Volume 2 - CH 9.2

Chapter 9: Let’s Have a Taste of the Ice Queen’s Power, Part 2

「Impossible! Why are they attacking now?! We should still have time before that happened!」

Aur screams and weaves complex signs with his hands.

When it came to the people granted with the 『Keys』 to enter the Dungeon, Aur was also able to check their exact position and state. But the result that he witnessed made him bite his lips in silence.

They were now in the Forest Dungeon. The place that should be under Sofia’s direct protection.

But their hearts were not beating.

Not just Mio’s. Ellen’s. Celes’. The monsters they passed by not that long ago were also dead.

「Sofia! Hurry up and inform Lilu, Yunis, Spina, Tatsuki and Tena of what happened here!」

「O-Okay!」

He commanded Sofia to do so while he gritted his teeth down to suppress his own emotions. In the meantime, he’ll have to take these guys on by himself.

To be honest, he did not truly believed Tena’s prophecy that the enemy would attack them in the spring. Of course he considered the possibility, but he didn’t want to truly believe it. And even if it did happened, he believed that he’d be able to avoid such a crisis without any casualties.

「I will go and get Tena. It’ll be faster that way.」

「Please do it.」

Sakuya then disappeared to fetch Tena. Soon after that, the green magic circle on the ground began to emit light again.

「Mio?」

But when Aur turned around, he was surrounded by a wall of light.

「Truly a fool, you are…」

But the one to emerge from it was a purple-haired woman that he didn’t even know. It was a beautiful figure clad in heavy white clothing made of fur, just like the others.

「I realize that I am intruding, but I hope you’ll forgive my bad manners.」

No, now that he had a closer look at her, this was surely the woman form the vision that Sofia had a while ago.

Trying to remain undetected, Aur slowly brought his hand to the wall of the Dungeon. But before he could complete his action, he was surrounded by a feeling as if a million needles pierced his whole body.

It was ice. He was surrounded by ice.

「Just who… are you?」

Aur had absolute confidence in his 『Key』 mechanic.

It was a fine and foolproof system that was visible only to Aur, and he was the only one who could interact with it.

And even if by some miracle someone was able to interact with it, there was no way to duplicate it.

Only the ones who were bestowed with the 『Keys』 were able to use the dedicated magic circles. Even if intruders threatened them and rode the circle with them, only the Holders of the 『Keys』 would be transported to the right destination. Therefore it was impossible for that woman to be in front of him right now.

「I am Zana, the Ice Queen. Pleased to make your acquaintance. And you are…?」

「………ow.」

「What was that? Speak louder so I can hear you.」

The woman who called herself Zana took a step closer towards Aur to hear what he was saying.

「NOW!」

When Aur shouted that, the roots and branches restrained Zana, and Yunis in her spirit form pierced her chest with her sword.

「Am I to assume that you’re not going to tell me your name?」

「Impossible!」

Yunis opened her eyes wide in surprise.

It was a perfect surprise attack. A perfect blow that shouldn’t be avoided by any means.

But even when her attack connected, the blade of her sword was encapsulated in ice, and there was not even a scratch or a drop of blood from her wound.

「I am sorry. I really don’t want to do this, but you’re leaving me with no choice.」

She glanced at her soldiers. They approached them and dropped Mio’s body at her feet.

「I know that it’s not very persuasive, but I’ll ask it anyway: won’t you surrender to me and obey my orders?」

She asked as she sunk the sword made of ice into Mio’s body.

「Ahhh, this tea is really delicious. Thank you kindly for preparing it.」

「Don’t mention it.」

Lilu walked to the table Zana was sitting at and served her tea with elegant movements.

「Now then, I have already disclosed my name, so I think that it is only a common courtesy that you tell, me yours now.」

「Such impudence. You want me to tell you my name, while you refuse to say how exactly did you managed to invade my territory?」

「I realize that you must perceive it in such a way… but I really don’t know. I didn’t do anything unusual to get here.」

And she frowned her brows as if she was trying to remember if there was really something else to it.

「Then tell me you don’t know what the sun is.」

「Come again?」

「Just say it.」

「I…. don’t know what the sun is?」

Zana said so, looking quite confused. Aur glanced at Lilu who was standing behind her and watched her closely, and she nodded only once. It was a sign that she saw through that lie just now, and that her previous statement was true.

「Aur, the Demon Lord.」

「Thank you, mister Aur.」

When Aur told her his name, she laughed in an overly friendly manner, as if she met a friend whom she did not see for a very long time. Even though she managed to overwhelm him in an instant, there was no signs of hostility in that laughter of hers.

「As I said before, I came here to forge an alliance with you.」

「So nowadays surrendering oneself to someone is considered an alliance? Good to know.」

「Ekhem. As a queen of the Ice Nation of Himuro, I’d like to request your humble assistance is defeating the Sand Nation of the desert of Sahara.」

And just like that, they moved from casual matters discussed at lunch to the serious matters.

「The reason I did what I did was because I really want to secure your cooperation with this matter, and based on the stories I’ve heard about you, you wouldn’t have even listened to me unless I used force. That’s why I had to use my best hand to show you how serious I was.」

「Best hand, huh?」

Aur looked Zana in the eyes, unable to hide his displeasure.

So far Tena’s prediction came true, and it was obvious that right now he was unable to do a thing against her.

「That is why those girls that were with you are not dead. They are only kept in a state of criostasis with my ice powers, so there’s no reason for you to be afraid about their lives.」

「Of course. Otherwise you could forget about any kind of cooperation from me.」

Aur nodded with a shrewd face, but his mind was working on full throttle.

It was really a relief that Mio and the others weren’t dead, but just in case something went very south he made sure that his soul was not in his main body so he could be revived should the need arise.

「If I may ask, why do you want to forge an alliance with me if you have such a great power at your disposal?」

「Because I cannot win with them alone.」

Her reply was short and honest.

「I tried to do that before, but no matter how many attempts I’ve made, I was unable to win against the desert dwellers.」

Her eyes shone with a sharp light as she looked at Aur again.

「That was a nice try, but did you really thought that I wouldn’t notice?」

「What did you say?」

She then put out her tongue and spit a small crystal on the table. That was the poison that he ordered Lilu to add the tea.

「Ah, don’t bother with quarters for my soldiers, I will send them back. Room for me alone is enough.」

She then aimed the teacup at Lilu and asked:

「Could I ask for another cup? Possibly without poison this time.」