The earth trembles and a blizzard erupts. The Lycan horde caught in the whirlwind explodes midair like fireworks, scattering in all directions. The layered encirclement shatters cleanly in a single motion. All that remains are the falling remnants. Kim Su-hyun pushes through the sticky rain of flesh and blood.
Beneath the violently shaking sky, the surviving Lycans desperately regroup, trying once more to surround Kim Su-hyun. At the same time, a large shadow stirs and struggles to rise slightly behind them. Gong Chan-ho glances over and finally understands the situation below. More precisely, he grasps why the Lycans are fighting so fiercely to block the intruder.
The shadow is the Lycan King. His body is twice the size of the others, unmistakable. But surprisingly, he’s far from unscathed. Countless stab wounds cover his entire body, and his abdomen is riddled with fist-sized holes. Blood coats him from head to toe—clearly grievous injuries. It’s obvious who inflicted them.
That’s right. The Lycans are fighting desperately to protect their king, to keep this intruder from reaching him.
Their courage is admirable, but reality is harsh. Kim Su-hyun isn’t about to wait for the encirclement to reform.
Like a game of tag, he slips through lightly and charges diagonally. The Lycan King glares at the closing intruder as if ready to kill, summoning all his strength to raise his only remaining intact right arm.
An invisible sword. Yet it carries enough magical power to distort space itself. The sword swings, and a sharp claw reflecting sunlight slashes down from above.
KWAANG!
The clash erupts with a thunderous boom. It’s absurd—just a sword strike, yet it sounds like a bomb going off. To be precise, the sound is the sudden release and detonation of the magic power contained within the invisible blade at the moment of impact.
KREAAHH!
The result is immediate. The king lets out a tearing roar and staggers back a few steps. His right arm, struck with all his might, now hangs useless at the shoulder. But Kim Su-hyun never lets victory slip away. With a powerful push, he strikes again, slicing and stabbing with both hands in quick succession.
KWAANG! KWAANG!
Before anyone can blink, two more explosive sounds ring out. This time, the king’s left arm is severed, and his mouth opens wide in pain as he coughs up blood. The blood is mixed with debris—proof that the damage goes beyond mere cuts, striking deep inside. The king looks on the verge of collapse.
KWAAAANG!
The explosions continue without pause. At that moment, Gong Chan-ho sees it clearly: the king’s abdomen twisting as if being wrung, while immense magical energy bursts forth, tearing him apart. The invisible sword’s storm shatters not only his belly but his entire waist, exploding violently. This is the final blow that ends the Lycan King’s life.
THUD. At last, the once-strong—no, once-stronger—body collapses with a heavy thud. The fourth explosion was the killing strike. The shredded corpse oozes blood endlessly.
With the fall of the Lycan King, the battle briefly quiets. Kim Su-hyun strides across the blood-soaked snow, stepping over the king’s body. His face, armor, and cloak are all stained with blood and flesh, but—
“…Hmph.”
Calmly turning around, a faint smile plays on Kim Su-hyun’s lips. He truly embodies the War God.
The sharp scent of blood stings the nose.
The battle that began at breakfast ended before lunch. Despite being heavily outnumbered, as the saying goes, battles aren’t won by numbers but by people. Maybe it was 14 of us against about a thousand Lycans? The exact count is unknown, but it was a decisive victory. Except for Cha So-rim’s injury, we suffered no casualties.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt badly?”
“Ah… Clan Lord.”
As I approached, Cha So-rim jumped in surprise. She was in the middle of treatment, her armor set aside, her abdomen fully exposed. Her clothes were pulled up enough to reveal the lower curve of her chest.
It struck me as a bit risqué, but the glimpse of her navel was unexpectedly cute. I had thought Cha So-rim’s belly button would be as dignified and serious as she is. What am I even thinking?
Anyway, Heo Jun-young explained that a Lycan on the hill had sniped her with a claw. It was a dangerous situation, but at the last moment, Woo Jung-min managed a counter-shot, saving her life.
“I… I…”
Cha So-rim fidgeted nervously, avoiding my gaze and lowering her head. I understood. She’s not weak, but being the only one injured must sting her pride—especially given her personality.
“It’s alright. You can’t always be perfect.”
I patted her shoulder reassuringly, and her eyes widened.
“Huh?”
“Yeah?”
“Isn’t that… a good thing?”
“……?”
She glanced down at her belly briefly, then back at me.
“……”
She said nothing but blushed deeply, her eyes filled with earnestness. Something felt off.
“Of course, I don’t think that way. I always believe in you.”
I hedged my words carefully. Her expression brightened.
“Th-thank you! For seeing me so kindly…”
“Well then, keep resting and get better.”
I wasn’t sure why she was so grateful, but I turned away. Clapping my hands twice to gather attention, I said,
“Alright, let’s wrap this up in thirty minutes. I’m sure everyone wants to get out of here quickly.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. With bodies strewn everywhere, no one wanted to linger. Once Cha So-rim fully recovers, we’d leave immediately.
But before that, there was one thing I had to do.
I turned back to the Lycan King’s corpse and trudged over. Though badly mangled, there was much to gain. Warm pelts and tasty meat were just bonuses. What I truly needed was the ‘key’ inside the king’s body.
Well then, time for some butchering after a long while.
“Hm?”
Just as I was about to draw my invisible sword over the corpse, I suddenly felt a strange gaze. Gong Chan-ho was staring at me intently. Why was he looking so fixedly? It was uncomfortable.
“What? I’m just going to skin it and carve out some meat.”
“……”
“Want to help?”
“……”
I tried to speak again, but Gong Chan-ho remained silent. He closed his eyes gently and quietly turned away. Watching him slowly walk off, I felt a bit dumbfounded. He’ll probably eat plenty of the meat later.
…Well, there’s plenty to go around.
After entering the snowy plains and fighting a massive battle, we marched for two days without encountering another fight.
This meant the Lycan tribe had firmly controlled this area, but after suffering near-total annihilation in battle with us, they wouldn’t show up again anytime soon. Some may have fled, but they weren’t a major concern.
After crossing the endless snowfields, we reached our first destination four days after entering the region. Or rather, we had no choice but to stop. A vast sea stretched before us—too large to cross on foot. Under a sky stained with ink-black clouds, the dark sea was shadowed by drifting clouds.
Swoosh… swoosh…
Waves crashed against the snowy ground where we stood, breaking into white foam.
The cold, deep blue sea of the snowy plains was vast and expansive. Though glaciers here and there blocked the view, the endless ocean stretched to the horizon where the flat water met the sky.
“Ohhh…”
“Wow~.”
Baek Han-gyeol and Ahn Sol stared in awe. Not just them—others were also captivated by the sight. It was probably their first time seeing the sea, having only seen streams or rivers before, especially on the Hole Plain.
“So, somewhere in this sea is that place called the ‘Divine Maiden’s Song’?”
Kim Han-byeol murmured softly after staring at the sea for a while. Woo Jung-min nodded.
“That’s what I read too. But it’s strange. ‘Gok’ means a valley or deep cave, right? I don’t get how we’re supposed to find it in the sea, unless it’s a mountain.”
“Now that you mention it, it is odd. But the records definitely say it’s in the sea, don’t they?”
Kim Han-byeol and Woo Jung-min whispered back and forth. Some listened intently, others looked puzzled. The difference? Whether they had read the records from the secret library. If they had, they’d understand the conversation.
“Brother, brother, what are those floating things over there? Are those glaciers?”
…It seems Ansol belongs to the “not interested” group. The way she tugged insistently at my cloak with those bright, sparkling eyes, asking questions, just made me smile wryly.
Anyway, just as Ansol said, the sea was vast and endless—but it wasn’t empty. Looking out with the naked eye, I could see something pale and white resting on the surface far off in the distance. The smaller ones floated gently, while the larger ones stood firmly rooted with their massive bodies. There were so many that it almost looked like a forest floating on the ocean.
That’s right. From here on, we had to enter that sea. But we had to limit Jegal Haesol’s transportation ability. Not that it was unusable—just that we shouldn’t use it recklessly. In other words, we had to save it.
There was no denying that transportation was an incredibly convenient, almost overpowered ability. But it had a cooldown period, a waiting time. We had to calculate that carefully.
I knew where the Shrine Song was located. By my estimate, the time it would take from when we left here to when we reached the destination and completed our task would likely fall within that cooldown window. And the transportation ability had to be reserved for right after the task was done. If my memory served me right, we’d definitely need it then.
So.
A very important problem arose.
That was…
“Eek!”
At that moment, Ansol—who had been clutching my cloak like a child—suddenly screamed in surprise. The sharp jolt she gave sent a tremor through the fabric.
“Uh, umma?”
Then, another voice let out a strange groan. Jegal Haesol, startled, took a step back but suddenly tripped and fell. Though it was a minor commotion, all the other companions’ gazes immediately fixed on the two of them. But Ansol and Jegal Haesol stared blankly at the sea for a while before suddenly looking at each other.
“D-Did you hear that too, unnie?”
“Yeah. You heard it too?”
“Y-Yeah. W-What did you hear?”
“Well…”
Jegal Haesol opened her mouth to say something but turned her head instead. Her dazed eyes, fixed on the sea, narrowed sharply.
Oh ho…
I couldn’t help but admire inwardly.
Was it because they were special users or something?
It seemed they had already realized it.
The trap hidden in this sea.
---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------
No, no. It’s not like that.
There are so many comments recognizing that guy as Royujin.
Almost all of them, in fact.
So I’ve been accepted as that guy.
Now, Royumi is forever goodbye.
Farewell, Royumi~ :D