I took on the role of an adopted daughter far too well, Chapter 181. One day before setting off to the ‘Place Where the Eye Shines.’

Viola was sipping Zeno’s Strawberry Ade and brought up a certain topic.

“I’m going to give you flowers.”

“To me, Princess?”

“Yeah, don’t you like it?”

“Of course not! It’s delightfully romantic.”

Zeno smiled broadly. “I hope it’s a pure gift, but it probably won’t be, will it?”

“I’ll give you a pure gift next time.”

Suddenly, I thought that a flower crown would look wonderful on Zeno. “You’d look great in it.”

“What?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Anyway, you know what kind of flower I’ll be giving you, right?”

“You mean the miraculous life water, Arena?”

“Exactly.”

Thus, the Marguerite flower is imbued with miraculous powers. Miracles are, by nature, astonishing phenomena that shouldn’t ordinarily occur.

If interpreted in a novelistic style, it could be described as ‘something amazing enough to shatter the setting.’ “And by chance, I’ve learned the Grass Sword.”

Is this luck? Or is it inevitable?

I’m not quite sure.

Anyway, Viola has mastered the Grass Sword. “I think I’ll be able to imbue my energy into the gift I give Zeno.”

“I don’t really understand what you mean.”

Viola continued to speak slowly. Eventually, Zeno nodded.

“So, the sign is that the flower wilts, right?” “Exactly.”

Zeno smiled with a haunted expression. “I will carry out your command. I won’t forgive those who cause my master’s flowers to wilt.”

On the way to ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors.’ A sense of direction had vanished.

I could clearly feel that it was snowing, yet I couldn’t see any snow.

It felt as though I were drifting in dark outer space.

The surroundings were pitch black, and nothing was visible.

The only thing I saw was one thing.

The enormous footprints of Chieftain Wacchum.

“Tundra, can you hear my voice?”

Viola asked multiple times. “Tundra.”

There was no answer. “You’re beside me. That’s my command.”

“… Yes.”

It was a very faint voice, but it came through. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“…What?”

Viola wasn’t particularly afraid of this dizzying dark space. ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors’ was a realm crafted by the author. [‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors’ is a place imbued with special powers that distort time and space.

In that place, all senses are twisted and significant alterations occur to the time axis.

Moreover, it is a lonely place. One must overcome it alone without anyone’s help.]

Many have trained in the ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors’ over the years. However, no one has trained ‘together.’ Even if they enter together, they all emerge separately.

That was the author’s setting.

Viola decided to break that setting.

With the ‘male protagonist’ who possesses the parameter to shatter this world’s settings. Viola called out again.

“I’m here.”

“… Yes.”

Thunk! Something grabbed Viola’s hand.

That hand was quite warm. “I’m here.”

The voice was clear. “You found me well, didn’t you?”

“You promised you would stay by my side. I have to keep that promise.”

It was a rationalization. It was Viola, not Tundra, who said in the shadow of Bellatu, ‘I will be by your side.’

“That’s something I promised, not you.”

“If I’m beside you, it means I’m keeping my promise.”

Tundra held Viola’s hand even tighter. Viola had promised.

If Viola found herself in a situation where she couldn’t keep that promise, then she could just make Tundra keep it.

It didn’t matter whether Viola came to Tundra or Tundra went to Viola; the outcome would be the same.

‘Fulfilling your promise is my mission.’

He tentatively spoke. “Excuse me, but I think we should keep holding hands.”

“Sure.”

Viola could sense it. This space was one where you couldn’t let your guard down. At any moment, all senses could twist and transform.

She felt that if you got lost here, you could never return to where you originally were.

“Tundra.”

“Yes.”

“The name of the Chieftain of the Yetis isn’t Wacchum.”

“Is that so?”

Tundra didn’t seem overly flustered, simply waiting calmly for Viola’s next words.

“Wacchum means priest in their language. A ritual implies offering something up.”

Tundra grabbed Viola with his left hand and pulled out his sword with his right. “What should I do?”

Before long, Wacchum’s footprints stopped. Wacchum’s figure was not clearly visible.

The gigantic Yeti appeared to be distorted, shaking in various directions.

Wacchum approached.

“Offering. I will make.”

[The Yetis are a tribe that wishes for the resurrection of Bahakarun.

The Yeti priest ‘Wacchum’ selects sacrifices to offer to ‘Bahakarun.’]

The Yetis, known to humans as ‘guides,’ were, in fact, worshipers of Bahakarun.

They were born that way.

Among them, Wacchum played the role of sacrificing humans.

He had offered human lives to ensure the ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors’ could remain intact. Wacchum gazed at Tundra.

“You. Strong.”

A red mouth peeked through the thick fur. The mouth stretched wide between the sides.

Drool dripped down.

“If I die, this place will collapse.”

If Wacchum dies, this place will crumble. He would become a permanent missing person, annihilated here.

“You. Go back. Offering. Her.”

Wacchum chose Viola as the sacrifice. He instinctively felt the ‘miraculous power’ emanating from her.

“If you eat her, the king will be resurrected.”

Fierce teeth began to grow from the red mouth. The mouth widened alarmingly.

Wacchum reached out his hand.

And that hand couldn’t touch Viola. “I don’t recall granting permission to touch the princess.”

With two arms, Wacchum had become a one-armed creature. Wacchum screamed and rolled around.

After a while of screaming, Wacchum stood up from his position.

“If I die, you’ll die too.”

He forced a smile, as if attempting a negotiation. “You and I live, and just she becomes the sacrifice, how about that?”

“How about it?”

There was no mercy in Tundra’s grip. He didn’t even know when he swung his sword.

“Like this.”

Wacchum’s round body was split in two. It seemed Wacchum didn’t even feel pain.

“You fool. All dead.”

Wacchum faced death within the distorted space. His body disappeared.

*

The moment Wacchum revealed his true nature, Viola wielded the Grass Sword.

The vitality of the flowers she had gifted Zeno faded away and crumbled.

“I’m going to kill all of you.”

Zeno’s words weren’t an empty threat. Beneath Zeno, the ground began to freeze coldly.

The extreme cold enveloped the area, even capable of freezing the Yeti village of the ‘Place Where the Eye Shines.’

“It’s been a while since I used this power.”

The final technique of the Rasbon Ice Sword style. The requiem of the Ice Sword.

From somewhere, an ominous sound echoed.

The mana that Zeno summoned reacted with the surrounding mana, creating a resonant sound.

The Empire’s knights had misunderstood Zeno’s technique as that of a demon and had pursued him.

They all died. “You can’t kill us.”

“We are guides.”

The Yetis firmly believed that Zeno couldn’t kill them. That belief was mistaken. It took less than five minutes for the Yetis surrounding Zeno to be annihilated.

In an instant, a hill of corpses accumulated.

Now only one Yeti remained.

“If we die, we can’t reach the sacred ground!”

That was the last cry. The Yeti turned into an ice statue and soon shattered with a crackling sound.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Zeno smiled broadly. “Now the ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors’ can disappear.”

That was none of Zeno’s concern. “I’m just carrying out my princess’s command.”

Viola commanded to annihilate the enemies.

So Zeno simply executed that command. A snowstorm approached.

Zeno’s gaze turned toward the snowstorm.

“However, I didn’t expect this.”

Within the snowstorm, another Yeti appeared. Black ominous energy flickered around the Yeti, resembling the ‘Corrupted Bichen.’

“I never thought there would be a Corrupted Yeti.”

Pretending as if it were nothing, Zeno wasn’t unscathed either. The ‘Place Where the Eye Shines’ wasn’t a favorable place for humanity. The flow of mana was unstable due to excessive mana usage.

Thud! Thud!

Footsteps grew closer.

“Did you kill all my brethren?”

The ‘Corrupted Yeti’ did not stutter.

A tremendous presence was felt.

Zeno could sense it.

‘If we fight now, I’ll die.’

As the Corrupted Yeti appeared, the snowstorm intensified. This storm harbored the power to devour life force. Zeno smiled broadly again.

“Yet I am Viola’s butler.”

He raised his sword. “I will execute Viola’s command.”

Bowing toward the direction where Viola had vanished, he gave his final bow. “I will carry out your command. I will annihilate the enemies.”

Suddenly, as if remembering, he added a word. Zeno was sure today would be the last day to execute Viola’s command.

And he was confident he could carry out that command. Since Viola had commanded it, the ‘Corrupted Yeti’ would die.

‘Though I will die too.’

Given it was the final command, he thought it would be okay to be a bit emotional. “I was happy to be your butler.”

And at that moment, someone’s voice echoed. “I received a similar command, you know.”

It was a petite woman. With black hair and black eyes, she was walking through the blizzard.

“My master also commanded me.

To annihilate the enemies.”

Only one word was added. “Together.”

She smiled brightly. “Princess Hela said that Lady Viola is not alone, and that means Butler Zeno isn’t alone either. Let’s fight together.”

Hela’s butler. It was Ersa, known as the Sword Demon.