Originally, Duanmu Huai had planned to take shelter in the cave, wait for the storm to pass, and then continue on his way. However—
"The first snowfall of 2002 came later than usual…"
Staring at the howling blizzard outside the cave, aside from singing, Duanmu Huai was left speechless. Judging by the time, they had already stayed inside the cave for a full day and night, yet the heavy snow showed no sign of stopping.
Sigh… if Gureya were here, that'd be great. Duanmu Huai remembered that one of her dragon roars could instantly clear the skies and bring sunny weather… Well, whatever. If she's not here, it can't be helped.
"Alright, let's set off."
Duanmu Huai packed up briefly, then stood up. Although the snow hadn't stopped, they still had to move on. Moreover, according to pocket-monster logic, rare species usually appeared in this kind of extreme weather. Besides, for ordinary people, climbing a mountain in these conditions would be tantamount to suicide—but for Duanmu Huai, this was nothing.
In fact, even Bunny-Bunny, who looked lightly dressed, was still hopping along energetically in this climate—if she were a real rabbit, she'd probably have frozen to death long ago.
The howling blizzard rushed toward them head-on. Duanmu Huai raised his head and stepped forward, one step at a time. He didn't know any mountain-climbing techniques, but he didn't need them either. Even without mountaineering skills, he still understood the principle that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. As long as he kept moving forward and headed straight toward the summit, that was good enough.
Of course, mountain ranges in blizzards were extremely dangerous—just like now…
"RUMBLE—!!!"
The roaring snow collapsed from the mountainside, surging toward Duanmu Huai and the others like an ocean wave. This was one of the most terrifying disasters in high mountains. Before its overwhelming power, ordinary people had no way to resist.
Yes—ordinary people.
"Hah—HA!!!"
Facing the oncoming avalanche, Duanmu Huai let out a furious roar, clenched his right fist, and slammed it forward. In the next instant, a violently surging shockwave blasted straight ahead, punching a hole clean through the oncoming wall of snow. The massive snow wave instantly exploded apart, scattering to both sides and falling silent in the blink of an eye.
"Alright, let's keep moving."
Duanmu Huai lowered his fist and continued forward, while Bunny-Bunny clapped excitedly behind him.
"Waaah, Master is amazing! Amazing!"
"Indeed… it's hard to imagine…"
After witnessing this, even the maid couldn't help but sigh in amazement. This wasn't the first avalanche they'd encountered. At first, the maid had planned to fulfill her duty as a familiar and protect Duanmu Huai. But she never expected him to casually shatter the avalanche with a single punch, leaving absolutely no danger.
Seeing this scene, the maid was completely stunned. Ordinary Monster Tamers didn't possess great physical strength, which was why they relied on familiars. But Duanmu Huai's power far exceeded theirs. The maid was certain that even high-level rare girl-type monsters probably wouldn't be his match…
"Master, why did you become a Monster Tamer?"
Following behind Duanmu Huai, the maid grew more confused the more she thought about it, and couldn't help voicing her question. In her view, male humans became Monster Tamers for only a few reasons—either to become stronger, or because they simply liked girl-type monsters, or because they liked beautiful women and wanted to enslave them.
But based on her observations, Duanmu Huai didn't fit any of these. He was already extremely powerful. At least, in her memories, she had never seen a girl-type monster stronger than him. And he didn't seem particularly fond of girl-type monsters either. Along the way, they had encountered several, yet Duanmu Huai only glanced at them briefly, checked the guidebook, and then left—clearly not intending to capture every girl-type monster he saw like many Monster Tamers did.
That was only natural. Duanmu Huai mainly wanted a few support-type familiars. Most of the ones they encountered were either unsuitable or combat-oriented girl-type monsters. Though they were quite pretty, Duanmu Huai had no intention of collecting them all.
In fact, if bonded familiars didn't share life and death with their master, Duanmu Huai would have already released Bunny-Bunny back into the wild.
"I became a Monster Tamer because there's a monster I want to tame."
Duanmu Huai spoke while continuing forward.
"A monster you want to tame?"
Hearing this, the maid immediately became interested. In her view, a girl-type monster targeted by such a powerful Monster Tamer must be extremely formidable.
"Then… what kind of monster do you want to tame?"
"Oh, the Demon King."
"...Eh?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's answer, the maid froze.
Sorry… the wind was too loud. Did I hear that wrong…?
"Master, um… I'm sorry, but… did you say… the Demon King?"
"That's right."
Duanmu Huai nodded.
"The Demon King is also a monster, right? If Monster Tamers can form contracts with monsters, then they should be able to subdue the Demon King too."
"Is… is that how it works…?"
Faced with Duanmu Huai's words, the maid felt her mind turn into mush.
To monsters, the Demon King was their emperor—the supreme ruler. If you asked whether an emperor was human, the answer would technically be yes, but no one would think about it that way. First, it was treasonous. Second—what would be the point? Was anyone actually capable of taming the Demon King as a familiar?
And yet now, there really was a Monster Tamer planning to turn the Demon King into a familiar!
Thinking of this, the maid's gaze toward Duanmu Huai filled with shock and disbelief.
More importantly—this Monster Tamer actually seemed capable of doing it!
If he really could turn the Demon King or demonkin into his familiar, he would set an insurmountable milestone for all future Monster Tamers!
A Monster Tamer who could subdue the Demon King! That was practically the stuff of legends!
Of course… whether it would actually succeed was another matter.
"Gyaa—gyaa!!"
After that, they walked for a while longer before hearing sharp cries in the distance. Duanmu Huai led the group toward the source of the sound and discovered two groups of boy-type monsters engaged in battle on a flat area ahead.
After clearly seeing the monsters on both sides, the maid frowned in disgust.
"Squid monsters and octopus monsters…"
"How rare. Aren't those aquatic species? What are they doing up here in the mountains?"
Duanmu Huai also looked ahead at the fighting monsters.
Although boy-type monsters were still monsters, unlike girl-type monsters, they were extremely ugly. Take the ones fighting now—the octopus monsters had octopus bodies with human arms and legs, while the squid monsters had squid heads with human bodies…
In short, none of them were pleasant to look at.
Moreover, boy-type monsters were unpopular among most races.
The reason was simple: not only were boy-type monsters ugly (ugly is a cardinal sin), but their personalities were also violent and aggressive. They liked attacking other races and abducting them to force reproduction. Especially girl-type monsters—once they fell into their hands, they became nothing more than egg-laying machines. As such, girl-type monsters hated boy-type monsters the most.
Since boy-type monsters also attacked humans, and were ugly (important things must be said twice), they were universally despised in human societies as well.
Most demon armies consisted of boy-type monsters—
And once again, just looking at them, they had absolutely nothing to do with the word "boy."
During his time in Seth, Duanmu Huai had gained some understanding of the demon realm's military composition. Simply put: the Demon King was the strongest, followed by demonkin infused with the Demon King's blood, then apostles created from demonkin blood. Additionally, high-ranking girl-type monster races held some status in the demon realm.
Boy-type monsters, however—because they were ugly (important things must be said three times), stupid, prone to plunder, and brutish—were treated as the main soldiers and cannon fodder.
Of course, boy-type monsters also had ranks among themselves, but that wasn't important. In the eyes of demonkin, they were all expendable.
Still… what were these things doing here?
Duanmu Huai didn't care about these low-tier boy-type monsters. On the continent, they were basically equivalent to slimes—experience fodder for rookie adventurers. But as he had said earlier, both squid monsters and octopus monsters were aquatic species. According to the guidebook, these two races often clashed over overlapping territories.
But—
This is a snow-covered mountain plateau, for fuck's sake. What are two aquatic races doing here?!
"WHOOO—!!"
At that moment, the blizzard grew even more intense. Just then, Duanmu Huai sensed something and looked up toward the mountain peak.
There, within the storm, stood a small black silhouette, staring at them.
"What is that?"
Duanmu Huai widened his eyes and looked in that direction. Quickly, his vision zoomed in, clearly revealing the figure.
It was a girl with silky jet-black hair, wearing a kimono, with delicate and beautiful features. Her skin was white as snow, and her eyes were a deep icy blue. At that moment, she stared down at the battle between the squid monsters and octopus monsters, then slowly raised her hand—
With her movement, frigid winds howled and blizzards roared.
In the next instant, the accumulated snow on the slope finally collapsed under its own weight, crashing downward!
"GYAA—!!!"
Realizing what was happening, both the squid monsters and octopus monsters tried to flee, but it was already too late. They didn't possess Duanmu Huai's strength. In the blink of an eye, they were swallowed by the collapsing snow, swept away into the ravine below.
Only after the monsters were completely wiped out did the girl turn and leave.
Duanmu Huai withdrew his gaze, then took out the guidebook and flipped through it.
As expected—Yuki-onna. Prefers living in snowy mountains. Skilled at manipulating ice and blizzards…
If I bring her back, making ice cream shouldn't be a problem, right?
"Good. It's her."
Having confirmed his target, Duanmu Huai closed the guidebook.
"Let's keep moving!"
(End of Chapter)