After realizing that the Lands Between had undergone a great change, Senessax silently continued to fly upward.
A long while later, she finally came to a stop amidst the clouds.
From Senessax's vantage point, she could now overlook nearly half of the Lands Between.
From here, she could see the scenery over by the Lake of Liurnia.
The Altus Plateau, across the inland sea, was a blur, but its silhouette was faintly discernible.
However, the steep cliffs didn't look as if they were naturally formed. They looked more as if they had been carved away.
Senessax stared at the drastically changed Lands Between, speechless for a long time.
Where had she been brought?
Was this still the Lands Between?
Bai Shi also realized that something seemed to be amiss."Senessax? What's wrong?"
"What do you see?"
Senessax stared blankly at the vast inland sea below.
"It's not what I see..."
"It's what I can't see anymore."
She extended a foreclaw, pointed toward the inland sea, and traced a circle around it.
"That was supposed to be a single, solid continent."
"There was an inland sea, but it was never this large."
"Most of what is now sea was once land!"
"But now, it's all gone..."
Senessax looked down at Caelid.
"That was once the Spire of Spike, where the drakes lived."
Then she looked to the north of Limgrave.
"That used to be the Azure Coast."
Finally, she gazed at the very center of the inland sea, the focal point of all the Divine Towers.
That was once the heart of the Lands Between, where a soothing stone pillar once stood.
To this day, Senessax still remembered the words inscribed on that stele:
"The heart of the Lands Between—"
"Where all death converges."
"Where all death is soothed."
But now, that too had vanished.
The entire center of the Lands Between looked as if it had been cut out.
Bai Shi's brows furrowed deeply.
What was going on?
The center of the Lands Between was originally a continent? He had never known that.
As for the other places Senessax mentioned, Bai Shi had never heard of them, and there was absolutely no information about them in the game.
And why would such a large piece of land just disappear?
Even attributing it to tectonic plate movement or continental drift would be too absurd.
But if not that, did someone just dig the whole thing out from the middle?
Thinking of it that way seemed even more terrifying.
Bai Shi didn't think any power in the Lands Between could accomplish such a feat.
When exactly did this continent disappear?
The era Senessax belonged to was so ancient that the Nox civilization still existed.
The era Bai Shi was in now was much, much later.
So much time had passed that no one ever spoke of what once existed within the inland sea.
This must have happened sometime in between.
Another gap in history. It was a bit of a headache.
It seemed that once he returned to Stormveil, he would have to ask his followers what they knew.
It wasn't nice to think of his subordinates this way, but by age, besides Lanslet and Hakan who were his contemporaries, the others were all one ancient relic after another.
Erlisa probably didn't know much.
Although she had lived a long time, she had been in the snowfields, and after the battle with the giants, she had been sealed away.
Compared to the others, she would know much less.
The Stormhawk King and Slude might know something.
However, to get the most complete picture, he should ask the Crucible Knights.
They were active for the longest period and had almost always maintained contact with the outside world, rarely ever losing touch.
Bai Shi shook his head.
Removing a piece of land of such immense size from the Lands Between—what kind of power would that require?
Though he was shocked now, there was no way to investigate and find an answer.
Bai Shi thought for a moment and decided to tell Senessax to head for Sellia first.
"Senessax, let's descend for now."
"The history of the Lands Between has too many gaps. We can explore what happened later."
Senessax obediently complied, diving all the way back down to the low altitude above Caelid.
From the air, Bai Shi quickly spotted the massive gate of Sellia, Town of Sorcery.
After he gave Senessax the direction, she immediately flew towards Sellia at top speed.
Riding on Senessax's back, Bai Shi couldn't help but marvel at the innate advantages of ancient dragons.
The ancient dragon race was truly formidable.
He wouldn't even mention their combat prowess, but having now experienced it firsthand, their flight speed was absurdly fast.
Underground, Senessax had been somewhat constrained, but now she soared freely through the sky, moving at full speed.
In the air, Bai Shi and Senessax also saw some drakes flying about.
Upon seeing Senessax's ancient dragon form, these drakes were instantly terrified and fled in panic, scattering from a great distance.
After all these years, the beatings their elders had suffered had warned them not to continue being enemies with the ancient dragons.
From high in the sky, Senessax spotted a massive body lying prostrate in the Dragonbarrow.
The pale drake was nestled on a plain, its enormous body looking like a true mountain range.
"'Elder Dragon' Greyoll. So many years have passed, yet she seems to have changed little."
A question suddenly occurred to Bai Shi.
"Right, didn't you say before that Bayle and Greyoll were consorts?"
"By rights, shouldn't Greyoll have been an important target for elimination as well?"
"But it seems she's been fine all these years."
Senessax nodded.
"That's true in principle, but the situation was rather complex."
"Because at the time, Greyoll did not openly participate in supporting Bayle."
"She and a group of her offspring remained neutral."
"Whether it was a strategy to preserve her bloodline or if she genuinely had no ambitions, I do not know."
"In any case, after the conflict, her relationship with the ancient dragons didn't completely deteriorate."
"Greyoll was also aware of the Dragon Communion and accepted it."
"After that, Greyoll continued to serve as the leader of the drakes and was allowed to remain active in the Lands Between."
Senessax thought for a moment, then told Bai Shi another reason why Greyoll was left alive.
"Although the drakes have social habits somewhat similar to ancient dragons, mostly keeping to themselves and scattered across the Lands Between,"
"In any case, with Greyoll as the elder managing the race, communication is at least much more convenient."
"If you ever need to seek out the drake race for any reason, Master, you can go to Greyoll."
"However, if you wish to see her, it would be best to bring me along."
"With an ancient dragon by your side, a meeting will be no problem at all. It will prevent any conflict from breaking out before you even see her."
Bai Shi hadn't yet decided how to deal with the drakes, so he didn't pursue the topic.
In the short time they had been talking, Senessax had already crossed a section of the Dragonbarrow and the northeastern corner of Caelid.
They had arrived above Sellia, Town of Sorcery.
However, at that moment, there was no sign of human activity in Sellia, not a single person in sight.
Bai Shi didn't know what had happened, so he could only have Senessax land to see what was going on.
Could some major incident have occurred during this time?
However, as they drew near, several magic spells shot toward Senessax.
Bai Shi used a storm to block the spells, allowing Senessax to prepare for landing.
A few spells pierced through the storm, continuing erratically towards Senessax.
Senessax was completely unfazed, not even adopting a defensive stance.
The spells shattered upon impact with her hard stone scales, leaving almost no damage.
The stone scales of an ancient dragon could withstand the attacks of the lesser creatures of the Lands Between.
If a spell wasn't powerful enough, it didn't even have the right to leave a wound.
They just weren't worthy. Not at all.
Bai Shi figured the sorcerers in Sellia had mistaken Senessax for an invader, which was why they attacked.
Bai Shi shouted down, ordering them to stop.
Hearing his voice, the sorcerers quickly located Bai Shi on Senessax's back.
They hastily ceased casting their various spells.
Bai Shi jumped down from Senessax's back.
The Nightmaiden, Stella, ran out from Sellia.
Gripping a staff that was a bit too large for her, she hurried to Bai Shi and bowed her head in apology.
"Lord Bai Shi, I apologize, we didn't realize it was you..."
Bai Shi waved his hand.
It was an unexpected situation, their mistaking an ancient dragon for an invader in Sellia.
After all, Bai Shi had only told them to wait for his return, that he would take all the sorcerers and their hidden mounts away, but he hadn't specified how he would return.
Who could have imagined that Bai Shi would return riding an ancient dragon?
In any case, Senessax hadn't been hurt at all.
"So what was that about?"
"When I looked down from the sky earlier, it seemed like there was no one in Sellia."
Stella spoke, slightly embarrassed:
"We spotted the ancient dragon from a great distance."
"It is an ancient dragon, after all, so we all hid."
"When you came over just now, we initially thought the dragon was just passing by..."
"But then we noticed it was lingering overhead and even starting to descend towards the town."
"We assumed it was going to destroy Sellia, so we launched a counterattack."
Bai Shi nodded. "I see. It's understandable."
"How has everything been in Sellia recently?"
"If there's nothing left to do here, then we should prepare to depart."
Stella nodded.
"Everyone in Sellia is ready. We can leave at any time."
But then Stella frowned, telling Bai Shi about a recent anomaly near Sellia:
"For some unknown reason, the various creatures in Caelid affected by the Scarlet Rot have become unusually violent lately."
"Although rot-infested creatures have harassed Sellia before, it has been especially frequent recently."
"Particularly the various creatures crawling out of the Swamp of Aeonia."
"Because Sellia is right on the edge of the Lake of Aeonia, these creatures have been causing quite a lot of trouble."
"And besides those rot-infested creatures, the Kindred of Rot who previously occupied the Sellia Crystal Tunnel have also started to trouble us again."
"Relying on Sellia's defenses, we have successfully repelled them, but I'm afraid they will attack again."
Bai Shi thought for a moment.
He had almost forgotten that he hadn't yet reclaimed the Sellia Crystal Tunnel.
Sellia was Bai Shi's territory, so the crystal tunnel must also be retaken.
The Sellia Crystal Tunnel produced smithing stones, and the quality seemed to be quite good.
As an important strategic resource, Bai Shi couldn't pass up the smithing stones here.
This was also a good opportunity. The Dragonblood Knights could use the Kindred of Rot to practice and get accustomed to their new mounts.
Bai Shi made his decision and looked at Stella:
"Alright, then we will prepare to leave after we've reclaimed all the territory here."
"First, awaken the creatures left behind by the Nox Dynasty. My army has already arrived near Caelid."
Stella nodded in agreement, then blew a whistle.
Soon after the whistle sounded, numerous large, silver lizards emerged from the windows of Sellia's various houses.
These silver lizards gathered before Bai Shi.
These artificial creatures, created by the Nox Dynasty, were a byproduct of their attempts to create Dragonkin Soldiers.
They also had heads resembling ancient dragons, and their limbs and tails were very long.
But on their backs were only a pair of fleshless, skeletal wings, and their bodies were completely devoid of scales, covered only in smooth, silver skin.
Rather than dragons, they looked entirely like lizards.
Ever since seeing the Crystal Lizards in the cold storage of Nokron, Bai Shi increasingly felt that these large lizards were modeled after them.
They were somewhat similar to the various strangely shaped draconic beasts in a D&D setting.
Bai Shi decided he would call them Dragonbeasts from now on.
Stella explained to Bai Shi:
"Because of the invasions by the Kindred of Rot and other rot-infested creatures, which were numerous though not individually strong,"
"We awakened a large batch of these artificial creatures for defense."
These Dragonbeasts were quite large, though a bit smaller than the Crystal Lizards he had seen before.
There weren't many beasts in the Lands Between currently larger than them.
This size also gave them an advantage in strength, making them one of the more powerful types within the beast category.
The most widespread and powerful beast in the Lands Between was basically the Runebear.
As for these Dragonbeasts, they could probably be considered on the same level as the giant dogs and crows.
They were quite effective for defending against the Kindred of Rot and other infested creatures.
Bai Shi was very satisfied with these artificial creatures.
Although their endurance was a bit lacking, their short bursts of speed were something ordinary warhorses couldn't match.
What Bai Shi valued most was their strong climbing ability; they could scale rock faces.
This would effectively improve vertical mobility, a massive upgrade from having none at all.
Senessax had already transformed into her human form and stood to the side, looking at this group of creatures, clicking her tongue.
She had clearly helped the Nox Dynasty back then, but how did the final products they created turn out so questionable?
Especially since, while other aspects were lacking, they managed to make the dragon heads look somewhat decent.
This made Senessax feel that the more she looked at them, the stranger they seemed.
Bai Shi looked at Stella and asked:
"These Dragonbeasts here, what are their numbers?"
Dragonbeasts?
Stella then realized this was the name Bai Shi had given these creatures.
Actually, Stella felt that calling them Dragon Lizards would be more accurate than Dragonbeasts.
But since Bai Shi had spoken, she had nothing to say. It was just a name, after all.
Stella thought for a moment.
"Previously, about eight hundred or so were awakened in total."
"After the recent battles, there are probably about six hundred left."
"Underground in Sellia, there are still about one or two hundred in slumber."
"If needed, we can also create a new batch."
Bai Shi nodded. The ones already awakened were more than enough.
"Alright, this number will do for now."
"Tell them to follow us. We're going to pick up my soldiers."
Bai Shi was the first to mount a Dragonbeast, then looked at Senessax.
"Senessax, what about you?"
"Do you want to ride one, or fly on your own?"
Senessax wasn't very fond of these strangely shaped Dragonbeasts, so she shook her head.
"No, that's alright. I'll just fly. I can help guide you all."
That made sense. The view from the sky was much better than theirs.
It would be more convenient to have Senessax navigate from above.
"Alright, I'll leave it to you then."
After instructing the remaining sorcerers in Sellia to prepare for repelling the rot-infested creatures, Stella also mounted a Dragonbeast.
Once Senessax had taken to the sky, Stella blew her whistle again, urging the Dragonbeasts to move forward as a group.
Senessax flew at a very slow pace in the air, waiting for the Dragonbeasts below to move.
The speed of an ancient dragon was simply too fast; the speed of these little creatures below was almost laughable.
Bai Shi rode alongside Stella.
Bai Shi asked Stella:
"Speaking of which, how are these creatures controlled?"
Stella thought about how to explain it simply to Bai Shi.
"These creatures cannot understand human speech; they do not possess intelligence."
"Rather than creatures, they are more like tools."
"To command them, you need to rely on some special instructions."
"These instructions can be given through sound."
"By combining different lengths of sounds, different commands can be issued."
Stella paused and looked at Bai Shi.
Bai Shi roughly understood. It was like Morse code, combining long and short sounds to form commands.
So Bai Shi nodded, gesturing for Stella to continue.
Stella continued:
"For example, when I just commanded all the Dragonbeasts to come out, I used a two-part command."
"The first part selects the range of the command."
"You can select all, or select a certain batch, or even just a few."
"Just now, I selected all targets."
"The second part is the specific command."
"It can be specific to some uncomplicated actions, including the direction of running and climbing, attacking, and so on."
Bai Shi was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected commanding these Dragonbeasts to be so convenient.
That made sense, though. After all, these were artificial creatures created for a specific purpose.
Using commands like this was undoubtedly the simplest, fastest, and least error-prone method.
This also greatly reduced the time it took for the mount and rider to get accustomed to each other.
As long as the commands were memorized, there would basically be no mistakes.
Stella looked at Bai Shi.
"Later, I will teach you all the commands."
Bai Shi quickly shook his head.
He could ride Torrent on land and Senessax in the air; there was no need for him to ride a Dragonbeast.
"You can just teach my legion commander later."
Stella nodded.
"Alright, then after I meet your legion commander, I will give him all the control commands."
"Then you can arrange for the other soldiers to each learn how to command their own Dragonbeasts."
After that, they rode the Dragonbeasts, crossing mountains and ridges.
From time to time, fierce red dragon lightning would strike the ground ahead of them.
This was Senessax, who, upon spotting rot-infested creatures blocking their path from the sky, cleared them out in advance.
Just like that, Bai Shi and Stella led the vast herd of Dragonbeasts all the way from Sellia back to the Siofra River Well.
The distance was quite considerable.
Riding Senessax on the way there had been quick, but the return journey took the better part of a day.
But it was fine as long as they successfully brought the Dragonbeasts over.
Next, Bai Shi activated the elevator, taking the first batch of over a hundred Dragonbeasts up.
Before long, all the Dragonbeasts on the surface had been brought into this underground world.
Stella gazed up at the brilliant night sky she had never seen before, one passed down in the legends of her elders, and was lost in thought for a long time.
So this was where they originated?
This night sky was so beautiful.
Even if it was a false sky, it was enough to soothe the soul. This was their long-lost homeland.
Stella quickly came back to her senses, urging the Dragonbeasts to follow Senessax's guidance and head towards the encampment of the Dragonblood Knights.
This part of the journey was quite short and didn't take long.
Following Stella's command, the Dragonbeasts stopped in a relatively orderly fashion outside the camp.
Such a large commotion also drew the attention of the Dragonblood Knights.
Many of them had already come out to watch.
They had heard that a batch of mounts would be arriving for their legion soon.
These were probably them.
They just hadn't expected these mounts to have such a peculiar appearance. They hardly seemed like creatures from the Lands Between.