Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Even a Glass Rose Has Thorns
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The Northern Grand Duchess and her reinforcements were relentlessly searching for the Apostle of Wrath.
Snow fell thick and white, blanketing the entire world in pure white across the mountains.
In that place, four figures were cutting through a ferocious horde of approaching monsters.
Even docile-looking deer and rabbits, seemingly affected by the apostle's power, charged at them with bared teeth.
"We'll be in danger if they surround us!"
The strategist Grand Duchess took command. It was the moment her quick and brilliant mind shone brightest.
"UHAHAHAHA!! I know that!!"
Drake drew a longsword as long as he was tall from his back and bellowed with laughter, halting the beasts in their tracks.
The swordsmanship of the Dragon Slayer was slightly different from Licht's. It felt like a modified version of his original style.
「Light and Shadow Slash!!」
He was originally the creator of Drake-style swordsmanship and had even taught Licht how to adapt it this way.
Not as powerful as an ultimate technique, but an enhancement of the 'concept' like Shadow Slash—slicing dark targets to damage light ones.
"This should hold the front!!"
His horizontal sweeping strike felled the monsters ahead like candles in the wind.
"Thank you, Dragon Slayer...!"
"No need for thanks from the Iron Blood's daughter!"
The Northern Grand Duchess swung her spear tipped with ice, blocking the teeth and claws of bears and wolves, her long black hair whipping in the air.
"Sophie, watch out."
"Thanks, Pine."
Beside her, Princess Pine Granasia of the imperial family created glass clones to defend. Transparent phantoms delivering piercing strikes.
"...She's truly Locke’s daughter."
Asha Aureus murmured softly under her breath, out of earshot, as heavily armored knights—numbering in the dozens—guarded the flanks.
The raw power to pulverize a sturdy ice golem in an instant, reminiscent of Emperor Locke Granasia whom she'd witnessed in past wars.
It defied logic for such strength to come from a slender girl, but it made sense given her bloodline from one of the Ten Heroes.
Nex had a natural talent for spirits too, but he'd never awakened it.
「Helios Midnight.」
Asha floated a massive sun in the sky, its heat keeping the surrounding beasts at bay.
"Everyone, we should be fine up to here."
Her spirit, the golden phoenix, was currently patrolling the Northern defenses, blocking any descending foes, so she could only use minor techniques.
It would be ideal to deploy the Phoenix Cradle like before Licht's group arrived, but that would restrict her movement to its range.
In the end, without eliminating the apostle, it would turn into a war of attrition. The living sun was relegated to the rear, unable to fully utilize her spirits.
At that moment, golden wolf eyes within a glass helmet detected something amiss.
"Sophie. These things... every one of them is off."
"Pine? What's wrong?"
They didn't quite feel like rage-maddened beasts—Princess Pine had noticed the awkwardness. They weren't swarming like a ragtag mob of low-level monsters.
Their charge was uniform in speed, and they didn't fight among themselves.
"...Someone's giving them orders."
"You thought so too, huh."
Hearing that, the Grand Duchess pinned back her black bear ears, a bad premonition rising.
"They even tried to smash through Caprostia's walls."
In truth, from the start, their headbutting the Northern walls to breach them had been suspicious. Pure rage wouldn't have driven them down from the peaks.
"If they invade the Northern territories and enrage the people, it'll be dangerous..."
Sophitia, who had foreseen this, spoke up. Her spear swings quickened.
"...That's part of why we requested aid from the Empire."
She adopted the basic stance Licht had shown her before, seamlessly transitioning into a downward variant strike.
「White Bear Strike.」
Crack-crunch. An ice-sculpted bear formed at the tip of Sophitia Coldheart's spear, the massive white beast raking the ground and wounding foes.
It was an earth-shaking assault, yet the onslaught showed no sign of slowing.
"Pine, by now, the area around us should be cleared."
Despite Asha's spirit magic, Drake's swordsmanship, Pine's glass magic, and her own spearmanship, the death-defying horde pressed on. She spoke calmly.
"But no!! These bastards know no fear of death!! Just like my disciple!!"
"...Licht."
The Grand Sword Master unleashed repeated strikes akin to reverse scale thrusts, popping heads like balloons, but the enraged monsters climbed over the mounting corpses.
"Lady Asha, let's burn this area."
"Understood, Grand Duchess."
Sophitia pulled a small flask from her bosom—like one for liquor. Click. The lid popped open.
"Vodka smell, Sophie."
The keen-nosed wolfkin princess sniffed out the contents.
"So what? We're adults now, unlike before. Right, Pine?"
Vodka. Northerners in harsh cold sometimes drank strong liquor to forget the chill.
"I prefer beer..."
The Grand Duchess smiled faintly at her friend's observation. Pine felt a strange disconnect from the expression but,
"Dragon Slayer, catch!"
Soon tossed the flask forward to Drake, leaving no time for deeper thought.
"UHAHAHA!! I know the drill!"
To unleash a twisted variant of Void Slash, Drake reset his stance. His technique's weakness: long prep time and telltale wind-up.
「Void Dragon Slash!!」
Unlike Licht's, it manifested as wind blades in dragon form—multi-headed like a hydra.
"Drake, like I said before, give a signal."
The flask Sophitia had thrown beforehand sliced like paper through his sword aura. Its contents scattered forward on the wind.
"Hard to sync with a musclehead."
Asha snapped her fingers, summoning a tiny flame. Simultaneously, a sparrow-like blaze shot forth.
「Phoenix Ignition.」
Whoosh. Golden feathers scattered midair as the two techniques merged. Wind blades turned to flames, incinerating the beasts ahead in one go.
"Dangerous. Fire's spreading..."
Pine erected glass walls to contain stray embers and prevent wildfires.
The monster assaults pouring in were now blocked by walls and fire—rushing in blindly only to burn repeatedly.
A brief respite finally allowed them to catch their breath.
"Pine, you seem different somehow."
"You too, Sophie."
The Northern Grand Duchess perked her bear ears with interest. The princess countered, noticing the changed behavior in her friend.
"Busted? Someone new came to the North."
A smile unlike the icy-hearted Sophitia.
"...Who?"
Watching it, Pine felt a twinge of kinship. Her once-cold friend suddenly seemed brighter.
Without the helmeted Black Knight, she herself might have remained the lonely, sad figure in her memories like that Sophie.
"Some weird guy who's insanely good at chess, I guess?"
"Weird guy...?"
Pine tilted her head repeatedly, struggling to accept the sudden change in Sophitia, trying to figure out who it was.
A chess master? Definitely not Licht. He'd never played with her, and didn't seem to know the Northern Grand Duchess.
Jealousy nearly flared, but the glass knight quelled it.
"At first, I thought he was just some bear holed up in my palace, pigging out."
Sophitia scanned the cleared beasts, reorganizing their formation, thinking fondly of the man etched in her memory with a smile.
"I invited him to dinner to poison him... but he said something weird."
"Sophie, you were gonna do that again...?"
She recounted a chilling tale unfit for her face. Pine shuddered, hugging her shoulders.
Thus, Sophitia Coldheart was the sort of Northern lord who disposed of anyone she deemed untrustworthy.
Having lost her father in past wars, she'd grown swiftly ruthless toward humans.
"At first, I thought the apostle was at the peak. Pine."
She explained how only that would explain peak monsters descending to the foothills. But Sophie shook her head.
"Then that guy said the Apostle of Wrath is probably using decoys or something."
"Huh? Sophie...? Look over there..."
Pine pointed to a cave revealed by the massive blaze. No monsters emerged from it.
"We discussed it and agreed. It's probably hiding deep in the safe mountainside."
Strong foes were positioned around it like guards.
"In the end, he was right..."
Only now did it align with her expectations, and the Northern Grand Duchess nodded. She judged they could take it by surprise.
"Anyway, when the talk ended, he shoveled the poisoned food into his mouth. I tried to stop him, but too late."
"Gasp. What happened...?"
She signaled Drake and Asha while pointing at the cave, preparing to enter.
"He collapsed at the table. Barely detoxed him."
"Sophie, that's harsh..."
"Me? Ha, Pine, you haven't seen what that bastard does."
Other enraged beasts couldn't cross the glass walls and flames. Watching them, she smirked and tossed a line at the glass knight.
"Turns out, he noticed the poison and ate it anyway. A madman."
"..."
"Said poison from a grand duchess like me was a reward or whatever... Anyway, weird guy."
Her face scrunched in recollection, but a faint smile curved her lips. Not an unpleasant memory.
"...Sounds like Licht."
"Then he suddenly says he has to fix my heart and bolts from the North like an idiot."
Sophitia stabbed her spear into the ground with force once more.
Like the sovereign ruling the Iron Blood lands, exuding dignity.
"I'm fine, though. Who knows what he's up to now. Really."
Crack. An ice flower bloomed, freezing the high-grade monsters blocking the cave entrance.
"He even mentioned that hero, Licht or whatever. Pine."
"What...? For real...?"
Leaving the iced foes behind, she stepped into the pitch-black, endless cave.
"Said a guy looking like the Black Knight is even crazier, so watch out."
"Crazier than the guy you mentioned, Sophie...?"
The ponytail black-haired girl dissed an absent Black Knight.
"Yeah, so I tested it last time."
Pine puffed her cheeks inside her glass helmet, miffed at the badmouthing of her precious person, but
"Can't have perverts around our noble princess."
"...Fair enough."
In the end, it rang true, so she had to concede.