Accompanying the two to Ice Blade City was just along the way. Our real mission here was to find Odemsius, the commander of the old Empire who was gradually recovering. Logically speaking, as a military officer, Odemsius should have reported to the Emperor after he woke up, and we shouldn't have come personally to receive him. However, I was bored and had to find something to do while the facilities on the mother planet were running automatically. Furthermore, Odemsius hadn't fully recovered yet, and he couldn't leave the North Ice Plains for the time being. In order to start the next task as soon as possible, I naturally didn't mind making a trip here personally. Of course, the main reason was that … I had too much time on my hands.
We had left Ice Blade City and were standing in the inaccessible gravel wilderness more than ten kilometers away from the city. Alleria and Alaya had removed their invisibility state. The former was' looking 'in the direction of the icefield, listening attentively. The cold wind blowing from the icefield made her wings and hair flutter slightly. This place was located at the border and had not entered the ice field. Moreover, there were layers of mountains as a barrier, so the power of the cold wind had weakened a lot. It could be said that this was the last relatively "warm" place in the extreme north. Further ahead was a strange air pressure belt called the "Wall of Storms", which was the territory of the Storm Giants. Mortals could not enter the Great Ice Field of the North. Odemsius' signal came from that direction. In Alleria's words, the signal was very unstable, as if … it had been heavily damaged.
"I can only determine the approximate location. I'm afraid he hasn't reorganized all his information," Alleria finally stopped 'listening' and said with a hint of doubt in her voice. "I don't know which part went wrong. He seems to have been seriously injured. I saw him fall into a state of hibernation. At that time, all the commanders were in good condition … The problem must have occurred in the tens of thousands of years after that, when I was asleep."
"Let's go find him. No matter how he was injured, let's heal him first," I said slowly as I looked at the silver-white line at the end of the horizon. Then, I turned to look at the two dracon girls behind me. "I heard that after crossing the Wall of Storm, the temperature will drop to an unimaginable level for mortals. Do you still want to follow?"
Sayana hesitated. Her smooth scaly tail swayed involuntarily because of her mood. As a result, she accidentally touched a cold stone on the ground. She suddenly jumped up and said with a bitter face, "But I don't want to give up halfway. If I return to the City of Angels like this, I'm worried that I'll be scolded by the Dragon God."
No, that soft Dragon God was born to be scolded, so you don't have to worry at all. However, I didn't say that out loud. I simply glanced at Sona, and she made up her mind. After praying in a low voice, a faint golden halo covered her body. "Let's go. If they can't even withstand this low temperature, there's no need to even think about the revival of the draconic race. Sakina, don't look so bitter. Don't really become a pampered lady just because you don't have to worry about food and clothing these days."
"Of course not!" Sayana's tail immediately straightened, and then she imitated Akatsuki and put on a shield.
After a short teleportation, we came directly to the border and stopped in front of a strange spectacle: the Wall of Storm, the test and barrier that the Storm Giant had set for mortals.
The Wall of Storm was a boundless curtain of distorted air, dividing the ice field and the outside world into two different worlds. After passing through this layer of distorted air, the ice field was right in front of us. Shallow Shallow looked at the barrier in front of her, whose thickness couldn't be seen. She carefully touched it and said, "Eh, it looks like a layer of water."
"This is a barrier fixed by an Eternal Spell." Alleria saw through the essence of this thing at a glance. "This magic has a very simple function, which is to block airflow and heat exchange. Without it, I'm afraid that all the humans here would be swallowed by the cold wind. Odomsius must have subconsciously created this in his slumber to imprison his Storm Giant incarnation … By the way, this magic is actually invisible. This layer of distorted light is just a marking layer covering the outside of the magic array. Its purpose is to let mortals see the position of the barrier to prevent people from accidentally entering."
I pretended to understand and nodded, then took a step forward.
It really felt like I was passing through a layer of soft rippling water. There was almost no obstruction. This layer of distorted air really didn't have the slightest protective effect. Its function was only to weaken the cold air coming from the ice field. After crossing this barrier, I felt as if I had suddenly entered another world. What greeted me was a bone-chilling wind that wasn't present on the other side of the barrier.
The temperature seemed to have dropped by more than ten degrees. Under my feet was the hard frozen ground, and I was facing the biting cold wind. There was only a layer of air barrier that didn't seem to exist, but on both sides were two completely different worlds. Although the few of us here wouldn't care about this change in temperature, I still rubbed my hands subconsciously. "Wow, now I know why this place is called the forbidden zone for life."
"It's so cold!!!" Even with the protection of the Dragon God's power, Sayana still jumped on the spot and exclaimed in a low voice. Then, she looked at her tail with a heartache. "It feels like my tail is frozen stiff. If only there were clothes for my tail to wear …"
"I've heard that the Gould Royal Family is the only mortal race living behind the Storm Wall," Lin Xue said. "They're blessed by the Storm Giants and can ignore the cold winds here. The deeper you go into the ice field, the lower the temperature, and the fiercer the storm. The Gould Royal Family members live closer to the Storm Giant's throne according to their strength and status. The more I hear, the more I feel that there's something wrong with this race. Putting aside the fact that they can withstand the weird temperature of minus a hundred degrees in the depths of the ice field, what are they eating here?"
"Maybe …" Shallow Shallow suddenly pointed to a whirlwind not far ahead. "They don't need to eat …"
The whirlwind blew faster and faster. No one noticed when it appeared, but it didn't seem to be a natural product. Our attention was attracted by it, and then we watched as it swept up the ice and snow on the ground nearby, gradually forming a vague human figure in the core. After a few seconds, the whirlwind gradually stopped, and a crystal-clear "ice sculpture" of a human figure condensed from crushed ice and snowflakes appeared in front of us. We could vaguely make out that it was a strong male.
"You are the honorable ones that God mentioned."
From the "ice sculpture" came a voice mixed with the sound of crystals shaking. The strange creature took off his hat and bowed to us. But he wasn't wearing a hat, so he broke off half of his head and held it in front of his chest as a hat. "Please follow me. The incarnation of God is waiting not far ahead."
Alleria nodded at me, indicating that she had also received a message from Odemsius. The strange ice sculpture in front of me was the messenger sent by the latter. The messenger looked rather unconventional.
"You are a Gould?" Lin Xue looked at him curiously, her eyes couldn't help but wander over the half of his head in front of his chest. "What's that? Put your head back first, it looks disgusting."
"Yes," the crystal-clear Icebreaker said as he fixed his head. "I'm sorry, the Gould are still not used to the etiquette and behavior of corporeal people. When we appear in the outside world, we rely on rigid illusions or puppets. You are the first strangers to see our true faces."
"So it's an elemental creature … Hmm, I think I understand what's going on with the northern states. After all this time, they are ruled by a group of elemental creatures. It seems like Odemsius has a lot to explain to us." Lin Xue patted her head and followed the Icebreaker who was making noises as he walked. We exchanged glances with each other and followed behind him.
The Gould who led the way walked very quickly, and as he walked, ice shards fell from his body. It didn't take long before he was only left with his thighs. He then apologized to us and summoned a small whirlwind to absorb crystal shards from the surrounding ice and frozen soil to fix his legs. As he fixed his legs, he explained, "The Gould are experts in the power of ice and storms, but they are not used to exercise. If it wasn't for the need to maintain control over the mortal states outside the barrier, we wouldn't even step out of the barrier … Alright, let's talk as we walk."
We followed behind the strange elemental creature, and as we watched the ice shards fall from his body, I asked, "Oh right, what's your name?"
"Gould, we are all called Gould," the Icebreaker said.
"You maintain a loose kingdom outside the barrier … Is this also the Storm Giant's intention?" Lin Xue asked curiously. Then, she pointed at the Icebreaker's body and reminded me, "Erm, your right hand fell off."
"Oh, oh, it doesn't affect, it doesn't affect — Storm Giant? That's what the people outside call our God, and it's true that he ordered us to establish order outside the barrier. But that's just to maintain something. Maintaining it requires resources from the outside world, and the Gould aren't very good at it. All this time, we have used the smarter beasts outside the ice plains to complete this task. Later on, the mortals came to the ice plains, and the God taught us knowledge, established order, and used the mortals to collect tributes. "
I couldn't help but recall the legends about the Gould I had heard before. This powerful race that lived in seclusion built a loose kingdom at the border of the ice plains. They demanded all kinds of strange tributes from the various cities. They used the power of the Storm Giant to maintain this situation, but no one knew why they wanted these tributes. After all, the Storm Giant was just an elemental creature, and elemental creatures didn't need material tributes. And this Gould before us seemed to be revealing this secret.
I wasn't sure if it was my intuition, but I was interested in their strange behavior. "What are you maintaining?"
The Icebreaker stopped in his tracks. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "A seal can only tell you so much. Only the God himself knows the specifics."
The Icebreaker didn't seem to have any intention to explain further, so I didn't ask further. Anyway, Odemsius was about to fully awaken, and he would definitely tell us everything.
We walked in the ice plains for about half an hour. The further we went, the stronger the cold wind became, and the air began to drift with snowflakes. There were even ice particles in the air. The temperature had already dropped to negative hundred degrees, maybe even lower. This was obviously not the low temperature that this planet could produce naturally. There was only one explanation, we were approaching the power of the Storm Giant. After turning around a small cliff, a dome-shaped frozen building suddenly appeared in front of us.
If this was the palace of the Gould "royalty", then it was really … a little too shabby.
The dome-shaped building was only a few dozen meters in circumference, and its shape was a bit like an Eskimo igloo, but bigger and flatter. The second feature was probably to withstand the howling cold wind. We didn't see any other man-made traces around the igloo, not even a second Gould. Everything was so simple and abrupt. It was a far cry from what we had expected. However, the Icebreaker who led the way pointed at the door of the igloo in front of us. "The God is inside. Please come in."
Lin Xue stuck her tongue out at me. "It's something made by an elemental creature. How much more can I ask for?" Then, we stepped into the igloo. We followed in a line, followed by Shakina and Sona, who could barely open their eyes.
The interior of the igloo was as simple as expected. In fact, the building had no structure at all except for the outer shell. The only furnishings in sight were a set of crystal clear tables and chairs in the middle of the room. On the table was a two-foot square crystal cube. The cube was projecting a blurry image.
As soon as Shakina came in, she immediately ran to the corner of the room and took out a few pieces of charcoal to start a fire. There was finally no cold wind here, and she and Sona could finally warm up a little.
"Odemsius? How did you become like this? " Alleria "looked" at the crystal cube on the table in the middle of the room in surprise. Her words shocked everyone.
"Huh? Is this really Odemsius? "I was completely surprised. I pointed at the crystal on the table." Isn't this a projection device? "
"Due to some unexpected circumstances, I can only maintain a very low-intensity activity for the time being." A strong male voice suddenly came from the crystal cube. "I'm very sorry that I couldn't report to the City of Angels immediately. I have learned everything from Alleria. Greetings, Your Majesty, Madam Vanna, and Madam Reggie. It's a pleasure to meet you again. "
"Err, hello," I said awkwardly. It seemed rude to call him a projection device, but since he already understood most of the situation, it saved a lot of trouble to communicate. At least I didn't have to introduce myself. "I heard from Alleria that she sensed something was wrong with you. Now it seems … it's more serious than expected. How's your body?"
"Please don't worry. My body will recover very soon. This is just to reduce the disturbance to the seal as much as possible. I'm maintaining the operation of the system, so I can't transfer too much power outside the system."
"Seal? System? " I suddenly felt that there were many things about him that we didn't know. Even Alleria probably didn't know. "What do you mean?"
"Seal, the seal of the World Core. The World Core of the capital universe is kept in the Far North," Odemsius' voice sounded. "This is a secret mission. Originally, only three people knew about it: Your Majesty, Madam Reggie, and I …"
"Right now, you're the only one who knows that Sis Chen Qian and I … that is, your late emperor, have already lost our memories," Lin Xue said as she pulled me to the table and sat down. Then, she suddenly jumped up, "Wow! It's so cold! Is this really made of ice? "
"… Gould is an incomplete creator, and an elemental creature. They don't know much about races other than themselves." Odemsius' voice sounded awkward. "I just woke up, and I find it unbelievable that they are still able to maintain the state of civilization from tens of thousands of years ago."
"Tens of thousands of years ago?" I keenly noticed a word. "In other words, before you went dormant, these Gould people were already born?"
"I created them. This is also a part of the secret mission," Odemsius said slowly. "They are in charge of hiding the World Core. As long as the World Core doesn't leave this world before the situation stabilizes, the mission will be completed."
World Core … World Core … These four words reverberated in my head. Then, another four words suddenly popped into my mind like lightning: Fallen Apostle!
So far, the only thing that I can think of that is connected to the Heart of the World and the Empire at the same time is the Fallen Apostle. Only they would continuously collect the Heart of the World. Only they are planning to use the Heart of the World to complete their unspeakable 'great cause'. However, no matter how much I thought about it, I never thought that in this world, in this world that is completely isolated from the Fallen Apostle, I would hear such news. This … doesn't make sense!
This world was like a snapshot, preserving the situation before the fall of the Empire. To this universe that was still sealed off, the Fallen Apostles were completely unknown. Odemsius couldn't possibly have known that his compatriots back then would become Fallen Apostles, nor did he know that he would have to protect the World Core from the hands of the Fallen Apostles one day. Then, how could his secret mission be …
My heart skipped a beat as I looked at Lin Xue.
"This is an extremely confidential matter that Lady Reggie passed on to me before the Mother Planet went dormant. I don't know the exact reason, but she clearly said that she wanted to avoid a dark future. She couldn't let the World Core fall into the hands of any possible enemies."
"And this subordinate's current state is to complete this mission."
Odemsius added.
I quickly calmed myself down and organized the things that Odemsius had told me. Obviously, what he knew was also very limited because prophets couldn't tell others what they saw. However, there was one thing that was certain: Before the Mother Planet's Concept was severed, the Chief Prophet of the 15 Celestial Zones, who was also Lin Xue's previous life, 'Reggie', had already foreseen the birth of the Fallen Apostles. It was also possible that she didn't dare to confirm the situation of the Fallen Apostles, but she at least knew that the World Core would be used for a dark and dangerous plan. Thus, she informed her Emperor and secretly passed on an extremely confidential mission to Odemsius, which was to hide the World Core. There was a noteworthy detail: Odemsius' mission was so confidential that even the other Shiring Apostles had to be kept a secret. Even Alleria didn't know about it!
In other words, regardless of whether she knew the reason for the birth of the Fallen Apostles, at least at that time, Reggie already felt that her compatriots would no longer be trustworthy …
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