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Chapter 321: The Ashen Barbarians of the White Snowfield (3)
Bringing the barbarians to the fortress was sure to cause trouble.
Even if Ketal controlled them, they were incapable of managing their emotions.
If given the chance, they’d swing their axes without hesitation.
For this reason, Ketal told them to wait in the nearby forest.
When they returned to the fortress, they told Arcane that the barbarians had been dealt with. Arcane looked at them with awe in his eyes.
Afterward, they entered a hut that Arcane guided them to.
The Tower Master cast a soundproofing spell just in case and finally spoke.
[So those are… the barbarians of the White Snowfield.]
The most dangerous beings said to exist in the White Snowfield, known in legend.
The Tower Master let out a small laugh.
[They’re strong.]
To be honest, the Tower Master hadn’t expected much.
He had thought of the Ashen Barbarians as nothing more than a group relying on the strength of an individual like Ketal.
But seeing them in person was different.
Each of the three barbarians was as strong as a hero-class warrior.
[And they seem blindly loyal to you.]
“They only listen to me. Though that’s exactly what I hate about it,”
Ketal muttered with an expression of exasperation.
Serena, finally recovering from her shock, murmured,
“…They really are strong. To be honest, I’m not sure we could win even if we fought.”
[Are they the strongest barbarians under your command?]
“No, not quite. But they’re not weak, either. They’re at least high-ranking warrior class.”
However, they hadn’t yet reached the level of the absolute elite.
“They lack both the strength and the experience. I’m still wondering why these particular ones showed up.”
[…So, they aren’t even the strongest of the barbarians?]
The Tower Master chuckled in disbelief.
Having experience with the beings of the Forbidden Lands, he had thought of them in that context.
But that had been a complete miscalculation.
The White Snowfield.
In the truest sense, that place was a realm beyond human comprehension.
[So, what will you do? Are you going to send them back?]
“I probably will.”
If the barbarians had come out for legitimate reasons, Ketal would have had no grounds to refuse them.
But they hadn’t.
They had forced their way out just to see him.
“I’m not planning to send them away immediately… but I’m certainly not letting them roam free. Don’t worry about that.”
[Do you think they’ll obey?]
“They will,”
Ketal said flatly.
“If I ordered them, they’d throw themselves off a cliff with a smile.”
[Yet they ignored your orders and attacked me.]
“That’s the annoying thing about them,”
Ketal said with a grimace.
Ketal had explicitly ordered the barbarians not to attack the Tower Master.
Being blindly loyal, they should have followed the command.
But they hadn’t.
Seeing the Tower Master had stirred their emotions to the point that they forgot his orders. They had stopped the moment he gave the command again, but given another opportunity, they would attack without hesitation.
Even if Ketal issued a direct order, they might rationalize their actions or simply forget.
That was the nature of the Ashen Barbarians.
[Utterly irrational.]
Neither logic, conversation, nor commands could fully reach them.
That was the nature of the barbarians of the White Snowfield.
Compared to them, the barbarians outside who at least obeyed orders were far more reasonable.
The Tower Master looked at Ketal with newfound understanding.
[You were surprisingly reasonable after all. You must have suffered immensely among them.]
“They’re infuriating,”
Ketal said, clicking his tongue.
He had thought he was finally free of them, only for them to follow him like this.
[At least they follow your words somewhat, so sending them back shouldn’t be an issue. That’s a relief, I suppose.]
“True… Hmm.”
Ketal stroked his chin, lost in thought, before speaking again.
“Tower Master, you mentioned before that one of Necronovix’s puppets could be dealt with if we had just one decisive card. That one card would be enough.”
[That’s true. But finding a card of that caliber is no easy task. Even the Saint of the Sun God can’t help with this.]
The Tower Master paused, then turned to Ketal.
[…You’re not thinking…?]
“This works out well. We should use what we can,”
Ketal murmured.
* * *
Ketal went to see the barbarians waiting for him.
They greeted him with sparkling eyes.
“Ooooh!”
“Our king has arrived!”
“We were bored and thinking of coming to find you!”
“I told you not to come,”
Ketal sighed.
They had already been on the verge of disobeying him again.
With a sigh, Ketal opened his mouth to speak.
“I have a question.”
“Oooh! Our king is asking us a question!”
“Ask us anything!”
They exclaimed loudly, their faces brimming with the willingness to die for him if he so commanded.
Ketal looked at them with a mixture of weariness and frustration.
‘This is exactly what I hate.’
Their almost fanatical faith and reverence were suffocating.
It didn’t feel like dealing with fellow humans.
But that wasn’t the issue at hand.
Composing himself, Ketal asked,
“So how many of you died?”
According to their own words, they had left one of the elders in critical condition.
The barbarians themselves couldn’t have escaped unscathed.
Greta responded,
“About… half of us? It seems about half have died.”
“Half, huh.”
Ketal clicked his tongue.
Among them were surely many familiar faces.
No, all of them would be familiar—he was their king, after all.
Though death was a familiar concept for barbarians, it didn’t sit well with him.
‘Maybe I should’ve given different orders.’
But no alternative came to mind.
If he had issued a weaker command, they would have quickly carried it out and followed him anyway.
What stood out most was that the barbarians showed no sadness.
“It was a glorious sacrifice! I wish I could’ve died like that!”
“That’s exactly what I hate,”
Ketal said.
“Never mind. Why were you the ones who came? There must have been others eager to come here.”
While these barbarians were strong, they weren’t the strongest.
The idea that the elite had willingly given up the chance to meet him didn’t sit right.
Greta answered,
“They’re all severely injured! They’re on the brink of death! That’s why we, who are relatively unscathed, came instead!”
They hadn’t come because they were mortally wounded.
It was a plausible explanation.
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However, Ketal’s expression was one of suspicion.
“Just for that reason?”
These were people who clung to life even when their bones were crushed to powder.
There was no way they’d back down just because they were “on the brink of death.”
Greta flinched at Ketal’s words.
“…Actually, they tried to come out, but the outer perimeter was blocked, so they couldn’t make it.”
“Is the barrier still intact?”
The rat had told him.
The barrier was not completely destroyed yet.
Considerable effort would be required to break through.
It seemed they couldn’t manage it in their current, critically injured state.
Greta spoke proudly.
“We held duels to decide who would come out! The three of us won and made it outside! We proved our strength!”
“And how many died in the process?”
“About twenty!”
Greta’s eyes sparkled as she said it, as if asking to be praised for defeating them and emerging victorious.
Ketal let out a sigh.
“Greta, Greta. When you were younger, you seemed a bit smarter than the rest, so I tried hard to educate you into someone I could reason with. And now, you’re a barbarian with a tiny bit of knowledge in your head.”
“Thank you for the compliment!”
“That wasn’t a compliment, you fool.”
Ketal clicked his tongue.
“Well, I understand the situation now.”
“Oooh!”
“What shall we do now? Just give the order! We’ll do anything!”
“Let’s conquer this land and make it ours!”
Their eyes gleamed as they shouted, as if they were ready to charge into the fortress and start beheading people right away.
Ketal, looking as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, responded.
“Do what? Go back.”
“…What?”
“Why are you so surprised? You ultimately failed to carry out the orders I gave.”
The order he had given was to kill the old one.
But they hadn’t done that.
They had merely forced their way out to see Ketal.
There was no reason for him to accept this.
“Th-this can’t be.”
Though his words were obvious, the barbarians looked as though their world had collapsed.
Watching them for a moment, Ketal asked,
“Do you want to stay by my side?”
“Yes!”
“We want to fight by the king’s side!”
“We want to burn this land!”
“Then I’ll give you one condition.”
“A condition?”
“Yes.”
Ketal smiled faintly.
The barbarians’ eyes gleamed with anticipation.
* * *
[Hmm.]
The next day.
As always, Necronovix began moving three of his puppets to burn the continent.
They spread across the land, starting their assault.
Before long, Ketal appeared.
He grabbed one puppet and began to fight it.
While Ketal handled one puppet, the Tower Master and the Holy Sword dealt with another.
This left Necronovix free to move the third puppet and wreak havoc across the continent.
It was a pattern that had remained unchanged until now.
Necronovix assumed this time would be no different.
But an unexpected variable arose.
Necronovix, controlling one of the puppets, hesitated.
[…What is this?]
Standing before him was Serena.
She trembled violently but didn’t retreat.
A fierce light began to emanate from her.
Necronovix scowled, shattering the light.
[…Where is the Tower Master?]
Until now, the Tower Master had always moved with the Holy Sword.
But this time, the one blocking the puppet was the Holy Sword, alone.
After a brief pause, Necronovix realized the situation.
[They plan to hold off all three of us.]
One by Ketal.
One by the Holy Sword.
And the last by the Tower Master.
This way, the damage to the continent could be minimized.
It was a rational plan—if the Holy Sword could hold out.
[You, a mere tool, dare to stand in my way? Arrogant.]
“Ugh.”
Serena gagged but didn’t back down.
Clenching her trembling fists, she shouted,
“…I was a Holy Sword too! No matter who you are, you won’t defeat me so easily!”
Serena charged at Necronovix.
This fight was unlike any other before.
Serena’s thorough preparations made it difficult for even Necronovix to subdue her easily.
[But that’s as far as you’ll go.]
At best, she might endure a single confrontation.
Beyond that, it was impossible.
In the end, nothing would change.
Necronovix moved his remaining puppet.
[Then, this must be the Tower Master’s location. What kind of preparation awaits me this time?]
As Necronovix leisurely waited for the Tower Master to appear, no one came.
Just as puzzlement crept onto Necronovix’s face, voices echoed.
“What’s this? It’s him?”
“So we just have to kill that guy, and the king will let us follow him, right?”
“That sounds good.”
Voices rang out, and Necronovix’s expression hardened.
[…You lot?]
Three ashen barbarians emerged, grinning and brandishing their weapons.
Necronovix instantly realized they weren’t ordinary barbarians.
Their appearance was deceptive.
“Don’t know who you are, but it doesn’t matter.”
“Die for the king!”
“And for us, too!”
The barbarian warriors of the white snowfield roared as they charged at Necronovix.
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