"You are the child the gods have given me."
That was when Angus had just been appointed by the Emperor and set out on his mission to guard the northern frontier.
At the time, the Delin family was traveling toward the distant north.
They departed in late autumn, and by the time they neared the northern border, deep winter had already arrived.
The northern lands were already extremely cold, and with the depths of winter added on top of that, the cold was simply unbearable for ordinary people.
When Angus first arrived in the north, many of the servants traveling with him suffered frostbite on their hands and feet from the slightest carelessness in keeping warm.
Several servants even lost fingers. The blood that flowed out froze into ice crystals almost immediately.
At that time, the northern barbarians were running rampant. Relying on their naturally thick fur, they invaded the Empire's northern border without restraint.
The atrocities committed by these barbarians had spread all the way to the royal capital thousands of miles away. They slaughtered residents and burned towns.
They had committed countless horrific acts.
During the Delin family's journey to the north, Angus had already killed many northern barbarians along the way.
Back then, Angus still carried his stubborn sense of justice and had sworn to wipe out these northern barbarians.
After arriving there, several years later, he established a strong steel fortress in the north.
Leading well-trained knights, he built a towering wall at the edge of the Empire's northern frontier, protecting the Empire's people.
Of course, he knew as well.
Farther north beyond the fortress, in the far northern lands, there were still residents who belonged to the Empire.
But he no longer had the ability to expand the fortress deeper into the north.
The battle-hardened Angus understood this clearly.
The environment in the far north was even harsher, and nearly all the barbarians wandered there.
If they established themselves there, then under the constant harassment of large numbers of barbarians, even a steel fortress reinforced several times over would not remain intact for long.
Once a weak point appeared in the defenses and the barbarians seized the opportunity to attack, the fortress could easily be broken.
So all he could do was persuade the residents living farther north to move into the fortress and seek protection on their own.
Although Angus had been personally appointed by Emperor Aubrey as the guardian of the northern frontier, he was not the lord of the north.
Even so, Angus always considered the safety of the northern residents.
So despite not being their lord, he was still deeply loved by the people of the north.
After all, his stubborn sense of justice had indeed saved many residents living in misery.
At that time, Angus's family life was gradually becoming happy and complete.
He had two children, and his wife was pregnant with their third.
However, it was precisely because of Angus's unwavering commitment to justice.
Some people deeply admired him, while others deeply hated him.
In the freezing north, surviving by hunting wild beasts alone was obviously not enough to support the large barbarian tribes.
As a result, the northern residents also became targets for the barbarians.
And Angus's protection of the north undoubtedly further restricted the barbarians' living space.
So they launched a fierce retaliation.
It happened on a winter night.
Inside the Delin residence, Angus was enjoying dinner with his family beside a warm fireplace.
The warm candlelight in the house reflected the gentle smiles on every member of the Delin family.
But an urgent report from a knight shattered the harmony, and Angus's relaxed expression immediately turned serious.
"Sir Angus, we've discovered a barbarian base hidden within the northern lands."
It had been a very, very long time since Angus had shared dinner with his family.
But the situation was urgent. It concerned the safety of the entire fortress.
He felt helpless.
"Go."
A gentle voice of support came from his wife.
He gazed deeply into her warm eyes lit by candlelight and gently kissed his pregnant beloved.
After taking one look at his young son, he put on his armor, gathered a large number of knights, mounted his horse, and headed for the location mentioned in the report.
Sure enough, the location really did contain a barbarian base.
Angus gave the order and led the knights in a brave charge against the barbarians.
The knights who had witnessed that battle all remembered the sight of their commander on the battlefield.
He fought even more fiercely than usual.
Flesh and blood flew through the air as cold flashes of steel appeared.
Snow and wind scraped across his armor, while blood flowed down it and into the endless snowfield.
The deep, rough screams of the barbarians never ceased. Blood burst from their bodies, staining a section of the snowfield completely red.
The corpses piled up into small hills.
And exactly as his men had reported, many barbarians were indeed hidden there.
Angus killed more barbarians than anyone else. His silver armor had been completely dyed red with blood.
Even the ferocious snow mastiff head on his chest, baring its silver teeth, looked even more terrifying.
When Angus finally dragged out the last barbarian who had been hiding, he placed his silver blade against its neck.
Just as he was about to strike, before the blade even moved, he saw the barbarian's lips twitch and heard it speak human language.
"Sir Knight, you really came."
"And you brought so many knights with you."
Angus was extremely surprised and confused.
Because it was the first time he had heard a barbarian speak.
Every barbarian he had encountered before had been like a beast, completely lacking human intelligence, primitive creatures that acted only on instinct.
So Angus spared the barbarian for the moment and calmly said, "It seems you have some final words. Go ahead."
The barbarian sat on the ground. A strange light flashed through its eyes as it pulled out a savage grin.
"I admire your sense of justice. Relying on nothing but such an empty belief, you've willingly come to this barren northern frontier and persisted until now."
"But have you ever thought that one day you'll pay a price for your justice?"
At that moment, Angus still didn't understand what it meant.
Frowning, he grabbed the barbarian by the throat and stared coldly into its face.
"What are you trying to tell me?"
"Cough... cough cough..."
The barbarian struggled to breathe under the powerful grip and coughed several times.
Only after Angus realized what he was doing did he release it.
The barbarian lay on the ground, coughing. After several breaths, it finally recovered.
"Let me give you a piece of advice, Sir Knight."
"The more precious something is to you, the more you should hide it in the most unremarkable place."
"You proclaim your justice everywhere. Even the family you cherish most supports you."
It laughed almost madly, its deep voice ringing in Angus's ears like a cursed bell.
"You always say your enemies can never defeat you."
"But one day you'll overlook those precious jewels of yours."
"And we thieves have been watching them every moment."
"Hehehehe... Next time, remember not to bring so many knights with you."
In the end, Angus silently cut off the barbarian's head.
When Angus returned to the fortress, he found that the few knights left behind to guard the north had suffered heavy casualties.
The corpses of both knights and barbarians lay scattered across the bloodstained ground.
And when Angus returned home, a scene of destruction met his eyes.
The front door had been torn apart. The warm fireplace had collapsed, and cold filled the entire residence.
The shattered dining table was covered in blood. Severed and torn bodies lay silently on the floor.
His wife.
His son.
They had all died in the barbarian attack.
Only his eldest daughter, Kefla, had escaped because she had still been away receiving knight training.
At that moment, the justice Angus had always believed in was pushed to the edge of collapse.
It was true that his justice had earned him the love of the people.
He had protected the entire north and killed countless barbarians.
Even in this battle, Angus had still achieved a great victory.
He had successfully destroyed the barbarians' hidden base.
Even after facing their fierce attack, the losses were limited to some knights.
And, of course, his beloved wife and children.
However, when justice could not even protect the family closest to him, Angus began to question it.
What meaning did this justice still have?
"To carry out justice, you must cut off all emotions."
"But you can't do that. That's why the justice you believe in will never answer you."
As the deep voice sounded, a mass of black shadow began wrapping around his son's corpse.
Young Gash Delin twisted his small body and stood up, empty chaotic light shining in his eyes.
Angus watched as his son's shattered body restored itself piece by piece.
But he knew very well that the creature before him was no longer his son.
"I am a devout follower of the Goddess of Justice."
That was what he said to Angus.
The next moment, the entire residence was swallowed by a violent snowstorm.
The raging snow tore through the sky and gradually buried the ruined home.
Gash stretched out his small hands and gently clenched them. A flickering flame appeared from nowhere, shining amid the wind and snow.
Under Angus's despairing gaze,
Gash walked step by step toward his wife's corpse.
Her body had long since been torn open. The unborn child, not yet fully formed, lay inside her body like a dark mass of flesh and blood.
Gash bent down and placed the flame into his wife's cold abdomen.
The spark gradually grew larger and wrapped around the entire corpse.
The body slowly began to burn, turning into countless burning stars that eventually scattered into the snowstorm.
Then, within that world of ice and snow, the cry of a baby rang out.
Angus froze.
In the storm, he no longer looked like a god of war, but like a father shocked by the return of life.
Throwing aside his sword, he ran frantically toward the source of the orange flame.
His eyes were filled with shock as he tremblingly reached out and picked up the child who lay among the snow while surrounded by the burning spark.
This newborn baby girl was already covered in snow.
But when Angus held her in his arms, he felt an incomparable warmth.
Even through his steel armor, he could feel the warmth coming from the infant.
A thin layer of snow covered the baby's head. Silver snowflakes sparkled in the dark storm, like a bright dawn on the distant horizon.
Angus's body trembled, and his eyes saw nothing but the tiny infant.
Gash's childish voice echoed in his ears, leaving behind a burning mark within the storm.
"Cherish her. This is the child the gods have given you."
"Raise her into a god. She will inherit your justice and fulfill the wish you could not complete."
"But remember."
The emptiness in Gash's eyes swirled with dark currents, gradually swallowing the surrounding silver light and turning into deep chaos.
"Do not let her have any emotions."
...Because absolute justice has no need for emotions.
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