Chapter 533: The Ruins
In truth, when those Frost Mammoths first appeared, even he was startled—he couldn't think of any way to resolve the crisis. But then, his Mana Harness detected a faint trace of life. After carefully sensing it, he realized the life fluctuation was actually coming from beneath the icefield.
This discovery left him utterly shocked.
What kind of creature could it be...
With his experience, he knew that beneath the thick ice of the icefield lay the ocean. The environment here was unique—the temperature in the shallow sea was extremely low, making it nearly impossible for any aquatic life to survive. Only in the deep sea, thousands of meters below, could life exist. Yet the life fluctuation he'd sensed was clearly in the shallow zone.
That was the real reason for his shock...
He immediately realized this might be a turning point...
He then used the powerful analytical capabilities of his Mana Harness to dissect the life fluctuation. The Mana Harness had never let him down, and this time was no exception. In the end, the conclusion was clear—the owner of that life force was a terrifying entity comparable to an adult Five-Colored Dragon.
What did that mean...
It meant that the creature beneath the ice possessed power far beyond any Title Archmage—at least at the Sky Rank level!
For a moment, he couldn't help but feel both amused and exasperated...
Even he hadn't anticipated that this trip between planes would be so perilous. It was bad enough when the Frost Mammoths, known as the death gods of the icefield, surged forth by the thousands—now, to top it off, a Sky Rank Beast had appeared.
To be precise, this was his second encounter with a Sky Rank Beast since arriving in this era—the first was in the beast space on the eighth floor of the Turan Mountain High Tower.
Yet instead of panic, he actually felt a bit delighted.
Yes, he was genuinely surprised...
From that faint, almost negligible pulse of life, it was clear—the Sky Rank Beast was in a deep slumber, and had been for countless years. Otherwise, its life force wouldn’t be so weak. If it were to awaken, the pressure it exerted would be enough to keep even the Frost Mammoths at bay.
And so, the next phase of his plan began...
Next, he shared part of his plan with the others. He didn’t intend to reveal everything—after all, it was far too risky. Awakening the Sky Rank Beast would deal with the threat from the Frost Mammoths, but what about the beast itself?
But Leon didn’t dwell on it. In his view, the first thing a Sky Rank Beast would do upon waking from such a long slumber was hunt—and with so many Frost Mammoths around, it would hardly have time to bother with them.
As it turned out, his guess was spot on. The moment the Sky Rank Beast appeared, it began slaughtering the Frost Mammoths. The former overlords of the icefield had now become prey, utterly powerless to fight back. It was, frankly, ironic. Just as Leon predicted, the Sky Rank Beast kept hunting Frost Mammoths and paid them no mind—allowing his group to escape the danger unscathed.
Now, looking back, Leon couldn't help but feel a bit shaken. After all, that was a genuine Sky Rank Beast...
Soon, more than three hours had passed, and Leon's squad had finished recuperating. Everyone looked refreshed, their strength restored to its peak. Still, they looked rather battered, their mage robes stained with blood—wounds from fighting the Frost Mammoths, not yet tended to.
Though they'd narrowly escaped disaster, the atmosphere in the squad remained somewhat heavy.
Not far away, Thorne Merlin wore a worried expression. To be honest, he somewhat regretted following the young mage to this Frostbound Realm...
Before coming, he had anticipated some danger in this plane...
He just hadn't expected it to be this outrageous...
Just the thousands of rampaging Frost Mammoths alone could shatter even the strongest planar legion of the Blazeforge Realm, let alone the fact that there was a Sky Rank Beast beneath the ice.
Seeing that everyone had mostly recovered, Thorne Merlin rose, his face grave, and walked over to Leon. His voice was low: "Archmage Merlin, what do you plan to do next?"
Leon had just finished his meditation when he saw Thorne Merlin approaching and broke into a smile. He could tell that this Fifth-Rank Sword Saint, after what had happened, probably didn't want to stay in the Frostbound Realm any longer. Leon didn't mind; he hadn't planned to bring Thorne Merlin along—Thorne had insisted on coming.
"I still need to go deeper into the plane..." Leon frowned, pointing north. "There's something I need there. If you find it too dangerous, Thorne, you can take the others and return to the Blazeforge Realm."
Actually, when he first arrived in the Frostbound Realm, he'd already sensed that the remaining two Five-Colored Dragon Cores were somewhere to the north.
Without a doubt, the Five-Colored Dragon Core was his true reason for coming to the Frostbound Realm. No matter how dangerous the journey, he had to obtain it before returning to the Blazeforge Realm.
If he went back now, he could only get three Five-Colored Dragon Cores. That was already a considerable haul—enough to drive any mage mad—but it wasn’t what he wanted. Only by collecting all five could his Doombringer Staff undergo a major transformation, something that meant a great deal to him.
Besides, he’d spent a tremendous amount of effort on these Five-Colored Dragon Cores—over three months of hard work. How could he just give up so easily?
“Well... alright then.” Thorne Merlin was momentarily stunned. His gaze toward Leon grew complicated. After a brief struggle, he seemed to make up his mind, glanced around, took a deep breath, and said, “It looks like everyone’s ready. When do we set out?”
“Hmm?” Leon was taken aback, needing a moment to process. Judging by Thorne Merlin’s words, it seemed he didn’t intend to leave. What was going on?
“You mean you and the others don’t plan to leave the plane for now, and want to keep exploring with me?” Leon could hardly believe it and wanted to confirm.
“Yes...” Thorne Merlin nodded emphatically, without hesitation.
Actually, while the squad was recuperating, he’d come to understand a lot. This young mage had, not long ago, saved all their lives.
It was during the Frost Mammoth incident...
He now fully understood the young mage’s intention: to lure thousands of Frost Mammoths to one spot, then have the Sky Rank Beast appear and allow them to escape.
It was definitely not a coincidence...
The young mage had planned it all along...
Though it sounded unbelievable, the facts seemed to support it...
So Thorne Merlin felt uneasy about leaving the young mage behind.
“Let’s go, then…” Leon rubbed his nose, a little amused. Whether alone or with the squad, it made little difference to him.
Soon, all six members of the squad were ready. They advanced northward across the endless icefield, proceeding with caution and taking turns casting Wizard’s Eye to scout the surroundings.
They couldn’t help it; the Frost Mammoths had left them traumatized. Crossing the icefield, they had to be extremely careful.
Fortunately, they didn’t encounter any danger in the next two hours.
“What’s this...?”
Half an hour later, Larn Merlin suddenly stopped, surprise written on his face. He crouched down, brushed away a pile of snow, and revealed a black object. After some effort, he pulled the deeply buried item from the snow.
The mysterious object was about half a meter long, pitch black, and despite being buried in the snow for an unknown length of time, it hadn’t rusted.
A greatsword?
Thorne Merlin’s pupils dilated as he hurried over, took the object from Larn Merlin, and examined it closely. After several minutes, he finally spoke: “It’s definitely a greatsword, but it’s broken—this is only part of it. Strange, how could a Broken Royal Greatsword be buried deep in the snow?”
As soon as Thorne Merlin finished speaking, everyone in the squad looked astonished.
“It seems someone had come to this plane before us—otherwise, how could the broken sword be explained?” Edgar Merlin said, frowning in confusion.
“That must be it...” Yuri Merlin nodded in agreement.
Wait!
At that moment, Thorne Merlin, holding the broken sword, suddenly turned pale, his eyes filled with disbelief, as if he’d seen a ghost.
What’s going on?
Everyone’s gaze turned to Thorne Merlin, curious about what could make a Fifth-Rank Sword Saint lose his composure.
“Unbelievable...”
After cursing, the Fifth-Rank Sword Saint’s expression slowly calmed. He stared at the Broken Royal Greatsword for a long moment, then took a deep breath and said, “To be honest, I just discovered that the craftsmanship of this broken sword comes from the Royal Workshop of the Third Dynasty...”
He finished speaking with a wry smile.
“What?” Everyone was stunned, including the usually silent Leon.
“Sir Thorne, are you saying this broken sword is thousands of years old?” Edgar Merlin asked, his face incredulous as he stared at the sword.