Yorn knew that Asies was no ordinary mage from his past experiences.
Though unfamiliar with magic, he was the chief of a tribe and a skilled warrior who had faced life and d*ath countless times. His instinctual senses regarding battle were sharper than those of others.
Even he, Yorn, would have been powerless against Asies’ magic if it had been directed at him. The same was true even after witnessing her magic.
Could he respond to Asies’ magic?
Avoiding the activation of magic without any forewarning…?
Even with simulations running in his mind, he couldn’t envision a victory.
From Asies, who seemed devoid of emotions, he could not detect even a hint of malice with his finely honed senses.
Even now, as she massacred wyverns.
Asies hooked her thumb with her index finger.
She snapped her fingers.
An ice eagle soared into the sky.
The wyverns grew cautious and created distance, wary of the ice eagle imbued with magic, yet the eagle relentlessly pursued them.
It chased the wyverns as if it were alive, diving through the sky like it was its home. Eventually, the eagle caught up with one wyvern.
Boom!
Upon contact, the ice eagle exploded.
A white chill erupted, enveloping the wyvern.
The wyvern, clad in frost, froze solid.
The ice-bound wyvern plummeted to the ground.
Upon crashing, it scattered ice shards, disintegrating without a trace.
If mages from prestigious families had witnessed this, they would have been left in shock at such magical prowess. There were several reasons Asies possessed such abilities.
First, Asies had been the kingdom’s foremost mage even before she was sealed in the ice crystal.
She required no gathering of magic, no drawing of magic circles, nor any incantations. With just her will, she could activate magic.
Since she first cast magic at the mere age of two, no further elaboration was necessary. Ice was another limb of Asies.
Ironically, her magical abilities were maximized only after being sealed by Skadia.
The ice dragon Skadia.
A dragon that was the embodiment of ice, born from the frost itself.
Though her confinement was of a lowly nature, Asies was undeniably a mortal chosen by Skadia. Being chosen by a dragon was synonymous with receiving the dragon’s blessing.
What Asies received was the blessing of the ice dragon.
The blessing of the ice element descended upon her.
With a mere gesture, she could create bridges and erect castles.
Having always had a high aptitude for ice magic and now blessed by the ice dragon, she became virtually unmatched in ice magic.
Facing Asies, who bore the ice dragon’s blessing, was merely a wyvern, a subspecies of dragon?
There was no way it could be a contest.
With each snap of Asies’ fingers, wyverns were reduced to ice shards.
Kieeeek!
The wyvern, known as the tyrant of the skies, let out a pitiful cry as it sensed danger.
The target of this warning was merely a single young woman.
As the saying goes in the martial world, one should be cautious of women and the elderly; this held true in a world where magic existed. Surely, a defenseless woman would not come to such a remote area?
In the heart of the wyvern pack.
The leader wyvern, larger than the others, inhaled deeply, its chest expanding greatly.
It opened its mouth wide as though releasing the breath it had been holding, unleashing a torrent of flames aimed at the village.
Asies extended her arms forward.
A curtain of ice blocked the breath.
Ssswwwww…
The defensive mechanism imbued with a curse activated. A chilling force surged from Asies, sealing the heat.
Though she had no qualms about melting ice, it was futile against a larger mass of ice. Asies slightly lowered her arms.
Chhoook!
The breath instantly froze.
The ice surged back up, encasing the wyvern that had been exhaling flames, trapping it solidly.
Kyaaaahh!
The strongest leader had been defeated. When a leader falls in any group, it is bound to fall apart, and the surviving wyverns fled without looking back.
Watching this from afar, Asies clenched her fist.
Crunch!
She reduced the leader to ice powder.
Ice crystals began to rain down from the sky.
For the northern people, snow was a familiar yet tiresome existence, but the falling ice crystals were beautiful enough to leave them in awe.
Asies, having effortlessly dispatched the tyrant of the skies, wore an expressionless face. There was no sign of urgency from the battle; her expression was wearied yet tranquil.
The sight of delicate ice crystals falling around her evoked memories of a winter night when a mother read a fairy tale to her child.
“Wow~ a wyvern suddenly appears. If it weren’t for my slave, it would have been quite a disaster.”
As if sensing no awareness of the situation, Carami obnoxiously interjected. Since the battle with the wyverns was ongoing, no one dared to stop him.
Carami strolled around the village, hands clasped behind his back.
“Oh dear, the village is utterly in disarray. A sudden attack by a swarm of wyverns. Can one be this unlucky? It’s truly a natural disaster.”
“…….”
“Still, if we had been here from the start, we wouldn’t have faced any losses. It’s just unfortunate.”
Yorn remained silent.
It was an undeniable fact that they had received help from Carami’s group. Had it not been for them, the village would have already been obliterated.
“What do you want?”
“Our purpose has been stated already. We came to retrieve the Lazurite.”
Yorn harbored doubts, and more doubts.
Though Yorn had distanced himself from the world, he knew nothing of merchants but only their ugliness. Especially when it came to slave traders.
A band that would resort to human trafficking for its own goals. Even if they tried to use Asies to snatch the Lazurite away, Yorn would be powerless to stop them.
But why were they not resorting to theft?
He couldn’t read their intentions.
Whatever it may be, Yorn had one task at hand.
“As I mentioned before, it is a symbol of our tribe. Even if the village was saved, I cannot hand it over to outsiders. I can consider it if you seek something else.”
“Hmm, well, I’m not sure there’s anything in this small village that would satisfy me.”
He could not discern how to respond.
Yorn’s mood sank.
Clap!
Carami clapped his hands, smiling brightly at him.
“I assure you I won’t take it by force, so let your guard down. I will stake my honor as a merchant on this.”
The honor of a merchant? It was about as trustworthy as a child saying, “I’m going to marry Daddy when I grow up!”
“Then?”
“If the chief personally hands over the gem, wouldn’t that eliminate any issue?”
“He is someone who wouldn’t even allow anyone to touch his belongings. Do you think he would hand over the gem to an outsider?”
“Well, you’ll find out if you try.”
Carami made his proposal.
“My request is this: allow me to stay in the village for a month. I will try to move the chief’s heart to receive the gem. Of course, I won’t resort to force. After the agreed period, I’ll leave without a fuss.”
“…….”
“This is my last peaceful offer, so please think carefully and choose wisely before you regret it.”
Yorn fell into thought.
He couldn’t predict how Carami would react if he rejected even this.
He had no choice but to accept in this situation.
As a chief, he couldn’t weigh the lives of his tribe members on a balance scale, and moreover, he was certain that Darika wouldn’t hand over the gem under any circumstances.
“I accept. However, I do not trust you. I will keep you under constant watch.”
“It’s difficult to plot conspiracies in such a small village. We’ll accept your terms.”
Carami looked around the village with a satisfied smile. Thanks to Asies’ efforts, there had been no casualties, but the village was in disarray due to the urgent situation.
Tents were toppled, and belongings lay scattered. Many were still struggling to recover from the shock of the assault.
“It would be ideal to join immediately, but if an outsider intervened now, it would only add to the chaos. Let’s retreat for tonight, and I’ll return when the situation stabilizes tomorrow. Asies? Let’s head back.”
Asies nodded.
After briefly surveying the village, she followed Carami out.
Yorn did not take his eyes off them until they disappeared from sight. Once they were out of view, he let out a shallow sigh.
An unpleasant feeling lingered, but organizing the chaotic village took precedence.
“What are you dawdling for? Check for injuries and raise the collapsed tents.”
“Understood, Chief!”
Glancing toward the plume of smoke rising from a distance, Yorn began to issue commands with practiced ease.
Doesn’t continuing to gamble get tiresome?
Not at all. It’s always exciting.
Every time feels new.
Of course, that’s easy to say now since the results have been favorable.
But gambling is always about hoping for a good outcome; the bad results are never considered. Anyone able to think that far would be a genius.
At least, I’m not.
‘Lin, who has left, is coming to save me.’
I wonder what she’s doing right now.
I don’t care what she does, just as long as it doesn’t affect me.
Celestial Pavilion of Vestia.
A place where a dreamland has settled in place of the sky.
A small fox with nine tails rolled around on the ground.
“Lin is going to see Jjuu!”
