Editor : Amethyst00



The Lich King, Hell Kaiser, gazed upon the Land of Death.

The land he ruled was a place where no ordinary living being could survive.

The most dreadful of the lands in existence—Lich's own territory.

The land under Hell Kaiser's rule was still the Land of Death.

But it was no longer a place merely filled with the malice of the dead and the grudges of the departed as it usually was.

Now, in a different sense, the Land of Death had become uninhabitable for any living being.

The Lich King looked over the frozen, frigid earth with his glowing crimson-black eyes.

Creak—

As he moved, shards of ice fell off his body.

The seemingly never-ending fragment of Erebos… no, the battle with the ancient god of evil.

The Lich King, who had used the power of the Erebos fragment, failed to swallow the forgotten ancient god once again.

Of course, the ancient god failed as well.

"O Lich King."

Next to Hell Kaiser appeared Archduke of Mourning, Artkan.

On his usually emotionless face, a shadow of concern was visible.

"What exactly was that?"

Even Artkan, who had existed since before the Age of Calamity, could not have imagined such an abnormal event.

Ice that countered the inextinguishable flames of catastrophe that burned everything in their path.

Moreover, it was clear to anyone that the being who attacked the Lich King was a fragment of a god.

Had the Lich King not used the Erebos fragment to hold back that entity, his legion would not have escaped destruction.

"Nyx… a being that desires the immutable and eternal."

"Nyx?"

"Yes. It's a name you wouldn't know. But you're not the only one."

The Lich King spoke as if it were trivial.

"Even my perished brethren don't know of its existence."

A being unknown even to the legion commanders from 5,000 years ago.

Erebos's most loyal servant and the oldest commander—only the Lich King knew of it.

"What is the true identity of this Nyx?"

"A forgotten ancient god."

"An ancient… god?"

"Yes. From the distant past. One of the many evil gods devoured by our god."

Artkan's eyes widened in surprise at the unfamiliar tale.

Hell Kaiser curled his lips into a smile.

"Just as the Great Flame of Calamity dreamed of burning this world to nonexistence, Nyx too had a wish."

"What was that wish?"

"A world of eternal, undying stillness."

"…That ideology is completely different from ours."

"In a broad sense, it's the same."

"The same, you say…?"

"Nyx longed for permanence."

Everything in the world is bound to change with time.

But Nyx rejected that.

"Nyx dreamed of a world where all things were frozen, forever halted."

It was merely a different form of destruction.

Upon hearing this, Artkan's expression twisted in disgust.

"A worthless world where everything is dead."

"Yes."

The Lich King Hell Kaiser is a demon who governs death.

So is his loyal subject, Artkan.

But they are simply beings who defy and insult the truth of death.

They are not death itself.

A world frozen in place, becoming death incarnate…

To those who believe in the Flame of Calamity, who dream of a world reduced to ashes with nothing left—nothing could be more revolting.

It was not beautiful.

Archduke Artkan truly believed that.

They may share the same overarching goal of destruction.

But their methods were polar opposites.

Artkan realized that Nyx, the Frozen Death, was a being they could neither understand nor walk the same path with.

"A being like that has revived… isn't that dangerous?"

Currently, Tartaros has lost its god.

And now, another ancient evil god has been resurrected.

Their lord, the Lich King, indeed possesses a fragment of the divine and can wield that power.

But the fact remains that Tartaros currently lacks a present god.

Meanwhile, Nyx has returned.

"Does Nyx also have followers?"

"Yes. From long ago. Followers imprisoned underground."

The Lich King spoke in a leisurely tone.

"…Will this be alright?"

If Nyx were to form a military force equal to Tartaros…

Would Tartaros be able to stop them?

Unlike them, Nyx had fully revived. It was clear they would grow stronger with time.

"What are you worried about?"

"Pardon?"

"There are two others more desperate than us, aren't there?"

Hell Kaiser grinned slyly.

"The surviving hero… and the foolish one."

Artkan gasped at those words.

"The reason our god opposes Nyx is merely a difference in how the world should be destroyed."

Of course, neither side intended to yield.

"But for those two, the situation is the same. They're the ones who must prevent the world's end."

Hell Kaiser began walking.

He spoke as he returned to his castle.

"No matter who wins, they'll take heavy damage. That means we gain the upper hand."

Even if Nyx were to lose, it didn't matter.

Nyx had awakened not as a fragment of Erebos, but as a completely separate entity.

From Tartaros's point of view, it was better that Nyx inflict significant damage on the world before vanishing, rather than becoming a direct opponent.

"This should be entertaining."

Hell Kaiser chuckled ominously.

Whatever the outcome, the Frozen Death, Nyx, would taste hell.

"They've grown accustomed to hunting evil gods and demons…"

Thinking of those hateful great heroes, Lich King Hell Kaiser returned to his castle.

bl

Snow began falling in Davienne.

Through the mediation of Lumene and Seiren, the civil war had temporarily reached a truce.

The Second Prince, who had deceitfully drawn Seiren into the conflict, had disgraced himself publicly.

Bringing in foreign powers to a civil war was disgraceful to begin with.

Even if that power was Seiren, which had no interest in material gain.

Of course, this didn't mean things improved for the First Princess's faction.

The reason was simple.

They had annoyed Elena, Queen of Lumene.

Elena had always been infamous for her wild nature. And Leo, Lumene's representative, had been rude to her.

Lumene is the unifying force of the human race.

Now that diplomatic impropriety had been committed toward its representative, it was unlikely they'd look kindly upon the First Princess's side.

Especially since Leo had spared the lives of all soldiers from the Second Prince's faction and was now praised within Davienne.

While the royal family and nobility pushed their people into war, a young, famous hero from within had come to protect them.

The citizens of Davienne couldn't help but cheer for Leo.

In the capital of Deang, both the First Princess and Second Prince had now taken up positions, each with their trusted retainers.

This was to draft a proposal to end the civil war. With that, the immediate fire was out, and Davienne gradually began stabilizing.

The most pressing issue now in Davienne was not politics—but the severe cold.

Ironically, the ones suffering most from the cold were—

"Achoo!"

None other than the students from Lumene and Seiren.

Celia sneezed in the hot spring.

It was an unusually rare sight from the ever-prepared, perfect honor student, Celia.

She always maintained peak condition.

As someone who pursued perfection, she never allowed herself to show weakness before others.

Yet now, she was not only sneezing but shivering violently, clutching her body.

And it was understandable.

The hot spring she was soaking in had lost its heat and was now frigid water, practically an icy lake.

Chunks of ice even floated atop it.

Originally frozen solid, the hot spring had been forcibly broken open so they could enter.

Bubbling—

Suddenly, bubbles rose next to Celia.

Splash—

Out emerged the red-haired elf, Lunia.

Even Lunia, tough as she was, couldn't help but shiver in the freezing water.

To stay even slightly warm, the two clung to each other.

Watching them, the creator of this icy hell—Lysinas—smiled softly.

"No good. The purpose of this training is to feel not even a hint of warmth."

At her words, Lunia and Celia separated with teary eyes.

The reason they were suffering in freezing water during a blizzard was simple.

Both of them used the power of the phoenix.

And Lysinas was the final oathbound of the Phoenix King.

To help them grow further, Lysinas had prepared a special training.

Of course, it wasn't just those two receiving the training.

All the students from Lumene and Seiren were being trained.

"By the way…"

Watching the two battle the bitter cold, Lysinas furrowed her brow and stared intently at their attire.

"Swimsuits?"

She scowled in disapproval and muttered.

"What is with these indecent clothes? Aren't you embarrassed to wear those in front of others?"

Celia and Lunia looked flustered at the comment.

"Huh?"

"I've never really thought about it…"

"I just can't understand kids these days. Isn't this way too open? Is this really okay?"

As Lysinas crossed her arms and made a serious face, Celia thought to herself:

'If she ever sees a bikini at the beach, she'll probably faint.'

Of course, Celia herself found these swimsuits embarrassing.

But depending on the culture, many wore them without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Lunia recalled something Luna had once said:

"Lysinas? Total old hag. Like, a real traditionalist. She lectured me on elven manners and all that blah blah. Seriously, sometimes it feels like she's the elf, not me!"

Remembering how Luna shuddered, Lunia now did the same.

'Sometimes Leo feels like a traditionalist too, but… Lysinas is on a whole other level.'

As she thought that, Lunia noticed Lysinas staring intently at them.

"Celia… I think she wants us to go in one more time."

"…Yeah."

Earlier, the two had been repeatedly diving into the ice-cold water without using any mana.

They had just finished their last round of today's training.

The purpose was to strengthen their control, so that their powerful fire could be triggered even with the smallest flame.

And to toughen their minds. But the wise Lysinas didn't seem satisfied.

The two girls closed their eyes and dove once more into the freezing water.

Seeing that, Lysinas was taken aback.

'Wait, why are they going in again?'

It was clearly time to rest, but the two girls were too enthusiastic.

Lysinas didn't realize it was a misunderstanding caused by her gaze.

She was lost in a completely different thought.

'If that outfit isn't a big deal… does that mean I could wear something like that in front of Kyle?'

Lysinas began seriously contemplating.

Back when she had a physical body, she had once appeared completely naked—but that had been an accident.

'If I wear something like that… would that fool finally look at me differently?'