Chapter 148: Journey to the FogHill (2)
Misha settled comfortably against his chest again.
"I can help channel the mana when the time comes. Celestial runes require a delicate touch to dismantle, even with the proper solvent."
"I appreciate it," Kane smiled.
"Just keep your distance when the vial opens."
"Saintess," Misha called out, shifting the topic smoothly.
"Why are there traps so far up? Did the temple not forbid locals from trespassing?"
"The temple fell a long time ago, Oracle," the Saintess answered, her bright tone fading into something somber.
"Once the deities went silent, commoners stopped fearing the mountain. Poachers climbed up here trying to harvest frost-crystals for southern markets."
"Did they find any?" Kane asked.
"They found the Serpent," she replied bluntly.
"It ate them. Those traps are just remnants of desperate men trying to catch a god’s familiar with rusty wire."
’Fools,’ Kane thought, shaking his head.
’You don’t hunt a mythical beast with basic snares. You bring overwhelming damage, or you stay home.’
Griselda caught the Saintess’s attention, hands moving in a mocking, questioning rhythm.
[If your gods went silent, why keep the veils? Seems pointless to worship an empty sky.]
"Faith does not vanish just because the heavens go quiet," the Saintess defended mildly.
"Besides, the veils keep the frostbite off my face. Practicality over piety."
Kane chuckled, resting his hand over Misha’s fingers.
"I can respect that. Just make sure you stay behind me when the fog actually rolls in. If that snake spits venom, I want all three of you out of the splash zone. Griselda, you stay entirely on support duty. Do not engage directly."
Griselda frowned slightly but nodded her agreement.
"You are going to take the hit yourself?" Misha asked, tracing his knuckles gently.
"I have the stats for it," Kane promised, projecting absolute confidence to keep them grounded.
"You point out where the snake hides, and I will handle the rest. I need its blood fresh to break that seal."
Reaching the base of Fog Mountain took another grueling hour of navigating slippery, frozen trails.
Ruined stone pillars marked the entrance to the Saintess’s forgotten temple, their intricately carved surfaces cracked and weathered by centuries of relentless blizzards.
Kane swung down from his stallion, immediately grabbing the supply bags to unload their provisions.
Stepping inside the crumbling sanctuary, the temperature somehow dropped even further. A single stone statue sat perfectly untouched in the center of the debris.
It depicted a coiled snake, its stone scales worn smooth by time, yet its eyes glittered brightly with pure, untarnished gold.
’Creepy little shrine,’ Kane observed, setting the bags near a relatively intact wall.
’Those golden eyes look like they are tracking every move we make.’
Misha finished arranging their sleeping packs near a shattered altar, then stopped.
She stared out through the broken roof, gazing up at the jagged, snow-covered peak. Her golden rings stopped spinning completely, hovering frozen around her wrists.
"Kane, I am still afraid," Misha whispered, wrapping her arms around her own chest.
"Don’t be," Kane replied, walking across the ruined floorboards.
"We are only here for the blood."
"It is not just a random beast, husband," she insisted, her dual-tone voice trembling slightly.
"It will kill you before you even know it is there."
Walking up quietly behind her, Kane wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.
He let the warmth of his enchanted cloak envelop her.
"I understand your worry," Kane murmured into her white hair, resting his chin on her head.
"But I am strong too. I am not going down without a fight."
Misha leaned back into his embrace, sighing deeply while her slender fingers gripped his forearms.
"You are not going down at all."
"Okay," Kane agreed.
Releasing her slowly, he turned back toward the temple’s grand archway, loosening his shoulders to keep his muscles warm.
"I will see the layout first," Kane announced, checking the straps on his weapon harness.
"Tomorrow, I climb the mountain."
Leaving the women to secure the campsite, Kane trudged through the knee-deep snow toward the actual base of the ascent.
Frost crusted his boots with every step. The air grew significantly thinner out here, biting at his exposed cheeks like tiny, invisible needles.
A strange, unnatural mist clung to the slopes above.
This wasn’t just weather acting up. It was a localized domain, a specialized hunting ground designed to confuse and isolate prey.
Faint blue runic veins pulsed beneath the glacial ice, remnants of the old gods trying to contain whatever familiar they had left behind.
Staring up at the apex, Kane shielded his eyes against the glaring white reflection of the dying sun. High above the cloud line, something shifted.
It was barely a ripple in the fog, a subtle displacement of the howling blizzard. A long, serpentine silhouette glided seamlessly through the storm, moving with entirely too much grace for something so vast in size.
’That is not just a monster,’ Kane realized, his combat instincts flaring sharply. ’That is an apex predator perfectly adapted to its environment. If I step into that fog blind, it will tear me apart in seconds.’
Griselda walked up beside him, leaving almost no footprints in the snow thanks to her graceful, practiced stride.
She tapped his arm, pointing her pale finger up at the shifting silhouette before her hands flashed in rapid motion.
[It is awake. I can feel the seal on my chest burning just looking at it. The ambient magic up there is suffocating.]
"Good," Kane smirked.
"Let it wake up. I want it fighting at full capacity when I take its head."
The Saintess drifted out of the temple ruins to join them, her silver veils whipping wildly in the wind. She followed their gaze toward the summit.
"It senses the brass bell in your inventory," the Saintess warned, folding her hands inside her sleeves.
"The relic carries the scent of the old monks. You have effectively rung the dinner bell just by standing at the threshold."
"Saves me the trouble of hunting it down," Kane noted practically.
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