< Chapter 21 - Disagreement >
Chapter 21 – The Crossroads
“First, let me explain about the dragon vein.”
After hearing the story of the Holy Cross Guardians and the Witch’s Soul, the rough-looking Avalanche looked like it had won a thousand armies.
I was worried about what to do because the situation was so desperate, but then suddenly I felt like a helping hand had come down to me.
“First, you guys sit down. It looks like this story will be long.”
He wiggled his buttocks to find a more comfortable sitting position, as the rough avalanche pounded on the seat next to him.
Cordelia sat down next to the teddy bear-like rough-snowball, and Uther took his place across from her.
“The dragon veins are the streams of sacred power that flow throughout the wild lands.”
“Is it only in the wild lands?”
To Cordelia’s question, Avalanche nodded.
“Yes. In fact, the veins that originally formed the dragon veins are spread across the entire continent—no, across this entire planet. However, the wild gods gave strength to some of those veins over a long period of time, creating the current dragon veins.”
In short, it was a story about removing some of the original infrastructure and upgrading it.
Cordelia asked again.
“Is the dragon vein the source of the wild gods’ power?”
“That’s not entirely true. However… it is true that our wild gods have grown in strength by interacting with the dragon veins. The land where the dragon veins flow is our sanctuary, so if we leave the sanctuary, our connection with the dragon veins will be cut off and our strength will also be weakened.”
“Uhhh… Anyway, if there’s no dragon vein, it’s a dud, right?”
“It’s not a complete failure. It’s a complete failure… There are also strong wild gods that don’t rely on the dragon vein at all….”
But judging from the way he spoke, it seemed that the rough avalanche was a wild god who was at a loss without a dragon vein.
“Anyway, it’s incredibly important, then.”
“Yes. It’s not something to brag about, but it’s thanks to the existence of the sanctuary that our wild gods nurture and care for that everyone can survive in the wild land. However, if the dragon vein is damaged, the sanctuary will be damaged, and if that happens, the wild land will eventually become a land of death.”
Uder nodded.
In reality, the wild land in the game was a barren land where not a single person could live.
“But I think they’re up to something worse.”
“Rather than making it a land of death?”
“Yeah, they were trying to contaminate the dragon vein. Rather than destroying it, it seemed like they were trying to exploit it.”
“That’s right. Now that I think about it, you said that earlier, right? If the dragon vein becomes polluted and corrupted, you, Lord Rough Snow Avalanche, will also become corrupted.”
At Cordelia’s words, Avalanche nodded with a gloomy face.
And in the midst of this serious situation, Uther looked at Cordelia with renewed eyes.
I didn’t really notice it when the two of them were talking, but now I see that Cordelia was a good listener and responds well to others’ stories.
The skill in drawing out nature stories was also good.
‘It doesn’t seem like you’re thinking about it though.’
Just nature.
‘Well, thanks to you, I’ve become more talkative.’
Yuder, who recalled when he first started playing Hero Chronicles 2, almost fell into old memories for a moment, but soon shook his head and shook off the distracting thoughts.
What was important now was the story of the rough avalanche.
“When they contaminated the dragon vein, I also went crazy. I resisted desperately, but… if you hadn’t come, I would have lost my senses and become a wild, raging monster.”
A violent avalanche swept through the area, as if it were terrifying to even imagine.
Cordelia looked at Uther, sweeping his back from the rough avalanche.
‘You get the general idea, right?’
‘Oh, I think I get it.’
I roughly compared the story of Hero Chronicles 2 with the current situation and found the answer.
What Jarakul injected into the dragon vein was Belial’s blood.
Of course, it was not literally the blood of Belial, but rather the blood of the sacrifices was infused with Belial’s power through a special ritual.
“Your Majesty, they seem to be corrupting the dragon veins to corrupt the wild gods, and through that, they are corrupting the entire wild lands.”
At Uder’s words, the rough snowball shuddered.
“This is truly a horrifying story. It must be stopped.”
“Yes, we absolutely must stop it. To do so, we absolutely need the help of Rough Snow Avalanche.”
“My help?”
“Yes, that’s right. I definitely need your help, Rough Snow Avalanche!”
When Cordelia pleaded earnestly, the wild-eyed Avalanche was momentarily taken aback, but soon got up from his seat and spoke.
“Yes! I will do whatever I can!”
“Thank you so much!”
Cordelia, who had struck the gong again, looked back at Uther.
‘But what do you want help with?’
‘Hmm… It’s a dark and sinister tone.’
First of all, you’re committing fraud by covering it up.
Uther felt a moment of guilt for corrupting the innocent Cordelia, but soon returned his focus to the rough snowfall.
“The devil followers have already corrupted the Angry Horn tribe and are using them as their subordinates. So we must isolate the Angry Horn tribe.”
“The Angry Horn Tribe? They are one of the largest and strongest tribes in the wild lands.”
“Yes, so we must stop them now. Their plot has been revealed to the world just by this incident.”
“plot?”
“Yes, they are not only corrupting the dragon veins. They are corrupting the wild gods and the sanctuaries, and they are trying to corrupt even the tribes that live in the wild lands.”
“What?!”
“The dragon veins are polluted, and the sanctuary is ruined. It will be difficult for the tribes to survive. And even the wild gods that they have trusted and relied on until now are becoming strange. The tribes who have no one to rely on will become weak-hearted, and they will exploit that weakness. They will incorporate them into the Angry Horn Tribe, which is already a subordinate of the devil, and turn the entire wild land into a den of devils!”
“Oh, my God. How wicked. How truly wicked they are!”
The avalanche shook his body as if he was thinking about how scary it was.
“Uder said, holding the small, round shoulder of the rough avalanche.
“Yes, so we must stop it. We must tell the truth to each tribe in the Wild Lands and isolate the Angry Horn Tribe.”
The reason the Angry Horn Tribe invaded the northern part of the Kingdom of Cailun was because they wanted to unify the wild lands.
So, it completely prevents the unification itself from happening.
Rather, it isolates them.
“What should I do? What should I do?”
“You must first go to the Great Storm Tribe and tell them the truth. It is the Wild God’s word, no other. Everyone will listen.”
“Ugh… So does that mean I have to leave the sanctuary?”
Although it had collapsed, it was still a rocky mountain with more than half of its mass remaining.
In any case, it was a sanctuary for rough avalanches.
“Lord Rough Snow Avalanche, this is a really serious situation. Right now, the only one we can trust and rely on is Lord Rough Snow Avalanche.”
As Cordelia spoke in an earnest tone with tears welling up in her eyes, the rough snowball groaned.
For a wild god, asking him to abandon the sanctuary that was his source of power was only slightly better than telling him to just go out and die.
“What if someone else takes over this mountain while I’m gone?”
Cordelia spoke while holding Rough Avalanche’s hand tightly.
“It’s okay. If the thieves take over your land, we’ll help you. We’ll drive out the thieves together and take back the mountain.”
“Yes, the Great Storm will help you too.”
If the Great Storm had come, I would have asked, ‘Why me?’ But since I wasn’t there, I had no chance to speak.
“Uu …
“You’re so cool. Mr. Wild Snow Avalanche is the best!”
Cordelia hugged Avalanche tightly, and Avalanche smiled awkwardly.
“Um… hmm.”
No, he didn’t laugh openly, but it was obvious he liked it.
‘They say that beauty is the world’s treasure.’
Yuder, who had been laughing, immediately brought up the next story.
“Master Rough Snow, do you know where the Great Storm Tribe resides?”
“I know the general idea. I mean, where the Great Storm Kid lives.”
“That’s great. I hope you have a quick and safe journey.”
“Yeah, thanks… Wait. I hope so. Weren’t we going together?”
When the rough snowball asked with wide eyes, Cordelia also looked back at Uther.
Uder nodded and said.
“Yes, it is truly unfortunate, but it seems that you, Lord Rough Snow, will have to go alone to the Great Storm Tribe.”
“Then what about you?”
“I intend to stop their plot. Lord Rough Snow Avalanche, do you know where the Wild God’s sanctuary connected to the Dragon Vein is? Excluding Lord Great Storm.”
“There… if you go northeast from here, there is a sanctuary of the gentle snow wind in the basin.”
“I plan to go there. If they are truly trying to corrupt the entire Dragon Vein, then the other sanctuaries are also in danger.”
That made sense.
Moreover, Uther and Cordelia had one more reason to move.
‘Lena.’
I had to get to the place where Lena lost her life. I still had some time left in my schedule, but I didn’t have enough time to waste.
‘It will take about two days to return to the Great Storm Tribe.’
It took four days to go back and forth.
Cordelia, who had guessed what Uther was thinking, asked with her eyes.
‘Is it okay?’
‘It’ll be okay. There wasn’t any particular danger on the way here.’
Furthermore, even though it was weakened, the rough snow avalanche was a wild god. Could it be that it could not find the sanctuary of another wild god?
“Mr. Wild Snow Avalanche, please.”
“Uh …
When the rough snowfall nodded as if it was a decision, Yuder nodded again and asked.
“Could you tell me the location of the sanctuary of the beautiful wind in more detail?”
“Of course. I have a map I prepared before.”
Geochi Snowfall sat down again and dug into the ground, and a map emerged from the ground.
Just like the ice stone earlier, it seemed to be a magic unique to the rough avalanche.
“Here, take it.”
“thank you.”
The conversation ended here.
Since this was a mission to save the wild lands, there was no time to waste.
“Then I will go.”
“Yes, I look forward to seeing you again in the future.”
“See you later.”
The rough snow avalanche waved back to Uther, who was paying his respects, and Cordelia, who was waving her hand, and began to hurriedly descend the rocky mountain.
Cordelia looked at the back of the rough avalanche for a long time before speaking.
“Is it okay?”
“I’m okay… Wait, are you having a bad feeling?”
Because Cordelia’s intuition was trustworthy.
Cordelia was taken aback when Uther asked her question more seriously than she had expected, and after thinking about it for a moment, she soon shrugged her shoulders.
“No, it’s not that I don’t feel well. I’m just worried.”
“I’ll be fine. Even though it looks like that, it’s still a wild god that’s hundreds of years old.”
A relieved Uder spoke to Cordelia again.
“Anyway, let’s rest here for today and leave early tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah, yeah, but I really want to wash up. Is there a hot spring or something?”
“Uh… How about gathering snow and melting it with a fireball? When the water starts to cool down, put the fireball back in.”
At Uther’s words, Cordelia’s eyes widened, then she clenched her fists and snorted.
“There is a possibility…!”
What can’t be done?
Cordelia was willing to go above and beyond for a bath.
“Yes, yes, anyway, let’s find a place to sleep first. And eat something.”
“Yeah, I’m hungry.”
“I’ll cook for you as soon as I find a suitable place.”
“Again, you soaked the beef in water?”
“Our princess, I told you not to be a picky eater, right?”
“No, shit. Increase the number of side dishes so that you’re a picky eater. Okay?”
“Let’s try.”
“Oh, really?”
When Cordelia asked with a blink of an eye, Uther nodded once and started to lead the way.
Since we both worked hard today, I thought it would be okay to let go of some of the special food we had been saving up.
‘Well, okay. I guess it’ll be fine if we keep going like this.’
Yuder, who looked back in the direction where the rough avalanche had left, hurried his steps again.
&
< Chapter 21 - The End of the Crossroads >
