Duchess Rose
The leader of the Arctic Tribe who had appeared in front of Leylin was an impressive double-headed creature. Not only that, its body shared characteristics unique to both the frost giants and snow fairies.
A blue radiance flashed in Leylin’s eyes for a moment, unbeknownst to the leader opposite him. A three-dimensional hologram formed in Leylin’s mind, projecting information on this creature.
It was almost three metres tall and had a sturdy yet well-proportioned body, a pair of beautiful translucent wings on its back. What was special was that above its shoulder were two heads, one of a frost giant and another of a snow fairy. They both looked somewhat aged.
The A.I. Chip displayed the rest of the statistics at lightning speed.
[Arctic Tribe (fully grown, unnamed) Strength: 55.7, Agility: 41.9, Vitality: 40.1, Spiritual Force: 261.2, Magic Power: 261. Innate skills:
1) Twins: A fully grown member of the Arctic Tribe integrates the features of both the frost giant and the snow fairy. It has two hearts and two sets of body organs, and thus they two lives. They can recover from any attack that does not completely devastate the body, and also make up for a deficiency in vitality in their other halves.
2) Frost Skin: The Arctic Tribe’s skin has extremely high resistance to icy radiation, and will even cause the natural formation of a spell rune, which is an important material in the manufacture of certain frost magic weapons.
3) Frost Affinity: The Arctic Tribe possesses an affinity for ice that surpasses that of the snow fairy, and has the ability to produce innate ice spells following advancements in rank.
4) Ice Tornado: The rich ice energy particles provide extremely strong defence for the Arctic Tribe. They automatically generate an ice tornado for protection, that has a similar effect to the Magi’s Defiant Ring of Flame.]
‘These stats show that the members of the Arctic Tribe are an amalgamation of the snow fairy and frost giant, completely inheriting the advantages of both. It’s quite strong for a rank 3.’ Leylin’s pupils glowed.
“Hehe… Does our guest find our tribe’s form very astonishing?” Yamos Andre discovered Leylin’s amazement and started to explain to him, “During infancy, a member of our tribe has two different forms. Only upon reaching adulthood and finding their other half will they conduct the Arctic Blessing Ceremony, after which they join together as one body and become a true member of the Arctic Tribe!”
The one who explained was the head belonging to a snow fairy, its voice was similar to a female’s.
“Oh, my apologies!” Leylin hurriedly waved his hands. Peeking into another party’s private affairs was considered disrespectful no matter which world one was in. “I was just curious for a moment!”
“Haha… Our Arctic Tribe members appear somewhat odd indeed. Even the other creatures in the Icy World were surprised when they first saw us, so it’s understandable for a guest to feel this way…” The speaker this time was the frost giant head. His voice seemed to be filled with a bold, heroic air.
“Since you are a visitor from far away, we would like to invite you to rest in our village…” The double-headed chief of the tribe, Yamos Andre, invited him in cordially.
At this moment, the low-pitched sound of a bugle horn sounded from the lookout post, following the trembling voice of a frost giant. “Chi… Chief! Ice troops have been discovered headed our way!”
“What?” Both of Yamos’ heads cried out together involuntarily. The frost horsemen on the sides even started to fall back one after another, incessant dread written across their faces.
“Why would they come here? Is it because of you?” Doubtful gazes instantly focused on Leylin.
“Oh? I didn’t expect that the Morning Star here holds a decent amount of power!” Leylin stroked his chin. He didn’t say it directly, but he’d already admitted it with his words, and there was no more room for doubt.
“We do not welcome you here. Please leave immediately. Do not bring disaster to our tribe!” Yamos immediately became hostile, and the frost horsemen lifted the spears in their hands, angling the points towards Leylin. It seemed like they were ready to attack him at a moment’s command.
“May I know who’s coming?” Leylin seemed as if he did not care about the Arctic Tribe’s attacking stance, and instead asked a question while engrossed in thought.
“You’ve already provoked the Arctic Queen, and you still pretend to be unaware?” The female head of Yamos seemed furious, already about to break down.
“The Arctic Queen is the dictator here, and the source of all fear. She is the root cause of all calamity and suffering, and everyone who is related to her will suffer from a curse…” The female head muttered a few words. Leylin was not sure if it was a prophecy or an ancient expression, but it was eminent that its dread towards the Arctic Queen was present.
“The Arctic Queen?” Leylin stroked his chin, “I’m actually interested in meeting her…”
“Foreigner, leave at once! Do not bring disaster to our village!” The female head of Yamos screeched once more, an ice element storm already formed on her hand.
*Thump! Thump! Thump!* The tightly packed sounds of many footsteps sounded, and another frost giant sighed. “Yamos, it’s too late!”
As their chief sighed, the guards from the castle had already surrounded the place under the lead of someone mounted on a huge horse.
The cavalry riding the arctic horse was covered in a set of heavy blue armour from head to toe, and in their hand was a large translucent sword that was burning with ice-cold flames.
Two balls of pale soul fires lit up from within their mask, first scanning coldly across Yamos and the rest of the Arctic Tribe, then focusing all of the attention on Leylin.
“Noble Arctic Knight, Duchess Rose! You are the most dazzling star in the Icy World; even the most beautiful snowflake is not comparable to your beauty!” Leylin was rendered speechless as he saw the members of the Arctic Tribe all crouch on the ground, loudly praising the Arctic Knight. This made him roll his eyes.
‘They really speak without thinking. This is a creature who even revealed its soul fire! Perhaps under her mask is nothing but a human skeleton. You’re seeking your own death…’ However, much to Leylin’s surprise, the Arctic Knight appeared to enjoy their praise. “All of you have committed a crime! You actually dared to interact with this criminal here. But seeing that you did not let him enter the hill village, I will spare you this time…”
The Arctic Knight brandished her huge sword, but did not take further action.
“Ah! Duchess Rose, our lord! Your benevolence is just as boundless as all the oceans in the universe…” Sparkling teardrops flowed out of both of Yamos Andre’s heads, forming something similar to a glass ball before falling to the ground. It made a crisp sound.
Hearing their response, Leylin felt goosebumps rise all over his body.
“As for you, foreigner, return with me to the castle! The Arctic Queen wishes to see you!”
*Swish!* The many giant guards turned their spears towards Leylin.
With their physique and their resistance towards the cold, an average rank 3 Magus would be unable to handle the all-round attack of this small team.
But Leylin didn’t seem to mind a single bit, and even asked with interest, “Was it that empress’ order to capture me?”
“It was General Arwen’s command. But his word is the same as that of the empress.” The Arctic Knight clearly did not wish to speak much to Leylin. She straddled her giant horse and was about to escort Leylin away.
“Then… Did he tell you that you have to be careful and immediately send out a signal once you see me, particularly that you should not confront me alone?” Leylin laughed lightly, which gave Duchess Rose a bad feeling.
“Be careful…” Almost the moment these words left her mouth, a few black sparks appeared on the bodies of the surrounding troops.
*Boom!* More than ten black columns of flames burst out in human form. The guards who had an even stronger physique than frost giants were burnt to ashes without a chance to resist.
“You citizens are to blame!” Duchess Rose roared, and the huge ice horse that she was on suddenly leapt up. The Duchess on the horse’s back brandished the gigantic translucent sword in her hand. The flames on the sword rose suddenly and ruthlessly came down upon Leylin.
*Ting!* The huge sword with terrifying strength that had advanced without fear was stopped by a single finger, unable to budge an inch.
“If we were to use the Magus World’s classification, you’re at least a Crystal Phase Magus, and you even cultivate pure physical strength. It’s quite a rare thing to see, but it’s such a pity that all that’s useless…” Leylin seemed to sigh as his finger slashed out.
A crescent of light hummed as it pierced through the Arctic Knight’s armour, forming a humongous slit. Her body was flung backwards as fast as an incoming train, leaving a deep gutter trail in the solid ice, which extended far into the distance.
Even the huge arctic horse she’d ridden was smashed and shattered by the tremendous force, splintering apart into a heap of sparkling fragments.
“……”
“…”
Silence. The entire scene had fallen into a deathly silence. Yamos Andre found it hard to even swallow his saliva. He looked at Leylin, unable to believe his eyes.
‘Almighty Arctic Queen, what did I just see?’ The Duchess Rose who had been renowned for her strength, the Arctic Knight who struck fear into the hearts of all the denizens of the world of ice, was defeated by this mysterious Magus with just a single finger?
It was not just Yamos Andre. The other frost giants and snow fairies had lifeless looks on their faces as well. They felt like they were hallucinating.
“So? Do you still welcome me now?” Leylin turned and smiled at Yamos Andre. Yet, to Yamos it seemed like the smile of a demon.
A few timid snow fairies were so intimidated that they hid behind the frost giants, as though Leylin was some ancient fearsome creature.
“Of… Of course!” The frost giant head of Yamos nodded, “Please forgive my rude behaviour earlier. Respected lord, you are the saviour of the world of ice, our new master!”
Leylin rolled his eyes, dumbfounded. The Arctic Tribe was completely hopeless when it came to morals.