< Chapter 40 - The Snow Queen >
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“Wow.”
The basement level reached by elevator.
Cordelia opened her eyes wide and exclaimed in admiration, and Uther also showed a small amount of surprise.
‘It is certain that it is the remains of the Magic Kingdom of Magellan.’
There were several buildings inside a large space with a ceiling height of at least ten meters, which reminded me of Endymion.
To be more precise, should I call it a mini Endymion?
If Endymion was a city, the scene unfolding before my eyes could be called a small village.
“They are elves.”
As Cordelia pointed to one side, Uther nodded. As she had said, there were stone statues with the characteristic long ears of elves lining the wall.
‘Magellan’s High Elves.’
There were several similar statues in Endymion, but I didn’t pay much attention to them because the situation was so urgent.
‘Is this a facility built at the same time as Endymion?’
If Kaplan had been there, he would have been excited to look around here and there. He would have even answered Uder’s own questions.
Unfortunately, Kaplan was far away, and Yuder did not have enough archaeological knowledge to estimate the age of the remains.
‘If there is a clue, then there is.’
As Uther turned to look at the translucent woman, Cordelia suddenly poked him in the ribs.
‘Oh, yeah.’
Don’t look at strange places.
Because she was a woman who was practically in a state of shock.
But since my hair was so long, I already covered everything that needed to be covered.
‘hmm.’
As Yuder momentarily pondered where to look, the woman spoke first.
“Masters… they’re gone now…. They’ve left….”
It was a gloomy voice that seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment.
“I want to see you···, but I can’t···.”
Finally, as the woman with her shoulders slumped began to sob, Cordelia patted Uther on the back.
It was a signal to get off.
“wait for a sec.”
As soon as Uther unwrapped the blanket, Cordelia jumped down from his back and approached the woman.
“are you okay?”
“It’s not okay. But I can’t help it….”
Should I say he’s like a child?
The woman who spoke honestly met Cordelia’s gaze, who was looking at her with pity.
“It’s pretty. Even more so than the masters.”
“Huh? Uh… Thank you. Hehe.”
As Cordelia smiled brightly, the woman smiled back and turned around again, saying:
“If you go towards the center······ it becomes more··· clear······.”
What does it mean to become clear?
Cordelia tilted her head, but Uther seemed to know something.
This is because after coming down to the underground, the woman’s figure, which had been translucent, became slightly clearer than before.
‘The voice also started to have a little more presence.’
Perhaps when you reach the center, your thinking ability itself will improve?
“What is it? What is it? Why am I the only one who doesn’t show any expression? Please teach me too.”
“No, it’s just that. Cordelia is incredibly pretty. Even more so than the high elves.”
“Huh, of course. It’s Cordelia, right?”
Cordelia, who had been bragging as if she was proud, soon blushed.
After all, she was Cordelia herself. It was because she was newly embarrassed.
‘Because it’s not a joke.’
Because it’s reincarnation.
Because the awareness that she is Cordelia herself has become stronger than before.
“What are you embarrassed about? It’s true.”
“Ugh.”
Cordelia blushed even more at Uther’s words, and turned around as if suppressing her embarrassment, while Uther took a step forward and spoke.
“Anyway, let’s follow. We’ve already gone that far.”
“Come quickly······.”
As the woman’s urging increased, Cordelia also hurried her steps.
“Here··· this way······.”
The woman headed toward the center as she had said, and after going about 30 meters, a large cylindrical structure like an elevator appeared.
“Get on this… and go down······.”
The center of the center again.
Since they had already come this far, Uther and Cordelia got on the elevator right away.
And maybe a few dozen seconds?
The elevator stopped when it felt like it had descended several dozen meters.
“Don’t be surprised. It’s harmless.”
At the sudden sound of a voice, Uther and Cordelia were startled and turned to look at the woman.
It wasn’t as slurred or muffled as before. It was a clear voice.
Moreover, even his appearance had changed.
It was still translucent, but unlike before, he was wearing something that looked like a pure white racing suit.
“I’ll open the door.”
The elevator doors opened as the woman waved her hand, smiling brightly at the sight of Uther and Cordelia, and Uther and Cordelia immediately understood why the woman had told them not to be surprised.
“Wow.”
“Dragon vein stream.”
As soon as the door opened, a soft golden light poured in.
It was because of the golden flow that filled the space beyond the underground cavity where the wall would have been.
“Could this be the dragon vein?”
It was a dragon vein I had seen several times before, but the perspective from which I looked at it was different.
It was like looking down at the dragon vein flowing beneath my feet from above.
But now it was different.
It was inside the dragon vein. It wasn’t something you could look down on from above or look in from the outside.
“An aquarium… no, more like an underwater hotel.”
Structures made of glass walls built into the sea.
“The masters built this facility within the dragon vein.”
The woman who spoke with a small smile stepped out of the elevator, and Cordelia hesitated for a moment before jumping out of the elevator.
“pretty.”
It wasn’t just gold.
The flowing dragon veins were mixed with colorful lights. The brightness and darkness of each light changed depending on the flow, and here and there, white lights appeared, giving the feeling of stars.
“I’m telling you in advance, you shouldn’t explode it.”
“Why aren’t you doing it?”
“You can’t blow it up.”
“I said I won’t do it.”
Cordelia puffed out her cheeks, but only for a moment. Suddenly, she clapped her hands and turned to look at Yuder.
“But, but, Yuder. If you explode the Dragon Vein, wouldn’t it be easier to cross the Sky Roof Mountain Range?”
Because half of it will be blown away like a rock mountain in a rough avalanche.
Uther flinched at Cordelia’s innocent idea.
“Oh, no. You devil. I said no.”
What would happen if half of the Sky Roof Mountains were blown away?
It was a total disaster.
A colossal catastrophe.
“But anyway, there are no people living here. There are no animals either.”
There will be chaos, but no one will die, right?
Cordelia’s words made Yuder feel cold for a moment, but he soon shook his head.
“No, what are you talking about? If half of a mountain range like this were to blow away, what would happen?”
“Is that so?”
“That’s right? So let’s not do it. Okay?”
“Okay, okay. It was just a joke anyway.”
Cordelia, who had been laughing bashfully, turned around again, and Uther looked at her with anxious eyes.
And the woman said,
“This way.”
“yes!”
As Cordelia ran towards him, Uther also headed towards the woman.
A large cylindrical pillar located at the center of the common area.
There were several thin black lines drawn here and there on the completely white pillars, which were a kind of magic circle with its own rules.
“What is this?”
In response to Cordelia’s question, the woman smiled faintly and then took a deep breath.
“First, let me introduce myself again. My name is Melissa. I am the artificial spirit in charge of managing this facility.”
Woman – When Melissa bowed politely, Uther and Cordelia also bowed.
“This is Yuder Bayer.”
“This is Cordelia Chase.”
Artificial spirit.
Beings that do not exist in nature, but are artificially created.
“I am a spirit created to manage all facilities, so it becomes difficult to maintain my existence if I move away from the core.”
“Oh, so.”
When I met Melissa outside the facility, she not only couldn’t speak properly, she couldn’t even dress properly.
Melissa continued as Cordelia nodded in understanding.
“As you can see, this facility is located within the dragon vein. It is intended to directly utilize the power of the dragon vein.”
I could tell that much just by looking at it.
The important thing is what the power of the dragon vein is being used for.
When Uther began to narrow his eyes and think, Cordelia simply asked Melissa with a clear face.
“What kind of facility is it?”
It was a direct and blunt punch, but that’s why it was effective.
“This is a facility for creating the Spirit King.”
“Spirit… the king?”
“Yes, to be exact, the Artificial Spirit King.”
Melissa took a deep breath, then spread her hands out to the side as she explained.
“The masters have done a lot of research to confront the overlord of hell. Among them was a plan to create an artificial god, a being that could directly confront the overlord—a god created by human hands.”
As Melissa before our eyes proves, Magellan’s technology was capable of creating even artificial spirits capable of thinking at the same level as humans.
It would have been impossible to create a true god-like being, but it was a different story with the Spirit King.
“This is a facility built as part of the Spirit King’s plan. It receives the massive power needed to create the Spirit King from the Dragon Vein.”
After saying that, Melissa paused for a moment and waved her hand lightly.
Then images of light appeared in the air.
“Unfortunately, the conclusion is that the creation of the Spirit King was a failure. What was created was merely a crystallization of powerful energy, not a proper spirit.”
In the video, a mass of blue light and high elves with dejected expressions appeared one after another.
“However, the masters decided to wait instead of abandoning the facility. If enough time was given, there was a possibility that the Spirit King could be born.”
The video showed the high elves leaving the facility and Melissa seeing them off.
“I was created to manage the facility while my masters were away, and I have carried out that duty ever since.”
There was pride and self-esteem in Melissa’s eyes, but only for a moment.
“One day, we lost contact with the owners. The signals from the surrounding facilities started to disappear one by one… and not long ago, even the signals from Endymion disappeared.”
Madou Endymion.
Cordelia, startled for a moment, looked back at Uther, and Uther nodded.
Even if I didn’t know about other places, the reason why Endymion’s signal was cut off was clear.
“Cordelia? Is there anything bothering you?”
“Oh, no! It’s nothing!”
As Cordelia instinctively grabbed him and closed her mouth in confusion, Uther stepped forward and changed the conversation.
“But Melissa.”
“Yes, Yuder.”
“Why did you call us here?”
It was clear that Magellan’s high elves were attempting to create a spirit lord to stand against the overlords of Hell, and that this facility was part of that plan.
But why did Melissa bring them here?
“I need help.”
Melissa immediately answered and changed the video again.
It was a space where complex magic circles were engraved on the floor, walls, and ceiling, and inside the pillar in the center was a circular sphere surrounded by blue light.
“That sphere is the spirit queen that was being created in this facility, also known as the Snow Queen. It is located below where you two are standing.”
At this point, Yuder roughly understood why they had been called.
“There seems to be a problem with the sphere.”
“Yes, it’s because too much time has passed. The flow of the dragon veins has changed, and because of this, the stability of the facility is getting worse day by day. If things continue this way, the balance will eventually collapse… and in the worst case, the power of the Snow Queen could run wild.”
She was the Snow Queen who had absorbed the power of the dragon vein for at least several hundred years.
The power accumulated within it would truly be beyond imagination.
But the problem wasn’t just the runaways.
The place where the Snow Queen is located.
If one was not careful, the dragon vein could go out of control and the entire Sky Roof Mountain Range could be blown away.
“and.”
There is a possibility that something I said in jest could become a reality.
“If that really happens, it’s not an ordinary problem. It’ll be a catastrophe. But we haven’t been able to contact the owners for hundreds of years, and the signals from the facilities keep getting cut off… I’m frustrated, so I go outside to find help, but there’s no one! If I get far from the core, I’ll become stupid!”
Melissa’s voice grew louder as she continued on. She seemed really frustrated.
“And then you showed up. You are my only hope.”
Cordelia asked Melissa, whose face looked like it was about to burst into tears at any moment.
“That··· by any chance how many years······?”
“37 years, 9 months, 12 days, 8 hours, and 21 minutes.”
“···It’s so sad.”
It was said that he had been wandering the Sky Roof Mountains, where no one had visited for nearly 40 years.
But Uder was focused on something else.
“It’s been nearly 40 years since the danger was first predicted?”
“Yes, so now it’s really dangerous. Honestly, it wouldn’t be surprising if something went wrong at any time.”
Today or tomorrow. Maybe right now.
Uther swallowed dry saliva without realizing it and looked back at Cordelia.
Although the two people were familiar with the original, the Sky Roof Mountain Range was an area that was off-limits.
Neither of them had any information on whether or when the Skyroof Mountains had erupted as Melissa had feared.
“What should I do?”
“I just need to separate the Snow Queen from the pillar. But I can’t do that because I don’t have a body.”
Now it was Melissa who just started crying.
As we talked, it seemed like the sadness exploded.
“Oh, don’t cry. We’ll help you.”
Cordelia tried to comfort Melissa with the same technique she used to comfort the Red Wind, but Melissa was truly intangible. Instead of hugging her, her hand just passed through her, and Melissa burst into even louder tears.
“Hehehe… Why did you make it like this!”
“Calm down, please.”
Cordelia pretended to hug Melissa as if she was doing a mime, and Melissa pretended to lean into Cordelia’s arms.
And then Uther said wait.
“Is it okay to simply remove the core?”
It was a facility of this size. It was clear that there were defenses other than Melissa.
‘Guardian or something.’
Guardian of the treasure.
The steel knight who protects the Snow Queen.
And it was just as Yuder had expected. Melissa, who had been sobbing, moved her fingers and created a new image.
“There are guardians. If you have the Masters’ Crest, you can neutralize them, but the Masters don’t come, and you can’t contact them… Ugh.”
In a word, the story was that we had to force our way through.
So Uther looked at the Guardian in the video once again.
A huge white being crouching right in front of the pillar.
It has the head of a dragon and the body of a tiger.
But it looked familiar. And it wasn’t just Yuder.
‘Yalabaska.’
Cordelia swallowed dry saliva and spoke with her eyes, and Uther agreed.
The Dragon Yallabaska.
A powerful monster that appears in the second half of Heroes Chronicle.
One of the seven great plagues.
If you add horns and wings to that guardian and make it several times bigger, it becomes Yallabaska.
And that’s why Uther and Cordelia could know.
‘It’s just as Melissa predicted. There’s going to be a problem with the sphere.’
‘In the meantime, the Snow Queen merged with the Guardian?’
‘maybe.’
And thus, the light dragon Yallabaska was born.
Depending on who you play as, a powerful demon that will eventually kill either Red Wind or Kirara, or both.
‘I have to catch it here.’
Before becoming Yallabaska.
Before the Snow Queen goes wild.
“Can you help me?”
As Melissa asked tearfully, Uther and Cordelia nodded.
Even if it wasn’t Melissa’s request, it was an issue that had to be addressed.
but-
“But Melissa.”
“Yes, Yuder.”
“Isn’t there a storage room or something? A treasure room or something?”
“Treasure?”
“Yes, the treasure trove.”
Because I had to take what I had to take and receive what I had to receive.
Melissa blinked at Uther’s question, and Cordelia gave a thumbs up.
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< Chapter 40 - The Snow Queen > End
