Chapter 183: Orcs

Yuir groggily opened his eyes to the sight of a massive Dragon's head looming right in front of his face. Terrified, he scrambled backward.

"You're awake?!"

Hearing the White Dragon Lord's familiar voice, Yuir came to his senses.

"Master?!"

The Nether Panther stood up, shaking his head in pain. He remembered now—he and the White Dragon had fallen into a turbulent spatial rift together. He looked at the surrounding grassland; this was clearly not the Dark Lands.

"Where are we now?"

The White Dragon Lord exhaled a puff of white mist in frustration.

"I don't know either. Let's eat something and recover our strength first."

Following the White Dragon's gesture, the Nether Panther noticed several animal carcasses the Dragon had hunted lying on the grass.

Suddenly, the Nether Panther jerked backward in shock, staring up into the air in horror.

Thinking the Nether Panther had spotted an enemy, the White Dragon immediately went on high alert. He scanned his surroundings but found nothing. "What's wrong?!" he asked in confusion.

His jaw dropping in astonishment, the Nether Panther stared at the space just above the animal carcasses and slowly tilted his head upward.

Hearing the White Dragon Lord's question, Yuir finally snapped out of his daze.

"Master, I saw the white phantoms of several cows drifting upward into a massive river."

The White Dragon Lord glanced down at his prey—they were indeed bovine creatures. He frowned, realizing that the scene the Nether Panther described sounded exactly like souls leaving their bodies after death to enter the River Styx.

But how could the Nether Panther see souls?

"Since when can you see souls?"

"This is the first time."

The Nether Panther recalled the bead he had swallowed and immediately told the White Dragon Lord about it.

The White Dragon Lord didn't know the exact cause either, but figuring it wasn't a bad thing, he decided to let it be.

Finding a way home was far more important than obsessing over this new ability, so master and servant pushed the matter to the back of their minds.

The White Dragon and the Nether Panther shared the meal, then lay down on the grass to rest.

Between surviving their battles in the subterranean world, getting swept into a spatial rift, and being thrown into this magicless world, the White Dragon Lord was thoroughly exhausted.

He closed his eyes, and the night passed in a flash.

Waking to the warmth of the sunlight spilling over his body, the White Dragon Lord opened his eyes and stretched his neck to look around. On the grassland's horizon, an orange-red sun was just beginning to peek out.

It was a new day.

The White Dragon Lord stood. He didn't see the Nether Panther nearby, but through the Vassal Contract, he sensed his subordinate's location and took flight.

From the sky, the White Dragon Lord looked down at the grassland and spotted the Nether Panther hunting.

A black leopard suddenly lunged from the tall grass, leaping toward a grazing antelope. Before the prey could even react, he pinned it down and severed its spine with a single bite.

A perfect kill!

The White Dragon Lord descended from the sky, folding his wings to land beside the Nether Panther.

Yuir released his jaws and licked the blood from his snout.

"Master, I've realized I can't use my powers."

"That's normal. You can't use elemental power in this world."

The Nether Panther nodded in understanding and continued, "Also, I've noticed that I can only see the souls of the dead. I can't see the souls of living creatures."

The White Dragon understood the Nether Panther's newly acquired ability now—he could see ghosts. Although he didn't know how useful it would be right now, no ability related to souls was ever simple.

Setting the matter aside for the moment, the White Dragon Lord snatched up the Nether Panther once they finished eating and resumed his search for traces of civilization.

When you're lost, the best solution is to ask a local for directions.

That was exactly what the White Dragon had in mind. In an unknown world, finding native inhabitants meant they could gather information. Once they had a starting point, they would have a clear goal and direction, sparing them from wandering blindly.

However, Amos wasn't even sure if this world had a civilization.

Early morning, a few days later.

The White Dragon Lord was soaring through the sky as usual.

Suddenly, he spotted a plume of black smoke rising in the distance. It was incredibly conspicuous against the blue sky and white clouds, and he was instantly overjoyed.

Where there was smoke, there was fire. And where there was fire, there had to be intelligent creatures!

The White Dragon Lord accelerated toward the black smoke.

The fierce wind whipped at Yuir, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut.

The old adage about a distant mountain running a horse to death clearly didn't apply to the White Dragon.

About ten minutes later, the White Dragon Lord closed in on the source of the smoke.

Amos realized the black smoke was billowing from a village. Several houses were engulfed in flames—a clear sign of arson.

As he flew closer, the White Dragon gathered more details. Judging by the screams and the clash of iron, he deduced that the village was in deep trouble.

Finally, the White Dragon Lord arrived above the settlement and got a clear view of the situation below. Around twenty strong, green-skinned Orcs wielding crude wooden clubs were locked in a brawl with a group of militiamen armed with iron weapons.

The two sides were evenly matched.

His massive Dragon wings blotted out the sunlight, casting a dark shadow over the combatants. Both sides forgot their battle and looked up in shock at the giant Dragon.

Then, a scene unfolded that left the White Dragon Lord utterly baffled.

The human militiamen's will to fight completely crumbled, and they scattered in terror.

This was perfectly normal.

The Orcs, however, acted as if they'd been injected with adrenaline. Roaring in excitement, they began hunting down the fleeing humans.

Yes, excitement.

This was exactly what baffled the White Dragon. Although Chromatic Dragons had a tradition of taking Orcs as subordinates, Orcs were not dragonborn. When faced with an unfamiliar Dragon, they should either flee in terror or charge forward mindlessly.

Amos didn't know why this was happening, but he could find out just by asking.

He unleashed his majestic draconic aura, blanketing the medium-sized village below. Everyone instantly felt as if a massive boulder were pressing down on them. Completely overwhelmed by the pressure, they collapsed to the ground.

The White Dragon Lord descended from the sky, folded his wings, and landed in a clearing, slightly retracting his aura.

Sensing the oppressive weight weaken, the groveling Orcs and human militiamen finally felt a bit of relief.

They all raised their heads, trembling. The humans' eyes were filled with absolute despair, while the Orcs' eyes showed a mix of fear and reverence.

The White Dragon Lord swept his mental energy over everyone present, feeling slightly disappointed.

Because whether they were humans or Orcs, none of them possessed any special power.

In other words, they were fighting using nothing but sheer, primitive physical strength.

Concerned about a language barrier, the White Dragon Lord chose to speak to them telepathically. A voice rang out in the minds of every Orc and human present.

"You! Answer my question! Where are we?"

An exceptionally robust Orc pushed himself to his feet, leaning on a heavily chipped, long-handled battleaxe. His eyes were burning with fanaticism.

"It is a great honor to meet you, great Dragon. This is Nisa Village outside Blade City." (Orcish)