Chapter 58
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 58. Krampus**
*Rumble rumble rumble──!*
The ancient patterns engraved on the floor glowed at maximum brightness.
A massive crack split across the center of the altar.
And what came up from that gap.
*'……Cold.'*
An extreme chill that felt like it would freeze the lungs just by inhaling.
It felt like needles pricking the lungs, lips cracked, and the surface of the skin became rough.
"Ah, come! Come, Krampus!"
Snow White's face twisted with joy.
Disheveled black hair. Bloodshot pupils as if she had vomited blood. A battered appearance.
And yet she laughs. With the expression of a victor who owns the whole world.
"Swallow all the warmth of this world, all the false warmth!"
Krampus.
The memory of the original work I stopped reading flashed through my mind.
*'Four Heavenly Kings of the Evil God. The primordial demon sealed beneath the frozen earth of the North.'*
The original author was a bad sort who enjoyed setting the mood with foreshadowing and never resolving it.
Krampus, too, was merely an ornament to inflate the scale of the worldview. A so-called MacGuffin that would only appear in a setting book.
But to think I would actually see it.
The first to react was the Northern Grand Duke, Valter Grombalt.
"……Kuh."
His hands were trembling.
"There is a legend passed down through generations in the North. The reason the North is trapped in eternal winter. A legend that it is because of an existence sleeping under the ground. The extinction of the Frost Giants who once ruled the North is also because they were defeated by that very existence."
Freya's eyes widened roundly as she interjected.
"Wasn't that a made-up story to scare disobedient kids??"
"I too…… thought so until today."
Leona also firmly thrust her Holy Sword forward and took a vigilant stance.
"The reaction is getting stronger. It feels like the Holy Sword is screaming."
All members in combat stance.
The tension reached its peak.
To the point where even the sound of each other swallowing saliva could be heard clearly.
And.
The guy's true form began to reveal itself above the crack.
*Thump.*
*Thump. Thump.*
A massive shadow slowly rising.
The first impression was pitch black.
Different from the magic power of the Abyss, it was a bizarre texture that was the epidermis of a living creature yet smooth without gloss.
The second impression. White.
Pure white revealed starkly amidst the pitch-black color.
Black and white.
To think a creature with such extreme contrast exists in the natural world. Is it some abstract painting drawn by the Evil God.
The third impression. Eyes.
Black pupils embedded like dots within pure white borders.
What on earth are those eyes looking at.
Us? The world? Or just empty space?
The emptiness from which not a single ounce of emotion could be read gave me goosebumps.
"What on earth is that!? Is it the Void Bird of Prey!?"
Leona shouted with a pale face.
"Th, That kind of creature cannot possibly exist……!"
Freya made a scared face.
"Even in legends, its form was not passed down. Is that the true form of the disaster……!"
Even Grand Duke Valter couldn't hide his astonishment.
The entire party was crushed by that overwhelming presence, unable to even breathe properly.
*'……Huh?'*
Wait a minute.
The contrast of pitch black and pure white.
Short wings that look flat and useless.
A round body shape like a jar.
Could this possibly be…
*'……A penguin?'*
It's a penguin.
And an Adelie penguin at that.
The thug of the penguin world.
Pebble thief.
Chick kidnapper.
The criminal of Antarctica committing all sorts of eccentricities.
They say it's a creature with a demonic nature hidden behind a cute appearance, but I didn't know it would be a real demon.
Krampus fully revealed itself outside the crack.
A plumply swollen belly. Cute little wings. Short legs spread awkwardly.
An overall round and harmless-looking appearance.
A silhouette that would have made you clap and call it cute if you saw it through the glass of a zoo aquarium.
But when that silhouette was equipped with the overwhelming mass of 5 meters, it caused cognitive dissonance.
'Giant cuteness' itself disrupts the brain's cognitive system.
*Kueeeeeeek──!*
Krampus roared, opening its mouth wide.
The entire space shook with the piercing cry unique to penguins.
……It has dignity. Judging by the sound alone, it's definitely a Myth-class roar.
But it's a penguin.
Demon of the Snowfield. Four Heavenly Kings of the Evil God. Primordial disaster that drove the Frost Giants to extinction.
*'To think that is a 5-meter Adelie penguin.'*
[Intimidation Roll Success]
"Hmm, looks quite cute."
The party members' gazes turned to me all at once.
"Cute……? That……?"
"To not have an inch of wavering even after seeing such a monster……!"
"As expected of the Black Knight."
In reality, it's just that the tension strangely drained because it's a penguin.
At that time, Snow White walked out in front of Krampus.
"Behold! This is true fear! The absolute existence awakened from the primordial age!"
Snow White pointed a finger at us and mocked.
"Krampus! I woke you from your long slumber! The magic of winter, my Abyss magic power called you back to this world!"
Snow White gave an arrogant command as if she had become a penguin trainer.
"Freeze them! Steal all the warm warmth of this world without leaving a trace! Following my command──"
She was giving an order to the Four Heavenly Kings of the Evil God.
It seems her logic was that since she is the benefactor who woke it from sleep, it would listen to her.
No one thanks the alarm clock for waking up to its sound in the morning.
Most people just smack the clock.
*Slide.*
Krampus's black pupils rolled downwards.
The empty gaze captured Snow White yapping at its feet.
*Clack──*
The guy's blunt beak opened wide.
"Huh? W, Wait a minute. The enemy is over there. I am the one who resurrected you……!"
Snow White's voice could not finish its end.
*Chomp.*
Krampus stuck its neck out nonchalantly and bit Snow White's upper body.
"Kyaaaaaaack──!"
*Dangle dangle-*
Snow White's two legs flailed in the air.
A piercing scream echoed muffled inside the beak.
And.
*Gulp.*
Krampus's Adam's apple moved significantly once, then swallowed Snow White whole.
A penguin ate a witch.
*'The mastermind who resurrected the monster gets eaten first.'*
It's a cliché overused all the time in monster genres.
But.
*'First time seeing someone swallowed whole by a penguin though.'*
The visual of an Adelie penguin swallowing a person whole in one bite far exceeded my imagination.
Thinking that Snow White was sitting intact inside that plump belly, I felt like I was going to retch.
"O, Oh my……!"
Grand Duke Valter groaned.
Our entire party lost our words for a while, frozen at that bizarre sight.
Krampus, having enjoyed Snow White as an appetizer, waddled and turned direction.
Jiggling belly fat. Short feet tapping the floor *click clack*.
Without even time to appreciate that cute movement.
*Kueeeeeeek─!*
This roar was aimed directly at us.
Simultaneously, a wave of chill surged.
*Crack! Crackle!*
The frost that was thinly spread on the floor instantly froze into an ice sheet tens of centimeters thick.
"Scatter! That guy's chill is on another level!"
Simultaneously with my shout, the party members scattered in all directions.
Leona to the left. Grand Duke Valter to the right. Freya to the rear. I stood in the front.
"Haaaaaap!"
Leona launched a preemptive strike.
As expected of a Hero. No hesitation.
The Hero charged towards Krampus, emitting dazzling white light.
That holy strike, which had sliced through countless monsters so far, struck Krampus's flank.
*Clang!*
With an unpleasant metallic sound, the Holy Sword bounced off.
Not a single scratch remained on Krampus's flank.
That thick subcutaneous fat…… no, feathers coated with layers of Abyss energy blocked the Holy Sword's slash.
"The Holy Sword doesn't work?"
Leona shouted in disbelief and retreated.
"Step aside, Hero!"
This time Grand Duke Valter stepped forward.
He is originally called the strongest Sword Master of the North.
A slash loaded with Aura of Severe Cold. The power of the frost sword was added to that.
*Craaack!*
Sharp freezing bloomed riding up Krampus's body.
But as the penguin just flicked its leg once as if annoyed, the ice blocks shattered to pieces powerlessly and scattered.
It was a natural result. There was no way ice-attribute attacks would work on a guy who is the source of cold itself.
"Then how about this!"
Freya leaped nimbly and dug into Krampus's back.
The target is the knee joint. Twin swords crossed towards the most vulnerable-looking folded part of the penguin.
*Clang! Clang-clang!*
"It's hard!?"
Freya's twin swords bounced off vainly without making a single scratch.
Must I step forward after all.
*'Must kill now.'*
Right after being released from the seal. This is the guy's weakest state.
If we don't stop that penguin here, not only the North but the entire continent will turn into a giant block of ice.
Summoned the Abyss Sword from thin air and gripped it firmly.
Drew up the Aura of the Abyss to the greatsword.
The frost spread on the floor melted only around my feet.
The Aura of the Abyss was pushing Krampus's chill away.
──It works.
The Black Knight's power is effective against this penguin too.
Then the answer is one.
Stomped my foot.
*Kuuung!*
The floor split.
Frontal charge.
Aimed precisely at the belly of the 5-meter penguin.
Gripping the greatsword imbued with the Aura of the Abyss with both hands, I converged all strength to the sword tip.
*Kuek?*
Krampus's black pupils captured me.
And.
*Thwack.*
Suddenly flashed before my eyes.
"Kuh!"
My body flew through the air and crashed into the wall.
*Kugugung!*
A crater was dug into the solid stone wall.
My internal organs twisted and bone fragments screamed from the shockwave that struck my whole body.
Incomparable to the Frost Bear. Stronger than the Black Mammoth. The most painful hit I've ever taken.
"This crazy……"
I barely raised my body from the rubble.
To be sent flying by a penguin wing slap. How embarrassing.
Yeah, let's reflect.
A 5-meter Adelie penguin is never cute.
"Going again."
Alright, it's penguin hunting.
Let's find out what penguin meat tastes like.
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