Chapter 629: Do Not Look Directly at God

Chapter 629: None May Gaze Upon God

Lord Oggie’s persuasion was exactly what Karen had wanted.

Compared to resorting to violent subjugation from the very beginning, it was undoubtedly much easier to trick the creature in first and break it in later.

In truth, Lord Oggie herself was a prime example of successful breaking-in; upon reaching adulthood, her mind was occupied only with thoughts of escape, never revenge, and it was evident that she actually harbored feelings of affection toward the Church of Order.

This was the difference between a slave and a pet: both would long for freedom, but the former would possess an impulse to murder their master, whereas the latter’s impulse was far more diluted.

Furthermore, for Karen, if he fooled it into his hands first and secured a partnership through the Church to obtain regular resource supplies, he could simply toss this little bone dragon to the two "beast tamers" back home to break it in.

With Purr and Kevin around, Karen felt he wouldn't need to waste a single thought; those two would definitely help him break the little bone dragon into exactly the shape he desired.

After all, one was an Evil God. Though his fighting capability was currently lacking, his abilities in other aspects were entirely trustworthy; in his eyes, even the powerful dragon race of the previous era was no different from plump lambs in a pen.

As for Purr, she needed no further introduction—she had managed to "domesticate" an Evil God to ride like a dog.

"Submit to him, and you will receive a true opportunity to grow, to become a complete dragon!"

Karen did not know what Madam Ansel had whispered to her daughter, but there was no doubt that the current Lord Oggie appeared far more sentimental than before.

She was likely unwilling, reluctant to let this little bone dragon retrace her own old path, but she understood all too well that this matter could no longer be changed. It was better to let the little bone dragon suffer a bit less.

Karen could discern the guilt hidden within Lord Oggie’s draconic eyes, yet he felt nothing of the sort in his own heart.

Setting aside a few extreme exceptions, the vast majority of people were inevitably influenced by their environment, and Karen was no different.

Though York City was often painted in shades of gray and white within realistic literature, riddled with all kinds of human societal conflicts, it remained a place blanketed by civilization.

The Earth Vault Cult, however, was saturated with racial slaughter; it possessed all the outward appearances of civilization, but with a gentle poke, the savage blood and gore within would spill directly out.

The concept of "humanity" was actually absent here; in essence, this place was a massive coliseum.

You could not extravagantly hope for a person to stand inside a coliseum and still maintain benevolence and humility... Besides, Karen had never felt that he truly possessed those two noble character traits to begin with.

However, the smooth scenario he had anticipated failed to materialize. Though the bone dragon was now completely bound, confronted with Lord Oggie's persuasion to surrender, it still raised its proud head, its mouth uttering a crude and slurred syllable:

"Livestock."

This was spoken to Lord Oggie.

In an instant, despite possessing an immensely massive body, Lord Oggie looked as though she had been struck by lightning, an incredibly intense wave of shame welling up from the depths of her soul.

Hesitation, self-reproach, helplessness... in the end, it evolved into the most thorough, unbridled rage.

Yet her rage was not directed at the bone dragon that had humiliated her, for she actually turned that colossal dragon head, slowly, toward Karen.

Karen felt a sudden jolt in his heart; something was wrong.

He could believe in Lord Oggie’s sentimentality, but he would never believe that, as a dragon at the High Whip's side, she did not understand what to do on the appropriate occasion. One must remember that her heart had always harbored dread—a profound dread of the High Whip, the Whip of Order, and the Church of Order.

Yet now, she raised her talons, preparing to launch an attack against Karen.

She was being controlled.

Thousand Charms began rapidly flapping its wings to carry Karen away, lengthening the distance, while Karen himself looked toward the bone dragon as he retreated.

This little bone dragon, who had clearly just been born, could actually control an adult Lord Oggie?

Though many doubts surfaced in his mind, they did not disrupt Karen's subsequent movements. He raised his hand and clenched his fist.

Under Karen’s control, the sharp prisms that had originally bound the bone dragon began to squeeze and explode even more frantically. Although he did not know the specific reason, Karen had no desire to face an adult Frost Dragon that actually dared to strike at him. No matter what, "strangling" that bone dragon first was the wisest decision.

Kill her, and Lord Oggie should be released from the control and return to normal.

As for the loss of losing this bone dragon... Karen had always been clear-headed: his own personal safety was the most fundamental interest.

However, at the exact moment Karen struck, Lord Oggie struck as well. She opened her draconic maw and exhaled a blast of frost, causing the spell Karen was currently detonating to plunge into a state of freezing.

The bone dragon was frozen inside it too, yet this was equivalent to her safety being guaranteed.

Karen even saw a flash of mockery surface within the bone dragon's eyes, as if deriding the miserable end Karen was about to face.

Sure enough, after ensuring the bone dragon's safety, Lord Oggie’s massive body began to shift again, and immediately following that, a dragon tail whipped directly toward Karen.

Karen’s retreating figure immediately surged upward. Though he evaded the strike of the tail, the terrifying shockwave that accompanied it still smashed heavily against his body. Thousand Charms instantly wrapped its wings around Karen.

A massive black sphere was blown backward into the air, and Karen intended to use this momentum to distance himself.

He had never thought of relying on himself alone to solo-kill an adult Frost Dragon. To be precise, although he had been bullying Oggie lately, he had never been naive enough to believe he would be a match for her, especially after she had revealed her true form.

However, while Karen wanted to leave, Oggie had no intention of seeing him off. Her massive body became exceptionally agile after readjusting; with a shudder of her frame, she flew directly to the front, reaching down with a giant talon, prepared to grip that black sphere... no, to crush it.

His wings spread wide, Karen’s figure lunged forward, successfully evading once more.

The massive disparity in size was an advantage, but it was also a disadvantage. Just as it was inherently difficult for an adult man to catch a fly with his bare hands, it applied here.

"Roar!"

A dragon roar erupted, and a layer of frost manifested upon Lord Oggie’s body as a terrifying cold air began to sweep in all directions.

The ice-attribute power of the Primordial Allen began to surface on Karen’s body. Attempting to isolate the cold with fire-attribute power was clearly unrealistic at this moment; it was far better to choose power of the same attribute to create a buffer zone for himself.

However, though the immediate crisis was temporarily suppressed, Karen discovered that a vast area all around them had turned into a world of ice and snow. The space it encompassed was enormous, and in the distant corners, extremely distinct edges could even be seen.

This was a barrier, which could also be called a formation—a "cage" deployed by relying on the powerful physique of the dragon race.

To break it, one not only needed to dispel the blessing of the frost power, but also had to possess the subsequent strength to breach the dragon's body; otherwise, the dragon could trap you within this area and play with you to its heart's content.

Karen had originally wanted to act as a fly, dodging while waiting for an opportunity to escape;

Lord Oggie, on the other hand, had closed the doors and windows, and raised the fly-swatter.

Thousand Charms' wings flapped rapidly as Karen and Lord Oggie began a game of chase here. At times when facing a more difficult situation, Karen would employ the method of turning into black mist to evade.

In any case, the storage of spiritual power within his body was abundant, allowing him to maintain this high mobility for a long duration.

However, on Lord Oggie’s end, impatience was already setting in. In order to kill Karen a bit sooner, she unleashed a new spell.

"Crack... Crack... Crack..."

Glaciers manifested around Karen one after another, all of them floating in midair, following a certain pattern.

An imitation of the spell emerged within Karen’s left palm as he began calculating. Upon grasping Lord Oggie’s intention, he signaled Thousand Charms to carry him rapidly downward to leave this area.

Regrettably, although Karen's reaction was already swift, the glaciers had already spun into rapid motion. This was like a giant suction machine, beginning to forcefully drag everything in the vicinity inside.

Midair, Karen lost the ability to move freely, his body being pulled upward against his will.

If this continued, by the time he was truly dragged into the deepest depths, what awaited him would be the most despairing glacial meat-grinder.

Karen closed his eyes, simply turned his body around, and began chanting an incantation while having Thousand Charms create as much drag as possible:

"Gate of Order!"

A high-level grand spell—the Gate of Order.

A colossal black gate appeared above Karen, exuding an exceptionally dense aura of Order. Yet if one drew close to examine it carefully, many details on this gate could be found to be highly unusual; its patterns differed from the Gate of Order, resembling more closely the Gate of Samsara upon the Valley of Samsara.

The appearance of the black gate helped Karen block the suction force of a large area. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Karen’s figure plunged rapidly. Though he was still unable to leave this sealed world of ice and snow, he was at least far from the danger and could catch his breath slightly.

Seeing Karen escape downward, Lord Oggie chose to press her body down at this moment. With almost no other superfluous movements, relying purely on physical collision, she smashed and destroyed this colossal black gate.

"Puff..."

The grand spell was forcefully broken. Suffering the backlash, Karen spat out a mouthful of blood, an ache like a tearing sensation spreading through his chest.

But he had no time to care about this now. Upon landing, he immediately dropped to one knee, the palm of his left hand pressing flat against the ground:

"Order—Desperate Defense!"

"Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum! ..."

Thick, massive chains of Order erupted from the surrounding ground, interlacing high above Karen’s head to form a giant black arc that shielded him completely within.

Lord Augie did not hesitate; her colossal frame continued its descent, her underbelly crashing hard against the arc, yet the terrible weight failed to snap the chains of Order. Instead, they bent outward to absorb the impact, retarding her downward momentum.

It was no iron pot, but resembled a freshly woven wicker shield, imbued with an immense, resilient flexibility.

Yet the bulk of an adult dragon was too terrifying; despite the brief delay, the massive arc woven from the chains of Order shattered at last.

Lord Augie’s body pressed down further, seeking to obliterate the man beneath along with his entire surroundings.

However, accompanied by a harsh, grating screech, Lord Augie lowered her head in astonishment, feeling a sharp ache in her belly, as if pierced directly by something thick and sharp.

Beneath the protection of the shattered arc, a Black Prison Castle had manifested.

The castle’s layout featured a perimeter of high walls with towering structures within; the spire, originally meant for a magic crystal cannon, had now impaled the underbelly of the Frost Dragon.

It was like a person rolling on the ground and accidentally pressing down upon a thumbtack.

Inside the command room of the Black Prison Castle, vines wrapped around Karen's right hand; the ceiling structures above were collapsing continuously, but his channeled power, coupled with the long-range enhancement of the War Scythe, allowed the fort to barely withstand the dragon’s immense weight.

Lord Augie surged upward, breaking free from the "thumbtack," and a torrent of dragon blood fell like rain, dyeing the exterior of the Black Prison Castle crimson.

Regrettably, Karen was in no mood to appreciate it; at any other time, he might have felt quite satisfied with this fresh coat of paint.

Yet this was merely a minor wound for Lord Augie; recovering her balance, she opened her jaws wide, and a shocking ice storm began to brew inside her mouth.

Karen opened his hand, revealing a scroll shimmering with golden light—the Forbidden Spell: Tears of the Moon Goddess.

This was the only weapon currently in his possession capable of threatening the dragon; ironically, it was a parting gift left by that "skeleton" before its suicide.

He had truly not expected to find a use for it so soon.

Two paths now lay before Karen:

Either use the scroll to shatter the barrier of this frozen world and engage in a desperate race against Lord Augie;

Or find an opportunity to unleash the scroll directly upon Lord Augie, inflicting a devastating blow upon her;

But a grave problem remained... how could he ensure that invoking a scroll of this magnitude would not drag him into the same grave?

To activate this scroll, the user had to infuse it with an immense amount of spiritual power, yet its destruction spread outward from its center, creating an absolute void shaped like a tear.

Thus, in theory, unless manipulated via a puppet, using it personally amounted to a suicidal attack of mutual destruction.

Above the castle, Lord Augie tilted her head, exhaling a thick torrent of icy fire from her jaws, and the azure flames began to envelop the fortress.

Instantly, the castle began to melt at a visible speed, like a block of dark chocolate exposed to a scorching sun.

Karen took a deep breath to steady his condition; then, channeling the fire-attribute power of the Ancestor Allen within his body, a red starburst manifested beneath his feet, followed closely by five more, each starburst bearing an identical illusion of Karen.

Had Purr been there to witness this, she would have pointed a proud paw and declared, "Look, that is what you call a genius!"

"Boom!"

Suddenly, the castle tore open, and the six Karens dashed out wildly in six different directions as the blue flames raged around them; it spared their garments but targeted their spiritual power and souls with extreme precision.

Karen gritted his teeth and pushed his speed to the limit; in truth, he suffered no overwhelming agony, for his soul had long been tempered through countless trials, leaving him with a very high threshold for pain;

An ordinary soul at this moment would be like a drop of water on dry earth, vanishing instantly; Karen fared slightly better, being not a mere drop but a pool of water, capable of enduring a fraction longer.

Yet soon enough, the five false projections dissolved into black smoke amidst the flames, leaving only the true form, and Karen’s path led directly toward the little bone dragon frozen in place.

Lord Augie continued to spew the blue fire while bringing her claws down to crush Karen, but his movements were exceedingly agile, evading her blows time and again.

However, discerning Karen's intent, Lord Augie lowered her tail ahead of him, wrapping it around the massive block of ice to form an additional layer of defense before he could touch the little bone dragon.

Seeing this, Karen halted, a short distance of nearly a hundred meters still separating them.

Observing that Karen had given up, a mocking glint appeared in Lord Augie’s eyes; yet just as she intended to intensify the flames to incinerate Karen’s soul completely, she saw him produce a scroll infused with spiritual energy, radiating a terrifying wave of power.

Karen did not look up at Lord Augie above him; instead, he glared at the little bone dragon within the ice block, shouting through a voice transmission spell:

"At this distance, the destructive radius of this forbidden spell is enough to erase that dragon tail along with you inside it. Come, let us die together!"

Terror flickered within the eyes of the little bone dragon inside the ice; she could perceive that this young human was not bluffing—the destructive force dormant within that scroll could truly erase her from existence.

"Hum!"

Above, Lord Augie closed her jaws, and the azure flames that had been spewing forth instantly vanished.

Standing in midair, though Karen smelled no scent of burning flesh, he felt as though his entire body were charred; if one were to sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over him, he could be served on a platter.

Lord Augie spoke: "She only wishes to leave, she only desires freedom. Let her go, and you may depart as well."

Evidently, the controlled Lord Augie was merely relaying the thoughts of the little bone dragon.

Regrettably, Karen understood a fundamental truth: when both parties hold swords to each other’s throats, whoever believes the other's promise first is destined to live in regret.

Karen feared death; he treasured his life deeply because he still wished to enjoy the scenery of this world, and because he had so many things left unfinished—such as his promise to Mink Street.

Yet at a moment like this, the more one feared death, the more one had to project absolute fear

"Huh?"

The woman covered her mouth, letting out a soft murmur of doubt.

"By all accounts, since I abandoned my skeleton clone, this little bone dragon should have regained its freedom, and it ought to have collapsed into a heap on my end as well, for I have already lost all control over it."

The woman reached out toward the little bone dragon doll, but the moment her hand made contact, the doll shuddered slightly, and a layer of its outer skin peeled away.

"Hiss..."

The woman drew her hand back; her index finger had been pricked, and fresh blood welled forth, yet even though the little bone dragon had shed some of its outer casing, its skeleton remained standing upright, refusing to fall completely apart like that other skeleton had.

"So, I have been deceived all along, have I?"

The woman placed her index finger into her mouth, sucking at the wound.

"Heh, amusing, truly amusing. Originally, I always believed that I was your 'mother,' that it was I who created you, but now I discover that this is not the case at all, and that I have actually become a tool in someone else's hands.

Grand Archmage Morindi of the Crypt, when you helped me awaken this bone dragon, what exactly did you add to the materials I provided?

To think it would make it possess such a fierce temper.

No,

Not a temper, but defiance."

The woman extended her other hand beside the bone dragon doll, not touching it this time, but slowly attempting to perceive it.

"A defiant emotion... a defiant spirit... a defiant soul... a true... untamable wildness."

A look of profound contemplation crept into the woman's eyes.

Finally,

A look of sudden realization dawned upon her face:

"The Defiant Dragon God!"

One of the seven founding gods of the Crypt Church—the Defiant Dragon God.

In those days, it had rebelled against the dragon race and ignited a draconic civil war, its Spear of Defiance slaughtering an untold number of its own kin.

In the end, it had even led a faction of its followers to merge into the Crypt Church.

Every record concerning this Dragon God was steeped in an aura of unyielding resistance, as though any existence that dared to place itself above its head was something it was bound to overthrow.

"Have I miscalculated once again?"

The woman began to fall into self-doubt.

"Regarding Mistress Dana, I miscalculated just that once. Karen told me that I had failed to take into account Mistress Dana's personality factors and environmental factors; he said that Mistress Dana would rather die than be permanently imprisoned.

In truth, I knew about Mistress Dana's situation, and I was well aware of her character. I did not calculate incorrectly, nor should I have calculated incorrectly.

The only possible place where a problem could have arisen was during that brief window of time between when I knew she would come and when she actually appeared in the theater, where something must have occurred to push her personality and emotions a few steps further into the extreme.

It was those few steps that prompted her to choose to pull that long spear into her own body.

The oversight in my calculations, the point of instability, lies right there.

During that time, she should have been staying with Karen. Afterward, I investigated the cleaning staff at the Sunset Hotel and learned that Karen lived on the top floor right next door to Mistress Dana, and that there were areas in the living room requiring repair, proving that a battle had taken place there.

Karen had engaged in a fight with Mistress Dana.

At the time, I found it quite interesting, because I assumed Karen knew Dana's identity yet still dared to strike her, heh.

The second time was when I went to Old Vervain Restaurant. That place should have been safe; how could they possibly have specially chosen a restaurant to set up defenses?

Furthermore, at that moment, they ought to have been incredibly busy, not with hunting me down, but with dividing the spoils and dealing with the aftermath. Hunting me down should have been placed at the very bottom and deemed the least important task; to this special task force, a wanted criminal like me was really just a name on a list.

Yet when I walked inside, Karen was already sitting there.

As for the third time, it is this little bone dragon, which has also undergone a change completely beyond my expectations.

If I absolutely had to draw a common thread between these three occurrences, it would be that I intended to give this little bone dragon as a gift to Karen.

My three miscalculations have all been related to Karen.

I believed the level of my calculations was already exceedingly high. It is not that I have never made mistakes in the past, but they have never occurred with such frequency.

So, does it mean that whenever my calculations encounter Karen, they become thoroughly disrupted?

Is that how it is?"

What the woman did not know was that Rasma, who currently resided in the small church on Mink Street in the city of Rodga within the Kingdom of Ruilan, had also harbored similar doubts in the past.

After recalling the past inside the pastry shop and stepping outside, he had seen a family living in the slums; from the man, to the wife, to the elder, and down to the child, they should have already been dead by all rights, yet somehow, they were still living perfectly well.

The gears of fate should have crushed them, yet someone had pushed them out of the way.

A photograph should have turned yellow with age, yet for some inexplicable reason, it continued to retain its freshness.

Regrettably, Rasma had more important matters to attend to at that time, though this matter was not truly delayed either, for even if he had investigated and found Karen right away back then, Karen was Diss's grandson, and the outcome would have been exactly the same.

However, during his years of "bedside company," because of the recent simultaneous appearance of Karen and Augie, Rasma had been granted a glimpse into another side of Karen. Consequently, the current Rasma was far more desperate to escape the shackles of Mink Street much earlier than before, and this brief memory had, in fact, played a certain role in that.

He wanted to go and take a proper look at this young man surnamed Inmerles, and he absolutely could not allow him to continue swimming as freely as a fish within the great ocean of the Order Church.

Something would go wrong; something was bound to go wrong.

The woman rested her chin on her hand and pursed her lips:

"So, Karen, are you truly the God of Order?"

The woman closed her eyes and began to contemplate once more.

"The Great God of the Crypt foresaw what would happen in the next era during the previous one, and thus made preparations in advance, using the crypt as a hiding place to abandon one era and welcome the return of the next...

No, if this period of time where the gods do not appear is considered an era, then the God of the Crypt abandoned one era and skipped an era, solely to make a formal return in the era after next.

But why does the Order Church share such an excellent relationship with the Crypt Church?

The seven founding gods of the Crypt Church all once stood behind the banner of Order, following him to participate in the God War.

Tiranus, the founder of the Order Church, personally bound Order and the Crypt into a partnership.

The God of Order then successfully achieved hegemony at the end of the last era.

If the gods are not to appear in the next era, would the God of Order have perceived this in advance as well?

Did the God of the Crypt tell him, or did he proactively seek out the God of the Crypt to ask?

Had some sort of agreement been reached between the two sides?

If that is truly the case, then my God of the Crypt might very well not be the first god to return.

If Karen truly represents the return of that personage, would it not imply that the God of Order has already returned?

The hegemon of the end of the last era returning in the capacity of the First God makes complete sense.

Tsk...

The inheritor of Tiranus, High Priest Norton... ah..."

Blood began to ooze from the woman's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

"I was wrong, one cannot calculate up to that point; it brings death, it brings death..."

The woman reached up to wipe away the bloodstains on her face and then smeared them onto the dressing mirror. Staring at the dark crimson upon the mirror, she let out a smile.

"One must not gaze directly upon... a god."

...

Inside the subterranean cavern, the lich grandmaster, Morindi, lay upon a colossal, beating heart. Her eyes were open now, and a faint smile touched her lips as she spoke:

"I can feel the aura of my little bone dragon. Has the shackle upon her been severed? The restriction placed by the skeleton has vanished.

I spent no small amount of effort to keep her in the dark, and I had even resigned myself to the likelihood of her finding out. Yet to my surprise, she never noticed a thing.

The materials you provided me were as abundant as could be, and yet, I still felt it wasn't enough.

It so happens that deep within the recesses of my own heart, a dragon scale has always been hidden. It belonged to that great, rebellious Dragon God. I am a generous soul, so I bestowed it directly upon her.

For I desired that what I brought into this world would be neither a piece of trash nor a subservient hound; I wished to forge a true dragon.

A dragon ought to possess the bearing of a dragon.

Furthermore, just when is he coming to kill me—that man named Karen?

I am already so weary; I wish to rest. Were it not for the purpose of taking you with me, I would choose to close my eyes entirely right now, if only to spare myself the trouble from the higher-ups of the Church.

Karen, do hurry and come kill me.

I have already prepared a casket of bone for you right here. I hope it pleases you; consider it an expression of the guilt harbored in my heart. After all, you are a follower of Order, and it is not right for me to slay you. But then, who told you to be so favored by that skeleton?

Regrettably, time is running short,

And I will not have the chance to fashion a casket for myself.

In truth,

I rather wished for a casket of my own to lie down in."

...

"The meeting is adjourned."

Verden had just concluded a high-level assembly of the Whip of Order. He stepped out of the conference hall, which was entirely sealed by barriers. Upon exiting, he frowned slightly and extended his hand; a ring of light materialized within his palm.

This ring of light bore the distinct resemblance of a dog collar.

"She reverted to her true form?"

"Didn't Daan head over there? Could something still have gone wrong at the Earth Vault Cult?"

Verden had commanded Augie to act as Miss Dana's bodyguard, which was why he had prematurely lifted the restriction preventing Augie from assuming her true form.

However, the seals upon Augie's body were veritably countless; Verden often used her to practice his own craft, and he would also consult the true grandmasters of formations within the Church to lay them down.

"Hiss, no, her emotions are entirely out of control. This isn't a sign that something went wrong over there; something has happened to her. Has she gone berserk?"

Verden's fingertip lightly flicked across the ring of light:

"Be still."

...

"Either we perish together, or you submit to me."

Faced with Karen's threat,

Lord Augie spoke up on behalf of the little bone dragon, replying:

"She will never choose submission. She would rather die alongside you, so you may go ahead and activate the scroll."

Karen: "..."

The method of intimidation had instantly lost its efficacy. Karen truly had not anticipated that this pet, whom he had long earmarked for subjugation, would possess such an unyielding disposition.

What was the necessity?

Even the Lord Evil God isn't as proud as you, and he's currently quite content playing the part of a dog!

At this moment, Karen realized that far from intimidating the other party, he was the one who had been somewhat taken aback.

In that case... should they just leave each other in peace?

You go your way, and I shall go mine?

No, how could that work? The moment he stepped outside the detonation radius of the forbidden spell, she would undoubtedly manipulate Augie to slaughter him in revenge!

This was a mad dragon!

"Hum!"

Right then, Lord Augie's massive draconic frame suddenly emitted a low, grating sound, as though an invisible, colossal rope were constricting and binding her.

The destiny of some was ordained long ago. Even if she was no mere mortal, but a member of the exalted dragon race, she remained powerless to escape the fate of being manipulated from within the palm of another's hand.

The currents of air began to billow, and the draconic form started to dissipate. Ultimately, before Karen's eyes, Lord Augie stood with her hands clasped behind her back, sinking into a kneeling posture before him.

And the block of ice, deprived of the protection of the dragon's tail, fell heavily to the ground with a sharp thud.

The fierce and unyielding little bone dragon remained sealed inside. The issue was that she was now entirely incapable of movement, meaning that theoretically, she lacked even the capacity to commit suicide; it was equivalent to packaging herself up and personally delivering herself before Karen.

Karen: "..."

Bone Dragon: "..."