Child of Destiny

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While everyone within the Saint Heaven Kingdom was busy looking at the news about the Sword God Zero, Shin and the group just finished their initial investigation and gathered up in a corner of the cave where they were staying.

"So, how is your progress? Anything that you find noteworthy?" asked Shin to the others as he sat on the ground exhausted.

He didn't expect that talking with the village chief was going to be that taxing. Uncovering the secrets of the Foggy Village was really not that easy since Chief Harold was adamant at keeping his mouth shut until the group gained enough trust from villagers.

"Well, there is nothing new. Most of them are telling us the same thing as what we heard from the chief earlier," said Arthur with a complaining tone.

The others also nodded their heads as they completely agree with what he just said.

"Aside from some complaints here and there, there are also some people who keep on saying some history of their village," added Ithilien to see if it was somewhat useful.

"Let's hear it. It may be the clue that we are looking for," said Shin while turning to her.

Ithilien turned to Daulla before continuing. "From what we heard from the elderlies earlier, it seems like this region used to be a free region."

"Free region?" asked Arthur with a knitted brow.

Daulla nodded her head before saying. "Yeah. It seems like a free region where two kingdoms were trading with each other."

Hearing that, Shin quickly turned at her before asking. "By two kingdoms, do you mean-…?"

He was still in the middle of talking when Daulla immediately nodded her head and instantly answered. "Yeah. It seems like they are talking about the Saint Heaven Kingdom and the other Kingdom beyond that towering wall of ice."

Then Shin suddenly fell into deep thought when he heard those words. 'If the two kingdoms are on good terms during that time, then how come the Saint Heaven Kingdom survives while the other kingdom perishes?'

While he was currently having those thoughts, the old historian who kept his mouth shut up until now suddenly started talking. "It is because of the First King's greed! He betrayed his one and only friend for the sake of power!"

The entire group was taken aback by him. It was pretty natural since it was their first time seeing the NPC talk since the first time they arrived in this place.

They quickly became energized and wanted to ask some questions to get as much information as they could from him.

Unfortunately, they immediately became disappointed since they saw that the eyes of the old man were still unfocused. He was staring blankly in the air while talking to himself.

"I am sure of it! It is really because of King Cassius I! He sacrificed the lives of many people just to achieve his dream!"

"He might have erased the records but I can still find the evidence regarding it. His greed is overflowing! He is evil! He betrayed his close friend and the only kingdom that shows them kindness during the time of need!"

"Because of what he did, the land of the rising sun became cursed! Because of what he did, the descendants of King Grey became cursed! Because of what he did, this world is going to end!"

Arthur looked at the old man weirdly before saying. "What's the deal with this old NPC?"

"It is a system clue," answered Shin calmly.

"So, the destruction of the lost kingdom is related to the first king of the Saint Heaven Kingdom?" muttered Leonard after hearing Shin.

"But what about the matter about the disappearance of the so-called knights sent by the Righteous Council? How is it related to this one?" asked Akailu with a frown.

"We will deal with that later after we are done here. It seems like we need to solve the problem of this village before we can get more clues about it," said Shin to remind the Beastmaster about their current priority.

"Tsk! Tsk! This is going to be much easier if only this old man is in the right mind," said Owen while clicking his tongue repeatedly.

Then the old man continued to open his mouth. "The Dragon Worshippers! One day, the Saint Heaven Kingdom will pay the crimes of its ancestors and suffer in the hand of Dragon Worshippers!"

The group simultaneously turned their heads at the old man the moment when they heard those words. It was something that they could not overlook since it was their first time hearing them since the start of the quest."

"What? Dragon Worshippers? What is that? Is it some kind of religion?" blurted out Akailu.

In the meantime, Shin, Cloe, and Leonard turned their heads at Arthur at the same time since they knew that this guy might know something about it. After all, Arthur was a fanatic when it came to dragons.

And sure enough, Arthur didn't disappoint him. "It is one of the Ancient Religions within this game. It appeared before the Gods truly rule this world."

"Dragon Worshippers – as the name implies, they are people who worship dragons. Or to be more precise, they are treating dragons as their gods," he added with a slight frown.

Seeing the expression that Arthur currently had, Shin couldn't help but ask. "What's with the frown? Is there a problem with it?"

Arthur didn't reply immediately as he fell in a quick thought before answering. "Because it is strange. Those Dragon Worshippers of the past is already been annihilated by the Winter Goddess because they dared to extend their mortal authority towards the heaven-…"

Reaching that point, he couldn't help but pause for a moment since he realized something. He then turned his head towards the others and saw that they also had the same thoughts in mind.

"Don't tell me, the citizens of that kingdom are those people called the 'Dragon Worshippers'?" said Arthur, voicing out the thoughts of everyone.

"Is it the reason why most of the ability of vampires such as powerful magic, unrivaled strength, and insane regenerative abilities similar to dragons?" muttered Owen silently.

"Idiot! Demons also have those traits," said Ithilien.

"Anyway, this works for us since we now have a rough idea what is the background of the said kingdom," said Owen.

On the other hand, Shin continued to turn to Arthur before asking. "So, what is the deal with these so-called worshippers of dragons?"

Arthur pursed his lips for a moment before answering. "Well, if you ask about them, then all I can say is that they are pretty strong.  That is most likely the reason why the Winter Goddess becomes afraid of them. Moreover, they are close to the Ancient Dragons which is why they immediately become a threat."

He then paused for a moment as if he remembered something before saying. "Now that I think about it. The logo of the token that we got from S.Tigris' group is somewhat similar to the logo that the Dragon Worshippers have."

"There are some differences here and there which is why I don't notice it immediately, but now that I become aware of it, they are indeed similar!"

After that, he quickly opened a virtual screen to look for something before sharing the screen with the group. "Here! Take a look at it."

Hearing him, the group quickly turned their heads at the virtual screen and immediately saw the emblem that Arthur was talking about.

They were not sure that they could agree with Arthur that they only had a few differences. From what they could see, the two emblems were completely different.

Instead of having just two dragons circling around each other, the logo that Arthur projected on the screen had 5 different dragons.

No, to be exact, they were six dragons in total. Four dragons were placed in the four major directions and formed a cycle while the two of them were entangled with a fierce battle against each other.

Arthur seemed not to notice the complaint on their eyes and continue. "The four dragons were the Four Dragons Kings who governs the four major elements such as water, air, fire, and earth. On the other hand, the other two dragons are the first generation of Origin and Chaos Dragons."

"So, what is its connection with our quest?" asked Alucard as he was getting impatient.

Arthur cleared his throat when he heard those words before answering. "Because I think I finally know where the plague come from."

Hearing that, the group turned at him at the same time, making him feel a little uncomfortable. He looked at them with an embarrassed smile before saying. "There is this particular Dragonkin that I encounter before. She said that he found a vial filled with strange blood in an ancient ruin. And that ruin is a previous temple of a Dragon Worshipper."

"A player?" asked Shin instantly.

Arthur quickly nodded his head when he heard that and said. "Yeah. In fact, she is a pretty troublesome criminal within the Dragon's Sanctuary. I heard she burned a Dragon Nest before."

"So, if I am not wrong, she is most likely in this place to break the seal on that huge wall of ice," he added with a solemn tone.

...