[Vol. 9] Chapter 25: The Embers of the Northern Calamity
The captain of the gate guards was a young man who looked a little over twenty. He wore light leather armor that wasn’t of very high quality, with no helmet, and held a spear that seemed to be made of ice. His face was calm and businesslike as he spoke in a cold tone.
“We just received the latest news. A horde of Calamity Beasts is moving along the southern coast of the Ice Sea. The Fortress, which was over a hundred kilometers away, has already fallen. The fortress lord personally ordered this place to be sealed. It will last at least a few weeks. It’s not safe here anymore, you should leave as soon as possible.”
“Calamity Beasts?”
Violet had just arrived in the region and of course didn’t know what the locals meant by that, but clearly it wasn’t anything good.
The customs of the North were very different from the South. Here, there was no division between city, town, or village. Instead, they first built a castle from frozen stone and ice, and then expanded outward from it, forming settlements and cultural areas.
The larger the first castle, the wider the land that could grow from it. It was the only measure of a settlement’s size.
The number of castles directly showed how strong a nation was. For example, the powerful Ice and Snow Empire was said to directly own over a thousand castles. Meanwhile, a small country like the Ice-Sea Principality only had a little over ten in total. The difference was clear at a glance.
So for such small countries, losing even one castle was a serious wound, enough to shake the foundation of the nation. No wonder the fortress lord reacted so strongly.
Violet exchanged a glance with her small dragon girl companion and Alexia, the blue dragon princess who had taken on the form of a short-haired frost-blue-haired girl. After thinking for a moment, Violet quietly took a Holy Empire coin from her pocket and slipped it over.
“Could you tell us more about the situation? And what exactly are these Calamity Beasts?”
Whether they entered Nofenburg or not didn’t really matter. If Violet truly wanted, this checkpoint of ordinary soldiers could never stop them. But for now, what mattered more than finding a place to rest was quickly understanding the current situation so they could decide their next move.
Because of the Extreme Cold Zone, the culture and economy of the North were completely different from the South. Their currencies also didn’t mix. But gold and silver were always valuable, and since the Holy Empire was the world’s strongest economy, its coins had a high gold content.
Sure enough, feeling the heavy weight in his palm, the guard captain froze for a second, then showed a hint of surprise. He quickly glanced at the coin, slipped it into his pocket without a word, and his expression visibly softened.
“You ladies came from the South? There have been quite a few people like you lately. Is the Extreme Cold Zone really that easy to cross now…?”
“…Well, since you’re foreign guests, I’ll make an exception and tell you.”
Perhaps because the news had already spread widely, the outer gates of Nofenburg were nearly empty. Aside from Violet and her group, only the soldiers were on alert. So the guard captain wasn’t in a hurry to drive them away, and explained casually:
“Calamity Beasts are special creatures that randomly appear in the northern countries. They’re not real animals. They’re formed from ice-element crystals, materials, and even ancient frost that’s built up for millions of years. They are the embers left behind from the Northern Calamity. Normally, it takes countless years for them to form, so while they’re dangerous, they usually stay deep in the endless ice fields of the far north. They don’t just wander into places like ours.”
“But ever since the strange event a few months ago, when the sky cracked and the reflection of another world appeared, the Northern Calamity has slowly begun to awaken again. Calamity Beasts started showing up everywhere, even attacking our fortresses in groups, causing heavy losses.”
“This disaster of Calamity Beasts is not the first in history. All nations began sending armies to hunt them down, and of course the Ice-Sea Principality also joined in. But for some reason, these things became much stronger than the records describe. The Duke’s army suffered several defeats, and in the end had no choice but to retreat into the fortress, relying on the terrain and the magic arrays set up by the [Eternal Winter Temple] to hold out.”
“So that’s how it is… the embers of the Northern Calamity…”
Violet already knew something about the Northern Calamity. Unlike the other three calamities of the four directions, the northern one was very complicated. Even for her, it would be troublesome to handle. The disasters it caused were long-lasting and persistent. It was practically the greatest hidden danger of the northern countries.
Nodding slightly in thought, Violet then looked up at the soldiers’ weapons and armor, and couldn’t help but feel helpless inside.
To repeat: the Ice-Sea Principality was a very small country. From the map, it could almost be called a tiny dot.
Though called a “principality,” it was really just a dozen or so seaside castles built along the largest inland sea of the Origin Realm, the Ice Sea. Their main income came from ships and fishing. The total land area was smaller than even the outer districts of the capital of the Human United Kingdom. The entire population was probably only a few million.
A country this weak and poor could never survive in the South under normal conditions. Only in the North, with its special international system, could it barely exist by clinging to the Ice and Snow Empire. The true strength of its military was easy to imagine, probably even a small army of a few thousand from the Austre Empire could wipe it out.
Violet couldn’t help but wonder, if those Calamity Beasts really came to their gates, what could they use to resist? Or perhaps reinforcements from the [Eternal Winter Temple] or the Ice and Snow Empire were already inside the fortress?
Since she had stumbled into this situation, it would be a pity not to take a closer look. Anyway, there were still no clues about [Yan]’s whereabouts or the last [Key of Three Moons], so finding some amusement for now couldn’t hurt.
Thinking this, Violet once again slipped another Holy Empire coin into the soldier’s hand, gave him a wink, and put on her best pitiful expression.
“Um… big brother, you see, out here in this freezing cold, the three of us weak girls have no guards and no supplies. Right now, we really have nowhere to go. Isn’t there some way we could get into the fortress?”
Perhaps it was her frail, delicate figure that stirred a sense of protection, or maybe it was simply because she had given too much money. The soldier clearly understood her hint. He frowned, thought for a while, and then nodded.
“All right. What you say does make sense. Entering the fortress isn’t completely impossible… To be blunt, the fortress lord only sealed Nofenburg to reduce risks and focus fully on the possible Calamity Beast attack. The more strength he can control, the better.”