Led by the Queen of Ice, the crowd headed deeper into the depths of the Ice Throne. As they went farther, the scenery around them changed gradually.
The crystal passageways on both sides became more transparent and bright glows emanated within the dark underwater world. At a glance, one witnessed a school of small, glowing fish swimming along the crystal walls. Not only did Anne widen her eyes and stare in curiosity, but Bell, who was always quiet, also strolled along the wall and focused her attention on the mesmerizing scenery. There was just too rare of an opportunity for them to witness this view.
“Please pardon my rudeness, Your Majesty the Void Dragon. Actually, I was hoping to send someone to deliver the Book of Elements to the main plane after getting Agatha’s report… But for the sake of prudence, I decided to guard the Book of Elements here while awaiting your arrival…” the Queen of Ice said softly as she sauntered deeper into the crystal corridor. She looked over at the little mermaid who followed behind Rhode, and her eyes glinted in a flash. Then she sighed and continued. “… Perhaps you are unaware, but it hasn’t been peaceful in the elemental plane lately either. We also know what has been happening on the main plane. I have to say, it’s a real shame… But the elemental plane has its own troubles despite it being harder to breach than the main plane. Chaos still has an effect on creatures in the elemental borderlands, such as the deep-sea octopus you fought earlier. It was influenced by Chaos, which is why it attacked us.”
“I see…”
Upon hearing Audrey’s words, Rhode nodded without commenting as he understood the situation. The elemental planes were stronger than the main plane due to the fact that they were purely elemental worlds. They could even be said to be the last and safest layers of barriers. But that didn’t mean that the elemental planes were a paradise as they were also threatened by Chaos. And the threat of Chaos wasn’t always in the form of erosion. Instead, it was the insidious, mental attacks of Chaos that were the most threatening and unpreventable. The best example of this was Ion, a calm and collected dragon soul heir. But even so, he was still driven crazy by Chaos. It wasn’t uncommon for Chaos to use this kind of ‘mental contamination’ to achieve their goals and sometimes, it was even more effective than their erosion. And now that the Chaos army had surrounded the entire Dragon Soul Continent, the four elemental planes were naturally also affected to some degree. So it was normal that such things happened.
Speaking of which, Rhode had felt there was something not quite right about that deep-sea octopus earlier. And now it looked like his guess was right.
“The elemental plane is fine, right?”
Even though he knew the answer, he asked this casual question for the sake of caution. And in response, Audrey nodded and replied.
“Not much of a problem, Your Majesty the Void Dragon. We have evacuated as many of the water elemental beings in the border areas as possible and dispatched patrols. Should anything unexpected happen, we will be informed straight away and respond immediately. Besides, the elemental planes are traditionally hard for Chaos to invade, so there shouldn’t be any problem.”
“That said… It isn’t really that simple…”
Rhode responded and couldn’t help but feel uneasy as he recalled the mutated Chaos that escaped from Earth. It was commonly known that the elemental planes were difficult for Chaos to invade because they possessed pure rules of Order. But now, twisted Chaos mutants were able to use its own bizarre characteristics to invade Order, which was how Lillian and Ion consequently fell into the trap. Frankly, Rhode didn’t know what stage the mutated Chaos had reached… if it were to invade the elemental planes, Rhode wouldn’t have much of a solution. Rhode pondered for a moment and finally decided to speak the truth to Audrey.
“As a matter of fact, the situation is more complicated than that, Queen Audrey. Chaos isn’t as simple now because amongst them, mutants of Order exist…”
Rhode said and began explaining the news of the mutated Chaos to Audrey. According to his observations, the influence of Chaos seemed to be really aggressive toward creatures of pure attributes, like the undead creatures of the Country of Darkness. It was because they were purely undead in their attribute that they were contaminated by Chaos extremely quickly. Although Rhode wasn’t sure of the specific reason, he decided to inform Audrey just to be on the safe side. One could never be too careful. If something went wrong by then, it would be too late.
“What?”
Upon hearing Rhode’s words, Audrey’s expression changed slightly. Due to the overlap between the elemental planes and main plane, the elemental creatures knew most of the things that happened on the main plane. They were naturally aware of the changes in the Country of Darkness. But despite that, the water elemental plane was never a place that would meddle in others’ affairs. So even if they were aware, they didn’t make any special effort to investigate. At that moment, the Queen of Ice felt a little uncertain. This type of mutated Chaos was just too weird, so much so that even she had never heard of it before. Audrey showed some uneasiness, came to a standstill, and looked behind her.
“Snow, come here.”
“Yes… Mother.”
Hearing Audrey’s call, the little mermaid hesitated, but eventually went up to her mother’s side. Audrey promptly retrieved a piece of crystal from her pocket, placed it on her forehead, and closed her eyes. After a few moments, she raised her head and gave the crystal to the little mermaid.
“Place this telecommunication crystal in the Resonance Hall and activate it. I want all water elemental beings to get this message at once, got it?”
“Yes, Mother.”
Upon hearing Audrey’s instruction, the little mermaid nodded somewhat timidly, took the crystal, and turned around to leave quickly. Judging from her reaction, it seemed like she couldn’t wait to get as far away from her mother as possible. Looking at this scene, although Rhode knew that the situation was urgent, he couldn’t help but give a gossipy look at Audrey. He had to admit that he was quite interested in such private family affairs, especially when it involved his own summoning spirit. Upon sensing Rhode’s gaze, Audrey knew what was going through his mind. The Queen of Ice, however, wasn’t quite embarrassed as she just smiled and spoke.
“My apologies, Your Majesty the Void Dragon. This daughter of mine is a little mischievous. If there’s anything that bothers you, please don’t take it too seriously…”
“Ugh…”
Rhode was dumbfounded.
Snow? Mischievous?
No matter how much he recalled, he never remembered seeing the naughty side of the little mermaid, at least not when he was around. The little mermaid had always been a classic example of an obedient and timid girl. Was she even capable of being mischievous too? This was so hard to understand…
But soon, Rhode learned the truth of the matter from Audrey. It turned out that a long time ago (the ‘long time ago’ in the elemental plane usually referred to at least a thousand years), the little mermaid slipped out of the Ice Throne out of curiosity for the outside scenery. Then, something unknown happened and the little mermaid was engulfed in a maelstrom of the water elemental plane. The Queen of Ice sent out creatures to search for the little mermaid several times, but to no avail. In the end, the only news she received was that the little mermaid should be swept by the maelstrom to the main plane, which wasn’t under Audrey’s jurisdiction, and she could no longer search for her whereabouts.
Of course, the little mermaid paid a terrible price for her ‘mischievous’ trip by being reduced to her original form of a pure water elemental spirit and slumbered deep within the ice. If Rhode hadn’t defeated the boss in order to complete the guild mission and awakened her, perhaps she would still be sleeping until the end of the world.
Well… In a way, the little mermaid was indeed mischievous.
After hearing this story, Rhode finally understood why Snow looked so guilty when she saw Audrey. For most people, although hundreds of thousands of years had passed, to the little mermaid who was swept into a maelstrom, entered the main plane, and fell into a slumber, it was perhaps just a few short days. She was like a runaway child returning to home again, so it was understandable that she was so timid and uneasy. It was fine if she ran out to play nearby, but to head to the maelstrom and have fun… She really had a talent for being mischievous.
It was at this moment that the crowd arrived at the end of the corridor under Audrey’s lead. However, what was surprising was that at the end of this corridor, there was neither a doorway nor any entrance that could be entered. On the contrary, what appeared before everyone was a fountain against the wall. Seawater surged unceasingly outside the transparent barrier, metamorphosing into a raging waterfall that spilled onto the pond from above. It looked like some sort of a special landscape rather than a place meant to seal important items.
“This is it.”
Audrey said, extending her arm and waving gently.
“…”
Along with her action, the rushing waterfall parted on its own, while the seawater at the back also retreated. Shortly after, a wall of ice appeared on both sides, blocking the gushing seawater. The currents within the circular pond also separated to both sides. Then, along with trembles in the ground, a huge ice crystal emerged from inside slowly.
“This is…”
Looking at this scene, even Rhode was taken aback. The only thing that was sealed in the huge, thick crystal of ice was a book with a scarlet cover. Even though it was sealed within the ice, Rhode felt a surging elemental power from the book like a strong, furious wave crashing toward him. But at that moment, the book was sealed firmly within and unable to move an inch.
What a powerful line-up…
Looking at the seal in front of him, Rhode marveled at the fact that apart from being encased in the enormous ice crystal, a cage formed by tough obsidian could also be seen at the bottom, taking shape into thick, pitch-black chains that bound the ice crystal tightly. Apart from that, Rhode also witnessed lightning and winds flashing within the ice crystal from time to time. On the outside, blazing flames transformed into scarlet runes, forming three circles that shrouded the ice entire crystal. This could be said that all four major elemental seals were in place at once. If others were here instead of Rhode, perhaps they wouldn’t be able to unlock such a powerful seal.
But to Rhode, this seal was nothing because he was the Void Dragon. And he also knew very well that Audrey brought him here in order for him to personally undo the seal. If he couldn’t even do that, this Void Dragon was simply a counterfeit.
The Void Dragon was the creator who opened up space and created the entire Dragon Soul Continent. It went without saying that its authority over elemental domination was naturally greater than the other Creator Dragons. And now, watching as the Book of Elements lay in the ice crystal silently, waiting for him to retrieve it, Rhode took a deep breath to calm down. He stretched out his arm and grabbed for the seal before him. Looking at this scene, Anne, Bell, and Gillian, who were focusing their attention on admiring the scenery, turned around and looked at Rhode with various expressions.
Rhode extended his right arm and soon, a dark, illusory spiritual radiance emanated on his hand. Then, his fingers touched the fire elemental seal on the outermost layer. In the sound of a soft pop, the fire elemental halo wrapping around the huge ice crystal cracked open. As he continued to push his fingers forward, the obsidian chains that bound the ice crystals tightly were also untied on its own. However, Rhode didn’t lower his guard. Staring at the ice crystal before him, he placed his hand on it.
“Open.”
Rhode said in a deep voice.
In that instant, as though responding to his call, the ice crystal that encased the Book of Elements suddenly cracked and opened up like a blooming flower. Bursts of whistling, cold air blew along with the scattered ice fragments, making the scene before them somewhat dreamy. Looking at this scene, Anne and Bell gasped in disbelief. However, Rhode didn’t falter at all. He looked at the Book of Elements before him once more, reached his arm forward, and spread his fingers.
The flashing thunder storm surrounding the Book of Elements swirled as soon as Rhode approached, as though it intended to strike his hand away. But Rhode wasn’t fazed in the slightest. Facing the bolts of thunder, he hesitated for a moment, reached out his hand swiftly, and gripped the Book of Elements. The moment he grabbed the book, the thunderstorm vanished instantly in a puff of smoke.
“Phew…”
It was only when the Book of Elements was entirely in his hands that Rhode let out a sigh of relief. He was thankful that there was no mishap. In fact, even though Rhode remained expressionless, he was actually really nervous and afraid that this would turn out like one of those annoying quests in the game. For instance, when the player was finally about to complete the quest, an earthquake suddenly occurred and the player had to finish yet another series of quests… But now, the Book of Elements was in his hands and he was finally relieved. At that moment, he examined the book.
Just by holding it in his hands, Rhode felt a powerful and incomparable elemental aura exuding from it. The appearance of the book was almost like a replica of its seals. Its cover was fiery red, so much so that Rhode sensed the presence of flames. On the other hand, the pages were in an ice-cold white. From time to time, cold, chilly air was released from the pages, giving him a strange feeling like it was two worlds apart. The shining thunders formed a sacred and ancient rune on the cover, while the flickering chains with metallic luster locked the book in place just like the other two books.
It looks the same as the other two books… That said, the search has finally ended.
Placing the Book of Elements into the fold of his clothes, Rhode’s expression, which had been somewhat serious, relaxed for a moment. Then, he turned and nodded to Audrey next to him.
“Thanks for your help, Queen Audrey.”
“You’re welcome, Your Majesty the Void Dragon. I, as the lord of this land, am supposed to do my part as a host. But…”
“There’s no need for that. We appreciate your good intentions, but unfortunately we don’t really have time to waste on that. So I can only apologize for that.”
Upon hearing Audrey’s words, Rhodes interrupted hurriedly. And after listening to his words, the Queen of Ice also nodded and didn’t speak anymore. After all, to Rhode, the most important thing now was to open the Elemental Gate, return to the main plane, awaken the three books, and activate the enchanted field.
But at that moment…
“Master! Mother! It’s bad!”
With a panicked scream, the little mermaid emerged from the other end of the corridor.
“We’re under attack!”
“By Chaos?”
After hearing her report, Rhode’s heart sank.
Are my hunches really that accurate?
But to his surprise, Snow shook her head with might.
“It isn’t Chaos, but the water elemental creatures instead. We have been ambushed by them!”
