The area where Richard's tower was located was the only icy-cold place in the entire Land of Miracles.
Usually, apart from the person delivering food each day, the residents of the Land of Miracles would never come here.
After all, even the Inuit didn't like the cold, let alone that this place was also the residence of their lord.
But now, countless Inuit were gathered here under the cover of night.
Under the darkness, each of them once again wore the fur clothing they wore before becoming residents of the Land of Miracles, brought along the knives they took pride in, and also their giant sled dog hunting companions, modified by Richard.
———
"Hoo!"
A withered figure walked out from the crowd with the cold wind.
He was the old man who led Link and the others to the tower during the day, and also the village chief of the Land of Miracles.
Just like the other villagers, tonight he also wore the most traditional and solemn outfit of the village chief.
Looking up at the tower standing in the wind and snow, the old man's expression was extremely solemn.
He was not only the village chief among the Inuit, but also a shaman, a bridge between his people and the God of the Snow Mountain.
Normally, a "clergyman" like him would be the last to doubt a god.
But this old man was different. His faith in the God of the Snow Mountain was unmatched.
Because he knew very well, unlike those false, fictional gods outside, the God of the Snow Mountain existed, and lived together with Lord Richard.
Tonight, the God of the Snow Mountain had sent a divine message through Sam to him, saying that a demon had descended, and they should quickly flee the Land of Miracles.
The old man firmly believed in the oracle, but he and his people still chose to stay.
God loves the people, so naturally, the people must love God in return.
The God of the Snow Mountain had granted them the Land of Miracles, and a new life.
Then in return, they naturally had to offer their lives in times of crisis, to prove their faith.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
A series of dull thuds echoed from within the tower, and shortly after, several figures floated down from the sky like feathers, and finally landed not far in front of the old man.
Leading them was the blond-haired, black-clothed boy from earlier that day, and his female companion.
"This… is the demon, huh?"
The withered old man murmured, and then raised his staff and roared:
"Gu-wa-wa-da! Xili Wu-ha!" (For the God of the Snow Mountain! Slay the demon!)
As soon as he spoke, the surrounding Inuit warriors and giant wolves let out roars and charged toward the boy.
At the same time, the wind and snow around them suddenly grew fiercer.
They spun and swayed above the crowd, playing a strange melody.
And under the summons of this melody, humanoid monsters made entirely of snow and ice began to rise up. They mixed among the Inuit warriors, raising their snow blades, and also charged forward.
The withered old man smiled.
As the children of the God of the Snow Mountain, they not only had sharp blades and giant sled dogs, but had also been granted the ability to control snow and ice!
This was the confidence that made him choose to stay.
Though this power might not be enough to defeat the demon that even the God of the Snow Mountain and Lord Richard feared and fled from, at the very least, they could delay him for a while.
And with that, maybe the God of the Snow Mountain and Lord Richard would be able to escape farther away?
Thinking this way, a feeling called happiness spread gently through the old man's heart.
To be able to help the God of the Snow Mountain and Lord Richard as a believer, this was the old man's greatest wish.
However, the happy expression on the old man's face only lasted a moment before it vanished, replaced by endless shock.
Because facing the siege of thousands, those few "demons" didn't show even the slightest trace of panic.
In fact, the blond demon in the lead even grinned sinisterly as he raised the short stick in his hand.
"Crucio!"
In the next instant, with the word spat from the blond demon's mouth, a wave of unspeakable, ominous power surged from the short stick in his hand, like a tsunami!
This power was formless and invisible, but so powerful that even the surrounding space rippled visibly, distorted like waves.
Buzz!
The ripples spread, and in a moment engulfed the entire charging formation.
Under the erosion of the curse power, those snow-and-ice soldiers were directly reduced to nothingness.
And the other Inuit warriors and giant wolves were also blasted away by an invisible force, crashing into the snow and unable to move.
The withered old man could no longer speak.
The power of the "demon" had completely exceeded his imagination. The "army" he had organized had been reduced to just him alone after only a single exchange.
But even so, the old man still did not give up his faith.
"Demon! I will judge you in the name of the Snow Mountain!"
Under the pressure of the invisible force, the old man gritted his teeth and howled, then raised his staff high, and charged at Link alone.
At that moment, the old man felt as if his whole body was glowing with holy light from the Snow Mountain.
This was the gift of the great Snow Mountain, and also the last radiance of a believer.
At that moment, the old man believed he was noble, devout.
And then, he saw the female demon beside the blond demon raise her short wand at him.
"Stupefy!"
As the old man collapsed into the snowbank, Emily also lowered her wand.
Afterward, she looked toward Link with somewhat puzzled eyes.
Compared to Link's earlier logical and calculated behavior, this sudden change in style was too great.
It left Emily unable to react for a moment.
"Don't worry, I held back. These Inuit will probably recover by tomorrow morning."
Noticing Emily's gaze, Link smiled and explained.
Clearly, Link misunderstood what Emily was thinking. But hearing him, Emily simply nodded and didn't say more.
After the recent string of incidents at Hogwarts, Emily had become extremely sensitive to changes in Link's behavior.
She didn't say anything, out of fear of being misunderstood.
But Link had already seen through her thoughts.
"There's actually no need for deduction, not this time, at least."
Seeing Emily's slightly surprised expression, Link continued explaining to himself, "Richard's strength isn't very high. You can tell that from the methods he used against us. So reasoning it all out would just be a waste of time. If we catch him directly, everything will become clear."
As soon as Link finished speaking, Emily's expression relaxed.
But before she could say anything else to Link, Professor Kettleburn approached with a gloomy face and said, "Enough talk! We have to find Richard as soon as possible! If he really escapes, I'll have nowhere to hide my old face!"
"Don't worry, he can't run."
Upon hearing this, Link's eyes flashed blue, and he turned to look in the direction where the withered old man had fallen.
Over there, a magical light band was floating up from the old man's staff, stretching far into the distance.
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