Chapter 133: The Power of the Deity (Part Two)
In the midst of the raging snowstorm, the earth itself shook.
On the sloped hillside outside the valley, the accumulated snow surged like a mudslide, rolling down with a gurgling fervor. The massive tremor made the snowfield bubble like boiling water. Up on the icy mountain, almost no soldier from the Northern Army could stand straight, yet nearly ten massive golden bells hanging in the sky shattered the moment the ice mountain rose.
As the heavy pressure lifted, the violent tremors and ensuing cold wind sent everyone swaying left and right. Sturdy warriors struggled to puff out their chests and lift their heads against the gale. They heard the mournful wails and commotions coming from the other side of the ice mountain: the horrifying sounds of flesh colliding and being mercilessly ground to dust, filled with despairing screams. Even these seasoned battle-hardened warriors, accustomed to the brutalities of war, felt chills creeping up their spines.
They had no idea what was happening…
At that moment, they were clueless about the unfolding events.
“The ice… the ice mountain…”
“The ice mountain has come alive… It’s protecting us from the charge of the Church Knights…”
Among the disordered ranks, the Erin Castle soldier Sanks, who had instinctively run to the northern section of the valley after hearing Taku’s shout, finally scrambled up from beneath the fading divine miracle of the golden bells.
“Yes… this land has come alive…”
Staring at the towering ice mountain ahead, the shock in the man’s heart was beyond words. He thought he was a goner – his face still smeared with the bl**d of fallen comrades not far away. It all felt surreal; his head buzzed with a low hum, and his ears were just ringing with echoes of the earth’s roar, drowning out all other sounds.
“May the moonlight bless us…”
“Ahahahahaha—”
After a moment, as his chaotic mind began to settle, he heard a companion beside him, now minus an arm, letting out a frenetic cackle towards the ice mountain. It was a contagious laugh that even he couldn’t help but show a fierce grin, joining in.
“The Church Knights Order…”
“Looks like this time, the Deity isn’t on your side…”
“Ahahahaha!”
The man laughed madly, with a strong sense of schadenfreude.
He heard many other men echoing his laughter.
They couldn’t grasp what was happening in that moment.
But one thing was painfully clear.
On the other side of the ice mountain, those who had moments ago been full of themselves, preaching justice while scheming the most despicable tactics to crush them, and proclaiming war crimes in the name of the deity against the Northern Army, were now facing utter devastation. They suffered a catastrophic blow that couldn’t be undone, like a natural disaster had struck.
Heavy casualties.
Even though they couldn’t see the situation beyond the ice mountain, the knights’ screams and wails were unmistakable, resonating clearly with the warriors of the Northern Army.
“f*ck this… d*mn divine servant…”
Soldier Sanks continued to laugh, spitting out a mouthful of bl**d. The frustration and rage that had built up vanished like smoke the instant the ice mountain erupted. Instead, he could only hear the knights crashing into the mountainside; their vigorous shouts cut off abruptly, transformed into shrieks and half-hearted cries that brought him indescribable joy. He was laughing so hard he could hardly catch his breath.
“What the hell are you all doing just standing around!? Are you idiots—?”
In the distance, a fallen sergeant stood back up, mounting a bl**d-stained horned horse, his eyes shining with insane zeal. He raised his sword high and yelled to the crowd, “Gather up! For heaven’s sake, have you all lost your warrior discipline? Did you think the enemy was wiped out or fled in terror!? This is a provocation from the Church Knights! An unforgivable act of war! Get up, all of you! If you can move, circle around the ice mountain with me, and we’ll annihilate them to the last man—”
“Roar! Roar! Roar—!”
With the sergeant’s battle cry, the bloody chaos of the battlefield transformed. The warriors, their eyes gleaming with ferocity, let out a thunderous roar. The icy wind and snow gradually cleared, and the Northern Army began to reform their lines. The soldier named Sanks followed the fired-up crowd, ready to assemble and charge around the ice mountain.
Just then, he suddenly noticed someone beside him looking up, pointing toward the mountain’s peak with wide eyes.
“What is…”
“What is that…”
“There’s someone on the top of the ice mountain…”
Sanks froze momentarily, following the gaze of the crowd.
That was—
Amidst the howling cold wind, he saw a figure standing atop the sapphire blue peak of the ice mountain.
From afar, that figure looked small…
Dressed in rag-tag refugee clothes, a gray cloak fluttered wildly in the wind, held down by one hand over a hood.
The figure faced away from the Northern Army, and due to the distance, it was hard to tell whether they were male or female… The build was ordinary, a bit scrawny, and the attire so plain it seemed that without standing atop the ice mountain, they wouldn’t attract a second glance in a crowd.
To the majority of soldiers, that was certainly the case.
However, Sanks was different.
He recognized that silhouette immediately.
Even from far away, through the snowstorm that blurred visibility, and with the figure practically wrapped up in a cloak, Sanks still recognized her right off—the short pants that were slightly too long for her, trailing at her feet, looking delicate and almost as if a gust could whisk her away. Standing atop the ice mountain was none other than the nameless refugee girl he had been traveling with that morning.
How could it be her…
In an instant, Sanks was jarred to a standstill, his mind momentarily failing him as his pupils trembled rapidly.
How could it be…
That girl…
She…
In a daze, the man recalled an hour earlier, when he had heard some troubling news and once thought about finding her to warn her to leave for somewhere safer…
His hesitation in telling her was only due to a selfish desire that he couldn’t put into words—he didn’t want to hastily say goodbye to the girl and risk never seeing her again, just like that.
He hoped she would stay here…
In case of an urgent crisis, he would be the steady man to wrap his arms around her, protecting her from all harm, providing a sense of safety.
Then maybe he could see her remove that slightly arrogant, unapproachable expression and the cold mask she wore, lowering herself into his embrace under the chilling night winds, gazing at him with eyes full of warmth and tender words about this world.
Sanks couldn’t understand why he felt this way…
He had heard rumors that her face might have been hurt and she might no longer be pretty…
Her companion, the maid, looked to be more stunning.
They had only crossed paths twice, after all…
Yet he couldn’t help how he felt.
Wanting to see behind the girl’s mask, yearning to cherish her…
Perhaps it was because she had disregarded his teasing…
Or more likely, it was because he spotted some captivating qualities within the girl when she spoke softly, stirring a powerful protective instinct in him—Sanks mused that it must be an intense desire to shield her.
The girl possessed a certain allure…
Even without seeing her features, she didn’t strike him as one to play the helpless damsel to garner pity; rather, there was a pride about her, whether she sat or stood, her movements exuded a natural charm that inexplicably ignited Sanks’s urge to tease her, get close, and protect her.
The man wanted to safeguard that girl…
And now, in this perilous moment, on a bloody battlefield about to erupt in violence, he unexpectedly spotted her figure reappearing.
Still as fragile, small, and thin, seeming delicate enough to be swept away by the wind…
But standing atop that intimidating icy giant!
How on earth did she get up there!?
