Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: White Desert
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[Chapter 119 - White Hell]
The next day, by the time the group had finished preparing to depart the fortress, the sun was already high in the sky.
Part of it was because the people were exhausted from reveling in the festival until late, but the decisive reason was that Arsen and Eloise had worked almost through the night forging weapons.
Eloise had done most of the work, while Arsen had merely assisted with the heavy lifting, like holding the weapons in place.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
As such, even now as they set off, Eloise's face was haggard with fatigue. Unlike the others who had enjoyed themselves and slept soundly.
Seeing her like that, Arsen asked once more.
"Should we rest a bit before going?"
"No, let's just go. Everyone else is leaving too."
"Right."
He stopped himself from saying that the others had gotten plenty of rest.
After all, it was Arsen himself who had kept Eloise from resting—what good would saying that do?
Arsen nodded silently and lightly lifted the mace hanging from Jin's weapon rack.
It had a handle of just the right length for use with one or both hands, and the sphere at its end had turned black.
Because they had melted the original mace head and coated the outside with it.
As he briefly swung the mace, the castle lord approached him.
"You're heading west, then."
"Yes, that's right."
The castle lord had treated Arsen's group with utmost hospitality during their stay.
Despite the regional constraints of the fortress making food scarce, he had slaughtered precious livestock to serve fine meals, and even during the festival, he had made arrangements so the mages could join in the fun.
"I once traveled west myself in my younger days."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I set out on a pilgrimage with friends, hoping to become a knight. In the end, I was the only one who made it back alive."
With those words, the castle lord gave a wry smile.
Come to think of it, the concept of a pilgrimage to become a knight wasn't all that foreign to Arsen either.
Long ago, two of his half-brothers had left on such journeys to become knights.
And that was how Philus had claimed the position of eldest son.
"The west is very different environmentally from here."
"I imagine so. I've traveled quite a bit of the world, or so I thought, but this is the first place I've seen shrouded in fog like this."
Arsen had visited many places, but he'd never seen anywhere like the Iden domain, where the entire outer area was blanketed in fog.
His group had mages aplenty, and Arsen's helmet could pierce the fog to spot enemies beyond, so they'd overcome the terrain without much threat.
But for an ordinary party, it was treacherous enough to claim several lives.
At least it wasn't filled with thorny vines like Belluan.
"No, it's not just the lack of fog..."
The castle lord shook his head.
"The ground there has no soil. You'll see a land of fire where the sun blazes fiercely and there's scarcely any plants or water. If you wear that heavy metal armor like you do now, you'll be in for hell—especially since it's summer already."
Arsen nodded at the castle lord's advice.
"I've heard the gist of it. I can imagine what it's like. And I've made preparations."
"Is that so?"
Arsen responded to the castle lord's incredulous question with a faint smile.
Unlike this Iden region, described merely as "foggy," there had been plenty of details about the Gal aio domain to the west.
Thanks to that, Arsen had a rough idea of what their next destination would be like and what preparations were needed. He'd even acquired a few relevant relics from the ruined city in advance.
"Then I'm glad. I was going to share my experiences as a reward, but it seems unnecessary."
"No, thank you for the valuable insights."
"I can't just let it go at that, though. Here."
The castle lord pulled an item from his pocket and handed it to Arsen.
It was a stamp carved from fine wood, and inside it bore an engraving resembling a manta ray.
"It's a token from someone I served like a master during my time in the western domain. I hope it helps you there."
The castle lord also shared the man's name and appearance.
He was a renowned knight highly respected in the western domain, probably retired by now due to age.
It was both an introduction letter to reach out to him and a request to inform the slow-witted disciple that he'd returned safely and was now living as a castle lord.
'Lately, I've been entrusted with passing on greetings more often.'
Arsen bowed his head politely in thanks.
Such a token of connection was far more precious than the fortress's scant wealth.
* * *
Of course, geographically speaking, a fog-shrouded domain followed immediately by a desert made no sense.
But this world wasn't Earth, and environmental science operated on entirely different principles.
And here was one piece of evidence.
The desert land of Gal aio.
Thanks to urging their mounts onward relentlessly, they finally crossed Iden's border into Gal aio territory.
The sight of the fog cutting off abruptly at an invisible boundary, giving way to sprawling desert, was eerie.
As if someone had sliced and pasted a map.
This white desert was never kind to visitors.
Not the golden sands typically imagined with deserts, but filled with pure white sand like that of a beach shore—this land had been dubbed the White Hell by an explorer from Byulburmi in the past.
It wasn't hard to see why.
"Wow, the air is just... Who knew places like this existed."
Anun stuck out his tongue in disbelief.
Arsen didn't blame him. No one present had experienced the desert heat without sighing in dismay.
The desert heat exceeded even Arsen's expectations.
The Iden domain they'd left behind had been so cool from the fog blocking sunlight that one could forget the season, making this feel even more intense by comparison.
Here, heat haze rose, making the air dance with scorching intensity.
Even he, a knight, had felt a sense of crisis upon first entering without countermeasures.
'Wasn't the hottest desert on Earth around 70 degrees?'
Gazing at the environment where the heat he'd felt in the weapon forge blanketed the whole world, Arsen drew in a breath.
Fortunately, the air entering his lungs was cool. The heat haze before his eyes seemed like an illusion.
It was thanks to the combined power of pre-prepared relics and the mages.
Arsen glanced back at the approaching mages—or more precisely, their leader Maroon.
"Any issues maintaining the mana?"
"No problems! We're rotating so it's fine!"
Maroon grinned confidently.
Of course, the hard work fell to his subordinate mages, but they did look relaxed.
Currently, the mages clustered in the group's center, taking turns casting a specific spell.
They were maintaining a barrier spell that blocked heat, tuned for duration over power—useless against fire but effective for protection from ambient heat.
Its purpose was to seal out the atmospheric heat, turning the space inside like an indoor room, while actual cooling was handled by another relic.
Bazkal was currently infusing it with mana.
"It's getting kinda chilly now, bro."
Bazkal's outfit mismatched the desert so badly it was despairing.
His relic armor was as usual, but layered over it were several folds of magic beast hide.
He looked less like a knight and more like a tacky nouveau riche.
"Hang in there a bit longer. We have to rotate in order."
Bazkal rode Jin with a large rectangular box placed before him.
The chill pouring from it cooled the air inside the barrier—like an air conditioner, essentially.
Bazkal was both transporting it and serving as its power source.
They'd bought it for fifteen gold coins before leaving the ruined city. A bargain since it required an external mana source.
"Ugh, Sir Anun. Switch with me."
"Nah, we gotta go in order. You filled your six hours first. We've all done ours."
Bazkal let out a despairing groan as his escape attempt failed.
Moments later, he gripped the AC again with renewed vigor, as if determined to warm it with his body heat—drawing an involuntary chuckle from Arsen.
But soon, Arsen raised a hand to halt the group.
"What is it?"
At Anun's question, Arsen sighed.
"A magic beast. Just one, but it's big."
Whether true or not was revealed quickly.
Facing the empty sea of sand, Arsen commanded Black Lion to stomp with all its might.
Reacting to the massive vibration, with a hissing sound, a magic beast burst from the distant sand.
"Oh."
Someone let out an exclamation.
The emerged beast had a noble appearance worthy of being called a divine creature.
Its lower body was scorpion-like, with an exoskeleton gleaming metallic—cold yet elegant.
The upper body resembled a feline mammal, specifically a lion.
A human torso with a lion's head, perhaps. Its mane was pure white, like the sand here.
Over 3 meters tall at the head. Utterly magnificent.
"Looks pretty cool, at least."
"Yeah. Definitely not one of those common low-grade ones."
As he replied, Arsen stepped forward and ordered the soldiers—who had been about to attack—to fall back.
It was the perfect opponent to test his new weapon on.
As the soldiers retreated, Arsen's body exited the heat-blocking barrier.
Scorching heat assaulted him instantly.
'Hot...'
His relic armor offered some protection from the heat, and he'd draped white cloth over it to block sunlight—like desert nomads.
But metal heated up in such conditions inevitably, no matter the efforts.
'Fighting long in this getup won't be easy.'
'Maybe I should ditch the armor for a while.'
"Come on, let's finish quick. It's hot as hell."
It probably didn't understand, but the beast cautiously kept distance, sizing him up. Quite patient.
No reason to wait, though—Arsen charged first on Black Lion.
Thanks to Black Lion's explosive acceleration, his speed was lightning-like.
The beast—Scorpion Lion, for short—roared thunderously. The infrasound unique to large felines. An ordinary person might collapse legless, but it didn't faze Arsen.
The distance closed rapidly. Just before clash, Arsen drew his weapon.
Not his usual axe. The new black mace from Eloise.
"Hup!"
Observing the foe's movements, Arsen halted abruptly right as its claw was about to snag his body.
A normal jin might have struggled, but Black Lion responded with astonishing precision.
Claws whistled past his helmet. Seizing the opening, Arsen smashed down with the mace—at the humanoid chest center.
'Let's see...'
As the mace swung, Arsen accelerated his cognition to observe precisely.
Swinging, flying... just before impact.
He poured max mana in.
Crack.
With that sound, it was over.
No scream, no thrashing. No time for it—the mace's immense mass tore the humanoid chest straight through the scorpion torso, bisecting the beast entirely.
No sharp edges needed; sheer weight crushed and clove it.
Tremendous destructive power.
"My god."
Amid someone's gasp, Arsen cautiously rotated his wrist that had swung the mace, checking it.
Fortunately, he'd withdrawn mana before full impact, lightening it—no damage.
Early practice swings after completion had sprained his wrist from mistiming.
Even for a knight of Arsen's strength, mishandling this mace risked injury—high risk.
For regular foes, the axe was better.
But against strong opponents, the power justified the risk.
'Split clean in two.'
Arsen could have one-shot it with the axe too—smash the chest or sever the neck, many ways.
But no way to vertically bisect such a large beast with an axe, even at full power.
[Amazing. Thanks so much, Elli.]
Gazing at the bisected corpse, Arsen smiled.
If the axe was for everyday use, this was a one-strike killer for critical moments.
Eloise, hearing his message, waved with a grin.
"Sir Arsen, that was...?"
Maroon cried out in shock. Arsen bowed politely to him in thanks.
Maroon sighed.
"The elders will chew me out if they find out I just handed that over."
"Then pretend you didn't see it. You haven't reported yet anyway."
"Should I?"
Arsen joked, and Maroon chuckled.
Arsen smiled back, then guided Black Lion back into the barrier.
Cool air rapidly chilled his armor.
"Whew..."
"What about that magic beast?"
"Hmm, maybe cut off the head as a souvenir?"
Slaying such large magic beasts earned fame and reputation just by proving it to the nearest domain.
Especially if it had harmed soldiers or knights.
"Sure, then..."
"Captain!"
Mid-discussion, Rino called to Arsen.
His voice mixed half joy, half urgency.
"What is it?"
"People ahead!"
At that, Arsen sharpened his knightly vision toward the horizon.
Indeed, several black dots appeared beyond—silhouettes of people atop something.
"They're heading this way."
"Give 'em this guy's head as a gift?"
"Not sure they'd like it."