"Die, servants of Yaegas!"
Walter gripped his staff, preparing to cast a spell by combining his hand signs with the staff, but before he could, Azadin's sword pierced through his throat.
"Khk, khaha…"
Walter died with a satisfied expression. He hadn't expected to counterattack and do anything to Azadin in that moment anyway. The reason he was laughing was that he believed Yaegas's servants, the humans, including Azadin, would suffer immense damage at the hands of the Wendigo.
"…Unlike some, he was an orc full of pride."
Shati remarked as she observed the scene.
"What an idiot. The Kurt Pantheon isn't even something worth pledging such loyalty to."
Scott, despite being an orc himself, gave a harsh evaluation of the Kurt Divine Clan, which provoked Shati even further.
"What? How dare you!"
As Shati flared up, Scott continued speaking.
"Despite inheriting the great bloodline of the orcs, he was playing around at the same level as those snake-heads. Religion and customs truly are terrifying. Even those with exceptional intelligence end up subjugated by tradition. Otherwise, an orc wouldn't stoop to the level of nagas."
Meanwhile, the Wendigo continued to spread its icy breath into the tunnel. It no longer launched direct attacks, but as if intending to freeze the entire underground passage, it kept exhaling frost, filling the space with an increasing chill.
"Are, are you alright, madam?"
Brock approached the fallen Liz.
"Mm, not at all."
Liz frowned and lifted her arm. It dangled unnaturally—her wrist had broken, possibly from landing badly on the ice when she was thrown back from the impact.
'Good grief, this man…'
Azadin sighed as he looked at Brock, who had recklessly provoked the orc just to save his wife, forcing the matter to a conclusion. He then began searching through the orc's corpse.
Among the belongings, he found a dimmed copy of the Book of the Divine King and another copy that still retained some light. Even the dimmed one had a faint residual glow along its edges, indicating its extraordinary nature.
"Now then, Lady Liz. You have a copy of the Book of the Divine King, don't you? Hand it over."
"What? No way."
"...."
At that moment, the ice around Azadin cracked apart.
"I'm not in the mood for jokes. You have a copy of the Book of the Divine King, don't you?"
"You lot, you're after the Book of the Divine King, aren't you? Judging by your archery skills, you must be from the Herald Clan."
Liz retrieved a copy of the Book of the Divine King from her bosom. Like the others, it only had a faint residual glow left, indicating its power had already been used.
"One doesn't trifle with the Book of the Divine King when dealing with the Herald Clan. Here."
"Appreciated."
Azadin took the book from Liz.
"Ugh, our Naga Empire worked so hard to gather these."
"More precisely, it was the Kurt Pantheon Alliance. Don't act as if the nagas were the only ones who put in the effort."
"Shut up, traitor."
"So, what do we do about that thing now?"
"We're still not safe. It keeps getting colder!"
Brock said, removing his cloak and wrapping it around Liz. If nothing else, he certainly acted like a devoted husband.
'And yet, why is he such a mess?'
Azadin observed him with a sense of exasperation.
"We're working on reducing it for now."
If they stayed still in the underground chamber, the accumulating frost would eventually freeze them to death. To prevent this, Zebeck and Brand moved toward the passage leading to the underground reservoir, eliminating the Wendigos that were exhaling frost from a distance, thus reducing the amount of cold seeping in.
"But the temperature is dropping outside as well. Every time the true body of the Wendigo briefly manifests in this world, an enormous wave of frost spreads into reality."
Zebeck shuddered at the ominous premonition creeping over him.
"If we don't banish that thing quickly, this entire area will suffer a horrific catastrophe. Or maybe even worse…"
Zebeck trailed off, but everyone already understood what he was implying.
With the King's Church, the nobility, and the Yaegas Divine Clan all corrupted, was there anyone left who could stop such a massive monster? And if they failed…?
"...."
Liz trembled from both the cold and the pain of her dislocated wrist. Clinging tightly to her husband, Brock, she remained silent.
'She knows something. But if I ask her directly, she'll just evade the question.'
Instead, Azadin turned to Scott.
"Is there no way?"
"The reason a Nether Wendigo is manifesting here is that something connected to it exists in this world. The Kurt Pantheon, the gods of Kurt, claimed they sealed the monsters of the Nether, but in truth, they only sealed its sacred relics."
"Then the Naga Empire must have brought that relic here to unleash the Wendigo."
"Exactly. We need to figure out how they awakened it and where it is now."
Scott pointed at Liz.
"This woman, who participated in the ritual to summon the Wendigo, should know where it is."
"Tch."
Liz pulled something from her bosom. It was a dagger made of bone. What kind of creature it came from was unclear, but it exuded a dark, sinister energy.
"Nether's sacred relics have an overwhelming allure to mages. Those who possess them become entranced."
"This is the Dagger of Cannibalism. A Nether's sacred relic that cannot be destroyed by any power or magic of this world. As that orc mentioned, it has an irresistible pull. Just holding it makes me feel brimming with power, and I constantly hear seductive whispers from within."
So that was why she had refused to speak—because she hadn't wanted to part with the relic.
"Even though you're about to freeze to death?"
"This level of cold is just right. It numbs the pain."
She held out her dislocated wrist.
"Midiam."
"Yes."
Midiam stepped forward and firmly set her wrist back into place.
"Kyahhh!"
A horrible crunching sound accompanied her scream. At the same time, Midiam naturally snatched the Dagger of Cannibalism from her grasp and handed it to Azadin.
Azadin took it and asked Liz,
"How was the Wendigo awakened?"
"There's an Altar of Kin-Slaughter in the deepest part of this underground passage. If you place a person of the same race as the caster on the altar, stab them, and eat them, the Wendigo will grant its blessing."
"Did you eat?"
"I didn't kill anyone. I only let out some blood and drank it—to stir the Wendigo. That was my intention, but the members of the Kurt Pantheon Alliance…"
Liz frowned.
"Oh, dear god."
Brock, Guillaumevalt, and Zebeck groaned as they listened.
A ritual of cannibalism. That horrific, vile act had been performed.
"It wasn't my intention! I just wanted to draw a little power from the sleeping Wendigo. But those Kurt Pantheon bastards…"
"So, where is the altar?"
Azadin prioritized the Wendigo over dealing with Liz's situation.
"If you follow the flow of water downward, you'll reach the deepest part. But you won't make it easily. Near the altar, you'll find a hell unlike anything you've seen so far."
"What do you mean?"
"A good number of those from the Kurt Pantheon Alliance and the Naga Empire died down there and became Wendigos. Rather than face them, it would be better to just convert all the copies of the Book of the Divine King into the light of the king's virtue and—ah, but that's not possible now. That orc bastard used up the stored energy."
That was precisely why the orc mage Walter had laughed even as he was dying. He had drained the white magic stored in the Book of the Divine King, and believed that the humans who killed him would be slaughtered by the Wendigos as a result.
'Well, I still have plenty of copies with energy left…'
But for Azadin, losing any of the Books of the Divine King was unacceptable.
'I'll have to resolve this while preserving the books at all costs.'
In the end, to resolve the incident without losing any copies, they would have to descend into the underground depths, where the powerful members of the Kurt Pantheon Alliance, now turned into Wendigos, roamed in swarms.
***
Meanwhile, Brock stepped up to defend his wife before Guillaumevalt, who was acting as the Count Lantarik.
"Sir Guillaumevalt, my wife was merely manipulated by that wicked Nether's sacred relic. It was never her true will."
"...."
Guillaumevalt was speechless at Brock's attempt to defend his wife.
Liz's actions, at best, were only innocent up to the point of "not intending to release the Wendigo." Beyond that, it was all lies.
Or rather, even if not outright lies, what she had done was enough to deserve being burned at the stake ten times over. And yet, her husband was now standing up to defend her? At this point, it could only be called a blind, undying devotion.
'But didn't this guy cheat on her?'
It was common for nobles to have multiple wives and concubines, but Sir Brock's case had its own peculiarities.
"Let's find the altar first. But…"
Azadin frowned. The further down they went, the more the cold pooled, and the lower the temperature dropped.
"If we charge in blindly, we'll freeze to death. We're reorganizing."
"Reorganizing?"
Midiam asked, puzzled.
"Yes."
Azadin took the axe from Guillaumevalt and smashed through the ice, pulling up wood and other debris embedded in the frozen surface. He began gathering trash that had floated into the sewer, looking for anything that could be used as kindling.
"Scott! Light a fire."
"I've used a lot of mana today."
Scott grumbled but still cast a spell to ignite the wood.
"Ugh, it's soaked. What a pain to get it burning."
"...."
Still, once the fire caught, they could feel the cold subsiding a little.
"Excellent."
Zebeck muttered to himself without thinking.
Scott had proven his usefulness today. If he hadn't used necromancy, they wouldn't have been able to fend off the Wendigos without any casualties.
Moreover, his ability to create luminescent stones and now light wet wood showed his versatility. Even if his words were sometimes provoking, he was worth tolerating. But as a holy knight, Zebeck was now in a tricky position.
'I can't condone necromancy…'
But he couldn't deny Scott's competence or the contribution he'd made.
"Alright. It's a bit better now."
Azadin had them build a fire and brought Guillaumevalt, Brock, and the injured Liz to sit around it.
"Hand over your cloaks and blankets."
"Ah."
These people couldn't be counted on for combat. Azadin intended to strip their winter gear and redistribute it to those with better fighting ability.
Telling knights like Guillaumevalt and Brock to remove their cloaks and blankets was basically saying, "You're too weak to handle what lies below." Under normal circumstances, proud knights would have resisted such an insult.
"I'll do it!"
But having already experienced the overwhelming difference in skill, they promptly removed their cloaks and the blankets wrapped underneath, handing them over to Azadin's group.
"Midiam, you stay by the fire too."
"What?"
Midiam's eyes widened at Azadin's words. He leaned in and whispered into her ear.
"…Keep an eye on Lady Liz."
"Ah."
Someone trustworthy needed to stay behind and monitor the mage.
"I'll stay too. I hate the cold."
Shati also chose to remain by the fire.
Midiam swallowed hard.
Liz might have been injured and unaware of Midiam's capabilities, but Shati knew her well.
Now, the burden of watching over both Shati and Liz had fallen on Midiam's shoulders.