The Dark Cavern.
After three consecutive days of head-on clashes, the fighting between the players and the Cavernfolk grew increasingly fierce.
Vast numbers of Iron-Shelled Insects poured out of the ground under the control of Cavernfolk Warriors. There seemed to be no end to them, leaving the players grinding their teeth in frustration.
The players' only consolation was that this game had no monster respawn mechanic. Dead monsters would not come back to life.
Victory would ultimately be theirs.
Meanwhile, Qi Sheng, who remained behind the scenes, also grew curious about the Dark Cavern. He wanted to know what characteristics this Domain Node possessed.
He decided to explore it ahead of the players.
Just as another battle erupted between the players and the tide of Iron-Shelled Insects, a wisp of his consciousness followed Guide's sensory tendrils deeper underground, reaching the fifth subterranean level.
There, he saw an enormous palace surrounded by stone steles.
Thousands of soldier statues stood before the palace. Most had broken bodies, wore shattered black armor, and held broken weapons. Some stood, others charged, each in a different, lifelike pose.
At the palace's western entrance, large numbers of Iron-Shelled Insects could be seen dragging ore inside at the urging of Cavernfolk Warriors.
Qi Sheng's consciousness followed Guide into the main hall, where a damaged statue five meters tall stood at the very center.
The statue was encased in thick, shattered armor and held a broken, blood-red war blade, kneeling on one knee as it gazed up at the vaulted ceiling.
Behind him stood an enormous furnace. Under the control of Cavernfolk Warriors, the Iron-Shelled Insects entering the palace kept throwing ore into it to be refined.
[Ice Blade!]
Guide's sudden cry startled Qi Sheng:
"You know this statue?"
[A battle-crazed lunatic. After Emperor Zhao fell, he was an overlord who ruled a region of his own.]
"How did he compare to you?"
[He was nowhere near us Four Devoted Servants, of course, but his strength was nothing to scoff at. I once tried to recruit him, but he believed he was qualified to become the next Emperor Zhao himself and refused to serve me.]
"Is he dead?"
[His flame of life has gone out. He's thoroughly dead... hmm? There seems to be a cluster of informational energy left inside his body.]
"Try analyzing it."
Guide did not answer, instead bringing the wisp of his consciousness closer to Ice Blade's statue. The analysis ability activated, and boundless killing intent immediately surged toward them like a roaring tidal wave.
"We, the warriors of Emperor Zhao... will not retreat."
As the hoarse, resolute voice rang out, countless memories flashed through Qi Sheng's mind like slides.
He saw the predicament Ice Blade had faced as the world neared collapse.
It was the point in time when the Four Devoted Servants had just entered Emperor Tomb Village, before he had transmigrated here.
At the time, Monster World was decaying by the day beneath the onslaught of the Terrifying Dark Tide, its environment growing ever harsher. The region under Ice Blade's rule was likewise being eroded by the Terrifying Dark Tide.
Faced with this desperate situation, Ice Blade began laying plans for the future.
He sank his palace underground, then had the noncombatant members of his people move below ground. He instructed them to excavate and stockpile underground spirit ore, and wait for the future.
An immense underground construction project thus began.
None of his people understood why their chief was doing this, nor what he meant by "wait for the future," but they all chose to carry out his plan.
Before the underground project was completed, the Terrifying Dark Tide swept in.
Ice Blade chose to lead his warriors against the raging tide of evil spirits and defend the untainted land beneath their feet.
The memory shifted.
In the scene, evil spirits swarmed like locusts, so densely packed that they obscured all sight. Clad in heavy armor, Ice Blade led the Black Armor Army in drawing their blades, pointing them toward the evil spirits, and charging.
The battle was exceptionally brutal. By the time they repelled the tide of evil spirits, only half the warriors remained alive.
A second wave of evil spirits could arrive at any moment. Ice Blade did not choose to leave, remaining with his warriors at the underground palace's entrance, ready for battle.
A new wave of evil spirits erupted three days later.
Then came the third wave, and the fourth. Against the endless evil spirits, Ice Blade fought until his weapon shattered and every warrior following him had fallen, yet he still did not leave.
On the day the underground palace was completed, the people who had worked on it emerged from the cavern, hoping Ice Blade would go underground to shelter from the next wave of evil spirits.
As his people knelt and begged, Ice Blade swept his emotionless, ice-blue eyes over them and said coldly:
"The untainted land beneath our feet was bestowed by Emperor Zhao. With blade in hand, I swear to defend it until my life fades. Death before retreat."
After driving his people underground, Ice Blade faced his final battle.
Endless evil spirits surrounded him. In battle, his flame of life flickered like a guttering candle in the wind, liable to go out at any moment.
Utterly exhausted, Ice Blade dropped to one knee and gazed up at the last remaining ray of "Emperor Zhao's light" in the sky, boundless fighting spirit still blazing in his eyes.
In the final moments of his life, what filled Ice Blade's mind was the scene of Emperor Zhao crowning him and granting him his territory.
Overwhelming pride and honor filled his heart. He laboriously raised his broken war blade and pointed it toward the tide of evil spirits, his hoarse voice ringing through the air:
"Iron-blooded lingering souls, valor left upon the battlefield, even our broken bodies can slay three million foes!"
"There are no cowards under Emperor Zhao. Awaken, comrades, and fight with me once more!"
As his words fell, Ice Blade's flame of life went out. Yet his unconscious, broken body moved. The broken bodies of countless fallen warriors also rose at the call of Ice Blade's lingering will, continuing to fight the evil spirits alongside him.
The memory abruptly ended there.
[This fellow... even after death, he could brand his fighting will onto his broken body. What an absolute lunatic.]
The scenes in the memory left Qi Sheng shaken.
As Guide analyzed the memories, he could even feel the unyielding will within Ice Blade's heart as he faced utter desperation.
A few casual words from Emperor Zhao had been the proudest, most glorious moment of Ice Blade's life, and he had chosen to fight to the death to protect that honor.
[It seems his people brought his remains into the palace.]
"Guide, what did Ice Blade mean by waiting for the future?"
[I'm not sure. He seems to have made some sort of preparations for the future. Could he have wanted to resurrect himself somehow?]
Just as Guide and Qi Sheng were wondering about Ice Blade's plans for the future, his remains at the center of the hall trembled slightly. As though sensing their presence, he raised his head toward their clusters of consciousness. Scarlet light suddenly flared in his dim eyes, and a message entered Qi Sheng's and Guide's minds:
"Guide? Nine Yin? Yan Ming? Ultra-Dimensional?... Whichever of you four old fellows inherited Emperor Zhao's Will, carry my share of glory onward. I no longer have the strength to fight. This is the only help I can offer."
As his words fell, the ground behind Ice Blade split open, revealing a golden crystal resting on a formation.
The energy refined from the ore thrown into the furnace was being channeled here, absorbed by the formation, and infused into the golden crystal.
Even without touching it, Qi Sheng could clearly sense the surging, pure energy contained within the crystal.
[That kid, Ice Blade...]
At this moment, even Guide, who had spoken of Ice Blade with a teasing attitude throughout, was shocked.
Qi Sheng finally understood what Ice Blade had meant by waiting for the future.
Ice Blade had believed that one of the Four Devoted Servants would inherit Emperor Zhao's Will and become the next Emperor Zhao, and had prepared a gift for them in advance, one that would span the centuries.