Sorry to Interrupt the Meeting
"Sorry to interrupt the meeting."
It was one of the Sgunu tribe's men. He bowed his head to Okaha the Great Chieftain, then immediately whispered something to Sgunu the Great Chieftain. Sgunu nodded with a hardened expression.
"Looks like that arrogant mage was telling the truth."
"What is it, Great Chieftain?"
"Our warriors found frozen Yagon corpses deep in the sacred mountain."
The Sgunu alliance had apparently dispatched their own investigation team right after hearing the news about the sacred mountain. They'd discovered Yagon bodies in a different spot from the one Ian had checked.
"...Is the Mountain King planning to wipe out the Yagon bloodline?"
Darkness settled over everyone's faces. Northerners hunted plenty of Yagons, but they always did so in moderation. That way, there'd be more to hunt next year.
"We can't just stand by and watch this!"
The northerners growled fiercely. There was no need to declare it as anyone's formal opinion. Every northerner in the room was seething with rage.
"We don't know why the Mountain King touched the Yagons. But if we let this slide, we'll all suffer for it!"
Okaha's Great Chieftain bellowed. Ragnar, Helga—even the shaman Phaira clenched their fists and roared.
"Assemble the warriors! We'll demand the truth from the Mountain King ourselves!"
"Waaaaah!"
In the heated air of the meeting hall, Ian's eyes gleamed quietly.
The northern god, Hrun Dahl, had told Ian to come to his abode. Ian wasn't a chronomancer, but through the Arcana cards, he'd glimpsed the future indirectly.
The Mountain King's palace. Ian felt a fateful pull from that place.
'I'll come soon, Hrun Dahl.'
Ian followed the warriors out of the meeting hall.
Okaha and Sgunu. The two Great Chieftains naturally proposed a union. From here on, the northerners had to face the Mountain King.
But just the "king" in his title made it clear—he wasn't some pushover. They'd have to fight in treacherous mountains, and even victory was uncertain.
In a situation like this, the more allies willing to fight and die in his place, the better.
"We're going!"
"To the Ice Palace!"
Ian let out a small sigh of admiration at the swarming northern warriors. Whoa... how many is that?
According to Phaira, each alliance had mobilized a thousand warriors. A thousand fighters could turn a decent barony or county into a wasteland.
And combining Okaha and Sgunu made two thousand soldiers. Were barbarian armies actually way stronger than civilized ones?
...Or so one might think, but in truth, those thousand warriors were just whoever they could scrape together. They'd grabbed every hunter on break and every unemployed bum scraping the floorboards at home. That's how they hit those numbers.
It wasn't the most reliable force, but the northerners insisted, "Every northern man is a warrior!" So, a thousand it was.
Love it or hate it, two thousand humans was an overwhelming number.
"Mountain King! Come out, Mountain King!"
Ian climbed the sacred mountain once more with the northerners. This ascent was incomparably easier than the last. He had a massive army of warriors with him!
"Kyaaak!"
As the human army appeared, the Mountain King's forces responded in kind. Grendels with bloodshot red eyes swarmed the humans.
A single Grendel outmatched most humans physically. They charged into battle armed with primitive wooden clubs, roots still dangling from the trunks.
"Hrun Dahl!"
"To the Ice Palace!"
The northerners met them with savage battle cries. In a straight one-on-one, the Grendels had the edge, but the northerners' numbers were vast. The Grendels were outnumbered!
"Hahaha! The Mountain King ain't shit..."
"Watch out!"
Swooooosh!
Above the head of a northerner laughing maniacally, covered in blood, a massive maw appeared.
Crunch!
The giant monster chomped and swallowed the northerner in one bite.
"You frozen bastard!"
"It's a Lintburm!"
The Mountain King's army had even brought giant beasts into play. Legged serpents—Lintburms. These four-meter behemoths were vicious monsters that spewed toxic bacterial saliva from their mouths. They looked comical with just legs tacked onto a snake body, but...
"Urgh, uwaaaak!"
"Block it! Hurry!"
The giant beast wielded its sheer mass as a weapon. As the over-four-meter monster charged, northerners scattered like bowling pins.
"Uwoooooh! What a beast!"
"The one who takes its head is me!"
Far from cowering, the northerners swung their axes, eager to claim glory. What wild folks.
Ian drew a magic circle on the ground while watching the northerners fight.
"Ian! They're trying to trigger another avalanche!"
"Yeah. Looks like it."
Ian muttered as he eyed the mysteries surging over the mountaintop. Beyond the physical battlefield, mysteries clashed with each other.
The Grendels, treating the battlefield like their front yard, were attempting an avalanche just like last time to sweep away the humans.
But they'd anticipated this. Shamans stood ready in force.
"Hummmmm."
The shamans gathered closely and consumed hallucinogenic mushrooms together. It bridged the gap between humans and mysteries, countering the Arcana cards' inherent passivity.
"I see it, I see...!"
"The avalanche's future is visible...!"
Like novice chronomancers, the shamans performed short-term precognition. The principles were identical, after all—contacting the mysteries of time and space to peek ahead.
"But fat chance!"
"Hrun Dahl! Protect us!"
The shamans collectively communed with the mountain's mystery, blocking the avalanche. A standoff raged between those triggering it and those halting it.
Phaira pointed at the Lintburm and shouted.
"Ian! Can you stop that monster?"
"Yeah. I'll cast a spell."
Conveniently, Ian was the only free-handed shaman-mage around. To block the Lintburm, he drew a magic circle on the ground.
He placed a topaz in the center and uttered the Maronius tongue.
"[Heavens' lightning!]"
This was a high peak. Winds moved swiftly here, and activity above the clouds was vivid. Ian decided to call on the lightning mystery.
"[Huh? Did someone call me?]"
"[I called you!!!]"
Ian bellowed at the top of his lungs. Lightning mysteries dwelled high in the sky, ignoring earthly voices. That was why mages had to scream their incantations.
But the northerners didn't know that...!
Ian's Maronius tongue sounded like bizarre incantations to them. As he yelled it at full volume, their eyes naturally turned to him.
"Ra—Ig-na—Sig-eus!"
"...!"
Ian strained to make his voice reach the lightning mystery. His throat boomed thunderously.
"What the hell's that imperial saying?"
"Beats me...?"
The baffled northerners, clueless about his words, gaped at what happened next.
Rumble!
The moment Ian shouted the unknown tongue, thick thunderclouds gathered in the sky... and lightning crackled from a clear sky!
"Wha... what?"
"No way?"
The northerners watched wide-eyed as the mage chanted from the magic circle's center. Something's happening! Something big!
"Ira—Ik-tus!"
Boom!
With Ian's booming incantation, a massive lightning bolt struck the earth!
It slammed straight into the Lintburm. The beast didn't even scream before perishing on the spot.
Thud!
The savory smell of roasted meat wafted everywhere. The warriors, witnessing the overwhelming lightning strike, froze like statues.
Then, catching his breath, Ian shouted.
"Hrun Dahl... watches over the battlefield!!"
"!"
"We will be victorious!!"
At Ian's fervent cry, the northerners raised their bloodied weapons. The savage warriors roared at the tops of their lungs.
"Ooooooh!"
"Hrun Dahl watches over us!"
"The Ice Palace awaits!"
With morale skyrocketing, the northerners charged the Grendels like berserkers. The Grendels had no choice but to panic.
Avalanches didn't work. Their ally Lintburm got zapped. So... what could they, the foot soldiers, even do?
...We're useless. Someone bring popcorn.
Grendel!
"Kieeeek!"
The Grendels screamed and fled. The bloodthirsty warriors pursued, but as expected, the chase wasn't easy.
But that didn't matter. There was only one goal: the Mountain King's palace deep in the sacred mountain.
"Warriors! Advance!"
"Ooooooh!"
Ian checked the status window floating before him.
Capture lightning freely roaming the skies and hurl it to the ground. Success is tricky, but a well-aimed bolt will destroy anything!
You conversed with the lightning mystery for the first time.
Your understanding of aerokinesis has sufficiently increased!
Your aerokinesis proficiency has greatly improved!
Lucky... me?
Ian tilted his head, then chalked it up to good fortune. This was a high peak, ideal for wind mysteries. The lightning mystery responding wasn't coincidence.
He'd used a magic circle and offered topaz as tribute. Failure would've been the real bad luck.
The wildcard? Witnessing the lightning mystery and losing his mind from the shock...
But his elixir-enhanced body withstood the powerful mystery unscathed.
Having summoned lightning to roast the monster, Ian promptly got back to mage business. He dusted off his mouth.
Whoa! Hrun Dahl forever!
Northerners or imperials—they all loved their gods. Hearing a deity watched over the field naturally boosted morale.
These were already fierce northerners, but Ian's encouragement let them grind the Grendels easily.
Ian adjusted his scarf and gazed at the massive cave. The sacred mountain's master, the Mountain King.
The Mountain King hadn't shown himself once while his Grendels were being shredded. That might've sealed his defeat right there.
[Ian.]
The phoenix Winnie chirped.
['She' wants to meet the Mountain King.]
Ian nodded. That cave was the Mountain King's palace.
Ian prepared to enter. He had plenty to ask the Mountain King.