Volume 4 Chapter 79

Volume 4 + Chapter 79: The Shadow That Blotted Out The Sky

Xia Yi stood motionless amid the wind and snow, as if possessed, staring fixedly in one direction without blinking.

The sight was deeply unsettling like the protagonist of a horror story and it truly frightened Elly.

“Your Highness? Your Highness!!”

Elly tried calling out to Xia Yi several times.

“……”

Yet Xia Yi remained silent.

Elly’s anxiety grew heavier by the second. She followed the direction of Xia Yi’s gaze.

What met her eyes was nothing more than a curtain-like wall of blizzard, as though it were hanging down from the sky itself. Within that gray, oppressive veil, there was nothing at all.

This only frightened Elly even more, leaving her momentarily at a complete loss as to what to do.

“Your Highness… could it be that her mental disorder has relapsed? What should I do? If I forcefully snap her out of it, could it damage her mind?!”

The little green dragon maid paced anxiously in place. She seemed to recall having heard of such cases.

When someone’s mental state is unstable, sudden and intense external stimulation can cause irreparable damage to their psyche…

The crime of harming Her Highness was something she absolutely could not bear!

“…Huh?”

Xia Yi suddenly came back to herself. She slowly turned her head toward Elly, blinked, and asked with a blank expression,

“What just happened, Elly? It sounded like you were calling me.”

Seeing that Xia Yi had returned to normal, Elly let out a long sigh of relief.

“That’s such a relief, Your Highness. You finally came back to yourself. You were staring in that direction just now, completely unresponsive, it really scared me!”

“Is… that so?”

Xia Yi frowned.

She found it strange as well.

Because amid the wind and snow, she seemed to have sensed something—something existing in a certain direction, as if it were calling out to her. She had tried to focus her mind to perceive it more clearly.

But in her own perception, that action had only lasted a very short while.

Yet Elly said she had remained in that… strange state the whole time?

“Elly, did you hear any sounds just now? Or see anything?”

“No, Your Highness. There’s only the two of us here, there’s nothing else,” Elly replied with certainty.

“How strange…”

Xia Yi felt that something was off, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Still, now was clearly not the time to dwell on such things.

She looked around and found that the weather had grown extremely severe. Heaven and earth were completely engulfed by heavy snowfall, making it impossible to distinguish east, west, south, or north, let alone determine the way back.

“Elly… can we not return now?”

“Your Highness, we may be lost!” Elly said with a mournful expression. “The Three Great Sled Generals are already gone, so there’s no one to guide us. In this blizzard, we have no way to determine our direction.”

“This is really bad…”

Xia Yi could feel the temperature dropping far lower than before. An invisible chill relentlessly gnawed at her body.

The biting snowflakes were like sharp blades, sweeping across the land and continuously assaulting both Xia Yi and Elly.

Left with no choice, Xia Yi used her magic to deploy a magical barrier, protecting the two of them.

“Your Highness, consuming magic will accelerate the loss of the remaining heat in your body!” Elly said anxiously.

“It’s fine for now, Elly. Don’t be so nervous. I’m a silver dragon—my magical capacity is greater than that of other dragons. Holding out for a while shouldn’t be a problem.”

“But…”

“Elly, do you have any good ideas right now?” Xia Yi asked. “You’ve lived in the north for a long time—have you encountered situations like this before?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Elly nodded.

“I’ve gotten lost in a blizzard before and was trapped for a long time.”

“Then what should we do now?”

“Your Highness, if we want to escape this blizzard, it’s best not to try without a clear sense of direction. If we pick a direction blindly and try to force our way out, it’s very likely that we’d actually end up circling around the center of the storm. Right now, we can’t even tell whether the blizzard itself is moving. Acting rashly would only make our situation more dangerous.”

“Then… does that mean we should stay where we are?”

“Yes. The best course of action now is to remain in place—either wait for rescue from the Northern Mining Field, or endure the blizzard here…”

Elly spoke without much confidence.

Put bluntly, it all came down to one thing—

Leaving it to fate.

“All right. Then we’ll do that for now,” Xia Yi said, having no choice but to follow this plan.

Afterward, she arranged a magic circle on the ground. As long as a steady flow of magic was maintained, it could reduce the damage caused by the blizzard within a certain range.

From then on, all they could do was wait—minimize their energy expenditure and extend their survival time. As long as they outlasted the blizzard itself, it would be their victory.

“Your Highness, let’s take turns maintaining the magical barrier,” Elly suggested. “My magic reserves aren’t insignificant. I can’t let you shoulder this task alone—my duty is to protect you.”

“Alright. I’ll go first,” Xia Yi agreed.

She sat down, minimizing unnecessary movement, and focused on sustaining the magic circle.

Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she sensed a dark shadow fly past.

In this blizzard… was there really another living creature capable of surviving?

A sense of unease rose within her. She quickly stood up and turned around but saw nothing.

“…Was I just imagining it?”

Xia Yi murmured and sat back down.

During this time, she kept feeling as though she heard faint sounds. Yet whenever she tried to concentrate and pinpoint their source, they vanished from her perception.

These strange sensations arose again and again, throwing Xia Yi’s mind into growing disarray.

Her vision became increasingly blurred, as though she were caught between waking and sleep, her consciousness sinking downward.

She didn’t know whether it was due to excessive magic consumption or the loss of body heat—her body gradually failing to withstand the cold—

Buzz… buzz… buzz.

An incomparably clear sound suddenly rang out in Xia Yi’s mind, jolting her awareness sharply awake.

The little princess stood up.

She saw it, the shadow that blotted out the sky, cast upon the gray, snow-filled curtain connecting heaven and earth.

A colossal beast stood within the endless wind and snow, seemingly directing its gaze downward, fixing it upon the silver-haired little girl.

The voice in her mind grew ever clearer, striking deep into her spirit and making her very soul tremble.

It was—A gigantic fly.