119. The Snowfield
It was winter in the southern theocratic nation, while the great forest in the north was already experiencing unprecedented severe cold.
The gloomy sky had turned the whole world into night. The snow, which should have been soft and white, had lost its silvery glow due to the lack of optical effects, turning the entire forest into a pitch-black kingdom.
The snow was several feet deep, and “bone-chillingly cold” was no longer an adequate description for this harsh winter.
A beastman vanguard, which had set out from the south, left a trench-like depression in the snow. They used machines and magic or magitek to clear the path, their lights appearing dim in the heavy snow, but they could barely see the ten-meter-high snowdrifts around them.
The orcs in the team were fine, but the werewolves and half-orcs were suffering. These guys didn’t have the strong physique of the orcs, and only their fur, which protected them from the severe cold, was their only reliable companion in the snow.
“Damn it, the bulldozer that Shaman Crimson Statue researched is stuck again!”
A werewolf turned around and kicked the huge, ten-meter-high machine in front of him… It had been clearing the snow for them day and night, but now the gears had stopped turning, and it was making a characteristic mechanical wail, as if it were stuck.
He looked at the half-orc cat girl standing in the center of the crowd and shouted, “[Hunting Wind Statue], can’t you help out?!”
Hunting Wind Statue, Holsey.
A high-ranking member of the God Slaying Society, her role was reconnaissance and tracking, and she was skilled at hiding her tracks.
“Does anyone here know anything about magitek?”
“…”
Seeing the werewolf’s pleading gaze, she raised her voice, but was answered only by the howling of the wind.
Just then, a voice replied, as if deflated.
“Lady Holsey, all of our people who are skilled in magitek are dead!”
“Damn undead army…” Holsey clenched her fists. She didn’t want to appear too emotional in front of her subordinates. Fortunately, the wind dissipated her voice, and even the lanterns at a distance couldn’t illuminate her expression at this moment.
“Damn it!”
The werewolf cursed. As the whole team came to a halt, he also walked to Holsey’s side.
“First the blizzard, then the undead army, and now we don’t even have a teleportation magic circle!”
“Support from the God Slaying Society should arrive soon. We’re all enduring it now, Mr. Werewolf King,” Holsey said, looking down at the man known as the Werewolf King. The light illuminated his black fur, and upon closer inspection, one of his eyes was covered by a golden eye patch. That was the consequence of looking directly at the Goddess of Light.
He took out a cigar from his pocket, but it was too damp from being buried in the snow and couldn’t be lit.
The Werewolf King sat down on the snow in self-deprecation.
“I worked for the Beast King before, and now I’m working for the God Slaying Society. I’ve seen it all…”
“I didn’t see you with this attitude when you were pledging your loyalty to Kritz.”
“Isn’t it because he said he would reward me with a fight?” the Werewolf King said matter-of-factly. “I know you half-orcs, you follow the Beast King on the surface, but in reality, you’re just a bunch of cowards who want to live in peace with humans. What we hate most is accepting the [relief] of the God Slaying Society. Real werewolves don’t need handouts!”
“You’re all talk.”
Holsey seemed to be used to the Werewolf King’s complaints. She looked up at the burly orcs following in the team and asked, “Do you still have any strength left?”
“We can continue, but we’ll probably collapse in a few hours, and besides…”
Saying that, the orc took out a compass.
And one end of the needle wasn’t pointing in a single direction with the magnetic field, but… spinning on its own.
“We’ve been lost for three days, marching in one direction, but the compass…”
“…”
Hearing this, Holsey also shook her head.
No one could guarantee that they could get out of this snowfield. The direction they were heading in now was just based on Holsey’s experience and scent.
The most feared thing wasn’t hardship, but losing confidence.
Under a difficult decision, Holsey shouted loudly, “Everyone, rest where you are!”
With that, everyone felt as if they had been liberated.
Holsey found a place alone, lit a somewhat damp fire, leaned against the thick snow wall, and hugged her legs, trying to store some heat with her small body.
She secretly sighed that she was still lucky… Although these large orcs couldn’t move stealthily, in terms of transporting supplies and setting up camp, they were much stronger than ordinary half-orcs… Each of them carried a package larger than themselves, and they were more suited for trench warfare…
Marching with the agile half-orcs and werewolves, they could complement each other’s shortcomings. This was also the President of the God Slaying Society’s intention…
Now it seemed that being alive was all thanks to her.
…Who exactly was Azure Scale?
Holsey didn’t dwell on this question for long, because not long ago, they had just experienced a life-and-death battle…
This was also the reason why they hadn’t stopped for three days.
…Looking at the lines of wagons, cruel fragments began to flash in her mind.
Three days ago, they were attacked by the undead.
Those zombie-like and undead creatures, under the command of some powerful necromancer, attacked their entire team. Thousands of armored undead soldiers attacked their team from both sides like a tide. The result of the battle was… the 600-person team was reduced to the current 322…
If they didn’t get out of this snowfield soon, Holsey had a feeling that an unprecedented catastrophe would befall them.
What was even more unacceptable was that their 322-person team had been separated by more than 100 people due to the battle…
Thinking of this, Holsey couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Among the more than 100 people who had been separated was her younger sister, Delsey.
The two sisters had depended on each other since they were young…
Now, Holsey deeply regretted calling Delsey to participate in this mission. If she could do it over again, she would definitely find an excuse to ask for leave for her and let her stay at home in Whitesburg, chasing butterflies.
Holsey’s head drooped lower and lower.
Those “teammates” who had been killed hadn’t really died. After they fell, their wounds seemed to be reversed by something, and then they turned into undead.
Unlike normal undead, they possessed the flesh and blood and all the combat abilities they had in life.
Compared to real “undead,” they were more like controlled puppets.
In the enemy archives built by the President, there seemed to be only two people who could do this.
The strongest necromancer, Fred, and the Necrolord…
She hoped Delsey was safe.
Just as the fatigue of exhaustion was about to sweep over her, Holsey’s eyes snapped open.
“Lady Holsey, Lady Holsey!!”
As if it were a joke, just as she was about to fall into a deep sleep, a magic spell exploded in her ear, causing a temporary ringing.
She instantly became alert, her eyes wide open.
—It was an enemy attack!
