Chapter 2: A Town in the Wasteland
Near the Abyssal Demon Realm’s seal line, two small, inconspicuous figures walked across the snowy wasteland.
Bai shivered, and Ara, nestled in her arms, also trembled slightly.
It wasn’t that Ara was being clingy. It was genuinely… cold.
Bai, now at the early Calamity Class level, should have been immune to the cold.
Even in the hottest deserts of the Savage Lands, she had felt nothing.
But the Frigid Lands of the Abyss were different. The cold here wasn’t external, but a bone-chilling cold that seeped from within.
Even Queen Shaya would have been affected.
…This was why the Ice Demons, with only a few hundred members, had been able to hold this vast territory. It was desolate, and the cold was a major deterrent to other races. But to the Ice Demons, it was a source of power.
Fighting an Ice Demon in the Frigid Lands was like fighting an opponent two ranks higher.
“Let’s find a place to rest…”
Bai couldn’t take it anymore. Although she knew transforming into an Ice Demon would help, her body would also become colder.
She would be comfortable, but Ara would suffer.
And besides, they weren’t alone. Strange, grotesque demons, their auras filled with a bloodthirsty rage, occasionally flew overhead.
But they were weak, mostly at the Destruction Class level.
So, Bai guessed that the demons here had some way of resisting the cold. She would find a place to stay, then figure it out.
Ara, her eyes half-closed, snuggled closer to Bai, her head nuzzling against her.
It was cold, but being held by Bai… it wasn’t so bad.
Bai, sensing the auras around them, walked towards the direction where they were most concentrated.
Soon, she saw a small town in the distance.
Although it looked a bit… dilapidated, the dense concentration of auras suggested it was a lively place.
“Let’s have a look,” she said, stroking Ara’s hair, then realized she had fallen asleep.
“…She must be tired.”
Looking at Ara’s peaceful face, she smiled, then carefully moved her to her back, so as not to wake her.
She looked up at the brightly lit town, her expression grim.
She didn’t know it yet, but she was about to enter the most chaotic place in the Abyssal Demon Realm, the Frigid Lands.
But even if she had known, she wouldn’t have cared.
And besides, a chaotic place like this was less likely to be infiltrated by the Abyss Council, which meant Elthorp wouldn’t be able to act rashly.
If it were anywhere else, he would have likely sent in a legion.
But the Frigid Lands, with its unique geography and complex power struggles, had made him hesitate, opting instead for a more… covert approach.
But even so, his actions had caused a great deal of unease among the various factions of the Frigid Lands.
Elthorp, the “second-in-command” of the Abyss, though not as powerful as Shaya, was still a force to be reckoned with.
But no one had noticed the two inconspicuous Shadow Demon girls who had just entered the Frigid Lands.
Of course, in a place this chaotic, two more, or even a hundred more, wouldn’t make much of a difference.
And besides… the Frigid Lands were currently preoccupied with another matter.
…
As she approached the town, Bai smelled blood, and a faint, sweet stench of decay.
She frowned, looking around, and her breath caught in her throat.
“This is…”
The town was surrounded by a sea of corpses, some frozen solid, others seemingly fresh.
But none of them were within a certain radius of the town.
And from within, she could hear the sounds of a bustling, lively town, not one that had just suffered a major disaster…
“There must be a rule, something like ‘no killing within the town limits,’ so the bodies are all outside?”
It was a guess, but it didn’t really concern her, so she didn’t dwell on it.
She was partially right. The Frigid Lands did have some self-imposed rules. But it wasn’t “no killing,” but “no littering.”
Duels to the death were allowed within the town, but the bodies had to be removed.
If you refused, you would become one of the bodies outside.
Initially, many had challenged this rule. But after a few more bodies were added to the pile, the challenges ceased.
As for why this strange rule existed, that’s a story for another time. It wasn’t just about hygiene.
But to Bai, this was less a town and more a… settlement.
To a human, a place without walls or guards could hardly be called a town.
But most of the demons here were outcasts, refugees from other parts of the Abyss.
They could build a shelter, but a fully-functional town, with a proper infrastructure… that was a pipe dream.
Of course, this also made it easier for Bai to blend in. Even easier than the Wild God Altar.
At least there, there had been a few token guards. Here, there wasn’t even a wall.
Just a sprawling wasteland of dilapidated ruins, a chaotic mess of different architectural styles, all of them ugly.
She was about to complain, but then she remembered the sterile, oppressive architecture of Vikarn, and she decided this… “bohemian” style had a certain charm.
As she walked through the outer ruins, towards the town, the silence was replaced by a growing cacophony of sound.
Ara, awakened by the noise, rubbed her sleepy eyes, looking around. “Bai, where are we…?”
“…I’ll have to ask someone,” Bai said.
She still didn’t know she was in the Frigid Lands.
This… was Ice Lily’s homeland. She had once offered to bring Bai here, to receive her bloodline inheritance.
But then, a lot had happened. They had stood on opposite sides.
And now, with Ice Lily in a deep slumber after burning through her own life force, their conflict had finally come to an end.
