Chapter 182: Turning the Tables (2)

Two days later

Soldiers stationed at the outskirts of Calun whispered among themselves as they observed the organized warriors packing their gear.

“Has the meeting not ended yet?”

“It seems there’s some kind of issue.”

The order was preparing to leave despite the grand assembly at Calun not being over. This was unprecedented, leaving the kingdom’s soldiers puzzled.

Meanwhile, on the ramparts of Kanburk Castle, Lokan VII and two dukes watched the scene unfold.

The dukes alternated firing questions at Lokan VII.

“Can we let things continue as they are?”

“Yes, given the current situation… We must find a way to dispel these doubts.”

“We cannot risk losing control over the order.”

The question the Order had posed at the beginning of their meeting remained unanswered. Of course, this was from the perspective of the two dukes…

Lokan VII recalled that night three days ago.

What manner of solution is this?

I’ve told you already. The Pantheon will favor us.

Are you trying to belittle the god you serve? Relying solely on divine intervention in our current situation seems overly complacent.

Isn’t that tempting Heavenly Punishment?

Ha… So what should we do?

Nothing at all.

…?

Just continue gathering military forces as you originally planned. Don’t draw attention to our assistance.

What does he mean by…?

This was always your intention—to muster forces against the Snow King, wasn’t it?

Well, yes, but…

Just go ahead with it. However, our Order will withdraw.

…?

That day, priest Louis’s request was simple.

No, “request” wasn’t quite right.

He simply wanted the kingdom to carry out its original plan. There was no need for them to do anything special.

This proposal wasn’t bad for the Kanburk Kingdom. They had already been planning to muster forces against the Snow King, and even if the Order’s intentions turned out to be malicious, the kingdom wouldn’t suffer any harm.

We’ll inform you of the rest later.

…?

I’ll send you to your tent. See you later.

W-What is this? priest?!

With Louis’s casual wave of his hand, King Lokan VII found himself instantly in his tent.

Is this… some kind of trick?!

Lokan VII wondered if it had all been a dream, but no—it was undeniably real.

“Your Highness?”

The sound of someone addressing him brought the king back to reality.

He turned to the two dukes and spoke. “Don’t worry about the Order.”

“But, Your Highness!”

“We can’t force them to do anything, can we?”

“Even so, shouldn’t we at least clear up the misunderstanding?”

“It seems too late for that now,” was the only explanation Lokan VII could muster.

“Haaah…” Loken VII sighed as he watched the two dukes’ frustrated expressions.

I’d tell them if I knew something…

But since he didn’t, there was nothing to share. All he could do now was his best in this situation.

“How is the mobilization of troops progressing?”

“We’ve declared war and ordered forces from all over the country to assemble. In about two to three weeks, soldiers from each region will gather at Calun.”

“That’s good. The problem is when the Snow King will show his face…”

“I hope he never does.”

“He will eventually… Send rangers to the Baiqi Mountains. We can’t afford to miss a beat when it comes to the Snow King’s movements.”

“Understood.”

The two dukes deeply bowed before withdrawing.

After they left, Loken mused to himself from his vantage on the castle wall, watching the cultists depart from Calun:

What… what are you thinking, priest?

His eyes were brimming with doubt.

In the heart of the Dominant Empire, nestled within the Dark Frost Rat’s stronghold, a report was delivered to the Duke.

Two days later, a flurry of joyful reports came flooding in from the Empire’s side.

After reading through the reports, the Duke stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“Hmm… Was I being too sensitive?”

He couldn’t shake the feeling that there might be a third party involved, as his subordinate had suggested.

Could the Order and the Kanburk Kingdom truly have fallen out?

Yet, he couldn’t afford to jump to conclusions just yet.

Most troubling of all was the third, unseen force. Their objectives remained a mystery, as did their motive for interfering with the Duke’s plans. Everything was shrouded in confusion.

As a result, the Duke decided to delay his report to the Emperor and observe the situation further. He hoped that this hidden force might reveal itself more clearly with time.

Meanwhile, reports about the Kingdom of Kanburk continued to stream in:

After two weeks of these continuous reports, with no change in the Order’s behavior, the Duke finally reached a conclusion.

It seems… the Order has truly split from Kanburk!

It wasn’t clear who the third party was or what their goals might be, but based on the situation as it stood, their involvement wasn’t necessarily bad for the Empire. After all, the Empire’s objective was to drive a wedge between the Order and the King of Kanburk.

From what had transpired so far, it seemed the rift between the Order and the kingdom had grown deep indeed. The appearance of a third party at this juncture would likely change little.

The goal has been achieved. The Marquis smiled. He stood up from his seat. “I must go see His Majesty.” No longer a progress report, this time he left Islet to make his final report to the emperor—the one informing him that their purpose had been realized.

As Duke Samuel made his way to the islet,

Whoosh…

A lone figure flew across the snow-covered Mac Mountains, cutting through the swirling flakes.

Louis had left his companions behind to survey the mountain range alone. From his lofty perch high above, he gazed down at the expanse below.

Grrrroooom…

Grrr…

Below his feet stretched a vast army of monsters. Surprisingly, they maintained their own semblance of order.

Cobolts, goblins, orcs, trolls, ogres—both small and large creatures—formed a tapestry of predators and prey that would have seemed wholly implausible to any observer unfamiliar with the monster ecosystem.

As Louis beheld this teeming horde, he murmured to himself:

“No wonder the Snow King was able to bring about the ruination of human kingdoms in the past.”

Even Louis, who had lived for hundreds of years, had never seen such a vast horde of monsters concentrated in one place. His gaze naturally gravitated towards the center of the monster army, where a makeshift tent had been constructed using trees.

“That must be the Snow King over there.”

From within the tent emanated a powerful presence.

Somewhere between mid to late top-tier.

While it posed little threat to Louis himself, if this creature were to appear in the human realm, it would undoubtedly be catastrophic. And alongside it were countless other monsters.

Louis roughly estimated their numbers:

About 80,000 give or take.

This force alone could leave a formidable kingdom in ruins. Yet, surprisingly, the Snow King was not yet moving his monstrous army.

He’s probably planning to gather even more reinforcements.

The ruler of orcs—a freakish mutant that defied the limitations of its race, born with impossibly slim odds.

This was the Orc Lord, and his most primitive instinct wasn’t appetite or reproduction. It was conquest—the desire to dominate the world.

That’s why the Orc Lord inherently understood. He knew that with each additional monster he recruited—slightly stronger than the last—the easier it would be to achieve his goal of world conquest.

As Louis gazed upon the tent of the Orc Lord of the snow, he smiled.

I wonder… is his appetite for conquest stronger than his desire to survive?

Louis released the energy he had been concealing. The energy of a dragon nearing zeroth rank scattered the clouds.

Zzzz…

His invisible energy rippled like a mist. It was on a completely different level compared to the energy of the Orc Lord, who merely commanded monsters. This was the energy possessed by an absolute being who reigned over all living creatures.

Drdrd…

The energy of the divine being settled over the Mac Mountains.

A log cabin stood within the camp.

Crackle…

The interior of the cabin was warm and cozy, heated by a roaring bonfire inside. On one side of the cabin, a massive bed had been constructed using the bones of an ogre. White leopard furs covered the bed, which was occupied by a huge monster standing at three meters tall—none other than an orc giant.

Grrk…

Throat and mandible jutting out like characteristic orc features, he had grown so large that he could easily be mistaken for a troll if not for that face. The orc giant had draped approximately ten emaciated female orcs over himself like blankets.

RRRRRUMBLE.

With his snoring abruptly ceasing…

A moment passed…

SNIFF!

The latecomer Orc Lord rapidly sat up as if startled awake, but all at once— he shuddered violently as his body broke out into a cold sweat.

The orc leader surveyed the area around the bed.

He had thought the females were asleep.

But the orc lord realized that they weren’t sleeping.

Fainted?

The females hadn’t fallen asleep—they had fainted.

Grrr…

The orc lord drew in a rough breath, then shoved aside the collapsed female and set one foot on the floor.

At that moment, his enormous body swayed.

Grrk?!

Never once since birth had his body felt this weak.

His confusion was brief, for the orc lord realized what was happening.

His body was trembling with fear.

This body… I, Kurt, am afraid?

Gritting his teeth, the orc lord picked up his favorite weapon from where it stood in one corner.

He lifted the tent flap and stepped outside.

The winter mountain range spread out before him.

The fortress he had created with countless orcs and monsters was now as silent as the grave.

Simultaneously, thousands of his soldiers lay toppled across the landscape.

The sight was incomprehensible to the intelligent Orc Lord, who struggled to make sense of it all.

Who? How?

As Kurrt, the Orc Lord, grappled with the bewildering situation…

Kuuuuuurgle!

An eerie sound from above snapped his attention skyward. In that moment, he beheld and felt a colossal, menacing presence roiling within dark, churning clouds. Instinctively, the Orc Lord gripped his sword tighter—a survival mechanism to confront the terror of the unknown.

As madness-inducing fear threatened to consume his mind, he fought back with a thunderous roar, determined to vanquish his terror.

Craaaaaaah!

In the past, the Orc Lord’s roar and top-tier mental prowess had struck fear into the hearts of many monsters. Now, however, not a single creature flinched at his battle cry—they were all unconscious as if dead.

Grrrr, grrrr!

The Orc Lord’s roar rippled through the nearby forest. In response, a voice echoed from above.

“Quit yammering.”

A low murmur emanated from high above, unsettling the Orc Lord.

Crrrk.

The pressure on his skull forced him to his knees, his body trembling uncontrollably.

“This… This is preposterous!” he exclaimed.

He tried to stave off the terror consuming him, but it was useless. The fear instilled in his race long before his birth could not be overcome, no matter how much power the Orc Lord had attained.

Creeeee.

As the creature knelt there—

His voice boomed once more, sending shivers down the orc lord’s spine.

It was the absolute ruler’s command directed at the orc lord.

The orc lord bowed his head even lower in submission.

With those final words, the suffocating terror dissipated, and the pressure weighing down on his skull vanished. Yet, the fear etched in the orc lord’s eyes remained, slow to fade.

He stayed bowed for what seemed an eternity. After several minutes, he raised his head to gaze endlessly at the dark clouds Louis had left behind.

I… I must leave this place!

The sheer horror he’d experienced for the first time in his life had numbed the orc lord’s senses. Half a day passed in this state.

As the snow began to fall once more, the unconscious monsters finally stirred from their slumber.

His howl echoed across the army like an alarm.

Graaahhh.

The Orc Lord’s roar, akin to a monarch’s command, galvanized the horde.

Tskk…

Skreeee!

The monster army began to move with surprising discipline.

From his vantage point in the sky, Louis observed this and took out his communication stone.

“Hey, it’s Louis. Come out, you twins!”

Louis’s eyes twinkled at the cheerful voices coming from the stone.

“That ugly king pig has left us.”

With that brief exchange, the communication stone went dark.

Louis surveyed the 80,000 monsters pouring from the mountains, his lips curling into a smile.

“Well then, shall we begin the herding?”

Whoosh!

In an instant, Louis vanished with a whispered word.

On a day when snowflakes whirled in the air,

the Snow King’s Army, which had once struck terror across the Winter Continent,

had returned after an absence of 1,200 years.