Ch.174Chapter 174

“Hmm, the Empress has joined in too. She was only outside the territory before, but it seems there are more injured than expected.”

Gaia spoke while looking at a distant place.

Just a few hours ago, it was a desolate area with only snowstorms falling, but suddenly it became bustling.

Faura, who had manifested at some point, was moving around with a troubled expression, quickly feeding dying humans.

Nutriche, though not visible to Gaia’s eyes at the moment, was helping humans recover from severe mental contamination in their unconsciousness.

And the dog, Zmiya, and Fiore, who couldn’t handle the bandits but were freely biting, tearing, tasting, and enjoying the deities who were trying to join the bandits to deal with humans.

Watching this scene, Gaia felt a heaviness in her heart as she realized the weight of what she had done.

“So, are you going to continue?”

Gaia asked, looking behind her.

….

“Huh, honestly, I don’t know. This is quite the family reunion. I think it’s about time to be satisfied, but I wonder what psychology is behind this.”

Gaia said with disgust.

Of course, Gaia had contributed to the catastrophic relationship between deities and humans, but freezing the empire was entirely the intention of the woman Gaia was looking at.

Gaia listened to what the woman said, then withdrew her slight smile and became expressionless.

“Ah, I see. Well, I can’t interfere that far, so I have nothing more to say. I don’t have any options either. I can only watch quietly to see how this will end.”

Gaia said this and continued to look into the distance.

“…By the way, that human seems to be half-witted like your sister. The way they move is on a different level from other humans.”

#

Clang!

Swords clashed multiple times.

For some reason, the Knight Commander was struggling with the Candles while wielding her sword.

Considering her might, she should have been able to handle this easily and move on.

“Haha! They call you Commander, but you’re nothing special!”

“What kind of Knight Commander is this slow! Die!”

Following the lead of one Candle taunting the Knight Commander, the other Candles rushed at her all at once.

And then, numerous swords were swung mercilessly at the Knight Commander.

Squelch.

With an unsettling sound, blood spurted in all directions.

Feeling the unpleasant sensation of something sticky and squishy on their fingertips, the Candles sensed their victory.

But.

“…If I had more time, I would have faced you with the honor of a knight.”

The moment that voice was heard.

The Candles turned pale.

“Y-you crazy woman!”

“S-she’s fine even with a sword through her heart?!”

“No, there’s one in her head too!”

The Candles were flustered by her presence and tried to pull out their swords, but as if she had healed with the swords still in place, they could never retrieve their weapons.

The Candles backed away.

The sight of the Knight Commander walking toward them with an expressionless face despite having five swords embedded in her body instilled more terror than facing any Outer God.

“But as luck would have it, I need to go check on our most important forces to see if they’re doing well.”

The Knight Commander said this and made a great leap toward the ground where the Candles were gathered.

As she landed, her fist drove into the ground.

A flash of light erupted before the Candles.

And by the time they realized what had happened, their lives were already fading.

“Phew….”

After confirming the situation was resolved, the Knight Commander sighed and pulled out the swords embedded in her body.

As blood flowing from her head covered one eye, the Knight Commander lowered the corners of her mouth in a somewhat comical manner and grumbled.

“At this point, I’d rather have no blood in my body.”

The Knight Commander quickly ran into the territory.

Inside, the Greater Outer Gods summoned by Raedan Tanthyn were using their powers, and the Vice Commander and White Mask were firing Meditatio, quickly eliminating the Outer Gods.

The Knight Commander couldn’t help but smile at the rather pleasant sight.

But when she briefly scanned her surroundings, that smile didn’t last long.

Knights frozen by the Snow Giant.

Their pain-filled expressions revealed how much suffering they were enduring.

Even when her chest was pierced by the Candles, it didn’t hurt this much, but now she felt as if her heart would fall out at any moment.

The Knight Commander approached a frozen knight.

She stroked the knight’s chest with her hand and gave a bitter smile.

“I’m sorry. I’m very late. I’ll save you now.”

As she finished her resolve to lead this war to victory with a bitter smile, a voice came from behind the Knight Commander.

“Hey, Commander!”

It was the Warrior God.

She quickly erased the expression she had been wearing and turned toward the Warrior God.

“What, have you already pulverized them and are on your way back?”

“Haha! If the Commander breaks through so easily, I can’t just stand still!”

The Warrior God spoke cheerfully and let out a hearty laugh.

After stopping his laughter, the Warrior God looked at the Knight Commander’s face and made a puzzled expression.

“What’s this, Commander. Were you crying?”

“Crying, you say.”

I tried to hide it.

The Knight Commander bowed her head with a regretful expression.

“I wasn’t crying. Just…”

“Come on, why are you feeling down after coming all this way, Commander!”

Hearing the Knight Commander’s slightly diminished voice and reading her thoughts, the Warrior God patted her shoulder in a somewhat rough manner.

“We’re going to save them now, right? Besides, I survived too! That’s what matters! If it were something irreversible, then maybe, but everything will return to normal soon.”

“But the pain they’ve endured…”

“Ah! Raedan Tanthyn said he’d use the Outer Gods to resolve that too! If you keep being so gloomy, I’ll have no choice but to throw you like last time!”

It was a statement boldly threatening insubordination, but the Knight Commander didn’t dislike the Warrior God’s words.

After all, he was deliberately speaking playfully to help her recover her spirits.

“…Haha, thank you for always seeing through my thoughts so clearly, Warrior God.”

The Knight Commander raised her head with a slight smile.

Only after confirming the Knight Commander’s characteristic confident smile on her face could the Warrior God grin as well.

“Let’s go! Let’s crush that Snow Giant right now and restore peace to the empire!”

“Yes, not much longer now.”

Just as the Warrior God was pointing at the Snow Giant with an axe.

“Hyaaah!”

Something entered the Warrior God’s field of vision.

It was Muyeon, running toward where numerous Outer Gods were gathered, holding an axe.

“N-no! Daughter, you can’t do that! It’s dangerous!!!”

The Warrior God’s expression, which had been relaxed and smiling just a moment ago, turned pale, and he immediately ran to where Muyeon was.

“Haha, really.”

The Knight Commander laughed as if amused and moved forward.

She only kept to herself the thought that it didn’t seem like the time to worry about others.

#

With The Huntsman left alone, the deities’ attention shifted away from us.

Apparently angered by the fact that he had provoked and mocked them, they all flew and ran toward The Huntsman.

Now only the Princess, myself, and Apta remained.

The fortunate thing was that we were now close enough to see the form of the Second Princess.

“…We must succeed now.”

The Princess muttered.

It seems she feels burdened by the fact that many people are sacrificing for this cause, and we need to do well to repay those sacrifices.

“Princess.”

“…Yes.”

“You don’t need to feel so burdened.”

The Princess made a puzzled expression at my words.

“I’m going with you to ensure you don’t fail, and The Chronicler is coming along as well.”

“…Raedan.”

“We will firmly support you from behind, so how about entrusting the heavy burden to us for a moment and thinking comfortably about what you need to do?”

I tried my best to understand her feelings.

When I fell here with only memories from the world where I was reincarnated without my memories, I too found it truly burdensome to have to resolve something solely with my own power.

But after gaining companions and realizing there were people and deities who believed in me, my mind gradually eased.

It was because of them that I could come this far.

“…Thank you, Raedan. I feel a bit better thanks to you.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Princess.”

The Princess’s expression had definitely improved from before.

It seemed my words had helped.

And, well.

In reality, I would probably end up doing most of it myself anyway.

So the Princess didn’t really need to worry that much, which was true.

“…Impudently bewitching.”

“Pardon?”

“Just talking to myself.”

The Princess mumbled something, but I couldn’t hear it properly.

Well, it probably wasn’t anything bad.

Thinking that, we finally arrived at a place where the Second Princess was visible.

Distance to the Second Princess.

0…

“Oh.”

“Huh?”

The monologue I was about to utter in my mind disappeared somewhere far away.

That’s because the scene before my eyes was unbelievable.

“This… could it be.”

Faced with an unimaginable reality, I made eye contact with the Princess, who had the same expression as me.

Apta slowly approached us and quietly said.

“Yes, this is an ice statue.”

….

Distance to the Second Princess.

1km.