〈 Episode 621 〉 Choice and Decision.
The Dragon Emperor's Heart.
I had to swallow a groan at the words the Palace Lord spat out.
I forcibly moved my stiff neck to look at the Ice Core.
A sensation of frigid air compressed over and over again.
A perfectly round object, as if carved by a delicate sculptor.
Also, it was enormous. A chunk of ice the size of an ordinary dwelling.
That thing was an egg? That was strange enough already….
‘That’s a heart?’
Not to mention, that it was a heart—the center of the flesh. It was unbelievable.
‘And it belongs to the Dragon Emperor?’
Dragon Emperor (龍帝).
It was a being presumed to be the Blood Demon.
That such a Blood Demon’s heart was this Ice Core.
And that it was here in the North Sea, far from the Central Plains—what the hell was going on?
‘Moreover….’
A space one could only enter by fulfilling certain conditions.
To think that the bloodline of the Ice Palace had been guarding and living there.
It was a situation I simply couldn’t understand.
I sent my gaze to the Ice Core and asked.
“…That’s a heart?”
“Hmm.”
Hearing my question, the Palace Lord spoke.
“You didn’t mention the Dragon Emperor, so it seems you knew?”
Damn.
I furrowed my brow, feeling that I had misspoken.
I had done something clumsy, unlike my usual self.
“Don’t be so surprised. It is not a reason I care much about.”
“...”
“If you ask whether that is a heart, I mean that is how I see it.”
“…You mean you’re the only one who sees it that way?”
“Indeed. In the end, the history of the Palace has expressed that thing as an egg.”
An egg.
Setting aside what it contained to be called an egg.
‘Certainly. It looked more like an egg than a heart.’
Something shaped like that was hard to see as a heart.
If one had to nitpick, it was more advantageous to view it as an egg.
“Then why do you think it’s a heart, knowing that?”
I had to hear first why the Palace Lord thought so.
In response to such a question, the Palace Lord took another step toward the Ice Core and continued.
“Young Lord, do you know when the extreme cold of the North Sea began?”
“…Who knows?”
When it began? Who knew.
I had only heard that the North Sea was a cold land to begin with.
If asked when it became cold, there was no way to know.
Because I had never been one for studying history.
When I spoke with a rather stupid expression, the Palace Lord looked at me and smiled faintly.
“It is true that the North Sea was a place where winters were as cold as biting frost. But it was not a place where all four seasons held such cold.”
I had to make a strange expression while listening.
A land where snow fell all year round and was covered in extreme cold.
That was the North Sea of today.
“Spring was warm, summer was hot, autumn was plentiful, and it was a land that greeted the bitter winter. That was the North Sea of the past.”
A place not very different from the Central Plains.
That it had been the North Sea. That was what the Palace Lord was telling me now.
But.
‘It is not so now.’
Because all those words were in the past tense.
They only served to highlight the contrasting present situation.
“Everything changed over five hundred years ago. From the moment this Ice Core appeared in the North Sea.”
‘If it was over five hundred years ago….’
It was probably around the time when a slaughterous war was raging in the Central Plains due to the Blood Calamity caused by the Blood Demon.
It must have been the time when Sin Noya and his comrades were waging war.
“At that time, one who called himself the Dragon Emperor appeared and left two things on the land of the North Sea.”
Doubt welled up at the Palace Lord’s words.
‘Surely, the Dragon Emperor must be the Blood Demon.’
Even with just my speculation and the information I had uncovered, I could guess that this person called the Dragon Emperor was the Blood Demon.
However.
‘That bastard called the Dragon Emperor left something here during that time…?’
In the middle of a war.
Could the Blood Demon of that time have bothered to come all the way to the North Sea to leave something behind?
Even if he had.
‘For what?’
For now, only torn fragments swirled in my head.
To piece them into one, more information was needed.
“Half to the east. And half to the west. The Dragon Emperor stored an object called the ‘Ice Core’ in such a manner.”
Plink.
Frost fell from the Palace Lord’s cheek.
“He ordered the bloodline of the North Sea to maintain it.”
“An order?”
I furrowed my brow at the words.
“Then, are you saying that you, Palace Lord, have been guarding the Ice Core according to his command?”
“Indeed.”
“…Why?”
Why did they have to go that far?
There was a lack of reason.
The Dragon Emperor left the Ice Core.
Setting aside whether it was an egg or a heart, the justification for the bloodline to have bothered guarding it all this time.
I wanted to know that.
“The reason….”
Regarding this, the Palace Lord said.
“Because it had to be done.”
“What do you—”
“Because if we do not, the North Sea will perish.”
“…!?”
“That is the karma our bloodline bears.”
If they did not guard it, the North Sea would perish.
I pricked my ears at the Palace Lord’s words.
“When the Dragon Emperor appeared and left the Ice Core in the North Sea, the one guarding that place, that is…”
He steadied his breath once.
“The Dragon Emperor spoke to our ancestor.”
[Guard and maintain it.]
[Until the ‘Pure Blood’ appears.]
My fingertips trembled slightly at the word ‘Pure Blood.’
“His words became shackles. Shackles that bound us for centuries on end.”
“I don’t understand. They were mere words… what power could they possibly have?”
“If they were mere words, I could have refused as much as I wished.”
That meant then.
‘They were not just words.’
Swish.
The Palace Lord touched his own cheek with his hand.
“The Dragon Emperor uttered the words while casting a curse.”
It was the part where scales had sprouted and frost was falling.
“The curse of the flesh gradually becoming a dragon.”
“…!”
It was a familiar story.
It was the same curse I had once heard from the Dark King.
‘The Dark King’s curse was also about becoming a dragon.’
When a child was born, the curse was passed on.
And the person themselves met death, or so I was told.
It was called the curse of the Yeon family. That was what it was called.
‘The curse the Blood Demon placed on the bloodline of Yeon Il-cheon.’
Then, was it the same thing as the one placed on the Palace Lord before me now?
Or.
“If you do not guard the Ice Core, you become a dragon. Is that it?”
“Haha.”
Because I spoke in prediction, the Palace Lord laughed aloud. I was wrong.
“If it were so, it would have been better. If it were merely that… it wouldn’t be this bitter.”
A cold emotion was wrapped in his laughter.
“As I said before, the Ice Core is the cause that drove the North Sea into extreme cold.”
The snow falling from the sky, too.
And the extreme cold that raged regardless of season.
All of it was caused by that Ice Core, he had said.
“But.”
The Palace Lord said.
“Conversely, it is also this Ice Core that is protecting the North Sea.”
“…Pardon?”
“To be precise, it would be correct to say the Ice Core in the Ice Palace.”
What was this now?
‘The Ice Core brought the extreme cold to the North Sea, yet the Ice Core is also blocking it.’
Tap, tap.
My fingers drummed against my waist.
Two Ice Cores.
One was here.
One was located in the Ice Palace.
If there were two Ice Cores deliberately placed, with one blocking the other.
Hmm.
“…Opposition…?”
“Oho.”
The Palace Lord reacted to my muttering.
Did that mean it was correct?
If the Ice Core was the one causing trouble and also the one protecting.
“One causes the extreme cold. One protects—is that what you mean?”
Truly a structure of opposition.
Did that mean the current state of the Ice Core was like that?
To those words asked in that meaning.
“That is correct.”
The Palace Lord expressed affirmation.
‘Damn.’
The thought that immediately came to mind upon hearing this answer was.
‘This is fucking insane.’
The situation was truly fucked up.
Thinking so, I didn’t let my mouth run wild.
Because the Palace Lord’s explanation was not yet over.
“One Ice Core brought the extreme cold.”
The Palace Lord pointed at the Ice Core with his hand.
“That is the original one before us.”
“The original?”
“A personal opinion. Shall I explain?”
“First, please continue what you were saying.”
“Very well.”
It was right to hear the detailed explanation later.
“I understand that the Ice Core is affecting the weather of the North Sea.”
How such a thing was possible.
I didn’t ask that. The process was too complicated to get into principles, and more importantly.
What was important now was what connection this had with ‘me.’
“Then, what is the curse you mentioned earlier?”
“As I said just now, the Dragon Emperor placed a curse upon our ancestor when he left the Ice Core.”
“A curse.”
“Indeed. We call this the ‘Curse of the Ice Core.’”
I remembered hearing from Yuri.
‘The disease Murong Hui’a had.’
A disease where cold energy surged in the body and gradually froze the flesh.
It was also the reason Yuri had brought me here.
Also.
‘The cause that created the Palace Lord’s current bodily state.’
Draconification.
A body that was ambiguous to call human.
It was a situation similar to the Dark King’s state, but visibly weakened.
They said the Dark King possessed strength and near-immortal lifespan upon becoming a dragon.
I had heard that this was controlled through the martial arts of the Ice Palace.
But looking at the Palace Lord’s state, it didn’t seem like that was entirely possible.
“What kind of curse is it that causes this?”
What effect did it have, that the bloodline had to guard the Ice Core, and the Palace Lord ended up like that?
“The moment one is born into the bloodline of the Ice Palace, a seed is created in the body.”
“A seed?”
“Indeed. A seed that can bloom at any time.”
I felt like he was talking around the disease.
“Then by bloom, you mean a disease that could burst forth at any moment?”
“Similar. To be precise…”
The finger pointing at the Ice Core now turned toward the Palace Lord himself.
“It would be correct to say it blooms when one takes the seat of Palace Lord.”
“…!”
My eyes widened at the words.
“What do you—”
“That is the Curse of the Ice Core. The seed contained in the body blooms when one takes the seat of Palace Lord. And the flesh gradually transforms into a dragon.”
“...”
I could understand why the Palace Lord was in such a state.
The problem was.
‘Is that all?’
It was the fact that a fog had formed in my head.
It bloomed when one took the seat of Palace Lord.
That was another way of saying it was a condition.
I understood that the curse bloomed greatly and the flesh transformed.
But.
‘Then, what is the cause of the weakening?’
He became weak because the curse burst forth upon becoming Palace Lord.
That made no sense.
For good reason.
‘The Palace Lord of the Ice Palace is a strong person.’
Whether he was the current one.
Or the previous Palace Lord, I didn’t know.
When the Ice Palace Lord had visited the Central Plains, there was a record of him fighting evenly with the Sword Venerable (劍尊), who was at the level of the best of that era.
Even looking at the weakened him before my eyes.
‘He was stronger than me.’
He was stronger than I was now.
And overwhelmingly so.
What was the cause that made someone like him deteriorate like that? Was it simply due to illness?
It didn’t match the story I had just heard.
So. I wracked my brain.
The events and information I had experienced from the Central Plains until coming to the North Sea.
I stacked them up one by one.
Tap, tap, tap.
My fingers moved.
‘First.’
Back when I had predicted a rebellion would occur.
How strange that a force in charge of military power was concentrated in just one place.
And the question of why they hadn’t expected them to rebel.
Regarding this, Yuri had said.
[…Because there must be a bloodline.]
She said the bloodline of the Ice Palace was absolutely essential.
She said there was a reason they couldn’t betray.
Second.
‘When one becomes Palace Lord, the curse blooms properly.’
The words the Palace Lord had just spoken.
Those words meant there was something about the seat of Palace Lord.
He called it the Curse of the Ice Core.
It was none other than the Curse of the Ice Core.
Furthermore.
‘Paradoxically, the source of the extreme cold is the Ice Core. And what blocks it is also the Ice Core.’
And the Ice Core that blocked it existed somewhere in the Ice Palace.
Only a few pieces of information at best.
I had to find the truth within them.
Piece them together.
Even if my brain wouldn’t turn.
In the midst of thinking so for a moment.
Tap.
The drumming fingers stopped.
“The Ice Core that blocks the extreme cold.”
I said to the Palace Lord.
“What maintains it—could it be the Palace Lord’s vitality?”
“…!!”
At the words I uttered, the Palace Lord’s eyes grew wide as lamp flames.