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Chapter 66

Whether it’s a Frost Wolf or whatever, in the end, a wolf is an animal of territory. Unless something special happens, it stays within its own territory, and the criteria for determining that territory is solely based on what it can handle.

In short, just like how Baek In-hwa reacted to such feelings in her territory, it means that there’s already a firmly established presence that shouldn’t run into places where it has claimed territory.

So, the point at which the wolves disappeared can be viewed as the moment the three of them entered the territory of another living being.

Suddenly, Baek In-hwa gave a startled voice as Yeon-woo grabbed her hand and launched herself.

“What, what the…!”

“I heard it!! We need to get out of the lake, Baek In-hwa!!”

Yeon-woo was almost spiraling into madness at Baek In-hwa’s expression, as if she couldn’t grasp what was being said. She was fine, but it seemed she wasn’t focused enough on the outside situation. What could they do?

“Something’s in the lake!!”

“What…?”

But the thought that something was in the lake seemed to shock Baek In-hwa further. Watching Baek In-hwa mumble blankly, Yeon-woo began to wonder.

It wouldn’t be weird if there were hostile entities in here. Why the reaction?

However, such thoughts vanished with the sound of something breaking. The thick, frozen surface of the lake, several meters thick, was cracking.

With a foreboding sound, cracks were rapidly appearing beneath their feet. The extent was broader than anticipated. It seemed that not only the ice but also considerable parts of the snow-covered areas were part of the lake, the cracks stretching far away.

“Hey, wake up!! I can’t use light-footed techniques here!”

It’s a natural statement to make. It was a slippery ice surface. If she stomped down with all her strength and soared high into the air using her light-footed skill, it was easy to slip.

Of course, she had never tried it on ice, but the clear image of her face being scraped against the sharply broken ice filled her mind.

“Ugh, just imagining it hurts!!”

At that rate, she would be ground down to the point of not being able to call her name, like that wizard with no nose. That was one situation she wanted to avoid.

Maybe Yeon-woo’s desperate shout reached her, as Baek In-hwa, who had been dazedly pulled along, suddenly surged forward.

“Catch…!”

Sliding like a figure skater on ice, Baek In-hwa waved her hands, sending a chill that embraced Shar, who was chasing after them, into Yeon-woo’s arms. As Yeon-woo caught Shar, who had an unpleasant expression, Baek In-hwa said.

“Have you ever tried water skiing!?”

“N-no!”

“Then just relax and think of keeping both feet on the ground!!”

Where on earth did you try water skiing in this environment? Before she even thought to ask such questions, Baek In-hwa accelerated.

This was explosive acceleration that couldn’t even be compared to the speed she had seen before. The arm Yeon-woo held with Baek In-hwa felt like it was about to tear apart, so she immediately infused aura.

Yeon-woo sensed there was no time to ask such things. It really was like water skiing. If she lost her grip on Baek In-hwa’s hand, she’d definitely bounce back like a stone skipping across water.

She pressed her feet down, maximizing grip and wrapping mana around her. Anyway, such a situation occurring while holding Shar was out of the question.

“Shar, how’s the back!?”

“Ugh, the rising ground is coming up behind us! But it’s getting further away!”

Damn, the sound of rumbling coming from behind wasn’t an illusion. Still, it was a relief that Baek In-hwa was regaining her wits. No matter how fast she ran, she’d be short on time.

“Do you know what that is!?”

“Well, I thought it might be a monster sending forth the winter cold due to a lack of vitality, but even now that it’s closer, I can’t feel any vitality at all!!”

“Damn it, Baek In-hwa! It seems like Toyo’s handiwork!?”

Toyo’s Demon King, the ‘Elder Lich’ whose name wasn’t even known. The reason Toyo’s Demon King was infamous wasn’t for nothing.

Necromancy. It was the most frowned-upon magic in the dark magic department that gave off an ominous vibe, as it involved skillfully raising the dead like no other.

As a result of Toyo’s existence, the status of necromancers fell so low even the ‘black section’ of the Magic Tower couldn’t protect its reputation, which was only logical.

Anyway, the significant point was that no vitality was felt from the monster in there. It was right to assume that monster had lived in this lake and established its territory. However, after dying, it was likely resurrected by Toyo’s trickery as a cadaver or a rotting mass of flesh.

The certainty stemmed from the fact that nothing existed in this large lake. It wasn’t rare for the undead to spread their aura, completely destroying the ecosystem of the lake.

“…Demon King…? Why are you in a place like this…?”

“It’s been a bad fate with the Ice Palace, that guy! He’s aiming for you!!”

At this point, it wouldn’t be a problem to assert that the Demon King was targeting Baek In-hwa. There was only a one in ten thousand chance that it wasn’t, but even that could be dismissed.

Naturally, since it was a matter related to the ancestors of the Ice Palace, Yeon-woo shouted, wishing for Baek In-hwa to regain her senses, but the response that came back was in a form quite different from what she imagined.

“Oh, no…!!”

In a seemingly urgent face, Baek In-hwa stepped back. Thankfully, they had reached the edge of the lake, but they hadn’t completely left yet, and a column of water shot up behind them, causing the ground to explode.

“Gah…!!”

Instinctively, Yeon-woo wrapped her arms around Shar as they tumbled across the ice. For a moment, the barrier that Shar had spread lessened much of the shock, but it couldn’t absorb the full impact from the creature of the lake.

“Are you okay, Shar!?”

“Dad is here, so I’m fine!! I’ll heal you now!”

Fortunately, it seemed they hadn’t sustained any serious injuries, so Yeon-woo shook her head. Regardless of Baek In-hwa’s odd state, the important thing was to safely get her out from the gate.

Truly an extreme situation, but even if she couldn’t resolve Baek In-hwa’s trauma and it led her to retire from being a hunter in the future, she had to save her and bring her out.

What she looked back at was a massive bone monster that had emerged from the gigantic ice crack. Its skeletal structure resembled that of a crocodile. If it were fleshed out, it would have been a crocodile the size of an average house in life.

“A Frost Alligator!”

The fact that its thick, tough skin was peeling off was a good sign. It would be alright to think it was considerably weakened compared to when it was alive. Even if it was sturdy bone, Shar could handle it without any problem.

After somewhat filling the painful parts with aura, Yeon-woo stood up.

And when she looked back, a silhouette jumped down from the skull of the Frost Alligator.

“It’s been 8 years, In-hwa.”

With a bright smile, the young man said in a gentle voice.

Baek In-hwa looked at him as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, as if she were looking at a ghost.

She was aware of the white martial attire. Although she had never seen Baek In-hwa wear it, it was the white robe permitted only to those directly related to the Baek family of the Ice Palace.

It wasn’t just any white; the chilling azure ice hue that emanated proved that fact. Wrapped in crystal powder, it was a sight seen only on the martial attire of the Baek family.

However, thinking that only Baek In-hwa could wear that attire, seeing this person confidently donned in it felt completely absurd. In the current situation, the only surviving members of the Baek family were Baek In-hwa and the current princess, and this young man was certainly not that princess.

[Dad…!!]

At Shar’s almost shrill voice, Yeon-woo moved immediately. She couldn’t imagine that Baek In-hwa would die because of some undead Frost Alligator. If that was the case, the culprit could only be one.

“Hey, what are you doing! Move, Baek In-hwa!!”

“But it’s annoying to bring in a pesky insect during a moment of joyful reunion.”

The once gentle voice had vanished, and with a sullen tone, the young man sighed, lifting one arm dramatically.

Boom, a great sound echoed. The Frost Alligator, which had been standing vacantly some distance away, charged toward Yeon-woo.

“I’ll take care of this guy, so please look after In-hwa, Dad!!”

“Got it, be careful, Shar!”

“What can such a small kid do? Tossing my daughter as bait, how ridiculous…?”

The young man’s voice, which had been mocking, was cut off before it could finish. That was because Shar had transformed into a gigantic wolf, absorbing a large portion of mana in an instant.

Awoo─────!!

With the wolf’s roar resonating through the snowy land, Yeon-woo charged forward. As she slammed into the young man, who was staring blankly at Shar.

“Baek In-hwa, are you okay!? You didn’t get hurt!?”

“Y-yes….”

“Good, then that’s all that matters! Can you stand up!? I don’t know what relation you have with that guy, but for now, just run!”

At that, the young man snickered as if he found it ridiculous.

“Diving in without knowing the circumstances, isn’t that awfully rude?”

“I hear that sometimes. But isn’t that a funny thing to say?”

How could a person know everyone else’s circumstances as they live? If she had to take care of every detail while saving someone, all those people might have died without a chance.

“Just survive. If you have complaints in the process, then voice them later. I don’t care. Got it, Baek In-hwa?”

“You’re a scoundrel. Your father may have tolerated someone like you being with In-hwa, but I won’t.”

“Dumbass. Who asks for daddy’s permission to make friends? By the way, who do you think you are, telling me what to do? I’m not going to listen to some pathetic loser who’s holding hands with a Demon King!”

His words were met with reactions from both sides. Perhaps Baek In-hwa was still dazed, while that mysterious betrayal man seemed to dislike hearing those words.

“Oh, did you not want to be found out? Well then, dumbass, you shouldn’t have listened to that.”

“…Speaking without knowing your place. If you move now, I might spare your life. Get lost.”

The betrayal man spoke with his face twisted in anger. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t heard such words in a long time, Yeon-woo thought.

After winning against Darius, those kind of things had disappeared, but during that first month while she was attending the Body Training Room, she hadn’t heard them much. He must have thought of her as an easy target for practice. For her, she thought it was decent training, so she had sparred and gotten somewhat close.

With such thoughts in mind, Yeon-woo gave the man a punch. She was a bit curious whether this gesture would also work on a martial artist.

“Oh, it worked.”

“…A shallow brat. You should be taught a lesson.”

“What? Looks like we vibe a little, huh? I’ve wanted to kill you since I first laid eyes on you.”

To be honest, from the moment she saw him, she had felt boundless hatred and murderous intent.

The betrayer of humanity.

Thinking about how even one traitor among a hundred people could lead to such devastating outcomes, leaving at least two hundred dead, she could somewhat understand his feelings.

What annoyed her the most was that despite being like this, they thought of themselves as the chosen ones of humanity. It couldn’t be anything but infuriating.

Most of Toyo’s demons often found themselves betraying unwillingly, so there was some room for consideration, but the hatred towards the demons continuously ignited fueled by that foolish sense of superiority they displayed.

However, she had to suppress the overwhelming dread and hatred that surged within her with reason. While she couldn’t discern what circumstances led to this, that guy was also a martial artist of the Ice Palace. Regardless of the level of mastery, losing her reason while dealing with someone who knew the martial arts of the Ice Palace in this environment would be far too dangerous.

(To be continued in the next episode)

 

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