CH 239

There was once a mountain range called the Wall of Nulvin on this land.

It was a mountain range named after an adventurer from thousands of years ago—it was an adventurer who decided to head toward the North to find the very end of this world. The mountain range was quite rough and vast, but it was slowly absorbed into the huge Crack over a very long period of time.

Thanks to this, the Northern point of the Wall of Nulvin had a gentle slope compared to other mountain ranges. However, this did not mean that it was a convenient mountain range to climb over.

The Wall of Nulvin was so high compared to the other lands south of it, that it was difficult to breathe on once it was climbed. There were split and distorted crevasses hidden under the shallowly stacked snow, and beasts with grotesque forms crawled up from the Crack in search of their prey while panting.

Moreover, the burning heat rising from the Crack and the cold wind blowing from the North met to create irregular and crazy winds. Even the hardy creatures would have their eyes frozen over and be thrown into the sky if they let their guard down, even for a short moment.

“The Northerners call this type of wind the ‘screaming breath!’”

Lenly took a glance toward the back. He could see people following him while holding on to the rope that was firmly fixed with an iron core. There were about a dozen people following him, but one more seemed to have disappeared.

There were quite a few more people and porters with wagons in the beginning, but now there were only twelve people remaining.

Imil Ilde was closely following behind Lenly, who was walking in the lead.

“It’s called the screaming breath because people disappear one by one from the moment a scream is heard!”

“Your tongue might freeze if you continue talking so much, Imil,” Lenly said.

“What I’m trying to say is, I wonder how people could even hear a scream in this crazy wind! I haven’t heard a single scream when all of our porters were flown away!”

Lenly couldn’t help but agree with Imil. He pulled down the mask that was covering his mouth and spat. His saliva instantly froze, even before it hit the ground and rolled around.

Imil was about to complain some more upon seeing such a sight, but Lenly opened his mouth before Imil could.

“Perhaps their throats froze before they could even let out a scream.”

Imil remained silent upon hearing Lenly’s words. Instead of answering, he simply pulled up his mask to cover his mouth.

Lenly continued to walk in silence. The iron core and the rope that was previously fixed by a stranger made it possible for him to move forward smoothly. If it weren’t for the iron core and the rope, he would have had to make his own way, something quite difficult.

“Why on earth is HIs Majesty Gerard leaving us unattended like this?” Imil complained

‘And here he goes again.’

Lenly looked back at Imil with annoyed eyes. However, he could understand Imil’s frustration as well.

“Master… well, I guess he’s not my master anymore. As far as I know, Dane Dormund was His Majesty Gerard’s comrade. You also had a profound influence on His Majesty’s resurrection, didn’t you? In fact, all of us in Aruntal did our best to revive His Majesty, even going so far as to confront the real emperor who was resurrected,” Imil added.

Lenly was bothered by Imil’s choice of words, but he did not go out of his way to refute Imil.

It was not wrong to say that Juan was the real emperor, after all—it’s just that he wasn’t the perfect emperor.

Meanwhile, Imil’s complaints continued.

“But then, Dane called His Majesty Gerard a failure, and His Majesty Gerard decided to ignore us, the Aruntal, and is living a secluded life in the North… the magicians of the Magic Tower could have used teleportation magic if His Majesty could have been a little more considerate. Yet…”

“Are you upset that you weren’t given any rewards?” Lenly asked.

Imil’s eyes twitched upon hearing Lenly’s question.

“What do you mean ‘a reward’? You’re seriously saying that to someone who gave up the entire merchant business that once empowered the empire’s entire economy, all to come all the way out here? Do you think that you can compare what you gave up and what I gave up? You must be thinking that you are the only one who is upright and has integrity. I am not different from you in the sense that I want to fall at the feet of His Majesty even if I end up dying the next minute!”

‘Yeah, right. You just want to enjoy eternal wealth under an immortal emperor.’

Lenly thought to himself.

The emperor’s eternal rule meant that people like Imil could also be protected forever.

Lenly clenched the handle of the sword hanging at his waist, telling himself that he was different. He believed that he could stand by the emperor’s side forever and become his personal gardener.

He was ready to cut off all those who were a threat to the emperor so as to not let any filth taint His Majesty.

‘I even left the Saintess in order to do so.’

Lenly felt as if someone was stabbing his chest with a knife. Inside the torn wound remained only an empty void. Ivy was a ray of sunshine that was unexpectedly thrown into Lenly’s life—a lonely life during which he had only stayed in the cold and pressuring Imperial Palace.

Only a deep-seated loneliness was left in his heart.

Lenly tightly bit his lips and pulled his hand off of the sword. This was not the time to argue with Imil, nor was it time to fall into the thoughts of Ivy.

“Imil, we will encounter many traitors under HIs Majesty's rule. I guarantee you that Dane will not be the last traitor to betray His Majesty. I’m rather glad that we were able to cut him off so early. That man was way too dangerous to be allowed near His Majesty anyway.”

“That’s… true, I suppose. It can’t be helped that Dane Dormund’s vacancy feels quite significant, since he was such a powerful ally. But I have no choice but to admit that the way he behaved was way too outrageous,” Imil answered.

Finally, Imil closed his mouth; he found it difficult to breathe as they began to climb up the slope.

It was quite hard to find those who could maintain their sanity in the harsh and cold wind that could blow them away if they let their guard down even for a second. Walking through the piled-up snow that was slowing them down, all the party members struggled to move forward with all their might.

There were even moments when Lenly almost lost consciousness as they continued to climb.

Then, at some moment, an unexpected warm wind came from somewhere. Lenly opened his eyes wide upon feeling the warmth. Before anyone even knew it, the white landscape had disappeared and was replaced by a strange landscape.

“...This place is…”

It was a rocky area made of purple, black and magenta-colored rocks. The sky was cluttered with purple rocks, almost like it was a construction site. Although the sun was invisible, a source of light that gave off a disturbing feeling was rising from beyond the horizon.

And in the middle of the hill was a castle that was built in a strange style that no one had ever seen before. It didn’t seem like it had been built by piling up any materials, since there were no signs of joints or bricks anywhere. It also didn’t seem like it had been built by carving out the rocks, since its color and material did not match its surroundings.

It was a castle that seemed to have been built at a different place and then brought to the top of the hill.

Lenly and the rest of the party slowly approached the building—it was as if they were possessed.

As they approached closer, the majesty of the castle was confirmed. They felt like their souls were being sucked out as they watched the huge mountains and rocks sliding above their heads.

Then, they realized that someone was standing right in front of the castle. It was a knight in armor marked with a white dragon and barnacles. The knight stared silently at Lenly and the rest of the members of Aruntal as if he had been waiting for them.

It did not take too long for Lenly to recognize the symbol on the knight’s armor.

It was the symbol of the knights who had participated assassination of the emperor alongside Gerard, who were then overthrown and scattered by the Imperial Army after Gerard’s disappearance.

It was the Order of Lindwurm.

***

Snow spread far and wide on the long line of hills. The stone statue that was built on the highest hill was staring at the North as usual, even with all snow piled up on its head. The sky above the stone statue was clear without a single cloud.

Juan stepped on the snow and walked toward the stone statue along with Nienna.

The stone statue was slightly tilted to the right and half broken, with cracks all over. Upon approaching the stone statue, Juan could see various tributes that were placed under the statue.

Most of the tributes were in the form of chrysanthemums, a flower that bloomed even in the snow.

“Walter!’

Nienna walked past Juan. As soon as she climbed over the hill, she could see the knights from the Order of Fenrir. In front of the knights stood Walter. While Nienna was away, Walter had been in charge of commanding the Order of Fenrir.

Nienna walked up to Walter and lightly tapped him on the chest.

“So you were alive, huh? I thought that you would be dead and buried in the snow by now.”

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“It’s not the first time for the North to face avalanches and earthquakes, you know. There wasn’t that much damage, General Nienna. But you said that it’s a mess down there, right?”

“Down there has never been quiet anyway.”

Walter’s gaze turned to the back, where Juan was patting the stone statue. It was the first time Walter saw Juan ever since he last saw him at the fortress of Beldeve in the East. Although Juan’s appearance had changed a lot from back then, it didn’t seem like it was just his appearance that had changed.

When Juan turned his head and looked at Walter, Walter prostrated himself in front of Juan.

“Your Majesty.”

Juan did not reply. Instead, he gently patted the stone statue.

“I see that the warrior’s statue is broken.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It was recently broken due to the earthquake.”

This stone statue was built a long time ago—during a time when the exact history was not even recorded. It was not known as to why the statue was built, who built it, or who it depicted. However, everyone named the statue glaring at the North with a helmet on its head the ‘warrior’s statue.’

Before the founding of the empire, the people of the North had more disputes with the South than with the Crack. Due to this, most of the stone statues were facing the South. Yet, the warrior’s statue was facing North unlike the other statues.

This was because the warrior’s statue depicted the Winter Duke—a myth famous among the people of the North. It was often said that the statue ended up facing North due to confusing the direction during the white night.

However, the most popular theory supported by a lot of people was that it portrayed an ordinary warrior fighting against the Crack—a way to suggest that a hero resided within all the northerners willing to confront the Crack.

And now, such a stone statue was broken.

“Many northerners are sad that the warrior statue was broken, but…”

“...But it is still standing and glaring toward the North,” Juan finished Walter’s words.

Walter smiled.

“The North is loyal to Your Majesty,” Walter said as he turned and reached his hand out toward the hill.

Juan slowly walked forward. Soon, he could see the sight of the northern troops that were as numerous as the snowflakes standing in a line. As soon as Juan appeared on the hill, the entire Northern Army simultaneously slammed the ground with the handle of their spears. The vibrations from the spears striking the ground alone were enough to rattle the air.

Before Juan knew it, Nienna was standing beside him.

“Say hello to the empire’s most elite army, Dad. Their morale, skills, and weapons have been prepared and maintained at the highest level in the empire—it doesn’t matter whether the ruler of the Capital is Barth Baltic or the Pope or anyone else.”

Nienna smiled and looked at Pavan, who was standing behind her. Then she continued to speak.

“You will definitely be able to feel a difference in level compared to the Capital Army, who used to stab their own people ‘for the sake of peace.’”

Pavan clicked his tongue as if he felt unpleasant upon hearing Nienna’s remarks, but he couldn’t refute them either. Although the Capital Army had fought alongside Juan numerous times, they were definitely not comparable to the Northern Army, which had been constantly at war against the monsters of the Crack.

Meanwhile, the Northern Army looked at Juan as if they were wondering if this young man really was the emperor. However, they did not show a sign of surprise. After all, their ruler looked like a young maiden as well.

The Northern Army looked at Juan with anticipation, wondering what the first words spoken by the emperor who they were meeting for the first time would be.

Juan slowly opened his mouth.

“I am not the emperor.”

Juan’s sudden remark instantly caused confusion within the Northern Army. Even Nienna, Anya, and Pavan were surprised. Juan had already made such a remark several times even back in the Imperial Palace—it was like a habit. However, he had been cautious about not saying such a thing after being hit with Heretia’s crutches a few times.

But no one had expected Juan to make such a declaration at a place like this.

“And neither am I a hero.”

Confusion soon turned into agitation and doubt. The Northern Army was now looking at Nienna instead of Juan. They looked as if asking her for an explanation.

Seeing this, Nienna approached Juan and tried to whisper something into his ear.

At that moment, Juan continued to speak.

“But the enemies do not distinguish between the emperor or the soldier. Neither do they distinguish between the rich or the poor; they do not distinguish between the Northerners and the Southerners. The enemy is just a creature that devours infinitely.”

The Northern Army quickly became quiet. It did not take too long for them to understand what Juan was talking about. He was talking about the Crack, the biggest enemy of the northerners—no, he was talking about the enemy that didn’t end up becoming the entire world’s ultimate enemy only because the northerners were blocking it.

“Before them, I am not the emperor! I am just one of the countless warriors of the North who stood up bravely to fight beside the heroes—all to fight against the Crack! We may break, but we will never collapse!”

The Northern Army shuddered at Juan’s cry. The emperor was not telling them to fight for the sake of the emperor. Neither did he instill fear or force loyalty. He was just saying that what they had been doing in silence until now was something so great that even the emperor was going to join them.

Juan shouted one more time.

“We may break, but we will never collapse!”

The Northern Army also shouted after him. A loud cry shook the entire mountain range. Nienna also stepped forward to shout with them.

They shouted again and again until they were out of breath.

They were warriors that might break, but would never collapse.