Chapter 83: Frozen Mountain
Monster habitats were inherently dangerous.
This was a fact known to every human in Nova Roma and, above all, to Awakeners.
Even the Dryad Forest, which was relatively close to the Blood Sun City and was thus cleared out periodically, with powerful Awakeners killing the most threatening monsters, still contained its share of dangers.
Weak monsters like Red Hare Rabbits were everywhere, while unique monsters were relatively common as well.
Even Aurelius had to remain cautious at all times to avoid being caught by surprise and end up seriously injured.
The Goblin Mountains were far more notorious than the Dryad Forest, housing far more threatening monsters.
By all accounts, danger should have lurked everywhere.
And that was indeed the case according to Andrea.
Even without considering the countless goblins residing here, the other types of monsters were enough to give any Awakener a headache.
Yet on this particular night...
"Why isn’t there a single living creature??" Aurelius glanced at Selene and asked in a whisper.
"Even if the Epic Relic has driven them away, as you claimed, it can’t be that all of them moved away. There should be some that stayed in the forest."
"This place... is too empty."
Not only monsters. Even ordinary animals were nowhere to be found.
Birds. Insects. Tree monsters that could not move.
None of them could be seen.
It was as though every lifeform within the forest had been teleported away.
Selene remained silent.
Her face had also grown stern, proof that even she had not expected this.
Even so, recalling what she had learned from the Blood Temple, she gritted her teeth and moved forward.
The needle of the compass constantly trembled, always pointing toward their destination.
Aurelius followed.
Although this place was eerie, Selene’s earlier blunder had made him far less nervous. He had become strangely calm.
With nothing to obstruct their path, the pair moved at extraordinary speed.
Shortly afterward, they emerged from the Goblin Mountains’ outer layer.
Aurelius realized this without ever having seen the habitat’s map.
The reason?
A mountain had suddenly appeared in front of him.
Even though they were far away, signs of activity could be seen from here.
Chopped wood. Shattered weapons. Artificial caves along the mountain’s sides.
Everything suggested that goblins had once lived on this mountain. The silence betrayed that they had moved away.
Aurelius quickly moved past this sight. He had long accepted that this place was empty.
What captured his attention was the snow covering every inch of the giant mountain.
Just by briefly glancing at it, he felt the temperature surrounding him drop. His soul seemed about to freeze.
"We’ve arrived." Selene looked at the compass in her hand and snapped him back to reality.
The azure needle remained fixed on the mountain before them.
The source of the disturbance in the northern border was there. So was the Epic Relic Selene had repeatedly mentioned.
And, more importantly, so was the thing Selene had been searching for.
A trace of excitement flashed across Selene’s eyes. Even she found it difficult to maintain her composure.
But just then, a set of words reached her ears. Words that poured cold water on her.
"How should we climb up there?" Aurelius suddenly spoke.
He pointed at the only road up the mountain. It was ragged, filled with jagged stones and metal fragments and covered in dried-up blood.
Besides the small-framed goblins, no person could possibly move through there.
Even if they managed to weave through the obstacles, the sheer size of the mountain would exhaust their stamina before they reached the peak.
Given all the preparations Selene had made—going as far as to bring the compass to lead the way—Aurelius assumed she had a solution for this as well.
But what met his question was silence.
Selene followed his finger and looked at the steep slope ahead, then moved her gaze toward the mountain’s peak.
Her expression gradually became blank.
"This..."
She gave no answer. But that could be described as an answer on its own.
Watching Selene struggling to think of a way to reach the mountain’s peak, Aurelius couldn’t help but rub his forehead in exasperation.
He didn’t know how to describe this woman.
She was somehow both reliable and unreliable at the same time.
Aurelius fell into thought for several seconds.
In the end, he sighed.
"Can you conceal both of us?" He turned to Selene and asked.
Although she didn’t know his purpose, the female Assassin nodded.
"Alright. Then cover us both," Aurelius said.
Before Selene could ask why, he had already moved, wrapping his hand around her waist and gently pulling her closer.
Aurelius sensed Selene’s body freeze momentarily, but she recovered instantly.
With a pull of her Mana, the surrounding shadows draped over them like a veil.
Watching himself disappear as though he had merged with the night itself, Aurelius nodded.
His mind stirred.
Flames erupted from his back, earning a panicked yelp from Selene as a response.
The flames fused, weaving into a pair of golden wings.
Solar Manifestation—Wing Manifestation!
After confirming that the shadows could indeed conceal the grand appearance and overwhelming momentum of the wings, Aurelius smiled.
He glanced at Selene.
"Hold onto me tight. If you fall, I doubt I’ll be able to save you in time."
Combined with the appearance of the wings, those words immediately made Selene understand what he was planning to do.
Her instinctive reaction was to run away.
However, she nodded subtly after taking a moment to process everything.
Her hands tightened around Aurelius’ torso while his hand remained firmly wrapped around her waist.
Having ensured everything was fine, Aurelius controlled the wings behind him.
Woosh!
With a violent flap, the two soared into the sky.
With another, the wind tore past them, and they had appeared dozens of meters above the ground.
Aurelius was used to this by now and remained relatively calm.
Selene, however, had never experienced something like this.
Her panicked voice echoed in his ears as she pushed her face into his chest, holding onto him as though her life depended on it.
Selene didn’t know how to feel regarding this embarrassing state.
She didn’t want Aurelius to see her panicked like this. However, this position also helped her hide the faint blush spreading across her cheeks.