Chapter 81 : If You Want to See It Once
Chapter 81-Unedited: If You Want to See It Once
Snow poured down. It was a blizzard.
His feet sank deeply, making every step a struggle. The wind that blew with a vicious howl was no different from blades that froze everything in their path.
Across that frigid land, Gillian Aint left his footprints.
Huuuu—
White breath billowed out.
Ruff ruff ruff—
The dogs pulling the sled halted. Beyond their fierce growls were Ice Trolls, crowding forward with their eyes fixed on prey.
Gillian raised his axe. A grin curled at his lips, and greed flickered in his eyes.
“Money! Be careful so the blood doesn’t get damaged!”
“Yes!”
The White Eagle Assault Unit roared. Weapons in hand, they charged.
Kwaaang—
Monsters and humans collided. Ridiculously enough, the victors were the humans.
The trolls shrieked. Viscous blood and exploded flesh splattered in every direction.
“Kahahahaha!”
Gillian stood at the front. Swinging his massive axe like a windmill, he cut through a troll’s neck. Red blood stained the pure white snow.
Everything—destruction and crimson aura—mixed with blood.
Chuk—
Fifteen Ice Trolls turned into corpses, no, into money, in a matter of seconds. Gillian slung his axe onto his back again.
“Load them all on the sled without leaving a single one behind. Don’t spill even a drop of blood! If you do, I’ll replace it with your blood, so keep that in mind!”
“Our blood doesn’t sell for anything though!”
“But it’ll lighten the captain’s mood.”
“Kahahaha!”
Corpses were stacked onto the sled. They had to walk as a result, but no one complained.
They continued across the snowy plains. Monsters that popped up from time to time only increased the weight of the sled.
“We see the Blue Rock Tribe ahead!”
“We’ve finally arrived!”
Gillian whistled. As they neared the tribe, people who had come out to greet them could be seen.
“Welcome.”
“Thank you for receiving us, Chief.”
“We’ve prepared a banquet. Come in.”
“Thank you.”
A festival involving the entire tribe began. They slaughtered their livestock, the snow sheep of the snowfield tribes, and roasted the meat. Drinks made from sheep’s milk were placed before everyone.
“To the eternal harmony between the White Eagle Assault Unit and the Blue Rock Tribe!”
“To harmony!”
The feast continued through the night. The White Eagle Assault Unit and the tribe mingled in a drunken haze.
Gillian, thoroughly drunk, held out a bottle to the chief.
“Chief, allow me to pour you a drink.”
“Thank you.”
Clink—
After they exchanged a drink, Gillian whispered.
“You made the right choice.”
“···I still do not know. Whether I have made the right choice.”
“Of course it’s the right choice. You know better than anyone, don’t you? There’s nothing to live on in this damned snowfield. The environment is terrible, monsters appear practically every day. And if we try to move south for better land, those damned imperial bastards glare and block our way.”
“That is true, but···.”
“We may die fighting or freeze to death, but at the very least, we shouldn’t starve. Not you, not the tribespeople, not the future tribespeople.”
“Hmph, that is true.”
However.
The chief hesitated.
“Our opponent is the Demon King.”
“You know this, don’t you? In the distant past, perhaps in the early days when the Demon King first descended, she may have been different. But the current Demon King is no longer an absolute being. And frankly, I think even then, much of that fear came from the unknown.”
“But one cannot deny she is powerful. Do you believe we can control her?”
“We won’t be controlling her. She’ll fall into her own swamp.”
He had prepared extensively while planning this. Gillian could confidently say he knew more about the Tower of Frost and the Demon King of Frost than anyone else.
“First, the Demon King does not leave the tower.”
There were exceptions—like when she kidnapped royalty—but never for battle.
“Second, she does not come down from the top of the tower.”
“I know that much. But if the Demon King learns of your plan, do you think she will still adhere to her rules?”
“She will. That’s not a rule—it’s a doctrine.”
He knew well the fanatic obsession of the demons he had fought. It was a faith they would uphold no matter what.
“But···.”
“Of course she’ll make other moves. That’s why we need the help of multiple tribes. So we can prepare for any possible outcome. And also because I don’t want the tribes of my homeland to starve to death.”
“···We’ve already agreed to participate, so there’s nothing more to say. I can only trust you.”
“Yes. I promise I won’t disappoint. The Demon King of Frost will become the owner of a farm that supplies monsters for us.”
“Pour me another drink.”
The drinking deepened.
“So they plan to use the barbarian tribes of the snowfield···.”
Reina Sordein had never seen Gillian Aint in person. But from the top of the tower, she had watched him and the members of the White Eagle Assault Unit who invaded it.
A towering figure over two meters tall, muscles harder than most metals, and a violently raging red aura—he was the northern barbarian incarnate.
If someone like him joined forces with the snowfield barbarians, even Reina couldn’t overlook it.
“My Lady. Gillian Aint and the White Eagle Assault Unit are said to be heading for the territory of the Blue Rock Tribe.”
“They have already contacted several other tribes as well.”
Her adjutant, Nina, entered holding documents.
“Berje was right.”
Reina Sordein had no interest in external or continental affairs, nor in the political interests of nations.
But within her own domain, the snowfields, she exerted overwhelming influence.
For a long time, she had tamed the monsters of the snowfield as her vassals and set the Frost demons loose to manage them.
She could not claim the entire snowfield as her territory. But it was true that no one could completely escape her influence.
Thanks to that, the movements of the White Eagle were caught by her.
They surely never expected she would use monsters as her surveillance.
“Counting the Blue Rock Tribe, nine tribes have aligned with them···. If all of their warriors step forward, how many would that be?”
“Over 1,200.”
“That is a lot.”
The northern tribes that made up the snowy plains were all barbarians, not humans.
They were born with inherently superior bodies, and their sensitivity to aura was exceptional. Each one of them was a natural-born warrior. They were a force that could never be dismissed.
“If Gillian Aint and the White Eagle joined forces, things could become quite dangerous.”
“I would not lose to something of that level.”
“But he didn’t look like someone who intended to climb to the peak.”
Yes, that was the problem.
If he climbed with the intention of killing her, she could simply kill him.
“It doesn’t mean there is no way.”
If they were gathering strength to test the waters, then destroying that strength would be enough.
“I have shown mercy until now.”
Following Jason’s advice, she had refrained from provoking humans unnecessarily.
Her tolerating the northern tribes was also because of that. The barbarians who protected the northern region of the Zespine Empire and handled the monsters crossing from the snowy plains were receiving a certain amount of attention within the empire.
But if they were the ones to cross the line first—
“It should be fine to show them at least an example.”
“To whom shall the task be assigned?”
“···Deliver the message to Lord Armani.”
Where would be best?
“The target is here. The day after the White Eagle leaves the tribe.”
Reina tapped one point on the map of the snowy plains. It was the Blue Rock Tribe, believed to be where the White Eagle Assault Unit was currently staying.
“Tell him to make sure they understand clearly what price awaits those who dare betray my mercy first.”
“I shall obey.”
Reina released a faint killing intent. Nina bowed her head.
While the northern snowy plains seemed to thirst for blood, the snow-covered mountain had actually begun to lose its tension.
“···When are they coming?”
Yaaawn.
Berje let out a long, lazy yawn.
『···They are still preparing.』
Granada’s report did not sit well with him.
He had already installed cannons at points where avalanches were easy to trigger. He had identified the activity zones and dwelling areas of several monsters and was ready to lure them.
Yet even after two weeks, they showed no intention of moving.
“How long do they plan to keep preparing?”
『They are extremely wary of you, Demon King.』
“Why?”
Outwardly, Berje had shown nothing directly.
He had blocked Hillan Cargill’s hero party, but that was known as them self-destructing in front of the Ergest Mountains.
Because they had announced that they ultimately failed to find the tower.
『···Well. My apologies, but…』
After hesitating a moment, Granada confessed everything. In short, their wariness had intensified to the extreme because of him.
“So that’s all? If you don’t at least say that much, they’d suspect you instead.”
Making deliberate roundabout excuses had become impossible, but it was better than Granada being suspected.
He had only provided the minimal amount of information that wouldn’t harm him.
Even so, the fact that they had deduced something so close to the truth simply meant their heads were sharp.
『Thank you.』
“So they’re still coming in the end. If they’re going to be that scared, they might as well give up climbing altogether.”
Despite not climbing the mountain yet, Hortonwork kept adding magical equipment of all kinds. He’d even heard that their chimeras—called hellhounds—were increasing one by one, so it was only a matter of time before they climbed.
『Yes, that is correct.』
“It feels like sitting next to a bomb that could explode at any moment.”
He didn’t like it. Especially the part where he had to wait passively like this, worrying about their next move.
At that moment, Granada spoke carefully.
『Also, Demon King, there is something I must tell you.』
“Speak.”
『You defeated the Beast Demon King in Tarta with Rozel Charnte, did you not?』
“That’s right.”
『I was there as well, along with Hillan Cargill.』
『And Rozel Charnte was a hero supported by Arkan.』
“Stop circling around it and get to the point.”
『Yes. They asked me about your well-being. I told them you were doing fine for now, but they asked that I pass on a message saying they wished to meet you.』
“Me?”
Were they insane?
A prince and princess wanting to meet a Demon King?
No, that couldn’t be it. That made no sense.
“You mean they want to meet me as Pale, not as the Demon King?”
『Yes.』
“Why?”
『It seems they witnessed the Demon King’s mana that Rozel Charnte took. Through that, stories about you were passed around via Rozel Charnte and the Red Flame Assault Unit.』
“···And that somehow led to this?”
『Yes. And I also obtained an unexpected bit of information. Rozel Charnte has locked herself in her laboratory and has been studying your mana for several days straight.』
“That much I expected.”
The obsession and madness he had sensed from Rozel had been anything but light. A mage’s curiosity had been ignited by the mana of a Phoenix, so naturally she would experiment with it.
The problem was what she would gain from that research.
‘If Rozel Charnte becomes stronger, she’ll become troublesome.’
She was the woman who survived until the end in his past life, burning demons wherever she went.
‘I need to find out how far her research has progressed. And the Kingdom of Arkan···.’
『Demon King?』
Granada’s voice pulled Berje out of his thoughts.
“···What did you say?”
『They said Lavinia Arkan is particularly interested.』
“Lavinia···.”
Before his regression, she was the one who first forced him to kidnap a prince. Her room still hadn’t faded from his memory.
‘If I get entangled with her, it becomes troublesome. Best to avoid her.’
That was common sense. But the core of Arkan’s current power was Lavinia.
Without her—without the chimeras she created—he honestly wouldn’t have had this much reason to worry.
‘Chimeras are a necessary evil left to counter us, huh?’
He hadn’t known that. He thought they were making them simply because they were crazy.
‘I really don’t want to get tangled with Lavinia Arkan···.’
But a Demon King sometimes had to do things he didn’t want to do.
“Granada.”
『Yes, Demon King.』
“Tell them I’ll go.”
『···Pardon?』
“If they want to see me, then I should see them.”
He needed to learn a little about Lavinia Arkan and the chimeras she created.