Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 479: Forge the portal

Nidhogg’s final roar echoed through the shattered corridor like the last shard of a storm that had finally dissipated. The dark energy released by Umbra’s blade still vibrated in the air, mingling with the golden light escaping from Yggdrasil’s wounded roots. For a few seconds, everything remained suspended in that heavy silence that usually follows great catastrophes. The dragon’s colossal body trembled erratically, its enormous wings partially open like broken structures incapable of sustaining any further movement. Nidhogg’s breathing became slow and deep, each exhalation carrying a warm vapor that dissipated into the cold air of the Umbral.

Then, finally, the gigantic body gave way.

Nidhogg’s head fell heavily against the cracked ground, causing the surrounding stones to leap from the impact. The claws that had once torn roots and rocks were now motionless, half-buried among the debris of the corridor. The glow in the fissures of its scales gradually diminished, shifting from an unstable red to a faint glow reminiscent of nearly extinguished embers.

Umbra remained motionless above the dragon’s head for a few moments.

Her sword was still deeply embedded within the creature’s scales, but the energy that had once flowed violently through the blade had now stabilized. The surrounding shadows slowly began to recede, dissolving once more into the broken walls and cracks in the floor like a black sea returning to its calm state.

She let out a small sigh.

It wasn’t from exhaustion.

It was from irritation.

Umbra pulled the sword out with a firm movement. The metallic sound of the blade leaving the flesh echoed softly through the destroyed space. A jet of dark blood trickled from the open wound, but the dragon did not react.

Nidhogg was unconscious.

Umbra twirled the sword once before letting it disappear again into the darkness that responded to her will. Her eyes quickly scanned the dragon’s colossal body, checking for any remaining signs of dangerous activity.

There were none.

She then leaped from the creature’s head.

Her body landed softly on the broken ground, raising only a small cloud of dust. The difference in scale between her and the dragon was absurd. Nidhogg occupied almost the entire destroyed corridor with its gigantic mass, while Umbra seemed like just a small figure walking among mountains of black scales.

Still, the way she approached the creature made it clear who truly controlled the situation.

Umbra walked to one of the enormous bony projections that emerged from the dragon’s neck, something resembling a lateral horn formed from hardened scales. She reached out and grasped the structure with the same ease as someone would grab a rope.

Then she began to pull.

Nidhogg’s body dragged across the ground with a heavy sound of scales scraping against stone. Fragments of rock were pushed aside as the colossal creature was slowly moved through the destroyed corridor.

The scene would have been absurd to any outside observer.

Umbra, a relatively small figure, pulled an unconscious primordial dragon as if she were dragging a huge garbage bag.

She didn’t seem to be making any effort.

As she walked, the dragon’s body was dragged behind her, crushing loose stones and pushing smaller roots aside. Nidhogg’s head swayed from side to side as it was pulled along the ground, its fangs occasionally scraping against the stone with an unpleasant sound.

Umbra advanced through the destroyed corridor until she reached the wider area where her subordinates still waited.

The two had been motionless since the beginning of the battle.

When they saw Umbra emerge again from the dust and darkness, dragging the dragon’s colossal body behind her, both fell completely silent for a few seconds.

One of them blinked slowly.

The other looked from the dragon to Umbra and then back to the dragon again, clearly trying to process what she was seeing.

Umbra passed them without slowing down.

Nidhogg’s body slid across the floor right behind her, taking up almost the entire corridor as it was dragged back towards the original prison.

One of the subordinates finally found the courage to speak.

"This seems... wrong."

Umbra didn’t answer.

She continued walking while pulling the dragon.

The second subordinate tilted her head slightly as she watched the enormous body being dragged.

"Is he... alive?"

Umbra answered without even looking back.

"Unfortunately."

They exchanged a silent look.

Umbra continued pulling the dragon until he reached the area where the original prison had been destroyed. The old chains were still scattered across the floor as remnants of a failed attempt at containment.

Umbra released the dragon’s horn for a moment.

Then he reached out his hand.

The shadows responded immediately.

New chains began to emerge from the floor and walls, much denser and heavier than the old ones. Each link seemed carved directly from the very darkness of the Umbral, pulsing with a silent and oppressive energy.

The chains enveloped Nidhogg’s body one by one.

First the wings.

Then the paws.

Then the neck and torso.

Umbra watched everything calmly as the creature was slowly imprisoned again.

When it was finished, the dragon was completely immobilized, bound by dozens of chains that held it firmly against the floor and walls of the chamber.

Umbra crossed her arms for a moment as she analyzed the result.

"Better."

Behind her, the two subordinates still watched the scene attentively.

One of them finally asked.

"What are we going to do now?"

Umbra answered without hesitation.

"I’ll get a key."

The two blinked.

The first frowned slightly.

"A key?"

Umbra began walking again towards the dragon.

"Yes."

The second subordinate looked around the destroyed room.

"A key to what exactly?"

Umbra stopped before Nidhogg’s gigantic head.

The dragon was still unconscious, its heavy breathing causing hot air to escape from its nostrils in slow intervals. The enormous fangs were partially exposed, and the creature’s mouth remained slightly open.

Umbra placed a hand on the side of the dragon’s jaw.

"To the portal."

Silence.

The two subordinates looked at each other again.

The first tilted her head slightly.

"Portal?"

The second narrowed her eyes.

"What portal?"

Umbra didn’t answer immediately.

She observed the dragon’s mouth for a few seconds, as if analyzing something very specific.

Then she answered calmly.

"What’s in its stomach."

It took them a moment to process that.

When they finally understood what she was implying, both widened their eyes at the same time.

"Wait."

"You’re not saying that—"

Umbra was already moving.

She placed her foot on one of the dragon’s giant fangs and began to climb up the creature’s jaw as if scaling a rock formation.

The two subordinates remained completely still.

Umbra entered the dragon’s mouth with the same ease as someone passing through an ordinary door.

Before disappearing completely into the darkness of the creature’s throat, she glanced briefly over her shoulder.

"Both of you."

Her voice remained calm.

"Stay alert."

Then she vanished into the darkness of Nidhogg’s mouth.

Umbra disappeared completely into the darkness of Nidhogg’s throat, and silence returned to dominate the destroyed prison chamber as the dragon’s colossal body lay motionless under the weight of its chains. Inside the creature, however, the atmosphere was completely different. The air was hot, heavy, and laden with a nauseating odor reminiscent of a mixture of ancient flesh, burnt arcane energy, and something even more unpleasant—something that seemed to emanate from a creature that had devoured pieces of the very fabric of reality for ages. Umbra wrinkled her nose almost immediately as her feet touched the slippery surface of the dragon’s gigantic tongue, the damp material yielding slightly under her weight as she began to walk into the creature’s throat.

"What an utterly filthy creature," she muttered with a clear tone of irritation as a faint wave of dark energy manifested around her body. The shadows formed a thin protective layer that enveloped her boots and the hem of her dress, preventing the viscous liquid coating the walls of its mouth from directly touching her skin. Still, the smell remained impossible to ignore. Umbra raised one hand in front of her face for a moment, as if that were enough to block the terrible odor emanating from inside the creature.

Nidhogg’s throat was far larger than any throat should be. The muscular walls stretched downward like a gigantic organic tunnel, pulsing slowly with each heavy breath of the unconscious dragon. Every movement of the creature caused the entire structure to contract slightly, creating a deep, moist sound that echoed through the interior as a constant reminder that, despite being unconscious, it was still a living organism.

Umbra walked with firm steps nonetheless.

Soft shadows stretched beneath her feet, forming small, solid platforms that prevented her from slipping on the viscous surface. The tunnel descended at a steep angle, leading directly to the deepest parts of the creature’s body.

"I really hate doing this personally," she murmured again, looking around with a critical expression. "But apparently no one else can keep this animal under control."

The smell worsened the deeper she went.

Remnants of strange energy vibrated in the air around her, echoes of the countless things Nidhogg had devoured throughout its existence. Some of these energies were familiar, fragments of Yggdrasil’s roots and remnants of ancient magic. Others were completely alien, coming from places that probably shouldn’t even exist inside a dragon.

Umbra ignored all of that.

She continued descending.

After several meters, the throat tunnel finally began to open into a larger cavity. Nidhogg’s breath caused the air to circulate slowly in that space, creating warm currents that carried glowing particles through the environment.

Umbra paused for a moment when she noticed something.

A faint light.

She narrowed her eyes.

In the midst of the creature’s organic darkness, small points of blue glow began to become visible. They were like fragments of crystal scattered among partially digested masses of strange materials.

Umbra approached.

As she got closer, she realized what they were.

Fragments of condensed energy.

Some looked like pieces of magical minerals, others resembled remnants of ancient artifacts that had been partially corroded by the dragon’s digestive fluids. All possessed that same faint bluish glow that pulsed slowly like small stars buried in the darkness.

Umbra crouched before one of the fragments.

She observed it for a few seconds.

Then she reached out and picked it up.

The object was warm, vibrating with a faint residual energy.

Umbra twirled it between her fingers.

"Interesting," she murmured.

But after a few more seconds she simply let it go again.

The fragment fell back into the viscous mass of the creature’s inner floor.

Umbra sighed.

"But useless."

She stood up again, looking around the organic chamber.

There were many of these fragments scattered inside, probably remnants of things Nidhogg had devoured over time and that had not yet been completely dissolved. Some pulsed with arcane energy, others with spiritual energy, and some possessed signatures that Umbra didn’t immediately recognize.

Even so, none of them were what she was looking for.

"I need something more concrete," she murmured as she began to walk again.

Her gaze swept across the creature’s stomach interior with much more focused attention now.

She already knew exactly what she was looking for.

"If you’ve really been chewing on the roots of the world tree...," she continued in a low voice as she ventured deeper into the gigantic cavity.

The shadows around her feet spread slowly, like exploratory tentacles probing the terrain ahead of her.

"...then somewhere in here there must be pieces that haven’t been completely destroyed yet."