Chapter 321
Chapter 321
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 321
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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Burtul, seated in his chair, furrowed his brow.
An absurd situation he faced in a completely unexpected turn of events.
“…How did you get in?”
“The defenses were lax. What other reason could there be?”
“…You’re not wrong.”
“Z, I’ll issue orders to tighten security immediately.”
“No need. Even reinforced defenses couldn’t have stopped this one.”
“…….”
Ishii and Yeba were overjoyed at the sight of Kang Seol coming to rescue them, but their joy was short-lived as anxiety crept in when he began speaking in Troll tongue.
“Th-that’s Troll, right? Just now…”
“Quiet…”
“No way he’s one of them…”
“Argh! Just shut up already.”
As Kang Seol conversed with them fluently in Troll, Burtul and the sorcerer grew intrigued by this peculiar being.
“Interesting. Where’d you learn the language?”
“I’ve done work related to your kind before.”
“Hmm…”
“With that in mind, let me make a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
“Tell me the story. Why things have come to this.”
The sorcerer glanced at Burtul.
It meant he had no say; they could only wait for Burtul to speak.
“Hmm…”
Burtul pondered for a moment before replying.
“And after you hear it all?”
“We’ll figure that out later. For now, I have no desire to clash with Glacier Jaw.”
“So you plan to grab your underlings and escape from here. You think that’s feasible?”
Kang Seol flashed a bright smile.
Feeling a chill from that grin, Burtul pressed his forehead briefly before continuing.
“Fine. It’s news that’ll reach the humans soon enough anyway.”
He fidgeted restlessly with his hands, unease evident, as he explained why events had unfolded this way.
“The Emon stirred.”
“The moles? You’ve held them off fine until now.”
“That’s reached its limit. We can’t stop them anymore.”
It was strange.
The Emon had existed in the past as well.
They were among the few survivors in this harsh polar wasteland, a species not particularly bright.
“What led to this… isn’t just one reason. Multiple factors combined to cause the problem. First, the Emon got cunning.”
“Cunning?”
“In the old days, they’d charge in relying on numbers. But… some incident turned them into something entirely different from the Emon of before. Now they even speak.”
“…Speak?”
The wild dogs had gained intelligence and risen to equal footing. Even Kang Seol hadn’t foreseen this. Hearing this unexpected revelation only piqued his interest further.
‘This is more complicated than I thought.’
He’d assumed it was just a shift in power balance.
But if Burtul’s words were true, this could be a major event rippling across the entire north.
“If their intelligence increased, couldn’t you have considered a ceasefire?”
“You don’t know the Emon. They overflow with greed—breeding, expansion, conquest. They swarm like clouds, turning everything to ruin. Reason doesn’t work on them.”
“They even killed our emissary. The Emon are beyond dealing with.”
The sorcerer chimed in.
Kang Seol shot him a glance.
“Eek…”
The sorcerer flinched at the look.
It wasn’t even laced with killing intent, yet the reaction was excessive.
‘The gap’s too wide.’
For a typical chieftain—like Glacier Jaw’s scale—that would place him at great chieftain level, with close aides often being grand sorcerers.
‘But this guy…’
His sorcery fell far short of grand sorcerer.
No other talents seemed present either.
‘How far have Glacier Jaw fallen?’
Kang Seol tabled his assessment of them for now and focused on the story.
“How far have they pushed?”
“The Emon’s eyes and ears reach nearly all of Whigeltung. They might even be lurking underground right now, eavesdropping on us.”
“…This is serious.”
Whigeltung overrun by moles.
In such a case, any other pioneer would consider the simplest option.
Abandon Whigeltung.
But Kang Seol thought differently.
He didn’t think from an individual’s position.
He viewed Pandea as a vast game board, pondering how events there would unfold.
‘Leave the Emon be, and the power structure shifts.’
He’d experienced this a few times before.
Hesitating to curb overly aggressive factions, only to face major trouble later.
Emon expansion would inevitably clash with the human-dwarf federation dominating the north, and a shaken federation meant exploitable gaps.
A wobbling game board always boded ill for pioneers living on it.
Better a negotiable federation or Glacier Jaw than Emon overlords in the polar wastes.
“But Glacier Jaw pushed this far over just that?”
“No. As I said, it’s a combination of reasons. …Glacier Jaw isn’t the mighty force it once was.”
“Why?”
“It’s all my shortcomings.”
“Lord Burtul! That’s not true! It’s all…”
“Enough. It’s just my view. I gave the Emon their opening because I lack my predecessor’s talent.”
“…….”
It wasn’t wrong.
Kang Seol assessed Burtul thus:
A leader who couldn’t even match half his father’s prowess.
Regrettable, but fact.
Bron or Branca’s eras marked Glacier Jaw’s peak prosperity.
Personal might, and leadership that fortified the tribe.
“But losing the snow mountain over something like that is hard to believe…”
The snow mountain was Glacier Jaw’s long-held domain. A natural fortress where blizzards alone repelled foes if you hunkered down.
Never mind the hardship for Glacier Jaw dwellers inside.
“…They got their hands on some relic.”
“Relic?”
“One of their generals, Zakcha, attacked the stronghold with Grand Sorcerer Krom. We were outnumbered, but I thought we’d repel them easily using the terrain…”
Burtul shuddered.
“Krom swung his staff, and everything froze. A chill fiercer than any blizzard swept through.”
“…Staff?”
“A staff with a blue crystal orb.”
Blue crystal orb.
Kang Seol’s brow twitched at the words.
Something tugged at his memory.
“Do you remember the orb’s appearance?”
“Appearance?”
Burtul and the sorcerer exchanged glances before replying.
“Well… it had a white bird pattern etched on it…”
“Oh…”
“What is it? You know the relic?”
“Ah, yeah…”
Kang Seol’s heart raced.
The agitation reached He Who Is Nothing.
- What’s wrong? You know it?
Kang Seol nodded.
‘It’s Azran’s. The Dawn Crystal.’
- …For real? Azran’s?
‘Yeah. He stopped using it after enlightenment, but it was his for ages.’
The Dawn Crystal might be exactly what Kang Seol—no, Ur—needed most now. Having awakened frost magic via the forbidden tome Frozen Truth, adding the Dawn Crystal would greatly aid his realm.
- …Kang Seol.
Ur spoke gravely.
- Looks like this’ll end up tied to us after all.
‘Funny, I was thinking the same.’
But just as Kang Seol moved to continue the conversation.
Rumble rumble rumble…
The makeshift camp shook.
‘Earthquake? No, this is…’
The sorcerer shouted.
“What’s happening!”
“Moles! The Emon are here!”
“Damn… Lord Burtul! Your orders!”
Burtul gazed wearily at Kang Seol before commanding the sorcerer.
“I’ll handle it myself. Prepare to meet them.”
“What about these ones…”
“…You lot slip away when the time’s right. If you can escape the moles, that is.”
Yeba and Ishii exchanged looks before turning to Kang Seol.
He shrugged in response.
* * *
“Kraaak!”
“Hold them! Watch your feet!”
The assault began at midnight.
Fwoosh!
“Guh…”
Red blood painted patterns on the pristine snow.
The spear-wielding moles barely reached half the height of a Glacier Jaw warrior.
Yet the fight was even.
Because of the one leading the moles from the front.
“Hee hee hee! Lord Lizard commanded us! To kill you! Kill you all!”
The Emon in gaudy, ornate armor introduced himself.
“I am Lord Lizard’s faithful servant! Kuakha! Come out, Burtul! I’ll salt and roast you!”
Crunch…
Burtul, rushing out at the raid alert, grimaced and stepped forward.
“Eek eek… You didn’t run?”
“Glacier Jaw doesn’t flee from moles.”
“Eek keek! Your shoddy throne’s already ours, so spill it!”
The mole’s eyes gleamed.
“Where’d you hide her?”
“As expected of moles—long snouts for loose tongues.”
“Kill!”
[Kuakha uses Icicle Stab.]
[Triple Thrust activates.]
[The wound freezes, dropping body temperature.]
“Where!”
Whoosh!
Burtul wielded a spear matching his massive frame.
Swish!
Clang! Clang clang!
Burtul easily blocked the triple thrust.
‘Oh… not bad?’
Kuakha the ice mole was, at best, a transcendent mid-tier all-round warrior. No match for Burtul, leader of a large tribe.
But Burtul’s trembling hands suggested the fight weighed on him.
“Keeek! You’re weak, Burtul. How long you gonna stay weak?”
“Already claiming victory in words, mole.”
Swish!
[Burtul uses Shard Strike.]
[Ice shards erupt from the ground along the slash’s path.]
[Enemies hit by the slash who then get struck by shards are guaranteed to freeze.]
Shrieeek!
Groooar!
Burtul’s brutal assault.
“Keehk! Yawn-worthy!”
Pop!
Kuakha knew how to use his swift body. Neither slash nor shards connected.
‘Burtul’s done for.’
Against speed specialists, you close in for grappling, using weight and power to seal their agility.
‘Dodging that is for fools.’
The mole across probably thought the same as Kang Seol.
Burtul looked past prime age yet fought amateurishly.
That happens.
Without talent.
‘But it’s another story when that talentless one’s the chieftain.’
Swish!
Kagagang!
The mole parried his spear effortlessly, mocking him.
“Eek eek… Thought you were the north’s king? Kee kee… Dream on!”
“…….”
Swish!
Kaaaaang!
“A king without subjects? Kee kee kee kee!”
Craaack…
Kuakha wasn’t beyond Glacier Jaw’s grasp. Transcendent mid-tier at most.
Yet to Burtul, he wielded demonic power.
Because Burtul lagged so far behind.
“Huff… huff…”
“Your son’s got talent unlike his dad, I hear… True? Gotta handle him early if so.”
“Worm! Don’t you dare eye my son when you’ll die by my hand here!”
“Kee kee… Me die? Ah! Could happen.”
Pop!
“But not by you.”
Puk!
“Krgh…”
Thud…
Burtul collapsed, spear lodged in his shoulder.
“Lord Burtul!”
“Chieftain!”
“Kee ha ha ha ha! Kuakha’s king now! Kuakha the king! I’ll enslave you all!”
“Haa… haa…”
Squelch…
Kuakha yanked out the spear.
“Kraaak!”
“Keehk! Kuakha the king—what first? Kill you daily? Yeah? Say it’s fine.”
“…….”
“Or die.”
Shrieeek!
A chain-linked spear flew at Burtul’s face.
Fwaaaash!
“Keehk… Huh? Human?”
Kang Seol, who’d watched silently, blocked Kuakha’s spear.
“Why’s a human here?”
“Chattering away.”
“Kuakha’s chattering? Keehk… chattering?”
“Yeah.”
“Everyone who called Kuakha chatty died! Kuakha’ll kill you!”
Yeba and Ishii cried out.
“K-Kang Seol! Dangerous!”
“Don’t get involved!”
Those unaware of Kang Seol’s power always called his moves reckless. Same here.
Swish!
Kuakha yanked the chain, reclaiming his spear.
Ssss…
Hooo…
Kang Seol took a deep breath.
“Nervous? Huh? Keehk… kee hee heek…”
[Kuakha uses Northwest Wind.]
[The weapon exhales frigid gusts.]
[The wind gains cutting effects.]
Swiiiish!
Papat!
Kuakha spun around Kang Seol.
Fwaat!
Fwaaaash!
Whoooosh!
“Kee heek! How’s that? Can’t see me? Huh? Lost?”
That instant.
Jamad awoke, coiling around Kang Seol.
Patszzzzz…
Kuakha sensed peril almost simultaneously and judged to evade—attempted to, anyway.
Fwaaaang!
Kwajiiiiiik!
“Eek… keeeik…”
[Earth Sorcery: Rock Hand activates.]
[Restrains the target.]
[Grip strength determined by physical power and intellect.]
“Let go! Let go, let go!”
A massive rock hand seized Kuakha.