A bulk that caused damage no different from a natural disaster merely by moving.
And the torrent of power pouring from its entire body.
I had not done anything in particular, nor did I have any intention of being hostile to them, but the moment the expedition faced me, even the slightest will to resist was broken.
“That’s… a dragon…”
“We can’t win… We can’t win…”
“AlmightyGodprotectmewithYourEternalLight”
Oh dear. They broke.
Whether their mental fortitude was strong or weak, the expedition had surrendered from the level of instinct merely by facing me.
At least Baek Yeon’s gaze alone had not broken, even in the midst of all this.
-Welcome. To my world.
As the deep, solemn voice pierced through their heads and rang out, the sight of the expedition struggling even more made me sigh.
-You lack the qualifications, so I forbid you from approaching any farther.
“Th-thank you for showing us mercy…”
The Association agent serving as the expedition leader barely managed to answer and pulled the people back.
After returning to the twisted forest and escaping the pressure, the expedition finally loosened their rigid bodies, which had been stiff with tension.
“Phew… So that was Lord Dragon’s true body (眞體).”
“I really thought I was going to die…”
“To think mere presence alone could be that overwhelming.”
The expedition rested while keeping watch over their surroundings.
They marked a roundabout path from the forest out to the plains and explored the inside of the Gate.
The expedition’s purpose in entering the unmeasurable Gate named Dragon’s Nest was twofold.
One was to confirm my true form.
It had not been their original objective, but it became a goal after I told them my main body was inside the Gate.
And they had just completed that first objective beyond any doubt.
The other objective was to confirm the resources inside the Gate.
Gates had driven humanity to the edge of a cliff, but at the same time, they had also created a second golden age.
The means lay in the magic stones obtained by dealing with monsters inside Gates, and in the rare resources that could only be acquired within Gates.
The resources obtainable inside Gates in various forms were being used in all sorts of places in the current era.
The government of the Republic of Korea, the Association, and the various guilds were expecting the Dragon’s Nest Gate to contain heaps of rare resources, as it was an unmeasurable-rank Gate.
And their expectations hit the mark beautifully.
“There’s a place up ahead where Cold Ice Grass (寒氷草) is blooming in clusters!”
“This isn’t ordinary ice… Ten-Thousand-Year Ice (萬年氷)! It’s Ten-Thousand-Year Ice!”
“Basically, every normal-looking mushroom, blade of grass, and insect around here is poisonous. And all of them are poisons we’ve never seen before.”
“We’ve discovered Dragon Tooth Soldiers (龍牙兵)! If we can just take those down, the materials…!”
The more rare materials they discovered, the more the expedition’s mood, which had plummeted to rock bottom after meeting me, revived.
But from my perspective, the only impression I got was, That’s all?
That Cold Ice Grass was a flower I used now and then as a substitute for herbs when I gnawed on Yggdrasil’s roots.
As for Ten-Thousand-Year Ice, in Niflheim, the ice strewn all around was stronger and harder than that.
Poisonous insects and poisonous plants? Compared to my poison, they were nothing much.
And the Dragon Tooth Soldiers were pathetically weak compared to the lifeforms that were born on their own from the teeth I shed whenever I teethed.
“Even if they look like nothing to you, Lord Nidhogg, they’re precious treasures to humans.”
“Was it that obvious?”
“Yes. You had a look on your face like, Huh, that trash?”
Oh dear.
I rubbed my face with both hands and managed my expression.
Just then, I felt a strange gaze and turned my head, only to find Baek Yeon staring this way with a look as though she had seen something bizarre.
But only for a moment. As soon as our eyes met, she quickly turned her head away.
While everyone else was excitedly collecting materials to submit as samples, Baek Yeon seemed to have no interest whatsoever in those materials.
Was she truly interested in nothing besides dealing with monsters?
I wanted to test her once.
But since there was no suitable method to test her will right now, I decided to leave that as entertainment for later.
After some time passed and the sample collection ended, the expedition resumed exploring the inside of the Gate.
If one placed my main body at the center of the Gate, then where we were now could be called the southern side of the Gate.
And quite far south at that.
Perhaps intending to confirm where the edge of the Gate was, the expedition moved without rest, and only after half a day were they able to arrive at the southern end of the Gate.
It took longer than expected because of the various rare resources and the attacks of undead monsters drawn by the energy of the living.
And what stood at the southern end where they finally arrived was a massive temple.
It was a temple carved from some unknown black stone, with sculptures etched into it that strangely resembled me.
The inside of the temple was filled with darkness, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead, but the death energy (死氣) pouring out from the entrance without even trying to hide itself allowed everyone in the expedition to instinctively know that this place was anything but ordinary.
And even that death energy (死氣) was only what was leaking out through the gaps in the barrier installed at the temple entrance.
Perhaps placing his hopes in me, the expedition leader turned his head and looked this way, but there was nothing I could say.
Because even my sight did not reach this place.
‘To be precise, I left it alone because I felt like the whole temple would collapse if I poked at it for no reason.’
Just as the expedition had instinctively realized that this place was anything but ordinary, I had instinctively realized that if I pierced through the barrier with a dragon’s gaze to check the inside, the temple would collapse. Thus, this temple was currently one of the two places inside the Gate I had not confirmed.
“Are we entering?”
At an Awakened’s question, the expedition leader swallowed hard and, after agonizing over it, answered.
“…Slowly. We enter slowly while keeping watch on our surroundings.”
With an Awakened specialized in reconnaissance at the front, the expedition began entering the temple.
Unlike how it blocked my gaze, the barrier surprisingly did not block beings from entering.
And the moment everyone in the expedition stepped into the temple.
Kwaaaaa!!
The barrier installed around the temple was released, and dense death energy (死氣) spread out in all directions.
“Keuk!”
“Cough, cough!”
“Guuuuugh…”
While the people who had taken the death energy (死氣) head-on suffered in pain, I alone pierced through it unaffected and stared at the innermost part of the temple.
Inside the temple, massive pillars stood in rows on both sides, and at the very end were stairs and a black throne.
Upon the throne, in place of a rightful master, there was a Gate emitting an aura similar to the dense death energy (死氣).
While I was confirming the inside of the temple, the expedition, which had suffered the moment they entered, reorganized their formation.
“No lifeforms detected within detection range.”
“Phew, that’s a relief. It would’ve been terrible if we’d been attacked while our formation was broken.”
In the meantime, I quietly spoke to Shin Sua.
It was to confirm the Gate inside the temple.
“There’s something that looks like a Gate inside. Do you know anything about it?”
“Pardon? There’s a Gate inside a Gate?”
“Yes. A black Gate giving off dense death energy.”
“…Even before my regression, I never heard of a Gate existing inside a Gate…”
It seemed even Shin Sua knew absolutely nothing about that Gate.
Had the future changed?
Or had something become twisted when Shin Sua came back to the past?
Since there was no way to confirm it right away, we followed the expedition, which had reorganized its formation, deeper into the temple.
Aside from the Gate, there was nothing in this place, so the expedition suffered no attacks on the way to the end of the temple.
And the expedition, too, faced the Gate I had seen at the end of the temple.
The expedition reacted with bewilderment at facing another Gate inside a Gate.
It seemed this was their first time seeing a Gate inside a Gate as well.
“A Gate inside a Gate? What on earth is going on?”
“The death energy we’ve been feeling ever since entering this place is rising thickly from there. It doesn’t seem to be an ordinary Gate…”
“What will you do?”
As the expedition exchanged opinions over the unusual situation, their gazes gathered on the expedition leader, and after pondering for a moment, he made his decision.
“We enter.”
“…It may be dangerous.”
“If it’s dangerous even for the current expedition, then there’s no way for any Awakened within the Republic of Korea to investigate it anyway. It’s better to confirm it now, while only elites are gathered here.”
“In that case, let’s leave someone behind to inform the outside in case something happens.”
At one member’s suggestion, the expedition leader nodded and picked out three people separately.
“If we do not come out within thirty minutes after entering the Gate, leave the Dragon’s Nest Gate immediately and inform the Association.”
“Understood.”
Having prepared even for an unforeseen situation, the expedition leader approached Shin Sua.
“Miss Shin Sua. You have already fulfilled the role assigned to you. So you may wait here if you wish. What will you do?”
“I’ll go in too.”
“…Even we do not know what will happen beyond this point. Are you all right with that, even if it means we may not be able to protect you if something goes wrong?”
“Yes. And I have Lord Nidhogg with me.”
At her unhesitating answer, the expedition leader nodded, placed us at the very rear, and entered the Gate within the Gate.
The moment we stepped inside the unidentified Gate, the scenery completely changed.
Instead of the twisted forest and the snow falling from the sky, there was a forest where every bit of vegetation had been dyed black, and black mist spread wide in every direction.
And then.
-Hsssss
From within the dark mist came the eerie cry of a snake.