Chapter 18: You can tell just by looking at the eyes.

“Troublesome antics.”

Grace clicked her tongue irritably at the sudden appearance of the icy storm in front of her. There was no reason for a blizzard to appear over a perfectly fine lake, so it was clearly Silver Sabertus’s magic.

With a storm that size, Elaine, who was close to it, was in danger.

‘As much as I’d like to blow this ice storm away in one go…’

She had already tried to deal with the cold, but no physical damage had been done. Even when she tried to cut through the water with a sword, any gaps would immediately be filled.

She’d have to wipe it out entirely if she wanted to do anything, but doing that would endanger the lake’s bottom.

If there were a powerful mage here, they might be able to find a way to counter the cold gust, but sadly, such conveniences didn’t exist.

“I suppose I should take a break for a day.”

Grace sighed and repositioned her sword.

If she couldn’t dispel the cold from the outside, there was only one way left.

She had to go in and destroy that sabertooth inside herself.

Just as she prepared to break through the cold with her body, Luke approached her.

“Lady Grace! Please wait for a moment!”

“Do you have any ideas?”

Given the urgent situation, she had no time to delay, but somehow, Grace felt that listening to Luke’s opinion, even for a brief moment, might be beneficial.

Luke, who shared her desire to save Elaine, must feel the same way, but the fact that he stopped her made her pause.

And then, what Luke said was even more significant than the doubts Grace had.

“I’ll go in there.”

“What?”

Grace blinked in surprise, but Luke continued without stopping.

“That intense cold. It wasn’t just created by Silver Sabertus’s magic.”

“…Tell me more.”

“The unusual chill that can be felt from this crystal lake. The dense magical energy that draws other monsters, even though a high-ranked monster has established its territory. There’s definitely something here. Silver Sabertus is using that.”

It was a conjecture with no solid proof, but Grace felt that Luke’s words were right.

She had already thought it was strange. Even though she could scratch it with the Lion’s Sword, it quickly healed, and the ice’s surface was thick enough for armies to fight on. No matter how cold the North was, it was too extraordinary to be a natural phenomenon.

She had thought that monsters gathered there due to their tendency to follow places with dense magical energy. But now that she heard it like this, it didn’t sit well with her.

“I agree that there’s something with power in the crystal lake, but why would you go in there instead of me?”

“As you know, I can control the power of fire. Fire is the opposite of cold. I could deal a fatal blow to Silver Sabertus, who uses ice magic.”

Grace knew that Luke could wield the power of fire. She had heard him mention it during their last vacation at Milky Way, so it wasn’t surprising.

“But you can handle the cold enough to wield that fire?”

Grace had no knowledge that Luke had such a strong command of fire. To deal with that cold, she would need a highly-ranked mage. Otherwise, it would require a knight skilled in both swordsmanship and magic—a master swordsman.

Luke was neither a mage nor a knight, just a newly recruited guard. Though he had shown remarkable growth, he wasn’t yet at the level to stand shoulder to shoulder with those experts.

“Yes, the way I said earlier. That’s the method to deal a real blow.”

“Ah.”

Now that she thought about it, he had mentioned it before the battle.

Whether it would still apply now, with the storm having transformed into the gust, she wasn’t sure, but seeing the confidence in Luke’s eyes, Grace gave a slight nod.

“As I said earlier, you have a talent for making people expect something from you.”

Then, she turned her attention back to the storm.

“I’ll leave it to you, Luke. I’ll break through the wall with my sword wind once, so use that time to get in.”

“Yes!”

Luke lowered his posture and was ready to charge.

“Go!”

At Grace’s signal, Luke shot forward with incredible speed toward the wall of the storm.

Grace silently watched his back for a while.

“Heh.”

After a short laugh, she tightened her grip on the sword’s hilt.

She created a large opening that the overly confident soldier could enter.

She controlled her power, ensuring not to break the floor beneath her.

Although it was a bit of a hassle, it wasn’t a task too difficult compared to what the man would face from now on.

“Alright, here I go.”

As the sword gathered mana, Grace unleashed a blast of sword energy towards the cold wind.

Lion’s Sword, Roar of the King.

She struck with the broadest and most powerful sword energy possible, aiming for the largest area!

Szzzzzzz!

The massive sword energy caused the ice floor around her to crack loudly, but Grace stood unmoved, her gaze fixed ahead.

KWA-AAAAA!

The sword energy surged forward like a lion with its mane flaring, crashing into the wall of the storm.

KWA-ANG!

The sword energy broke through the storm’s wall, forcibly opening a gap.

Luke leaped forward and entered the gap with force. As soon as he did, a new cold wave rushed in, sealing the gap once again.

“Show me.”

Grace sent a small word of encouragement towards those beyond the storm’s wall, hoping they would meet her expectations.

At the same time, she remained ready to enter at any moment.

It was fine if her subordinates exceeded her expectations, but the most important thing was not losing her precious subordinates.

‘Alright, he’s in!’

The key was how to get inside through this blizzard, but with Grace’s help, the problem was solved.

As expected of Grace, just like her character from <Brave Road>.

There was speculation that if Grace had intervened in every situation during the northern episode, most of the problems would have been resolved early on.

However, had that happened, Grace would have been criticized as a character that ruined the tension of the story and broke the balance.

The reason Grace didn’t receive such criticism despite her formidable abilities and overwhelming action.

It was because she wasn’t a solitary, self-centered character. At times, she knew when to take a supporting role for the growth of her companions and when to step back and allow more capable people to handle important situations.

Of course, she didn’t do this for just anyone.

It was for those she cared about or those she had hope for, like Aran, the protagonist of <Brave Road>.

Understanding this, I declared my intention to help Elaine, and Grace, who had placed her trust in me, accepted it.

It was surprising that she didn’t ask for details, but maybe the urgency of the situation made her not have time to ask.

Anyway, thanks to Grace, I passed the biggest hurdle easily and, as soon as I entered, I checked my surroundings.

‘This wasn’t shown in the novel, but it probably proceeded like this.’

Due to the icy floor, Grace was restricted in fully utilizing her power, so Elaine took the main offensive role.

Silver Sabertus, who was cornered by the best northern duo, would use the power of Ice Spirit.

In the novel, Silver Sabertus was defeated, and both survived.

It was clear that Silver Sabertus would lose, Grace would find a way to attack him, and Elaine would escape the crisis.

However.

There was no way nothing would happen in the process of defeating Silver Sabertus, who even used the power of the Ice Spirit.

The reason Elaine’s role was limited to an extra in the novel.

Realistically calculating, the chance that Elaine would come out of this without a scratch was slim.

Given her personality, when a crisis came, she wouldn’t avoid it and would engage in a trade of blows, which could have resulted in an unexpected injury.

I didn’t know when I became so familiar with Elaine, but…

‘I found it!’

As expected, Elaine was preparing to engage with the incoming Silver Sabertus in a trade of blows.

Judging by her stance, it was the Ice Slash technique, ‘Blizzard.’

By preparing the most destructive technique, it seemed she intended to break the creature’s main weapon, its fangs, even if she had to take a hit.

“Heh, that won’t do!”

If Elaine had taken an injury with aftereffects, it was highly likely because of this exchange.

In this trade of blows, she might have broken the fangs, but was caught in the cold wave, or maybe her fangs were only partially broken, and she got injured somewhere in the process.

Although I didn’t know the full details of the technique, the pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly.

While I was watching, my eyes were wide open.

Would I allow that?

‘Only I can leave fang marks on that body. You damned cat!’

I don’t have a preference for biting during intimate moments, but if I’m not going to do it, no one else should either.

The moment I spotted Silver Sabertus, I gathered all my strength and leapt as high as I could.

That’s when I felt a slight discomfort in my legs.

“?!”

My body… felt light.

To master Ice Slash, I had been strengthening my lower body every day, building muscle and getting better at moving my legs.

‘Is it thanks to this guy?’

The hidden card I’d been holding onto since earlier.

The reason I was confident I could deliver a powerful blow to Silver Sabertus despite my shortcomings in fighting level 1 monsters.

The obsidian and tempered steel daggers were glowing bright red.

The air around me shimmered from the heat radiating from them.

I had been manipulating the heat to show the terrifying monster the taste of fire, and somehow, the wild magic had also flowed into my legs.

‘Alright, this height should be enough!’

As the perfect angle to target Silver Sabertus’ face was set, I gave Elaine, who was still stunned, a signal to step back.

“000”

I drew on all my power, even pulling up the last sliver of my will from the depths of my soul.

It was easy to enter thanks to Grace, but once I was inside, the cold wave that struck my body made me dizzy.

I didn’t yet have the technique to manipulate mana to enhance my entire body.

Even if I did, I was too busy pouring mana into the dagger to have any left.

Thankfully, I was able to maintain my body temperature thanks to the salamander scales I wore.

“YAAAAAH!”

I suddenly realized why the protagonists in manga always shout out when they make a surprise attack.

It wasn’t because they were stupid, but because they were pushing their muscles to the limit, enduring the pain to put all their strength into it.

It was like a form of encouragement to myself.

In response to that encouragement, I threw myself into the attack with everything I had.

Whooooosh!

I drove my dagger deep into the icy face of the Silver Sabertus.

“RAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

A deafening scream rang out right next to me, but this wasn’t the time to worry about covering my ears.

“Now!”

I should have ended it by saying “finish it,” but I didn’t have the strength to speak.

Still, there was no problem.

As always, when a man and a woman become deeply connected, it seems they’ve inscribed a kind of magic for communication within their bodies. From then on, just a glance would be enough to roughly understand each other’s intentions.

As soon as I gave the signal, Illane swung her sword and delivered a huge blow to Silver Sabertus.

My dagger was made of two special minerals: obsidian, which resonated with magic, and the strongest metal in the world, Hancheol.

I had also infused it with heat manipulation, making it into a massive brand.

And that brutal weapon was buried deep in the ice-formed face.

How painful and hot must it have been?

Fire and ice are opposites, but when they fight, fire always wins.

As the pain from the searing dagger weakened Silver Sabertus’s strength, Illane’s signature sword strike followed.

The overwhelming synergy of that hit made Silver Sabertus lose his magic and crash to the ground.

‘It’s done.’

Illane wasn’t bitten by the dire wolf’s teeth. And both of its fangs were preserved.

With the magic undone, the pumpkin carriage and glass slippers disappeared as well. Grace would take care of the rest.

‘You said you had a way to land one blow, and you really only needed one.’

Well, it worked out well.

However, I was exhausted from exerting all my strength and didn’t have the energy to land safely.

As I thought about how much it would hurt to fall on the ice, I suddenly felt a soft impact.

“Huh?”

I didn’t fall onto the ice.

Someone caught me in their arms as I dropped.

And of course, that someone was…

“Do you know? This is a performance often done at weddings.”

“Is that so? I thought it was a kind of first aid.”

“Well, in the end, it’s the same meaning—carrying someone in your arms.”

Illane, carrying me in the “princess carry” style (officially called “one-person carry transport”), didn’t let me down even after I was safely on the ground. She kept holding me.

Eventually, I asked first.

“Umm… it might be embarrassing if others see, could you let me down?”

“……”

“Captain?”

“I told you, this is a form of first aid. I’m carrying the injured person. And…”

Illane looked around.

As Silver Sabertus fell, the magic broke, and the cold winds were gradually dying down.

“Thank you.”

“Huh?”

“If you hadn’t stepped in there, I would’ve allowed a blow and probably only barely broke one of its fangs. But thanks to the opportunity you gave me, I was able to defeat him.”

Illane, who always maintained a stern expression during missions, stared at me for a moment.

“Truly, you are the man I respect. You’re impressive.”

She said with a faint smile.

Receiving that smile while being carried like this made me feel both embarrassed and happy. Most of all, my heart raced, and I tried to look away…

‘No, if I don’t look at this now, I might never see this smile again in my life.’

I steeled myself to look her in the eyes, reminding myself not to lose this precious moment because of shyness.

It was truly the right choice.

There wasn’t any real romantic affection between us. No physical touch or whispers.

We just exchanged looks.

But even so, until Illane set me down after the wind had completely disappeared, we shared a deep connection, just like that night when we first bonded.