With the forceful intervention of the Royal Guardian and several secret agencies, the fighting across the empire still raged on, but its intensity had gradually begun to lessen, seeming to show signs of coming to an end.
Many people looked forward to the day the war would end, but only a few understood that this state of fading conflict was merely a superficial illusion.
Gloria III's disappearance, the Star Gazers' guidance, and the Marquises' massive plan in secret—these were all enormous hidden dangers. All they needed was a spark, and they would explode like a powder keg struck by fire, once again blowing the Gloria Empire to pieces.
And that opportunity soon appeared.
Pale Plains.
This was a wasteland located at the border between the two major provinces of Carlras and Frey, ruled by the frigid snowy winds of the Manerqinco Mountain Range.
Eternal pale permafrost and a harsh environment defined this place. To the north of the plains, the majestic branches of the Manerqinco Mountain Range wound across the land like a Dragon.
From deep within the mountains, gusts of snow-laden wind rich in ice elements blew all year round, as though an ancient frost giant slept here, its breath turning into endless cold winds that dyed this land in the eternal colors of winter.
Logically speaking, the magical elements contained within the branches of the Manerqinco Mountain Range should not have been enough to bury this plain beneath such deep ice. Yet the sight before them ran contrary to all reason.
Scholars had once been curious about this and had specifically come to investigate the region, but they ultimately found nothing unusual. They merely discovered that the activity of ice elements in this area was abnormally stagnant.
The conclusion that scholar eventually reached was that this place had