Frost Flower Tomb (2)
"The millennium nine-tailed fox gains immense power over a thousand years of life, but at the same time, it bears a cursed fate. We..."
He paused. It was as if he hesitated to reveal a secret he'd harbored for ages.
"The longer it lives for a millennium, the more it loses its humanity."
Seolhwa's voice sank heavily.
"In the first century, it forgets love. Then sorrow, then joy... losing them one by one until finally..."
"Finally?"
"Only an empty shell remains. Its power grows stronger, but its soul becomes hollow. And..."
Seolhwa's eyes darkened coldly.
"It becomes a living calamity. Nothing left but impulses for destruction and slaughter—a walking curse."
Only then did I understand why this place was called the Frost Flower Tomb.
"Then the statues outside..."
"Yes."
Seolhwa answered with quiet sorrow.
"Before losing all emotions, when the last traces of humanity remained... they sealed themselves here in ice."
Silence fell.
"Before they could harm the ones they loved, before they destroyed the world... they made a courageous choice."
Deep sadness colored Seolhwa's voice.
"But their souls are still trapped here. For thousands of years, within that cold stone..."
Suddenly, a question arose.
'But among the statues, there were definitely children too...'
"Yes, there are statues of children."
Seolhwa answered as if reading my mind.
It seemed even thoughts couldn't be hidden here. But more importantly, why were there children?
"Their parents brought them themselves."
Seolhwa's voice grew even heavier.
"They knew their children would suffer the same torment, agonizing over the same choice... So they chose to slumber eternally together."
I felt suffocated.
Parents choosing death alongside their own children.
Imagining that desperate decision tore at my heart.
"So while the other souls brim with resentment and regret, the children's souls just begged to play. With their mom and dad there, they weren't scared—they just wanted to play with someone."
"Yes. And Baekseol, the last descendant, must be losing her emotions by now too."
"Baekseol?"
The image of her smiling brightly at Lilia, showing a wistful expression while sharing her past—it was hard to believe she was losing her emotions...
Were all those expressions her final struggles before they vanished?
Yet amid this tragic tale, one question lingered.
"So, Seolhwa, why did you summon me here? And are you alive right now? If so, why don't you save your kind yourself?"
"It would be more accurate to say I can't, even if I want to."
Seolhwa gave a wry smile.
"You can't?"
"Yes. I lost my physical body thousands of years ago. What you see now is merely a remnant of my soul."
Seolhwa's form flickered faintly.
Looking closely, his shape wavered like mist.
"Even having reached the divine realm, a bodiless soul can do little. Maintaining this mental realm and occasionally interfering with reality—that's all."
His voice carried profound helplessness.
"For thousands of years, I've been trapped here, forced to watch my descendants turn to stone one by one. I searched desperately for a way to save them, but..."
Seolhwa stared straight at me.
"So there is a way?"
"There is. But I can't do it alone. I need the help of the living. Someone with special power..."
Seolhwa's gaze pierced right through me, as if seeing something within.
"Someone like you, who bears that one's ability."
"Come to think of it, who exactly is this that one you're referring to?"
"Have you never found your supernatural ability strange? Simply amplifying and releasing aura twofold."
I was stunned, breath catching.
To see through my ability, which no one had ever detected.
"No need for surprise. The eyes of one who has ascended to the divine can't be fooled."
"You mean this is that one's ability?"
"More precisely, a remnant of that one."
"A remnant?"
"Currently sealed..."
Seolhwa suddenly stopped. As if blocked by an invisible force.
"Tch, as expected, I can't say that name."
He clicked his tongue in regret.
"But if you gather more of the scattered remnants... you'll draw closer to that one's true power. The authority to twist fate itself, to defy causality."
Seolhwa's eyes deepened.
'What the hell...'
I couldn't even guess who this that one Seolhwa spoke of might be. Twisting fate, ignoring causality? Did such a being really exist in this world?
In that moment, I realized.
What I knew was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Seolhwa's existence, the tragedy of the millennium nine-tailed fox clan, and the true nature of this unknown power slumbering within me...
This world hid truths beyond my wildest imagination.
"Tch, looks like our time is up."
Seolhwa's form began to fade.
"I beg you. Help my final descendant. In return, I'll give you the gift as promised. And if you save Baekseol... it will surely aid you in finding the remnants."
At the same time, my body grew transparent. Returning from the mental realm to reality.
"Seek the Soul Orchid in Black Rock Canyon."
Seolhwa's voice grew distant.
"With it, the lost—"
Before his final words finished, I returned to reality.
But I'd understood his message well enough.
Black Rock Canyon. Soul Orchid.
The key to saving Baekseol was there.
And... the true nature of my ability.
I slowly opened my eyes. Baekseol was still bowing to Seolhwa's statue.
As if no time had passed at all—not even a second.
At that moment, the ice door slid open smoothly.
From beyond, pristine white gloves floated gently toward me.
Gliding elegantly through the air like living things, they halted before me.
"Frost Flower Gloves..."
As I reached out, the gloves slipped onto my hands of their own accord.
The fit was astonishingly perfect.
As if made for me from the start.
The moment they touched my skin, a warm energy spread through my body.
"This is my first gift. The second... when you keep your promise."
Baekseol slowly rose and turned to me.
A faint flicker of surprise crossed her eyes.
"How... This has never happened before..."
Her voice mixed disbelief.
The clan relic had chosen a new master itself.
I tugged at the gloves awkwardly, as if troubled.
"Baekseol, sorry, but these won't come off."
Baekseol stared at me silently for a long moment, then let out a small sigh.
"...No helping it. This must be the ancestor's choice too."
I gave Baekseol a meaningful look as she said that.
'Losing emotions...?'
The curse of the millennium nine-tailed fox that Seolhwa described. Yet the Baekseol before me showed such vivid expressions, it was hard to believe.
Surprise, resignation, relief—and now this subtle curiosity.
But according to Seolhwa, she'd already lost many emotions.
Which meant...
'She's acting.'
Imitating her past self from when she still had emotions. That was the only explanation.
Acting as if she still felt them, based solely on memories of those once-felt emotions.
'Both you and I... your fate is truly cruel, Baekseol.'
"Baekseol, let's go now. We're done here."
"Sure, whatever."
Baekseol shrugged.
"Aw, I wasn't planning to give you an item. But if the ancestor gave it personally, no choice."
A playful whine. But now I knew.
It was just her recreating how her past self would react.
Not true emotion, but traces of it.
How lonely must she be? Living by performing the self from days when her heart wasn't empty.
As I watched her walk ahead, I murmured just loud enough to be heard.
"Don't worry."
"Pardon?"
Baekseol turned to look at me.
"Nothing."
I shook my head and walked on ahead.
But it was different now.
As we passed through the Frost Flower Tomb, countless voices echoed in my mind.
'Please... save our final descendant...'
'Baekseol... please... at least that child...'
'You, chosen by the ancestor, do what we couldn't...'
'Before she loses her emotions... it's not too late...'
The souls of the petrified millennium nine-tailed foxes whispered desperately.
With parental love, with clan devotion, they worried for Baekseol.
I clenched my fist tightly.
The Frost Flower Gloves glowed softly, responding to my will.
'Understood. I promise.'
As we exited the tomb, I glanced back one last time.
The statues slumbered quietly in the white snow. Bearing their hope,
* * *
After being assigned a room in Baekseol's castle, I stared at the Frost Flower Gloves on my hands, lost in thought.
'Black Rock Canyon, Soul Orchid.'
Fortunately, I knew of them both.
Black Rock Canyon, located in the northeast of the Darkteria continent. At its deepest point, where black water cascaded like a waterfall, bloomed the legendary flower that absorbed moonlight and black water simultaneously—once every hundred years.
In the game, it was just a consumable item for massive HP recovery.
No one bothered seeking it out due to the poor cost-performance from how hard it was to find—just for completionists filling their codex.
'But here...'
If Seolhwa was right, the Soul Orchid was no mere recovery item.
The sole hope to restore Baekseol's fading emotions.
"But going to Darkteria isn't easy..."
I sighed.
I was a regiment leader in Haven.
A high-ranking figure entering foreign territory without permission could spark a diplomatic incident.
In the worst case, it could ignite war.
To do it properly, I'd need Balderic to request entry permission from Darkteria's king.
Or...
'The Continental Congress.'
I could ask directly at the gathering of all kings and leaders, but
'It's not time for that yet.'
The Continental Congress happened every five years.
The last one ended two years ago, so I'd have to wait three more.
Plus, I had to resolve Lilia's demon seed issue immediately. My tasks were piling up.
'First, handle the demon seed, then figure out a way to Darkteria.'
But contrary to expectations, a way to Darkteria came sooner than I thought.