The Eyes of the Snow
That feeling hit me the moment we crossed into the small village.
“Ariel. How much longer until we reach the Helios Magic Tower?”
“Uhm, maybe two days? If we push hard, we could make it in one. And half a day, maybe more!”
It was the same old conversation as always, our carriage rolling slowly into the village.
“……?”
Some odd atmosphere had already settled over the place.
A farmer handing out feed to his livestock, a merchant who looked like he had come from somewhere else, a carpenter busily wrapping his tobbokki. Nothing out of the ordinary. A perfectly ordinary village, by the looks of it.
“Something feels… weird…”
From inside the carriage heading for the inn, I let out a cautious voice.
The entire small village was thick with an eerie feeling. It was like an anthill waiting for ants—strangers, even, received no attention at all. That struck me as deeply strange.
……Right. As if they were deliberately ignoring us.
“What exactly is strange?”
Lancelot, who knew my intuition was no ordinary thing, asked.
“There’s something. Something that feels like a malice no words can describe.”
“Malice?”
“Yeah. Ariel. When you came to Roben, did you pass through this village?”
“Yeah! It wasn’t special enough to stick in my memory.”
“……”
I scanned the village scenery once more from the slow-moving carriage.
Ordinary. Yet something was not ordinary. That was my conclusion.
‘This… is the influence of ‘Insight’?’
[Insight activated. All schemes and conspiracies neutralized.]
“Coachman.”
“Yes, my lord!”
“How far until we reach the next village?”
“Probably… about a day. We’d have to camp if we pass through this one.”
“……We’re leaving. Now.”
No hesitation was needed.
The System had warned us. If we encountered the Blood Cult, we were to run without looking back.
‘……Are they the ones?’
The primal instinct told me it was them. That meant the entire village… had been taken over by the Blood Cult.
“Ah! Understood. We’re passing through the village.”
Even the coachman who had been driving for years seemed to sense the strange atmosphere.
He nodded without a second thought.
“Eh? Frey. You’re not stopping at this village? Shouldn’t you explain first?”
Ariel was kicking her legs, but there was nothing for it. Offering herself up for death over a mere night’s rest was insane.
“This village is off. There’s something hidden.”
“Hidden?”
Seeing my serious expression, Ariel stiffened. She had sensed trouble coming.
Krr-krr-krr.
At the same moment the carriage turned. It swung around, heading back out of the village toward the open road.
Then.
“Eh, ehh?!”
In that brief moment, countless villagers had begun crowding around the carriage. We nearly collided with someone. Naturally, a rough voice exploded from the coachman.
“W-wait! Be careful! We almost… we almost ran you down!”
“……”
“Hah! Where on earth do you look while walking!”
The coachman, clearly irritated, blew hot breath. And the moment the carriage began creeping toward the village exit.
Swish—!
“Coachman! Run!”
“Huh? My lord, what—?”
Puuk!
“Aaaah!”
Krr-krr-krr… boom!
The carriage, which had resumed movement, stopped abruptly. The reason was simple. Something—some unknown iron projectile—had shot between the buildings around the village.
“Damn it.”
The mood in my chest froze instantly. The coachman who had eased our two-day journey was dead. The cause was a sharp dagger that had pierced his heart.
“Frey.”
Lancelot, with his face set in stone, muttered lowly.
He too had realized the situation was unraveling; one hand had already reached for the hilt of his sword.
“W-what is this? What is this right now…!”
Ariel’s face had gone deathly pale. She trembled as she shouted.
“Calm down and listen. We have entered the territory of the ‘Blood Cult’ that the Sword Demon Elder warned us about.”
“W-what? B-but… this didn’t happen when I passed through earlier!”
“……They killed them.”
“Killed? Who? Who did they kill?”
“The Blood Cult. They slaughtered every single person in this village and are now pretending to be the villagers themselves. You were lucky enough to pass through before the disaster struck.”
Guessing the grim reality was easy. The Blood Cult, who feared leaving traces, loved creating such massacres in .
“Your role is crucial, Ariel. Clean up the outside with me and Lancelot. Give me one big spell.”
“Cr-cr, one big spell? That’s so sudden!”
“Trust me.”
Ariel’s mouth fell open. But facing reality, she clenched her tiny fist and shouted.
“Yeah!”
She was a senior mage of the Helios Magic Tower. That meant she could casually use area-of-effect attacks. Naturally, she had to take charge of the largest part of the battle ahead.
‘Running away… is not impossible. The problem is that I have to deal with the outsiders first.’
I muttered to myself while glancing out the window at the situation.
The coachman was dead. Naturally, no one could drive the carriage, but we had Lancelot, the versatile .
“Lancelot.”
“Got it.”
“Can you drive the carriage?”
“Of course. Low-rank knights in the Knight Order start by learning to handle horses and carriages.”
At Lancelot’s bold voice, I nodded.
The plan in my head was complete. Take out the outsiders quickly, extract the carriage, and get out of the area. Surely… these Blood Cult stragglers weren’t the whole group.
Klink.
I gripped the carriage door handle and said quietly.
“Prepare.”
“I’ve been ready since a long time ago. Let’s go right away.”
Through the gap in the carriage door, the pale, bloodless faces of the enemies were visible. Blood Energy or Blood Mana Technique. The terrifying trait of those who fed on blood to gain power.
Creak—!
The door opened.
And.
Shiiiing—!
Whack—!
His body was hurled out, slicing open the space. The Blood Cult disciples, rushing in endlessly, numbered at least dozens, no, nearly a hundred.
“Woman! Prepare your magic!”
Thud, tap-tap.
Lancelot, stomping up the carriage’s outer wall like a monkey, shouted at the ceiling.
Too many. Far too many. Right now, what we needed most was the power of magic.
Whack—!
“Kill! Disintegrate! Eat! We are free!”
“Kill! Disintegrate! Eat! We are free!”
“Kill! Disintegrate! Eat! We are free!”
“Kill! Disintegrate! Eat! We are free!”
“Kill! Disintegrate! Eat! We are free!”
“……Crazy.”
Slash!
The Blood Cult disciples, disguised as villagers, charged us like people possessed.
Most were 2nd Tier or 3rd Tier, having just awakened their mana. Still, pushing past them without caring for their own bodies and cutting down fanatics was no small feat.
Moreover.
‘If you encounter them, run without looking back. They are not your match yet.’
Recalling the Sword Demon’s advice, these were not the main forces of the Blood Cult stragglers. That meant we had to get out of here—fast.
‘I never imagined they’d swallow an entire village in one gulp…!’
Having planned the journey without camping after hearing the Sword Demon’s warning, we had ended up in this mess. Who could have guessed that the Blood Cult bastards would kill everyone in the village and pretend to be them?
Whack—!
The black mana-flared sword carved a hurricane around the carriage. Lancelot, cleaning up the area, was swinging his blade like a madman.
“Queen of Seasons.”
It was the moment Ariel’s voice, peeking her head out of the carriage, rang across the battlefield.
Saaaah—!
The mana that filled the space and the entire area was instantly sucked into one person.
Shiiing——! Slash!
I remembered cutting down one enemy with that magic.
“The incantation I saw before.”
The trigger word. The activation, the chant, the manifestation. The concise voice corresponding to the ‘activation’ among the three pillars of magic.
“Three lights that illuminate the heavens. A lantern of despair that leads to destruction.”
Whiiiish—!
The mana flow shaking the area was far from ordinary. Ariel, a genius mage whose existence had not appeared in … had prepared her vision.
“Descend here and now, guide the world into winter.”
“Frey! They’re pushing in more!”
“Just hold on! We just need to buy time for the spell to manifest!”
Saaaah———!
Frost, cold, blue snowflakes.
Crack! Crack! Crraaash!
They began rapidly cooling the space, accompanied by a sound.
“Kill! Disintegrate! Eat! We are free!”
“Kill! Disintegrate! Eat! We are free!”
“Kill! Disintegrate! Eat! We are free!”
According to Lancelot, the enemy numbers had only grown even larger. But it was fine. A tactical nuke was about to fall here soon.
At the center of the situation… it was the moment Lancelot’s voice had led Ariel’s radiant voice from inside the carriage into the ‘manifestation’ stage of magic.
“……『Blizzard』.”
Crack! Crack! Crraaash!
The cold air enveloped the area. Beautiful snow flowers bloomed blue. The pure white queen of winter, indifferent to friend or foe, had declared death here.
……Wait, wasn’t this the spell Lancelot was supposed to use?