Chapter 50 : Parno’s Nightmare (2)
Chapter 50: Parno’s Nightmare (2)
The two elders clicked their tongues at Hindir’s outrageous provocation.
They had heard he was formidable, but seeing him in person, he didn’t seem all that impressive.
Still, they thought such boldness couldn’t come without real strength.
How dare a Barbarian speak such blasphemy right in front of them.
In this era, slavery was officially forbidden.
While many still lived as virtual slaves under different names, and many others still used them, at least on the surface, that was the law.
Especially for nobles who placed great value on honor, such customs were even more sensitive—and Parno was no exception.
They had long used Barbarians as slaves.
Certainly, it was wrong, but they had always masked it as just and necessary.
Those primitive, barbaric people were too dangerous to release into the world, and it was the nobles' benevolence that took them in—so they claimed.
In other words, Hindir’s current attitude was utterly unacceptable.
It flew in the face of all the denial and rationalization Parno had long built up.
Barbarians had to remain Barbarians.
They always needed to be ignorant and foolish.
Only then could Parno maintain its honor from the past into the future.
But still, they hadn’t moved yet.
Clearly, he was dangerous.
And since Zircas had earnestly pleaded with them, they decided to wait and observe for now.
Of course, Hindir didn’t hold back.
“Judging by your prayer, the old man must be the former Family Head, and the one on the right… seeing he isn’t standing in the middle, is he just a shell of the former Family Head? A stand-in to die in his place? Or maybe a decoy Family Head to die on the surface?”
At Hindir’s blatant words, Zircas frowned and glanced back at the two behind him.
Then he let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“He is the former Family Head and his shadow. Don’t speak lightly of the weight of sacrifice they bear.”
He had revealed a family secret, but the two didn’t stop him.
They must have figured they could simply kill to silence him.
Even if they had kept it hidden, he would’ve died anyway—so Zircas chose to tell the truth.
“I don’t know how you defeated the Family Head, but overconfidence will be your poison. Do you think that’s the full extent of Parno’s strength?”
“Hmm. For all that, it’s been awfully quiet, hasn’t it? I lost patience and came here myself.”
“Boy. Even if Parno punished you with all its might, what would we gain? Killing you for revenge would only drag our honor into the mud.”
At those words, Hindir scoffed, and Zircas continued.
“Right. What would a Barbarian know of a noble’s stance? Our situation, fighting while preserving our honor, must seem laughable to you. But for the noble-born of this world, such things are of great importance. No one cares about some hidden Barbarians in the Great Snowfields, but they’re deeply interested in the Ice Crystals they mine.”
Zircas looked Hindir straight in the eye as he spoke.
“This world is vast and complex. It’s not just a matter between us—our family’s enterprise is in serious trouble too. We’ve had no time to bother with you. Can you understand that? The difference between us, who have much to lose and much already lost, and you, who have nothing left to lose. …You should’ve stayed in the wilds. Why come here of all places? What gives you that kind of confidence?”
Zircas’s long speech.
But Hindir knew the real message was in the final line.
‘He came here to die.’
At last, Hindir began to speak.
“All that ‘pure bloodline’ nonsense... it’s laughable. The benefactor becomes a slave, while the true Parno is treated like a beast. It wasn’t until I came here that I saw how far Parno had truly fallen. I still held onto a sliver of hope.”
“……”
“But I don’t think it’s too late. If Parno chooses the right path even now, it can still shine as brightly as in the distant past.”
“What do you know?”
“I know. Oh, I know.”
Hindir slowly rose to his feet.
Facing him, Zircas felt as though lava erupted and a volcano had awakened from just that simple movement.
“The old man was right. I had nothing left to lose. I had already lost everything. But recently, I got it back—and that’s why we’re able to talk like this. Otherwise, I’d have already gone mad and rampaged.”
Hindir lifted his head and looked back at the two elders, whose anger seemed ready to explode.
“The Family Head left a final message.”
“What…?”
“In his last moment, he asked for forgiveness.”
Zircas’s face hardened.
“You bastard… you call that a last will? How far do you intend to mock us?”
“No. He wasn’t begging for his life. He was asking for mercy—for Parno.”
For a moment, Zircas was at a loss for words.
His years and experience told him Hindir was telling the truth.
Which made it all the more shocking.
Forgive Parno?
Zircas couldn’t grasp the meaning of those words.
But as he turned to look at the elders who came with him, he could see confusion on their faces too.
‘There’s something here.’
Zircas shut his eyes tightly.
‘…I am a Wolf of Parno. Remember that.’
With that renewed resolve, Zircas answered.
“We don’t know what you know or believe. Whether it’s a delusion or a hidden truth, no one can say. Barbarians have lived under Parno’s rule for centuries. Are you digging up something from hundreds of years ago that we don’t even know about?”
“I know now. And so did the Family Head.”
Hindir pointed behind him with his chin.
“And it seems they know too.”
“!”
An explosive force burst forth, a fierce chill rushing toward Hindir.
An attack that didn’t care what happened to Zircas standing in front of him.
Zircas, already prepared, reached out to grab Hindir without hesitation.
Thwack—
But faster than that, Hindir’s arm swung, and Zircas went flying far away.
Crack-crack—
In an instant, Hindir’s entire body was encased in ice.
Two others descended before him, aiming their swords at his heart and head.
Crack—!
With a surge of heat, the ice encasing Hindir shattered.
He easily deflected both swords with his hands, causing the elders’ brows to furrow at once.
“So this is Parno’s answer?”
Instead of replying, they summoned ever-changing ice weapons and swung them at Hindir.
“Understood.”
At that response, Hindir took a powerful step forward.
Boom—
With that single stomp, the ice field they had created shattered.
"That arrogance you can't put down."
Grabbing the falling ice sword and spear, Hindir finally began to face the two elders properly.
No—he began to push them back.
"That is your mistake."
Boom— Boom—
As Hindir walked forward, the elders clenched their teeth and unleashed their Ice-Blood Qi.
Even if their physical abilities had declined from their prime, the mana and enlightenment they possessed in their Ice-Blood Qi were superior to that of the deceased Family Head.
But what meaning did that have against Hindir, who had already defeated the Family Head?
It was a difference as insignificant as a drop in the ocean.
There was no way they could handle Hindir, who had grown incomparably stronger than back then.
"Stop!"
At that moment, Zircas, who had been thrown far away earlier, reentered the fray and shouted.
Yet, even with his addition to the joint assault, Hindir's steps did not falter.
Like a man determined to breach the outer walls, he kept advancing, pushing the three of them back.
"Are you really throwing yourselves into death like moths to a flame? You said you'd reclaimed what you'd lost, so why do something you'll regret again?"
Now Zircas no longer cared about how others saw him as he spilled out his true feelings.
He remembered their previous conversation.
He didn’t dislike Hindir as a person.
But more than that, he had pinned hopes on the Ice Flower that would bloom brilliantly from Hindir’s power.
"Was everything you said and vowed just empty boasting?!"
He shouted until his throat felt like it would tear, but Zircas’s energy was as murderous as ever.
Though his emotions were desperate, his resolve to die as a man of Parno did not waver.
Fweeeeeeet—
Across the domain, a shrill whistle pierced the air.
At the same time, torches began to blaze atop the castle walls.
As if the light rushed forth on its own, torches lit one by one all the way to the inner fortress.
Then the inner fortress gates opened, and wolves began to pour out.
But Hindir kept walking.
Forward, and forward again.
He continued on to destroy the structure that was no different from a symbol of Parno—an iceberg fortress towering high above.
Meanwhile, the combined assault of the three elders failed to stop Hindir even for a single step...
Their plan to halt him immediately had already crumbled.
And now, they couldn’t even salvage their pride.
If Hindir passed through the inner fortress, even if he was killed afterward, the shame would be indelible.
They had to reduce it to nothing more than the foolish stride of a dumb Barbarian.
"Deploy the Twilight Ice Seal Formation!"
At the Former Family Head’s command, the wolves stood in layered ranks and raised their swords.
And as they began to emit cold energy, the freezing storm of Snow Dragon Valley unfolded.
But Hindir had already become one who roamed Snow Dragon Valley like it was his own home.
With mere steps, he shattered the Twilight Ice Seal Formation, driving them into further panic.
"You bastard! Can’t you stop?!"
Then, Zircas threw away his weapon and lunged at Hindir, as if to cling onto him.
It was a cowardly move... but his goal was to grab even just Hindir’s pant leg, risking his life.
If—just maybe—Hindir hesitated to strike him down, then in that gap...
But the moment he saw Hindir’s fist fly right toward his face, all his courage vanished, leaving only instinct.
What that fist held was not power—but fear.
"Guh!"
Zircas instinctively raised his arms like lightning and created an ice barrier to block the punch.
BANG—!
With a thunderous roar, his vision went black.
Crash—
BOOM!
He rolled helplessly across the ground, smashing through several houses before finally coming to a halt, groaning from somewhere deep within.
'M-My arm…'
One of his arms wasn’t just crushed—it had been torn clean off.
He had thought he’d defended in time...
But that wasn’t a mistake.
He had defended in time—and he had succeeded.
That’s why his head was still intact, though he didn’t realize it.
"Ugh..."
After using Ice-Blood Qi to stop the bleeding from the exploded area, he staggered to his feet.
'I must stop him. No matter what, I must stop him…'
Now he truly understood Hindir’s heart—and his strength.
Then how could that raging wrath be quelled?
He rushed back to the battlefield.
But the moment he saw the blood-soaked main road…
'Did I… lose consciousness?'
What he thought was a brief blackout had actually been a considerable stretch of time—he realized that only after witnessing the devastation.
The Former Family Head’s Shadow, his skull grotesquely deformed, lay embedded in the ground.
And the Former Family Head, kneeling with a gaping hole in his abdomen.
There was no sign of life from either of them.
They weren’t the only ones.
The bodies of those who had tried to stop Hindir were sprawled all along the road, and Hindir was still walking slowly ahead.
The wolves that survived were still forming their formation as trained—but since they were simply following Hindir’s movement, how could it be said they had him surrounded?
But Zircas understood that feeling better than anyone.
This was a monster that had blown away his arm and consciousness with a single strike.
A being who had not stopped even under the joint assault of the Former Family Head and his Shadow.
An unstoppable advance.
It was, indeed, the March of Dominion.
‘A nightmare. If this isn’t a nightmare, then what is?’
Zircas’s gaze turned to the inner fortress.
The gates opened, and reinforcements poured out from within.
Among them were direct descendants of the family.
Bravely… and tragically, they still had pride left in them.
“N-No…!”
Zircas moved like a man possessed.
Perhaps his reason had been consumed by fear.
Even if there were casualties, he had still thought it could be handled.
He believed that if he gave up his life, he could somehow make it work.
‘No!’
There wasn’t a shred of falsehood in Hindir’s words.
‘It was Parno that had basked in mercy!’
The Family Head’s final words… his warning—he now understood them.
The Family Head had known Hindir was the inferno that would burn down the family.
“No! Stop!”
Zircas, the only one who had fully cast aside his pride, shouted desperately and moved his legs.
Hindir was walking silently, so there was plenty of time to catch up.
But… Parno was charging in too fast.
“Stop! Stop! We… we’ve lost! Please, show mercy…!”
He waved his arm desperately, but with only one left, perhaps they couldn’t see him.
Parno’s domain had begun to burn.
But there was no heat.
Because the blood-tears he shed were the flames, and the blood of his family scattered like sparks.