Chapter 167: Chapter 166: A Splendid Performance

The surrounding trees began to sway violently, whipped by the fierce wind.

Countless clumps of snow piled on the branches fell like rain, making it seem as if a blizzard had suddenly descended upon the forest.

’Something just flew overhead...’

Colin looked up and felt his heart pound in his chest.

’A dragon! It’s a dragon!’

’A Giant Dragon with scales as deathly white as snow!’

The dragon flew just above the treetops. From below, it looked like a vast, white cloud.

In the instant the Giant Dragon passed, Colin could clearly see its rough, hook-like talons, the soft white scales on its belly, and its taut wing membranes.

’This dragon’s wingspan is just like Kase said.’

’No, that’s not right!’

Colin felt this dragon’s wingspan was definitely more than forty meters. Far more!

In that moment, his earlier fantasies about a Giant Dragon’s treasure were shattered by the sight of the terrifying creature.

The same fear that had seized his heart when facing the Centurion a few days ago surged back, only this time it was ten times stronger—no, nine times!

’Could Edwin really fight a creature like this?’

Orelia, who had gotten off the sled, turned pale with fright. She scrambled toward the sled, struggling for a long moment before she could climb back on.

Colin hauled the Tiefling up, yelling, "Let’s go, Kase, go!"

The experienced Half-Orc said nothing.

He quickly yanked on the sled dogs’ harnesses, then jumped off and started running, pulling the sled to help the dogs gain purchase. The halted sled quickly began to slide again, moving even faster than before.

Colin’s mind went blank as he stared fixedly at the White Dragon in the sky.

The massive creature with its imposing body paid them no mind, as if the party of Adventurers fleeing in panic through the snowy forest were nothing more than a group of startled squirrels.

The Giant Dragon beat its wings lightly, and another fierce gust of wind swept over them.

Then, it elegantly folded its wings and assumed a diving posture.

Its massive body shot toward the ice surface like an Arrow.

’If it’s not coming for us, then is it going to...’ Colin swallowed hard.

And things happened just as he had thought.

The White Dragon opened its cavernous maw, and an icy chill billowed from its snout. The breath weapon looked like a light veil of gauze drifting down on the breeze, or a spiderweb swaying between branches.

Seeing this, the herd of mammoths scattered and fled.

The instant the icy breath touched the thick mammoth fur, the afflicted animal let out a piercing wail. Countless ice crystals instantly formed on its dense coat. Every time the poor creature moved, chunks of ice, matted with fur and flesh, fell from its body.

The Giant Dragon’s Speed didn’t falter in the slightest.

It charged toward a young mammoth in the herd, its sharp talons piercing cleanly into the calf’s body. With another powerful beat of its unfurled wings, it actually lifted the young mammoth right off the ground.

Amid the mother mammoth’s mournful cries, the snow-white Giant Dragon just lazily flapped its wings and sailed away in the direction it had come from.

’A young mammoth weighing several tons, just snatched up like that...’

’Can that creature’s fleshy wings really bear such weight?’ Colin thought. ’This has to be a joke!’

Just as he thought it was all over, the White Dragon suddenly raised its head and let out a coarse laugh, like the sound of grinding ice.

’I remember seeing in movies that making too much noise in a snowy mountain area will cause...’ Colin quickly looked toward the World’s Roof on the other side of the sled’s path.

He saw a ripple suddenly appear on the snow-white mountain peak. The ripple grew larger and larger until it became a monstrous wave.

"Kase, it’s an avalanche!"

"I know! What do you think we’re running from?" the Half-Orc roared. "Pepe! I don’t know if there’s any shelter ahead! It’s up to you this time!"

"What are you talking about? So the lives of everyone on this sled depend on six sled dogs?" Colin yelled.

"Let me tell you, if you’re in a desperate situation in the Northern Lands, you can’t go wrong trusting your sled dogs!"

Since Kase put it that way, Colin had no choice.

He could only grip the sled tightly and stare at the avalanche slowly surging down the mountain.

The snow rushing downward must have weighed thousands of tons. Before this destructive force, trees that had grown for decades, even centuries, were crushed like fragile stalks of wheat.

A low, rumbling roar came from the distance, gradually drawing closer.

’It sounds like the whole earth is groaning...’ Colin thought.

Immediately after came the CRACK of breaking trees and the grinding of rocks and ice caught in the avalanche—a sound so similar to the White Dragon’s laugh just moments ago that one might almost think the beast was charging down with the snow.

Five hundred meters, four hundred, three hundred... The wall of snow was getting closer.

Clumps of snow, flung ahead of the avalanche, PELTED the sled, like the Death Deity knocking on their door.

SCRAPE!

The sled beneath them ground violently.

A feeling of weightlessness washed over him, and Colin quickly grabbed hold of the sled.

The next moment, a shadow fell over them, and the sled landed steadily on the ground—they had entered a cave.

The vibrations from below grew more intense. The entire earth was trembling.

The group huddled on the sled, silently watching the scene outside the cave.

Countless chunks of snow, broken wood, and shattered rock flew past the side of the entrance. They could clearly see the snow piling up higher and higher at the mouth of the cave. The ceiling trembled continuously, and fine dust fell from above in gray streams.

Just as Colin was worrying the entrance would be buried, the sounds from outside began to fade, eventually falling silent.

Colin looked back.

The small cavern they had taken refuge in had no other exit. From the marks inside, it looked like someone had made a fire here before.

"Good thing we were far from the main path of the avalanche. If the entrance had been buried, we’d be dead for sure."

"I can’t believe we actually survived."

Even in this freezing weather, Colin could feel cold sweat trickling down his back.

A few of the sled dogs ran to the side of the sled, SCRABBLING at it excitedly.

"Alright, Pepe, I apologize." Colin sighed, rubbing the head of the dog that had crowded around him. "You really are trustworthy."

"Now that’s a sight you can only see out here," Kase said, walking over with a grin. "What do you think? A pretty sight, wasn’t it?"

"That wasn’t a ’pretty sight’ at all, Kase! When that dragon flew over the mountain, I thought our adventure was over right then and there!"

"You’re too timid, Pointy Tail. You need to toughen up."

Orelia hugged Ale’s arm and said, "I think I’d have to run into dozens of Giant Dragons before I’d be tough enough not to be scared."

"Will that dragon track us?" Colin asked, looking back worriedly at the cave entrance.

"You don’t need to worry about that," Ale said. "To an ancient being like that, we’re nothing more than a few pebbles in a forest stream. You might kick an unsightly one out of your way, or maybe pick one up to look at on a whim, but most of the time, you just walk past without a second thought."

"Well, that’s good. This might be the first time in my life I’m happy to be called a pebble."

After a moment’s thought, Colin asked again, "By the way, are all Giant Dragons like that? I remember reading in a book that White Dragons are the weakest of the Giant Dragons."

"Hm? There are other kinds of Giant Dragons?" Kase scratched his head.

"Counting the ones from other planes, there are probably more than twenty types. Among them, White Dragons are considered one of the weaker kinds. When they’re first born, they’re not much different from wild beasts," Ale explained diligently, sharing her knowledge.