Chapter 604. Winter Song (3)
Kimaris was riding a huge black horse across the snowy plain. He looked down at his horse’s feet and found that the snow had reached up to its calves.
“What an annoying place,” he muttered.
“...” The Frost Queen didn’t bother to reply. She looked up and saw a figure enveloped in the dark flames of hell flying toward her.
Thud!
“You’re late, Ballak.”
“I went out as soon as possible.”
The two Transcendents greeted each other before turning toward the Frost Queen.
“Is she the famous Frost Queen?”
“Indeed. I guess rumors are truly often exaggerated,” said Kimaris. He wielded his spear and continued. “If those rumors are true, why is she confined to such a remote planet?”
“It’s good to be confident, but you better not let your guard down. Keep in mind that the Archduke sent the both of us here.”
A rumor had spread throughout the universe, and it said that there was a powerful being living on a small planet called Niflheim, somewhere in the periphery of the universe. It was said that any Transcendent was no match for her.
“Frostbringer of Worlds.”
The rumors said that the Frostbringer of Worlds was a monster who had defeated a total of three Transcendents who had attempted to conquer Niflheim.
‘But…’
‘Hmm. I don’t know about that.’
The Frost Queen emitted an inscrutable and indescribably contradictory air.
She looked flawless but full of openings.
Ballak couldn’t help but say, “The benevolent Archduke said that the door is always open for you if you’re willing to change your mind.”
“Benevolent?” the Frost Queen scoffed. “It seems that the word benevolent has a different meaning in the dictionaries outside this planet.”
“...So you refuse. I must admit I think highly of your confidence.”
The Frost Queen stood unblinking and steadfast in the face of two Transcendents. She seemed to be the epitome of poise and confidence, which betrayed her delicate appearance.
“It becomes funnier the more I think about it,” said the Frost Queen. She swept her gaze across the two Transcendents, and the two Transcendents felt that the world had gotten colder under the Frost Queen’s gaze.
“How many of my people do you think you’ve killed?” she asked.
“Kimaris,” Ballak turned to Kimaris and asked, “How many have we killed so far?”
Kimaris shook his head. It had been a long time since Kimaris reached the Transcendent Stage, so everything was meaningless to him. He didn’t have the hobby of counting how many ants below the Star Destruction Stage he had killed so far.
“Why would I know how many of those things I’ve killed?”
“Things?” The Frost Queen’s eyes turned freezing cold. “Get your knees and end your lives. That is the greatest mercy I can show you two.”
Kimaris glanced at Ballak and shrugged at the Frost Queen’s ruthless words.
“As you can see, I’m riding a horse right now. The ground is too far for my knees to reach.”
“Then…”
Flinch!
An unknown chill climbed up the spine of the two Transcendents.
“Come down.”
“...!”
Even the sound waves that carried the Frost Queen’s voice were cold, and it made them feel as if their eardrums would freeze.
Kimaris jumped off his horse and frowned.
‘When did she…?’
His horse had survived even the fiery pits of hell, but it had unknowingly frozen solid.
Kimaris fell into deep thought upon seeing that even his horse’s soul had frozen as well.
‘I guess it wasn’t just a complete rumor.’
‘She’s a tricky opponent. Can she freeze anything with her thoughts alone? Aren’t there any prerequisites?’
The two Transcendents shivered. They had to be wary at all times. A moment of neglect meant that they would become ice statues.
“The people of this nation regard their monarch as their parents,” said the Frost Queen.
The two Transcendents frowned.
The Frost Queen continued. “Wouldn’t it make sense for me to consider them my children?”
The Frost Queen had lost many of her children, so she was understandably angry.
“And that is why you should not be angry at me for what I am about to do.”
Ballak narrowed his eyes upon noticing the subtle change in the Frost Queen’s aura.
“How cheeky. It has been only a few decades since you became a Transcendent.”
“Are you sure about that? Every single one of your children will perish the moment you express your fury.”
The Frost Queen shook her head. “How funny. You only fight when you’re confident, you lower your heads when you aren’t confident of winning? Ah… I see. That must be why you two knelt down and lowered your heads to the Archduke. How pathetic.”
“...”
The pride of the two Transcendents was injured by the Frost Queen’s biting words.
“Well, I guess it is indeed impossible to resolve this by words.”
“You’ve made your bed, so you better lie in it.”
“I will.”
‘I’ll take responsibility, even at the risk of losing everything.’
***
The Seven Counts[1] looked down at the battlefield from the peak of a snowy mountain.
“They’re doing pretty well,” said one of the Counts.
The enemies were doing pretty well even against demons. They had noticed the presence of a hundred knights ruthlessly tearing apart every demon that ran up to them.
The Counts fell into deep contemplation at the sight.
‘They’re holding out much better than I thought.’
‘This is annoying. Should we start moving?’
‘I guess this is great. It would have been boring if they had collapsed so easily.’
The surefire win to victory was using their demon subordinates as consumables along with a ton of demonic creatures to exhaust their enemies’ stamina and strength. It was a dirty method to win a battle like this, but they didn’t feel any guilt.
The Archduke only acknowledged those who brought him results as well.
‘A single drop of blood from the Archduke will give me enough power to beat these bastards sitting next to me.’
‘Seven Counts to share the underworld… there are too many of us.’
‘These bastards next to me are more dangerous than the enemies here.’
No one said it out loud, but everyone was well aware that the Counts wouldn’t hesitate to point their swords at each other if they were given the opportunity to do so.
“Then, I’ll go ahead. Sit down and rest,” said Gorgon.
He stood up, and the other Counts stood up right away as well.
“As if we’re going to let you take all the credit.”
“Don’t even think about it.”
“Do what you want,” said Gorgon.
The Counts had no intention of conceding even a bit to each other, so they immediately jumped into the battlefield. This was just a game for the Counts, but it was a reality heavier than anything else for the Niflheim soldiers.
“Arh!”
“The enemy commanders! The enemy commanders are here!”
“Let the lines retreat! The mages on top of the walls should buy—ah!”
The Niflheim soldiers burst like balloons and disappeared into the snowy wind.
The three gates, which had been somehow holding out pretty well until now, collapsed in an instant as soon as the Counts joined the battle.
“Lord!”
The knights looked back and shouted in a loud voice. They had been risking their lives to break through the enemy’s lines, but their base was now collapsing.
“We have to go back!”
Kis came to a halt. He looked back for a moment and then looked forward again.
“...”
‘A bit more… just a bit more.’
He needed just a bit more time, and he would soon destroy the enemy’s core forces.
‘But if I do that…’
The lives of Niflheim’s people would be the price to pay.
“Protect…”
A voice echoed in Kis’ head.
He gave up his greed to advance and shouted, “Maintain the line and retreat!”
Kis ran away to take a shortcut.
The castle looked completely different from what it looked like when Kis left. The soldiers along the walls had scattered away, and those who had been shouting in one brave voice as one were screaming in pain.
Flames could be seen everywhere, and the snow beneath his feet had turned crimson.
“...”
Kis’ heart was wrapped in fury. He scaled one of the walls and shouted, “Scatter! Spring, Summer, and Autumn face the Counts and leave two of them for me!”
The Winter Order had three Star Destruction Stage knights. Kis knew that the Counts of the Underworld were strong, but he and his knights should be perfectly capable of taking them on.
Kis’ eyes scanned the battlefield. ‘There are seven of them in total.’
Kis’ job was to fight two Counts at once.
Kis’ fierce eyes abruptly stopped scanning the area.
“Human beings are so pitiful. They age like a disgrace, and their lifespans are short,”
“...Ah, argh!”
An old man was struggling in the air as a demon seized him by the neck.
“May Justice be wherever the white snow falls.”
The old man would always keep his robe tidy and without stains, but the blood pouring out of his orifices had dyed his robe crimson. His glazed eyes also spoke volumes that he was on the brink of death.
“Sir Kiro!”
“Sir… Kis…”
Kiro reached out with his wrinkled hand toward Kis.
“Run—”
Crack!
A crisp and grotesque noise echoed as Kiro’s head turned in an unnatural direction.
He immediately went limp and silent.
“Was he really the finest mage of this nation? How pathetic.”
The demon hurled Kiro’s corpse away and turned, but his eyes shot wide open.
“...!”
‘Star Destruction?’
The demon was aware that there were a total of eight Star Destruction Stage creatures on this planet.
‘One of them is the old man I just killed.’
However, the demon couldn’t quite believe that the old man was a Star Destruction Stage creature like himself, as the latter died so easily.
‘There are still seven of them, and the strongest among them must be…’
Kis Bremen, the Lord of the Winter Castle. He was a Star Destruction knight and was famous as the Knight of the Mist.
“What a coincidence. I was looking for you.”
‘He’s the golden ticket of this battlefield.’
Killing Kis was no doubt a tremendous achievement for any of them.
Azos hurriedly looked around. ‘There’s no one else here.’
The other Counts were busy dealing with the others.
Azos barely managed to hold himself back from bursting into laughter.
‘I just have to kill this knight before me, and none of those bastards can deny that I was the leader of this battlefield.’
Azos’ demonic energy emerged from his feet.
‘But…’
He looked up the moment he realized that his surroundings had gone dark, even though it was daytime.
“Mist?”
Azos was surrounded by a thick mist.
It was so thick that he could barely see an inch ahead of him.
‘Knight of the Mist…’
It was annoying, but all it did was disturb his vision.
Azos protected himself with demonic energy as he slowly moved forward.
‘Where is he? Which direction is it coming?’
Swoosh!
A sword suddenly flew toward him from behind.
Azos whipped around and parried the sword with his hands wrapped with demonic energy.
‘Found him!’
However, his joy didn’t last long because another sword flew toward him from the side.
“...?!” Azos was confused. It was an odd move, even if his enemy was fast.
‘It feels like I’m fighting several Kis Bremens at the same time.’
However, Azos would soon find himself utterly confused.
“What?!”
Multiple swords hacked, sliced, and thrust toward him from all cardinal directions and angles.
To make matters worse, every attack was fatal.
“Argh! Damn it!” Azos roared in fury upon losing one of his arms.
“This damned mist! Come out! Come out here and fight me!”
Azos’ voice didn’t get far as it was absorbed by the mist.
“...”
‘This is weird. We’re still on a battlefield, so why is there nothing around me?’
There were no corpses, no screams. There was only a blank space.
‘No way. Am I in a Unique Realm?’
Azos’ face stiffed upon thinking of such a possibility.
He immediately started running away without looking back even once.
‘Damn it! When did he pull me into his Unique Realm? I need to find a way out.’
Azos was aware that it would be suicide to fight a Star Destruction Stage creature inside the latter’s Unique Realm. That was exactly why he had decided to run away.
He had been running for quite a while now, but the mist was still as thick as always.
“I don’t want much from you.”
Azos turned around at the speed of lightning at the voice from behind him.
His sharp fingernails clawed at his opponent.
Swoosh.
However, Kis’ figure scattered away like mist upon being hit.
Shwik!
“...!” Azos felt a shiver down his spine the moment a sword pierced his heart from behind.
“Just die. Pay for your sin with your death.”
“N, no…!”
The sword ruthlessly split Azos’ heart and emerged from his shoulder.
“Perish in the Castle in the Mist.”
Slash!
The sword slashed down and split Azos’ figure into two.
1. previously translated as Earl in the previous chapter ☜
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