"Right here."
Amelia brought Erica to a rather spacious wooden cabin and handed her the key.
"Keep it safe, there's only one. Making another one is troublesome."
Erica took the key and said, "Thank you."
Amelia waved her hand and turned to leave.
After opening the door, Erica entered a very warm and cozy house.
The furniture inside was very simple, only two chairs and a long table, plus a bed.
Red firelight was burning inside the fireplace.
Several animal hides hung on the wall, and under the dim lighting they made people feel a wave of drowsiness wash over them.
Erica was no exception.
But she hadn't forgotten to take a hot bath.
———
About half an hour later, Erica walked out of the bathroom.
Her clothes were dried by magic, and only a few drops of water trickled down her long golden hair.
Feeling the drowsiness hitting her, she collapsed onto a chair draped with beast hide.
Looking at the constantly burning fireplace, it seemed like a speck of red firelight was flowing in her eyes.
The house was very warm, but Erica felt a bit melancholy.
In a daze, Erica slipped into memories.
She recalled these past days of long-distance travel, recalled the drifting wind and snow of the northern border.
She didn't know how things were at home now.
Memories flashed faintly through her mind.
She thought of Professor Viktor.
She remembered that day, the terrifying scene of Professor Viktor going all out against her.
All things burned, sky and earth without color.
She subconsciously curled up.
Whenever she recalled that terrifying pressure, she would always tremble nonstop.
The impact Viktor had on her was still huge, so huge that she didn't know which direction she should work toward.
It seemed that no matter how hard she tried, she would never be able to catch up to him. That feeling of disparity was like an uncrossable chasm.
As the memories gradually flowed, exhaustion finally spread over Erica's body like a blanket of sleepiness.
Clearly she should have been sleeping on the bed…
But the temperature of the fireplace was very warm, sleeping here for a while shouldn't matter.
Suddenly, the wind outside blew stronger.
Something seemed to stick onto the window, making a sound like it was glued to the glass.
Erica found it strange. The noise snapped her back to awareness, and she instinctively looked toward the window.
It was a sheet of paper, but under the dim firelight she couldn't make out much.
The northern border didn't have magical light bulbs, so she could only stand up and walk forward.
She formed a flame spell in her hand. A faint glow lit up, shining onto the window.
This time, she saw clearly.
It was a wanted poster.
The portrait on the wanted poster felt incredibly familiar to her.
She didn't quite dare believe it was the person she had in mind.
Perhaps it only looked very similar.
How could Professor Viktor appear in the northern lands?
And even if he came here, why would he be wanted for committing a crime?
This made no sense.
But the more Erica thought about it, the more panic stirred in her heart.
Finally, she glanced down, and her eyes widened.
Her lips moved slightly, and in a soft voice she read the name written on it.
"Viktor Clavenna."
———
Time passed quickly. Counting the days, Erica had now been here for three days.
She gradually adapted to the life here.
On the snowy plains, she began training early in the morning.
Dozens of mages around her were doing the same exercises.
They weren't only here to protect Erica; they were also sent by Duke Levi for special training.
Mountain climbing, carrying loads for cross-country runs on snow…
All kinds of physical training rushed at Erica all at once.
At first, Erica wasn't used to this high-intensity training.
But after only three days, she had already grown more and more proficient.
Vladimir crossed his arms and stood to the side watching over them.
From time to time he would nod in satisfaction.
"General."
Hearing Delk's voice, Vladimir turned his head.
"Those little bastards are showing up at the border again?"
The "little bastards" he mentioned were naturally those disgusting barbarians.
But Delk only scratched his head and said, "On the contrary, sir. These past days, the barbarians haven't shown up at all."
"For some inexplicable reason, they've started behaving."
Vladimir was somewhat puzzled. He signaled Delk with his eyes, and the two hurried toward the Mage Association's outpost.
Their movement was very secretive, no one noticed them leave.
"What's going on?" Vladimir mounted his horse and asked.
After fighting with the barbarians for so many years, the old man knew they were definitely not the type who could sit still.
Among them, of course, were some very formidable opponents.
They possessed special professions, like beings born for war itself, those the northerners called Berserkers.
Unlike ordinary warriors, these Berserkers seemed to never fear pain. When fighting, they acted extremely crazed and irrational. They were also highly sensitive to blood, blood seemed like their power source.
When encountering barbarian warriors of that level, even Vladimir felt headaches.
This was also why the barbarians had been rampant in the northern lands for so long, and why the Pale Mage Association still hadn't driven them out.
Even if they wanted to push the barbarians' living territory back by a hundred miles, they would first have to see whether their mages had the ability to clash head-on with the Berserkers.
Mages had melee ability not inferior to normal combat mages, but they weren't as sturdy as knights.
As for the northern knights?
Heh. Their hearts were not aligned with the Pale Mage Association.
The northern cold was the best environment for Berserkers to fight in.
On horseback, Vladimir pondered. Facing the wind and snow, his mind was full of doubts.
Were the barbarians planning to gather and launch a massive strike while the northern knights were in chaos?
However, Delk soon overturned that idea.
"According to the scouts deep in the north, the barbarian tribes within almost a hundred miles of the border have all been burned down."
"Whether it's the Flame Sword Clan or the Frostclaw Clan, the two major clans' sub-tribes stationed near the border have basically been wiped out."
Frostclaw, the clan equal in fame to Flame Sword.
The far north had countless small tribes, but only Flame Sword and Frostclaw formed massive spheres of influence.
Like Flame Sword, Frostclaw also worshipped a demigod giant.
They too received divine power from that demigod, allowing them not to fear the cold and granting them frost powers.
Yet, such powerful clans suffered devastating losses in almost a single night.
"Wherever the destruction reached, not a single person survived. Only countless charred bodies remained."
As Delk spoke, he recalled the shock he had felt for a long time.
Even the scattered barbarian warriors stationed near the border were all selected elites, none of them were weak.
The barbarians even had ways to communicate with each other, making them impossible for the Pale Mage Association to eliminate easily.
If they dispatched troops to attack and failed to kill the barbarians swiftly, nearby tribes would immediately rush to support.
But according to scout reports, the tribes were wiped out one after another.
They didn't even have time to contact the surrounding tribes, as if all of it happened in an instant.
The barbarians didn't even have time to resist. Their iconic buildings still burned with fierce flames.
Even now, the fires continued to roar.
The raging blizzard couldn't extinguish it at all.
Those poor barbarians didn't even have time to send word before being erased like a natural disaster.
Such terrifying destructive power, Delk had never seen anything like it. And this was only from hearing reports.
Vladimir thought deeply.
'Could it really be a natural disaster?'
'Perhaps not.'
He seemed to think of something and asked Delk beside him, "Did the knights find Viktor?"
Delk shook his head.
"There's been no word at all. It's like Viktor has already left the northern lands."
Suddenly, he snapped to realization.
"You mean…"
Vladimir patted Delk's shoulder, took a cigar from his coat, then fished out two flints from his pocket. He struck them together, and a spark lit.
It ignited the cigar. The red ember glowed with Vladimir's breathing.
He spun the cigar in his hand a few times before placing it back in his mouth.
"Tell the boys below to get ready."
"Ready for what?"
Delk hadn't reacted yet when Vladimir continued,
"Ready to drive those barbarians out."
In an instant, his voice was filled with overwhelming dominance and unquestionable authority.
Like an ice-furred lion suddenly opening its eyes, terrifying and majestic.
For a moment, Delk felt like he was seeing the young northern general who had once galloped across the battlefield.
"And also..."
Vladimir took a long drag of the cigar. The sensation was so harsh that Delk felt like he couldn't breathe.
Exhaling a ring of smoke, Vladimir burst into hearty laughter.
"We have to bring that kid back."
———
Viktor walked coldly out of a barbarian hide-hut tribe.
He held a ball of fire in his hand. At the moment he left, the flame leapt onto the tribe structures as if it had its own will.
BOOM!
With a loud blast, the tribe behind him was swallowed by a sky-piercing inferno.
The flames burned ceaselessly, as if they wanted to devour the entire tribe.
Behind Viktor, the massive molten-lava hand he'd summoned carried a wooden-vine basket.
Inside seemed to be seven or eight barbarians, red-haired, blue-haired, men, women, all sorts.
But without exception, their clothes were burnt to ash, yet their bodies showed no signs of burns.
Their limbs were bent like broken sticks, thrown into the basket in horribly twisted postures. Their skin looked like it had been scraped over and over with sharp blades, blood and flesh blurred.
Even barbarians would probably vomit at the sight.
Viktor's expression remained icy as he continued carrying the basket toward the deep north.
Vega yawned on Viktor's shoulder.
"How long until we get there?"
"Soon."
Leaving only those words, Viktor continued walking north.
At first, Vega had been curious.
Since he couldn't use teleportation magic, why didn't Viktor fly or use acceleration magic to reach his destination faster?
But after the past few days, Vega finally understood what he was doing.
He simply walked slowly across the snowy plains like a monk experiencing a long pilgrimage.
Yet every time he entered a barbarian tribe, he would perform only one action.
And that was... extermination.
Wherever he went, screams full of rage echoed across the snowy plains.
From desperate begging to unending hostility, they died with resentment.
But Viktor didn't care at all.
Even if he killed more of them, he wouldn't blink.
The snowy plains already resounded with Viktor's infamous reputation.
A god of slaughter was rampaging across the extreme north.
So much so that when Viktor passed by many tribes, they were already empty.
Some didn't even take the food they relied on for survival, fleeing to other places.
The barbarian tribe Viktor had just left was the first one today that still had people in it.
Perhaps they hadn't received the news and were intercepted early by Viktor.
In short, the barbarians were already consciously guarding against the rumored human.
Even when eating raw meat, they kept weapons in hand.
Viktor silently continued walking through the raging snow.
The violent blizzard seemed ready to swallow his lone figure whole.
He pushed on. The wind and snow grew wild, making it impossible to tell directions.
He didn't know how long he walked, nor how many mountains he crossed.
Viktor's steps finally slowed.
A streak of daylight pierced through the snow and appeared in his eyes.
The snow ahead grew thin, as if the world were split into two.
Viktor reached a cliffside.
"We're here."
Standing still, he looked at the vast expanse before him and spoke faintly.
Ahead was a boundless, surging ice sea, ethereal beyond belief.
Azure ocean waves merged with pale-blue mountains, bringing deep silence and peace.
Fine ice crystals spread across the snowy plains, appearing extremely mysterious beneath the green aurora.
The light reflected through the crystals, forming a dazzling painting.
"This... is the Extreme Northern Icefield."