## Chapter 806 – Winter in the Capital

The night passed without any attacks.

There were some faint noises, but nothing too concerning. Thanks to that, I slept very soundly. I ate the packed lunch properly, slept well in a warm place, and woke up feeling full of energy.

Today, I’m in perfect condition.

“Everyone ready?”
“Yeah.”
“No problem.”
“I’m in perfect shape!”

We woke up a little early and prepared at our leisure.

When I asked if everyone was ready, they all nodded. Looking at their faces after washing up, there were no signs of fatigue.

In fact, if you only count sleeping hours, we slept more than we do at home or in the city. When we sleep outside, we don’t have sex, so we sleep longer.

Anyway, we should get going soon.

“If nothing happened last night, they’re probably still fighting. If they’re fighting, we’ll join in appropriately and go in together. If they’ve all retreated, we’ll just loot the empty house.”

That was the plan for today.

We’re arriving at the palace around the same time anyway. If they’re still fighting, we’ll join in appropriately, and if they’re not, we’ll just take everything for ourselves.

But to be honest, I’d be pretty disappointed if the knights were still fighting. There would definitely be friction over the spoils. It’s better if we take everything, whether it’s the essence of a high-level spirit or proof of the spirit realm.

Still, it’s safer with the knights around.

“It would be wise to be cautious today. I am wary of Arquina’s power and the power of the spirit realm. It must be considerable… Prepare yourselves. She may wield magic at a level similar to mine.”
“Even if you didn’t say it, Witch, I’m already tense. We have to go all out against a `real` opponent, even if the small fry are nothing.”

Karin replied to Risha’s words.

“Wait, my sister is actually tense?”
“Your sister gets tense too. Honestly, I haven’t had a proper fight in years, but today might be the day. Don’t you think?”

Karin’s face was serious. She looked like a seasoned warrior about to go into battle. When have I ever seen her make that face? Never. This must be Karin’s face when she’s decided to go all out, and she’s never done that before.

She’s beautiful as ever.

“It would be nice if he was just specialized in creating ice monsters, but those guys usually aren’t good at just one thing. They’re usually good at everything. He’ll probably use some pretty powerful magic. That’s why magic users are tricky. You have to be on your toes when dealing with guys like that. And it’s not like we’ve ever seen a high-level spirit before.”

Karin gave her opinion like an experienced warrior.

“Yeah. You’re right. Karin’s right. Then, Katt, as always, let’s do a final tactical review.”
“Sounds good.”

At Claudia’s words, we all gathered in a circle.

Our tactics themselves are the same as before.

Karin stands at the front line. Claudia will take a position behind her, observe the situation, and provide support when appropriate. The rest of us will deal damage with magic from the rear.

The mages at the very back are Risha, Winia, and Hilde. And Ari too, but she can’t use her powers today, so pass. Anyway, everyone is skilled in either offensive or defensive magic, so the backup is solid.

And with Liz protecting them, there’s nothing to worry about.

With just this, we could probably take down a great demon without any problems. Still, considering who we’re up against, we reviewed it one more time.

“Then I’ll observe the situation and look for an opening. But if it looks dangerous, I’ll jump in right away. Katt and Karin, keep that in mind when you act.”
“It’s reassuring to have a warrior like Claudia watching our backs. I’ll leave that part entirely to you, so please cooperate when appropriate.”
“Yeah. I will. Thanks for trusting me.”
“We know your skills well. It’s only natural.”

Claudia and Karin said, linking arms.

“So, we’re going to assassinate the evil Arquina…! My soul is boiling! Only proper judgment can uphold the meaning of Fusion Confucianism!”
“Heeheehee, it wouldn’t be strange if you were a priest instead of a succubus now.”
“I’ve already changed jobs to something similar!”

A Fusion Confucian nun.

“Ugh… I’m really uncomfortable this time. I need to focus on training my abilities when spring comes. I feel so useless…”
“No, Ari, it’s okay. Remember when you found the Manticore last time? That was thanks to you, right?”
“But…”
“It’s okay. Anyway, let’s get going.”

We have to go now.

“Blackie, you didn’t forget anything, did you?”

Winia said, straightening my clothes.

“Hehehe, Winia. Have you ever seen me forget anything? Who’s as thorough as me?”
“Hmm… Sanity?”
“Nope.”

Damn it.

“Well, anyway, don’t worry, mages. I’ll protect you. Ah, if I knew it would be like this, I would have brought those gauntlets, even if they’re a little uncomfortable.”
“Let’s bring them next time.”

Before finally departing, I checked the condition of my body and equipment.

Over the past few days, we’ve been making our way through and utterly destroying ice monsters. Arquina’s power must have been depleted by that much.

In that state, she endured a combined attack last night from two battalions of royal knights, a master knight, and an allied force of paladins, lords’ troops, and mages.

No matter how strong a spirit is, or how much power she’s drawing from another world, it’s bound to be a burden.

Whatever the case, we’ll find out once we leave.

We all stretched once and then headed towards the ice palace.

* * *

After marching for about an hour, we arrived at the place where we had retreated yesterday. From here, it’s just a little further to the ice palace.

But… I haven’t heard any sounds since earlier.
Not even the strange birds in the sky are visible.

ㅡIt’s quiet.

“Blackie? Sisters? Why is it so quiet? I’m not the only one who doesn’t hear anything, right?”

Winia said with a question in her voice.

“…Yeah. I don’t hear anything either. I’m sure of it.”
“It’s very quiet. As if there’s nothing here.”
“Quiet indeed.”

Claudia’s ears perked up, and Risha and Karin touched their lips.

“Yeah. I don’t hear anything either.”
“Right?”

No sounds.

“Could they have all retreated after fighting?”

Ari said.

“It seems like it, judging by the lack of sound. If they had occupied it, it would have been even louder. It looks like they just fought yesterday and retreated appropriately.”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
“We’ll know when we go and check.”

Anyway, forward.

Even as we headed towards the palace, we didn’t hear any other sounds. And there were no attacks like yesterday. Could they have almost annihilated each other?

“Oh, right. Risha, do you feel any strange magical power coming from that palace?”
“I am trying to ascertain that, but… I do not sense anything in particular. The same energy is felt throughout this space, making it difficult to distinguish.”
“It’s a mysterious space after all…!”

How much further did we go?

“Oh.”

We arrived at what seemed to be the front yard of the palace. It was a wide space with multiple paths leading out, besides the one we came from.

This is where we fought like crazy yesterday.

“Wow.”
“This is…”

The evidence was scattered everywhere.

ㅡA shitshow.

A complete and utter mess.

The situation was so bad that I reflexively drew Vugal. The reason being that there were people’s corpses lying around everywhere. Some of them were quite severely damaged, and the space itself was covered in blood. Of course, the spilled blood was all frozen.

It was literally the middle of a battlefield.

“…”

Furthermore, there was no sign of life or movement.

It was as if the space had been abandoned after a major battle.

“They couldn’t recover the bodies? That means the situation was pretty urgent… It looks like these guys lost. That’s why they couldn’t recover the bodies and retreated hastily last night.”

Karin gave a cold analysis.

“But isn’t it a little strange? There was definitely a master knight in the paladin order. Even if those guys couldn’t win, they wouldn’t have retreated so hastily… When I look at it, it’s very strange. If it’s very strange, it means the enemy is strong or using some weird tricks. Either way, it’s tricky.”
“…I agree. Arquina seems stronger than I thought.”

It doesn’t bode well.

“What really happened? Such a terrible scene…!”
“Yeah, is there something really strong hiding here? Looking at the armor, there seems to be a royal knight too.”

Hilde and Liz said, sticking close to each other.

“It seems like that. Maybe the strongest one popped out, like the ice dragon?”
“It really looks like it.”

All reasonable thoughts.

“But the fact that they didn’t create inhuman structures out of people’s corpses… Doesn’t that mean that Arquina’s side is also in a pretty urgent situation? At least they don’t have the time to do such tricks.”
“It seems that way.”

Risha nodded at my words.

We briefly explored the surroundings.

The corpses were all ordinary soldiers or royal knights. There were quite a few of them, but there were no paladin corpses. Other than that, there was nothing else we could find out.

Anyway, after finishing the exploration, we headed towards the ice palace in front of us.

“Wow.”

The palace was huge.

Even though it was clearly made of pure ice, it was extremely ornate and almost as tall as a skyscraper. However, it wasn’t in the form of a building we had seen before.

The design is a little unique. Is it Arquina’s original sense? I don’t know if spirits understand art… I don’t know for sure, but it somehow feels like an ancient style.

“Risha. Claudia. And Hilde. Have you ever seen this kind of building style before?”
“Hmm… I am not well-versed in architecture, so I do not know.”
“Mama doesn’t know either… I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in the desert.”
“I have no idea either. A human building… But why did you specifically ask the three of us?”

Oops.

“No, I was just asking.”
“Hmm…”
“Let’s go in quickly.”

Anyway, we entered the magnificent ice palace.

ㅡA very wide entrance.

And as soon as we entered, there was a central hall.

The inside was empty. The basic structure was the same as the palace, but there was no furniture or anything like that. Other than the ice chandelier on the ceiling, there was nothing special.

The characteristic feature was that there were many stairs leading upwards.

“There’s nothing here?”

Winia, who had been very tense, said, looking around. I didn’t feel anything special either. It was as quiet as if we were the only ones here.

The ice knights that had been relentlessly attacking us were nowhere to be seen. I thought the inside would be full of them… Were most of them consumed in yesterday’s battle, and now they’re only guarding the important places?

Those important places must be where Arquina is.

“Katt. It seems like the troops are concentrated where Arquina is. Should we say they’ve gathered to make a final defense? They must have taken a lot of damage fighting yesterday.”
“Oh. I just thought that too. That’s it.”

We’re on the same wavelength.

“But… That means they still have enough strength to repel the knights.”
“You’re right, sis. Anyway, let’s go up. There’s nothing on the first floor.”
“Okay.”

We went straight up to the second floor.

That’s when it happened.

ㅡHalt.

Suddenly, Risha stopped, and we all took up battle stances.

“…I think I can faintly feel a different energy from above.”
“Okay. I understand. Hilde?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then let’s go in the direction Risha said. Risha, can you track it?”
“I think I will be able to tell if we go further up.”

That’s what we should do.

Risha’s words became a good signpost. Whatever the case, there’s definitely something suspicious somewhere in this palace. That must be… Arquina, who caused this situation. We searched each floor and went up.

ㅡFinally.

We arrived at a floor that looked important.

In front of us was a very large and wide door. Yes, a door so big that you could say it was like the entrance to the main ballroom inside the palace.

“…”

ㅡSsssh.

Risha dyed her fingernails black. A black aura rose from beneath her feet. She was clearly casting something, and after finishing the work, she said.

“I think there is something beyond this door.”

Good.

Let’s finish this.

“Everyone ready? Let’s just stick to the tactics. We’ll retreat immediately if it looks dangerous. Act calmly.”

When I said to my wives with determination, Karin laughed.

“Kyahaha, hey. Husband. I have more experience with this kind of thing, you know?”
“Hehehe, yeah. Katt. Just do what you always do.”

Oops.

“What’s with the余裕 of older sisters? Then I’ll open the door.”

Anyway, we’re ready. I pushed the door open with Karin. Like soldiers, the women stayed away from the wall, ready to deal with any attacks coming from inside.

ㅡCreak.

The door opened completely, and we went inside.

“Huh.”

Inside, solemn homeowners were waiting for us.

ㅡGooooo.

An ice woman.

“…”

No, it was a feminine spirit that looked closer to an ice queen. She was over 2 meters tall. Her skin was as white as snow, and her hair was a clear sky blue, like Liz’s.

Of course, Liz is more beautiful.

Wearing an antique white dress, she was floating with a strangely shaped staff in her hand. The bottom of the dress was so long and full that her legs were not visible. She had her eyes closed and was wearing a very beautiful crown.

Behind her were ice wings. Magnificent wings with each feather made of ice.

“…These fucking bastards.”

It wasn’t just wings behind Arquina.

ㅡWhoosh.

A gate. Yes, there was a gate. The gate was showing a part of some glacier area, not something black like the Demon Gate.

A cold wind was blowing out of it like some inhuman air conditioner.

Where is that place?
It’s not hard to guess.

ㅡBut.

It didn’t seem to be the main thing.

Next to Arquina, a 2-meter-tall brute with a body made of blue ice and very precise, bulging muscles was floating in the air. He was literally an ice bodybuilder. Fortunately, the genital area was not sculpted, so it wasn’t embarrassing, but anyway, the aura he was giving off was by no means ordinary.

It’s not just because he’s naked.

ㅡStrong.

He had no face.

No facial features like a mannequin.

Only large horns made of ice protruded from both temples.

“Guests have arrived, aren’t you going to say hello? Did your mother not teach you manners? Hehehe, if the mother is like that, the child is like this. It’s truly lamentable.”

We walked towards them, maintaining our battle formation. Without even being conscious of it, insulting words immediately came out of my mouth.

This duo is our target.
But are they the only ones here?

“…Hateful and also hateful humans.”

Suddenly, a solemn male voice echoed.
It was a somewhat magical voice.

“Welcome to my palace.”

It was the voice of that faceless ice muscle man.
My palace?

“Who are you?”

It sounded like Arquina should have said that.

So this bastard is the culprit.

“Hashin-Eluyak.”

He revealed his name.

“As you humans say, the ruler of ice.”

He declared his identity.

“Just say you’re the ice spirit king, you bastard.”
“…”

As expected.