It was truly an era of gods. The majesty of the Grand Temple was growing day by day, and mages who had once spread across the continent under the protection of the empire established with dragon’s blessing were now persecuted under the pretext of witch hunts. 

The prosperity once enjoyed when dragons, the source of magic, protected the empire had almost completely disappeared.

This had happened in the hundred years since the last dragon, Caselos the Mad Dragon, had fallen into slumber.

On a chilly late autumn day when cold winds shook the tree branches, the entrance to the Rutwal Mountains, where the Mad Dragon supposedly slept, was unusually noisy. 

A woman’s black hair fluttered wildly in the wind as she fled from men who shouted and yelled behind her.

“Hurry and catch her! It’ll be hard to catch her if she enters the mountains!”

“Damn it. Just like a witch, heading straight there of all places!”

The woman was running with incredible speed that seemed impossible for her small frame. While it made sense since she was running for her life, her pursuers felt caught off guard and could only scramble after her.

“I’d rather die than be caught by you people!”

The fleeing woman, Riena, shouted with fury. Witch hunt? A witch hunt?! The empire had existed for over a thousand years, yet they were persecuting mages in ways not even done in ancient times? 

Riena’s mind was a jumble of anger and confusion as she ran with all her might.

“Damn those temple bastards! Why am I a witch?!”

The reason she was being chased was simple. She was an unlicensed apothecary who practiced medicine without permission, lived alone in a remote cabin near the lord’s forest, and possessed unregistered magical power.

She perfectly matched the template of a witch as declared by the Grand Temple.

Riena felt wronged. She never dreamed she’d be called an apothecary just for knowing the properties of a few weeds, and she had only occupied an empty cabin because she couldn’t afford to buy a house!

Possessing magical power? How many people in this empire had magical power? 

Originally, just having magical power didn’t mean one could use magic. To register as a mage, one needed a master, but how could anyone learn magic when all the mages had either died or gone into hiding?

Anyway, Riena had only two options before her. Whether it was the mountains where the Mad Dragon slept or whatever. Either escape to somewhere she couldn’t be caught and preserve her life, or get caught by them and be burned at the stake in front of the temple. One of the two.

I won’t die until I live to see those temple bastards fall!

Using her anger as fuel, Riena ran on, but suddenly feeling the pursuit pause, she glanced back briefly. As she had hoped, the chase had temporarily halted at the point where the mountain began to rise. 

She could hear the men who had been chasing her shouting at each other in confusion from where she stood.

“Argh! She’s fled all the way there! What do we do now?”

“Should we just go in and catch her?”

“The Mad Dragon is sleeping there! What if we get cursed…! I heard there are people who became witches after entering there and absorbing magical power!”

Utter nonsense. Riena slowed her pace slightly and turned toward them with a smirk. If they believed such ridiculous rumors, all the better for her.

“Come on and chase me! Let’s become witches together!”

“That, that wench!”

“Let’s just follow her! The dragon has been sealed for over a hundred years. If we can’t catch her, we’ll fail again this time!”

The reward for capturing a witch and turning her over to the temple was a whopping 500 darts. Tempted by the prospect of earning a common farmer’s annual income in one go, everyone was becoming witch hunters, searching for witches like picking lice.

While the early hunters had earned enough bounty to live lavishly, the income was decreasing day by day due to the increasing number of witch hunters. 

The hunters’ faces showed determination at the thought of having to starve for months if they failed to catch her today.

“Ah, I don’t care anymore.”

“Right. Let’s hurry and catch her!”

The hunters’ expressions quickly hardened with resolve. Having decided to enter the mountain, the witch was now a rat in a trap. Seeing the approaching hunters, Riena’s face turned deathly pale.

“Crazy.”

They’re really coming after her? Did she provoke them unnecessarily? 

With a pale face, she started moving again.

The Rutwal Mountains, where the Mad Dragon supposedly slept. It was a place no one visited because of rumors that the dragon, the source of magic, was sealed there, occasional monster appearances, and false rumors that entering would transfer magical power and turn one into a witch. 

That’s why she had deliberately fled here!

The fact that they followed her this far suggested they were desperately thirsty hunters. 

Feeling the danger, Riena desperately kicked at the ground. She continued running, pushing through bushes where she couldn’t see ahead and stumbling over rocks. What kind of miserable death would it be if she were caught here? 

She couldn’t be captured even if it meant jumping off a cliff.

“Stop! Stop right there! Huff, huff. Crazy woman. Why is she so fast?!”

Fortunately, the gap was widening. When you spend half your life running, your feet naturally become faster.

Tired of life as a fugitive, she had come to this remote village at the edge of the empire. She thought she could settle down here without being chased, but never dreamed she would be accused of being a witch.

She ran, squeezing out her remaining strength. Her legs felt like they would burst, and her breath filled up to the top of her head, but she couldn’t stop. 

She has to escape to where they can’t follow. She needs to run far and hide… She whipped herself with the thought that she had to escape.

Because of this, she failed to notice that there was a cliff right in front of her.

“Gasp!”

Her foot slipped into empty air. The deep gap below the steep cliff looked like a bottomless abyss as she peered down, tilted forward. Her heart sank as her body fell downward. 

Tears formed in Riena’s tightly closed eyes and scattered into the air as she fell endlessly into the darkness below.

‘So this is how I die, so meaninglessly.’

The years she had spent running flashed through her mind. Fragmented memories lined up before her eyes. Isn’t this what people see when they’re about to die? 

Riena gritted her teeth and braced for the impact of death.

At that moment, something transparent and soft touched her backside. About to bounce off from the force of her fall, she flailed in the air and grabbed onto the transparent membrane in an effort to survive. Her body slid down the invisible membrane.

Frightened, Riena dug in her fingernails and tried to grasp at the air with all her might. Something caught on her nails, and her speed gradually decreased.

‘It’s working.’

Whatever this was, at least she was alive. Riena breathed a sigh of relief as she landed on the ground.

It took a while longer for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and for her vision to clear. Though it felt like she had fallen quite far, fortunately, faint lights flickered on the walls here and there, so there was no major problem securing visibility.

‘Where am I? I’ve never heard rumors of such a place hidden in Mount Rutwal…’

Her confusion at the strange situation was brief, as her complexion turned blue at the massive form gradually becoming visible in the familiar darkness.

‘A dragon…?’

The enormous creature, so tall she had to look up endlessly and so massive it filled her entire field of vision, was unique in this world.

The dragon sleeping here was Caselos the Mad Dragon.

So this place was the dragon’s lair she had only heard about. 

Riena shrank from the spine-tingling fear. In a situation where it was surprising she hadn’t fainted, her mind rather lost its sense of reality and became calm. At this point, it might have been better to be caught by witch hunters.

Her mental breakdown at the unbelievable sight was brief. She could see the dragon’s silver-gray scales shimmering faintly in light coming from an unknown source. 

Entranced by the mysterious sight, Riena looked up, but soon noticed one particular area and covered her mouth with both hands, mentally reciting every curse she knew.

‘XXX…!’

The part she had scratched with her fingernails while sliding down was split open, showing white. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but she had essentially cracked some kind of protective barrier surrounding the dragon with her own hands. 

To make matters worse, a cracking sound like a giant egg breaking began to come from the split area.

She could feel cold sweat running down her spine. The silver-gray scales visible through the cracked membrane were emitting increasingly bright light, illuminating the dragon’s body. 

She was certain something was happening, but overwhelmed by fear, she remained frozen with her hands over her mouth.

While she stood rooted to the spot, an incredibly bright light burst from the dragon’s body before her eyes. The scattered light filled the dark ravine.

The light was so bright that Riena could barely keep her eyes open, squinting as she tried to understand what was happening. Though she couldn’t see much, it was better than keeping her eyes tightly shut and dying a sudden death.

After what felt like an eternity compressed into an instant, the light gradually faded. In the place where the dragon had been, a pure white flame was burning brightly, gradually reducing in size. 

The marvelous sight, impossible to recreate with any magic, left even the terrified Riena in awe.