Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: How to Have a Conversation
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The road back to Winterguard Fortress was on another level compared to the way there.
A guide? No need for that nonsense. Who would dare block the path with the master of this snow mountain walking alongside?
Every time Erendel swung her staff once, the blizzard blocking the way split apart like Moses's miracle, and even the fierce winds of the rugged mountains parted around her robes.
Thanks to her, what had taken me half a day of rolling through the snow uphill, we covered in just three hours like a leisurely stroll.
"Pretty convenient."
But that leisure didn't last. Before we could even sit in the carriage to the capital, we were hit with an unexpected welcome.
The moment we arrived at the northern fortress of Winterguard, a blaring emergency trumpet pierced our eardrums.
"Everyone to your positions! Defend the walls!"
"They're coming! The wolves are coming!"
The fortress was chaos, like an anthill stirred up. Soldiers ran about in terrified panic, and a bone-chilling tension hung over the ramparts.
"What the hell is going on?"
As I entered through the main gate, Killian, who had been commanding from atop the wall, spotted me and his eyes went wide.
"You're alive?!"
He rushed down with an incredulous look on his face.
"You... you really came back from that death trap... Wait a minute. Who's that behind you?"
Killian's gaze locked onto Erendel in her white robe behind my back. His face drained of color.
An overwhelming mana that swirled like a blizzard. Skin pale to the point of translucence, pointed ears. And eyes so chilling they raised goosebumps just by looking.
The nightmare of the North.
"Th-the White Witch...?"
Killian staggered back. The soldiers around him gasped at the word "witch" and dropped their weapons. No wonder they were shocked—a being more terrifying than the oncoming beastmen had walked right into the fortress on her own two feet.
"I told you I'd bring her."
I jerked my chin toward Erendel and shrugged.
"You didn't think I'd come back empty-handed, did you?"
"Are you insane!? You brought the North's calamity here to fend off the beastmen?!"
"Calamity? Don't be so harsh. I brought some solid reinforcements, and you're not even gonna say thanks?"
Erendel's eyebrow twitched.
"Hey, human."
"Eek?!"
Killian took a step back.
"Why's my reputation like that? I just chased off some annoying pests bothering me at my house."
"Those pests you chased off came back half-crippled with frostbite...!"
"Hmph. Lucky they didn't die. What am I supposed to do about them being annoying?"
Erendel snorted and pointed her staff at me.
"And are you all blind? Why are you more scared of me than this guy?"
"...?"
"Just looking at what he does, the dark one next to you is the real disaster. Right?"
"What're you talking about?"
Killian looked at me in bewilderment. I feigned ignorance and looked away. An angelic envoy who fixed his arm and gave him money being a disaster? Yeah, that wouldn't compute.
"Explain the situation. What's going on?"
As I cut in, Killian snapped back to attention.
"The beastmen are coming! This isn't like previous years—the scale is different. They're launching a full assault! Beyond that blizzard, hundreds of them...!"
Thud, thud, thud.
No sooner had he finished than tremors shook the ground. The vibration of wolves charging through the snow. The fortress's old walls trembled faintly, dust falling.
Beyond the obscuring blizzard, countless crimson eyes gleamed. The roars of bloodthirsty beasts rode the wind.
"At this rate, the fortress falls. You need to evacuate now! With the witch—no, with that lady, you can escape!"
Killian shouted in despair. He was genuinely worried for our safety. A true soldier.
But I chuckled and rolled my shoulders. Perfect timing for a warm-up before heading to the capital.
"Escape? What for?"
I nudged Erendel beside me.
"Hey. You hear that?"
"So loud my ears hurt."
"Gotta do some cleaning before we head to the capital. Perfect. Time to loosen up these stiff muscles."
A blue mana began humming at the tip of Erendel's staff.
"Just sweep all those away, right?"
"Go easy. I still need to negotiate later."
"Negotiate?"
Erendel stared at me like I was absurd. I gripped the hilt of Demon Sword Levatein and grinned.
"Yeah, you know. For the Empire, we gotta make use of them."
"Ugh, what crazy scheme are you plotting now? Your nasty personality hasn't changed a bit."
She grumbled, but a pleased smile tugged at her lips. I left Killian behind and climbed onto the rampart railing.
"Watch closely, Margrave. I'll show you real magic right before your eyes."
Obviously, beastmen are a race biologically leagues above humans.
Muscle fibers three times denser than a human's, dynamic vision that dodges arrows on sight, claws and fangs that rip armor like paper.
Add in their innate love for battle as sport and ruthless territorial instincts, and you get walking bioweapons.
Now I'm a max-level vet treating them like minnows, but the terror of first encountering them when I fell into this world is still vivid.
The primal despair from that overwhelming physical gap—like Goryeo soldiers hearing Mongol hooves up close.
That's what beastmen were.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
The horizon began turning white. Not an avalanche. Hundreds of white wolves charging toward the fortress, drool flying.
What the hell is this winter that's scaring beastmen...? Gotta ask later.
"You're gonna negotiate with those? They're foaming mad, blind with rage! One word, and your head's gone!"
"For beasts that don't speak human, you gotta teach them the universal language first."
Handling beasts is simple. Feed them, or etch into their bones that you're the apex predator scarier than them.
Even the fiercest will roll over. I nudged Erendel fiddling with her staff.
"Hey."
"Why hit me? Bad luck."
"Remember what we did against the demon army? That Black Plains battle."
Erendel's eyebrow twitched at my words.
"Oh, you wanna do that again?"
"Yeah, too annoying to handle one by one."
"Sheesh... Working an old lady like a dog."
"Don't drop it too close."
She walked to the highest point on the wall.
Her white robe whipped fiercely in the north wind. And...
"Wandering star of the void, heed the call of the earth."
⟨ Gravity Magic: Meteor ⟩
With a short incantation, she raised her staff to the sky.
"Wh-what is that...?"
The soldiers gaped up at the sky.
No flashy fireworks or ice storms. None of the visual effects modern mages obsess over.
But instinct screamed it: something massive and ominous was descending from above.
Kwaaaaa!!
The sky blazed red. A glowing red rock heated by atmospheric friction. A space boulder pulled by gravity, hovering right over the beastmen's advance.
"Fall."
Erendel swung her staff down.
Kuuuwoooo-!
The meteor plummeted vertically over the beastmen's heads with a roar.
The world's sound vanished. A blinding flash whitened vision before the eardrum-shattering boom.
A massive shockwave slammed the fortress. Killian and the soldiers screamed and flattened themselves. The old walls shook like in an earthquake.
Kugugugugu....
When the dust cleared, the scene was beyond devastation—pure awe.
The snowfield where the white wolves' vanguard had charged was gone.
In its place gaped a massive crater, its center embedding a red-hot meteor that hissed while melting the earth.
Like the gates of hell had opened.
"Hoo... hoo...."
Erendel panted roughly, leaning on her staff. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled down. Back in the day, she could've done this two or three times no sweat, but 500 years had caught up even to this elf.
"How's that... huff... passing grade?"
She forced a grin, steadying her wobbling legs.
"Passing? You reshaped the terrain. Gotta redraw the maps."
I subtly supported her back. Her body trembled faintly through her clothes.
"You okay? Overdid it?"
"Hmph. Who overdid it? Just spun up all my mana circuits after so long—bit dizzy, that's all."
Erendel swatted my hand away and straightened proudly. Pride straight to the stars, as always. She rolled her sore shoulders and nodded below.
"There. Table's set. Took out the loudest frontliners—turned 'em to ash."
She smirked.
"Your turn."
"Yeah. Good work."
I stood. Without hesitation, I stepped onto the rampart railing.
I gazed into the distance. Rearguard wolf beastmen untouched by the meteor's wake were visible. Legs buckling, they sat stunned or stared blankly at the crater in terror.
Spirit broken. But cornered animals bite even if mice.
'Fear's planted.'
Now, drive a wedge to turn it into submission.
I carved a mark into a dagger, tossed it skyward, and snapped my fingers.
Spatial Leap: Blink
My form vanished, reappearing in freefall before the burning crater.
Thud-!
I slowly straightened. Dozens of eyes fixed on me.
Amid the confused beastmen, a mountain of a wolf hefted a massive axe and stepped forward. Desperate rage masking fear.
"Don't panic! Just one human! He must've used all his mana...!"
Mana? Me? And why would that one human walk right into your midst with empty mana?
I fueled black magic with the demonic energy leaking from the sword.
Black Magic: Shadow Spike
"Guh... ack?!"
The charging one's shadow erupted. Black tendrils speared up like lances, impaling his body mid-air.
Puke-!
The leader dangled wordlessly. I walked up and plunged Demon Sword Levatein into his airborne heart.
"Eat up."
Kugugugu-!
The sword devoured his life force and blood mana like a starving beast.
[Kieeeek!! More!!]
"Yeah, more for you."
Crimson-black demonic energy billowed from the sheath, enveloping me.
Crack-!
I yanked the sword free and slammed it into the ground.
"Hear me, dead ones."
My shadow writhed unnaturally. Centered on the embedded Levatein, crimson-black energy spread like ink, consuming charred corpses and snowfield alike.
Necromancy: Revive
Crack. Drip. Creak.
Eerie sounds echoed across the snowfield. Meteor-scorched wolf corpses, half-crushed bones—they reassembled via black shadows, shambling to their feet.
I leaned casually on one revived wolf corpse's shoulder and addressed them.
"Attention."
I infused my voice with mana. It hammered into every living eardrum on the battlefield.
"This tribe's leader steps forward in three minutes."
I held up three fingers.
"No show, and your friends here hold a living-dead reunion. Three minutes from now, these guys rip out your throats."
Negotiation means resolving disputes through dialogue when they arise.
Make one side lose the will to resist and kneel first. That's the most effective conversation starter.
"So if you don't want that, let's settle this peacefully from here on out."