The cerulean sky of the Amos Icefield was like a mirror. Its light wispy clouds extended to the horizon. The further they ventured into the Amos Icefield, the more it seemed as if the entire world was covered in frost. There was not a single plant. All that was left was the endless white of a world of snow.
At this moment, a few black dots appeared on this blank white canvas. The dragonslaying squad was quite eye-catching. They had been on the Icefield for half a month already, tracing the clues that Ibu had left, then following his lead. They had finally caught traces of Evil Dragon Frost"s tracks.
"There are signs of activity here. Look at this footprint. I heard that the evil dragon lived deep within the Icefield in a hidden underground palace of ice. He enslaved some dragon rajas. There were a lot of knights, who were sent here by the King of Engido. They had wounded the dragon, yet that all died in the end. Apparently, many of their bodies came back to life, after being bathed in the dragon"s blood. They are now servants of the dragon."
Ibu ill.u.s.trated the tale with a face of horror. This was only a rumor, but looking at the huge footprint now, it seemed quite believable. This sort of evil dragon was completely unimaginable to the ordinary person.
Verthandi carried her longsword. She was wrapped so tightly in cloaks and hoods, even her face was hidden. "He doesn"t even let their souls pa.s.s on?" she asked.
Allen pointed to the north. "Let"s head over there. According to the footprints, the lair of the dragon should be in the valley behind that mountain."
The Minotaur Tiridan carried the heavy luggage, as the four of them crossed the peaks and headed towards the large chasm. They moved forward gingerly, as this Icefield was a quiet world, and they did not want to disturb the stillness. Plus, they knew that it was likely that they would soon meet the evil dragon of legend.
At the entrance of the valley, they saw a huge ice cave, just within the belly of the mountain ahead of them. As the light shone upon it, it refracted into beautiful orbs, like a crystal. They could almost make out the trappings of a grand palace within the mountain, appearing as if it had been sculpted from ice. The Evil Dragon Frost had actually hollowed out an entire mountain to make its lair!
Around the valley, there were many wooden houses, which were built by the mountainside. Those were the residences of the dragon rajas.
In the distance, dozens of dragon rajas could be seen patrolling the area. There were also two watchtowers by the entrance of the valley.
On top of those towers, there were only two dragon rajas on duty. They seemed to be in deep sleep, as no one actually believed that an enemy would appear this deep within the Icefield.
These dragon rajas had completely abandoned their original appearances and abilities. As such, there was not a strand of hair left on them.
Scales covered their bodies in a sinister fas.h.i.+on, as miniscule amounts of deified cells ate away at their bodies. While it saved their lives, it also enslaved them to the White Dragon. It even wiped away their memories and made them into the impure existences of dragon rajas.
Dragons naturally had their own inheritance, with their own intelligence and language. They were not dumb beasts, nor were they ordinary magical beasts. They were at the apex of the food chain.
All of these things were exactly what defined White Dragon Frost. He loved collecting treasure, while residing in his clean and magnificent lair. He enjoyed eating good food, especially humans. Compared to other creatures, humans were much more to his liking.
Frost believed himself to be the greatest and most powerful existence in the world. No one was stronger than him, with his powerful body and his dragoncraft, which could control snow and ice. He was free to do as he pleased in the orc kingdoms, including robbing caravans and swallowing people alive.
He had started off carefully, but went completely wild once he saw how powerless all beings were before him. Now, he would fly directly into cities to plunder treasuries. All of the people would cower in fear before Frost"s power.
Finally, one day, he sized up the richest person within the orc kingdom, the King of Engido. He knew that, within the city of Primonius, there was one wizard that could use the same witchcraft as him. There were also blood knights with sharp crossbows, which also posed a strong threat to Frost.
The sly Frost did not dare face them directly. After raising a ruckus in Primonius, he s.n.a.t.c.hed away the Princess of Engido Kingdom, so that the king would deliver the coins that Frost wanted to fill his treasury. But, it seemed that the king wasn"t too obedient, because he would often send people to hara.s.s Frost, as the king was unwilling to part with all the treasures and gold.
Frost grew a bit impatient and decided to eat the Princess. Afterwards, the king made a large ruckus, telling the foolish orcs to start properly offering up tributes and sacrifices to Frost.
Deep within the palace of ice, where only weak rays of the sun could reach, Frost laid upon a small mountain of gold coins. There were also large amounts of gold silverware and s.h.i.+ny jewels. Every time that Frost would move, huge rivers of coins would cascade down, the sound of which would echo around the chamber.
Within the valley, a huge fire blazed. All of the residences of the dragon raja had been burnt. Dozens of them were suddenly ambushed. Either Verthandi"s sword had pierced their swords, or Ibu"s hammer had bashed their heads in.
Two of the lookouts had been taken care of without a sound. The rest had been attacked within the sudden fire, seven or eight of whom died immediately. The remaining were swiftly disposed of by Verthandi and the rest. This excited them greatly. The plan was successful, which made them feel more confident about this entire operation.
After entering the palace, they saw the high ceilings. It was like entering a giant"s castle. Above and below them, they saw a world made entirely of crystalline ice. This unmelting ice shone crystal clear, with a faint blue tinge, like the color of the sky.
Two more dragon rajas approached to face them. They appeared to have been some of the strongest elite warriors before. After transforming into dragon rajas, their bodies had become stronger, yet they had lost all of their experience and techniques, so they actually had become weaker. As such, the former elite of the Engido Kingdom were easily defeated by even the amateur Dragonslaying Squad.
"Great, so far so good. Perhaps Evil Dragon Frost is out right now. Let"s hurry and release the imprisoned citizens and the princess. Our mission will be complete then." Allen was very excited. Perhaps they did not need to face the dragon, since they were only here to rescue the princess and get the reward from the king.
Ibu nodded. "I figured that Frost may not be within the lair, but he could return at any time. Let"s hurry. As long as we find the princess, our clan can leave this G.o.dforsaken wilderness."
The Minotaur Tiridan said nothing, but only followed Ibu"s commands.
Verthandi looked blankly at her team, then said, "None of you are here to try to slay the dragon?"
Ibu patted Verthandi"s shoulder. "Sorry, the dragon isn"t here. Rather than dragonslaying, I think it"s more important to save the lives of the people and the princess. Isn"t that right, Will?"
Ibu shouted, "Hurry! Let"s quickly search his lair. We must do it before the evil dragon comes back…"
Before Ibu could complete his sentence, a rough voice reverberated within the halls. "Oh? What were you planning to do before I returned? What do you want to do to my precious treasures?"