Promise

Holy City Abandoned. The City of Winnei's Ruins

As soon as they were two kilometers from the shore of Lake Nyos, the elderly man ordered Anthonius and Omar to disembark from his boat. The old man left after being rewarded with a few silver coins in accordance with their earlier arrangement.

Thick fog appeared, eroding the limits of visibility, and raindrops fell with grains of ice crystals. Omar touched the lake water gently beneath his shoes. "Blizzard...!" Omar whispered. "Even though this is just common magic, I think it's strong enough to support our bodies," Omar remarked as a layer of ice formed, slowly creeping from beneath his palm towards the edge of the lake, creating a path three meters wide.

Anthonius seemed indifferent to what Omar had just said.

"Why?" asked Omar, who noticed Anthonius's change in attitude since they met the old man who had guided them across the lake.

"This is too quiet!" Anthonius exclaimed as he pulled the finest orichalcum blade from the sheath of his sword. "Too quiet…," he added.

"You are right!" Omar, who also recognized this, then took the spear he had prepared and a shield made from the same material as Anthonius's sword.

Anthonius paused for a moment, staring straight at a portion of the entrance gate to the ruins of the City of Winnei that appeared amid the thick, dense fog.

The Great Calamity Tragedy is the term used to describe the numerous disagreements among Terra's founders at the start of the planet's development. They are Zu, the soil deity; Zamman, the timekeeper; Meuz, the moon demon; and Afar, the wind demon. Zamman disagreed with Zu and Meuz's desire for the dragons to live with them as guardian beasts. Zu did not follow Zamman's decision, but the young Meuz did. Zu quietly brought in a number of dragons and concealed them. However, Zamman found out about his efforts. In his rage, Zamman drove out the dragons, but the dark dragon fought back, destroying several important towns on Terra, including the sacred city of Ein.

"It shouldn't be this deserted, right?!" Omar turned, his face bewildered as he looked at Anthonius. "As far as I can remember, a small number of monks continue to live on the outskirts of Winnei City in order to conduct the yearly offerings and prayers for the dragon. Am I correct?" Omar inquired.

Anthonius said, "I just met one of them two months ago, when they requested protection for a ceremony at the ruins of the Lily Fire Temple!" and motioned for Omar to step in front of him in order to offer protection.

Anthonius remarked quietly, "I... actually did not feel the presence of people upon arriving at the lake. For this reason, I continued to investigate every home in the hamlet in the hopes of finding someone, ignoring the elderly fisherman who was at the moment mending his net."

Omar stopped abruptly, almost like a whisper, then turned to face Anthonius, his face bewildered.

"The old man is not a human but a representation of a collection of magical energy and the memories of someone who seems to have been meticulously prepared to help us cross the lake. The old man was created using the cloning magic technique, but he was intentionally made to be very different from his creator," explained Anthonius, which immediately left Omar stunned, feeling confused and shocked.

Then Omar grinned, but after hearing Anthonius's comments, he almost swore. "Simply put... is he a ghost?!" Omar asked, his face going white in an instant. "Man…, I know you are my leader. Even though you are the Crimson Knight's highest leader, I will not pardon you for making such a joke!" Omar despises scary stories.

"No," Anthonius said, requesting that Omar pick up his speed. Antonius clarified, "More like a clone with the owner's memories, but in a very different form! We will head straight to the Celestial Prison without circling around the ruins of the city and then proceed to the center of the temple where the dark dragon resides!"

"Alright," Omar said.

"Omar…, can you also do some mapping?" To reduce the chance of getting lost or to help them find their way back to the entrance, Athonius asked Omar to draw a map of their journey.

"I'll take care of it!" Omar started mapping using common magic to chart the path they had traveled.

They both kept sprinting while mapping nearly half of the now-ruined city of Ein, which was reduced to only building foundations with some of the walls already collapsing.

Omar, who was still working on mapping the city, asked, "Found something?"

Anthonius responded, "Do you want an honest answer from me?" But Omar cursed him instead.

"Honestly, I can't feel the presence of the dragon or even the miasma that should be enveloping this city!" Softly, Anthonius spoke. "I really can't feel it. I initially believed this to be the result of my poor magical detecting skills. In order to get more precise results, I must use close-range detection; yet, I am beginning to question whether my magical detecting skills are malfunctioning. It appears that the dragon has left this city." Where did the dragon go if Anthonous was correct in supposing that it had left the city of Winnei?

"Anthonius…!" Omar indicated that the door of the Black Dragon Temple should have been securely locked for hundreds of years by Meuz employing absolute defense magic, yet it was slightly open. "I am sure we will soon find out what has happened in there!"

…

As though making fun of Anthonius, who appeared uncomfortable with the scene in front of him, Omar inquired, "Has the general ever been here before?"

Athonius gave a frustrated snort. "Never. I am not allowed here, either. I must admit that this is my first visit to the City of Winnei!"

"Were you not the one who went into the Kruber Crystal Cave?" Omar requested verification. "Isn't that even more dangerous?"

"Yes, but I was with Meuz at the time. Anthonius said, "So it was Meuz, not me, who had permission to enter that place."

In actuality, one of the prohibited locations on Terra is the long-abandoned city of Winnei following the major catastrophe. This indicates that, other than what they learn from textbooks or historical documents, very few wizards—or even Terra's residents—are aware of the true state of the planet. However, for hundreds of years, a family of monks has been permitted to live in the City of Winnei to conduct yearly religious rites and prayers. For safety reasons, monks are typically only allowed to enter the city no more than one kilometer from the main gate, even if they are permitted to live close to it.

"Too quiet!" Omar said.

There aren't any orbs or even a single little monster prowling around. The temple's first floor, which ought to have been protected by an A-rank monster or possibly a mini boss, is now completely deserted. As though Banshe, the mini boss, had vanished into thin air. The wind, which enters the temple through the gaps in the stained glass window, is now the sole sound in the room.

Anthonius added, "Too quiet," gesturing to the stairs. He motioned for Omar to go up the stairs to the temple's second floor.

"Are you sure?!" Omar questioned, doubting Anthonius's order. "The victim's body must come into contact with the snow for Dima to recognize its presence. It's really isolated here. Snow feels like it can't get in. I won't go there if your intention is only to verify whether or not your gut feeling about the dragon's presence is correct," said Omar, refusing Antonius's orders. Omar persisted.

Anthonius stopped talking. It makes sense that Omar was right about Dima's capacity for detection, but regrettably, his instincts demanded to know the dragon's location. Given that the dark dragon had lived for hundreds of years, he thought it was odd that his magical detecting ability was unable to locate the dragon, where its manna or magical potential should have been abundant.

"We will locate the dragon!" Anthonius declared resolutely.

Omar cursed. He even slammed his shield down, making a loud noise as it hit the temple floor made of white marble covered in eternal ice. "Damn!" Omar could not hide his annoyance at Anthonius's arbitrary orders. "Can't he stay on the safe path?" Omar complained before finally following Anthonius up the stairs to the second floor of the Dark Dragon Temple.

…

The temperature suddenly dropped as they entered the second floor of the Dark Dragon Temple. A wave of cold temperature moved so quickly from the end of the corridor on the second floor that it formed a layer of ice on the walls, ceiling, glass, and even the temple's supporting pillars.

Anthonius paused for a moment, but at the same time, he heightened his vigilance. Anthonius signaled to Omar, who had just entered, to hide among the pile of goblin corpses on one side of the room. Anthonius felt familiar with the sudden wave of cold temperature that had just appeared. He seemed very familiar with the magic technique he had just experienced, but he had yet to recall who the owner of this magic was.

"What happened?" Omar rubbed his palms together to lessen the chill he was feeling and muttered. "The surge of frigid temperature was too unexpected. Which insane wizard is employing this technique? Does he want to freeze the entire city?"

Anthonius sensed that a powerful magical energy was present. The disparity in magical abilities is too great for them to confront jointly. the surge of erupting magical force, even though the target was probably a long way from where they were. "That banshee couldn't have a magical wave this powerful, mini boss. Even the dark dragon does not have an ice element in its attack magic."

Omar turned to face Anthonius, who gave him a concerned glance in return.

Amidst the darkness of the second-floor corridor of the Temple of the Dark Dragon, with only the colorful light from the temple's stained glass illuminating the space, Anthonius faintly saw an object moving slowly through the darkness. The creature was crawling, but it did not appear to be a four-legged animal or anything of the sort. Realizing that the creature might be a human moving slowly on all fours, Anthonius prepared himself. He also warned Omar to be cautious.

Pillars as sharp as Damascus steel suddenly emerged from the floor they were standing on. Reflexively, Omar took a step back, as did Anthonius.

"We're too quick to be found," Omar whispered. Omar quickly created a protective barrier for Anthonius, taking over as the front guard, considering his immunity abilities, and his magical resistance was higher than Anthonius's statistics. "Give me the orders!" said Omar, who was ready with a shield and a spear in his hands.