[NECRO] Chapter 6 – Wolf Crossing The Northern Mountains

〘Are you saying to wait?〙

At my words, Skalma let out a puzzled voice.
I answered calmly to him who acted as if he hadn’t thought at all.

“If the leader of the immigrants is the one I know, Darius won’t be able to hold on for long and will come down the ridge and start another gold siege in downtown Northweden.”

〘But if that happens, the safety of the citizens—–〙

“We can’t afford to care.”

If we can’t keep the immigrants out, the entire family will be shaken.

It is a family that has lived on force alone, but since that is a shaking situation, they will think of surviving while sucking the blood of the citizens.

“He’ll be back soon.
The animal that he thought was a weakling turned out to be a wolf, he’ll have no choice but to bite it.”

I only saw him for three months, but the Darius I saw was not a very good general.

He may be a skilled warrior, but he’s not the type to be a great commander.

Because of that kind of thing, he could never defeat someone more powerful than himself.

‘I’m sure, he will return after defeat.’

Until then, I just have to wait quietly and prepare negotiation cards.

———————❖———————

“Raise your shield! If you surrender here, the next one will be in Northweden’s city! Are the warrior of North fools who can’t even protect their families?”

If it had been normal times, the soldiers would have been terrified and would have quickly followed his orders.

But now, they didn’t have the strength to do it right now.

They made full use of the geographical advantage of the mountain ridge.

Even if there is a slight difference in weapon level due to technical skill differences, this side’s magic was unaffected.

The road from the village to the ridge was well laid on this side, so supplies were easy to come by.

There was no shortage of personnel, and the soldiers have not neglected training.

The northern giants who live on the outskirts have always trained their soldiers.

They couldn’t even be compared in terms of morale.
Because for the soldiers, if they are pierced here, the hometown where the family lives is right behind.

They were trying their best to hold them back with their life.

“Kuh!”

A thick, pungent smell of smoke.
Not the smell of gunpowder used by immigrants, but the strong smell of tobacco.

A woman who looked like a wolf was blowing cigarette smoke as easy as breathing.
Her eyes were stained with bright red light from the number of deaths she had witnessed.

Pak!

As if chopping wood, the raised axe precisely split Northweden’s soldiers in half.
He slid down the mountainside, completely unaware that he was dead.

“Again, again, it’s coming!”

“The white wolf is running!”

Kuduk.

“I’ll go!”

Darius slammed forward, biting his teeth so hard that his veins popped out.
He couldn’t stand being humiliated by that woman any longer.

Wherever she passed by, fluttering the hems of her coat, only the strong scent of tobacco would linger.

As she climbed the mountain, she extinguished all the fires of life.

As Darius ran downhill, mana flowed through his toes.

Every time he took a heavy step forward, the surrounding trees shook as if screaming, shaking off the accumulated snow.

“Huh?”

Finden Ai, the immigrant woman called the White Wolf, saw a man charging at her like a tank and pulled her hand back holding the axe.

“You’ve finally arrived! Marquis Darius!”

“Don’t you dare say that name so casually, you vulgar human!”

Darius’ sword and Finden Ai’s ax clashed.

In terms of strength, Darius had the upper hand.
He continued to push, believing he could kill Finden Ai with a single sword.

“Kungkung, just relying on strength, weren’t you?”

“Yes!”

“It wasn’t long before you became the head of household, right? I’m disappointed.
You’re reckless and lacking in experience.”

Finden Ai, who raised her axe to the side, veering away from the sword, while her body glided through the snow, deflecting Darius’ sword.

“Look at how much blood is rushing to your head.
You’ll be left behind in the Clark Republic if you fight like that.”

“Don’t talk about age and blood recklessly.
Just look at it, you’re over twenty now.”

“Hmm, to be exact, I’m twenty-seven and a half, for a little while.””

Finden Ai, tapping on the shoulder with the back of her axe, sneered while spitting out her tobacco smoke.

“Even them, I’m sure I’m much more experienced than you, right?”

“Nonsense! I’ve been following my father and protecting this mountain range since I was ten years old and could hold a sword.
I dare not compare myself to immigrants like you!”

Darius was bristling, ready to split Finden Ai in two for disrespecting him.

The snow piled up on his feet began to fly away violently.

“Yes, that’s right.
Since you were only 10 years old, you must have been hiding in a safe post on the mountain ridge and killing my compatriots who came over to live.”

“…………”

“You are a Lord acting tough.
That’s not combat.
That’s called hunting.
How’s that different from catching rabbits or foxes? You’re a hunter, not a warrior.”

“I can’t stand any more insults.”

“Insult? You’re insulting me.
You lukewarm bastard who mistook a slaughter for a battle.”

Took-

Finden Ai spat the tobacco out of her mouth onto the floor.
Her crimson eyes were filled with intense anger.

“I’ve been running around desperately since I was born, and I’ve been killing people to survive since I was three years old.”

CRACK!

“Keuk!”

Darius’ eyes failed to follow the flying axe.
The axe slashed into Darius’ right shoulder, shattering his shoulder armor.

“Ugh!”

In an instant, the menacingly rising mana was disrupted and vanished into the cold.
Meanwhile, Finden Ai’s feet had already arrived in front of Darius’ suffering eyes.

Bam!

Following the initial attack, a kick was delivered to the face.

Darius’ body began to sway and fall backward.
Finden Ai, on the other hand, did not stop there.

She turned around in the air after the first hit and landed a back kick into his chest.

Thud!

Darius collapsed to the cold snow, and the sound of his armor being impaled and his bones breaking resounded.

“Ughh, damn it!”

He couldn’t even scream properly due to the pain that wasn’t allowing him to breathe properly.

“It fits you perfectly.”

Finden Ai looked down at Darius and drew her axe from his shoulder.

“Quaaaaaaagh!”

He screamed, as if begging the mountain to take him, but Finden Ai shook her head and wiped the blood from the axe.

The other immigrant who followed her held a hunting rifle and aimed it at Darius.

“It’s okay, let him go.”

“What? Leader, what’s this?”

Mercy?

This kind of immigrant shows mercy to me?

Those who lived like slaves in the Republic of Clark are showing mercy to me, the Margrave of Griffin?

He felt as if his intestines were twisting, but Finden Ai had no intention of showing mercy.

“I have to keep him alive so that another competent guy won’t take the Marquis position.”

“Ah.”

“…………”

Darius’ eyes were swollen with blood.
The blood seemed to rush to his head, but instead, the bleeding from his shoulder worsened.

“Can you actually report a breach, Marquis? If you do so, at the very moment, won’t your family lose all the privileges it has enjoyed so far?”

“Kreurreuk!”

“I’ll spare you.
Consider your options carefully.
Whether you ask for support for the kingdom or acquiesce for the sake of the family.”

Darius could only tremble in shame as he watched Finden Ai’s back laugh as she marched towards the guard post.

The sky was still bright white, even without a single cloud.

Only the thick tobacco scent remained on Darius’ feet.

———————❖———————

Just two days later, Lord Darius returned to the mansion while lying on a sick bed.

His soldiers, like the losers, trudged with heavy steps, bowing their heads and covering their faces with their helmets.

〘You indeed have great insight.〙

“…………”

Skalma exclaimed in awe that my judgment was correct, but it came so naturally to me that I was unimpressed.

It was chaos inside the mansion, and the citizens of Northweden, seeing the return of the defeated soldiers, trembled in fear that the immigrants were coming to plunder, and demanded answers from our family.

They paid taxes for times like this, so it was only natural.

When I looked out the window, I saw the city of Northweddn.
There was a lot of commotion inside, but I didn’t see a single carriage leave the city.

“No one is leaving.”

〘The northerners have always had a strong attachment to their homeland.〙

Like icicles frozen on the ground, they do not think of leaving even in the face of an immigrant invasion, preferring to stay here.

I heard the sound of urgent footsteps outside.
Looking out the window, I put on my coat.

“It’s time to go.”

Skalma bowed his head deeply to see me off.

For the past few days, the door had never been opened except during mealtimes.
But today, it urged me to come, as if seeking an answer.