## Chapter 804 – Winter in the Capital

Back at the camp, the girls had already started a fire and were sitting around it, taking a break. As soon as Claudie saw me, she scooted over a little, making space and patting the spot next to her.

I went straight there and sat down, then told them about the Ice Dragon.

“Seriously? That’s a thing too?”

Winnie frowned after hearing the story.

“Giant knights, ice soldiers, what is this? It’s like a whole different world here.”
“Tell me about it.”

That Arquina bastard’s ability to create ice summons is beyond imagination. Creating elaborate ice knights was impressive enough, but an Ice Dragon?

The giant knights were amazing too.

“If the royal knights ran away after just one engagement, that giant knight must be a real monster. We should go check it out. If there’s something like that, we need to capture it and investigate.”

Karin said, taking a bite of her sandwich.
Now that we’d heard the story, we had to go.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

As Karin said, that Ice Dragon was probably a summon of similar power to the giant knight we destroyed in front of the Jewel Bar. Maybe even stronger.

I didn’t know for sure, but destroying it might reveal something.

“Risha, when we destroy that Ice Dragon, do you think we’ll see that blue energy like when we killed the giant knight?”
“This one also thinks so.”
“Do you think we can learn something from it?”
“Hmm… with the information we have now, it’s hard to say if we can learn anything. But if we capture it, we might be able to dig something up.”

Then we should warm up and eat before heading out.

“After all, to reach the palace far away, we must eliminate all such obstacles. It is a somewhat troublesome task, but it is better to do it in advance, as it is something that must be done someday.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”

Claudie agreed with Risha.

“It’s probably a monster guarding this maze. If we ignore it, it’ll just follow us later. Creatures in spaces like this are usually made for that purpose.”

That made sense. And it was based on Claudie’s experience exploring ancient ruins in the desert. Tombs have guardians. Why do guardians exist? To protect the tomb.

If we ignored it, the guardian would definitely chase us. We had to destroy everything, step by step. It’s better to deal with them when we know they’re there than to face them popping out of nowhere.

“That’s right.”

Liz nodded.
She was drinking a cup of hot tea.

“We should capture them instead of ignoring them. And if we capture them, the knights can explore faster, right? If the knights are actively moving, the number of ice monsters will decrease, so we can get to the palace faster.”
“Ugh, damn. It’s for the knights’ benefit, so I’m a little reluctant.”
“Karin, we’re using the knights. Honestly, this place is too big. We need the knights to reduce the number of ice monsters so we can enter the palace less exhausted.”
“I know. I just feel a little weird about it.”

Karin hates the royal knights. She probably feels uncomfortable thinking about them succeeding. The progress of the exploration is a kind of merit for them.

“You’re too sensitive. It’s nothing, so you don’t need to worry about it, right? Don’t dwell on trivial things like that.”

Liz comforted her, surprisingly.

“That’s right, Liz. Whatever happens, we’ll go in first and take everything. Even if there’s a Master Knight there, he’s no match for you, right? He’s a pushover then.”
“Hmm… that’s right.”

Even though a Master Knight, a regimental commander, and two battalions were present, I didn’t think the knights had better breakthrough power than us.

“Ugh… then let’s rest a little longer before we leave.”

Hilde said, stretching.

“Whatever happens, this is an opportunity. If it’s true that it’s connected to the spirit realm, it’s an opportunity to deplete their power. Creating a giant summon must take a lot of power. Destroying it and turning it to nothing will definitely have an impact.”

That was so reasonable…!

“That’s our Hilde. You’re even thinking about that.”
“Spirits are also enemies of humanity! We can’t miss the opportunity to deplete their power!!”
“You’re so amazing, I could cry.”
“The path of Fusion Confucianism seems to be right before my eyes!”

Hilde struck a solemn pose and shouted in a military tone. Every time I saw Hilde, a succubus, like this, I was filled with emotion.

“I wish I could be helpful too… I haven’t done anything this time, so I feel really uncomfortable.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

I got up and gently massaged Ari’s shoulders as she spoke gloomily.

“There are times like this. Don’t worry about it.”
“But I can’t help but worry.”
“You can do better next time.”

Then let’s rest a little longer before we leave.

* * *

We entered the really wide road that the knight had told us about.

It was really wide, and the walls were really high. But there was no ceiling, so it felt open and refreshing.

If we kept going, we would meet that Ice Dragon bastard. But just because there was an Ice Dragon didn’t mean there weren’t other enemies.

—Kkyaaaaak!
—Kkyaaaak!!

This time, ice avian monsters that had been flying in the sky swooped in close. The creatures, exhibiting insane maneuverability, fired beams of extreme cold as if breathing, and it would have been incredibly difficult if Risha and Winnie weren’t there.

—Zhiiiiiiing!
—Pachichichik!

The avian monsters were all shot down by Winnie and Risha’s magic. If I had to catch them myself, I would have to do some serious acrobatics, but it was convenient to have mages who specialized in ranged attacks. But Winnie’s skill… the more I saw it, the more I found it flawless.

Almost a hundred percent accurate.
And the shooting speed was fast too.

“You’re a complete sharpshooter, aren’t you?”
“I’ve been shooting and hitting things ever since I learned magic. Hitting things like that is nothing.”
“Hehehe, that’s our Winnie. But is your mana okay?”
“Yeah, I’m managing it. It’s not a problem.”

That was a relief.

Anyway, ice knights were advancing on the ground. They kept appearing endlessly. Nothing had changed except that the pattern of avian monsters appearing in the sky had been added.

We had smashed over a hundred of them, and it was a real pain in the ass.

How much further did we advance?

—Kukung, kukung.
—Kugugugung.

That sound started to come from far away.

“Katt. It looks like it’s appeared.”
“Why is the sound so loud? How big is it?”

—Kuung!!

We waited for a moment in that state.

“It’s here!!”

From the corner ahead, a head started to appear.

—Kuuung!
—Kuung!

It was literally a giant, dinosaur-like monster. An Ice Dragon. It was bigger than the giant ice knight guarding the Jewel Bar, and its head looked like a real dragon.

—Kukung!
—Kugugugung!

Its neck and tail were really long.

And the lengths of its front and hind legs were similar. It walked on all fours, but it didn’t drag its belly on the ground, and it didn’t have wings on its back.

It looked a little similar to the Sibal Saekkis (a collective term for Ilryong and Iryong, with an s for plural), so I almost felt a little attached to it.

Anyway, the Ice Dragon, shaking the ground, came out of the corner and turned towards us. The way its four legs slowly moved as it changed direction was like watching a spider.

—Gagak!

And its mouth opened wide.

—Zhiiiiiiing.

A blue sphere started to form in the center of its mouth. It looked like it was gathering energy to shoot something big.

“What’s it trying to shoot? Let’s get out of the way.”

We had to escape to the path next to us.

The output from that giant body was sure to be considerable. It would have one hundred and twenty percent inhuman destructive power. We should avoid it, and when it shoots its breath, we can immediately approach and enjoy the extreme damage time.

Looking at its body, we should start by cutting off its legs.

It wasn’t that fast, so it seemed easy to deal with. Those things should come out with ice knights or flying avian monsters to support them, but if they come out alone like that, they’re not very useful to superhumans like us.

Anyway, just as we were about to move to the side, Risha raised her finger.

The finger was pointing at the Ice Dragon’s mouth, where a fierce blue energy was gathering.

“Risha? Don’t tell me?”
“It does not move quickly, nor does its head move. In that state, it is no different from a fixed target, making it very easy to hit.”

I thought that was right.

—Pachichichichik!!

From the tip of her white, slender finger, a black current swirled, turning into black lightning and shooting towards the Ice Dragon’s mouth in an instant.

—A very short time.

A fleeting moment passed, and the black lightning struck the mouth where the blue energy was gathering.

After that, a huge explosion occurred, needless to say.

—Pueoooooooong!!!

An incredible sound.

“Woah!”
“Kyaa!”
“Ooh!”

The women exclaimed.

“Dejaaaaaaaaat!!!”

I also shouted.

—Chiik.

The explosion combined Risha’s Death Beam and the sphere that was about to unleash its breath. A huge amount of steam rose, and soon it cleared.

The Ice Dragon’s head was completely gone. The giraffe-like neck, having lost its head, fell forward like a collapsing tree.

—Kuung!!

With that, the strength seemed to drain from its front and hind legs, and it collapsed. It was a very anticlimactic end for such a huge creature.

“As expected of our witch!”
“Risha unnie is so strong.”
“It was a chain reaction with the energy gathering in its mouth!”

Karin, Winnie, and Liz clung to Risha.

“Huhu, it is not because this one’s black magic possesses destructive power. As you saw, it was a fixed target that did not move, was it not? A kind of power was gathering there, and this one simply added this one’s black magic to it and detonated it!!!!”
“Ooh!”
“As expected! Risha-nim is the best!!”

Risha, who had been speaking as if it was nothing, proudly said, puffing out her chest at the end. Then she smiled contentedly, and it was a good face to see. As we celebrated the victory.

—Tsuzuzyut.

Suddenly, the ice on the floor began to melt.

“Oh, shit. The ice is melting?”

It wasn’t just that. The giant walls that rose high on both sides were also slowly melting from the top down.

I looked at the remains of the Ice Dragon.

A blue energy was seeping out of it, just like from the remains of the giant knight back then. Risha also looked at it.

“Risha. Did you find out anything?”
“Hmm… I do not know. But seeing the ice melting, it seems that the dragon possessed immense power. That is why the surrounding ice is melting.”

I was thinking something similar.

“But above all, this one cannot believe that a high-level spirit created something like that.”
“Is there really a spirit realm?”

Claudie asked.

“It seems… more likely now.”

I was starting to think so too… If they were drawing power from the spirit realm, was it being given by the spirit king, who is said to live in the spirit realm? The spirit king was literally an evil god-like being born to kill people.

—Chalpak.

Anyway, even though it was midwinter, the ice was melting very quickly. But even though it was melting like that, there wasn’t a huge flood. It was as if the melted ice and water were disappearing.

Soon, the dirt floor that had been trapped under the ice began to appear. The ice fences that had been erected on both sides were also considerably lower.

“Katt. But this change seems to only apply to this area.”
“…”

Claudie said, looking around. As she said, the places far away were fine. Was it just the amount of ice that disappeared equivalent to the power the Ice Dragon possessed?

“Things are getting more and more suspicious.”

But I didn’t think ice monsters would respawn in this area anymore. At the same time, we decided to retreat. If we told the knights about this on the way back, they would be able to reach this place more easily by the day after tomorrow.

The knights would occupy this place and clean up the surroundings.

If we carved out the ice maze in this way and had the knights clean it up, we would soon reach the palace.

We returned to the city.

“Wow, Risha, you’re amazing. What kind of power is that?”
“Huhu, it was using the dragon’s power. Did you not see its breath?”
“Still, it was the Death Beam that was amazing, so that’s why. With just Risha, we can kill demons and everything?”

I didn’t think Andromalius could withstand Risha’s Death Beam.

“…As I said, this one is not a warrior, so I am not very good at fighting. Hitting is… possible because I am used to instant attacks. Perhaps if a professional warrior approached very quickly while dodging, it would be difficult to deal with.”

Risha replied to my words.

“Really? But you have other black magic besides the Death Beam.”
“Of course, there are many, but it seems that this one can only demonstrate her true skills when someone is protecting her.”

Even if Risha said this, it was hard to imagine.

It was such a powerful black magic that it seemed like anyone could end it easily. But was that it? Was she more of a researcher than a warrior, so there weren’t many spells she could use in combat?

“Applications can be made as much as possible…”
“Are you a little lacking in combat sense?”
“This one thinks so. This one’s magic is suitable for research, not for combat. Of course, it is only because this one is powerful that the magic used for research appears powerful…”

In other words, it was like a doctor at the extreme wielding a scalpel and killing all the warriors with long swords.

That was more inhuman and amazing.

“Anyway, Risha! I’ll protect you!”
“Huhu, I will trust you.”

Let’s hit the city once… I think we can go to the palace after that. We’ve done a lot of road clearing today.