Chapter 602: Winter Song (1)

It was so cold that Seo Jun-Ho’s breathing condensed into tiny, misty clouds.

Seo Jun-Ho glanced at the Frost Queen standing next to him.

‘Wasn’t Frost the Queen of Niflheim? I wonder what she feels seeing that the nation she once ruled had become a Floor.’

The Frost Queen used the Elevator doors to drag herself out and onto the frozen world.

“...”nove.1b/1n

The Frost Queen’s eyes swept across the familiar frozen world. Yes, familiar. The freezing cold felt vivid, and the air she was inhaling filled her with an intense sense of nostalgia.

“Why... ah...” muttered the Frost Queen as she staggered.

Seo Jun-Ho hurriedly helped her up.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Haaa... huff...” The Frost Queen’s face turned red as she tried to catch her breath.

“Contractor...”

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

Seo Jun-Ho’s face stiffened upon facing his hand on the Frost Queen’s forehead.

The Frost Queen was having a high fever.

Seo Jun-Ho hurriedly said, “Here. Take this potion and rest in the Spirit World.”

“I’m sorry...”

“It’s fine.” Seo Jun-Ho handed over a bottle of potion to the Frost Queen.

“Recall Spirit,” he said.

[Spirits cannot be recalled at the moment.]

“What?” Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes narrowed.

‘I can’t recall her? What does that mean? This has never happened to me before. Wait...’

Seo Jun-Ho looked down and saw that the Frost Queen had fallen unconscious with her hand drooping down.

“Frost! Frost, wake up!” he shouted, but the Frost Queen never answered.

Seo Jun-Ho gnashed his teeth and approached the Dimensional Elevator to go downstairs.

[The Dimensional Elevator cannot be used at the moment.]

[The Dimensional Elevator cannot be used at the moment.]

“Damn it!”

Seo Jun-Ho slammed his fist on the wall of the Dimensional Elevator out of frustration.

He pressed every button, but the Dimensional Elevator wouldn’t budge an inch.

‘What’s going on?’

The Frost Queen’s temperature was too high to say that she was just shell-shocked to see Niflheim’s current state.

Seo Jun-Ho looked at the Frost Queen worriedly and carried her on his back.

“...Hang in there, Frost.”

Seo Jun-Ho recalled Gray telling him that it would only take him a few hours to clear the 8th Floor if he did his best. Right now, he couldn’t do anything else other than clear the Floor as soon as possible to bring the Frost Queen downstairs the soonest.

- Partner. Look over there.

Seo Jun-Ho turned and saw that Keen Intuition was referring to a castle in the distance that could barely be seen from where they were.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho wordlessly started moving toward the castle. He looked around as he approached the castle and saw many figures on the snowfield.

‘Ice statues?’

The ice statues were like Seo Jun-Ho while he was still frozen himself. Seo Jun-Ho carefully approached one of the ice statues and wiped the piled-up snow on it.

Squeak, squeak.

Seo Jun-Ho’s face fell upon seeing the countenance of the figure encased in ice.

‘They’re not human.’

The figure encased in ice was a demon.

The horn on the figure’s forehead made it evident that it was a demon. In addition, the demon’s corpse still contained a considerable amount of demonic energy, even though it had been a long time since they passed away.

‘What happened here?’

Seo Jun-Ho shook his head and picked up the pace.

The huge gate of the castle was half broken, and there were ice statues scattered everywhere beyond the castle gates.

- Partner, this is...

“...Yeah.”

There was a knight, and a demon encased together in one single ice. The knight’s sword was buried deep in the demon’s neck, but the demon’s hand had penetrated the knight’s chest.

There was also a mage holding a broken cane with a determined look on their face. There were also those who looked like ordinary denizens of Niflheim, and they were all frozen with everyone else.

There were no exceptions.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho walked past them and entered the castle.

Swoosh!

A cold breeze much colder than the breeze outside struck him.

[Cold Tolerance (B) grade has increased to Cold Tolerance (A).]

Cold Tolerance’s level up was just in time, so the cold freeze didn’t feel that uncomfortable to Seo Jun-Ho. However, he slowed down, looking around warily.

Ripped carpets and scratched portraits were scattered on the floor.

Seo Jun-Ho walked past the mess and entered the vast throne room. He saw a throne on the very top of the stairs at the end of the long carpet. A woman sat with her eyes closed on the frozen throne.

“...”

‘She’s...’ Seo Jun-Ho trailed off, feeling more confused than ever because the woman sitting on the frozen throne was none other than. ‘Frost...’

The woman sitting on the frozen throne was the Frost Queen and the young woman on his back was the Frost Queen as well.

‘No. She’s a bit bigger than Frost.’

The Frost Queen on the throne looked extremely similar to the Frost Queen whom Seo Jun-Ho had seen in the portrait within the Winter Castle Gate.

Seo Jun-Ho stared deeply at the Frost Queen without letting his guard down.

‘First of all... she’s not the Floor Master.’

A System message would have appeared the moment Seo Jun-Ho saw her if she were the Floor Master.

“Who are you?” asked Seo Jun-Ho. His low voice echoed vividly throughout the frozen throne room, but no one answered him.

“...”

After a moment of contemplation, Seo Jun-Ho slowly approached the Frost Queen on the throne. Soon, the two were just a meter away from each other, but the Frost Queen’s eyes were still shut tightly as if she were a doll.

Swoosh!

Seo Jun-Ho drew out his sword and aimed it at the Frost Queen.

“You better answer me if you want to live,” Seo Jun-Ho growled.

However, the Frost Queen didn’t respond nor move, even though Seo Jun-Ho’s sword was just a few inches away from her forehead.

She sat silently on her frozen throne, seemingly pondering something.

Slash!

The sharp sword wounded her cheek, but she remained unmoving.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho frowned.

He retracted his sword and reached out with his hand to shake her shoulder.

“Hey,” said Seo Jun-Ho.

His hand landed on the Frost Queen’s shoulder, and everything went black.

***

‘Ah!’

Seo Jun-Ho soon recovered his vision. He was disoriented, but it only took him a moment to recover and realize that he was breathing heavily.

‘No...’

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t breathe voluntarily as if he had lost control of his own body. He fell into deep contemplation, trying to understand what was going on, but a clear voice tickled his ears, interrupting him.

“Are you not feeling well, Sir?”

Seo Jun-Ho looked up at the familiar voice.

“...”

The Frost Queen was sitting at the very end of the long table.

She tilted her head while staring at Seo Jun-Ho.

“I asked if you weren’t feeling well,” the Frost Queen asked once again.

“I’m fine, Your Majesty.”

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t say that. His mouth moved as if it was under someone else’s control.

The Frost Queen nodded.

“You should pay more attention to your physical condition and take good care of yourself in times like this. Don’t forget that the lives of many people are on our shoulders.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”

Seo Jun-Ho tried his best to figure out what was going on.

‘Am I under some sort of a curse?’

Seo Jun-Ho shook his head. ‘No. This isn’t even my own body.’

This body was not only much taller than Seo Jun-Ho, but it also had thicker bones and more muscle mass. The body’s voice also sounded markedly different from his own voice.

‘I must be looking at someone else’s memory, then...’

Seo Jun-Ho was sure that this wasn’t caused by Confession of the Dead.

The Frost Queen was still alive, after all.

‘In other words, she’s showing me her memories. I have no idea whether this is a trap or not, but I should find out soon.’

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t even his finger, but he was trying his best to move.

“Begin the report,” the Frost Queen said and gestured with her head. It was such a mundane gesture, but the Frost Queen made it look graceful and a sight to behold. She was indeed a monarch and was overflowing with dignity.

“Yes, Your Majesty. This war report is based on the latest information that we have.”

A subordinate started his report. The atmosphere in the conference room got heavier and heavier as time went on.

“How many survived?”

“We have found no survivors so far.”

No one could speak at the terrible news.

However, the Frost Queen broke the silence and asked, “The enemy’s forces are just around the corner, am I right?”

Their enemies had shattered through their fronts from all cardinal directions and were now moving toward the capital.

The subordinate couldn’t lift his head at the Frost Queen’s question, but his silence was a confirmation in itself.

The Frost Queen fell silent, but she soon declared, “Today’s meeting ends here. Everybody out.”

The subordinates scrambled up and left the conference room at the Frost Queen’s order. The subordinates’ footsteps were heavy, and they looked like they were pigs being dragged to the slaughterhouse.

“...Sir Kis.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Seo Jun-Ho finally learned the name of the person whose memories he was seeing.

‘Kis, the Knight of the Mist.’

Seo Jun-Ho had once faced him at Winter Castle.

“Were my preparations lacking?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“Did I underestimate them?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“Then why? Why are we facing such a horrible situation?”

“...”

The Frost Queen’s indifferent facade finally shattered. She looked to be in pain as she stared at Kis.

“It is not Your Majesty’s fault.”

“Then, whose fault is it?!” she shouted. “I am the monarch of this nation, and it is my duty to protect my people no matter what.”

“You did your best, Your Majesty. I’m sure the people are well aware.”

“Do not try to console me with meaningless words!”

“Please forgive me, Your Majesty. However, I am speaking the truth. It is not a mere consolation.” Kis reached out and picked up the report on the table. He looked down at the report and started reading it.

“Everfall, Weeden, Terrasia, and Henness... they reported the ongoing situation to us in this order.” Kis put down the report on the table and stared intently at the Frost Queen.

“During wartime, the job of reporting the ongoing situation is given to a low-level recruit.”

It was a way to protect the low-level recruits by putting them in a heavily protected location. After all, they were still recruits, so they wouldn’t be of much help on the battlefield.

“...”

The Frost Queen stared at Kis with tears in her eyes.

“What are you trying to say?” she asked.

“Do you still not understand, Your Majesty?”

The Frost Queen had always been soft inside, but she had developed the habit of acting tough in front of her subjects. Kis was aware of her true nature, so he made sure to sound gentle as he said, “No one ran away...”

“I’m sure the recruits were afraid because it was their first battle, but they didn’t run away. Everfall, Weeden, Terrasia, and Henness did the same.”

Kis’ eyes shone brightly as he continued. “The reports were immediately shared with the other cities, but even though the denizens of those cities knew that they were the next city to be destroyed, not a single one of them ran away.

“They stayed and fought valiantly until the end. Do you know why, Your Majesty?”

Tears rolled down the Frost Queen’s cheeks. She was a smart monarch, so she instantly realized why those people had made such a decision.

“They decided to sacrifice their lives to protect Your Majesty.”

The denizens of Niflheim had sacrificed themselves to slow down the enemy for their Queen. They had sacrificed themselves to bring down at least one more enemy with them so that the Frost Queen would face one less enemy on the battlefield.

“They knew that they would die, but they did not run away.”

And the word annihilated on the reports proved that they had indeed fought until the bitter end...

“...” The Frost Queen sobbed for a long time.

The Frost Queen eventually composed herself and said, “Take what you saw today to your grave. No, erase it from your memories.”

“...Yes, Your Majesty.”

- You do not need to act tough, Your Majesty.

- We already know that you’re the strongest and toughest monarch out there.

Seo Jun-Ho felt that Kis wanted to say such words to the Frost Queen.

“From the latest information we have gathered, it seems that we only have three days left.”

“That’s correct, Your Majesty.”

In three days, the most powerful invader in Niflheim’s history—the demon’s army—would arrive at the capital of Niflheim.

“You are dismissed.”

Kis bowed at the command and exited the conference room.

“Three days...”

The skies beyond the window looked gloomy.

To put it bluntly, the capital was too weak to repel the demon’s army.

“...”

Kis organized his thoughts and headed to where the knights of the Winter Order were located. He had to go there and talk to them because he was the Knight Commander of the Winter Order.