# Chapter 46: Lurking Chaos
Connecting the various regions of the empire were solid rock roads.
The gray stone highways, created by magic and alchemy, stretched straight toward the world's end, extending to the horizon's edge. Though weathered by years of wind and frost, with countless cracks and gaps in their surface, they had not yet completely crumbled, continuing to guide travelers on their way forward.
Loranda walked briskly along the frozen ground beside the gray stone road, watching the occasional carriages and dragon-cart merchant convoys passing back and forth along the highway.
Generally speaking, solitary travelers did not walk on the main road itself—only riders and merchant caravans in a hurry needed the relatively flat path.
Loranda's walking pace was not fast, but he never stopped. An ordinary person walking briskly for several hours would certainly feel tired, but the paladin did not experience this sensation. In truth, under the protection of Holy Light, aside from occasional meals, he advanced almost ceaselessly day and night. Even though he wore full armor for his training journey, he felt no fatigue whatsoever.
"Based on the sun's position, it should be afternoon now."
Slowing his pace slightly, he looked up at the sunlight. Loranda confirmed the current time and estimated: "If I pick up the pace a little, I should reach Moldavia around tomorrow morning."
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel invigorated: "The long road, months of travel, finally reaching the destination."
The intermediate process needed no elaboration. The paladin walked silently beside the gray road, his speed even surpassing some horses. Riders and dragon-cart merchants he passed on the highway could only see a white figure flash by beside them, then rapidly shrink into a distant dot.
Before long, he arrived at a small forest.
The woods beside the road were a resting place for many merchant caravans and travelers, with no magical beasts dwelling within. Loranda could see cooking smoke rising from among the trees. Since night came early in the Northern Lands, this was likely some group that had been traveling all day, preparing their evening meal.
Loranda did not plan to rest. At his speed, he could reach the next stop before nightfall and make his final preparations before entering the city then.
But just as he passed the forest, he heard a commotion of voices.
The noise from the woods was quite loud, as if great chaos had broken out, with people's angry shouts rising from time to time. Loranda turned his head to look and couldn't help showing a puzzled expression.
"Trouble of some kind?"
Standing still, he thought for a moment, then decided to go see what was happening and whether anyone needed help.
Helping those in need whenever possible was a paladin's duty. After gripping his warhammer firmly, Loranda strode toward the forest.
The pine grove of snow cedars was full of vitality; even in late autumn, the needles showed not a trace of fading green. Inside the forest was a large open area suitable for setting up camp. In a half-established campsite, over a dozen people were engaged in heated argument around a massive ground dragon two stories tall.
They paid no attention to the paladin standing nearby, and Loranda gathered the gist of the matter from their dispute.
This group were all members of a dragon-cart merchant convoy, coming from the empire's south, carrying many local products that sold well in the Northern Lands. The journey had been smooth all the way, but just as they were about to reach Moldavia, the ground dragon suddenly fell ill and couldn't move.
This was quite awkward. As the only ground dragon in the convoy, they had no other means of transporting goods. If they couldn't quickly cure the dragon, they would have no way to sell their merchandise and leave the Northern Lands before the heavy snow blocked the roads.
The physician traveling with the convoy was helpless against the illness. As time passed, the already unwell ground dragon grew increasingly irritable, and now no one could even approach it. The entire convoy had split into two factions blaming each other, each claiming the other's fault had caused the current situation.
Loranda was originally pondering how to resolve this meaningless dispute, but when he observed the ground dragon, his eyes widened as he recognized something familiar.
"This pattern, and this aura... isn't it the same as those maddened dragon beasts in the Western Mountains?"
With this thought crossing his mind, the paladin narrowed his eyes, considered for a moment, then made a decision.
"Everyone, it seems you need help."
The two groups who had been arguing suddenly heard a deep, magnetic voice coming from behind them. The voice seemed to contain some kind of magic, involuntarily drawing their attention.
They all turned together toward the source of the sound. A knight wearing a helmet and clad in white armor stood on the frozen ground among the trees.
His armor bore the holy emblems of the Seven Gods, and a faint sacred radiance emanated from his body—sufficient proof that he was a genuine paladin.
Seeing everyone turn to look at him, Loranda nodded slightly, having achieved his purpose, and continued: "I think I can cure this ground dragon."
Hearing this, the crowd that had just quieted down immediately became agitated again.
"Who is he? Why is he helping us?"
"He seems to be a clergy member. Can we trust him?"
"Paladins of the Church of the Seven Gods are trustworthy. After all, we don't have any other options."
"Yes, there's no time left. Let's give it a try."
Because of their long-established good reputation, everyone present trusted the paladin's ability and character. Since Loranda said he had a solution, he probably wasn't lying.
So after a brief discussion, the leaders of the two arguing factions reached an agreement. They bowed respectfully to the paladin and invited him forward to treat the ground dragon that was lying motionless on the spot.
"But since when are the church's training paladins this strong?" an older merchant muttered quietly, looking quite surprised. "Traveling in full heavy armor—even a Silver Knight wouldn't have that kind of stamina."
And Gold-rank experts mostly flew or had exclusive mounts; they wouldn't travel step by step like this either.
Paying no attention to others' gazes, under everyone's watchful eyes, Loranda stepped forward. He carefully observed this ground dragon that the merchant convoy had described as irritable and dangerous, then discovered more familiar traces.
"The area around the eyelids has turned purple-blue, the breath contains some unknown particles, the mind is unclear, and aggressive impulses are amplified—it really is very similar to those dragon beasts that attacked villages in the Western Mountains."
Reaching out to stroke the ground dragon's scales, he couldn't help falling into thought: "Does the mutation there also exist in the Northern Empire?"
"ROAR!"
But before he could finish pondering, a low beastly roar sounded. The ground dragon, which had been letting the merchant convoy argue without any reaction, suddenly opened its eyes, twisted its head, and rapidly bit toward the paladin.
"Watch out!"
"Good heavens!"
Completely unable to react, amid the crowd's exclamations, half of Loranda's body was swallowed into the enraged ground dragon's mouth. Its sharp teeth clenched and ground together, as if they could tear apart anything. In that instant, everyone in the dragon-cart convoy thought the poor paladin was surely doomed. Though ground dragons didn't have the combat power of wyverns, their bite force was in no way inferior to any creature.
This paladin was finished!
But after the initial shock, the merchant convoy members preparing to flee suddenly noticed they hadn't heard the paladin's screams, nor seen any spurting blood.
On the contrary, accompanied by a flash of white light, a voice tinged with amusement came from within the dragon's mouth.
"It really is the same symptoms as those maddened dragon beasts."
His arms gleaming with sacred radiance, Loranda easily pried open the ground dragon's jaws. He was completely unharmed; even the dragon's somewhat corrosive saliva was repelled by Holy Light, sliding off his armor. The paladin nodded: "Indeed, the illness hasn't progressed deeply yet. Purification with Holy Light should suffice."
Saying this, Loranda withdrew his body from the dragon's mouth, gathered Holy Light, and punched the ground dragon squarely on the lower jaw. The force of the blow lifted the entire dragon body momentarily into the air. He looked at the ground dragon, now dazed by the Gold Peak-rank Rising Dragon Fist, with pity in his eyes: "You need treatment."
While Loranda was treating (physically) the ground dragon, two middle-aged men wearing traveler's robes exchanged glances, then slowly, without alerting anyone else, slipped away from the onlooking crowd.
They came to a spot among the trees.
"What's going on? Why is there a paladin here?"
A one-eyed middle-aged man lowered his voice, speaking to his companion. He looked tense: "And he seems quite strong—no, actually very strong! Knocking out a ground dragon with one punch requires at least Silver Peak or Gold Initial-rank strength."
"Has our plan been discovered?"
The other man, who looked very ordinary and would be completely unremarkable in a crowd, thought for a moment, then shook his head: "No, it should be a coincidence. Judging by his full armor and travel-worn appearance, he's probably just a training paladin."
"Then the plan continues?"
"It continues."
(To be continued.)