Chapter 233

“Give it to me already!”

Sheffy was now gradually discovering a fatal flaw in the Second Division.

Perhaps… they really were all brawn and no brains.

At the very least, it fit quite well with the customs and character of the Demon Clan.

Had they gone so mad from killing fish in the northwestern ice lake that their brains had devolved along with the giant fish?!

Even Belith and the others were beginning to harbor some suspicions, and even Timani, gnawing on a fish bone, managed to make a sharp observation with a piercing gaze.

“Sheffy, mmgh… you heard it, right? The Holy Theocracy is so far from here, and suddenly living snowmen show up out of nowhere… there’s got to be someone pulling tricks from behind the scenes. Something’s not right.”

“Listen to you blabbering, I thought you were going to say something useful. I know already, that’s why I’m going to check it out. And can you stop commenting while chewing on fish bones? Aren’t you afraid you’ll choke?”

“Pft, pampered noble lady who’s never known hardship, won’t even eat fish bones.”

“I hope you choke on a fish bone soon.”

—

63. A Little Tantrum?

“Whoa… Xiarette, did you see that patch of snowmen? If I could make snowmen like that as a kid, my childhood would’ve been twice as fun.”

“This isn’t really the time to be talking about childhood or not… Doesn’t the situation look kind of bad?”

“Does it? Those things don’t look very threatening at all. Kinda cute, even.”

“Royal Sister, Royal Sister, don’t just ask her, ask me too!”

“Huh? Ask you what?”

“Ask me if I saw the snowmen!”

“Oh. Then Belith, did you see the snowmen?”

“I saw them! Hehe… Thanks, Royal Sister~ Belith loves you! Way more than this blond dumpling freak loves you.”

“……”

Uh… who brought a vinegar bottle into this frozen wasteland?

The wind had died down at night, and the snow had stopped.

Two moons lit up the borderlands, as if fearful of the blazing torches scattered across the ground, occasionally hiding behind the clouds and dimming.

And each time the moonlight broke through the clouds again, it illuminated the ever-growing number of snowmen—piling up from nothing, their faces slowly forming ridiculous features.

Sheffy and her companions stood atop the peak of this snowy mountain.

Looking down upon the sudden anomaly that had appeared below.

Without the interference of mental disruption magic, the Third Division had regained their senses. Under the lead of their Chief Strategist, Bryant, they were now launching wave after wave of fierce assaults on the “snowman enemy line.”

The momentum was overwhelming. Tens of thousands of demons surged from the ground in ambush or flew into the air to release all manner of spells.

But…

The Demon King’s army, so used to crushing enemies with overwhelming force and forged through countless battles, seemed to have never encountered a war this strange?

“Damn it…! What the hell is this?! They just won’t die! Cut them down and they regenerate—how many rounds of this already?! Are we being toyed with?!”

“Pass along Lord Bryant’s orders to the entire army! Use flame magic to melt the snowmen, or holy-element magic to attack them. That way, they won’t regenerate. Quick, go borrow some manpower from the Second Division! They’re good at fire-based attacks!”

“To hell with it! Everyone, push forward! Don’t let these snowmen advance another step! Behind us is the resting camp of the two Princesses—before they disturb Her Highnesses’ rest, we must eliminate them all! Let the monkey tricks of the Holy Theocracy go straight to hell!”

Standing at the mountain peak, Sheffy tilted her head and listened, using a special magic that enhanced her hearing, picking up several key pieces of information.

“So fire and holy magic work… but who the hell is so bored they’d do this to disturb someone’s sleep?”

Livra was observing.

The snowmen’s attack methods were extremely simple, and their movements sluggish—making it difficult for them to land any blows on the agile demon soldiers.

That said, there were still some snowmen towering several meters tall with fierce appearances, and their powerful, heavy strikes could still send several two-winged demons flying with a single snowy punch, tumbling across the ground.

But since those weren’t direct magical attacks, even getting injured was rare—let alone life-threatening. The snowmen posed no threat at all to demons with three wings or more. From a military standpoint, this battle was practically a child’s game of back and forth.

Even as the use of flame magic and holy magic gradually increased in scale, the number of snowmen forming continued to grow.

In other words… if this strange standoff continued, the army might not suffer casualties, but it would certainly be exhausted.

It was necessary to find a way to disrupt the source of the magic.

“Rather than an ambush, it feels more like harassment… or revenge?” Livra touched her chin thoughtfully. She was always deeply focused when analyzing a situation. “Miss Shaya, I think… being able to manifest this many snowmen from such a distance and have them act in unison, unless it was meticulously premeditated, would require an absurd amount of magic—like yours. If we limit the suspects to the Holy Theocracy of Coreia, then it could only be… that god hiding behind the scenes?”

“What?! She’s here to disgust me again?! She promised that as long as I explained the whole situation clearly, she’d retreat for a while! There’s no way she would…! Uh… Livra, your hand—can you maybe touch your own chin when you’re thinking?”

“Wuwu, sorry, it’s too dark—I grabbed the wrong one.”

You’ve really got some talent, huh.

Touching your chin while thinking and ending up grabbing mine instead? What, do you think I’m just that short?

Gently brushing off Livra’s presumptuous little hand, Sheffy sniffed at the air like a foraging pup, twitching her nose.

“Royal Sister? What are you doing?”

“Sniffing—trying to judge the situation. Well, well… there really is Aimeris’s magical scent. She’s totally insane. Dead set on clinging to me, is that it?”

“You can really smell something like that?! Then Royal Sister, sniff me too—cough, I mean, when you met her, did you maybe say something that pissed her off and made her retaliate?”

“Nope. I speak super nicely, and you all know that.”

A sudden silence fell over the group.

Out of caution, Sheffy gave a quick mental review of her last encounter with Aimeris.

The more she thought about it, the more puzzled she became.

“I really didn’t say anything! All I said was that nobody loves her, and that she’s gross, and also that she has no manners, is annoying, and basically not a good person. But none of that’s too harsh, right? If she’s retaliating over that, throwing a tantrum—that’s just petty! What kind of god is that? More like a spoiled brat!”

“……”

You… you guys don’t agree?

Alright then, judging from your faces, maybe you don’t agree.

Xiarette let out a long sigh—not with blame, but with indulgent fondness.

“What’s done is done… there’s no changing it. Sheffy’s way of speaking just can’t be helped. For now, let’s focus on what’s right in front of us.”

Her azure eyes locked onto the regenerating snowmen.

The extraordinary gift of the Hero’s bloodline allowed her to perceive that the snowmen’s regeneration was gradually slowing.

No magic could sustain itself forever. Even so-called perpetual spells required a continuous supply of magic power.

If Aimeris truly was just throwing a childish fit in revenge, then these snowmen were not infinite.

In that case—this could be handled.

“Sheffy, leave this one to me, alright?”

“Mhmm~ I was just thinking the same. Neither Belith nor I can use holy magic, and as for flame spells… the snowmen are too close to the army. I’m not good at pinpoint attacks in small areas—too easy to hurt our fellow demons by accident.”

“…At least you’re self-aware?”

Xiarette didn’t dare let Sheffy make a move.

After all, the one and only time she had witnessed Sheffy using flame magic was when she’d cast the massive fire-domain spell, The Fire Calamity’s Retribution, across the entire skies of the Kingdom of Aurus—just to search for her.

That scene… was something Xiarette never wanted to see a second time.

“Don’t rush.”

Sheffy activated disguise magic, transforming Xiarette’s hair into silver and completing the look-altering spell.

Xiarette’s swordsmanship specialized in holy magic—a talent exclusive to the Hero. It was particularly effective against these snowmen.

However, if she appeared in her true identity as the Hero and slaughtered enemies in front of the Demon Army, she’d be stripped of her Aurus citizenship by tomorrow.

As the disguise spell took effect, Sheffy glanced over at Timani.

The Fire Lizard’s eyes were gleaming, her whole body itching for action. It seemed that the scale of this military mobilization had awakened the fire dragon bloodline boiling within her.

When Timani heard that “flame magic works wonders,” she had secretly felt this was the perfect opportunity to prove herself!

Sheffy, just wait and see—I’m not dead weight!

But then—

She suddenly felt a little hand pat her head.

Followed by a soft and cutesy voice.

“Just so you know… Fire Lizard, don’t even think about jumping into the fight. I know you’re good at flame magic, but now’s not the time for higher races to appear. It’ll throw everything into chaos. Auntie’s still negotiating with the higher races… right?”

“I wasn’t…! Just a little tempted, that’s all… Ugh, fine. So it’s Hero’s time to shine, huh?”

“What do you mean, ‘shine’? This is a serious mission.”

“Which is why it’s a chance to shine…”

“Then what exactly are you trying to show off?”

“Obviously, I want to show off in front of yo—! Never mind! Why are you asking so many questions?!”

“?!”

I was just trying to comfort you so you’d hold back this time, and you’re snapping at me?!

Timani herself had no idea what she was mad about.

With a sharp huff, she suddenly stood up and turned to storm back toward camp.

“You…!”

“I’m going to bed.”

“But you…!”

“What?”

“Camp… camp’s that way… you’re going the wrong direction.”

“I’m not going the wrong way.” Timani decided to run with it. Turning around now would be embarrassing. “I’m going to catch a wild rabbit. Midnight snack.”

“Oh… sure. Save me a rabbit leg?”

“Nope.”

Timani spread her wings and flew off.

Catching a rabbit wasn’t the issue…

But in this frozen land of ice and snow, it was unlikely there were any rabbits.

No one could figure out what she was even angry about.

And no one could understand why Belith had packed a large snowball and flung it at the back of Timani’s head just before she left.

“Hmph. Royal Sister, don’t mind her. Fire Dragon Clan are all like that—rude and unreasonable.”

“You’ve met others from the Fire Dragon Clan?”

“Nope. But judging from her, I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

“That’s exactly how prejudice forms, so maybe stop talking.”

At this point, Xiarette’s disguise had been fully completed.

Her silver hair flowed elegantly, cool and crisp in demeanor—and her chest had been significantly reduced.

Sylatrella was asleep, but that was fine.

Even without the blessing of the Holy Sword, the Hero herself was still among the human race’s top combatants.

A slim golden sword formed in her hand, forged from condensed holy magic.

Xiarette stood at the edge of the cliff, framed by moonlight and drifting clouds, exhaling gently to steady her breath.

Here, in Sheffy’s homeland—for the first time, she would fight for her.

“Sheffy, your big sister will be right back, okay?”

“Mhmm, try to capture one of those snowmen alive if you can!”

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