621 - Childhood Friend of the Zenith

Chapter 621: Choices and Decisions The Dragon Emperor's Heart. I had to swallow hard at the words the Palace Lord had just uttered. I forced my stiff neck to turn and looked at the ice shard. It felt like coldness itself, compressed and then compressed again. It was a perfectly round object, as if it had been carved by a meticulous sculptor. Moreover, it was huge. An ice chunk as large as an entire dwelling. It was strange to think of it as an egg... "Is that truly a heart?" To think it was the heart, the very center of one's being, was unbelievable. "The heart of the Dragon Emperor?" The Dragon Emperor. Rumored to be a figure presumed to be the Blood Demon. The heart of such a Blood Demon was encased in ice. What kind of scenario could possibly lead to it being here, in the distant North Sea? "Furthermore..." It was a space that could only be accessed under certain conditions. It was said that the bloodline of the Ice Palace had been guarding it for generations. A situation that defied all understanding. Looking at the ice shard, I asked, "...Is that really a heart?" "Hmm." The Palace Lord responded to my question. "As you didn’t mention anything about the Dragon Emperor, I assume you are aware?" Oops. I felt the impact of my slip of the tongue and grimaced. I had faltered uncharacteristically. "Don’t be so startled. There’s no need to be particularly concerned." "..." "If you ask whether it’s a heart, that’s simply the way I see it." "...Is it only you who considers it as such?" "Indeed. The history of the palace has always referred to it as an egg." An egg, they called it. Setting aside why it was called an egg. "Certainly, seeing it as an egg makes more sense than calling it a heart." It wasn’t easy to perceive that shape as a heart. From a logical standpoint, considering it an egg was more appropriate. "And even knowing that, why do you think of it as a heart?" First, I needed to know why the Palace Lord thought so. The Palace Lord took a step closer to the ice shard as he continued. "Do you know when the harsh winters of the North Sea began?" "...I’m not sure?" To be honest. I always heard that the North Sea was a cold place. But as for when it became cold, I had no idea. Since I wasn’t particularly close to historical studies. I gave a somewhat sheepish expression, to which the Palace Lord responded with a slight smile. "The North Sea was always cold in winter, but not all seasons here possessed this chill." His words warranted a peculiar look. A place where snow always falls, a land covered in harsh winters. That was the North Sea we knew now. "Spring was warm, summer was hot, and autumn was bountiful before welcoming the biting winter. That was the past North Sea." Not much different from the Central Plains. That was what the Palace Lord was telling me. However. "That’s not the case now." The conversation was entirely in the past tense. Merely serving to highlight the current contrasting reality. "Everything changed five hundred years ago when this ice shard appeared in the North Sea." "Five hundred years ago..." That was likely the period in the Central Plains when the Blood Demon sparked a gruesome massacre. During the time of war waged by Shin Noya and his comrades. "At that time, one who called themselves the Dragon Emperor appeared and left two things in the North Sea." His words piqued my curiosity. "Certainly, the Dragon Emperor must be the Blood Demon." From my assumptions and the gathered information, I could only deduce that the Dragon Emperor they spoke of was indeed the Blood Demon. However. "The Dragon Emperor left something in this place during that chaotic era?" During the height of the war. Would the Blood Demon have taken the time to come all the way to the North Sea to leave something behind? Assuming he did leave something. "For what purpose?" For now, pieces of the puzzle only swirled in my head. More information was needed to piece them together. "Half in the east, and half in the west. The Dragon Emperor stored an object referred to as the 'ice shard.'" Flakes of frost fell from the Palace Lord's cheeks. "We of the bloodline were commanded to maintain them." "A command?" I frowned upon hearing that. "So, the Palace Lord maintained the ice shard under his command?" "That’s correct." "...Why?" What was the reason? The rationale was insufficient. The Dragon Emperor placed the ice shards. Regardless of whether that was an egg or a heart, the legitimacy of the bloodline painstakingly preserving those remained unclear. I wanted to know that. "The reason is quite..." The Palace Lord began. "It had to be done." "What does that mean..." "If we don’t, the North Sea will perish." "...!?" "That’s our bloodline's legacy." If they didn’t protect it, the North Sea would face annihilation. I listened intently to the Palace Lord's explanation. "When the Dragon Emperor appeared and placed the ice shard in the North Sea, he spoke to the one guarding it back then. To our ancestor." He took a deep breath. "The Dragon Emperor said." [Guard it and sustain it.] [Until the 'pureblood' arises.] At the term "pureblood," my fingertips trembled slightly. "His words became shackles. They bound us for centuries." "I don’t understand. They were merely words. What power could they truly hold?" "If they were just words, we could have refused." Then those words were... "More than mere words." Silently. The Palace Lord touched his cheek with his hand. "The Dragon Emperor uttered those words and cast a curse." It was at a spot where scales formed, with frost settling over it. "The curse that steadily transforms the flesh into a dragon." "...!" Words I was familiar with. A curse similar to what I had heard from the Dark King. 'A curse that causes one to turn into a dragon.' It transferred upon giving birth to a child. Leading oneself to death, as it was said. It was named the Curse of Affection. That’s what they called it. 'The Blood Demon’s curse on the bloodline of Youn Ilcheon.' Then, was it the same as the curse placed upon the Palace Lord before me? Or perhaps. "If you do not guard the ice shard, you will become a dragon. Is that it?" "Ha ha." I voiced my hunch, and the Palace Lord laughed aloud. I was mistaken. "If it were only that, it would have been better. If that were the case, it wouldn't have been this bitterly cold." There was a cold emotion wrapped around his laughter. "As I mentioned earlier, the ice shard is the cause of the North Sea's harsh winter." The snow falling from the sky. The relentless cold that doesn't distinguish between seasons. All of it caused by the ice shard, he claimed. "But." The Palace Lord continued, "Conversely, what is protecting the North Sea is also this ice shard." "...What?" "To be precise, it would be correct to say it's the ice shard located in the Ice Palace." What kind of statement was this? 'The ice shard that brought the harsh winter to the North Sea is also what's preventing it?' Tap, tap. My fingers drummed against my waist. Two ice shards. One here. And one said to be located in the Ice Palace. If two ice shards were necessary, and if one was indeed holding something back— Hmm. "...Opposition...?" "Oh-ho." The Palace Lord responded to my muttering. Was that the correct answer? If it's the ice shard causing the troubles and also the one preventing them. "You're saying one causes the harsh winter, while the other protects against it?" A structure of opposition indeed. I asked as if confirming this notion. "Correct." The Palace Lord nodded affirmatively. 'Wow.' The thought that immediately came to mind was, 'What a mess.' It was an utterly chaotic situation. As I thought this, I refrained from speaking rashly. The Palace Lord's explanation wasn't over yet. "One of the ice shards brought the harsh winter." The Palace Lord gestured toward the ice shard. "This is the original one before you." "Original?" "A personal view. Would you like an explanation?" "For now, please continue with your earlier explanation." "Understood." Hearing the details could wait. "I understand that the ice shard influences the weather in the North Sea." How such a thing was possible— I didn’t question that. The principles seemed too complex to delve into right now. What mattered was how it all connected to 'me.' "What, then, is the curse you mentioned?" "As I mentioned, when the Dragon Emperor placed the ice shards here, a curse was placed on our ancestors." "A curse." "Indeed. We call it the 'Curse of the Ice Shard.'" I remembered what Yuri had told me. 'The illness afflicting Moyong Heea.' An ailment causing one's body to gradually freeze from within. It was the reason Yuri had brought me to this place. And also— ‘The cause of the current condition of the Palace Lord.’ The transformation into a dragon-like being. A body that was hard to classify as entirely human. Similar, yet apparently weakened, compared to the state of the Dark King. It was said that the Dark King gained near immortality and immense power when transforming into a dragon, but the state of the Palace Lord suggested something wasn’t quite the same. It was supposedly controlled and utilized through the martial arts of the Ice Palace. But seeing the Palace Lord's current state, it didn’t seem entirely feasible. "What sort of curse results in something like that?" What power does it have that necessitates the bloodline to safeguard the ice shard, and leaves the Palace Lord in his current state? "Upon birth into the bloodline of the Ice Palace, a seed is planted in the body." "A seed?" "Yes. A seed that can bloom at any time." He seemed to be speaking metaphorically about the illness. "So by 'bloom,' do you mean a sickness that could manifest at any moment?" "Something like that. To be precise..." The finger pointing at the ice shard now turned toward himself, the Palace Lord. "When one ascends to hold the position of Palace Lord, the seed is said to bloom." "...!" Hearing this, my eyes widened. "What does that mean...?" "The Curse of the Ice Shard is just that. The seed within the body blooms upon assuming the position of Palace Lord, and the body gradually transforms into that of a dragon." "..." I understood why the Palace Lord was in such a state. The question was. 'Is that all?' A fog had settled in my mind. When the condition of becoming Palace Lord causes the curse to bloom. That was another way of stating a condition. It was clear that with the blooming curse, the body would undergo transformation. However. 'What exactly caused the weakening?' If ascending to the position of Palace Lord meant the curse would trigger and cause weakening. That didn’t quite add up. Understandably. 'The Palace Lord of the Ice Palace is a formidable force.' Whether it was the current person or the previous Palace Lord. The Ice Palace Lord, who had once sought the Central Plains, had clashed equally with the Sword Master of that time. Looking at the weakened state before me. 'They are stronger than me.' Stronger by a significant margin. So what exactly caused him to deteriorate like this? Could it solely be the disease? That explanation didn’t fit with the conversation we just had. Thus, I pondered. Gathering the experiences and information from when I started in the Central Plains to my arrival in the North Sea. I began piecing it together bit by bit. Tap, tap, tap. My fingers moved. 'First.' When anticipating an uprising— How could an entire power be concentrated in one place, And why had they not foreseen the betrayal? Regarding this, Yuri had mentioned. [...Because the bloodline must be present.] It was said that the bloodline of the Ice Palace was indispensable. And there was said to be a reason they could not betray. Second. 'Upon becoming Palace Lord, the curse fully activates.' These were the words of the current Palace Lord. Which implied something existed in the position of Palace Lord. Referred to as the Curse of the Ice Shard. Not just any curse, but the Curse of the Ice Shard, no less. Moreover. 'Ironic as it may be, the source of the harsh winter is the ice shard, and it is also what holds it back.' And the ice shard holding it back exists somewhere in the Ice Palace. With only a few pieces of information. One had to find the truth within. Gather them. Even if the mind refuses to function, piece it together. After mulling it over briefly. Tap. The fingers suddenly stopped. "The ice shard that prevents the harsh winter." I spoke to the Palace Lord. "Does it perhaps sustain itself through your life force?" "...!!" His eyes widened like lanterns at the words I had just uttered.