"This way, follow me!" Bryan ran at the head of the group.
As an adventurer, the Dwarf certainly had plenty of experience. With the help of his pet gorilla, Grybe, he led Karin and Nathanos past every mechanism and trap along the way.
The statues of Vrykul and Proto-Dragons behind them remained hot on their heels, refusing to give up the chase... With Bryan scouting ahead, Karin and Nathanos moved everything they could along the way to obstruct their pursuers.
Every so often, as they climbed higher through the keep, they encountered a fork in the path. Fortunately, Bryan had a good memory and could work out the correct route in just a few seconds!
"Bryan, how much farther? Those statues are about to catch up!" Nathanos could not help shouting.
"Almost there! Almost there!" Bryan searched his memory as he peered ahead. "Right, here it is! Follow me!"
The three rushed into a hall whose furnishings and murals were completely different from those outside. Four pillars stood guard on its four sides, each bearing a Vrykul statue... On a dais at the far end, a towering Vrykul sat fast asleep in a broad seat.
Is this King Ymiron? Karin wondered.
The sounds of the statues moving outside abruptly ceased-just as Bryan had predicted, they did not dare enter the king's hall!
"Traces of a legendary creature detected!" The All-Knowing Eye's voice suddenly rang out in Karin's mind.
"A legendary creature?" Karin immediately looked toward the towering Vrykul on the throne.
"Thank goodness!" Bryan gasped for breath beside him. "We're safe now... Huh? Mr. Karin, what's wrong?"
Karin ignored him and slowly approached the throne.
Is there any chance the legendary creature will wake up? he asked inwardly.
"The probability of awakening is only 0.01%. This legendary creature is under the influence of an extremely powerful sleep spell... There is a 99.97% probability that he cast the spell himself!" the All-Knowing Eye analyzed.
That's a relief! Karin let out a breath and stepped up to the throne. He saw a short scepter lying on the armrest beside the king, seemingly giving off a faint light!
"Memory fragment detected. Does the host wish to absorb it?"
Does this memory fragment pose any danger to me? Karin asked with some concern.
"Scanning. Please wait... In response to the host, the probability of this energy posing a danger to you is only 1.2%."
All right, absorb it!
"Understood!" Guided by the All-Knowing Eye, an energy invisible to the naked eye slowly flowed into Karin's mind.
"Grapemonth 28. This is a day worth remembering! I pinned the elder of the Zauggar Bearfolk to the gates of Utgarde Keep with a javelin... Those cowardly Bearfolk have begun fleeing north to Grizzly Hills. All of Howling Fjord will belong to the Dragonflayer Clan... All I could hear was my people below the keep, crying out my name in excitement-'Ymiron!'"
"Fogmonth 6. Skadi told me he rode his blue Proto-Dragon all around Stormheim and saw no trace of any Bearfolk. It seems this war is finally over. We have won the ultimate victory! There is more good news. My wife, Arathi, told me she is pregnant-I am delighted. It seems that in ten months, the Dragonflayer Clan will welcome its future king. I hope he will be even stronger than we imagine!"
"Frostmonth 13. Ingvar reported that two newborns showed physical abnormalities. They are far smaller than ordinary Vrykul newborns, and much weaker in both strength and stamina... I understand Ingvar's concern. He fears the Curse of Flesh has descended upon us once again. I ordered him to execute the two newborns in secret, without alerting anyone!"
"Snowmonth 29. Disaster has struck! The Curse of Flesh's influence on us has grown stronger. Over the past month, many women in the clan have begun giving birth to small, deformed children. Fear and rumors have spread throughout the clan. We can no longer conceal what is happening, and many have even laid all the blame on me. I can only conclude that all these upheavals in the clan are the result of the Titan Keepers' inaction. I have decided to convene an assembly in Nifflevar."
"Rainmonth 1. I convened the assembly in Nifflevar-"
"'My people, your king asks you to be silent! The Titan has abandoned us! Even in our darkest hour, he still makes a mockery of us! Where was he when we most needed his guidance? Deformed infants have been born to our clan. They are hideous and cannot even stand! Ugly, weak, and utterly worthless. I am weary in body and soul. Ever since I took the throne, I have wondered why life is so hard for the Vrykul. There is only one answer. Only one. Who but the Titan could lay such a curse upon us? Who else could possess such power? No one. It was the Titan who cursed us! Today, all Vrykul shall abandon the faith of the past! We shall renounce the creator we once worshipped!' The Vrykul are a truly pure race. We should control our own destiny. These deformed monsters cannot carry on our bloodline. I solemnly decree that all deformed offspring must be taken to Yalebron and executed!"
"Windmonth 11. There have already been fourteen fugitives... All women. These weak women were unwilling to put those deformed monsters to death. They fled south with the monsters, leaving the Dragonflayer Clan! I sent Ingvar and Skadi to hunt them down with their men, but it seems some have still escaped!"
"Budmonth 4. Arathi's child is about to be born... The recent events in the clan have left me exhausted in body and mind. I can only hope she gives birth to a perfectly healthy child, bringing a future to the Dragonflayer Clan!"
"Budmonth 19. The very thing I dreaded most has happened. Arathi's child is deformed too, and he looks even weaker than the other deformed children! I refused to accept it. I took out my axe, ready to kill the child, but Arathi stopped me. Even just after giving birth, she was still an excellent warrior, and I was even less willing to hurt her... Arathi promised me that the child would stay with her for only two months. After that, she would send him to Yalebron!"
"Flowermonth 3. Arathi is gone. Skadi told me she took a ship south out of Howling Fjord, taking that deformed child with her... I feel as though the whole world is collapsing. I feel so powerless as king!"
"Pasturemonth 3. One month since Arathi left... I had a dream. I dreamed of a woman named Salla. She told me the Curse of Flesh was the inescapable fate of our Dragonflayer Clan, and demanded that we submit to her... I refused, then jolted awake! When I woke, I suddenly found that I could no longer lift my axe. The Curse of Flesh no longer affects only our descendants. It is affecting us as well!"
"Pasturemonth 7. I made an important decision-I took out the last relic left by the Titan and cast a powerful sleep spell over all my people, myself included... The entire Dragonflayer Clan will sleep for tens of thousands of years to escape the effects of this damned curse!"
"I hope that when we awaken, someone will be able to help us break this damned Curse of Flesh... Whoever it may be, I swear that I will lead the entire Dragonflayer Clan in loyal service to them until the end of our lives!"