Chapter 120: The Heart of the Ice Dragon
by AfuhfuihgsIt was Nightmare, a creature highly sensitive to environmental changes.
If I ever found myself in danger, he was smart enough to retreat on his own.
There was no way such a creature would charge straight into an avalanche without reason.
Ruuuuumble~!
Nature’s fury descended. The entire mountain shook as a white wave surged forth, sweeping away everything in its path.
Trees that once soared high into the sky vanished beneath the snow.
It was a hair’s breadth away from disaster.
Nightmare, galloping full speed right beneath the avalanche, seemed to be waiting for some sort of signal.
“Khhh!”
Snow surged forward like a wave.
I tightly wrapped my arms around Nightmare’s neck and shut my eyes.
In that moment, Nightmare leapt straight into the white surge.
All sound was swallowed by the wave of snow.
Even Nightmare’s ragged breaths, even the pounding of my heart—all vanished.
The only thing I could feel was Nightmare’s movement.
The tension of his muscles vividly pulsed through my arms as I clung tightly to his neck.
He was racing through the avalanche.
The crushing pressure of the avalanche only lasted a brief moment.
Nightmare, running in the opposite direction, burst out of the white wave.
Gradually, sound began to return.
My vision remained hazy due to the swirling snow, but I could make out the sight of the white surge engulfing the city at the base of the mountain.
Prrrhh—
At the sound of Nightmare’s snort, I turned my head.
At some point, he had come to a stop.
“This is…”
“Stairs…?”
At the spot where Nightmare stopped stood transparent ice stairs, leading into pitch-black darkness.
It was clear that the avalanche had unearthed an ancient structure from a forgotten age.
“Shall we go down?”
“Isn’t it too dangerous..? A mage must always put their own safety first…”
“Then should I go alone?”
“Ah, no…!”
I chuckled at Wendy’s reaction.
Truthfully, I had no intention of asking for her permission.
Even if she said no, I was going down there.
Before I’m a mage, I’m an adventurer.
And an adventurer never turns away from an opportunity that comes knocking.
It was time to press on into the unknown. I tugged on Nightmare’s reins.
“Let’s go.”
“Eek…”
Clop, clop—
The darkness beneath was deep, and the sound of Nightmare’s hooves echoed heavily.
Since we had no idea what might be waiting inside, wasting mana wasn’t an option.
I pulled a small lamp out of my bag and lit it.
Fwoosh—
“Oh…”
As we descended the stairs, hidden shapes slowly began to emerge.
The occasional ice sculptures along the way gave the illusion of coming to life at any moment.
When I brought the lamp closer to the transparent wolf sculpture, I could clearly see right through it.
“This isn’t ordinary ice.”
“Could it be Ice Crystal…?”
“Hmm… I’m not so sure.”
It likely wasn’t Ice Crystal.
Though the mana of Mount Taebaek had seeped into the place over time, there was nothing else particularly special about it.
“Let’s pick up the pace.”
Understanding my intent, Nightmare trotted briskly down the stairs.
Clop, clop—
His rhythmic hooves echoed deep below.
How long had we been walking?
Just when I thought we’d come quite far down, the stairs came to an end.
A wide, flat floor stretched out before us.
“Mm… It’s so dark.”
Just as Wendy said, the small lamp wasn’t enough to illuminate the area.
We had descended so deep that no sunlight could reach us.
There was no helping it.
I spun my magic circle and released mana into the surroundings.
Once the spread-out mana had blanketed the area, I snapped my fingers.
Clack—!
At that signal, ten bright flames bloomed around me.
Fwoosh—
The flames lit up the space.
As my eyes followed the long, stretching shadows, I couldn’t help but let out a gasp.
“Wow…”
“A dragon…!”
What filled my view was the enormous head of a dragon.
Its sharp eyes and translucent ice scales were crowned with deep-blue icy horns.
It wasn’t alive.
There was no life in its eyes, and it lacked the distinct mana presence a dragon would have.
It was a dragon statue, made entirely of ice.
My gaze moved from the dragon’s head, down its long, winding neck, to its massive ice wings that stretched as though covering the sky.
I slowly took in the entire area.
Towering pillars held up a transparent roof.
Beneath the eaves, I spotted something like frozen golden threads.
Below that lay a broad path made of ice, lined with primitive-looking totems.
It was clearly a structure filled with religious symbolism.
It resembled the shrine I’d seen in the sanctuary of the Dragonbloods—but this place was far, far grander in scale.
“What do you think, Wendy?”
“Huh…? Yeah?”
“Pretty lucky we came in, right?”
Wendy nodded absentmindedly at my question.
I tugged on Nightmare’s reins and approached the massive shrine.
The closer we got, the larger the dragon statue seemed.
Despite being just a sculpture, its presence was overwhelming.
“Th-that thing’s not suddenly going to come to life… right?”
“Don’t say things like that…”
I frowned, recalling what had happened in the Dragonbloods’ sanctuary.
Thankfully, the massive ice dragon statue didn’t move.
As we followed the path past countless totems—
Prrrhh—
Nightmare suddenly turned his head back.
I frowned as well and stared at the entrance we’d come through.
I felt a wave of presences approaching from that wide-open path.
People were descending the stairs behind us.
“What’s wrong? What’s happening?”
“Others are coming down.”
“That’s bad, right? What if they take the Ice Crystal before us?”
“Who knows. I’m not even sure if there’s an Ice Crystal here.”
I shook my head at Wendy’s concern and urged Nightmare forward.
Even after making it this far down, I couldn’t sense anything with the unique energy one would associate with an Ice Crystal.
Wendy and I dismounted and began rummaging through the massive shrine.
“If you find anything, let me know right away.”
“Okay!”
At my words, Wendy zipped around the shrine, wind surrounding her.
But even after quite some time, we hadn’t found anything noteworthy.
With a sullen expression, Wendy came back to me.
“Maybe someone already found it first?”
“That could be true.”
“This legend’s been passed down here in Taebaek for ages, right?
Maybe someone came looking for the Ice Crystal a long time ago.”
She had a point.
Just as I nodded in agreement, a breeze swept in from the direction of the stairs.
It gently brushed past the flames lighting the room—and in that same instant, the shadows shifted, revealing strange patterns.
“This is…”
“Actually, the Ice Crystal might be something that never existed in the first place. It’s strange, isn’t it? How all the inn employees kept asking if we knew about it…”
I lifted my head and looked inside the massive dragon sculpture.
Within the transparent ice, something was faintly visible. You couldn’t see it from afar. Only when looking up from directly beneath could its vague form be discerned.
Why hadn’t I noticed it when it was this close? I jumped toward the dragon statue.
“So… Seris?”
“Just wait here for a moment.”
“Aren’t you climbing too high…?”
Ignoring Wendy’s words, I began climbing the cold ice. The surface was incredibly smooth, but by wedging my feet between the large scales, I managed to find footing somehow.
“Haah!”
With each jump, I gained several meters in height. Then, the moment I clung to the dragon’s belly—
Fwoooosh—!
Suddenly, a massive blaze surged up from the stairs. A familiar energy.
It was the flame of Jeokpung. The instant I recognized Jeokpung’s aura, a burst of blue chill erupted beside the crimson flame that had shot up to the ceiling.
Chaaaak—!
This time, it was Cheongbin’s energy.
I furrowed my brow and focused on the aura near the stairs, sensing the energies of the two dragon bloodlines colliding—and other forces clashing with them.
“Wh-what’s going on?”
There’s no time. The fact that someone came here means they’re after the Ice Crystal, just like us.
I hurriedly leapt toward the dragon sculpture’s heart.
“Haah!”
As I expected, a large box sat in the dragon’s chest. It was pure white like ice, and without a closer look, you’d never notice it.
I gathered mana at the tip of my sword and, without hesitation, thrust it into the ice dragon’s chest.
Thud!
The blade pierced through with little resistance.
As I stirred it around, the ice inside began to crack and crumble. I dug into the ice dragon’s chest.
There was a small cavity inside. I reached in and pulled out a box the size of my upper body. I
t seemed to be made of a special kind of metal, radiating a cold aura.
Just as I was about to climb back down with the box—
“There!”
“It’s the Ice Crystal!”
“The spellcasters found the Ice Crystal!”
Shouts erupted from a considerable distance away.
Countless eyes turned toward me. No—more precisely, they were all fixated on the white box I was holding.
It wasn’t just one or two people—it was dozens.
I frowned. I had been careless. It seemed they had spotted us due to the magic I used to light up the area.
“Nightmare!”
Without hesitation, I jumped down and called for Nightmare.
He quickly understood and scooped up the hesitant Wendy onto his back.
As soon as I landed, I extinguished all the flames illuminating the area—including the lamp I was holding.
Fwoosh!
Pitch-black darkness fell.
“They’re gone!”
“Catch them!”
“Light it up!”
The beastfolk’s panicked voices rang out. Some hastily lit torches or lamps, but it wasn’t enough to illuminate the entire area.
This much light was enough for awareness of our surroundings. I spun the mana circle and leapt onto Nightmare’s back.
He let out a harsh breath and shook his body as if ready to sprint at any moment.
“Let’s go—”
The soft command brushed Nightmare’s ear, and in an instant, he shot forward like a flash of lightning through the darkness.
As we passed by countless beastfolk, something stirred in the shadows—then a sudden, eerie attack flew toward us. I
immediately drew my sword and swung.
Kaang!
I wasn’t caught off guard, so my reaction wasn’t delayed.
Still, the impact was strong enough to knock me off Nightmare’s back. As I landed, I drew my bow and pulled back the string.
Zzzrk—!
Without a word, five crystal arrows appeared in my hand.
As I locked eyes with a blurry presence swimming through the darkness, I drew the bowstring.
Fwoosh!
The crystal arrow shot seemingly at random but twisted midair to chase the target that had disappeared into the shadows.
Once a target was marked, it would never miss. I followed the flying arrow and swung my sword.
Kaang—! Thududud!
“Hrk…!”
In
the
darkness—
The shadowy figure hiding there managed to block my sword, but couldn’t stop the crystal arrows that followed.
With a short groan, they were struck in the side—and as our eyes met midair, shock flooded their expression.
Crackle!
As the shadow’s body was encased in crystal, I quickly moved away.
At the same moment, a dark slash tore through the spot I had just occupied.
Screee!
Hiss— Hiss—! In the darkness, the sound of a snake’s cry echoed.
A shapeless murderous aura crept silently through the surroundings.
I exhaled deeply and drew out more mana.
Nightmare rampaged through the blackened surroundings, piercing beastfolk with his horns.
Whenever he was in danger, Wendy supported him with her magic from his back, so he didn’t seem too vulnerable.
Then, as if punishing me for letting my guard down, a dark slash flew straight toward me.
It was about time. I reached out my hand toward the slash.
Just as the sharp blade was about to touch my skin, red scales sprouted across my hand, catching the blade.
Kaang!
After the red scales, horns symbolizing the dragon emerged.
Finally, as a dragon’s tail sprouted behind me, I lightly flicked the blade held in my hand.
What started as a small gesture—
Exploded into the roar of a dragon.
Grrrrrr—!
Every living being in the area froze in place.
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