Salleine

## Background Story

They used to call him many names - Iron Blooded King, Lord Protector, Powerful Minister, Dictator... and many others. The later generations held mixed opinions about him. Some viewed him as the eternal hero of the Empire and the mastermind who singlehandedly led the Empire toward prosperity. Others however accused him of attempting to usurp the throne, claiming that he had previously conspired against Emperor Fritz II for the throne.

His name was viewed as taboo by royalty, who forbade anyone from talking about him. Yet, like a wildfire, his name still spread throughout the Empire. Everyone knew who he was, and even after several centuries, people are still filled with awe whenever he is mentioned - Salleine Dawn.

However, in historical records that claim to be absolutely true, the existence of Salleine had been wiped out by the writers of history - he was formerly the younger cousin of Fritz I, as well as his strategist and most capable assistant.

Salleine often stayed behind the scenes, controlling battles through his beloved eagle, Samhain, and providing all kinds of devious schemes to Fritz I who was at the frontline leading soldiers. This ensured that they were victorious regardless of the circumstances they encountered. Behind almost every battle, the traces of Salleine could be found.

Salleine's contribution toward unification was immeasurable. After the founding of the Empire, he rightfully stood at the center of imperial power. Fritz I regarded this brother of his very highly and relinquished a lot of his authority over to him.

In the stories passed down in later generations, nearly all the people thought that Salleine was arrogant and domineering. However, they failed to understand Salleine and also underestimated his ambition. What he truly desired was to personally create a mighty regime.

A regime strong enough to overwhelm any enemy.

However, it was truly a pity that Salleine's vision did not come to fruition. The sudden passing of Fritz I caused the Empire that had been peaceful for decades to descend into chaos.

The young heir, Fritz II, was unable to convince the masses. The greedy nobles who were lying in wait turned their eyes toward the throne. To the distant northern borders, the Barbarians who had remained quiet for many years also took advantage of the emperor's passing to mount an all-out attack which tried to topple the Empire's rule.

With royal power unstable and the borders in crisis, the Empire needed someone to take the reigns and preside over such internal and external turmoil. Without a doubt, only Salleine could fulfill this role.

Salleine became the Empire's regent. He started a bloody purge in Mirlond City, ruthlessly cleansing numerous nobles and officials who had sinister ploys. He used this as a showcase of his iron fist rule to the masses. He also kept all authority firmly in his grasp.

Once the internal affairs had stabilized, news of the northern army's defeat arrived. The Barbarians had breached the border's defense and were swiftly making their way to the capital.

Therefore, after many years, Salleine once again donned his armor as he personally led the army into battle against the Barbarians.

Initially, facing the Barbarians who were several times greater in numbers than the army, no one believed that Salleine would emerge victorious. The new emperor had even prepared to escape.

However, he succeeded. After paying the painful price of half the army and an arm, Salleine emerged victorious. No one knew he had done it, but it had indeed happened.

When news of the victory reached the capital, the prestige of the regent reached unprecedented heights amoung the cheering citizens.

This caused the strong discontentment of Fritz II. Having lived in the shadow of Salleine for such a long time, he built up intense scorn toward him. He had even secretly hoped that Salleine would die on the battlefield...

These evil thoughts were keenly discovered by Nekahlis - the leader of the Mage Council and a master of black magic. He was also someone who was overly ambitious and coveted the position of greatest authority within the Empire. Under the slanders of Nekhalis, Fritz II quickly made the decision to take back the power that belonged to him.

Fritz II decided to eliminate Salleine during the banquet that was to celebrate his return. This was his best chance as it was now while Salleine was still exhausted from the war and overjoyed due to the victory that he would let down his guard slightly.

Salleine accepted the banquet invitation and only went with the indispensable Samhain.

As the banquet started, hundreds of the emperor's personal guards and magicians who were laying in ambush immediately surrounded Salleine upon the command of Fritz II. The unarmed Salleine seemed completely defenseless.

Seeing that power was within his grasp, Fritz II could not help but roar with laughter. In his eyes, this middle-aged man with a missing ark was akin to prey waiting to be slaughtered.

Salleine did not say anything and simply stared coldly at the actions of Fritz II. Sensing the undisguised killing intent of Fritz II, Salleine could only let out a sigh.

Hidden within his sigh was his dissapointment in this heir to the throne.

The temperature at the banquet area fell drastically. Salleine quickly condensed an arm made of ice where his missing arm used to be. With the swing of his arm, a strange ice storm was conjured out of thin air, sweeping through the entire palace in an instant.

The surrounding guards and magicians reacted very quickly, pouncing towards Salleine, hoping to contain him. However, this proved to be futile as before they had managed to even touch him, the extreme coldness had already sealed all of them in ice.

"How dare you-!" Standing next to Fritz II, Nekahlis immediately sensed the origin of this strength - Salleine had actually dared to rely upon the terrors that had caused the Empire to suffer in the past to ensure the Empire's victory...

Salleine glanced around and his eyes finally stopped on Nekahlis. He was the only person present who could withstand the extreme coldness. Salleine could sense the dangers of Nekahlis' black magic.

The extreme coldness immediately enveloped Nekahlis and he retaliated with his black magic without hesitation. Salleine was shocked to realize that the other party's black magic could actually compete with his strength.

The two powerful forces of magic crashed against one another, resulting in a violent explosion that nearly rendered the entire palace into nothingness.

The smoke slowly dissipated, but Nekahlis was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, Salleine heard a sharp screech! This was the warning from Samhain. It was a sound that he had heard numerous times when he was in danger.

Dark magic energy that emitted a deathly glow attacked from the shadows behind Salleine. This was an extremely despicable sneak attack as by the time Salleine could react, Nekahlis' black magic was nearly at his heart!

Right at this moment, Samhain who was hovering in the air dived down swiflty and protected the chest of Salleine. Under the impact of black magic, Samhain crashed heavily to the ground with a bitter cry.

However, it was this block that earned Salleine the chance to retaliate.

A raging storm was swiftly conjured and it instantly turned Nekahlis who had been hiding in the shadows into shreds. Salleine was also struck by black magic at the same time, which knocked him back and nearly penetrated his heart...

Salleine, who was lying on the ground in his final breaths looked up at the gloomy sky grudgingly.

He had already foreseen that one day, the prosperous Empire he personally built would be destroyed in the hands of the incompetent.

He refused to accept it!

Using the last bit of his magic, Salleine sealed himself in ice to repair his damaged heart. Right before he fell into slumber, Salleine swore to himself - the day he wakes up will be the day he regains authority over the Empire.

Then, he will lead the Empire on the path to prosperity once again.

## Hero Skills

 Frigid Icicle
 Rimecage (Passive)
 Icy-Assault (Passive)

## Hero Lines

* *I once forged the Empire's glory with my own hands. Now I will take it back.*

* *Your time of reckoning has come.*

* *Mercy is worth nothing. Power is the way of life.*

* *Fear the cold!*