Episode 174
174. Episode 174
“Hehe, how is it! I caught that guy myself two days ago!”
– The constellation, ‘The Hungry Prince’ gulps.
As soon as he opened his eyes, Se-Woon was brought in by the commander and what was in front of him was a huge piece of meat.
It was a monster that resembled a giant cow, and Se-Woon was able to quickly guess its identity because it was roasted with its head and horns still attached.
‘Was this the monster that also existed in the third shelter?’
Snow Cow Lord.
It was a monster that lived in areas with a lot of snow like this, and was a kind of boss-level monster that reigned over a snowy mountain.
As its name suggests, it is a creature that rules over cows made of eyes. Every time it howls, the surrounding eyes turn into cows and attack intruders.
Come to think of it, there seemed to be a piece of leather that looked like Seol Woo-joo’s among the stuffed animals in the commander’s office.
“Eat quickly! You need a full stomach to have strength! As soon as I finish eating, I will tell you why I called you!”
“yes.”
Since I had to eat at Seundo, I sat down.
As I was looking around because I didn’t have any utensils, she asked me what I was doing and gave me a piece of meat near the calf.
Then, seeing her take a big bite of her connected thighs, it seemed like this was her normal diet.
“Kooong!”
I looked to the side and saw Kungi, a polar bear, biting off the meat from the front leg and eating it.
On the other side, the adjutant sighed and cut the flesh on the buttocks with a knife, and then those who appeared to be officers appeared and tore off the meat.
Even though I spent quite some time in the Frost Fortress before returning, this was the first time I had seen such a sight.
To begin with, the soldiers of the Frost Fortress were not this kind to the player.
“Ha, I’m full! I guess I should get up soon!”
“Kooong!”
After she picked up ten ribs, bones included, and ate them, as befitting her size, she got up from her seat, patting her full belly.
Although the seasoning wasn’t great, the grilling was just right and the meat was incredibly tender, so Seun-do was able to finish the meal with great satisfaction.
“Well then, let’s go! Follow me!”
As if he understood what she said, Kung-yi took the lead and we started moving, accompanied by two soldiers.
In complete contrast to the first day, this time we go down to the basement of the fortress.
‘Was there a basement in the Frost Fortress?’
I tried to recall my memories from before my regression, but nothing came to mind.
Players were only allowed to enter floors 1 through 3, and even these were designated off-limits areas.
If you break the rules, you will be kicked out immediately.
No one would risk such a penalty and raid the fortress.
Se-un had never investigated the Frost Fortress because he was busy carrying out search-related requests at the time.
‘It doesn’t seem like this floor is in use.’
There were no other facilities visible around the stairs leading down to the basement, other than a wall running along the stairs.
The structure of the stairs was so thin that it seemed like it had been made temporarily, and it made a ringing sound every time I walked.
As I went down, I started to hear an unidentifiable noise.
Boom, boom!
Ddddddddd-!
Swish! Drrr- Swish!
The sound of something breaking. It started with a dull thud or a grinding sound, and then various things seemed to hit something solid.
In the meantime, it seemed as if the sound of flames crackling faintly could be heard.
However, as you go down the stairs, the temperature gradually drops.
As I exhale, white steam rises in a billowing stream.
“I can see it now!”
After going down several floors, the dark background disappeared and a wide, hollow space that seemed to be the lowest floor appeared.
‘The soldiers are all gathered here.’
In the compound, numerous soldiers were working with various tools.
I was wondering where all the soldiers were doing while leaving important-looking quests like monster subjugation up to the players, but it seems like they’ve all come down underground without the players knowing.
They were breaking through a huge block of ice that blocked most of the wall ahead, and judging by the shards of ice strewn about, it seemed as if the space itself had been carved out of that ice.
“What the heck is this… … .”
“This is the true purpose of our frost fortress!”
The true purpose of the Frost Fortress.
Only then could Se-Woon feel the doubts he had before returning being resolved.
It wasn’t just a system that allowed them to accept players, provide them with lodging, and give them quests.
Because this isn’t a game.
Everything was done according to vested interests.
The soldiers of the Frost Fortress had to break the ice, so they took in players and gave them missions like monster subjugation.
‘And that ice… … .’
At first glance, it was obvious that it was not ordinary ice.
Ice that is so black that you can’t see inside at all, let alone transparent.
The strange thing was that the ice fragments that had fallen to the ground were just ordinary ice.
Besides, how strong is the robbery?
“Okay! One, two!”
Kyaang!
“Ugh!”
“Oh, it broke again. Is this really not going to work?”
Despite using all kinds of ice-breaking tools, they were unable to make even the slightest scratch on the ice.
I don’t know how big it originally was, but it seemed impressive that it was cut down to this size.
Se-Woon, who was busy thinking, was able to figure out another fact.
‘If it’s in that direction, it should be towards the lake.’
A wall blocked by ice.
It was clearly a space where the ice lake of despair was located.
They were now digging a path leading underground into the lake.
“There is a legend in our empire.”
“Legend… is that what you mean?”
“A meteor fell with a bang! My eyes widened… … .”
“Ahem. Let me explain the legend to you.”
The adjutant who had been following the commander’s explanation shook his head and continued the explanation instead.
The northernmost part of the continent.
One day, a meteorite fell there with a black tail.
Instead of hot air, a bitter cold air rose from the place where it had fallen, and the surrounding terrain quickly turned into a snowfield.
Hundreds of years of hail collected between the snow-capped mountains, creating lakes of ice, which were then quickly covered by heavy snowfall.
The north was transformed into a snowy area that did not allow access in an instant.
At some point, monsters began to swarm that place, where food was scarce and life was difficult.
For some reason, the people who flocked to the lake did not fight each other even though they were of different races.
It is said that a strange roar is heard there once every ten years, whenever the snow completely stops.
It is said that at that time, all the monsters in the snowfield bow their heads toward the lake as if worshipping it.
“That is the legend.”
“Looking at it, it doesn’t seem like a legend at all.”
“Yes. In fact, the purpose of building the fortress was to block monsters. The monsters that flocked to the lake were truly dangerous.”
“then…….”
“However, the monsters were only circling around the lake and did not cross the snowfield. With the troops gone, the imperial scholars ordered us to investigate the lake.”
A meteorite falling from space. A natural disaster that strikes.
As I listened to the legend told by the adjutant, one thing came to mind.
‘It’s similar to Skabe’s.’
The legend of the sandstorms in Skabe was also related to a meteorite that fell from the sky.
By any chance, perhaps… …could the lake here also be related to Outer?
I had that suspicion.
At only the third shelter, it seemed like there was no trace of an outer, but Seun was already certain that the legend of Skabe was connected to the outer.
I couldn’t be sure that this wouldn’t be the case here either.
After listening to the adjutant’s explanation, I was finally able to come down all the stairs.
As soon as the commander appeared, several officers who were commanding the soldiers came running in a hurry.
“Loyalty! Commander, you’re here!”
“Sister, I can’t do this anymore. This is too hard!”
“More than half of the icebreaker has already been broken.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“This is what I managed to make after destroying about ten icebreakers.”
As he said this, the executive pointed to the front of the ice.
There was a small gap the size of a finger, a pitiful sign that ten icebreakers had been used up.
“You’ve worked hard! It seems that this problem cannot be solved through effort alone!”
Se-woon put his hand on the ice.
As soon as I did that, a distant cold air entered my fingertips. And then, I hastily pulled my hand away because of the serious and unpleasant feeling I felt between them.
“Is this the purpose of your calling me to break the ice?”
“That’s right! It’s unfortunate, but even my fists wouldn’t budge it. I called out to see if there was a possibility of an attack like the one you showed!”
Indeed, the power that Seun displayed at the end of the 20th floor trial was surprising even to himself.
It must have been quite shocking for the soldiers who witnessed it.
Given the display of such force, it is possible that the commander who received the information might have had such thoughts.
Through sparring, his skills were fully acknowledged.
“Of course I will repay you as much as I can! I won’t say anything even if I fail!”
Se-Woon wasn’t the type of person to trust someone he’d only known for a day, so normally he would have signed a contract first, but not now.
As it turned out, Sherri Buchanan, the commander of the Frost Fortress, wasn’t one to mess with things like that.
Has the firm resolve that was built up while working with the Diablo clan loosened up a bit?
I felt like I could trust her a little bit.
“All right.”
Seun took out the Durangdal.
I took a stance and swung my sword at the ice with a simple stroke.
Ting-
It’s exactly as the soldiers said.
Even though the seal was broken and the performance was greatly enhanced, it didn’t show even the slightest scratch.
It was amazing how the soldiers were able to carve the ice this far with their icebreakers without even using the power of their guards.
Just in case, I took out the key without the soldiers knowing, but this ice seemed to have a different character from the door.
When the key didn’t work, Seun took out his sword and distanced himself from the ice.
‘There’s no need to waste time.’
I realized it with one attack.
This ice was not something that could be broken simply by using upper-level herbivores.
Se-Woon took a deep breath and immediately unleashed the power of greed.
– The Treasure Trove of Greed has been opened.
[Strong Sword, Marmiad Wars]
– A famous sword created by Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths, and used by the Greek hero Hercules.
All I need now is strength.
As the sword of Hercules, also known as ‘the strongest man in the world’, Marmiadwars boasts astonishing strength and destructive power.
King Arthur, who later collected swords, compared it to his own sword, Excalibur, and evaluated it as ‘even surpassing Excalibur in power.’
The power of that sword begins to take hold in Durandal.
Crunch.
Se-Woon took a stance for stabbing rather than cutting as usual.
A gap the size of a finger, created with all the passion of the soldiers.
I believe in the destructive power of Marmiadwards, but the target is ice that may be imbued with the power of the Outer.
If possible, I wanted to focus all my strength on one point and target the weakest part.
I didn’t intend to swing it around so many times for no reason.
Just once. For that one attack, I concentrated all my mind.
As the surrounding air currents swayed around Seun, the commander and even the soldiers took a step back and gulped.
Immediately after, Se-Woon, who had finished concentrating, opens his eyes wide and swings his sword.
– The rock-splitting sword, Durandal, unleashes the heroic power contained in ‘Marmead Wars’.
– The hero’s strike ‘Bull Hunt’ is recreated through ‘Marmiad Wars’.
As Se-un puts his weight on his outstretched front paw, the iron floor is pressed down, leaving footprints.
For a moment, the surrounding air became extremely heavy, Seun’s stigmata began to glow, and the power of madness was manifested.
Apply your martial arts to the max and concentrate the great power contained in Durandal on one point.
cook.
Seun’s sword is precisely embedded in the gap between the ice.
There was a loud crashing sound from the tip of the sword, and the entire sword, except for the handle, was buried deep into the ice.
Crack, crack!
The pitch-black ice began to crack and crumble from within.
fantasy,
