입양딸 역할을 지나치게 잘해버렸다 185화 겨울성에 정착한 마탑의 거지들은 걱정스러운 얼굴로 엘시나를 쳐다봤다.

“I really hope you’re okay.”

“Of course.”

Elcina headed towards the 6th Magic Tower, escorted by the beggars. There, her master Sirson awaited her.

“I will betray you. If what Viola said is true, the 6th Magic Tower is an ‘Outside Force’ of ‘Heat Wind.’

A force from outside that maintains the ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors,’ which can be considered the true essence of Heat Wind.

Even if Princess Viola’s words are wrong. I could see the beggars waving from afar.

No, they were clearly the people of Winter Castle now. “Still, I will betray you.”

Elcina knew the 6th Magic Tower better than anyone else, and she decided to lend her strength this time. “Even if you are wrongfully accused.

It didn’t matter. “The world Princess Viola showed me was the right world for me.”

Elcina waved back.

The king’s pawn Keitarun wept like someone sending a family member to the grave.

“Sirson, they couldn’t smile in your world.

So, she decided to help Viola. But then a voice interjected. “Quite the beloved sister, aren’t you?”

It was a blonde beauty. The woman with rare platinum hair and gray eyes was exceedingly beautiful.

Though she didn’t carry any weapons, Elcina immediately realized.

“I sense no presence.”

This woman was a martial artist. A highly trained one at that.

Though she called herself ‘sister,’ she appeared older than Elcina.

“It’s hard to judge age by looks.”

A highly accomplished martial artist doesn’t age easily. Even Duke Heron maintained a look in his early thirties doesn’t he?

She asked,

“If I go this way, is it the 6th Magic Tower?”

“Right.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you also heading to the 6th Magic Tower?”

“Yes, to the 6th Magic Tower. I have some business there.”

“I have business there too. I’m not very good at finding my way, could you accompany me?”

Elcina looked at the woman with slight suspicion. “Don’t worry. I’m not a suspicious person.”

“That sounds even more suspicious.”

“Really?”

She smiled with an innocent expression. “My baby is over there, so I came to find them.”

“Baby?”

Elcina stiffened. A baby shouldn’t be there.

The warriors of Winter Castle and Duke Brandia.

Kaiser and the Baby Deer Mercenaries would attack the 6th Magic Tower, and the 6th Magic Tower would utilize magical weaponry to bombard the surroundings.

“Are you aiming to be a mage?”

Elcina’s heart raced. “We need to hurry.”

“Why?”

A war was about to break out there. It was far too dangerous a place for a baby.

“I can’t go into detail, but something dangerous is about to happen.”

“Hmm, why are you so sincere? It’s my baby, not your baby.”

“Regardless, children need protection.”

Elcina took the lead to show the way. “I’ll guide you.”

“Sister, you’re a good person.”

The two walked toward the 6th Magic Tower. Elcina even used flying magic.

It would drain her mana, but there was no other choice.

She needed to rescue the child quickly.

“Were you a mage?”

“Yes.”

The woman fiddled with her chin for a moment. She entrusted her body to Elcina’s mana and, slicing through the air, spoke calmly.

“I guess I won’t kill you.”

Elcina, deep in concentration on her magic, barely caught that. “What?”

“Nothing.”

After some time, the woman landed on the ground.

In the distance, the walls of the 6th Magic Tower came into view.

“I won’t kill you, but don’t dare show yourself at the 6th Magic Tower.”

“What are you talking about? This isn’t the time for jokes.”

“Why?”

“Because the warriors of Winter Castle and Duke Brandia are about to attack the tower.”

“Aren’t you here to help the tower?”

“Then I wouldn’t have come from Winter Castle!”

“Oh, so that was Winter Castle?”

Elcina thought the woman was joking. How could anyone on this continent not know about Winter Castle?

“Sorry, I’m not from this continent, so I didn’t know very well. I’ve never left Brandia.”

“……What?”

As she regained her senses, the woman was no longer there. The woman’s name was Aselda.

She was married to Duke Salmon Brandia.

Seeing the woman who summoned lightning all over her body, Chief Butler Carlton sighed.

“Is that a human or lightning?”

Having met countless strong beings, Aselda felt entirely different. Every time she unleashed her blue lightning, the wall etched with various magic circles shattered.

Aselda uttered a significant line.

“Who bullied our baby?”

That baby referred to Duke Brandia using his magma giant transformation. Brandia had returned to his original form after finishing the transformation.

There was a tiny wound on his right cheek. “Who scarred my handsome baby’s face?”

No magical weapons could stop Aselda. Thousands upon thousands of bolts of lightning rained down, covering the walls of the Magic Tower.

Chief Butler Carlton had two questions arise.

“Over there, baby, and my baby must refer to Duke Salmon Brandia, right?”

Heron nodded slightly. It was unbelievable, but it was true.

Duke Brandia was Aselda’s baby and my baby.

“What would happen if the Duke and the Unfading Love clashed?”

That was a question coming from his curiosity as a martial artist before being a chief butler. Heron thought for a moment.

“If it were one-on-one, I don’t think he’d lose.”

Carlton inadvertently gaped. Instead of saying ‘He will win,’ he said ‘He doesn’t seem like he will lose.’ It still meant he would win, but it also suggested Duke Heron wouldn’t completely overwhelm her.

And another thing. “If it’s not one-on-one…

“Then I think he might not win.”

Carlton knew that the strongest martial artist on the continent was Heron. Even the Sword Master Nelak had to think twice before challenging Heron.

Heron’s warriors from Winter Castle wouldn’t lose to anyone.

Even if the enemy were the Sword Master and the Sun Knight Order.

“The Unfading Love, truly a remarkable figure.

To have someone who can unleash such widespread lightning…

I’ve only heard rumors, but seeing it in reality is astounding.”

“Now slowly, the Unknown Knight Order should be moving, right?”

They had garnered enough attention. The Magic Tower would be doing its utmost to fend off the attack.

Now the Emperor’s secret knight order, the Unknown Knight Order, would move to capture Sirson and uncover clues related to Heat Wind.

Meanwhile, observing from a distance, Gaia unintentionally murmured, “The Imperial family and the three great Duke Houses. The Mercenary King and the Unfading Love. This is the grandest combination since recorded history.”

She was both the leader of the information organization Night Cat and the ‘Mother’ of the Unknown Knight Order. “Now it’s your turn to move.”

The person who created this unprecedented combination was none other than the Iron-Blooded Saint Viola. She had drawn everything up.

“Under the will of the Iron-Blooded Saint, we join as well.”

Reciting the promised command to mobilize the Unknown Knight Order. “Infiltrate, Unknown Knight Order.”

It was time to put a period at the end.

*

Tundra bit her lips slightly, “Tsk.”

Pongpong had once again transformed into water after holding Viola.

“They are beginning to reveal themselves.”

“How is it? Now that it’s dangerous, can we do this?”

“…Yeah.”

Tundra felt an army approaching through the blizzard. They felt different from people. “They seem like ghosts.”

That was half true. They were indeed ghosts.

Viola warned.

“Tundra, be careful.”

Through the snowstorm, martial artists wielding various weapons were visible. Their eyes were completely black. “Kill…”

“Kill…”

They continuously muttered “I kill,” as if it were a spell. A thick murderous intent emanated from them. Viola’s body trembled with the sense of killing.

“I expected this, but… it’s no joke.”

They were the martial artists who sought the ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors.’ As time passed, the ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors’ had devoured countless martial artists, turning them into an army.

“At least they’re at the level to find the ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors.’”

No matter how few, there were at least a thousand. “So Tundra, don’t push yourself.

Don’t worry about me. I have Pongpong with me.” “…Understood.” Tundra was filled with complex emotions, both good and bad. It was reassuring to have the utterly reliable companion Pongpong, but it upset her that the one who truly needed to care for Viola was Pongpong, not herself.

However, right now, she had to focus on holding back the waves of martial artists. “Focus on defense. We can’t eliminate them all ourselves.”

“Understood.”

The ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors’ wasn’t eternal. If they began to move, the vast powers preserved by the ‘Sacred Ground’ would vanish.

“By now, the 6th Magic Tower must have fallen.”

They couldn’t bring in power from the outside. In a state where outside support had been cut off, the ‘Sacred Ground of the Ancient Warriors’ would expend significant power.

“We just need to hold out.”

Before long, the ‘Ancient Warriors’ drew closer. “Pongpong, if you don’t want to kill, you don’t have to.”

The goal was to endure. The first one to approach was a short man wielding dual axes.

He swung his axes toward Viola, but the attack couldn’t penetrate the water barrier. Viola’s legs trembled.

“I’m going crazy. This is too scary.”

Even though she trusted Pongpong, being surrounded by so many martial artists was anything but calming.

Some of them were drenched in blood, and some had missing eyes.

“Ugh.”

In any case, Pongpong’s ‘water barrier’ certainly provided a refuge for Viola. Tundra held back as best as she could against the numerous martial artists charging at her.

Whenever Tundra’s defenses began to show cracks, Viola would assist with her grass sword.

The combination of the three produced a powerful synergy.

Even surrounded by thousands of martial artists, they managed to hold out for quite a while.

“Tundra, can you hold on longer?”

“Of course.”

Tundra’s breathing was somewhat ragged. Even the strong Tundra was quite worn out. “I’m still okay.”

Up to this point, it was exactly as Viola had anticipated. “And Pongpong?”

“I’m perfectly fine, hee hee.”

Though Tundra and Pongpong were quite exhausted, it was within acceptable margins. Everything was going according to plan.

But then, a variable occurred.

“This won’t work with just a bunch of stragglers.”

The martial artists began to vanish like smoke. “It would be better to have one strong one.”

Before long, the blizzard ceased. The legion of martial artists completely disappeared, and in their place, someone emerged.

It was a face Viola knew well.