Chapter 34: Chaos Descending from the Sky

Chapter 34: Chaos Descending from the Sky

Viola Aeolus, a young female elf born and raised in Babel Province, worked as a doctor. Now, she was collapsed at home, enjoying a rare holiday during the carnival.

"By the Mother Tree, even if the end of the world comes, don't try to drag me out..."

Covering her delicate face with the blanket, leaving only a head of green hair spread across the pillow, the young female doctor let out a comfortable moan: "God, my bed, and this blanket—how could there be such a perfect invention in this world!"

With that, she wrapped the blanket around herself, rolled into a cylinder, and happily tumbled back and forth on the bed a few times.

Ninety-eight percent of the citizens of the Bay Federation were various types of elves. Among them, green forest elves and silver subterranean elves made up sixty percent, while other types—red, blue, black, and so on—accounted for thirty-eight percent. The remaining two percent were various strange mixed-blood half-elves, who carried bloodlines from other races within them, yet no evidence of those races' existence could be found today—a major biological mystery.

"Our ancestors must have lived alongside many other intelligent races; you can tell from the many foreign elements in our culture..." This theory had considerable traction in academic circles.

Viola had been exhausted precisely because she had participated in a seminar on bloodline research a few days prior. Today was a rare day off. To ensure the quality of her rest, the young doctor activated the soundproofing array in her home, tossed and turned on the bed to her heart's content, and then, wrapped in her comfortable blanket, fell into a deep sleep.

Naturally, she couldn't hear the emergency announcements repeated over and over in the city.

"Fifteen minutes until the arrival of the Volcano Dragon. Please have the remaining citizens evacuate as quickly as possible with the help of the Federation military. Repeat, fifteen..."

The announcement echoed throughout the city. The vast majority of citizens had already taken shelter in temporary refuges or fortresses outside the city under military protection. Of course, a small number of diehards didn't believe it, and even among elves, there were scoundrels and thugs who took advantage of the deserted streets to loot wildly. Though most were caught by the nearly omnipresent patrols not long after, some still remained in the city.

Viola, still sound asleep, was naturally one of them.

With ten minutes left on the announcement, a considerable number of citizens still hadn't evacuated from the streets. After all, for a major city with a population of millions, two hours was far too short. On the streets, some military units had already withdrawn with the civilians, and fully armored forces began to move in.

With the help of magical items, the military hastily built numerous fortifications on the streets. Armored vehicles rolled into the city, their heavy treads leaving clear tracks on the delicate roads. Mana engines hummed, extracting power from crystals and converting it into formidable energy.

Five minutes.

Smoke columns could already be seen rising in the distance. Animals with keen senses—such as the elves' animal companions, rats, and various birds—paced restlessly or even burst out of their nests. This scene genuinely frightened many of the diehards. Staring at the dust reaching toward the sky, they scrambled to flee, but by then, it was too late.

Zero.

The Federation military had more or less completed their preparations. And at that moment, the smoke column approached from afar, moving swiftly until it reached the outskirts of the city.

Boom!

A massive footstep shook the earth. The being within the dust cloud slowed its pace, and a colossal figure emerged from the haze.

Black carapace, a body wreathed in fire-element armor—the Dragon Horse raised its head to look at this wall-less city and let out a curious, low whinny.

It sensed a large number of lifeforms here, so it had come to find its way—after all, when lost, heading toward a crowd was definitely the right move. Hadn't its master mentioned that before?

But what puzzled Black was that most people seemed to be leaving the city. This confused the Dragon Horse, who couldn't make sense of the situation.

Since almost everyone in Moldavia recognized the lord's mount, no one there was afraid of it. This meant the Dragon Horse had no idea that their evacuation was because of it.

"Target has reached the city's outskirts!"

Inside the temporary command post set up in the city, information was relayed, and most orders were issued from here. A figure who appeared to be the commander was speaking into a communication array, assigning tasks to all military units in the city: "Listen up. Your mission is not to fight this monster. Use the city's buildings and fortifications to delay its advance as much as possible and ensure the citizens' safe evacuation!"

But a cry of surprise cut him off.

"The target has slowed down. It's... observing? It's walking around the city, looking at our buildings!"

A communications officer stared in shock at the scene displayed on the light screen before him—amidst the rumbling footsteps, a massive dragon-shaped beast was strolling around the city like a sightseer, its golden pupils filled with curiosity.

"Does the target actually possess intelligence?"

"Given its current behavior, it's highly likely!"

Leaving aside the command room, in the Federation's technical department, researchers observing in real-time had already launched into heated discussions. As a brand-new species, the Volcano Dragon exhibited some traits from elven myths and legends—that alone was enough to be fascinating, let alone the possibility that it might have intelligence and be capable of communication.

Black, of course, had no idea that so many people were watching it, analyzing every nuance of its movements. In reality, it was just looking for a way.

After glancing around for a while, it finally spotted a main road. The Dragon Horse nodded in a human-like manner, then strode over quickly and entered the city.

Because of its enormous size, Joshua had always warned it not to take side streets when entering the city, lest it knock down houses. In this unfamiliar place, Black still maintained that good habit.

The main roads of the elven city weren't made of hard stone but of a softer, asphalt-like clay brick. It had some water-resistant and frost-proof properties, and most importantly, it was far lighter and cheaper than stone. That was why armored vehicles left tread marks on the roads. Black's weight far exceeded that of any armored vehicle, and each of its steps left deep footprints in the streets, accompanied by rumbling vibrations.

To avoid damaging the surrounding buildings, the Dragon Horse voluntarily deactivated the fire-element shield it usually maintained around itself. This move left the Federation's high command, who had been about to order an attack, uncertain and wary. They immediately called off the units preparing to strike in the city and adopted a wait-and-see stance.

"The target's intelligence is clearly very high. It even chose the main road to avoid damaging buildings and deactivated its fire-element shield to avoid affecting the environment."

A researcher rubbed his forehead, puzzled. "But why? How does it know what our buildings are? It didn't stop when it passed through the hills and forests earlier."

"The target has definitely seen man-made objects before, and someone has taught it some basic common sense!"

Another biologist spoke with conviction, looking very certain: "The target's behavior pattern is very similar to that of a domesticated pet or mount. Look—though it's curious about the style of the surrounding buildings, it still doesn't take the side streets to explore, so as not to damage them. Ordinary wild beasts wouldn't have that kind of thought, and even a housecat lacks that self-control."

As the discussion grew more heated, a cold, hard male voice came through the communication array—it was the Minister of Military Affairs.

"I don't care about any of that. Ladies and gentlemen, you are the smartest people in the Federation. Can anyone tell me now whether we can negotiate with this... beast? Since it has intelligence, can we get it to move farther away from our city? To avoid unnecessary losses."

"...We can give it a try."

Meanwhile, Viola, still in bed, felt a massive tremor.

Her little house was shaking, as if in an earthquake. Waking painfully from her sleep, the female doctor opened her eyes, sat up groggily, and stretched. She muttered impatiently to herself: "It's just a festival—why make such a big noise..."

Boom!

A dragon claw encased in black carapace slammed down outside Viola's window. The young green elf, mid-stretch, stared blankly at the sight. Her mouth agape, she watched as the massive dragon claw lowered, lifted, then another claw lowered, lifted, moving past her window with earthquake-like rumbles.

After a while, the vibrations faded into the distance.

"..."

Rubbing her eyes vigorously, Viola felt a chill run up her spine and into her brain. Fully awake now, the female elf immediately rolled herself up in her blanket and tumbled to the edge of the bed.

Faintly, a muffled voice could be heard: "It's all a dream! You can't fool me! It's all a dream!"

Black continued its slow walk through the city. It noticed that the style of this city was completely different from the one it usually visited. This city was softer and more elegant, very beautiful, like a lovely work of art. Fountains, gardens, and various small landscapes and statues dotted the city. It had to walk very carefully to avoid damaging these delicate, tiny things.

Just then, it suddenly noticed that on a nearby street, quite a few lifeforms were present. They hadn't left.

The Dragon Horse changed direction and headed toward them.

On the adjacent street, countless mana-powered vehicles were stuck in traffic, barely moving an inch.

A traffic accident had occurred up ahead. Though the Federation military was handling it urgently, the road was blocked by wreckage from the explosion and abandoned vehicles. The citizens trying to evacuate were frantic, but they could only inch forward slowly.

"Oh god! That monster is already here!"

A scream came from a car where someone had noticed the Dragon Horse's massive silhouette. Naturally, people in the surrounding cars noticed too, and panicked shouts began to spread. Many simply abandoned their vehicles and fled.

A couple sat in their car with their child. The father was honking the horn impatiently, while the mother held their six- or seven-year-old son, nervously watching their surroundings.

But as the screams came, they too saw the massive dark shadow approaching. Instinctive fear made them tremble all over. Like the others, they immediately abandoned the car and fled—the father carrying all the luggage, the mother holding their son.

But it was too late. Though the Dragon Horse's pace was slow, it was still a giant beast over ten meters tall. Each step it took equaled a normal person's sprinting speed, and with the street clogged by mana-powered vehicles, they couldn't run fast at all.

In her panic, the mother tripped and fell. Seeing this, the father dropped the luggage and came back to help his wife and child. But by then, the shadow loomed over them. Trembling, they looked up to see a pair of enormous golden dragon eyes slowly approaching.

—Were they going to die here today?

Fear surged from the depths of their hearts. Holding their child, they embraced each other in despair, waiting for death. But suddenly, the couple felt their child break free from their hands. The boy stepped forward alone, curiously meeting the giant beast's gaze.

Strangely enough, this black-haired elven boy wasn't afraid of the Dragon Horse. He simply stared with his emerald-green eyes, full of curiosity.

"So big... there's actually a horse this big... It looks cool, different from ordinary horses."

He muttered to himself: "Why are Mom and Dad so scared? It doesn't mean any harm." Thinking this, the boy even raised his hand and waved at the Dragon Horse.

Black widened its eyes, looking at this little boy.

For some reason, everyone screamed and ran away the moment they saw it. Since it had always interacted with the people of Moldavia, the Dragon Horse could never have imagined they were afraid of it. This had made it hard for the mount to ask for directions.

But now, there were actually a dozen people who hadn't run away at the sight of it—Black, of course, couldn't tell that a few were too frozen with fear to move—and three of them were this close, with even a little child waving and greeting it.

This was great. Finally, it had met a normal person.

Seeing the black hair and emerald eyes, Black was instantly reminded of the two people who had taken care of it before its bloodline awakened—Lynn and Ying, who had brushed and cleaned it. The scene flashed before its eyes, softening the giant beast's gaze.

It let out a low whinny, as if greeting them.

At that moment, in the command post and research institute, the military high command and various researchers' eyes were nearly popping out.

"What?!"

"Impossible!"

"By the Mother Tree, this..."

Through the magical detection instruments just set up in the city, they had witnessed the interaction between Black and the elven boy. It was unbelievable, inconceivable.

"The target... is unusually friendly toward humans!"

"The target's intelligence is close to that of a human!"

"Is it even trying to initiate communication?"

"It's... not a ferocious beast after all?"

The Minister of Military Affairs was also watching this scene. He suddenly began to feel relieved that the earlier interception mission hadn't succeeded. "Good... very good. Thank goodness it didn't succeed..."

For a moment, he couldn't say much more. "As long as we don't have to fight such a terrifying creature... and there's a possibility of peaceful negotiation..."

After a brief silence, most researchers plunged into frantic discussion. Since it was preliminarily confirmed that this giant beast bore no malice toward elves, they needed to quickly formulate a follow-up response. How to communicate with it was the top priority.

In the airship's office, the High Commander and Director Laura were also watching this scene, both wide-eyed and stunned.

"...A creature capable of triggering a volcanic eruption, and yet so... gentle?"

The red elf, who had personally witnessed the beast's angry roar trigger a violent rampage of fire elements within hundreds of meters, causing a massive explosion, rubbed his forehead wearily. He looked up at the ceiling and laughed self-deprecatingly: "I never would have guessed... The world is truly strange."

Beside him, Laura shook her head and said seriously: "Although the Volcano Dragon has the ability to trigger volcanic eruptions, that doesn't prove it caused the eruption. The information left by the survey team indicates they only saw this dragon dwelling deep in the volcano, seemingly asleep—perhaps the eruption woke it up?"

Though not entirely accurate, she was close to the truth—the imminent eruption of Sigma Volcano and the extremely dense elements had caused a distortion in the space-time gate... and Black, who had been sleeping, was inexplicably teleported near the volcano.

Now, Black was having a great time playing with the little elven boy. It bent all four legs and lowered itself, letting this brave—or rather, carefree—boy climb onto its dragon claw, while it watched him gently.

"So big! And your claws are really warm too!"

Ignoring his parents' panicked shouts, the boy sat happily on Black's claw. But he noticed something strange—his new big friend didn't respond with a low whinny like before.

The Dragon Horse's body vibrated slightly. It raised its head and looked up at the sky. Following its gaze, all the detection arrays turned upward as well.

And time seemed to stop—

A point of light was descending from the distant sky. A patch of crimson suddenly appeared in the blue sky. The military high command, researchers, and the High Commander, all watching the light screen, changed expression simultaneously. Through the array, they could clearly see the sky turning purple-red from the flames. Behind that blaze, there seemed to be a massive formation composed of ten enormous rings of light. Each ring's diameter had to be measured in hundreds of thousands of meters—and that was only a rough estimate, as they were too far away for precise calculation.

"Those monsters from beyond the sky—"

The High Commander was the first to react. He slammed the table in anger, making the light screen tremble. "They appear here, at this time!"

"Don't they only land in uninhabited areas and never directly attack cities?!"

The rings of light rotated slowly, each revolution sweeping across a vast expanse of sky. The red glow grew larger and larger, and now it was clear—they were massive, bizarre meteors, descending from beyond the sky, about to fall upon this world.

Gently setting the boy down from its claw, Black stood up. It looked seriously at the sky, its eyes gradually filling with a terrifying majesty.

Having been washed many times by Joshua's Order Force and having fought alongside him against the Chaos Black Tide, the Dragon Horse could say with absolute certainty.

That was the aura of Chaos.