Monsters Are Coming-Chapter 21 - : Battlefield Remnants

Dark Cave.

For three consecutive days of head-on clashes, the battle between the players and the Earth Cave Clan intensified.

A multitude of Iron Shell Bugs, controlled by Earth Cave Clan Warriors, surged from the underground, relentless and infuriating the players to no end.

The only consolation for the players was that the game lacked a monster respawn mechanism; once dead, monsters would not resurrect.

Victory would eventually be theirs.

During this time, Qi Sheng, who stayed behind the scenes, also grew curious about the Dark Cave, wanting to know the trait of this Domain Node.

He decided to explore it before the players.

As the players and the Iron Shell Bug Tide once again erupted in battle, his strand of consciousness followed the sensory tendrils of Guidance deeper underground, reaching the fifth level beneath the surface.

Here, he saw a massive palace surrounded by stone steles.

In front of the palace stood thousands of soldier statues, mostly shattered, clad in black broken armor, wielding broken weapons, in various poses of standing or charging, lifelike in their display.

At the western entrance of the palace, a large number of Iron Shell Bugs could be seen dragging ores into the palace under the command of Earth Cave Clan Warriors.

Qi Sheng's consciousness also followed the Guidance into the main hall, where he saw a five-meter-tall, battered statue standing at the center of the hall.

The statue was enveloped in heavy shattered armor, holding a blood-red broken War Blade, kneeling on one knee as it gazed up at the dome.

Behind it was a huge furnace, into which Iron Shell Bugs continuously tossed ores for smelting under the control of Earth Cave Clan Warriors.

[Ice Blade!]

The sudden exclamation from Guidance startled Qi Sheng:

"Do you recognize this statue?"

[A belligerent madman, he was a warlord who ruled over his own territory after the fall of Emperor Zhao.]

"How does he compare to you?"

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[Of course, he pales in comparison to us four Servants, but this guy's strength should not be underestimated. I once tried to recruit him, but he believed he was also worthy of becoming the new Emperor Zhao and refused to serve me.]

"Is he dead then?"

[The Life Fire has extinguished, he's thoroughly dead... Hmm? There seems to be a cluster of information energy left in his body.]

"Try to analyze it."

Guidance did not reply; it brought his strand of consciousness closer to the Ice Blade statue, and the Analysis Ability activated at this moment, instantly, an overwhelming surge of murderous intent roared like a tsunami.

...

"We, the warriors of Emperor's Omen... shall not retreat."

Accompanied by a hoarse and resolute voice, numerous memory scenes flickered rapidly through Qi Sheng's mind like slides.

He saw the predicament Ice Blade faced as the world was on the brink of collapse.

It was just when the four Servants had entered Imperial Tomb Village, a point in time before Qi Sheng had traveled here.

At that time, Monster World was progressively decaying under the sweep of the Horror Black Tide, the ecological environment worsening, with the area governed by Ice Blade equally eroded by the Horror Black Tide.

Facing this desperate situation, Ice Blade started planning for the future.

He sunk his palace underground, then instructed his non-warrior clansmen to move underground, urging them to mine and store Spiritual Ore for the future.

A grand underground construction project thus commenced.

The clan members did not understand why the Clan Leader did this, nor did they comprehend what he meant by "waiting for the future," but all chose to follow his plan.

Before the underground construction was completed, the Horror Black Tide swept in.

Ice Blade chose to lead his warriors to confront the Evil Tide and defend the pristine land beneath their feet.

Memory fragments jump.

In the scene, the Evil Spirits swarm like locusts, densely packed and obscuring the view, as Ice Blade, clad in Heavy Armor, leads the Black Armor Army, drawing their swords and pointing at the Evil Spirits to charge.

The battle was extremely brutal; after repelling the Evil Tide, only half of the warriors survived.

The second wave of the Evil Tide could arrive at any moment, but Ice Blade chose not to leave, instead staying with his warriors at the entrance to the Underground Palace, preparing for the next battle.

The new round of the Evil Tide erupted three days later.

Subsequently, the third and fourth rounds of the Evil Tide came; endless Evil Spirits fought Ice Blade until his weapon shattered, and the warriors following him were all killed, but he still did not leave.

On the day the Underground Palace was completed, the clan members who participated in the construction emerged from the underground caves, hoping Ice Blade would enter the palace to avoid the next Evil Tide.

Facing the clan members kneeling and pleading, Ice Blade, with his emotionless ice-blue eyes, scanned them coldly, saying:

"The pristine land beneath my feet is the blessing of Emperor Zhao, I swear to defend it with my blade, even unto withering Life, preferring death over retreat."

Driving the clan members underground, Ice Blade faced the final battle.

Endless Evil Spirits surrounded him, his Life Fire flickering like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment.

Exhausted, Ice Blade knelt on one knee, gazing at the sky where only a sliver of the "Emperor's Light" remained, his eyes still burning with indomitable combat spirit.

In the final moments of his life, the image that flashed through Ice Blade's mind was that of Emperor Zhao bestowing a crown upon him, granting him the territory.

Filled with intense pride and honor, he struggled to lift his broken War Blade, pointing at the Evil Tide, his hoarse voice echoing through the sky:

"Wounded souls of iron blood, heroic spirits of the battlefield, even a broken body can slay three million enemies!"

"There are no cowards under Emperor Zhao, awaken, my comrades, and fight once more with me!"

As the words fell, Ice Blade's Life Fire extinguished, but his lifeless body moved, and countless dead warriors' bodies also rose at the call of Ice Blade's remaining will, continuing to confront the Evil Tide.

The memory fragment ends abruptly here.

[This guy... even in death, he imprints a fighting will on his body, truly a thorough madman.]

The memory fragment's scene left Qi Sheng shocked.

During the process of Guidance Analysis of the memory, he even felt the indomitable will in Ice Blade's heart when facing desperate circumstances.

A casual remark from Emperor Zhao, yet it was the most proud and glorious moment of Ice Blade's life in his eyes, and he chose to fight to the death to defend this honor.

[It seems his lifeless body was sent into the palace by the clan members.]

"Guidance, what does Ice Blade mean by 'waiting for the future' in his words?"

[Not clear, it seems to have some sort of arrangement for the future, perhaps he wants to resurrect through some means?]

As Guidance and Qi Sheng were curious about Ice Blade's arrangement for the future, the lifeless body of Ice Blade standing at the center of the great hall trembled slightly, seeming to sense their presence, raising his head towards their collective consciousness, his dim eyes suddenly glowing with a crimson light, then a stream of information entered the minds of Qi Sheng and Guidance:

"Guidance? Jiuyin? Yan Ming? Superdimension?... No matter which among you four old fellows inherits the will of Emperor Zhao, carry on with the honor I've left, I'm incapable of fighting anymore, I can only assist with this."

As the words ended, the ground behind Ice Blade cracked open, revealing a golden crystal stone placed on an Array

And the energy from the ore being refined in the furnace was indeed being transported here, absorbed by the Array and merged into the golden crystal stone.

Even without contacting, Qi Sheng could clearly sense the surging pure Energy within the crystal stone.

[This kid, Ice Blade...]

In this moment, even Guidance, who had always introduced Ice Blade with a teasing attitude, was shocked.

Qi Sheng finally understood what Ice Blade meant by 'waiting for the future'.

Ice Blade believed that one of the four great Servants would inherit the will of Emperor Zhao and become the new Emperor Zhao, preparing a cross-century gift for them in advance.