The Ice Demon condensed another ice spear in its hand and charged at Scar on horseback.
“Looking for death!”
Scar shoved One-Eye aside and sprinted in the opposite direction to draw the creature’s attention. Longsword in hand, he moved with quick, testing steps. He had been fighting since the day he learned to walk. To still be alive, his combat experience was terrifyingly deep.
Facing the charging Ice Demon, Scar timed it perfectly. He kicked up a spray of snow to blind the horse, then twisted sideways and thrust toward the rider.
The ice spear was nearly twice the length of his sword. He knew he would never reach the Ice Demon before the spear ran him through, so the thrust was only a feint.
The real strike came the instant the Ice Demon believed it had won—Scar slammed his fist into the pommel of his sword, launching the blade forward like a second thrust and closing the distance.
A wet, tearing sound rang out. The longsword pierced straight through the Ice Demon’s heart while the spear tip only grazed Scar’s shoulder.
He had survived countless cavalry charges by turning their own momentum against them. Giving the sword that final burst of speed had let him kill riders before. Once again, he had turned certain death into survival.
The Ice Demon clutched its chest in disbelief and crashed from the saddle.
Tanna froze. She stared at Scar in shock, then looked at him again—this half-orc she had dismissed as little better than an idiot. He had actually outwitted and slain an Ice Demon.
One-Eye and the other half-orcs showed no surprise. They had seen Scar pull off this exact move more than once, saving their lives in the process.
One-Eye ripped a strip of cloth from his ragged pants and bound Scar’s bleeding shoulder.
“You’re different today.”
Scar had never worn that look of iron resolve before. One-Eye had known him since birth. They had been together as long as either could remember. He had only seen that unwavering, unyielding light in Scar’s eyes two or three times in his entire life.
“Didn’t we agree to work with that guy? Betraying the leader is a death sentence.”
Scar gave a small smile, though his hands trembled. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
“I didn’t think the move would actually work on an Ice Demon.”
Tanna stared at the corpse. With her own eyes she watched the embedded longsword slowly being pushed outward as the heart regenerated.
After a moment’s hesitation she sighed. “As your kin, I’m warning you—run. A single sword won’t kill an Ice Demon. It will wake up soon.”
“What?!”
One-Eye whipped around. The sword was already halfway out of the Ice Demon’s chest.
“Move, Scar! We have to go!”
One-Eye hauled Scar to his feet and started dragging him toward North City, but Tanna called out sharply.
“Go south! The Ice Demon can’t stray too far from the northern lands.”
Gan, Wen, and Cui rushed over. The four half-orcs lifted Scar onto their shoulders and sprinted south as Tanna had ordered.
One-Eye glanced back while they ran. “Why are you helping us?”
Tanna looked at the Ice Demon beginning to stir, then shouted, “Take me to the Eastern Plains!”
She rose on tiptoe, peering into the forest, desperate for an answer. The half-orcs’ figures grew smaller and smaller until they vanished among the trees without a word.
Disappointment filled Tanna’s eyes. When the Ice Demon fully revived, she quietly wiped the tears from her face.
The longsword finally slid free. The Ice Demon’s heart beat once more. It rose to its full height and touched the still-healing skin over its chest.
“Half-orcs!”
It seized Tanna by the throat and lifted her into the air, eyes blazing.
“You let them go!”
Tanna choked, struggling. “There were five of them. I couldn’t stop them.”
“I’m going to kill every last one of them and turn them into my corpse slaves forever!”
The Ice Demon hurled her like a spear. She smashed through the wooden fence outside the courtyard and landed in a wreckage of splinters.
Tanna coughed up dark blood, dragged herself free of the debris, and limped back to the Ice Demon.
“My lord, the priority is breaking the Ice Demon clan’s seal. Leon is the King of the North’s eldest son and carries the direct Gares bloodline. He can undo the seal.”
The fury in the Ice Demon’s eyes cooled slightly. It shot Tanna a contemptuous glance.
“Every previous King of the North took a woman from the Gares collateral lines to keep the blood pure. Only this generation married an outsider. Even as the eldest son, Leon’s blood is impure—tainted with the blood of other races.”
Tanna lowered her head and stayed silent. Blood kept trickling from the corner of her mouth.
“The seal must be broken without further delay. I need the King of the North’s blood.”
The Ice Demon walked to Leon’s corpse, grabbed the dead man’s face, and drove its claws into the skin. With a wet rip it tore the entire face away in one piece.
A perfectly preserved human face dangled from its hand.
“The best identity to approach the King of the North’s remains is that of his own blood. As the eldest son, Leon is perfect.”
Tanna had already guessed its plan, yet she still took a half-step back, unable to look at the bloody mask.
“My lord, the World-Ender Witch and God’s spokesperson are both in North City. Impersonating Leon is too risky. They will notice something is wrong.”
A vicious smile spread across the Ice Demon’s face. It sliced open its own cheek with a claw, tore the skin free, and pressed the two faces together. Flesh and magic fused almost instantly.
“This way, unless a god descends in person, no one will be able to tell the difference.”
Tanna’s eyes widened in horror. She shook her head frantically. “I’m a woman. I can’t pretend to be a man.”
The Ice Demon’s expression twisted into something feral. Its tusks gleamed as it snarled.
“Bring me the King of the North’s corpse, the witch’s head, and the head of the one who tricked me tonight. Ten days. If you fail, I will slaughter every last one of your relatives.”
Tanna’s chest heaved. Her eyes darted, unable to settle on any choice.
“I… have no relatives.”
The Ice Demon sneered. “Don’t lie to me. You want to lift the curse so you can go to the Eastern Plains—because your child is waiting there.”
Tanna’s most closely guarded secret had been ripped open. The strength left her legs. She staggered backward as if the ground had vanished beneath her.
“Impossible… I never told anyone. How could you know?”
“Your letters never left the North.”
That single sentence told Tanna everything. Every letter she had written to her child since arriving here had been intercepted.
She stared at the face in the Ice Demon’s hand. For a moment she saw only her child’s face instead. In the end she reached out, took the bloody mask, and pressed it over her own.
In an instant, Leon was “resurrected.”
……
Inside North City, Zhe Zilin galloped through the streets toward the castle.
Fortunately, no one had yet noticed the dead soldier at the gate.
He rode unimpeded all the way to the front courtyard, abandoned the horse, and sprinted up the stairs to the third floor. He pounded on the door.
“Ailia, open up!”
The door creaked open. Ailia looked at him in surprise.
“What’s wrong, Ed?”
Zhe Zilin was breathing hard. He pushed her back into the room, closed the door behind them, and quickly told her everything that had happened outside the city with the Ice Demon.
“You’re the final obstacle to its unsealing. It will do anything to kill you.”
Ailia’s brows drew together.
“God’s spokesperson?”
Of everything he had said, what concerned her most was that Princess Osha was God’s spokesperson.
“Yeah. The Ice Demon wants me to use Osha against you.”
Ailia was quiet for a moment. She began to chant under her breath. Her dark-red robe emitted a faint glow. She lowered her head toward the floor. Within her pupils, the silhouette of a god slowly took shape.
“Lucifer.”