Ice Cold staff.

An object left behind by Dan Yeong, the founder of the North Sea Ice Palace.

The reason why the gold brilliance did not die down despite the passing of so many years was because of the material.

It is said that a star fell into the North long ago.

It was said that Dan Yeong, a researcher born outside the North, was a master in using cold qi and made this object out of the material from the star.

Since the star, the meteorite, couldn't be made into a staff with its material alone, he mixed it with high purity gold and made the staff.

However, for some reason, the Ice Cold Staff was left in the underground site of the palace, where the tablets were stored.

However, there was one legend that everyone in the palace knew.

‘Ice Cold Staff, the hidden staff is known to be found only by the true palace king!’

The golden staff glimmered in the eyes of Dan Jucheon.

Because of that legend, the previous royal family tried to break down the Adularia stone and find the sacred object.

It was because no matter how incompetent the prince was, all the people in the palace would side with him if he gets the divine object.

“What were you saying about the Lord of Demonic Cult?”

A smile spread across the prince’s face.

When he found out that the Lord of the Demonic Cult was alive, he couldn’t hide his relief.

He was the only one who could suppress Dan Jucheon.

‘Thank god. If Lord Chun had really died, everything would be over.’

If Chun Yeowun had really died, he wouldn’t have been able to take revenge for the unjust killing of the previous king.

Sol Am-baek, the elder of the council, hurried the people and gave orders again after seeing Chun Yeowun.

“Hurry up and arrest them!”

“Yes!”

As if waiting for the orders, the guards responded loudly and tried to subdue them.

He thought that there would be no further resistance because Chun Yeowun had been resurrected.

But something unexpected happened.

“You cheeky bastards! Let go of me!”

Pang!

The two guards who tried to capture Dan Jucheon were thrown back.

“Kuak!”

“Kuk!”

Baekhyun and the others couldn’t hide their bewilderment at the strong, unbending appearance.

If it weren’t for him, the other elders who sided with Dan Jucheon would have surrendered.

However, Dan Jucheon was a Supreme Master who wasn’t going to back down.

“Da-Dan Jucheon! Are you really going to fight it to the end?”

“There are a lot of men who wouldn’t be able to touch a hair on my body! Once this matter gets resolved, I will never let this go!”

Flinch!

At the bloody pressure emanating from him, the guards took a step back.

They were gripped by a strong fear that they would die if they got close.

Dan Jucheon shouted back at Chun Yeowun, who was still floating.

“Lord Chun!!!”

‘Huh? What is this man trying to do?’

Far from being afraid of Chun Yeowun, when he called him, everyone seemed to be in awe.

It was an act which Dan Jucheon would have never done.

Chun Yeowun survived, and Dan Jucheon tried to covet the core which rightfully belonged to the Demonic Cult.

And if he was bound to bump into Chun Yeowun, he decided to go all out.

‘Apart from the core, conflicts will arise in the palace. We need to stop the Demonic Cult from intervening! If he promises not to interfere, everything can be resolved.’

He called Chun Yeowun, thinking that, but Chun Yeowun didn’t even look at him.

“Lord Chun…!?”

Chun Yeowun, who was floating, went down to the place where the Demonic Cult was standing.

There was no way that Chun Yeowun would talk to him as soon as he came back from a disaster.

‘I need to get that staff!’

That was the priority.

If the staff fell into the hands of Baekhyun, everything would come to an end for Dan Jucheon.

Tat!

“Ah! Dan Jucheon!”

Dan Jucheon hurriedly looked at where Chun Yeowun was.

An old man from the council clicked his tongue.

“Tch, he’s asking for his own grave.”

The Demonic Cult already had the core on their side. Trying anything with them wasn’t the right choice.

However, Sol Am-baek knew what Dan Jucheon was trying and urged Baekhyun.

“Prince! You need to move. Dan Jucheon is aiming for the—!”

“Divine Object.”

They realized what Dan Jucheon wanted.

He wanted to make a deal with Chun Yeowun and obtain the Divine Object.

If Dan Jucheon gives up his pride and surrenders to Chun Yeowun, and swears an oath of allegiance, he would achieve what he wanted.

Phat!

Baekhyun and Sol Am-baek hurriedly moved.

It became weird.

The guards, who didn’t know what was happening, decided to pursue them.

In the current situation, the one who holds the Divine Object will be the one to secure the position of King.

“Follow the King!”

“We need to help the deputy King!”

Both sides headed to the place where the cultists were standing.

On the other hand, Chun Yeowun, who came back from the disaster, was warmly welcomed by the cultists.

Of course, not everyone cheered.

“Lord! I told you to stop surprising me like this! What if something went wrong and Lord… ugh.”

He had no choice but to appease Mun Ku, who was wailing.

“Mun Ku is right. Lord! Please listen to us!”

“Hmm!”

Hu Bong and the other Six Swords also chimed in, and Chun Yeowun let out a bitter laugh as he heard their nagging.

Since they shared the joys and sorrows in their lives since the early days of the academy, he was well aware of their worries.

“But, Lord, the staff?”

Marakim asked.

It was clear that the sparks coming from his right hand was the core of the dragon.

Just by looking at it, one could feel the tremendous energy it was radiating.

However, the golden staff was unusual.

Whew!

“It has amazing qi.”

Chun Yeowun was suppressing its qi, and still the qi felt from it wasn’t normal.

Despite the North being cold, the cold qi from the staff was chilling.

Chun Yeowun casually responded.

“It seems like a Divine Object of the North.”

“Divine Object? Ah!”

When they heard the word ‘Divine Object’, they recalled the story Baekhyun told them.

They knew what the former king was trying to find.

They didn’t know how Chun Yeowun got it, but it clearly held great power.

“Lord. Then will you hand it over to the prince?”

Chun Yeowun answered a little flustered at Mun Ku’s question.

“I did think so, but the staff…”

Tatatak!

Before Chun Yeowun could finish his words, someone approached them.

Marakim and the other Six Swords blocked him at once.

Visor! Visor! Visor!

“Stop right there!”

“I’m here to meet with Lord Chun!”

The one who arrived was Dan Jucheon.

Marakim, who stopped him, shook his head.

“I warn you, wait until the Lord responds.”

In the underground, Dan Jucheon gave up in the battle with Marakim and expressed his intention to surrender.

No matter how hard they tried in the underground, they were unable to overpower the Demonic Cult because the swordsmanship of the Six Swords and Marakim overwhelmed the warriors of the Ice Palace.

‘This is for the future of the Ice Palace. I should throw away all of my pride.’

Thud!

At that moment, Dan Jucheon knelt on the floor.

Marakim’s eyes narrowed at the unexpected actions.

Dan Jucheon, who displayed that he had no intention of opposing them, asked again.

“Please let me speak with Lord Chun!”

At the earnest request, Marakim looked back at Chun Yeowun.

Chun Yeowun took a step and then walked forward.

“Talk about what?”

As a response to the blunt question, Dan Jucheon banged his head onto the floor.

Thud!

“I apologize for trying to covet the core!”

Although he was the deputy king, the Ice Palace, the highest head of the North, he folded his pride and apologized.

All the cultists who had been hostile at the Ice Palace warriors couldn’t hide their fluster.

When Chun Yeowun remained silent, Dan Jucheon continued to speak.

“I wanted to increase my power by acquiring the core, the treasure of heaven and earth, but it goes against the doctrine which says the one who kills gets the core. I know I was in the wrong. Please forgive me.”

It wasn’t easy for a Supreme Master to throw away his pride.

In reality, it was almost as if the man had expressed his intention to surrender.

“I know that apology isn’t enough. Of course, I won’t just give up the core and corpse of the dragon, but I will do whatever Lord Chun wants, even if it is to abandon the alliance with the Yulin and form an alliance with you.”

‘!!!’

Woong!

An unconventional suggestion came out of his mouth.

Giving up the alliance with Yulin.

Suspension of all official activities with Yulin meant that they would give up on all the power they held outside the North.

Chun Yeowun, who had been silent, opened his mouth.

“… what do you need when you are making such an offer?”

Neither one of them was a light suggestion.

What he was willing to do would make the Yulin contingents extremely unhappy.

They had come all the way to the North to help them because of the alliance, and now this man was willing to end it.

“If I am given two favors, I’m willing to give anything that Lord Chun wants.”

“Ha! How dare you propose a deal with our Lord?”

Hu Bong asked in a serious tone.

Dan Jucheon decided to throw away his pride for the survival of the North Sea Ice Palace.

“Interesting. What are the favors?”

He didn’t have to listen, yet Chun Yeowun asked.

Feeling relieved, Dan Jucheon spoke.

“The first one, please don’t interfere in the matters of the palace. Each side has their own reasons. I hope you understand that.”

He spoke directly.

In a way, he was asking Chun Yeowun to not interfere, like helping Baekhyun out.

As long as he could get Chun Yeowun to agree to that, the prince could be dealt with.

“The second one?”

“The golden staff that Lord Chun is holding is a Divine object of the palace. So please hand it…”

It was then.

“Noooo! Lord Chun!”

An urgent cry from afar.

Baekhyun and elder Sol Am-baek.

As they were lower in martial arts than Dan Jucheon, they arrived late.

“Lord Chun. You mustn’t hand that staff over to that person!”

It was shocking how the man had asked for the staff.

If the staff went into the hands of Dan Jucheon, the hearts of the royal officials would change.

“How dare you interfere in the conversation of the two heads?”

Goo!

Dan Jucheon, who was on the ground, stood up and threatened them.

He didn’t want anyone to disturb his conversation with the Lord of the Demonic Cult.

Baekhyun pointed his finger at Dan Jucheon and shouted.

“Lord Chun. This man said that you died inside the cave, and no demon…”

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

Phat!

When Baekhyun was trying to repeat what Dan Jucheon had said earlier, the deputy king tried to close the mouth of Baekhyun as he brought out his weapon.

Dan Jucheon, who narrowed the distance in an instant, aimed his weapon at Baekhyun’s neck.

“Ugh!”

But,

Shhh!

Before he could reach Baekhyun, someone stopped him.

It was Marakim.

Despite moving half a beat later than Dan Jucheon, he blocked him.

Papapa!

As the momentum couldn’t be stopped, their arms bumped lightly three times.

Dan Jucheon, who was giving his best, couldn’t hide the shock at how effortlessly Marakim moved.

“Prince. Please continue what you were saying.”

Marakim, who protected Baekhyun, spoke to the prince.

“Lord, he said that if you didn’t exist, no one would be afraid of the cult!”

At that, Dan Jucheon looked at Chun Yeowun with fear.

“Lord Chun! Don’t believe that kid. I never said anything like that. I just said that I am not afraid even if I didn’t have the protection from the Demonic Cult.”

After giving an explanation, he looked at Baekhyun and shouted.

“You really lack the qualifications of a prince. How can you try and solve the internal matters with the help of an outsider?”

“Ha! Are you really saying those words? Is that why you brought in those outsiders and made my father, the former king, die!”

Dan Jucheon bit his lips at those words.

He was ashamed at how he brought in the people of the Blade God Six Martial clan to avoid getting blood on his own hands.

“Deputy King!”

“Prince!”

Grrrrr!

At the same time, the followers of each side arrived.

It turned into a fight between the two sides.

It was horrible for them.

One side didn’t want the intervention of others, and the other side wouldn’t win if Chun Yeowun didn’t intervene.

“Lord Chun! You must remember the request I had earlier? If you don’t intervene, I am willing to give you anything you want…”

Even before he could finish, Baekhyun interrupted.

“Lord Chun! Didn’t we write a contract in the beginning? The cult and the palace decided to form an alliance…”

“What?! You signed a contract as if you were the representative of the palace!”

Dan Jucheon asked back flustered.

It was absurd that the prince, who had no authority, signed a contract.

‘Noisy.’

Because of Marakim’s intervention, Chun Yeowun sighed as he looked at them arguing.

‘This is a success.’

Dan Jucheon, who thought Chun Yeowun sighed at Baekhyun’s words, felt happy.

This was his goal.

When the outsider, the Lord of the Demonic Cult, killed Baekhyun for signing a false contract in front of everyone, he could smile.

He had to keep making Baekhyun look like an idiot and make sure that Chun Yeowun wouldn’t interfere.

“Baekhyun, if you get help from an outsider, even when you get that divine object, do you think the palace will follow you?”

“That’s funny. Then why are you asking Lord Chun to hand it over? Isn’t it because you can violate the ordinance with the order?”

The people who were behind mumbled.

The order was something no one could escape.

“The order?”

Baekhyun answered the question of Chun yeowun.

“It is something left behind by the founders of the palace. That those who get the divine object will be recognized as the true king of the palace.”

This was the reason why the two of them were trying to hold the staff.

Most of the royals were blood relatives, but they couldn’t aim for the throne.

The king would now get decided by whom Chun Yeowun passes the staff to.

Dan Jucheon hurriedly tried to persuade him.

“Lord Chun! Please make the right decision. What good will it do to hand over the divine object to that kid? If you give me the divine object, the palace will fully support your faction!”

Dan Jucheon used the practical approach.

At least he showed that Baekhyun had no power.

It meant that the prince had no power apart from the support of the council and the guards.

“Lord Chun! Don’t fall for this man’s words!

Baekhyun and the others pleaded with Chun Yeowun.

Both sides were the same.

However, the words which came out of Chun Yeowun’s mouth broke everyone’s expectations.

“Did you say that the one who holds this staff is the true king of the Ice Palace?”

“Y-yes.”

“But the staff is in my hands.”

‘!?’

Both Dan Jucheon and Baekhyun were stunned at Chun Yeowun’s words.