Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 103: Star, The Winter Palace (3)

[The Skill ‘Windstalking Tiger’ has been activated, manifesting the Skill ‘Concealment’!]

[You have entered the ‘Winter Palace’.]

Upon entering the castle’s proximity, Chang-Sun circulated the mana inside him and blended into the scenery.

‘A substantial number of Yetis and the Highoff remnants are always stationed in the Winter Palace. I’ll be slaughtered if I take them all on at once.’ Chang-Sun analyzed.

He went up against Gwak Do-Woon and fought the Black Ghosts and Blood Wolf Group before entering the Dungeon, so his HP and MP were almost depleted.

[HP: 371/900]

[Mana: 520/1,750]

[SP: 215/500]

[Your Fatigue Count is over 60! You are advised to take a break.]

Compared to other Players at the same level as Chang-Sun, his HP and MP were unimaginably high, and he had stronger willpower. That didn’t mean he had no limits, however, so Chang-Sun had no intention to push himself too much. ‘I have to check the quarry now.’

Chang-Sun had come to the Winter Palace to visit the Changgwi Cave, but he also planned to determine the state of the quarry and the [Everlasting Ice Crystal], which was supposed to be here.

‘I’ll finish observing the quarry and driftways in 30 minutes.’ Chang-Sun decided.

Paah!

Spreading out the Jigwi’s wings, Chang-Sun soared up into the sky and landed on the edge of a rampart.

Tap―!

[The Skill ‘Beast Senses’ has been activated, quickly scanning the area!]

‘There seems to be no one nearby,’ Chang-Sun thought.

According to the information he had gotten by interrogating the phantom mages, even Yeti soldiers were reluctant to stand guard in the Winter Palace because of the extremely cold weather of ‘Yeti Hill.’ Barely anyone could break through the blizzard and reach the Winter Palace anyway, so they likely weren’t worried too much about intruders.

‘Even if there were intruders, the Grand General would have found and stopped them.’ Chang-Sun analyzed.

He was certain that the Grand General had left the Winter Palace with his subordinates, leaving nobody sharp enough to detect Chang-Sun, who was using the Concealment Skill, inside.

Swish―!

Thinking about the remaining time until the Changgwi Cave curse was activated, Chang-Sun moved quickly. Since he roughly knew the Winter Palace’s structure, he moved without hesitation.

‘The Winter Palace consists of five floors… The stairs in the northwest lead to the quarry… Going down the spiral staircase all the way to the underground floor will lead me to a long hallway. From there, I have to turn left…’ Chang-Sun recalled.

The Winter Palace’s interior was so brilliant that it wasn’t an exaggeration to call it a ‘palace.’ Upon crossing the long hallway, he saw all kinds of great paintings and sculptures on display. The jewels on the chandelier hanging from the ceiling sparkled brilliantly.

To be honest, Chang-Sun was well aware of the fact that Yetis were only classified as monsters because humans did. Yetis were actually highly intelligent creatures who had once built a remarkable civilization.

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ watches the advanced artworks with sparkling eyes.]

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ smiles bitterly.]

‘But they’re from the civilization Celestials ruined by overexploiting it…’ Chang-Sun thought.

A Dungeon was a destroyed plane, a fragment floating all over the universe of the planes that had gone through <Extinction>. ‘Yeti Hill’ was always cold and constantly had blizzards because the Celestials could no longer see its value after it had gone through <Extinction>. That was why Minerva was smiling bitterly.

‘They could be considered poor creatures, but they’re technically soulless dolls that move according to prewritten programs,’ Chang-Sun thought about the universe’s secret, which only Celestials knew, as he crossed the hallway.

“Quick!”

“We have to finish mining while the Grand General stalls the punitive force!”

“Hey, you! Be careful with that! Do you all want to die here?”

Chang-Sun found demonic beings running around while holding a bunch of items. They looked somewhat anxious and hysterically ordered each other to move quicker. Some didn’t even hesitate to reveal how annoyed and in a rush they felt. Chang-Sun enhanced his sight to see what they were carrying around.

‘Those are… [Agni’s Yawns]?’ Chang-Sun’s eyes widened.

He had seen it upon returning to Earth because it was one of the explosives that had blown up the Secret Tiger Lab.

‘What’re they trying to destroy? Driftways?’ Chang-Sun tilted his head.

Although he didn’t recall which one, one of the phantom mages had certainly said that the Highoff remnants were having trouble digging up [Everlasting Ice Crystals] because it was located too deep in the mine. They obtained the high-class [Cold Irons] and ordinary [Ice Crystals] somehow, but not [Everlasting Ice Crystal], which was their goal.

‘The Grand General and the Winter King’s guards can’t stop the punitive force forever.’ Chang-Sun nodded.

Chang-Sun didn’t know how strong the Grand General was, but according to the information he had obtained until now, he was aware of how tricky it would be to go up against the Grand General once he got on a Snow Pterosaur. Riding one apparently made the Grand General stronger and capable of easily wiping out most raid units. Still, there were over 2,000 Players in the punitive force, and they were led by veterans like Seo Jeong-Gwon and Woo Yeong-Geun.

No matter how exceptional the Grand General was, Chang-Sun believed the punitive force could kill him even if they sustained heavy damage.

‘So they’re trying to somehow obtain the [Everlasting Ice Crystal] in the meantime, even if they have to demolish the mine.’ Chang-Sun lightly clicked his tongue.

If he had been a little late, the [Everlasting Ice Crystal] could have been buried under the iceberg forever before he could do anything. The problem was that the demonic beings weren’t the only ones carrying [Agni’s Yawns]. In fact, the Yetis were carrying more.

“Pick up the pace if you want to save your king, monsters!”

The demonic beings were treating the Yetis, who were good to slave around because they understood what people said, like animals. The Yetis had been overworked so much that most of those carrying items looked scrawny. As if they hadn’t been properly fed, some were skins and bones. Moreover, they had been severely lashed with whips, so their fur, which was supposed to be shining like silk, was covered with wounds.

“You humans… We’ll kill all of you someday.” Some of the Yetis naturally didn’t hesitate to reveal their hostility to the demonic beings.

Crack!

A demonic being smacked the Yetis who did. “What the hell are you saying, you experience-point bags? Why? Do you want me to bring you another finger of your king?”

“You…!” One of the Yetis glared.

“What? What’s that scowl going to do to me? Get a move on, you bastard.” The demonic being even kicked the Yetis.

‘It looks like the Highoff remnants and the Yetis are in a worse relationship than I thought.’ Chang-Sun noticed.

He was aware the Highoff remnants could shove the Yetis around because the Winter King was being held hostage, but the Yetis were practically slaves now. If he used the situation well, it seemed he could escalate the conflict quickly. As he wondered how to do that…

[You have entered the ‘Cold Iron Quarry]

Chang-Sun finally arrived at his destination, the quarry located on the deepest underground floor. The Winter Palace was on top of the low iceberg, and the driftways, which were at the Winter Palace’s underground, were covered with ice.

[The weather has become intensely cold.]

[The cold wind is blowing hard.]

…

[The Effect ‘Single Eon Fire’ has been activated, liberating you from the cold weather’s restrictions!]

This place was incomparably colder than the temperature outside. It was practically permafrost. Still, although he badmouthed this place, Chang-Sun actually thought it could be better for him than the outside.

‘Nothing is covering my view,’ Chang-Sun thought.

When he went into the innermost area of the ‘Cold Iron Parry’, he saw a huge gathering of demonic beings and Yetis. Judging from the pile of [Agni’s Yawn], they had likely just begun to install the items.

‘I won’t let those go off.’ Chang-Sun opened his inventory and pulled out various kinds of hidden weapons, which he hadn’t used for a while.

[Equipped the ‘Ice Kite Feathers.’]

[Equipped the ‘Flame Goat Horn Axe.’]

[Equipped the ‘Poisonous Lizard’s Sturdy Scales.’]

…

[The Skill ‘Blood Toxin’ has been activated, covering your equipped weapons with toxins!]

[The Skill ‘Viper Eyes’ has been activated, showing you the enemy’s vital points!]

They were so busy installing the explosives that they had no idea Chang-Sun was in their proximity.

‘Now!’ Chang-Sun shouted in his mind.

Swish, swoosh, swish―!

Stab, stab, stab!

[The Authority ‘Perfect Marksmanship’ has been activated, hitting all your targets!]

“Urgh…!!”

“Argggh! Wh-what’s this?”

“Su-Chang! Wake u—Errr!”

From the demonic beings’ perspective, multiple hidden weapons ‘suddenly’ appeared out of thin air. Since the Grand General and his subordinates had left to stop the punitive force, they didn’t expect an intruder at all—no, the weapons aside, they couldn’t believe someone had found the Winter Palace in the first place.

“Ambush!”

“An intruder has appeared!”

“The quarry! Stop him from going to the quarry!”

They tried to stop the intruder, but they noticed him too late.

Woosh!

[The Title ‘Jigwi’s Phantom Body’ has been applied!]

[A firestorm is raging!]

With Chang-Sun in the center, the Jigwi’s Eon Fire swiftly spread on the ice ground and wiped everything out. Left with nowhere to run since they were in the cold driftway, which lacked air, the demonic beings and Yetis were helplessly engulfed by the Eon Fire one after another. What made them despair the most was that many [Agni’s Yawn] were in this place.

“N-no…!” Someone hurriedly tried to yell, but the [Agni’s Yawn] all went off before he could.

Boom, boom, boom!

Rumble―!

The multiple explosions swiftly obliterated the ‘Cold Iron Quarry. Even the survivors who had managed to escape from the Jigwi’s Eon Fire were blown to pieces. The driftway’s roof collapsed, and the ground exploded.

[Eliminated ‘Yeti × 123’, acquiring 124 experience points.]

[Eliminated ‘Yeti × 536’, acquiring 288 experience points.]

…

[Successfully eliminated a large number of demonic beings!]

[Your achievement has been recognized, and your Alignment has partially shifted to ‘Good’ from ‘Evil.’] [Scale of Good and Evil] Good: 45% | Evil: 55%

[Achievement unlocked!]

“An Explosive-Loving Terrorist.”

Effect: Fire Attribute +15. Burn Resistance +10.

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ wants a bigger and fancier explosion, saying this firework looks good.]

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ assuages the demonic beings who have fallen victim to you, pitying the poor souls.]

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ appreciates your effort, saying they have received the right punishment.]

[The Celestial ‘Abyss-Chasing Great Devil’ observes the situation, tilting his head.]

[The Celestial ‘Calamity Tiger’ pleasantly bursts into laughter as he watches your performance.]

Paah―!

After everything crumbled away, Chang-Sun quickly ran across the driftway. Since he had focused on increasing his speed, icicles missed Chang-Sun as he moved forward. Even during those moments...

[The Skill ‘Viper Eyes’ has been activated, quickly scanning the area!]

[Found the ‘Hundred Year Cold Iron Storehouse.’]

[Found the ‘Ice Crystal Storehouse.’]

…

While locating the storehouses installed all over inside the driftways, he quickly chose storehouses that seemed to contain useful items.

“Gyeo-Ul,” Chang-Sun spoke.

『Yes, hyung-nim!』Gyeo-Ul answered.

Whenever Chang-Sun called Gyeo-Ul, he already knew what Chang-Sun wanted to him do. He spread the shadow in every direction and robbed the storehouses. The trait [Shadow Play] could serve as a large inventory if Gyeo-Ul used it properly.

~

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ bursts into laughter, saying you two are the biggest heist duo!]

~

Quickly sprinting, Chang-Sun finally reached his destination. At the end of this driftway, beyond the transparent ice wall, deep inside that place where he felt like he had to go as far as the distance he had sprinted across the driftways… he saw the item he had been looking for.

[The ‘Frost Monarch’s Breath’ has been found.]

It was the [Everlasting Ice Crystal].