. He was having fun imagining what kind of torture his poor little former supreme was going through.
Although the torture was mainly cuddles and whatever girls would do with their pets, it was probably humiliating for him.
He was chuckling just imagining it!
“Anyway, this planet sure is boring. I can’t even see the citadels Festul mentioned. Lanekia is populated, my ass.”
He complained, Maxwell had to agree with him though on this. Though he didn’t have many expectations since he had originally though only Frost Dragon’s would inhabit this world, his expectations had risen once he heard about House Shivalkulan in more detail from Kazikato and Festul.
He had so many plans in order to use it for his and everyone’s benefit, but unfortunately those would have to wait until he gathered more information from more trustworthy sources.
He didn’t dismiss what his companions said entirely, though.
Besides that, he did agree that Lanekia was a little bit boring. It was a lot less exciting than Gigantium. The gravity was similar to that of Earth’s, but that was all. There were only the strange trees that were endless, and this road they ventured on.
They hadn’t seen the sky clearly too, it was always covered with a veil of clouds. Alan had mentioned that his ‘Mother’ said the sky of Lanekia was extremely beautiful…
‘… She has peculiar taste, if this is beautiful…’
Well, at least he knew where Alan got his sense of aesthetics from. Not minding that, he focused on his job, which was following the compass. So far, they had been travelling on a straight road, with no turns whatsoever.
He wondered how big Lanekia truly was.
“Maxwell.”
Suddenly, Alexander got up, alarmed. His nose moved up and down, and Maxwell could see every strand on his body stand up.
“Something is com-”
But before he could say it, he froze. Everything froze.
Maxwell, who was just about to activate the defense mechanisms of the Arctic Titan froze, the behemoth of steel froze as well. It stopped moving entirely in an instant, such a feat was impossible for its brakes.
They couldn’t see what had done, who had done, and they couldn’t even begin to think why they had done.
‘Didn’t… Alan say Lanekia would be safe…?’
The only thing Maxwell could do was think, Alexander’s entire body was covered with a thick layer of ice, but he was spared.
‘Damn it… it was my fault for trusting him…’
His thoughts…he felt that they were becoming slower. His body had stopped moving completely, and his thoughts would soon follow, he feared.
[This is strange.]
He heard a voice, but he didn’t whom it belonged too, neither did he know where it was coming from. It rang in his mind.
From the corner of his vision, he could see the world had become darker. Much darker. As if something had blocked whatever meager light rained down from the sky.
‘… Holy shit.’
He cursed, although he couldn’t move at all… He could still feel his beauty of a vehicle being picked up! It was nauseating.
[Oh! You’re inside this…what do they call it? Dwarven machinery? I thought it was a beast…] The Arctic Titan was gently put down, and the voice rang once more.
[Hmmm…]
Whoever was humming in his mind had to stop… it felt as if he was going to die!
‘Stop…’
But Maxwell couldn’t force him to stop. The darkness all around vanished, and something landed in front of the Arctic Titan. Maxwell, of course, couldn’t see it.
Alexander could… however. Although the surrounding ice was growing thicker and thicker as he was trying to fight it, he could still see the cause of all this.
It was huge, but a few hundred times smaller than the previous appearance it took on, the one that blocked the sky itself.
‘Draconian…’
He was having a hard time forming words in his mind… Everything was getting close as it could to being completely frozen.
A Draconian, very similar to what Alan transformed into, appeared in front of their vehicle. However, there were major differences.
First and foremost, it was twice the size Alan was… It had six horns at the top of it’s head, twisting and coiling like those of a demon.
It flicked its fingers, and a simple white robe adorned its body. The most unusual thing about this Draconian was its face.
Instead of a normal…scaled face. It appeared to be wearing the skull of a beast that resembled a goat, one that sent chills down his spine.
Other than that, there were no other special things to note about his appearance. He didn’t even exude any pressure, all of what he was feeling was from the mask the Draconian wore.
[My apologies, I have not adorned this form of mine for centuries. Truly, a disgrace to show to the prince on our first meeting.]
‘Prince…’
Hearing that, both Alexander and Maxwell had an inkling to the identity of the masked Draconian. Unfortunately… they couldn’t say anything right now.
[Hmm… I can’t feel the energy of you all inside that thing. What is her majesty’s mana…doing there with that foul chaotic mana? It masks your presence splendidly!]
All of a sudden, they could move. Maxwell’s face crashed into the defensive mechanisms of the arctic titan, which activated all of a sudden. His face twisted into horror.
“No!”
Alexander, still had difficulty in moving due to the ice that had covered his body, but even he shared the same look of absolute horror on his face.
It was as if he was screaming at Maxwell.
‘Why did you do that?!’
The turrets located on the top of the arctic titan, as well as those on its side, activated and let loose a flurry of bullets. What made things worse were that all of those rounds were explosive!
Their vision was obscured for a moment, and their ears were ringing.
“… Oh, shit.”
Alexander cursed.
“… Do you think he is okay?”
Maxwell asked, but found out a second later how stupid his question was. Alexander could
only respond with a dry cough.
“… You should be asking if we are going to be okay after that…”
[Ah, worry not. I realized that was my fault. I apologize for having inconvenienced you all in such a way. I have not interacted with anything capable of a conversation for a while.] …The meaning behind those words were ominous, but regardless, Alex and Maxwell were glad that the masked Draconian wouldn’t take things to heart. They were still safe. Gradually, both of them stepped outside the Arctic Titan, not of their own volition, but also not on the orders of the masked Draconian…
It felt as if their bodies were unconsciously doing whatever would lead them to the best chance of survival against this individual.
It seemed everyone inside the Arctic Titan had the same idea… as all of them presented themselves towards the Draconian, away from the warmth of their vehicle.
[…]
The Draconian was silent for a while.
[This is a surprise. I have never seen this…type of cohort before.]
He first showed some mild surprise in his voice, they didn’t know what facial expression he
was making due to his mask.
[A species that bears a striking resemblance to elves, but don’t share their blood at all, neither their prowess in magic. Nor can you rival their connection to the spirits.]
He said, referring to the humans of the group. Sabrina’s spirit, was dancing around the Draconian and had climbed to his head, surprisingly…he let the spirit rest there. That darn cat
was oblivious to their terror.
[And then we have royalty of the Divine Heavenly Nine-Tailed Fox clan… Although the blood
of the female is significantly more pure.]
And then, his seemingly ordinary gaze rested on Alexander and…
Festul.
[Oh.]