Chapter 600: North Sea.

“What are you talking about…?”

Yuri wears an expression of disbelief at my words.

It seemed she couldn’t easily believe it.

While listening, I kicked the dead guy and turned him over.

His back immediately came into view.

“…Huh?”

Yuri reacts with surprise upon confirming this.

It was because the fur tied to his back was stained with blood.

“I killed the guy wearing it and took it.”

It could have been the blood of surrounding beasts.

But.

“Maybe he hadn’t fully adapted to the clothes, because his movements were clumsy.”

That wasn’t the only strange thing.

Microscopic twists in his movements, unable to overcome the sense of foreignness.

As soon as he saw us appear, he tried to act naturally, but…

‘The tension within him.’

The emotions that were unusually clear bothered me.

Tension?

Of course, one could be tense.

When an outsider approaches one’s hiding place, it’s natural to be tense.

But their tension wasn’t like that.

It was mixed with the anxiety of needing to act correctly.

Furthermore, and most importantly…

‘He didn’t guard himself.’

He didn’t guard himself when we appeared.

That was the part that gave me certainty.

Later, the way he tried to take us somewhere without properly assessing the situation, and…

There were more than one or two clumsy aspects.

As I briefly explained this, I could immediately see Yuri’s expression crumble.

“That’s impossible… That can’t be…”

“There’s nothing impossible in this world.”

I could tell just by looking at my own life.

There was nothing that couldn’t be done in this world.

“B-but. This place…! Unless you’re a blood relative of the Ice Palace, you can’t just open it and come in!”

A place only Ice Palace blood relatives could access. Hearing Yuri’s words, I nodded.

‘Was that why he touched the wall earlier?’

It seemed he had some method, enough to be there.

But…

“It was breached anyway.”

“That…”

“Does it not seem that way to you?”

Regardless, it was breached.

Even if it’s a place only blood relatives can come and go. So what?

The situation had already happened.

I thought while examining the dead guy.

‘It doesn’t seem like they intended to ambush us.’

They didn’t look like they were trying to kill us.

Moreover, they weren’t skilled actors, and their cultivation was crude, to say the least.

‘Did they not know how strong the Princess’s escort was?’

Woobeom and Wooseok, was it?

One was at the peak of mastery, the other was Hwagyeong even while injured.

It was obvious that mere thugs like these couldn’t capture them.

It’s possible the opponents didn’t know this, but the probability is extremely low.

‘Then, their intention…’

Probably, as I mentioned earlier.

Their goal was likely to take us somewhere.

Perhaps they deliberately placed individuals with lower cultivation for that reason.

“…Such… such a thing…”

Yuri still seemed unable to recover from the shock; her state was terrible.

I approached the guy Paejon had caught and asked Yuri.

“Hey.”

“Yes…?”

“How many children does the Ice Palace Lord have, including you?”

“That… why…”

“Tell me clearly, separating them by gender.”

Yuri hesitated for a moment at my question but quickly answered.

“…There are four in total.”

“The ratio?”

“Starting with the First Young Master, the First Young Lady, the Second Young Master, and finally, me.”

“Among them, who showed ambition?”

“Ambition, you say…?”

Yuri, about to speak, froze.

It seemed she realized my intention.

“Surely… you don’t think there’s a traitor among the blood relatives?”

Her tone clearly carried an unpleasant feeling.

It seems her family gets along well, judging by that expression.

“I’m just asking.”

If you’re not a blood relative, you can’t know or open it.

These were words Yuri herself spoke.

However, the fact that these guys were inside…

‘One of the blood relatives might have betrayed us.’

That was the most plausible suspicion.

A child coveting the position rebelling.

It’s a common occurrence in the Central Plains.

Don’t they often spill blood everywhere, coveting the position of the family head?

Yuri responds sternly to my suspicion.

“…That’s absolutely impossible. Blood relatives cannot betray each other.”

“You must have a specific reason for such certainty?”

“…”

Blood relatives cannot betray each other.

The nuance of that statement felt peculiar.

‘Did they place some kind of restriction on each other?’

If that’s true, it’s a convenient yet cruel method.

Since Yuri said it with such conviction, I’d consider other possibilities first, but…

Even setting that aside…

“It doesn’t matter anyway.”

I tossed the dead guy aside.

And grabbed the unconscious guy by the neck.

“Because if I don’t know, I can just ask.”

Woong-!

I sent energy into the unconscious guy.

At that moment.

“–Gkkk!?”

The unconscious guy’s consciousness returned.

Seeing that, I tightened my grip.

Kkwaaak-!

“Kkeueuk…!”

I placed constraints so he couldn’t move recklessly.

Seeing this, Paejon asked me.

“Shall I do it for you?”

Hearing that, I chuckled.

He said that, realizing I was about to torture him.

Paejon wouldn’t know that I had regressed or what I did in my past life.

I don’t know if he was trying to stop a barely-legal-aged kid from torturing someone, but…

I was confident.

“I’m fine.”

In this area, at least, I knew I was better than Paejon.

I turned my head and looked at Seongyul.

“Come here.”

“Yes.”

I had only one intention in calling Seongyul.

‘He said he could sense lies.’

Or maybe he said he could feel them.

This was a power useful in situations like this.

I called Seongyul over and slightly eased the pressure on my hand.

“Kkeureu…”

His blocked breath burst out, and the guy barely managed to breathe.

“Heok… heok…”

His eyeballs rolled. He seemed to be assessing the situation.

“Why… why are you doing this.”

Did he figure it all out? He’s quick to get into character.

As I stared silently at him, he urgently spoke to Yuri behind me.

“My Lady…! W-what is this…!”

Hearing the man’s voice, Yuri tried to move.

The moment I sensed that, I applied pressure.

Kkuk-!

“Kkeok!?”

I forced his mouth open.

And then.

Ttuduk-!

“Kkeureureuk.”

I pulled out a molar and tossed it aside.

As expected, poison was hidden there.

Brushing off my hand, I spoke to the guy.

“From now on, the only answers you’ll give are the truth. You must not speak lies.”

As I spoke, my insides grew colder.

Impatience welled up.

I forcibly suppressed it with heat.

Meanwhile, I had to cool my head further.

In situations like this, judge rationally.

‘That would be the rightest way.’

I repeated it countless times.

However, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

‘This has become shitty.’

The process Yuri described got tangled up from the start.

The prepared hiding place.

The path leading to the stable Ice Palace.

That was the beginning, yet it turned out like this from the start.

‘If I put it another way.’

It means the situation has worsened far beyond my expectations.

If so.

‘What about Namgung Bi-ah?’

In what state might she be?

Could something have happened to her?

The thought made me want to smash something right away.

But I had to endure.

Humans break too easily to be smashed.

I had to endure for now.

“What… what in the world are you talking about…!”

The man shouted. His acting wasn’t bad.

His choked words seemed genuinely heartfelt.

“What did you do to the guys who were originally here?”

“The ones who were here…! I don’t know what you’re talking about…!”

At the man’s words, I looked at Seongyul.

Meeting my gaze, Seongyul slightly shook his head.

Does that mean he’s lying?

Seeing that, I reached my hand towards the man’s face.

Without hesitation, I gouged out his left eyeball.

Pusshh-!

“Kkweo-aaaaaaaaah–!”

Blood spurted out as the man screamed.

Blood splashed onto my cheek.

The expressions of those around showed surprise.

Normally I might care, but I couldn’t afford to now.

Only urgency remained.

“Hweoo… eo-eooo…”

He let out a pained groan, suddenly made one-eyed.

Looking at him, I said.

“One eye is enough to see ahead.”

My voice was laced with thorns.

It seemed I couldn’t control it.

“If you lie again,”

I had to focus all my attention.

I had to restrain my hands, which felt like they could tear him apart right now.

“I’ll rip out your liver and show it to you.”

It’s incredibly easy to moderate just enough not to kill him.

Removing a few kidneys doesn’t kill a person.

It just causes maddening pain.

“Now, I’ll ask.”

Roughly ten times.

The body can withstand about ten times.

That’s how my past experiences went.

“What were you doing here?”

At the question, the man’s remaining pupil trembled.

His body might react, but…

How many times could the man’s mind actually hold up?

The answer to that curiosity was found shortly after.

Four times.

The man spoke lies four times in total.

By the time he gave the truth for the fifth question, he breathed his last.

Within the answers obtained that way…

There was also mention that the Ice Palace blood relatives were involved in the rebellion.

---

The wide expanse of ground.

Snow piled high upon it.

Beneath the somewhat rough, raging blizzard, the white snow was stained red.

It was all blood.

Among the numerous people lying on the ground, not a single one still drew breath.

The blood flowing from them soaked the white snow.

Amidst such a brutal scene.

Khulk-!

A woman knelt down.

Blood flowed from beneath the white fox mask she wore.

There was a deep sword wound in her abdomen, and blood was flowing from there as well.

“Hoo… hoo…”

The sound of ragged breathing.

It indicated the woman was not in good condition.

It was a situation where she could collapse at any moment without it being strange.

Even in this state, the woman barely held herself up, using her sword as a cane.

“You look terrible.”

At the voice she heard, the woman lifted her head.

The person who created this carnage stood before her.

The woman looked at the young man and asked.

“…Why…”

Her voice wasn’t even properly audible.

But her meaning was conveyed clearly.

“Why did I do it?”

Bitterness dawned on the young man’s face upon hearing the question.

“Well, I don’t know.”

His voice was dry and parched.

“Let me ask you the opposite. Why are you doing this?”

“…”

“You have no relation to the Palace Lord. He’s just another person. There’s no reason for you to protect him anywhere, yet why are you stepping up like this.”

“…”

The woman didn’t utter any response to the young man’s words.

Still taciturn.

While I usually found such quietness acceptable.

Right now, it only left me feeling frustrated.

“…The one you must protect isn’t the Palace Lord, is it.”

“…”

There was no answer this time either, but…

Seureuk.

“…!”

The woman was slowly getting up.

Although it missed a vital point, it should be a situation where she couldn’t easily get up.

The woman straightened her posture without a single groan.

Then, she aimed her sword at the young man.

“…Ha.”

So that was her answer.

Realizing this, the young man sighed.

Still strong.

They say you resemble those you love; perhaps it’s because she resembles that friend, her stubbornness is no joke.

Is there truly no other way?

The young man repeatedly bit his stinging lips.

The young man, lost in repeated thought.

“I’m sorry.”

Finally, he drew his sword.

He thought to himself that there was no turning back now.

“This is… the only way I have.”

“…”

The sword tips were aimed. There was no more conversation.

After a brief silence and a short war of nerves, the woman moved first.

Shiiik-!

Despite her injured body, the woman’s sword extended without a tremor.

The young man swung his sword in response.

The martial techniques of a shaman unfolded from his fingertips.

Lightning energy and demonic energy clashed instantly.

At that moment.

Kureureureung–!!!

Energies intertwined, exploded, and light flashed.

A loud sound, like crashing thunder, echoed.

It was a fleeting moment.

Soon after, the light subsided again.

Only one person remained standing.

The young man stood holding his sword.

Teolsseok-!

The woman collapsed powerlessly and fell to the ground.

“…”

The young man’s eyes darkened as he looked at the fallen woman.

There was no emotion.

It was just pathetic. Both this situation and himself.

The young man approached the woman, lifted her, and slung her over his shoulder.

The woman was not dead.

She had merely lost consciousness.

The young man, sensing this too, whispered quietly.

“…I’m sorry. Sister-in-law.”

After uttering those words.

He walked away and disappeared into the blizzard.

What remained there now was…

The lingering bloodstains from others and countless corpses.

And…

Only the crescent-moon-shaped hair accessory the woman had received as a gift.