Chapter 700: Frozen Trials 11

Huff—!

Huff—!

“Haaah…! Haaah…!”

Ragged breaths tore through the quiet forest.

Snow crunched under frantic footsteps as a young girl ran through the frozen woods, stumbling more than once as she forced her exhausted legs to keep moving.

Two small white horns curved from the sides of her head, half hidden beneath messy strands of pale hair.

Blood dripped from her nose.

More leaked from the corner of her mouth.

Dark veins pulsed beneath her skin, spreading slowly across her neck like thin cracks under glass.

The pain was unbearable.

Every heartbeat felt like something tearing inside her chest.

But the girl didn’t stop.

She couldn’t stop.

Her instincts screamed at her.

Run.

Survive.

No matter what.

Behind her, voices echoed through the forest.

“Catch it!”

“Kill that beast!”

“No—!”

A different voice snapped sharply.

“We need her alive!”

Another man laughed coldly.

“It doesn’t matter if it loses a few limbs, right?!”

“The curse should slow her down soon. Just don’t lose track of her.”

Branches snapped as several figures pushed through the trees.

They wore dark hooded robes, their presence heavy with something unnatural.

With every step they took, a faint ripple of divine energy leaked from their bodies—twisted, corrupted, wrong.

Demonic cultists.

Some of the most foul and wretched beings on the entire continent.

Their power came from divine energy, but it was warped—bent into something dark and parasitic. The strength it granted was undeniable.

But it came with a price.

And it made them easy to detect.

That was why demonic cultists rarely moved openly.

They hid in underground sanctuaries, abandoned cathedrals, forgotten ruins—anywhere they could avoid the eyes of the Church. Because their energy acted like a beacon to those who wielded true divine power.

Paladins.

Clergy.

Inquisitors.

To them, the presence of demonic energy was like the stench of rot.

Impossible to ignore.

Which meant cultists usually worked in secrecy.

But right now?

These men didn’t care.

They didn’t even try to suppress their power.

Dark energy surged around them as they chased the fleeing girl like hunters cornering prey.

Because the child they were chasing…

Was more important than secrecy.

More important than their own safety.

And besides—

This was the northern territories.

A harsh, isolated land where the influence of the Church barely reached.

Paladins were rare here.

Clergy even rarer.

Finding someone capable of sensing their corruption in this frozen wilderness was about as likely as finding a field of green grass buried beneath the endless snow.

Which meant the men could hunt freely.

Ahead of them, the horned girl stumbled again, nearly collapsing as another wave of pain tore through her body.

“…Mommy…!”

The girl’s voice broke as she ran.

Tears streamed down her face, dark against the pale skin of her cheeks, falling onto the snow like drops of ink.

Her breathing was getting worse.

She could feel it.

The poison spreading deeper through her body with every passing moment.

The only reason she could still move at all… was because of her blood.

Her dragon blood.

As she pushed forward through the forest, her thoughts drifted back to what had happened.

Just this morning… it had been a normal day.

Normal for her, at least.

Her mother had been gone for twenty years now.

But she had survived on her own just fine.

The nest her mother left behind was hidden at the peak of a frozen mountain, inside a cave carved deep into the stone. It was a place no human should have been able to reach—too steep, too cold, too far into the wild north.

No one had ever come close before.

She had lived quietly.

Carefully.

Just like her mother told her to.

’Avoid humans.’

At least until she was strong enough to protect herself.

She had listened.

She never went near villages.

Never approached roads.

Never revealed herself.

So why…?

Why were they hunting her now?

The girl gritted her teeth as another wave of pain surged through her chest.

She was still young for a dragon.

Barely more than a child by their standards.

But even so, she wasn’t weak.

If it had been normal humans chasing her, she could have fought back.

She could have won.

Dragons were a race that made even seasoned warriors hesitate.

Most humans would think twice before provoking one.

But these men were different.

They carried divine power.

Or rather…

Something twisted that pretended to be divine.

Demonic energy.

Foul.

Corrupted.

It clung to them like rot.

The moment they attacked her, they had already prepared something.

A curse.

She didn’t even see when they cast it.

All she remembered was the sudden pain exploding inside her body.

Since then, her strength had been fading.

Her mana was sealed, tangled by the curse spreading through her veins.

Even her draconic blood—the blood that should have purified most toxins—was struggling to fight it off.

The corruption was too strong.

Too unnatural.

Another sharp pain shot through her chest.

Her legs nearly gave out again.

Behind her, the distant voices of the cultists echoed through the forest.

Still chasing.

Still closing in.

The girl bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

Then she forced her trembling legs to move again.

Run.

She just had to keep running.

She looked around through her hazy vision.

Her sight blurred in and out as the snowy forest twisted around her.

She didn’t even know where she was running anymore.

Left.

Right.

Forward.

It didn’t matter.

Her instincts had taken over a long time ago.

She just ran.

But then—

Thud…!

Her body slammed into something solid.

“…Uh…”

She stumbled back and fell into the snow, her limbs weak and numb.

For a moment everything spun.

Then she slowly lifted her head.

And her heart sank.

Standing in front of her… was a hooded man.

“Haha… you sure are good at running, white lizard… tsk.”

The man’s voice was full of mocking amusement.

The girl trembled.

Her body reacted before her mind did as she tried to scramble back to her feet.

She had to run—

She had to—

Smack—!

A brutal kick slammed into her side.

Her small body was sent flying across the snow before crashing hard into a nearby tree.

Thud!

“Ughck—!”

A mouthful of blood spilled from her lips as the impact forced the air out of her lungs.

Her vision darkened for a moment.

Footsteps approached.

“Hey! Don’t ruin the merchandise…!”

Another hooded man walked up, several more figures appearing behind him from the forest.

“Ah, sorry,” the man who kicked her said lazily. “Couldn’t help it. The damn lizard just had to make everything difficult, you see.”

The second man clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Even still… sigh. Anyway, just go ahead and set up a defensive perimeter. We don’t want any unnecessary interference.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The man shrugged.

Before walking away, he glanced back at the girl lying against the tree.

A cruel grin spread beneath his hood.

Then he turned and left.

The remaining men stepped closer.

They crouched slightly, observing her like hunters examining trapped prey.

“Wow… look at her,” one of them muttered.

“If she didn’t have horns she’d look perfectly human, right?”

The other man chuckled.

“I guess this one’s quite talented for a baby dragon. I hear they only polymorph into races they’re familiar with…”

“Guess this one’s mother fed her a lot of humans, huh?”

The two men laughed quietly.

Their eyes looked down at her with cold curiosity.

Like she wasn’t a person.

Just an interesting specimen.

How cruel…

How painful…

What did she even do wrong?

The young girl couldn’t understand.

Her race was known for its wisdom. Dragons were creatures that lived long, learned slowly, and understood the world with calm clarity.

But she was still just a baby by their standards.

She was afraid.

She was in pain.

Every breath burned in her chest.

She wanted to run away.

She wanted this to stop.

She wanted her mother back.

Even though the amount of mana inside her small body was nearly three times greater than the men surrounding her… it meant nothing.

The curse they placed on her had sealed it away completely.

Her mana churned violently inside her veins, yet it refused to answer her call.

A perfect race.

Reduced to nothing more than a specimen for humans to capture.

To study.

To sell.

To exploit.

This was the first time she had ever left the peak of her nest.

The first time she had ever seen the world beyond the snowy mountain her mother protected.

And now she understood.

The world was far colder… far crueler… than she had ever imagined.

All the little dreams she had about the lands beyond her mountain…

All the curiosity she had about humans…

They shattered like fragile glass.

That’s why…

She could only cry.

“Hey—ahaha look at this. It’s crying.”

“Hahaha! That’s hilarious. Wish I had a recording stone right now.”

“Didn’t know lizards could cry!”

The hooded men burst into laughter.

Their voices echoed through the quiet forest.

One of them stepped forward and knelt down beside her.

In his hand was a metallic collar etched with strange runes.

Even in her weakened state, the moment she saw it—

Her instincts screamed.

Danger.

Absolute danger.

If that thing was placed around her neck…

“H-Help…

Her voice came out weak and hoarse.

The man paused.

“Ho?”

He looked down at her with amusement.

A grin slowly spread beneath his hood.

“Nobody’s going to help you, my dear. So don’t resist.”

“…S-Somebody… help me!”

Her voice cracked as despair filled her blurry vision.

The men around her continued laughing.

The collar slowly moved closer to her neck.

Her heart trembled as she prepared herself for the worst.

And then—

Something impossible happened.

“…What?”

A sharp sound cut through the air.

[Low Level Ice Magic]

[Ice Thorn]

Crack—!

An icicle burst out from the ground beneath the man’s hand.

It pierced straight through his palm.

Before he could even scream—

Frost exploded across his arm.

The ice spread instantly, racing up his body like a living thing.

In a single breath—

His entire body froze solid.

Then—

Shatter.

His body broke apart like brittle glass.

Fragments of frozen flesh scattered across the snow.

Silence fell.

The laughter stopped immediately.

The hooded men froze.

Slowly… cautiously…

They turned their heads toward the direction the attack had come from.

And there—

Standing a few meters away—

Was another young girl.

White hair swayed gently in the cold wind.

Her expression was calm.

Cold.

Emotionless.

But the mana radiating from her body…

It was terrifying.

An overwhelming wave of freezing energy spread through the forest.

The temperature dropped so suddenly that frost began creeping across the ground.

The men felt their bodies stiffen.

Their breath turned into mist.

And for the first time since the chase began—

Fear appeared in their eyes.

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