Chapter 179: Kingdom of Winter 4

“A beastwoman?!”

"Did she climb up the fortress walls on her own?"

The Reaper Clan members who had gathered watched in astonishment.

Dreadlore was famous for being an impregnable castle.

Undead archers stood on the wall all day, keeping an eye on the surrounding.,

There was little exchange with the outside world.

As everyone stared at Catsy blankly, the earth shook and the sound of heavy footsteps reverberated from a distance.

Thud!

Thud!

A huge ice golem and 10,000 troops appeared on the horizon.

After Logan executed the remaining prisoners, he took out the Orb of the Dead.

“Oh well, I have no choice. I need to wake up Lord Nigel's vassals sleeping in the basement.”

He did have to report to Nigel before doing that.

When Logan injected magic into the orb, he heard a dry voice from it.

[What is going on?]

[A giant ice golem and the Rhine Kingdom’s army are advancing this way. Asura must’ve received Colesman’s help...]

Logan was well aware of one of the Norton royal family's heirlooms, the Frost Queen's Necklace.

Nigel sighed once he heard the entire story from Logan, including the mysterious beastwoman who had suddenly appeared.

[What...? Some old mutt must have taught Asura a new trick. I'll be there soon.]

[By the way, did you not know about Asura's movements? The number of troops he is leading here isn’t insignificant.]

Nigel was assisted by Angrboda, so he could easily grasp the situation in various parts of the Norton Kingdom.

To Logan's question, Nigel sighed as he responded.

[They used the Valkyrie to kill all of Angrbodas’ familiars who were scouting in the air. So, when I asked Angrboda about his location, she didn't know. It seems that he moved around while hiding himself with the saint's stealth magic.]

[However, it is unlikely that they can conquer this fortress simply with a giant ice golem and an army of 10,000 people. While there was that beastwoman on the wall, other than her, I don’t think that...]

[With Asura's current power, he could do it. He has six demon kings under his order.]

Besides, he was a Necromancer.

It would be a big deal if Woohyuk succeeded Dreadlore's rulership.

Nigel wasn’t planning on losing against Woohyuk, but he was trapped in Woohyuk's plans from the beginning.

Woohyuk had used his elite army from the Rhine Kingdom to protect the supply lines of each city.

Moreover, most of them belonged to the Ragnarok Clan, so they were able to gather around Woohyuk at any time if he summoned them.

Therefore, the tables had turned and Woohyuk had launched the siege.

'He’s quite the smart man.'

historical

After conversing with Nigel, Logan clicked his tongue.

Considering the current situation, he had to face Woohyuk's elite army as well as the ice golem.

Moreover, there were 6 of the Demon Kings.

This was a tremendous force.

No matter how impregnable Dreadlore was, it was unclear whether the fortress could continue standing until Nigel’s return.

Logan hurried to awaken Nigel's vassals with the Orb of the Dead

“Peter Logan, my master has something to tell you.”

After watching him from the wall, Catsy spoke out loud as she swayed her tail sideways.

Logan lifted his pistol in annoyance.

“I don't know how you got here, but die.”

In this situation, the commander of the enemy forces would definitely provoke him and tell him to surrender.

It was a waste of time for Logan who didn’t plan on raising the white flag.

Bang!

Logan pulled the trigger and an enchanted bullet passed between Catsy's brows.

But..

“Meoow! That scared me! I’m still not used to receiving surprise attacks, you understand?!”

Catsy was unscathed.

It was due to her hidden class: Schrdinger's Cat.

But Logan was unaware of this and he scratched his head in confusion.

“What the? Are you a ghost or what?”

He would not be surprised to see ghosts in Dreadlore since it was the fortress of the dead.

But the problem was that she was Woohyuk's messenger.

As Logan pondered about Catsy’s existence,

Boooom!

The earth shook and a large shockwave reverberated the air.

The ice golem had charged into the wall of Dreadlore.

However, the walls were enchanted with a high level barrier spell, so it remained resistant and strong even against the large impact.

“.. This isn’t the time to pay attention to a measly messenger.”

That ice golem was merely the beginning of the battle.

As Logan returned the pistol to its holster, Catsy spoke again after waiting for a while.

“Anyway, he told me to tell you this. Hmm hmm... I heard you were working as Nigel's servant in Dreadlore. I'll be there to cut your throat sooner or later, so wait for me.”

“.. He didn’t even ask me to surrender? I feel offended by his disdain against me.”

But Logan didn’t have the time nor the care to pay attention to Woohyuk’s words,

He summoned Nigel's vassals with the Orb of the Dead

Rumble.

A dark blue fog began to spread in the fortress.

Before long, three black humanoid figures emerged and approached Logan.

“I didn't think you'd wake us up, Peter Logan.”

“Is it an intruder? It’s quite noisy out here.”

“It seems they were aiming for the opportunity when Nigel wasn’t here?”

The three of them were liches.

Beings who had escaped the fate of death and had gained eternal life.

However, there was a hierarchy among the liches, and Nigel, the strongest, led them as their boss.

That was why Nigel was called the Lich Lord.

However, he was obviously not comparable to Nakron during his lifetime.

Nakron was the true lord of Dreadlore.

Logan also knew that, so he deliberately provoked the liches.

“The enemy is apparently Nakron's successor. If he takes over the throne of Dreadlore, it will be a catastrophe for us in this frozen kingdom.”

“.. Nakron’s successor?!”

“The enemy we were concerned about has finally appeared.”

“Nakron's true successor must be Lord Nigel. We must capture that imposter right now!”

Three pairs of eyes flashed blue and the liches lifted their staffs.

They had stockpiled their powers for three hundred years, and it was finally time to show off their skills.

***

Deep in the snow-covered woods.

Woohyuk's elite army was waiting for Nigel after concealing themselves with Helena's stealth magic.

Brynhild found the long wait boring and spoke up.

“But will Nigel really come through here? It’s true that this is the fastest way to get to Dreadlore, but...”

“He probably knows that I'm currently sieging Dreadlore with a lot of troops.”

However, most of the troops at the fortress belonged to other clans who had just joined the war.

They could all be mobilized so quickly thanks to the clan system.

Even with a large army of 10,000 fighters, the troops from the same clans could always act together anytime, anywhere.

The clan leaders would first summon the gold medal executives who led 1000-men battalions, and the gold medal executives would summon the silver medal executives who led 100-men squadrons.

Brynhild nodded at Woohyuk’s explanation.

“True, Logan may be fooled since he doesn't know your face. There were quite a lot of black-haired and black-eyed young people in our attack force.”

“I brought the head of the Hwarang Clan from the Rhine Kingdom. She is now my vassal and is obedient to me.”

Woohyuk had gathered quite a lot of clan leaders as his vassals.

He captured them and controlled the clan leaders by making them sign contracts.

The Hwarang Clan’s leader Han Jangmi was also one of them.

Suddenly, Helena intervened in the conversation.

“I'm personally concerned about the Valkyrie's Ruins more than this. The Witch of Greed seems to be headed that way already.”

“Don’t worry. Catsy is making back and forth trips to spy on everyone.”

Thanks to her hidden class, Catsy was able to teleport anywhere she had already been to.

It was the perfect ability for a messenger and a scout.

It was thanks to her that they could come all this way without being noticed.

As Woohyuk reassured Helena,

Rumble.

Dust rose in the distance and the undead army appeared.

The flag had two crystal wands crossing each other with a skull, so the opposing commander was Lich Lord Nigel.

Woohyuk stopped talking and prepared for battle.

“As I said before, I will deal with Nigel. In the meantime, everyone else will deal with the others.”

The elite undeads under Nigel's command were quite strong.

However, those led by Woohyuk were also elites who had been strictly selected from the kingdoms he had conquered so far.

Although their nationalities and races were diverse, their unity was strong enough so that they wouldn’t get pushed back by the undead.

Woohyuk got on top of his horse and blew into the Golden Goat's Horn,

“Warriors! Let us fight valiantly and achieve victory!”

Sieg stood at the forefront and shouted to everyone, brandishing the Holy Sword Gram in the air.

The soldiers soon began shouting in turn...

Clang! Clang clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal hitting metal resonated constantly in the frozen forest.

“.. Is it an ambush? That's unexpected. I thought he would aim for Dreadlore where Nakron’s legacy remains.”

Nigel stared in surprise on top of his skeleton warhorse.

But it only lasted for a while.

He lifted his crystal staff with a solemn attitude as his fighting spirit lit up.

“This is a lot better. Let us decide the victor without letting the war drag out.”

Asura must have led only his elite army into the woods.

He must’ve sent quite a large number of men to Dreadlore for the siege, so he was most likely lacking in numbers.

As long as Nigel paid attention to the demon kings sealed within Lemegeton, he had a chance at victory.

The one backing him was the Witch of Greed Angrboda.

As Nigel began chanting, Woohyuk's frosty voice resounded behind him.

“You’re still as careless as before.”

Verserios’ blade sliced through the air!

Nigel hurriedly leaped off his skeleton horse in astonishment.

The armored skeleton warhorse was struck twice, and it fell to the snowy ground.

Black blood stained the pure white softness and polluted the air.

If Nigel had reacted a second later, it would’ve been a fatal hit.

As he floated in the air with levitation magic, Nigel stared in amazement.

“You, you...!”

“Where is Angrboda? We didn’t see her at the Valkyrie's ruins.”

Woohyuk stared at Nigel and spat out some provocations.

The surrounding air froze, and Nigel shivered.

'What the hell is with this... this overwhelming pressure...!’

He believed that he had gotten rid of the feeling of fear ages ago.

However, Woohyuk's existence quickly burst open the dam holding back his trembling.

As Nigel despaired, a voice echoed above them,

“You’ve finally shown yourself, Asura. I’ve been waiting for you.”

A group of red-eyed crows spun around in the blue sky as the eerie voice resounded.

It was the Witch of Greed.

It was Angrboda.