The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns Chapter 319: The History Of This World

-----

I continued my conversation with the Old Red Ant Man once we reached his office, which he sealed using a Magic Rune imbued into the walls and the door that manifested from the ground as a wall of stone. 

“I think we’re safe here… to speak about that,” he muttered, looking rather nervous but relieved we were away from prying eyes. “Ma’am… you… you’re not a normal Player, are you?” 

“Ah, quite sharp, indeed,” I nodded. “I might be the very reason your Queen is slumbering to begin with,” I confessed. 

“Y-You mean…?!” His eyes widened, realizing the truth quite quickly. “You fought her?! But that’s…!” 

“You don’t believe me? Well, that’s alright too. I wouldn’t blame you if you couldn’t believe it,” I nodded. “Look.” 

I opened the palm of my hand, manifesting a divine flame. The power, intensity, and quality of the flame convinced him rather quickly. 

“That is Divine Power…! Incredible…!” 

“Indeed!” I nodded. “I am what you would call… a Wandering Goddess, perhaps.” 

“Wandering Goddess… when… how?!” he asked. 

“When did it happen? Your goddess was working together with the Floor 2 God, the Barbarian God,” I explained. “He called for her Avatar down there, and I defeated her, destroying her Avatar and the soul within it. It turns out that it was a big piece of her own soul I ate. Your goddess is now in a vegetative state with half of her soul missing. She’ll either take thousands of years to regenerate fully or die… Either way, I’ve come to finish the job.” 

“So… that’s what happened! I cannot believe I would get to meet someone capable of slaying gods…” the old man said. 

“Now, I’ll ask a few things. I need some clarifications,” I said. “What happened to your Queen? Did you have one before? Or a God or Goddess that took care of this world?” 

“God… no, there was never a God or a Goddess here,” said the old man. “Almost… My grandfather used to tell me tales about our Kingdom, the Red Ant Kingdom, which was governed by a King and a Queen. The King had died tragically from a curse, which some suspected to have been our current Queen’s doing. She was always a despicable sorceress seeking to destroy the world’s balance. Perhaps it was her past or something, but she grew to resent everything.” 

“Our Ancient Queen was devastated by the news, but as our mother, she could not simply give up. She continued fighting and growing through the years. Eventually, she almost achieved godhood through worship and blessings. It was a great event; many of our family members awaited her ascension. It would mean that our tumultuous world would finally know peace… but we were wrong.” 

“The Sorceress of Winter appeared. She attacked our Kingdom at night, bringing forth an Army of Ice Beasts. Her powers were strange; suddenly, she had gained immense magical power, even though back then we were more or less at a stalemate with her. Her army razed our troops, broke through our walls, and began freezing our entire capital… Once morning came, there was only ice. Most of the Red Ants had been frozen, the few survivors enslaved, while the Queen… My grandfather said that the Queen was frozen solid, unable to ever ascend to godhood, and kept as a trophy by the Sorceress of Winter.” 

“…I see,” I nodded, feeling the pain and sorrow in his words. “It seems your people have gone through a lot. So, does that mean there wasn’t this eternal winter before?” 

“No, this isn’t natural… but it might feel that way to Players, as our World only joined the Tower a few hundred years ago,” he said. “It was when the Sorceress of Winter ascended into a Goddess and became assigned to this Floor as its eternal ruler…” 

“Then this world was covered by an Eternal Winter, and Ice Beasts appeared?” I asked. 

“Indeed,” he nodded. “I was born in this frozen world, never even allowed to become a Player to escape. No inhabitant has been given such a privilege, other than her most trusted Frost Ant soldiers. We are forever trapped in this eternal winter, always dreaming of that world our grandparents told us about—a world of greenery, with blue skies, where the sun shone brightly and warmly… We only have old tales of such a world, of a world embraced by light and warmth…” 

“…” 

I remained silent as I heard his words, realizing the pain and suffering these people had endured. I could even feel it within me. I felt frustrated and resentful, and I wanted to change their lives right now. 

“Do you happen to know where she resides? In her Divine Realm?” 

“Divine Realm? I have only heard she resides in the Great Winter Palace, to the south of this continent, where no Red Ant could ever go…” 

“I thought you delivered her food and resources?” 

“Oh no, we only deliver them to a teleportation device, but that device only teleports objects, not people.” 

“Hm, alright. The Great Winter Palace in the southern area of this continent, right?” 

“Yes… I’ve heard it is surrounded by beautiful glaciers.” 

“Thank you, I’ve learned enough. Take this, a small token of my gratitude. It should keep you safe.” 

I gave him a little bracelet, which seemed to be made of a cheap bronze alloy. He appreciated it, slipping it onto his wrist. 

“Thank you. Is this some token of good luck? It doesn’t look too fancy, but perhaps that’s for the better to avoid suspicion…” he smiled. “However, are you truly going there, lady? It is a dangerous place… The Ten Winter Generals mostly reside in that Palace, and nobody could ever go against them!” 

“Don’t worry,” I said with a smirk. “Even if they were stronger than their own Goddess, it shouldn’t be—” 

RUMBLE!

However, before we could continue our conversation, the ground shook. I felt a wave of frost covering the walls and ceiling as I saw a giant claw breaking through the walls. 

CRASH! 

-----