Ah! The State of My Prospective Father-in-Law...?!
“Pour it!!”
The wooden barricades crumbled, and the walls were caked with frozen blood.
- Sizzle!
“Kieeeek!!!”
The eternal winter had descended upon Volkov, and they were locked in their final stand.
They boiled every liquid they had and poured it down below the walls, then stabbed to death the ice beasts that crawled up half-thawed.
- Stab! Crunch…!
The disagreeable sensation of piercing clumsily melted flesh and rupturing blood vessels transmitted through the soldiers' hands.
And even after killing them like that,
“Kyarak, kyak….”
- Crunch!
“Kyerak!!”
The dying fellow beasts were devoured by those around them, replenishing their strength.
It had been a full month since they first faced these repulsive creatures.
“We can’t hold out any longer.”
The Volkov Line had reached its limit.
“The number of ice beasts surging from the polar region is increasing by the day!”
“High-risk beasts commanding them are appearing more frequently too.”
“With our remaining supplies, we can last barely a week.”
Soldiers and supplies dwindled under the onslaught of the ice beast legion, exceeding all expectations.
“What about reinforcements?”
“We succeeded in communicating via telepathy magic, but…”
The good news was that reinforcements had departed.
The bad news was….
“A massive blizzard is blocking the Volkov region, making approach completely impossible.”
“Haa….”
An enormous blizzard, vast enough to bar reinforcements, enveloped the Volkov territory.
“We’ve heard that some residents managed to break through the blizzard and escape…”
“But Elder Small’s grandchild slipped out secretly, got lost… and died.”
The silver lining was that they could still exit Volkov.
As long as Volkov blood didn’t flow in their veins.
It was a vicious blizzard harboring malice solely for those of Volkov blood.
- Tap, tap.
Arctic drummed the command table, recalling tales passed down through generations of family heads.
“Aki, beneath the eternal permafrost of the pole lies a demon sealed by our distant ancestors—the warriors of Valhalla, who offered their blood and flesh.”
“Didn’t all the demons return to hell?”
It was a story from his late father, who had sat him on his knee as a child.
“Hm. More precisely, the demon’s bride. She was a spirit who fell in love with the demon. Her name was…”
“Glacies.”
The distant ancestor of Volkov and the warriors of Valhalla who unified the northern Illyas continent.
A thousand years ago, countless Volkov forebears had sacrificed body and soul to seal this ice spirit.
Though the side effect turned Volkov into a frozen wasteland even in summer. Anyway.
- Tap, tap.
As history books recorded, she commanded countless lesser ice spirits.
And her husband, the demon of strife.
Upon his death, she absorbed the command of his hundreds of millions of beasts.
“Family head.”
And now those beasts burrowed out of the permafrost once more, targeting Volkov—and all humanity.
Arctic Volkov let out a long, bitter sigh at the horrific truth: the vengeance of a grieving woman could unravel humanity’s end.
“We withdraw.”
They couldn’t hold any longer.
Any more would be meaningless sacrifice.
No matter how combative Volkov were, they couldn’t keep throwing themselves away.
“Leave a minimal force and withdraw. I’ll stay.”
“Family head?! What are you saying…!”
“Anyone with thick Volkov blood can’t escape.”
As with the elder’s grandchild, those with strong Volkov lineage couldn’t slip out….
So he decided to bury his bones in his homeland.
“The family head must escape—.”
“Do you know why I sent Isirel to the Energies family?”
The staff in the meeting room fully grasped Arctic’s resolve.
They understood why he had sent her away.
“To fulfill the family’s duty… I was a poor father.”
“Family head….”
“So at least the child must live. So… up we go.”
- Click.
Arctic rose, gripping a peculiar double-bladed spear in hand—the Spiral Spear prototype.
Standing at the command tent entrance in his ironclad armor, he looked to the staff like an indomitable warrior.
“Those leaving, go quickly. Some of you have grandchildren waiting, no?”
How could northern veterans, who’d fought lifelong, ignore his benevolent yet resolute gaze?
“……Who said we’re leaving?!”
“This is our home too! We’ll bury our bones here! Damn right!!”
“Haha, you lot.”
These were men who’d fought under Volkov for decades.
Volkov heads past and present might be lacking as fathers, but as commanders, they were the best.
“Time to repay Volkov’s grace! Gwahaha!”
“I was thinking of lying in my grave soon anyway. I’ll prepare your spot in Valhalla first, family head!”
They intended to repay Volkov’s grace with their deaths.
“You idiots.”
Arctic laughed heartily even as he said it.
“Good. We’ll form the final Volkov Line! Keep minimal forces, accept only volunteers!”
“Yes, as you command!”
Arctic vowed too.
For these men joining him in death, he’d bury his bones here as well.
* * *
The withdrawal proceeded swiftly.
As if desiring it, the blizzard didn’t block the refugee procession heading south.
“Well, the assaults have eased up too.”
The beasts pounding Volkov Duke’s walls had thinned.
High-command beasts appeared less often.
- Crack….
“Tch. Even my breath’s freezing.”
Instead, the polar chill crept closer.
Filled with murderous intent, as if preparing for their end.
- Whoosh!
Arctic shook blood from the drill blade.
He glared toward the pole again.
“Hoo, hoo….”
- Gulp…!
That endless hatred and malice made even battle-hardened veterans break a cold sweat.
That’s our end.
Everyone sensed it, Arctic trembling slightly in fear.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Still, all gripped their weapons tight.
If they failed here, the beasts would overrun the refugees.
- Rustle, rustle.
The blizzard no longer raged—a blessing—but snow clouds darkened the sky even in daylight.
Volkov’s final defenders followed Arctic beyond the walls.
Wondering his destination, they didn’t go far.
Crossing a low hill outside the walls,
- Thud.
“What the fuck….”
Just one.
A single humanoid figure stood amid the vast permafrost.
Pale skin near-white, wrapped in six ice-crystal wings….
“Glacies…….”
The catastrophe described in history books appeared before them.
“Why aren’t those around her moving?”
“They all look dead….”
Her surroundings were more gruesome.
The legion of hundreds of thousands of beasts knelt prayer-like toward her, withered to husks.
“Looks like she drained all their nutrients and mana.”
The elderly mage among them shuddered, realizing all beasts had sacrificed themselves to her.
Hundreds of thousands of lives for one entity?!
“D-Demon king….”
Just like the king of demons.
- Rustle….
Glacies, having absorbed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Without enmity, she’d seem a beauty any man would propose to on sight….
“Warriors of Valhalla….”
But the murder in those sapphire eyes said otherwise.
The moment her gaze fell on them, their bodies felt frozen solid.
“Their descendants, eh. Blood diluted… so time has passed.”
Buried beneath permafrost, Glacies had gradually unleashed power, sending her husband’s beasts.
Now fully emerged, she reclaimed all strength….
- Boom!
- Whiiirrr!!!
“Grk?!”
“Mana in the snowstorm?!”
“While I wailed in agony buried under permafrost, you thrived so leisurely!! That prosperity, dazzling enough to stir envy, returns to me as unbearable hatred!!”
An enemy too mighty for any to stop.
“Feel that pain too, descendants of Valhalla!!”
“U, ugh…!”
“We’re all gonna die, freeze solid and die…!”
As all sensed defeat,
- Vrooom!
“Don’t retreat!!”
Mana-charged roar shattered despair.
“Fight here or flee, we die either way. So fight!”
- Thud!!
- Whirrr!!
Arctic infused mana into his Spiral Spear, its drill whirling ferociously in response.
“Northern warriors who scorn back wounds as shame!! That monster craves our hearts! Then give it mine. It’ll yield a heart shard in return!!”
- Stomp, stomp, stomp.
Death awaited regardless,
Arctic advanced with resolve to die standing.
“One life lost saves one family. Burn your lives like wildfire for the hope behind us!!”
That’s why he’d sent his daughter away.
The duchess had endured knowing the circumstances, but he’d forced her into this evacuation.
“Don’t forget! We’re the empire’s northernmost wall!! When we fall, imperial citizens and our families gain a little more time to live! Never forget—your deaths are worth more than any gem!!”
Clutching fleeting hope, they bought time for the empire to shield them.
“So see you in Valhalla, brothers—!!”
- Boom!!
Arctic charged first into the winter calamity that should’ve died a millennium ago.
“Raise the banners!!!”
“The duke charges ahead—what are you scared of?! Grip your swords again!!”
“Glory to Volkov—!!”
Amid whirling ice blades.
Knowing death awaited, Volkov Line’s final warriors followed their head.
*
Days passed, suns rose and set.
No telling how many cycles….
- Stab!
“Hek, hek.”
Volkov Knight Order Captain, ever at Arctic’s side in battle.
An ice blade protruded from his back.
“Damn, filthy, humans….”
- Crunch…!
“Gah, hek…!!”
Hours ago, Arctic’s side had frozen solid and torn away.
Temporarily combat-incapable, the captain fought as the last man.
Result: Glacies pierced his heart….
- Crack!
But Glacies lost all her attack wings too.
- Spurt!!
Blood gushed from Glacies’ pulled hand, but unlike battle’s start, it didn’t freeze into pillars.
“It was an, honor, to ser—.”
“Yeah, see you in Valhalla.”
The knight captain collapsed onto the slowly thawing permafrost.
“Huff, huff! Tough, bastards, humans…!”
Proof Glacies neared her limit.
Of course, no warriors survived save Arctic….
- Clank! Pat pat.
“Glacies.”
Change perspective: prime opportunity.
If she fled, they’d fight again—but if Arctic held her?
“You….”
“Time to break hatred’s chains, I think.”
Arctic would die… but reinforcements could finish her.
Shedding all armor to lighten his body.
Side half-torn made him lighter still,
- Grip…!
So he poured strength into gripping the spear.
“Hatred’s, chains? Ahaha, hahaha!! What nonsense!”
“You know. Hatred isn’t chains… it’s inherited.”
His daughter’s spiral style, devised with Clad Steelbern.
A spear art emphasizing penetration to lethal levels via rotation.
“Whether I die here or you… those close to us will burn the inherited hatred.”
Hadn’t it shattered three of her wings with maxed penetration, even using joint rigidity?
“Unless one side gives up.”
“So you want me to give up?”
Next target: her chest, heart’s seat.
One strike to succeed— the issue.
Yet short-moment strike, fail or succeed… this standoff bought time.
Reinforcements’ arrival window.
“No. Never.”
- Whine…!
“Valhalla scum who tore my husband apart, all humans unforgiven.”
“Haha. Is that so?”
Glacies knew too.
Quick resolution: she summoned one final weak ice wing.
“I agree. We’ve lost too much to you lot.”
Smaller, weaker than day one—but enough to crush this gut-torn veteran.
One moment.
Just one moment stronger than her.
Even the first hero was frail against the ancient dragon.
How did he win?
One moment stronger than her.
One strike, certain kill.
Whittling endlessly, seizing the gap for one blow.
Descendants called it desperate, lowly—but reverence lingered.
- Grip…!
Suddenly, Arctic recalled Akion Energies’ letter attached to his daughter’s.
[A special motor for the duke. Made ultra-high output that even Sir Clad and my fiancée can’t max out, so please leave a review.]
Prototype needed power, so Akion handcrafted this custom.
Seemed nonsense then,
“Heh.”
Now Arctic understood: the boy’s filial piety to his prospective father-in-law.
Grinning foolishly, he spun the spear.
- Whirrrrr!!!
And charged.
Ice blades rained from her small wing.
He parried with the spear’s rear blade, deflected, glanced off unavoidable ones.
“Die, die, die—!!”
Forgetting he was hated as kingdom-enshrouding calamity.
Arctic swung and thrust, ignoring his cooling body, focusing.
The Spiral Spear responded, steadily piercing her tough form.
Come back, thrust again.
- Whirrrrr!!!
Every performance as he swung and thrust.
In this moment, Arctic felt one with the spear.
But,
“Fooled you, Arctic—!!!”
He fell for the obvious trap.
To keep her from fleeing.
- Crunch…!!
Ignoring his mangled arm from the side wound,
Arctic gripped with his remaining hand.
- Crackle, crackle!!
The motor groaned, drill whirling near-bursting.
Spiral torrent pouring out, as if urging him onward.
Then Arctic….
“Ah.”
Truly understood the spiral.
All life bloomed and withered in spiral form, eternally cycling.
How beautiful that cycle.
“This is the spiral…! Gwahaha!”
Even as life melted away,
Arctic twisted and thrust with joyful emotion.
* * *
“Faster, faster!”
“Move those legs!! Duke Arctic is in danger!!!”
The weakening, then abruptly sinking blizzard.
Reinforcements dispatched a vanguard, seizing the moment.
“Hah, haa…!!”
Among them, Arctic’s daughter, Isirel Volkov.
She’d rushed back upon hearing news, but a massive blizzard greeted her.
“Father…!!”
Among escaping refugees were Arctic’s staff.
Tasked with leading them, he confessed why the duke sent her away….
“Steady your breath, lady!”
Understanding all, Isirel despaired.
Glacies. A top-tier spirit even dragons struggled against, invading Volkov!
Then her father, buying time… surely…!!
“Hah, huff, yes, Count…!”
Yet she calmed, clenched back tears, and ran.
Delpord Energies flew beside her, heart heavy.
“Arctic….”
Arctic chose sacrifice for empire and domain folk.
Business ties or not, Delpord wanted to praise his resolve.
Reaching Volkov Castle, passing wrecked gates, cresting the hill—
- Booom—!!!
“What was that?!”
A massive sonic boom ahead, light bursting from darkened skies.
From its epicenter on permafrost,
“How….”
Arctic, one arm rags, gripped the Spiral Spear frozen stiff.
Before him, Glacies with a hole through her chest.
“In the world… one thrust…?!”
“Punched a hole to the sky?!”
Everything along the thrust path spiraled, holed through.
A stunned vanguard member muttered.
“Master….”
A title all agreed on.