Chapter 24 : Snowy King (2)
Chapter 24: Snowy King (2)
Ubol charged in with full power from the start.
It was an unrefined blade technique, but it was his own, built on a solid foundation.
A loose style that vaguely reminded one of thugs from the marketplace.
It was in stark contrast to what Hindir had said about Ubol beginning to discard those aspects of himself.
Kanin, who had sneered at it, realized after dodging two, three attacks.
The chilling, sharp killing intent embedded within it….
Ubol had gained composure through his sparring with Moritz.
Had Kanin noticed the feint even a bit later and tried to deal with it barehanded, he could have been in serious trouble.
So in the end, despite his earlier boasting, he immediately drew his sword.
Tzzz―
Just then, Kanin felt a cold energy stealthily creeping beneath his feet and stomped to shatter it.
"A bastard who ran from his family because he hated them can’t let go of his family’s power, huh!"
Kanin mocked, but deep down, unease began to grow.
It wasn't strange for Ubol to use Ice-Blood Qi, as he had the blood of the family.
But for someone who fled before properly learning the technique to wield it this precisely—now that was strange.
“Heh, it’s not the family’s—it's my own power that I obtained.”
“How dare you!”
A snowstorm rose around Kanin, wrapping the area in white.
Ubol still couldn’t wield Ice-Blood Qi as well as Kanin.
But he could use its power well enough.
He too was a child of the snowfields, carrying cold blood—and he threw himself into the storm to prove it.
Tadadang―!
The snowstorm outside made visibility poor, but the constant clash of steel signaled that the real battle had begun.
“Did you lead Ubol all the way there?”
The Snowy King asked as if impressed.
“I only showed him the path.”
“That’s the hardest part—knowing the path, and persuading someone to walk it.”
The Snowy King said that and glanced at Moritz.
“Now I understand why the Second General never returned.”
“Doesn’t it bother you?”
“Of course. As you know, both the Second General and Ubol are exceptionally talented. With proper preparation and the right opportunity, they could soar high. It’s a shame that it didn’t happen through me, but someone else.”
“You seem oddly calm for someone saying that.”
“That’s because I’ve realized your path might not be so different from mine.”
Even Hindir was quite surprised by that.
“When I first heard about you, I just thought you were some reckless brat who rolled in from the continent. That there was someone in this backwater calling himself a king? I figured I’d crush that ridiculous clown and take the title for myself—like many others have tried before. But after hearing from Mans and learning where you came from, my thoughts changed.”
“Why?”
“Why would a barbarian who escaped from Snow Dragon Valley target the Seolyandan? It means they need the Seolyandan. Why would they need it? There’s only one answer.”
“You said our paths aren't so different. That means you're also after Parno?”
“One day.”
“Why take such a risk?”
“Because my roots also lie in Snow Dragon Valley.”
For Hindir, that was answer enough.
Then suddenly, he noticed Mans standing in the back.
Despite the tension, the atmosphere between the two wasn’t bad, which made Mans visibly anxious.
“You could’ve handled this alone, so why go along with that guy’s act?”
Hindir asked, jerking his chin toward Mans.
“Well, he has his uses. Do you know how exhausting it is to manage the underlings? Especially those thugs? Mans is good at sweet-talking people.”
“You…”
Mans’s face twisted with humiliation.
This wasn’t the image he had imagined.
The savage was using him instead—something he could never admit.
Watching Ubol and Kanin’s fight, the Snowy King asked Hindir.
“Who do you think will win?”
“As I told Ubol, you never know until they actually fight.”
“You know this fight won’t be easy.”
“If I thought it would be, I never would’ve started and just run away.”
“Cautious, yet reckless. Those seem like opposites, yet somehow you embody both. Is that something born from experience?”
People nearby weren't sure if they were still talking about Ubol and Kanin’s fight—or about Hindir and the Snowy King themselves.
Or perhaps something else entirely.
“Let’s speak frankly.”
The Snowy King turned his head to face Hindir.
“If you can give me certainty, I might step down from the Snowy King’s throne.”
“Snowy King!”
Mans gasped and jumped in, but the Snowy King didn’t even glance at him as he raised his hand to stop him.
“This conversation doesn’t concern you.”
“Why not? I’ve played a clear role in bringing the Seolyandan this far—”
“I’m not talking about child’s play like the Seolyandan.”
“What…”
Shocked, Mans’s smile completely disappeared, but the Snowy King’s gaze remained fixed solely on Hindir.
“Well? Can you give me that certainty?”
This wasn’t a question one could answer rashly.
And it wasn’t one with a definitive answer.
Kwaang!
A shockwave strong enough to shake the ground burst from the center of the battlefield, along with a blast of intense cold.
Frost even formed momentarily on the liquor inside Hindir’s cup.
Though the heat quickly melted it.
Hindir, brushing aside any regrets, downed the drink in one go.
Then he looked at Ubol, who knelt on one knee, covered in blood.
He looked just like a defeated man—but the sight of Kanin across from him said otherwise.
Rising tall was a crimson ice flower.
It wasn’t the Blood-Ice Flower Hindir remembered.
It was rough and wild.
The stems of ice had grown however they pleased, looking a bit grotesque.
But wasn’t that just how wildflowers were?
“Hmm.”
Seeing the result of the fight, the Snowy King nodded.
“A truly brilliant answer.”
“What you wanted was resolve, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
Kanin was defeated.
That was as good as a declaration of war against Parno, and now Hindir and Ubol could no longer back out.
After hearing Hindir's words, the Snowy King immediately turned to Mans and said,
“Mans. Go to the Parno family and deliver the message. The Lesser Branch Head has lost in a life-or-death match.”
“To me, that sounds like you’re telling me to commit suicide.”
“Why start whining now? With that silver tongue of yours, you'll manage to survive. And your face isn’t too bad either. The others might get their heads chopped off just for stepping into the territory.”
“…What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking of throwing a big party.”
The Snowy King grinned as he looked back at Hindir.
“Do you like alcohol?”
“Funny question after all you’ve seen.”
Hindir chuckled as he replied.
A huge celebration broke out at Choranchai.
A large fire was lit in the center of the base with all sorts of meat roasting, and those who could play instruments livened up the mood.
Some were dancing, some were gambling, and in other corners, fistfights broke out.
“Shit, this hurts like hell.”
Of course, some people could do nothing but groan in pain amidst the chaos.
Duar felt a rare sense of comfort as he found people similar to himself, while Moritz quietly picked at the food.
Hindir sat in his quarters, drinking nonstop with the Snowy King.
The Snowy King did most of the talking, mainly about how the Seolyandan was structured and how hard it was to handle all the lunatics.
It almost seemed like a debriefing, but neither of them was consciously aware of that.
Then suddenly, the Snowy King shifted the topic.
“You probably guessed it already, but I have barbarian blood in me. Though that must be from a distant ancestor. That’s why you and I look so different. Still, my father always told me never to forget our roots. The glorious past of the Barbarians, the stories of great warriors, and so on. Are you familiar with them?”
The history of Charun coming from someone who wasn't a descendant of Charun.
Among the actual slave-born descendants, such stories were never told, but hearing them now from an outsider—it felt oddly unsettling.
“To be honest, I didn’t believe it. How could such people now live in such misery? But as I grew, something began to stir inside me. I came to think of it as destiny and duty.”
“It must’ve been a hard life.”
“Indeed. There were countless dangers before I could earn the name of Snowy King. I nearly died fighting the Parno Family Head himself. But in the end, the Head acknowledged me, and I made it this far. Still, as long as barbarian blood flows in me, this relationship can’t last forever.”
Hindir drank in silence.
The Snowy King had misunderstood one thing.
He was not a descendant of Charun.
History had long proven that anyone with even a trace of Charun blood lacked a dantian.
But the Snowy King possessed immense mana, which meant he was purely human.
Still, Hindir didn’t bother pointing it out and spoil the moment.
If the man considered himself Charun, that was enough.
After all, the essence of Charun was the Life of a Warrior, and the Snowy King was indeed a fine warrior.
“Why did you bother keeping Ubol around?”
“Because in the Snowfields, Parno’s power is absolute. I thought if the boy grew strong enough, he could lend weight to the Seolyandan and my will. But over time, he failed to properly contain his energy and kept leaking it everywhere—I couldn’t keep him in the Main Temple. So I cast him out.”
“Smart move. The First General probably noticed and would’ve tried to use him for his own ends.”
“Exactly. And the kid had a nasty temper, constantly clashing with that side—it was a major headache. I was planning to deal with him at some point, and that’s how it ended. I didn’t expect the Lesser Branch Head to die, though. Honestly, I didn’t think Ubol would win.”
“Snowy King. Do you want Parno to fall?”
“No. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have kept Ubol alive.”
He firmly shook his head.
“Regardless, they are the family with the longest history in the Great Snowfields. I may not know what it’s like to take their place, but I know what it means when they’re gone. For the sake of order in the Snowfields, they must remain. I don’t want my homeland falling into ruin.”
“Don’t you think that’s something only an outsider could say?”
“Being outside lets me see Parno’s existence more clearly. My rise to power, your targeting of me—wasn’t all that ultimately for a conversation with Parno?”
The more Hindir saw of him, the more admirable he seemed.
Of course, Hindir’s ties to Parno were rooted elsewhere—but the Snowy King could never know that.
Even so, the man had sensed Hindir’s intentions, showing insight beyond the norm.
“But with the Lesser Branch Head dead, I doubt we can avoid an all-out war.”
At Hindir’s words, the Snowy King smacked his lips and dropped a surprising statement.
“This is just my guess, but that guy wasn’t the true successor.”
“Hm?”
“No matter how I think about it, I can’t see the Parno Family Head choosing a brat like him to inherit the family. There’s probably someone else meant to take over. That punk caused trouble every time he left the fortress, yet they kept sending him out? Doesn’t that seem strange?”
“Maybe they kept sending him out to die.”
“Exactly. Not that they could say that outright. Parno is still Parno, after all.”
“Got any plans?”
“I do. But I won’t share them with you. Strictly speaking, we’re not allies, are we? Let’s just enjoy ourselves for now.”
“Haha, sounds good.”
After that, the two drank together deep into the night.
And the next morning, their subordinates witnessed their king passed out with a face as red as Hindir’s.
Meanwhile, Hindir walked out perfectly fine and left for Snow Dragon Valley to train…
“No way! Is that true?”
“There’s no way Snowy King could lose in a drinking match!”
“He had to have cheated!”
Amid the uproar, Duar moved quickly through the crowd collecting money.
“Come on now, what cheating? What did I say? All you loudmouths are whining now!”
With the bets collected, Duar went to find one person quietly resting alone.
The only winner aside from the host himself.
“Here you go, General.”
Moritz silently accepted the bulging pouch of coins.