Book 1 Chapter 754

754.

Lord of Death, Hell Kaiser, gazed upon the Land of Death.

It was a place where ordinary life could not exist, a land he ruled.

The most horrific place on earth, the Land of Death.

The land ruled by Hell Kaiser was still the Land of Death.

However, it was not a land filled with the usual spirits of the dead and the lingering resentments of the undead.

Currently, the Land of Death had become uninhabitable for living beings in a different sense.

The Lord of Death, his crimson eyes flashing, looked out at the frozen ground.

*Crack-*.

As he moved, shards of ice fell from him.

It was the Erebos Shard… no, the fight with the ancient evil god that seemed to have no end.

The Lord of Death, using the power of the Erebos Shard, had failed to re-ingest the forgotten ancient evil god.

Of course, the ancient evil god had also failed.

"My Lord of Death."

Archduke of Dirge, Artkahn, appeared beside Hell Kaiser.

Artkahn, who usually showed no emotion, had a look of deep concern on his face.

"What was that?"

Even Artkahn, who had existed since before the Age of Calamity, could not have imagined such a bizarre event.

Ice against the inextinguishable flames of disaster that burned everything.

Furthermore, it was undeniably a fragment of a god that had attacked the Lord of Death.

If the Lord of Death had not been able to defend against it using the Erebos Shard.

His legion would have been annihilated.

"Nyx… a being who desires eternal unchangingness."

"Nyx?"

"Yes. You wouldn't know the name. And it's not just you."

The Lord of Death said it as if it were nothing.

"Even my annihilated brethren didn't know of such a being."

A being unknown even to the legion commanders of 5,000 years ago.

Only the Lord of Death, Erebos's most trusted subordinate and oldest commander, knew of this being.

"Who is this Nyx?"

"An ancient, forgotten evil god."

"An ancient… god?"

"Yes. One of the many evil gods consumed by the gods in the distant past."

Artkahn's expression showed surprise at this unheard-of tale.

The Lord of Death smirked.

"Just as the Great Flames of Disaster dreamed of this world burning to ashes without a trace, Nyx also had a wish."

"What was that wish?"

"A world that would be eternally immutable."

"…Their ideology is completely different from ours."

"In broad strokes, it's the same."

"You say it's the same…?"

"Because Nyx desired eternal unchangingness."

Everything in the world is bound to change as long as it is subject to time.

But Nyx did not want that.

"Nyx dreamed of a world where everything froze and stopped forever."

That was another form of destruction.

Upon hearing Hell Kaiser's words, Artkahn's face contorted with disgust.

"A worthless world where everything has died."

"Yes."

The Lord of Death, Hell Kaiser, was a demon who commanded death.

His trusted subordinate, Artkahn, was the same.

However, they were merely beings who defied and insulted the truth of death.

They were not death itself.

A world frozen eternally, becoming death itself.

For those who believed in the Flames of Disaster, which dreamed of destruction leaving nothing but ashes, there was nothing more abhorrent.

It was not beautiful.

Archduke of Dirge, Artkahn, sincerely thought so.

The broad strokes of desiring destruction were the same.

But the methods were polar opposites.

Artkahn realized that for them, the Ice of Death, Nyx, was a being they could never understand or walk the same path with.

"Is the resurrection of such a being… not dangerous?"

Tartarus had lost its god.

In such a situation, another ancient evil god had been resurrected.

Their lord, the Lord of Death, certainly possessed a fragment of the god and could unleash its power.

However, it was still true that Tartarus was without a god.

On the other hand, Nyx had been resurrected.

"Does Nyx also have followers?"

"Yes. Followers imprisoned in the underworld in the distant past."

The Lord of Death said in a relaxed tone.

"…Will that be alright?"

If Nyx were to gain a host as formidable as Tartarus.

Could Tartarus really stop them?

Unlike themselves, Nyx would undoubtedly grow stronger with time since their resurrection.

"What are you worried about?"

"What?"

"Are there not two others more urgent than us?"

Hell Kaiser smiled slyly.

"The surviving hero and the fool."

At those words, Artkahn gasped.

"The reason the gods oppose Nyx is merely a difference of opinion on whose method of destruction the world should meet."

Of course, he had no intention of yielding.

"But to them, it's the same. They are in a position to prevent destruction."

Hell Kaiser began to walk.

He said as he returned to his castle.

"Whoever wins will suffer great damage. If so, we can gain an advantage."

It didn't matter even if Nyx were defeated.

Nyx had awakened as a completely separate being, not as a fragment of Erebos.

It was more beneficial for Tartarus if they caused great damage to the world and disappeared rather than confronting them.

"This will be worth watching."

Hell Kaiser chuckled sinisterly.

No matter the outcome, the Ice of Death, Nyx, would taste hell.

'Those who are seasoned in hunting gods and demons.'

Recalling the hateful great heroes, Lord of Death, Hell Kaiser, returned to his castle.

***

It began to snow in Debian.

Following the mediation of Lumern and Seirun, the civil war entered a temporary ceasefire.

The Second Prince, who had falsely drawn Seirun into the conflict, suffered a loss of prestige externally.

In the first place, involving an outside force in a civil war was an act that should be condemned.

Even if it was Seirun, who had no interest in gains or losses.

Of course, this did not improve the situation of the First Princess's faction.

The reason was simple.

They had angered Elena, the Queen of Lumern.

Elena was already famous for being a dissolute woman.

Yet, she had committed an act of disrespect towards Leoge, who could be considered the representative of Lumern.

Lumern was the focal point of the human race.

Once a diplomatic faux pas was committed against the representative of Lumern.

It was impossible to look upon them favorably externally.

Especially since Leo had not taken a single life from the Second Prince's faction's soldiers, he was being praised within Debian.

While their own royalty and nobles were pushing them towards the battlefield, a young and famous hero from within protected them.

The people of Debian could only cheer for Leo.

In the capital, Deang, the First Princess and the Second Prince, each leading their trusted followers, were present.

They were there to prepare a mediation plan for the end of the civil war.

With the immediate crisis averted, Debian gradually began to regain stability.

The most urgent problem in Debian was not anything else but the cold wave.

And ironically, those suffering the most from the cold wave were.

"Achoo!"

Students from Lumern and Seirun, more than anyone else.

Celilia sneezed while in a hot spring.

It was a very rare sight for Celilia, who was always meticulous and a perfect honor student.

After all, Celilia had always managed her condition perfectly.

Her creed was to show no flaws in front of others, as she pursued perfection as an honor student.

Not only did Celilia sneeze, but she was also hugging herself and shivering.

It was only natural.

The hot spring Celilia was currently in was filled with icy cold water, devoid of any warmth.

Even ice was floating in it.

The hot spring had frozen over, but they had forcibly broken through the ice to enter.

*Bubbling, bubbling.*

Then, bubbles began to rise next to Celilia.

*Splash-*.

Along with that, Lunia, an elf with red hair, appeared.

Lunia, like Celilia, was also shivering in the cold, icy water.

Soon, they hugged each other tightly, trying to feel even a little warmth.

Lisinass, the one who had created this icy hell, smiled as he watched them.

"No. The purpose of this training is to feel absolutely no warmth."

At his words, Lunia and Celilia separated with pained expressions.

The reason the two were suffering in the icy water amidst the severe cold was simple.

They both used the power of the Phoenix.

And Lisinass was the last sworn ally of the Phoenix King.

To further grow these two, Lisinass had prepared special training.

Of course, they were not the only ones receiving training.

All the students from Lumern and Seirun who had come were targets of the training.

"Speaking of which."

Lisinass, watching the two struggling against the extreme cold, furrowed his brow and stared intently at Celilia and Lunia's attire.

"Swimsuits, huh."

Lisinass grumbled with displeasure.

"What kind of scandalous clothing is this? Aren't you ashamed to stand in front of others wearing such clothes?"

At Lisinass's criticism, Celilia and Lunia looked flustered.

"What?"

"I've never really thought about it like that…"

"I can't understand today's children at all. Aren't you too open-minded? Is this really okay?"

Celilia thought as she watched Lisinass, who had his arms crossed and a serious expression.

'If he saw a bikini at the beach, he'd probably faint completely.'

Of course, Celilia also felt embarrassed to wear the swimsuit.

However, there were quite a few people who wore them without hesitation depending on their culture.

Meanwhile, Lunia recalled what Luna had told her before.

'Lisinass? He's a total old fart. An old fart. He'd lecture me about elven etiquette this and that. Blah blah. Ugh. If someone saw him, you'd think he was the elf, not me!'

Lunia shivered, recalling Luna's words.

'Sometimes Leo feels like an old fart too…'

But it seemed he was no match for Lisinass.

As she was thinking this, Lunia realized that Lisinass was staring at them intently.

"Celilia… doesn't it look like he wants us to go in again?"

"…Yeah."

Lunia and Celilia had been repeatedly entering and exiting the icy water without using even a little mana.

And with that, their training for the day was supposed to be over.

It was training to make their mana react more easily to even small flames, as they normally used powerful flames.

And it was also training to strengthen their mental fortitude.

However, it seemed the King of Wisdom was not satisfied.

The two closed their eyes tightly and dove back into the icy water.

Seeing that, Lisinass was momentarily taken aback.

'Wait, why are they going in again?'

Even though they could rest now, the two girls were overflowing with enthusiasm.

Lisinass did not realize that it was a misunderstanding caused by him staring at them intently.

He was simply lost in other thoughts.

'If wearing such clothes isn't a big problem… then it means I can wear them in front of Kyle, right?'

Lisinass fell into deep thought.

He had indeed appeared naked when he had obtained a physical body before, but that was an accident.

'If I wear these clothes, will that idiot's gaze towards me change a little?'