When Deus ceased to spew lava and after endless water had poured into Sky Lake, the area around the volcano appeared to have undergone a transformation. Many layers of the ice had melted, and the heat wave had spread to all of Mount Shangspar. The ice blocks all over the mountains were melting under the high temperatures.Three days after the eruption, Rozi smiled excitedly. "The eruption has stopped. We can go look for Partingia now. Who knows? It may have emerged already."Adrian hesitated for a moment and observed the volcano. "It’s not done yet. There may be occasional minor eruptions to follow. It’ll be dangerous if we get too close to the eruption point.""But we can't wait any longer. If we wait for the temperature to cool down, the ice will thicken again. It would make our search much harder."Adrian did not argue with Rozi's reasoning and nodded in agreement.They then made their way toward the area affected by the volcanic eruption. With the ice now melted, Partingia's r
The coffin was covered in a layer of frost. Adrian then recalled that Nicholas had encountered an attack from someone laying a coffin in Mount Shangspar previously. As they neared the coffin, Adrian held Rozi back and warned, "Be careful. One thing I've learned from Enigma City is that whoever's inside a coffin may not be dead, but a zombie.”Rozi nodded and summoned her sword, while Adrian summoned Dragonbane. Every step they took on that mountain was like walking over thin ice. The pair then cautiously approached the coffin.But just then, Mount Shangspar began to shake violently, like a precursor to another volcanic eruption. The pair stopped in their tracks, and the tremors went on for about five minutes before subsiding."Do you think the volcano is going to erupt again?" Rozi asked, looking at Adrian with uncertainty. She now stood less than ten meters away from the coffin.Adrian looked toward Deus, which looked calm and showed no signs of erupting. The volcano had been er
Strider remained silent.After ordering the shipment of food supplies to Geras and leading his remaining fifty thousand troops away from Evercrest Mountain, Strider had brought them to this location. Nobody knew why they were there, but it seemed to be Strider's final destination."Sir Strider?" Saber implored when he received no response.Finally, Strider put down his binoculars and said, "Mount Shangspar's volcano has erupted, and the mechanism inside the meteorites should've been activated by now. Sir Draco is currently there."Saber looked puzzled. Navia was several countries away from Shangspar, so how did Strider know all that through the chaos?"What do you mean, sir? What's going on? What are we even doing here?" Saber asked, not understanding Strider's motives.Strider replied, "We're here to find something.""What is it, sir?""The Timewinder.""The Timewinder?"Strider nodded solemnly and explained, "When my grandfather was still alive, he told me a story about the
Adrian and Rozi stood before the coffin. The volcanic eruption had melted the ice, revealing the coffin frozen within. The pair carefully examined the crystal coffin with strange runes engraved on it, not a very unusual sight after everything they had witnessed."Where have I seen this before?" Adrian ran his fingers along the runes. Rozi recognized the patterns. "These runes are from my country! They're usually used on our totems.""Nicholas had mentioned that Mount Shangspar was the burial place for some Partingians. Adrian turned to Rozi and asked, "Do you know who this Partingian is?"Rozi, her gaze still on the coffin, felt something pulling her toward it. She gathered her courage and said, "I can't tell who it is without opening it." She glanced at Adrian, seeking his approval.Adrian agreed with a nod and instructed Rozi to step back. "Okay, let's open it and take a look. Stand back. Nicholas was once hurt by something inside a coffin, so whatever is inside is probably som
Adrian was utterly shocked."Dragonking? How is this possible? Didn’t the Gost Emperor kill him? What's he doing here?" Adrian said in disbelief."He was, and that was right before I fell into deep sleep. I have no idea how he ended up here.""Where was his corpse kept?""There was none. The emperor chained him up and threw him into an alchemical furnace after killing him, which is why I never expected him to be in here." Adrian fell silent. If Rozi was right, Dragonking should have been reduced to ashes, so what was he doing inside this coffin? There were two possibilities—either Rozi was lying, or the person in the coffin was indeed Dragonking. Given their history, Adrian was sure that Rozi would not lie, which meant that the person in the casket was truly Dragonking."According to your memories, there should be nothing left of Dragonking. Yet he's now here in this coffin. Is this a coincidence or an orchestrated plan?" Adrian contemplated all the possibilities.Rozi inhaled
Now, Adrian was faced with his biggest question, and Dragonking's appearance became a major point of the matter. Neither of the pair knew what Dragonking had experienced or whether he was still alive or not. If he was, would his existence spell disaster for the world or would he bring hope to it? These were distinct issues, each with varying outcomes. Rozi asked, "What should we do now?"Dragonking's appearance made Adrian and Rozi feel uneasy. They could not even determine if this was the same Dragonking they knew.Adrian remained silent for a very long time. He knew he could not allow the corpse to be left unattended in their current situation. He needed to know whether this Dragonking was the same one from Gostia and whether he was still alive."We don't have the luxury to dwell on him right now. We have to seal his coffin and revisit the issue once we get out of Partingia.""All right, let's do that."After all, Dragonking was not their prime objective. Their goal right now
Bam! Bam! Bam!Cracks began to appear on the ice. As the pair continued to hit the ice, the area surrounding the coffin began to sink in, but the coffin remained stationary. A giant hole was being made.Rozi said in delight, "You're right, Adrian. The area beneath the coffin is hollow. You’re such a genius!”Adrian smiled.Now that they had determined that the area beneath the coffin was hollow, there was hope for them to locate the Partingian ruins."The lava melted a lot of the ice, so it isn't as thick as it used to be. Otherwise, we’d never break through this. This should be the place Dragonking was buried. If he has any connection to Partingia, we should be able to find Partingia's entrance underneath," Adrian said."Let's hurry up and get down there then."Seeing Rozi’s eagerness to proceed, Adrian nodded, and both of them leaped down. They descended for about fifty meters and landed on a rocky surface. This underground space was vastly different from the icy landscape abo
"This is a Partingian-style altar. This was done by my people," Rozi said."It's a meteorite," Adrian noted after observing the altar a little.Rozi was initially puzzled but then noticed the resemblance between the altar and the meteorites. The stones embedded in the heads of the monsters and the altar's material were similar, but the altar did not have those strange runes engraved on it."It does look like meteorites that have been forged and shaped to make this altar. After the Gost emperor was sealed away, the Partingians used the meteorites to do this after I fell into a deep sleep," Rozi said in astonishment.Adrian surveyed the area and commented, “And it's not just the altar. I've also noticed that Dragonking's coffin is made from meteorites as well, and so is everything in here. This is a literal meteorite crater."Rozi was stunned by this revelation. She began observing her surroundings closely. Aside from the wall paintings, she had not noticed anything peculiar. Given