Chapter 450 – Forest of Ice and Snow

When the light subsided—we found ourselves in a section of the Magic Light Water Vein. Before us stood a large door leading to another area.

…The Magic Light Water Vein, huh. Considering this is a branching point from here… I should probably assume it’s a location with considerable difficulty.

Marlene deployed a Magic Circle and summoned Dullahan and Pietro.

The moment Pietro was summoned, he placed his hands on his hips and bowed in response.

“It is an honor to be called upon.”

Marlene nodded. First, since he had been sent back when last night’s ritual concluded, I needed to introduce our group to Pietro.

When I told him everyone’s names and titles, Pietro widened his eyes and bowed toward me.

“So you are my master’s fiancée. I look forward to serving you from now on.”

With Pietro’s name confirmed, I turned back toward the door.

“Well then, shall we go?”

“Yes!”

After exchanging nods with everyone, I opened the door and leaped inside.

The air and scenery had completely transformed. It was a white world. The air was chilly—like stepping into a freezer. Tephra’s Blessing would likely be quite effective, but cold-weather gear would still be essential.

Like the Great Corruption Lake, this was an area without walls, but visibility wasn’t great. The distance was obscured by a white haze, and frozen pillars resembling glacial ice stood everywhere.

Given Tephra’s nature, it gave the impression of a snowy mountain or forested area in a northern country… Lavigne seemed to be in high spirits, wagging her tail.

First—I should use cold-protection magic on those outside Tephra’s Blessing. In our current group, that would be Pietro and Flamia.

“Much obliged,” said Pietro. Flamia also let out a small cry as if expressing thanks. I chuckled lightly and nodded in response.

“Snow…? No… it’s frozen?”

Sheila murmured and checked the condition underfoot.

“Indeed… the footing isn’t great.”

The ground looked like it was covered in snow, but in reality, it was completely solid ice, like perennial snow.

Meanwhile, where the snow had melted and the ground was exposed, it formed what resembled a path. The path continued deeper into the glacial forest. Unless you could travel through the air like us, you’d probably have to weave between the glacial pillars and follow the melted areas. The Transference Stones also seemed to be scattered along the path rather than on the icy surface.

We could choose to ignore the path, but fighting on the icy surface would normally force quite a struggle. The path’s width near the entrance was decent… meaning it was about average, but… since there were no walls and we could use the space freely, that gave Ignis, Dullahan, and Corulis enough room to maneuver.

“We need to investigate the general danger level. This time, let’s proceed by following the path normally.”

If we tried advancing through the sky instead, there’d probably be considerable risks too.

We formed a party formation, placing Sheila, Irmhild, and me at the front as we advanced between the glacial pillars. Flamia and Pietro also had large ears and, true to form, seemed sensitive to sounds. This time, I’d have them take the front and observe their combat skills as we progressed.

“That… might be something to watch out for. It seems quite high-temperature,” Irmhild said, pointing at something glimpsed between the glacial pillars before we’d gotten far.

There were areas where the ice had melted, revealing what looked more like rock surface than ground. Steam was billowing from there… This probably meant it had hot spring properties too. In that case…

“…Could you all wait here for a moment? I’m going to check something out.”

I had everyone stay back while I detoured to approach the exposed rock area.

My monocle was detecting strange magical power near the base of the steam. The moment I stepped forward, a column of boiling water erupted from the rocky area with tremendous force.

A geyser. A massive column of scalding water shot up far higher than the glacial pillars, showering the surroundings. I deployed a Shield overhead to defend against the falling hot water while focusing on the white column.

“—There!”

A magical reaction. I channeled magical power into Ouroboros and deployed another Shield in front. I charged straight in, ignoring everything as I unleashed a sweeping strike toward the magical reaction visible within the water column.

The sensation was like thrusting my staff into soft mud. But the sound that echoed was like shattering rock, and the monster whose body had been severed was sent flying with enough force to embed into the glacial pillars, shattering into pieces. The excess shockwave swept through the glacial pillars behind, breaking several of them together and shattering the frozen ground.

“My, my. That was quite something…” Auria said with wide eyes.

…Considering the size of the monster’s magical power visible through the monocle, it was a somewhat powerful strike, but this showed sufficient power and magical amplification speed. It felt like it accurately gauged how much power to use.

The erupting water gradually lost force, eventually becoming just a pool of hot water.

If the labyrinth’s new area had hot spring properties… I had considered the possibility of geysers existing as labyrinth traps. But the timing of the eruption was too perfect.

Anyway, it seemed to be a trap that functioned together with a monster that served to block the geyser. And that was this thing. A snake with a stone-like texture… or rather, an earthworm.

If we disliked the icy surface and traveled through the air using Levitation, we might get doused with hot water from this thing.

After confirming there were no other monsters nearby, I had everyone take a look.

“An unknown monster. I wonder what it is…” Rosemary tilted her head.

“I don’t know its name either… this one,” I said.

A monster that blocks geysers… seems rather specialized or too limited in existence.

Places like the Blazing Fortress have many armored soldiers, but those are magical creatures. Perhaps this stone monster might also be a magical creature generated specifically for this location.

Meanwhile, Corulis was intently sniffing the monster’s scent.

“Can you eat it?”

When I asked, it nodded firmly. It didn’t seem to have any poison… I nodded toward Princess Stephania, who should be watching the situation through the Five Senses Link, and perhaps receiving her permission, Corulis began trial-eating the stone monster with crunching sounds.

“Is it delicious?”

In response to Ashley’s question, Corulis nodded repeatedly. Apparently, it liked it.

That meant if we extracted magic stones or something similar, we might get reasonably good quality items.

“…I don’t know if it has an official name or not, but maybe I’ll call it a Spring Worm.”

Watching it get eaten by Corulis, it looked more like an earthworm than a snake.

But it was a scene that should be perfectly ordinary when described as a mole eating an earthworm, yet it somehow looked utterly absurd.

“Quite troublesome, this trap,” someone remarked.

“Yeah. Depending on cold-weather gear, a direct hit could cause burns, and if clothes get wet, body heat would be stolen while exploring this area.”

On the other hand, if we could handle the worm, we could warm chilled hands and feet… and depending on the situation, maybe secure drinking water too. Bathing within the labyrinth would be difficult as long as monsters keep attacking but… well, I wouldn’t say it’s impossible.

Finding the geyser locations isn’t difficult, so it’s more of a first-encounter killer type. I should report it as requiring caution.

Then—Sheila, Pietro, Lavigne, Corulis, and Flamia all simultaneously looked up and gazed in one direction.

“It’s still far away but… something’s there.”

“This… seems to be quite a number of them,” Pietro noted.

Other monsters of this floor? If they’re detected by Sheila and the others but not by Irmhild’s detection… I think they probably sensed smell or sound… Judging by how Sheila’s ears were moving, they must have detected sounds emitted by monsters.

“Direction?”

“Over there.”

Saying this, Sheila pointed further down the path.

Since this is an investigation, we need to examine the monsters that appear too. Having numbers makes it troublesome though. We formed our party formation again and headed that way.

Beyond a gently curving path—something white came hopping toward us from behind the glacial pillars.

“…Snow Golems.”

I’ve made them before too… essentially, they’re moving snowmen.

Snow Golems about the height of an adult came en masse from beyond the path. When the Snow Golems spotted us, they formed smiles on their mouths. A design featuring jagged, scribble-like fangs. Though it looked like a joke, they had rather menacing faces.

Further down the path—from behind the glacial pillars, a large shadow slowly emerged. A muscular body visible even through white fur, carrying a massive club. Red eyes peering through gaps in long hair. …A Yeti. And mates—two of them. When they spotted us, they let out joyful roars. The air vibrated intensely. Responding to this, the glacial forest grew noisy. Monsters everywhere seemed to be answering the call.

“My, my. Quite the numbers.”

Pietro showed no sign of fear at the sight, shaking his head as he plucked a tuft of hair from around his shoulder and blew on it. It rapidly swelled, creating an identical copy of Pietro with the exact same appearance and equipment. Well, the one without the hat ornament must be the clone. When Pietro drew the sword at his waist, the clones simultaneously unsheathed their weapons and formed ranks.

This is quite impressive. Though more monsters seem to be coming, we shouldn’t be at a numerical disadvantage. Flamia, who had surrounded herself with countless fox fires, was also staring down the Snow Golems and Yetis while emitting aggressive growls.

Corulis also seemed fully motivated. It enveloped itself in crystalline armor while emitting creaking sounds around its body.

“I’ll take one of them—” said Grace.

She already seemed to have targeted the female Yeti—the larger one.

In that case—I’ll position myself to provide support while observing the combat skills of our new members. Well then, let the battle begin.