“That's…”
“Sit down and explain. It's hard to keep staring up in the sky.”
“Yes, Master.”
Bingryong folded his wings and seated himself on the ground.
His body had been lacking because it was made of ice!
Bingryong had dripped ice water everywhere if it got a little warm. Needless to say, his abilities would weaken accordingly.
Although it was true the current weather was breezy and refreshing, Bingryong appeared to be in perfectly normal condition.
His frame had grown much larger than before and the strength he could exhibit had increased. Before, he had staggered around while walking on the ground because of his weight, but now he outstretched his wings and was able to lower his neck close to the ground by bowing his upper body!
Bingryong's well-made, dignified snout was wide open. His white whiskers shook with suppleness.
“Well that… it was after I left master.”
Bingryong immediately headed north after leaving Morata. After the Cold Rose Guild retrieved the Serbian Beads, the temperature had cooled down slightly.
This was a positive thing for Bingryong.
“ROOOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!”
It wasn't the peak of the strength he'd had when the North had been frigid with chill, but normal monsters were still no match for Bingryong.
Bingryong sucked in a deep breath, an inhalation so large it ballooned his belly. Not long afterwards, his jaws stretched open almost to the point of tearing.
WHOOOOOOSH!
An arctic chill blasted through the air and swept over the terrain.
Bingryong's Ice Breath!
Monsters froze together in groups. The earth, trees, and even the roots were frozen as tens of thousands of icy shards and silvery dust spewed forth.
“YIELD!”
Dragon's Fear!
Compared to a real Dragon's Fear, its power was minuscule. However, at Bingryong's roar, all ordinary monsters were paralyzed like mice in front of a cat.
“Kuhehehe.”
Bingryong's body became larger as he grew, and his mind became increasingly intelligent.
He only attacked strong monsters from the air. It was so he could flee by flying at any moment if it looked like he couldn't win, his ulterior motive!
Whenever the battle looked a tiny bit dangerous, he would flee quickly.
In the first place, he didn't touch the high-level monsters that could fly faster than him or were dangerous ones who could use magic in mid-air.
He was a coward who would flutter to the ground and wait until the flying monsters passed!
Once he was in the cold region, it was completely Bingryong's territory. He grew rapidly by hunting monsters.
Weed and human players have a time limit. No matter how much time they invested in Royal Road, they still have to sleep and eat.
However Bingryong, who lives inside Royal Road, doesn't have such limit, so he grew while hunting continuously. He could become stronger and faster than any player as long as he didn't die; was a characteristic of a sculpture with granted life.
“But why are you here and not in the North?”
At Weed's words, Bingryong couldn't bear to give an honest answer.
“You were definitely trying to do something weird, right?”
“…”
“Do you wanna be hit and then talk? Or talk and then be hit?”
Bingryong was forced to give an inevitable confession. “To be truthful, I also wanted to try making a lair.”
Bingryong wanted to do everything that real dragons did. As his level and intelligence rose, his behavior was becoming similar to that of a real dragon.
“While I was searching through the areas, I found a large cave beneath an iceberg difficult to access by foot. After hunting the ancient monster inside, I was brought here.”
“Monster hunting?”
“When it died, something like a crack in space appeared and I ended up like this.”
“But why are you still here? Surely it's not because you don't know the way back?”
“…”
Bingryong looked away. The sight of him silently preening his wings sure made him like a loser!
While Weed was conversing with Bingryong and leisurely chatting away, the drunkard Smith looked anxious. Seeing as he wasn't drinking the liquor he so liked, he was definitely recognizing the impending crisis he was in.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“What?”
“Didn't you say the Embinyu Church's pursuers are hot on our tail?! We have to flee quickly, how can you be wasting time here?”
If pursuers were coming, of course it was a wanted criminal's duty to hightail it!
But Weed's actions were considerably far from it. He did run while riding Yellowy, but trying to save time was simply on a different level; he didn't show even a slight hastiness.
Yellowy was also on the grassland lazily munching on grass. The nature of the slowly moving cow even when it was being led to the slaughter!
Weed didn't rush. “This isn't something that can be done by rushing.”
“Don't you think we should move a little more before the pursuers come?”
“Why should we?” Weed actually responded in the opposite.
Weed was one to set up an entire schedule for hunting or quests and move thoroughly, but his laxness was currently unparallelled.
“Looks like I'll have to help.”
Smith came down from the wagon, angered.
As expected from a former Mercenary, he erased the trails they left and disturbed them; extending the time it would take for the pursuers to catch them.
“Go eastward, I surveyed the terrain and there should be a creek to the east. If we move along the creek, we can considerably reduce our footsteps and smell.”
The former Mercenary, Smith, used to have plenty of time. But as the quest progressed, he became more hurried, so he was voluntarily helping by going ahead and determining the route, erasing the trail, etcetera, and extending the distance from the pursuers with his diverse experience.
The pursuers emerged from the Embinyu Church's temple!
It was a group consisting of 10 Dark Knights, 3 Priests, and 100 Soldiers.
“The path they are going is predetermined. After finding the Cane, they will try and revive the alliance made by the Matallost Church.”
Day and night the pursuers ran across the plains. The Dark Knights were on horseback, but the Priests and Soldiers ran with robust stamina. The pursuer group moved without rest! If their Stamina fell, the Priests cast recovery magic and blessings.
The distance between Weed and his pursuers was only a day away.
“Yellowy.”
MOOOOOO!
“You're hungry, right? Let's eat.”
Moooooooooooooo.
Whenever Weed came across a large grassland, he gave Yellowy plenty of time to rest and graze on the grass.
“Don't overeat and chew thoroughly.”
The kindness was enough to make Yellowy rub his head against Weed in gratitude! It was treatment enough to give someone an illusion Weed was a master who truly loved his cow!
But Weed's eyes were gleaming frostily.
'He's fattening up nicely.'
The distance from the pursuers was quickly closing in. Since Weed was idly carving sculptures atop Yellowy, the pursuers approached even faster. The closest alliance tribe of the Matallost Church was still two days away.
Because they were taking their sweet time and moving slower than usual, the pursuers caught up to them in half a day. The drunkard Mercenary Smith, who struggled with all his strength, was still unable to delay them by much.
Even though he could see the dust cloud of their pursuers in the distance, Weed was not alarmed.