Chapter 21: The Battlefields Remaining Soul | Monsters Are Coming
Shadowed Cavern.
After three consecutive days of head-on confrontation, the battles between the players and the Burrower Race had grown increasingly fierce.
Large numbers of Iron Shell Bugs continuously surged from underground under the control of the Burrower warriors. No matter how many were killed, more emerged, leaving the players gnashing their teeth in frustration.
The only comfort for the players was that this game had no monster respawn mechanic; monsters once killed would not resurrect.
Victory would eventually belong to them.
During this time, Qi Sheng, observing from behind the scenes, grew curious about the Shadowed Cavern and wanted to know what trait this territory node possessed.
He decided to explore ahead of the players.
Just as the players once again clashed with the swarm of Iron Shell Bugs, a wisp of Qi Sheng's consciousness followed the Guide's sensory tendrils, probing ever deeper underground until it reached the fifth layer below.
There, he saw a massive palace surrounded by stone tablets.
In front of the palace stood thousands of soldier statues. Most were broken, their bodies clad in shattered black armor, holding broken weapons. Each one in vivid, lifelike poses, some stood tall, some charged forward.
At the western entrance of the palace, countless Iron Shell Bugs could be seen hauling ore into the palace under the command of Burrower warriors.
Qi Sheng's consciousness followed the Guide into the grand hall, where a five-meter-tall broken statue stood in the center.
The statue was encased in heavy fragmented armor, holding a blood-colored broken battle blade, kneeling on one knee and gazing skyward.
Behind it stood a massive furnace, into which the Iron Shell Bugs, under the Burrowers' command, continuously fed ore for smelting.
"Iceblade!"
The Guide's sudden exclamation startled Qi Sheng.
"You recognize this statue?"
"A battle-mad lunatic. After the Emperor's Sign fell, he once ruled his own territory."
"How does he compare to you all?"
"Of course he's far weaker than us Four Retainers, but his strength was still considerable. I once tried to recruit him, but he believed he too was qualified to become the new Emperor's Sign and refused to pledge loyalty."
"So he's dead?"
"His flame of life has extinguished, thoroughly dead… Hmm? It seems there's still a cluster of information energy left inside his body."
"Try to analyze it."
Without replying, the Guide brought Qi Sheng's wisp of consciousness closer to Iceblade's statue. The Guide's analysis ability activated, and a boundless murderous intent surged forth like a tidal wave.
—
"We, warriors of the Emperor's Sign… shall not retreat."
As the hoarse, resolute voice echoed, countless memory fragments flashed through Qi Sheng's mind like a slideshow.
He saw the plight Iceblade faced when the world was on the brink of collapse.
This was during the time when the Four Retainers had just entered Emperor's Mound Village, before Qi Sheng had crossed over.
At that time, Monster World was increasingly corrupted under the onslaught of the terrifying Black Tide, its ecosystem growing ever worse. Iceblade's own territory was also being consumed by the Black Tide.
Faced with this desperate situation, Iceblade began planning for the future.
He sank his palace deep underground, moved his non-combat tribespeople below, and instructed them to mine spiritual ore and store it for the future.
Thus began an enormous subterranean construction project.
The tribespeople did not understand their chieftain's reasons, nor what he meant by 'waiting for the future,' but they still followed his plan.
Before the construction was complete, the Black Tide swept in.
Iceblade chose to lead his warriors into battle against the horde of evil entities, defending the sacred land under their feet.
The memory fragments jumped forward.
In the scene, the evil entities surged like locusts, blackening the sky. Armored Iceblade led his Black Armor Army, drawing blades and pointing at the evil entities, charging headlong into battle.
The fighting was unimaginably brutal. When the evil tide was repelled, only half of his warriors remained alive.
The second wave of evil entities loomed. Iceblade chose to remain at the entrance of the underground palace with his warriors, ready to face the next assault.
The second wave broke out three days later.
Then came the third, fourth, and unending waves. Iceblade fought until his weapon shattered and his warriors all perished, but he still did not retreat.
When the subterranean palace was finally completed, the surviving tribespeople emerged, hoping Iceblade would enter the depths to avoid the next evil tide.
Facing the tearful pleas of his kneeling people, Iceblade swept his icy blue, emotionless gaze across them and coldly declared.
"This sacred land is the Emperor's Sign's gift. I swear to guard it with my blade until my life fades. I would rather die than retreat."
Forcing his people into the depths, Iceblade faced his final battle.
The endless evil entities encircled him. His flame of life flickered like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment.
Exhausted, Iceblade knelt on one knee, gazing skyward at the last faint glimmer of the 'Light of the Emperor's Sign,' his eyes still burning with endless fighting spirit.
In his final moments, what filled Iceblade's mind was the memory of being crowned and granted land by the Emperor.
An overwhelming pride and sense of honor filled his heart. Struggling, he raised his broken blade, pointed it at the evil tide, and his hoarse voice resounded across the sky.
"Iron-blooded soul, valor of the battlefield, even a broken body can slay three million foes!"
"Under the Emperor's Sign, there are no cowards. Rise, all of you, and fight with me once more!"
As his voice faded, Iceblade's flame of life extinguished, but his lifeless body moved. Countless fallen warrior corpses rose again under Iceblade's lingering will to continue the battle.
The memory fragments ended here.
"This guy… even in death, he branded his will to fight into his remains. A complete lunatic."
The scenes left Qi Sheng deeply shaken.
During the Guide's memory analysis, he could even feel Iceblade's unyielding will in the face of hopelessness.
A single, casual sentence from the Emperor had become Iceblade's lifelong pride and the reason he chose to fight to the death to protect this honor.
"It seems his body was placed inside the palace by his people."
"Guide, what did Iceblade mean by 'waiting for the future'?"
"Not sure. It seems he was preparing for something, could it be an attempt to resurrect himself?"
As the Guide and Qi Sheng pondered Iceblade's mysterious preparations for the future, the remains of Iceblade in the center of the hall suddenly trembled slightly, as if sensing their presence. It looked up toward their consciousness cluster, and its dim eyes abruptly lit up with crimson light. Then a message entered both Qi Sheng's and the Guide's minds.
"Guide? Nine Yin? Yan Ming? Transdimensional?… Whichever one of you old fellows inherited the Emperor's Sign's will, carry my honor forward. I can no longer fight, but I offer this to aid you."
As the message finished, the ground behind Iceblade cracked open, revealing a golden crystal placed atop an array.
The energy from the ores being refined in the furnace was channeled here, absorbed by the formation and infused into the golden crystal.
Even without physical contact, Qi Sheng could clearly sense the surging, pure energy contained within the crystal.
"That Iceblade bastard…"
For the first time, the Guide, who had been introducing Iceblade with a joking tone, was left astonished.
Qi Sheng finally understood what Iceblade's 'waiting for the future' meant.
Iceblade had believed that one among the Four Retainers would inherit the Emperor's Sign's will and had prepared this cross-century gift for them in advance.