Epic of Ice Dragon: Reborn As An Ice Dragon With A System

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[Welcome, Participants, to the Second Trial of the Venerable of Flames Inheritance: [Treasure Hunt]!]

[In this great landscape there are 4 different Labyrinths, you must explore them to find Treasures! There's a total of 100 different Treasures you can find. The more Treasures your Team obtains, the higher their Score will be.]

[But be careful, the Labyrinths are filled with treacherous Monsters and Bosses of all kinds, and their own inhabitants won't easily let you take away their Ancient Treasures.]

[Some Treasures might not be in plain sight or just hidden away underground, however. You have to think outside the box to find them all.]

[To be qualified for the Third and last Trial, you must gather a minimum of 20 Treasures before the time limit ends.]

[Be careful, however, not everyone will play fair, and it is possible to steal Treasures too.]

[Trial Duration: 12 Hours.]

[For now, please get ready, the Trial will begin in 1 Hour.]

Huh, we even get some preparation time. It seems this Trial will be quite chaotic compared to the previous one. Mostly because all Participants are unrestrained and can do whatever they want too.

But seeing how the Venerable stopped us, I suppose he doesn't want us to kill each other, right?

Hm, it's weird.

"So this is the Second Trial…" Drake rubbed his chin. "Hm, so this means 25 Treasures per Dungeon. But at the same time, like before, you can boycott someone else by stealing their treasures. The thing is… The trial never ends until the 24 hours pass. So it could be said Treasures will be constantly stolen from one to another."

"Wouldn't the best strategy be to just wait until someone gets all the Treasures and steal them from them?" asked Yuki.

"Yeah?" Miranda wondered.

"There's no way a single person could take all the Treasures though, it did say they were all very well hidden. Only some could be at plain sight… But the rest will take a lot of searching ability," I said.

"It's a bit chaotic, more than the previous Trial," said Benladann. "I am rather worried… Wouldn't this allow Pandemonium to come finish what he started?"

"There's nothing stopping him, right? If its in the trial… and there's nothing saying he can't kill people either…" said Miranda. "It's indeed pretty dangerous. He'll either sit down and wait for us to gather the Treasure and steal it or charge right towards us and try to take us down so we won't bother him in the Trial, all while killing us."

"So even when your fight was interrumpted, nothing has changed that much…" sighed Benladann.

"No… I am sure there's some rules here," I said. "Hey, Venerable. I know you're there. Tell me, is it true that we can do whatever we want? What if I resume my fight against Pandemonium?"

FLUOSH!

A man made of flames materialized above the skies.

"You can fight against one another all you want," he laughed. "As long as it is within my Trial, I don't care. You were fighting OUTSIDE of the Trial… But this is also a free-for-all, kill each other if that pleases you, I don't care."

"Hah… I see." I smiled, I looked at Pandemonium, who wasn't even looking at me.

His eyes seemed focused on the Treasure, oddly enough.

Did his fighting spirit faded away after being stopped?

Or was he planning something else?

Honestly, I can't say he's smart, he's impulsive and emotional.

This means that he could definitely just come kill me or is thinking something just as annoying.

"Remember to gather the Treasures with me, Pandemonium," the man shrouded in shadows by his side suddenly spoke. My senses allowed me to hear their conversation. "Don't go killing them yet. We must prioritize winning, you heard me? It's quite obvious they don't want to fight either… It's not that I don't want them dead but, we shouldn't waste time, we only have 12 hours."

"Don't order me around," Pandemonium answered without saying another word. "I'll gather the Treasure on my own."

"That's fine by me too," the other seemed pleased anyway.

A man like him acting this condescending towards this asshole…

I am quite sure now, there's something binding him.

Perhaps not to directly obey, but maybe connected with having to complete the trials.

"Looks like we can be fine, for now," I said. "Just as I thought, there's something binding Pandemonium to do the trial and win it. He must prioritize the Treasures rather than our own lives…"

"There's really something binding that monster? It must be of tremendous power!" said Miranda.

"It is most likely what's keeping him together too," said Andromeda. "From what I've analyzed of his composition so far, Pandemonium's body parts seem unstable, to completely unify, a complex Demonic and Divine Formation had to be made, which bound his body parts and everything else together into his current form."

"And perhaps he placed that oath, or whatever is binding him within the Formation, right?" I asked. "I suppose he'll only be truly free when that Oath disappears on its own, meaning that once he completes the inheritance…"

"Most likely, yes," Andromeda nodded. "Remember what some of the Flame Emperor's servants said, or their origins?"

"Barely, but why?" Benladann asked.

"Some of those people originated from large nations in the Continent of Muspelheim which had sealed pieces of Pandemonium. Apparently he's also worshipped in some areas, especially in those were demons managed to survive, thrive, and hybridize with other people…" Said Andromeda. "He destroyed those nations as he gathered the body parts, though. But he also absorbed their knowledge, how to conjure and use demonic energy."

"Maybe that's why he was so goddamn strong too!" I said. "And why he could absorb the power out of the bones of the Primordial Dragons as well…"

"Yes, perhaps," Andromeda nodded. "But it's just my theory about it, nothing truly confirmed. I am analyzing the pieces you ate, but it is incredibly hard. They're composed of immensely dense molecular structures mixed with his very soul… And there's something else."

"Something… else?" I asked.

"Yeah, I could feel it within the fingers you ate," she said. "The small trails of an immense quantity of Chaotic Energy… There's definitely something else inside of him, he's not alone."

"What?!"