Trait Hoarder-Chapter 284: Frozen Palace Ruins (1)

Frozen Palace Ruins — Part 1

Entered the dimensional rift.

A strange sight unfolded before me.

It looked like a collage, or a scene shattered into thousands of fragments and scattered everywhere.

The crushed space—or perhaps the broken scenes—were dizzying to behold.

“Memory?”

That word popped into my mind first.

Even amidst the chaos, there was a certain unity.

Was it similar to a glitched area inside a game?

Everything was shattered at a pixel or polygon level, scattered randomly.

Red, who was sitting on my shoulder, lifted his head.

[Meat?]

It seemed his dementia was acting up again.

[Meat!]

He flapped his wings like a rooster, jumping excitedly.

I let out a short sigh and activated the Toshi.

“Just go to sleep inside.”

[Meat!]

Red shouted for meat until the end, before turning into a puff of smoke and being absorbed into the Toshi.

Winter Queen, who had followed me, awkwardly looked around.

“What is this place, exactly?”

“A distorted space.”

Winter Queen looked down at her own arm with unfamiliar eyes.

In this broken space, only she and I remained intact.

Even then, our magic was leaking and our existence was slowly crumbling.

Slowly, but steadily.

Meaning there was a time limit.

After confirming that, I shifted my gaze to one side.

“Who’s there? Come out.”

“Someone’s here? No way… a ghost?”

Winter Queen shivered slightly.

She’s older than me, yet scared of ghosts?

I let out a small chuckle and ignited the Supreme Flame.

Whoosh!

Golden flames swept forward like a bombardment.

Immediately, a scream burst out.

[Ahhh! Stop! I said stop!]

A reddish shadow burst out, flailing.

“Oh my?”

Winter Queen widened her eyes.

She glanced back and forth between the shadow and the Toshi on my arm.

“Isn’t that Red?”

She was right.

The shadow looked exactly like Red, who had just disappeared.

From its small, cat-like size,

to its ruby-like red eyes,

to its majestic horns and face,

and even the beautifully shimmering dragon scales—everything was identical.

I scrutinized the shadow sharply.

“You. You’re a magic spirit, aren’t you?”

[Magic spirit? Is that what they call us these days? Back in my time, we were called administrators. My creator called me Administrator 718.]

“Yeah, right. Are you saying Red created you?”

[That’s right. Wait a second. Who do you think you’re talking about? How dare you refer to the great creator like some neighborhood dog!]

I understood now.

When the First Heavenly Demon created the Frozen Palace, Red helped him.

This must be the administrator—the magic spirit—he left behind.

I shrugged and tapped the Toshi.

[Meat!]

Red popped out, his eyes rolling wildly.

I dug through the golf bag and handed him a big beef rib. He grabbed it with a face of pure happiness.

Then he began gnawing at it like a dog with a chew toy.

Administrator 718 stared at Red with a face full of shock.

[The great and mighty creator… how… how could you have turned out like this…]

[Do you know me?]

[I do! How could I not! You are my creator! The oldest ancient dragon on Earth, the one who established the laws of the northern world, Red Emperor!]

[Then give me meat.]

[Sigh…]

His eyes spun in circles.

At this rate, he might collapse and delete his own existence from pure despair.

I grabbed Red and stuffed him back into the Toshi.

[How dare you!] 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Administrator 718 nearly had another meltdown.

I watched him calmly and said in a composed voice,

“No matter what Red used to be, it doesn’t matter now. What matters is that he’s now one of my subordinates.”

[This… this can’t be…]

“You already noticed, didn’t you? Seeing the Frozen Palace in this state, you must have realized something went wrong with Red. Since you’re the administrator he created, after all.”

Administrator 718’s tail drooped low.

He stared at the Toshi with eyes full of lingering regret.

With a much more respectful demeanor, he spoke in a whisper-like sigh.

[I thought everything would be resolved once the creator returned… it seems that was only my delusion.]

“No one is a match for time.”

[Sigh… If I had known this would happen, I should have thrown myself into the dimensional rift the day the Frozen Palace collapsed. What have I been holding onto all this time…]

Can a magic spirit fall into depression too?

The air grew unbearably heavy.

I pushed Winter Queen forward.

“It wasn’t all for nothing. Your role was to control the Frozen Crystal, maintain the Frozen Palace, and preserve its bloodline, right? Look. The rightful heir of the Frozen Palace has returned. If you pass on the legacy of the Frozen Palace to this elf, you’ll have fulfilled your mission.”

Administrator 718’s eyes lit up.

[Really? She’s the heir of the Frozen Palace?]

“Check for yourself.”

[My heavens! It’s true! She really is the rightful heir of the Frozen Palace! To think, both the creator and the rightful heir would come together! I, Administrator 718, truly feel that enduring all this hardship was worth it!]

Administrator 718 jumped around in excitement.

He ran all over the shattered space like an excited puppy, climbed to a particularly high spot, and let out a long, howling cry.

Yeah. That wasn’t a dragon’s roar. It was a howling.

Earlier he accused us of treating the creator like a neighborhood dog, yet here he was behaving exactly like one.

[Alright! This must be the guidance of the creator! I will now lead you to the heart of the Frozen Palace, to the treasure vault! You came to retrieve the legacy, right, Heir?]

“Uh? Yeah.”

[I will guide you right away! One is the master of my creator, and the other is the heir of the Frozen Palace! There may be obstacles, but I have no doubt you will overcome them with wisdom and strength! Please handle this bizarre puzzle of space and the sea of shattered Frozen Crystals well!]

Was it because the space was dimensionally distorted?

Winter Queen seemed to understand the language Administrator 718 spoke.

In fact, even earlier, the strange language he used wasn’t English or Norse, yet its meaning struck directly into my brain.

Administrator 718 flapped his wings and matched our eye level.

[First, we must descend to the Heart! To do that, we need to restore this space!]

“Restore it?”

[Yes! Look around. It’s a complete mess, isn’t it? Concepts have materialized, and information has manifested into reality. The memories and magic imbued in the Frozen Crystals have overlaid onto the real world. And fragmented, at that. We need to piece it together and stabilize it before we can move to the next stage.]

No doubt a magic spirit created by Red—he spoke just like him.

I looked around at the surroundings that resembled a fragmented painting.

He said we needed to fix and stabilize it.

Like a mosaic.

Or a jigsaw puzzle game.

I reached out.

To a clump that looked like someone’s hair.

Of course, my hand just passed right through.

Without a special ability, you couldn’t even touch it.

“Uh, how are we supposed to do this?”

Winter Queen looked on the verge of tears.

She tried coating her hand with the power of an ice spirit, but it was useless.

Her hand passed through armor fragments like giving a ghost a massage.

Administrator 718 stamped his feet in frustration.

[How did you even enter here! Just do exactly what you did before!]

Ah, so that’s it?

I signaled Winter Queen with a glance.

She understood immediately and cut her wrist.

Blood spurted out like a fountain.

She rubbed some on her hands, and I healed her.

“Will that be enough?”

“It should be. We’re not revealing a dimensional rift, after all.”

I touched a nearby fragment.

It responded.

The space itself.

Like grabbing a giant piece of a jigsaw puzzle.

But it wouldn’t budge.

It was nailed into the air, completely immovable.

[Mutant][Mutant Muscle][Mutant Body]

[Mutant Heart][Mutant Organs][Rapture]

Trait swap.

My body twisted as the space fragment came loose.

It trembled violently in my hand.

It looked like it could shatter any moment.

Administrator 718 shouted in alarm.

[Careful! You’re using too much force!]

How fragile.

It wasn’t just my imagination—adrenaline was surging so violently I felt like going mad.

Delicate handwork was impossible like this.

Then it would be better to adjust.

[Mutant][Mutant Heart][Mutant Organs]

[Vajra Body][Magic Brain][Rapture]

Like this.

Protecting my mind, allowing calm and logical thought.

My swollen body shrank down.

Visually, I now looked like a slightly bulky human.

My mana remained warped, but that was manageable.

Administrator 718 gaped at me.

[W-What are you? What did you just do?]

“What?”

[You definitely triggered a mutant rampage just now… but wait, you’re still a mutant… Are you, by any chance…?]

His eyes shook violently.

Filled with shock and disbelief.

[Are you an Outsider God?]

Now that’s a novel thing to hear.

I gave a short snort and moved my feet.

Maybe because I only equipped three mutant traits?

It was definitely manageable.

I could easily let the instinctive surge of destruction and sadism flow away like water.

Since my vocal cords weren’t deformed, I could still speak.

Crunch.

I tore out the space.

Instantly, I swapped out Vajra Body and Magic Brain for Mystic Eye and Sixth Sense.

I threw both traits toward the spot indicated by the Ring of the Seer.

The fragments of space began stacking themselves up.

Like building Lego blocks.

There was no need for delicate adjustments.

They stuck together naturally, forming a scene.

A moment from the past.

A memory left behind by the First Heavenly Demon or Red.

[So… so fast…]

Administrator 718 circled around me.

[Are you really not a god? Even the creator himself wouldn’t have restored it this quickly. Especially not with such brute force.]

“Got a problem with it?”

I asked after restoring just my vocal cords, and Administrator 718 quickly shook his head.

[None at all. Even at the height of his power, the creator would’ve taken days. He would’ve needed expensive magic circles too. But you’re doing it this fast… Are you perhaps a master god from some divine forge or something?]

Master god?

Just in case, I swapped out my trait set.

Removed Vajra Body and added Artisan.

The dismantling and assembly became even faster.

Almost twice as fast.

As a result, it took less than thirty minutes to reassemble thousands of fragmented memory bundles.

Thus, the scene completed.

Inside a dim cave.

Three people stood around a magical campfire in a standoff.

A slender man with a sword at his waist.

A man with blazing red hair, leaving a vivid impression.

And an elven woman who looked exactly like Winter Queen.

[Oh…]

Administrator 718 ran to the red-haired man by the campfire.

Then he knelt in the form of a small dragon and offered a deep bow.

[Administrator 718 greets the Creator.]

Winter Queen whispered to me.

“That must be Red.”

“This was before he became an ancient dragon.”

“I heard that Red used to be the guardian dragon of the Frozen Palace. If that’s true, then he must have been at the peak of the holy dragon stage at this point?”

“Correct.”

Administrator 718 lifted his head.

He carefully stirred the campfire, and with a whoosh, the flames blazed higher.

Then came a vertical descent.

The campfire turned into an elevator and carried us down to the lower floor.

It looked exactly the same as the previous floor.

Thousands of shattered space fragments were scattered chaotically.

We smeared Winter Queen’s blood once again and started reassembling.

The memory we created this time was a scene from a few years later.

A black dragon attacking, staining the world in darkness.

A red dragon collapsed to one side.

The First Heavenly Demon standing with a sword, guarding the red dragon.

And an elf watching the two with worry.

“So that’s the black dragon…”

“Huh? You know that dragon?”

“It’s mentioned in the legends of the Demonic Cult. They say the First Heavenly Demon slew a black dragon in the west.”

Winter Queen belatedly bowed to the First Heavenly Demon and the elf.

“I didn’t know the three of you shared such a bond. I always wondered why Red became the guardian dragon…”

“A life saved must be repaid with life, after all.”

“Did the black dragon attack Red?”

“You know Red isn’t originally from Earth, right? He was actually exiled from his homeland. The black dragon was a pursuer and an executioner.”

This connects to Episode 4, The Evil Dragon.

You cross the dimensional gate riding Red as a Dragon Knight to attack Red’s home dimension.

If you complete the personal quest there, Red becomes even stronger.

The dementia doesn’t get cured, but he reaches Level 8.

Level 8, despite being a mount.

No wonder he’s the strongest battle mount.

[We’re descending!]

We entered the third floor.

The final floor.

The most decisive event binding the First Heavenly Demon and the Queen of the North.

Memories related to the Demon King of the North, the Dark Demon King.

The ocean had turned pitch-black.

Demonic soldiers were bursting out of the bubbling foam.

Facing them were the First Heavenly Demon, Red, and the Queen of the North Sea.

The memories, pieced together, formed a vivid image of their desperate struggle.

[It’s complete!]

Administrator 718 shouted loudly.

[The Heart will open!]

It hadn’t been difficult.

An ordinary person would have been hopeless.

It was something only someone on the level of the Heavenly Demon could have managed, but now, I wouldn’t lose to anyone either.

I used Rapture and shook off the Mutations.

Administrator 718 shook his head as he watched me.

[You’re truly a monster. Surely one of your ancestors was divine? Otherwise, it just doesn’t make sense.]

“There’s no such thing. I’m completely human.”

[Then maybe a reincarnation of the Creator’s close friend? That must be it, right?]

“Apparently not.”

[Who said that? Whoever it was, they’re blind as a bat…]

“That red ancient dragon you call your creator.”

[Aha! Such wisdom! Truly wise! I mean, what are the odds of reincarnating in the same world, among the same race, in this infinite universe? It’s not like someone forcibly fused it either! Surely, he must have reincarnated somewhere else as a noble Celestial or Dragon!]

Changing his tune without shame.

I crossed my arms and stared at Administrator 718 pressuring him.

Administrator 718 stood before the black sea in the memory space.

He gave me a warning glance and spoke.

[Be careful. The Heart is different from anything you’ve seen so far. It’s where the Frozen Crystal once was. With the energies of the Dark Demon King and the Creator’s close friend clashing, who knows what it’s turned into? In the worst case, you could die the moment you step inside!]

“Die? Me?”

[Uh, um, well…]

Administrator 718’s eyes darted around.

[Not you, Master of the Creator, but, um, the elf over there…]

For a magic spirit created by the Red Dragon, he sure was spineless.

I pulled out a few Ambrosias and handed them over.

“If it gets dangerous, drink these.”

“T-This precious thing?”

“If you feel bad about it, you can just give me a few treasures from the vault.”

“Of course! Thanks to you, we made it this far!”

Winter Queen nodded enthusiastically.

If I could make use of overflowing Ambrosias to look good, that was a win.

I gripped the Black Tiger Sword’s handle and ordered Administrator 718.

“Let’s go.”

[Yes! We’re going in!]

Administrator 718 struck the black sea with force.

And then we plunged down.

The sensation of sinking into a swamp, falling tens of meters straight down.

Thus, we arrived.

A sea of pure blackness.

Where the Dark Demon King’s demonic energy and the faded Heavenly Demon Cultivation clashed,

devouring, digesting, and excreting each other.

No noise, no flashes, no explosions.

Yet it was the fiercest battlefield I had ever seen.