Destroyer of Ice and Fire

"Before we answer your questions, can you tell us your identities first?"

The bearded giant arcane master looked at Belo with a serious gaze, "Honestly speaking, your artifact clearly contains a powerful Evil Dragon aura. If not for you fighting against those Cursed Ghosts, we would even suspect if you were the arcane masters sent by the Evil Dragon to look for this."

"I am Belo, Holy Dawn Academy student. She is Meraly, Golden Academy student."

Belo's answer was short and direct, "My Ice Lich Bone Box is the Evil Dragon artifact my clan took from the Evil Dragon during the War with Dragons."

The bearded arcane master clearly looked a little relieved. Hearing the latter half of Belo's introduction, he and the surrounding giant arcane masters instantly showed a respectful expression.

"Looks like you should be from the bloodline of the ancient Arlen Beastman Empire. The Evil Dragon paid a heavy price on your kind."

The bearded arcane master stretched out his hand to Belo, "Welcome, friends. We are the warriors from the Winter Kingdom. I'm Sunderland Reap, just call me Reap."

"Then back to the topic. Where are you bringing us to?" Belo shook the rough hand and spoke cooly, "The Cursed Ghost you mentioned, what does that mean?"

Reap hesitated for a moment. There were many things to explain and he was thinking of where to begin.

"We are going to the Snow City Beacon Tower." He spoke while looking at Belo and Meraly, "Although I don't know what mission you were given by the Kingdoms, since you're here to look for this object, you must have sensed the resurrection of the Evil Dragon."

"Snow City Beacon Tower?" Meraly repeated with a low volume.

Belo waved to her, signalling not to interrupt. He could tell that it would become more troublesome to explain the things Reap was about to say if she interrupted him.

"We must inform the news of the Evil Dragon's resurrection to our allies." Reap talked slowly. Because, to him, it was difficult to clearly explain the war from over a thousand years ago.

"The object inside that box is called the Cursed Crown. It is also an Evil Dragon's artifact. In the legends, he needed several centuries to craft this artifact." Reap's gaze landed on the box in Belo's hand, then continued, "As for why it's here and the origin of those Cursed Ghosts, it traces back to the Era of the War with Dragons. Actually, the Cursed Crown is the reason why the Evil Dragon wanted to conquer the Snowfall Forest back then."

"What do you mean?" Meraly was startled.

There were countless questions in her mind, and the explanation only made her more confused. In ancient records, the Evil Dragon wanted to conquer the Snowfall Forest beyond the Frost Tusk Peak and Hearth Valley in order to assemble a larger army and obtain more resources. However, Reap said it was for this creepy crown instead. Also, because the Evil Dragon failed to conquer the Snowfall Forest, ever since the Magus Era, people thought there were terrifying existences hidden in the Snowfall Forest and stationed large Corps to protect the two Kingdoms at Hearth Valley.

"Many events were not recorded in history documents and poems. That doesn't mean they don't exist." Reap seemed to see through her questions. He took a deep breath and continued slowly, "The Evil Dragon once had a wife. She's called Fenny, a Crystal Dragon."

"The Evil Dragon made this crown as a gift to his wife. During the crafting process, the Evil Dragon obtained the assistance of Fenny's race. This crown used some of the inheritance dragon crystals and holy artifacts of the Crystal Dragons. However, soon after the crown was crafted, Fenny realized the growing ambition of the Evil Dragon. Eventually, she discovered the Evil Dragon's scheme to initiate the War with Dragons. His plan of enslaving all other races, while naming the Dragon race supreme. Her crown was the most important piece in his scheme. After discovering all that, Fenny did only one thing. She escaped with the crown."

"She chose to escape and not destroy the crown because she couldn't bear to destroy it? Or is the crown so powerful it cannot be destroyed?" Meraly was greatly shaken by the story. It was a great secret, and a tragic love story. She sympathized with Fenny and respected her, but Belo seemed unmoved by the story. He cooly asked, "So, she eventually escaped to this place?"

"It cannot be destroyed," Reap answered Meraly. Then, he turned to Belo and shook his head, "This crown is originally called the Eternal Love Crown. Before it was crafted, the Evil Dragon always told Fenny this represented their eternal love. Hence, they used a Restoration Crystal, Memory Crystal, Evil Dragon's Everlasting Domain and various other powerful materials, as well as a Crystal Dragon's dragon crystal...... the dragon crystal contained powerful arcane insulation and would never deteriorate. As the Evil Dragon crafted it with forbidden skills during his peak, these materials were perfectly integrated into the crown. No matter how great the force that is used to break it, it will rapidly recover itself."

"Looks like the Evil Dragon was a schemer from the start, and not only since he lost all those years ago." Belo sneered, "As the most important weapon, he made a foolproof preparation, but he never expected his wife to betray him."

The giant arcane masters frowned.

Although what Belo said was the truth, Fenny should have been a savior. The word betray tugged on the displeasing emotions in their hearts.

Reap realized Belo was similarly annoying as the beastmen during the War with Dragons. He frowned and continued, "Although the Crystal Dragons have some unique forbidden skills, they are not powerful fighters. During the early period of the War with Dragons, they could not resist against the Evil Dragon Army. The powerful arcane masters and Dragons under the Evil Dragon were almost invincible. As the Evil Dragon's wife, Fenny clearly grasped the situation. She knew that no matter who she handed the crown over to, it would not stop the Evil Dragon from snatching it back. So, she used a forbidden skill to seal it away and escaped to the most rural area on the continent. As the war had already broken out, her actions could buy the righteous arcane masters some time while the Evil Dragon could not use this weapon during the war.

"The Evil Dragon sent a powerful army and tracked her down. She eventually escaped to here. The Winter Kingdom beyond Hearth Valley. Our Winter Kingdom was originally a hermit and isolated barbarian kingdom away from the other kingdoms. Fenny also did not know of our existence, and neither did the Evil Dragon."

"Hence, when the Evil Dragon finally found Fenny's escape route and pursued her all the way to here, he assumed he'd won. However, he did not expect our existence. The Evil Dragon Army enslaved or exterminated all beings. So, we inevitably fought against the Evil Dragon Army."

"The war was cruel. Our Winter Kingdom was no match against the Evil Dragon Army at the start. Our kingdom fell just like your beastman kingdom did. Only small tribes survived. However, as time passed, Fenny researched our bloodline and created arcane skills suitable for us. Originally, we could not use arcane skills and only used pure physical strength in close range combat. However, Fenny's research allowed us to eventually use some unique ice arcane skills."

"In addition, the Evil Dragon Army threatened the existence of all the races living in the Snowfall Forest. Some beasts and monsters joined up and allied with us. We fought together side by side in this long war. We held on until the end. Many races outside the forest also held back the Evil Dragon Army...... Until the very end of the war when the Evil Dragon fell in the final clash, the Evil Dragon Army never got the crown from us."

"The moment the Evil Dragon was slain by the Epic Silver Dragon and the legendary hero, his fury and grudge shot through the sky. The reason he eventually lost was because his army was unable to obtain the crown from Fenny. As his physical body died, he used several forbidden skills...... Other than taking on the arcane masters at the scene, he used an eternal curse on the army which possessed his bloodline here."

"The power unleashed in the last moment of his life was extremely terrifying. In the legends told here, countless grey particles fell along with countless twisting light rays and shrouded the entire Snowfall Forest."

"The Evil Dragon Army of several thousand arcane masters in this forest began glowing. Their screams lasted for over half a month. What was left of them turned into what you saw just now. We call them Cursed Ghosts."

Sss......

Meraly drew a sharp breath. She could not hold back anymore and asked with a trembling voice, "Does that mean there are over several thousands of those arcane masters in here?"

Reap nodded to the astonished Meraly, "The barbarian you saw just now is just a brigade general of their army."

"There's no method to kill them?"

Belo frowned deeply, "You have been fighting against those arcane masters since the end of the war? How have you survived until now? Isn't that impossible?"

Belo's tone was still arrogant. However, Reap nodded, "Within the few decades after the Evil Dragon's death, we fought against those arcane masters. We tried countless methods, but could not kill them. Eventually, the Evil Dragon's consciousness seemed to have dissipated and those arcane masters vanished. We don't know where they laid in slumber. However, several months ago, we discovered traces of them again...... Hence, we knew that the Evil Dragon's consciousness must have awakened and begun to resurrect."