In the early dawn, when indigo darkness had fallen. A snow-covered mountain where fierce snowflakes were flying so thick they obscured vision. Amid the extreme environment where sharp snow crystals scratched the skin, a black dot crossed the pure white snowfield, leaving a red trail.
Footprints deeply embedded at regular intervals marked the fairly steep middle of the mountain. However, they didn’t extend more than a few meters. This was because the blizzard that had swept through in the meantime instantly erased the traces. The figure, who had just looked back, discovered that the marks he had left were gone and frowned.
Looking ahead again and sighing, he twisted his lips.
"Shit... how far have I gone?"
His cracked voice clearly showed signs of fatigue. Rough breathing was mixed in, too.
Just then, as a gust of wind slipped in under his collar, the man shivered and wrapped his clothes tighter. Though he frowned as if in pain, he hunched his upper body and kept climbing the treacherous mountain path. Wherever he passed, the accumulated snow soaked up red liquid, blooming profusely like red roses.
It was a beautiful sight, but the scent of blood wafted through the swirling wind. Just as that familiar smell brushed past his reddened nose, the man's steps finally stopped.
Leonardo, standing stock-still, raised his head and looked around. Unlike a moment ago when he had been grumbling, his expression was ice-cold. Golden eyes resembling those of a beast flashed beneath eyelashes clumped with snow.
After checking for signs for a moment, he concentrated seething mana in his right hand, which was covered with a mitten.
Grrrrrr―
At that moment, a gloomy monster's howl sounded nearby, as if the already low temperature had dropped even further.
The corner of Leonardo's mouth lifted in a grin.
"Am I the first one to chase you this far?"
As he muttered into the air, a heavy vibration spread beneath his feet.
A fault line split the wet snow piled from above, and the ground he stood on began to shake unstably, like a precursor to an earthquake.
Flying snowflakes obscured his vision, and small snowballs sliding down the mountainside gradually gained momentum. Soon they transformed into threatening avalanches, instantly covering the terrain before his eyes. A massive amount of snow and ice swept away the sparsely placed rocks mercilessly at a terrifying speed.
Amid the snow scene drowned by an overwhelming wave, a monster howling at a low frequency burst out from the snow.
As the massive shadow lunged at him, Leonardo leaped powerfully into the air as well.
Looking down from above, the monster had white scales, an elongated neck and tail, and wings three times the size of its body. Hook-like claws, jaw joints that could open up to 145 degrees, protrusions rising from its spine, and a crystal rising like an icicle in the center of its head. It was a creature equipped with too many dangerous elements.
Though it wasn’t easy to spot with its white scales providing camouflage, the bloodstains covering various parts made it easier to track. Leonardo increased the size of the undulating fireball as he followed the target's movements with his eyes. The opponent was a dragon, notorious for its ferocity and the disaster that had turned the Jahanic Mountains into ruins. However, before him now, it was merely a fat lizard that knew a few tricks.
The mitten, its surface scorched, hurled a fireball blazing like the sun toward the creature. The breath of ice and snow gathering in the dragon's wide-open mouth collided with the fireball, triggering a massive explosion.
BOOOOOM―!
The dragon's scream-like roar echoed across the middle of the mountain. It immediately vanished into the darkness and blizzard, but even that was only for a moment. Leonardo, holding crackling sparks in his hand, moved to the top of its head in a single breath.
With eyes flashing like lightning, he murmured in a low voice:
"Let's end this."
The dragon, spreading its wings and puffing up its body, stretched its neck and howled fiercely. As it swung its tail, sharp scales turned into deadly weapons, flying toward Leonardo. But black sparks protected their master, deflecting everything that blocked the path.
Leonardo drove the sparks down with all his might into the dragon's neck.
Thick blood burst out and flowed down the snow-covered mountain like a waterfall. It was only moments before the massive body rolled on the ground, carving a dark red valley of blood beneath it.
*****
In the northwestern part of Raina Logia, Riverside Town had developed along the Demsi River in Westforce. Located in the north, close to the central region, it lay in a temperate climate with strong sunshine, maintaining mild weather even in winter.
It was suitable for growing crops and was one of the small towns that had achieved rapid growth through exchanges with other regions. During past wartime, waterway travel developed for material procurement, and countless railway tracks were laid in the area as well.
Though it hadn't directly suffered from war or air raids, residents had always lived with anxiety due to its geographical proximity. Perhaps because of this, tall buildings were hard to find, and a city with traditional, unique charm—as if it had retreated about half a century—had formed.
The railway tracks, once like remnants of war, were now developing into a major means of transportation connecting the central-west and northwest regions, and had become a regional characteristic. Centered around the magnificent train station shaped like a large semicircle, narrow waterways and old shops lined every alley once you went out about one kilometer.
Among them, the shopping street at 41 Aldenon Street was a tranquil, historic lane, with rumors that the same sign had been hanging there for 300 years.
However, contrary to the rumors, the street was adorned with cute accessories and colorful banners in anticipation of the upcoming new year. The splendor of the festive atmosphere uplifted even the mood of passing citizens.
The general store selling chocolates and candies was crowded with people looking to buy year-end gifts. The laughter of children who received presents was endless, and the affection of lovers promising the future warmly colored the street.
But there were also places with an atmosphere at odds with such vibrancy. The expression of the owner of the magic supply shop across the diagonal, where only flies buzzed, was exactly like that.
He clicked his tongue—tsk, tsk—as he looked at the crowd gathered at the general store through the glass window.
"At the end of the year, they should be buying spells for well-being, but they're spending money on such useless things..."
The impression of the man with a grizzled, bushy beard and drooping eyelids was both stubborn and peculiar. The magic amulets hanging from his neck and fingers, as well as the grotesque items filling the store, only added to his eccentricity.
Among them were many items with murky boundaries with sorcery, such as curse daggers disguised as accessories and magic circles drawn with unidentifiable blood. Tails and eyeballs of small reptiles in bottles, dried grass that couldn't be distinguished as poisonous plants or medicinal herbs. Dusty thick books, ancient spell tomes, and potions in primary colors.
The densely displayed supplies—from tabletop to walls and ceiling—had enough expertise and variety to be seen as more than a simple neighborhood hole-in-the-wall shop.
But what good was that when there were no customers? The elderly owner simply puffed smoke with a pipe in his mouth.
Just when a welcome sound rang out, it was around the time the ashtray had piled high with burnt tobacco leaves.
Ding-a-ling―
A young man with obviously good breeding entered without hesitation.
Since it was rare for people to actually step inside even if they loitered outside, the owner startled and stuffed his pipe into a cup filled with distilled liquor.
"W-Welcome!"
Rising from his seat, the owner waved a hand to push the smoke behind him. Soon, he smiled broadly at the customer—the first he’d seen in two days—while rubbing his palms together.
However, the customer's first question wasn't very welcome.
"Do you also buy items here?"
The owner's upturned mouth drooped along with his cheeks.
"Buy? ...I do, but I only buy things that aren't in our store."
He replied indifferently and sat back down with a thud. Since the first customer of the day was asking about selling, he sighed involuntarily, thinking business was lost for today as well.
"If you're thinking of selling antiques lying around your house, look elsewhere."
But the young man, who was expected to leave right away, strode up to the counter. After looking around as if for no reason, he lowered his voice and asked again:
"It doesn't seem to be here, but do you also buy dangerous items?"
The man wore a military-style cap pulled low and a face mask covering everything below his eyes. The hair escaping from under the cap was light brown, but the eyes revealed above the mask were vivid gold. His eyelashes were long and his gaze was captivating—beautiful enough that the low voice sounded oddly mismatched.
"Dan...gerous items?"
"Yes."
The owner deliberately asked again while looking the golden-eyed man over. Though his appearance was suspicious, in Riverside Town, where the sun was strong, skin diseases were common, so occasionally people could be seen wrapped in thin clothes as a precaution.
He thought this person might be one of those, but the accent didn’t sound local.
"...Well, how dangerous is it? I'm exceptionally good at handling cursed items. There's nothing I haven't touched. I'll buy it if it's reasonably rare, so take it out."
The golden eyes curved gently at the owner's answer. As if he’d been waiting, the man twisted a ruby ring and pulled a large white sack from his artifact.
"But that's unlikely. Most things that can be obtained around here are already in our store..."
It was enormous—large enough to fill the entire, fairly spacious counter.
"W-What is this?"
"It's not cursed... it was called something similar, but it's not a curse. Anyway, you promised to buy it if it's rare, right?"
"Promise? I need to see it first to judge—. By the way, why is there blood on the sack...?"
The owner, eyes widening at the overwhelming presence, stared down at the sack warily. Just then, the rope tightening the mouth untied itself and dropped to the floor. At the same time, the evil energy that had been sealed inside burst out of the sack.
Cursed items responded at once, rattling on their own like a poltergeist. It wasn't just one or two. A strange current spread in all directions, as if shaking the entire store.
The shop owner, who had instinctively stepped back, dropped heavily onto a wooden chair. Goosebumps /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ rose along his forearms, and it felt as though eerie cries were whispering in his ears.
What revealed itself from inside the sack was the heart of something still writhing, wet blood and chunks of flesh clinging to it.
