Chapter 196

Chapter 196 - Beyond the Ocean (3)

Prior to departure, Eugene visited the statue of Goddess Vanas holding the pagan scripture.

Rooted in the abundant spiritual soil of the magic castle and having received high-quality prayers and offerings, the result is evident.

"Now I wouldn't be able to call it a stone statue."

The surface of the Goddess statue had changed like a freshly laid white egg.

It is a hardened texture but smooth and resilient. Thick vitality flowed down on its surface. It felt like it would softly sink in if touched.

'A god cannot directly appear in the present world.'

It is a figure appearing as if having approached believers as much as possible within the line of not breaking that law.

"Goddess Vanas. Here is an offering for you. Please withdraw this divine authority. So that an evil existence cannot disturb our world, and so that you obtain the power to protect my people."

Eugene approached to offer the pagan scripture to the altar.

"May blessings be upon the Lord's faith."

The priestesses guarding the sanctuary bowed to Eugene containing gratitude.

However, the original owner of this offering seems to have strong tenacity. It tried to resist one of the connecting links between itself and the present world disappearing forever.

[Stop. Stop it.]

The voice of the evil god rang out.

Normally, it would be hard to even let out a voice since believers disappeared, but this place is the Moving Castle's sanctuary.

It is replete with mystery, and the dust of faith shed by Vanas believers remains. The evil god picked them up and ate them like a sewer rat, squeezing out its final voice.

[Even the most merciless tyrant does not cut off the sacrifices of a god even if they cut off a conquered dynasty. How do you act so cruelly while emitting such a sweet scent of a soul?]

Amidst everyone in the sanctuary being flustered, only Eugene remained calm and composed.

[Mortal. Your hands exist to offer supreme fine liquor to us. Conduct sacrifices for me. Guide your people to me. Since we will become the greatest partners. I will make you an unprecedented emperor.]

Even at the voice of temptation, Eugene did not react. Instead, he unfolded and showed the pagan scripture. It is a part full of contents regarding human sacrifice.

As Eugene holding the scripture reached right in front of the altar, the evil god shouted as if making a last-ditch effort.

[There is no sin greater than erasing faith!]

"Throwing away the opportunity to permanently eradicate a pestilence would indeed be a great sin."

The moment the scripture was placed on the altar, it began to burn down emitting intense light. The evil god's voice also disappeared immediately.

Eugene drew the bloodletting dagger used by the priest of Kalash, the God of the Hungry Stigma.

He stared at the evil god's divine authority slipping out from the pagan scripture being destroyed.

Pachut.

Whenever the bloodletting dagger cleaved the empty air, blue sparks flew. The evil dregs of the evil god were sliced away and only pure divinity remained.

That sight looked like a skilled blowfish chef carving out the poisoned parts.

The bloodletting dagger also seems satisfied being used for its original purpose of conducting a sacrifice. Mystery welled up from the inside of the blade, emitting an even sharper sharpness.

"This is the Lord's holy sacrament..."

The priestesses held their two hands together at that marvelous sight. Because they had never seen nor heard of this kind of miracle.

Although Goddess Vanas's power could also purify and absorb the divine authority, there is an efficiency difference compared to refining and offering it like this from the beginning.

Just like obtaining more calories when grilling and eating the same meat.

[My first believer. My noble guardian knight. Would it truly be okay?]

Goddess Vanas spoke.

"Is there anything that would become a problem?"

[Even if it is evil, extorting a god's power will become a burden on the heart.]

"What do you mean extortion. Please call it a merger and acquisition. I feel refreshed."

Eugene swept away the scripture that only had ashes left with a small broom and dustpan attached to the altar.

The evil doctrine was restructured, and the pure power became nourishment for the good Goddess. He thought calling this good deed extortion was too much.

[Merger... and acquisition?]

Perhaps it is a concept she heard for the first time, a cute question lingered in the noble voice.

The gods here are immortals and display powerful divine authorities, but as expected they are not omnipotent existences.

Olympus gods and Japan's Shinto Kami in Eugene's memories. It is a position somewhere between those.

Cases where mighty spirits, like the forest spirit met in the Apen Peninsula, are considered gods are also countless.

"My residents have good marital relations and bear many children. May the Goddess protect them so there is no tragedy in their births."

[As you will. I shall make our children fill and grow in this blessed castle.]

The evil god was an existence called the 'One Who Pours Unclean Amniotic Fluid'.

Now that divine authority was rebranded, granting Vanas a new domain of jurisdiction.

"Shall we depart now?"

Since he also conducted the sacrifice and the god's grace became even more extraordinary, it was now time to set out on a dangerous task.

* * *

The place where the Moving Castle descended was the southeastern coastal region of the Land of Snow.

"Did I see wrong?"

A Hammer Brotherhood Dwarven warrior rubbed his eyes. However, the sight entering his field of vision remained the same.

"Damn it. A mountain is floating on the sea."

The Dwarves moving along the coast looked at the sea as if dumbfounded. Because a giant iceberg was floating away from the North.

Thump!

The sound of it passing by hitting relatively smaller drift ice was heard from hundreds of meters away.

It is a sight absolutely impossible to see in the warm seas of the Apen Peninsula where they mainly operated.

"Are there no tribes nearby?"

"There are none, Excellency. As you can see, the water currents are fierce and it is a coast composed of ice cliffs. Let alone fishing, they can't even moor ships."

Eugene's army was moving on a highland almost 30m above sea level.

As if revealing the cold it harbored, the sea level was dense enough to be close to indigo. At that sight, even the Dwarves accustomed to the sea felt vague fear.

"Even the few trade ships use the ports in the South and Southwest."

"The lords will be greatly surprised if they know an army of this scale appeared here."

"They are not foolish enough to pounce on an army with this kind of imposing presence. Besides, didn't you prepare hefty gifts as well? The ones most susceptible to gifts in the world are the lords here."

Eugene nodded and handed over a pouch filled with dried sweet potatoes from his chest.

"Having an experienced local guide is indeed reassuring."

"Thank you!"

The dog beastman adventurer's tail wagged rapidly. As expected of a dog at his roots, he could not resist sweet potatoes. Moreover, the snacks made by the witches have a much deeper taste than normal ones.

"Smash it!"

When a slippery icy road appeared, the leading Dwarves took out their sledgehammers.

In an instant, the ice shattered, creating a safe path as if gravel and sand had been sprinkled on it.

"Drag over three more trees!"

When encountering a stream, they cut down nearby trees and built a temporary bridge in 20 minutes.

"As expected, you are the greatest combat engineers of this era."

"Is there any virtue greater than being steadfast?"

Rampage felt proud and straightened his shoulders.

If Dark Elves could traverse even rugged terrain like flat land, Dwarves laid a path and passed through no matter what blocked their front.

When they reached that flat coast, the adventurer stopped.

"I found traces of a Yeti."

"I don't see anything with my eyes though?"

Homi also looked around and twitched her nose cutely. However, the arrogant spraying smell unique to medium-sized monsters was not caught by her nose.

"It is this."

The adventurer picked up something from the beach. It is a fang nearly 1m long.

"You remarkably found it on a snow-covered coast."

"Would I be an adventurer for nothing? I must do the worth of my money."

Looking at the size of the tooth, Rampage panicked and quickly scrambled.

"Excellency. If it's a tooth of this extent, isn't it a dr, dragon...?"

Although they are Dwarves who bravely face even an Ogre's axe strike, there is exactly one thing they instinctively avoid, and that is dragons.

It is the same as someone with burn scars suffering from trauma. Just the mention of dragons made the Dwarves' beards stand on end.

"Calm down. It won't be a dragon."

Eugene patted Rampage.

"Its appearance is like a tusk, isn't it a fat animal that goes back and forth between the sea and land?"

"My, how did you know? We call them sea bears. It should be a bastard inhabiting only this area, how did..."

The adventurer marveled and explained the details. The Hammer Brotherhood Dwarves were relieved at the words that it was about the size of a cow.

'Looking at the description it seems a walrus is correct.'

Since the people of the Land of Snow haven't seen elephants, it seems they named it after a similar one among land animals.

"If a person hunted it, they absolutely never leave these tusks behind. Because it's the most valuable part."

The adventurer spoke holding a pair of tusks.

"Above all, these broken ribs and skull are the evidence. Yeti bastards crush the bones of their prey with clubs and suck out the marrow inside. The only ones who can do this are Yetis."

Eugene's army, which scattered into 3-man teams and began searching, soon found traces of the Yeti. Deep footprints proudly stamped on the snowfield informed them of the bastard's destination.

"There's more here too!"

It wasn't even just one. Footprints of different sizes were discovered in a place where there were 7 abandoned houses.

"Sea bears, hornless reindeer, emperor turtles, etc. This area has many large prey that Yetis like."

"It seems the people who originally lived here were all driven out."

"Yes. It was an area where hunters and fishermen once flocked from all over the Land of Snow and nearly 300 people lived, but now..."

To think of the sight of a ruined hometown because of monsters. The adventurer smiled bitterly.

"Does a Yeti's corpse fetch money?"

"It is fundamentally a family similar to Bugbears. Although their body size is bigger and they have more muscle mass, they don't have much value as alchemy ingredients."

"Damn it. Is this hunt also free service."

To Eugene who felt it was a shame, the adventurer added, feeling awed.

"A Yeti's fur is indeed a treasure though. Since the mystery of insulation dwells in it, it blocks heat and cold. If made into clothing, one can stay cool in the desert and warm in the polar regions."

"Oh!"

Eugene's brown eyes sparkled with greed.

"But with what method would you catch that ferocious bastard without injury?"

True to a bastard living in a cold region, a Yeti possessed a size matching an Ogre. The thick fur is hard to pierce even shooting a heavy crossbow from nearby, and their intelligence is on the high side as well.

"How do the warriors here kill that bastard?"

"They cannot catch them with normal methods. The majority of cases involve burning them to death."

A Yeti's abundant fur displayed the best effect in blocking cold weapons, but it was vulnerable to fire.

"They drop them into traps filled with whale oil and then shoot fire arrows, or catch them using sticky torches combined with alchemy."

"It costs a lot of money, but the success rate must be low. Being a monster its sense of smell is sharp too, so it would notice most traps."

While a fire attack is easy to say, making it succeed in actual combat against a medium-sized monster was extremely difficult.

Moreover, because the weather is cold fire doesn't catch well either, and since snow is laid everywhere they had the capability to extinguish it by rolling in it.

"It is exactly as Your Excellency says. Even if they catch it paying a great sacrifice, what they get is terrible. Because it's merely a charred, hacked up chunk of meat. So lords also just avoid them because it's dirty."

The adventurer didn't exactly get scared while heading toward the terrifying Yeti. Because there were this many Dwarven warriors famous for being robust, let alone Eugene's reputation.

"But how will Your Excellency catch it? Since you are together with Dwarves, as expected is it siege weapons?"

"What are you saying. It's an opportunity we haven't had in a while, so shouldn't we cleanly peel off that precious fur?"

"Yes?"

Clatter.

Eugene received a flail delivered from the supply cart.

"Kreung-!"

Might shook his head pleasantly at the unique sound of iron chains ringing near his ears.

"It's been a while, right?"

Eugene stroked Might's neck and gripped the iron rod.

Blackout's unique cutting taste it provides is wonderful too, but the hand feel a flail can provide is irreplaceable.

"It finally comes out."

The Hammer Brotherhood warriors nodded, laughing with satisfaction.

A blunt weapon!

Unlike fragile weapons where the blade gets damaged easily, it is a companion reassuring like a boulder. It is a weapon that truly matches a great warrior like Eugene.

Furthermore, as Might mutated into a World Charger and his weight limit also grew, the flail was upgraded as well.

- Excellency. Will you truly make it like this?

- Is there a problem?

- With an iron chain and chunks of iron of this extent, it would be good to use as an anchor for a galley.

The Dwarven blacksmith Walker soon shook his head. Because he thought he was making a useless remark in front of an Ogre wearing a human mask.

- An anchor for a galley. Then is it a Battle Anchor? Not a bad name.

Eugene smiled and nodded.

The 3rd flail completed like that was in the form of an anchor with 5 wings attached to an iron chain the size of an adult's forearm.

Gulp.

The adventurer swallowed his saliva at the appearance for which the word atrocious was insufficient.

Sniff sniff.

'There's too much iron.'

The smell of iron caught by the dog beastman's sense of smell. Since it was so thick, he felt a bloody stench even though they hadn't even fought yet.

* * *

A certain valley in the Land of Snow. There lived a young Yeti there who had lived for 20 years.

The bastard stretched two legs and fell asleep lying down immediately whenever it felt sleepy anywhere. It is a privilege enjoyed only by apex predators.

However, today the Yeti had to taste the feeling of becoming prey for the first time.

Crack!

A club the size of an adult man shattered, and wooden fragments scattered into the air.

"Kwo-?"

The Yeti lost its spirit looking at a weapon with only the handle remaining from a single clash. That was an enormous mistake.

Bang!

The Battle Anchor flying in like lightning without even a preliminary movement struck its abdomen. The Yeti's waist bent at a right angle.

Vomited matter poured out along with a bizarre scream amplifying a pig-slaughtering sound by 5 times.

"Did it eat a bear? It surely isn't an ordinary monster."

Eugene discovered a large bear paw among the half-digested chunks of meat.

Right before the flail striking down again crushed the back of the Yeti's head, the bastard barely managed to dodge by rolling.

"Aim for the eyes!"

At Cassandra's shout, the female warriors concentrated arrows on the Yeti's face.

However, the Yeti was already turning its head and running away. Because it judged the knight in front of its eyes to be an enemy it absolutely could not handle.

But showing your back against a knight riding a horse is an act of suicide. The menacing sound of hooves heard from behind rapidly got closer.

"Uwaaaaa!"

The Dwarves cheered and followed behind Eugene.

Whenever Might's hooves kicked the snowfield, snow lumps bounced up like explosions, forming a spectacular sight.

Smack!

The Battle Anchor hit the buttocks of the fleeing Yeti, and the bastard fell forward.

The overwhelming impact force pierced the thick gluteal muscles and tore its abdominal wall and peritoneum.

"Keuhuuuuu-."

A fatal hernia occurred. The Yeti crawled slowly at the pain of its stomach being torn to shreds.

Clatter.

At the sound of iron heard from right behind, the Yeti turned around and lay on its back. It grabbed its belly with one hand and reached out to Eugene with the other.

- Please spare me!

In the Yeti's memory, it was the appearance humans showed before being eaten alive. Since it knew this is an action seeking mercy among humans, it imitated it.

And just as the Yeti did not bestow mercy, Eugene also did not bestow mercy.

Bang!

The Yeti, becoming a corpse, sprawled out in the shape of the character large (大).

"With this much we should be able to use it intact, right?"

"Y-Yes, sir! To think it's such a clean Yeti pelt. If you take it, all the lords will get wide eyes."

The utterly startled adventurer nodded repeatedly. He couldn't believe what he had just seen.

"It's a shame to end it with one bastard, could you find more?"

"I will find them and escort you with my whole heart and strength!"

As an adventurer, the thirst for a wondrous spectacle, and the feeling of revenge against the monsters that ruined his hometown boiled fiercely.

The Yeti he had considered akin to a natural disaster until previously was having its pelt peeled off like a calf over there.

With Eugene having come, Yetis are no longer a disaster. They were merely a single large-sized prey.

"Cassandra."

"Yes, Lord."

"Did Chief Alessa like fur coats? I feel like I haven't taken care of her compared to her hard work during that time."

"Well. That person has never been luxurious. Because she always lived frugally managing the tribe's livelihood."

"Hmm."

Cassandra patted the shoulder of Eugene who showed signs of disappointment.

"But the Chief is also a woman. There are no women who hate fur. There are boundless things you can make, whether it's gloves, a scarf, or a hat. The color being pure white like snow is truly good as well."

"Thank you. It provided sufficient motivation."

Grip.

Eugene grasped the flail.

Gold and white is a traditional combination. The Yeti's fur will also match Valda's blonde hair and white skin tremendously well.

Afterwards, a great commotion arose in the southeastern Land of Snow.

- It's over there!

- Drive it to His Excellency!

The wind running across the barren earth had screams mixed in that couldn't be heard normally.

The vocal cords that always only let out ferocious bizarre screams were spitting out fear and pain for the first time. That's why beasts couldn't recognize that the owner of the voice was a Yeti.

* * *

"Lord! E-Envoys came from the North!"

"That's it!"

Chief Hakon rejoiced at the shout of the butler who came running flustered. He rules the easternmost edge of the human living sphere.

'I wonder how much I can rip off this time.'

The eastern part of the Land of Snow is a sea of death. Water currents were fierce and it was full of only ice cliffs with nowhere to moor ships.

The moment trade ships get caught in a capricious storm or take the wrong path, what waits is only distress.

- This is my land! If you don't wanna die, hand over everything you have!

Hakon forcefully extorted their entire fortune if the state of the survivors trudging down was truly a mess.

- Oh my, you've suffered a lot. Eat this warm soup here and recover some energy. I also prepared lodgings and soft clothes. Granted you pay money, that is.

When the survivors were well and formidable, he turned into a merchant and overcharged them. Either way, he could reap a salty income.

"Assemble the village warriors."

"Yes, father!"

Since it wasn't something done just once or twice, the eldest son smiled with a grim expression and ran out.

"So, how's the condition of the guests?"

"Now is not the time for you to do this! You must request assistance from nearby lords immediately!"

"I suppose they are perfectly fine? The bastards' navigator seems to be quite something."

Shipwrecked survivors coming down abandoning their ships usually came down miserably with frostbite.

However, there were also times when multiple armed merchant ships landed under the guidance of outstanding sailors. At such times, they preserved power enough for Hakon to feel danger as well.

"Just how many are there for you to be like this?"

"D-Dwarves fill the horizon. Because of the light reflecting off chunks of iron, my eyes were blinded and I couldn't even count properly!"

Hakon spectacularly spat out the liquor in the horn cup he was drinking.

"And Yetis... Yetis..."

"What about Yetis?! Are They perhaps fighting Yetis?"

The butler couldn't answer Hakon's question filled with hope.

Even with just the suddenly appeared Dwarven army, he had felt like he was seeing things.

But if he even said this, he felt like he would get punched in the mouth with a 'Do you dare to mock me!'.