Gwen's steadfast figure stood in front of Viktor, her silver long hair dancing in the wind and snow, appearing even more cold and severe.
At this moment, before her, were several thousand, no, even tens of thousands, of barbarian tribesmen.
In an extremely far-north land, a place where resources were unbelievably scarce, a tribe that could only survive by hunting had actually produced so much effective fighting power.
Angus had been guarding the North for nearly thirty years, and during these thirty years, it was the most prosperous period the northern barbarians had ever experienced.
Gwen didn't even need to think too deeply.
The more she thought, the more she felt the growing and heavy sins of her father and brother.
It was their neglect and indifference that allowed the barbarians to grow unchecked.
She had many things she wanted to say to Viktor behind her.
But right now, there was no time left for her to continue thinking.
The barbarians had no other thoughts.
The instant the first berserker died, it only made them feel a trace of fear, but what followed was a fury even more violent.
That endless rage made the fierce flames wrapped around their bodies burn even stronger, as if in the next second they would swallow everything around them into fire.
They roared madly, under the gloomy sky, like red demons walking out from hell one after another.
Within seconds, all the barbarians charged forward like lunatics.
Their roars shook the heavens and the earth, stretching endlessly for thousands of miles.
This ice field seemed as if it could not withstand such terrifying weight, sinking and rising above the frozen sea.
Snow flew up hundreds of meters high, and the ice constantly trembled.
In the minds of the barbarians, only one final thought remained.
And that was, war.
They worship war.
When the survival of the barbarians is threatened, they can even unite completely and face the outside together.
Any place with richer resources becomes their hunting ground.
"Owoo! Awoo!"
Carrying roars that reverberated in all directions, the barbarians swung countless weapons as they charged at Gwen.
Each barbarian was like a warrior born for battle. They had no concept of pulling back or long-range attrition.
Only this instinctive desire to fight.
After all, this was a tribe where even ten-year-old children could fight.
The moment countless barbarians charged forward, Gwen made no unnecessary movement.
She simply maintained her sword-holding stance, shielding Viktor from beginning to end.
As if waiting for something.
Finally…
A deep voice gradually rose.
Under the sky, countless magical formations instantly spread across everything, with thousands of arrays appearing out of thin air.
As the giant formations rose one after another, tens of thousands of magical patterns began intertwining between them.
Those countless formations merged into one, as if carrying a shared will, pulsing in response.
Endless totems suddenly burst out from between the arrays, as if the snowfield that had been silent for years exploded with its true anger in an instant.
Magic power of every attribute filled the vast, open snowy land, instantly blanketing the entire world.
Balls of fire erupted from among the red formations, tearing apart the dry air.
With the eruption of flames, lush wooden branches turned into sharp spikes, shooting toward the barbarians.
The two forces instantly merged, forming countless rains of fire that pierced toward the boundless frozen sea.
Purple lightning and white storms transformed into giant dragons, violently smashing the ground beneath the barbarians' feet, piercing through their sturdy chests.
Their scorching blood seemed to surge with the lightning across the air, splashing onto the pure white snowfield, dyeing a massive area red.
The thunderous sound was like the low roar of a giant beast, pouring out endless hatred and rage.
The endless magic rained wildly upon the barbarians. Under such a fierce offensive, those bodies of flesh and blood shattered like fragile glass.
Vladimir stood atop the snow cliff not far away, constantly laughing as he looked at the scene before him.
Behind him were countless mages dressed in white robes.
They chanted spells, and countless exquisite and complex formations continued linking together in their hands, reflecting onto the sky not far away.
Vladimir carried his ice axe, laughing loudly twice.
"I've never felt this good in my whole damn life!"
"Blast them! Blow those little bastards to pieces for me!"
With his command, the magic instantly became even denser and even fiercer.
Like fireworks blooming endlessly under the long night sky, celebrating the coming dawn.
The pitiful barbarians were bombarded by the violent magic until they were in shambles, fleeing with their heads in their hands.
If on flat ground, when barbarians faced mages, it was almost always a one-sided massacre.
Mages had no way to deal with barbarians charging straight at them.
Compared to physical strength, they naturally couldn't compete with these savages.
But now, the terrain here was practically heaven-sent for the mages.
All around the far-northern ice field were mountains. If one wished to pass and leave, there was only one extremely narrow mountain path.
In such a perfect terrain, the barbarians could only be forced to take the mages' attacks head-on on the snowfield.
Erica naturally wasn't idle either, releasing all kinds of magic from her hands.
As a Grade-Two Mage, she was already thoroughly skilled in the Grade-Two spells she had studied.
Constructing the array patterns took only a few seconds.
Relying on the powerful wood-attribute divine power in her body, her magic carried terrifying sharpness and persistence.
Clusters of flames turned into high-speed arrows, rapidly shooting toward the barbarians on the narrow path.
They precisely pierced into their skulls.
A one-hit kill.
The mages continuously stacked various buffs on one another, and endless spells emerged without pause.
A single mage might not even be able to defeat an ordinary warrior.
But when mages gathered together, the combined effect of their enhancements could unleash terrifying power.
To destroy mountains, or fill the deep sea, was not impossible.
The sky-filling magic bombardment continued relentlessly. Under the terrifying magic, even the sky seemed drained of its color.
After the snowfield was bathed in magic again and again, dust rose everywhere, devoid of any life.
Even the air was filled with the smell of blood.
Viktor watched the magnificent scene before him, feeling no waves in his heart.
But Vega felt a bit of surprise, squinting his eyes as a voice only Viktor could hear gradually rang out.
"Have you ever thought that one day, so many people would help you?"
Viktor expressionlessly replied with a faint tone.
"There's only one possibility. They're not helping me."
The constantly erupting rage spread among the mages, Viktor understood very well.
"Their hatred has accumulated for too long, so they only needed a simple fuse."
"Now, their anger has been ignited."
The ecstasy of endless slaughter filled the hearts of the mages, and they vented all their rage upon the barbarians.
There was a reason for this.
The Pale Mage council, Viktor knew this organization well.
In the game, it belonged to the Empire's Northern Territory.
It was a faction personally formed by a general of the Empire who was about to retire.
They had no official status, established by the people to resist the barbarians.
Everyone who joined the Pale Mage council had some connection, one way or another, to the barbarians.
At first, they were just ordinary people living in the Empire's northernmost region.
If one were to say that the land governed by the Northern Knights was peaceful and harmonious, then in this northern region,
The humans living here were constantly suffering from disasters caused by "beasts."
Seeing family and friends die tragically and having their homes destroyed was almost the most common thing here.
Yet none of this should have happened.
The steel fortress forged by the Northern Knights did not protect the people living closer to the far north.
Instead, it cut them off outside.
Everything beyond the fortress was not the knights' responsibility.
Even if barbarians appeared right in front of the fortress, the Northern Knights only needed to consider whether they would attack the castle or push deeper inside.
The emperor was far away, and every year there were countless casualties.
The people who died in the North, when the news reached the capital, the emperor found nothing strange.
Instead, under Angus's rule…
The North had indeed been peaceful for many years.
Yes…
Sacrificing the lives of a small number to ensure peace and stability for the majority.
That was Angus's governing strategy.
When the emperor rejected his sense of justice, he understood what he truly wanted.
So, after coming to the North, he was no longer as righteous as he once was.
Eventually, the Pale Mage council was forced to form.
Vladimir Lebedev.
This accomplished general could have returned to the capital to enjoy wealth and glory.
But his strong sense of justice could no longer stand watching his compatriots fall into despair one after another.
He ultimately stayed in the North, taking in the ordinary people whose homes had been destroyed by the barbarians, teaching them whatever power he could so that they could protect themselves.
Like a leader guiding these people filled with endless hatred.
To fight against the dangerous barbarians.
Looking at the heavily injured and dying barbarians before him, and the mages who had accumulated countless grudges, Viktor remained expressionless, but inside he only wanted to laugh.
"One is a believer who worships the Goddess of Justice, yet his heart holds only profit and calculation."
"One is an old man who doesn't believe in gods or spirits, yet remains full of passion just to save more people."
"Tell me, who is truly righteous?"
At this point, he looked again at Gwen standing in front of him.
After this battle, the wind and snow had grown more violent, making it impossible to distinguish whether it was simply snow or dust carried by the wind.
In the unending magical bombardments, waves of air surged one after another.
Yet Gwen still stood before him.
At this moment, what was the driving force that made this kind-hearted knight of justice stand before him to protect him?
No one knew how long had passed, but the pitiful barbarians had been bombarded by endless magic for a long time.
They tried to escape through the narrow mountain path, but countless magi blocked it, even using their own lives as boulders to stop the barbarians' final escape route.
Even if the barbarians tried to force their way through, each wave of magi who immediately filled the gap made it unbearably difficult for them.
As if these mages were even more fearless of death than the barbarians themselves, constantly charging at the front lines.
Even if shattered into pieces, limbs torn apart, they feared that humble death not at all.
All just to ensure that every barbarian would end here.
In absolute despair, the barbarians completely broke.
They had never imagined that one day, these mages would come out in full force like today.
These fragile yet despicable mages now stood atop the towering cliffs, leaving these fearless warriors with zero chance to counterattack.
'Damn it, damn it all!'
The barbarians seemed to have made some decision.
Two streaks of red and blue light suddenly flared within the remaining horde of barbarians.
Like rays with consciousness, they shot deep into the sky.
As if something appeared from nothing, an extremely terrifying aura descended in an instant.
Flames and frost fell from the sky together, stirring waves of air hundreds of meters high.
As the fiery red gradually faded, a massive figure entered the sight of everyone present.
It was a giant as tall as a mountain, holding a massive, constantly burning greatsword, glaring with crimson eyes at the countless mages.
At the other side of the ice field, a gigantic sapphire-blue claw suddenly burst from beneath the earth, ripping off the peak of a snowy mountain.
The blue ice giant slowly rose to its feet, its hands bearing terrifyingly sharp claws, its pure ice glistening under the firelight.
Seeing the two terrifying giants before them, countless mages' expressions changed drastically.
"That's… the legendary giant… the Flame Sword, Laevateinn?"
"And the Claws of Purefrost… Skadi."
"Aren't they supposed to appear only in legends?"
The legendary demigod giants were the beings worshiped by the barbarians.
And this faith was also the power that protected them.
When the collective survival of the barbarians was threatened, the giants known as "demigods" would appear before them, clearing away all threats.
But no one had ever truly seen a giant.
Everyone always treated them as myths.
However…
Only the barbarians themselves knew the truth.
The demigods had always existed.
Flame and frost intertwined, erupting with terrifying force at that moment.
Vladimir's expression turned more serious. Even he had to step back a few paces under such overwhelming power.
In the blink of an eye, the blizzard and the fierce wind howled once more.
Gwen endured the freezing storm, raising her head to look at the two suddenly-appearing giants, her mind momentarily blank.
She was the closest to them and could feel the pressure radiating from their bodies more vividly than anyone.
But…
Her sense of justice supported her.
She wanted to step forward, wanted to protect the mages.
This was the duty of a knight.
But suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.
Gwen couldn't even resist. When she regained her senses, she realized she had already been pulled into Viktor's arms.
"Vik..."
"Don't move."
Viktor looked at the two towering giants, his breath mixing with white vapor, his voice sounding faintly.
"I don't want you to die."
Gwen felt some displeasure.
As a knight, her mission was to protect others.
But Viktor merely said casually, "The one you need to protect now is me."
"Remember, I'm also a mage."
"…"
Gwen was silent for a while. Subconsciously, she actually felt that Viktor's words made a bit of sense.
But…
She suddenly realized her back was leaning against Viktor's chest, and Viktor's voice came from directly above her.
She only needed to lift her head slightly to see Viktor's face.
This subtle posture made her feel strangely uncomfortable and unnatural.
But before she could speak, Viktor's voice rose again amid the frost and flames filling the sky.
"Leighton."
"Don't just eat without doing work."
As soon as he finished speaking, in the blink of an eye, the sky turned pitch-black and dim.
Even the might of the two giants dimmed somewhat.
As if something unimaginably terrifying was about to appear.
Above the layers of darkness in the sky, it was suddenly dyed bright red.
Then, a giant claw covered in countless sharp steel spikes tore open the sky.
It revealed an enormous eye, staring straight at the world.
Red mist gathered from all directions around the icefield, making the dancing snow freeze in midair.
Countless people stared at the sky in shock.
That terrifying and violent sight was completely displayed before everyone.
A massive crimson crocodile slowly pushed its body through the narrow crack in the sky.
The storm around it swirled once more, but this time not snow.
Instead, it was shards of steel turned into blades.
Even the two giants slowly raised their heads to look at the even more enormous existence that appeared in the sky.
A furious sound, like a war drum splitting mountains and valleys, filled the air with suffocating dread.
No one could resist.
They could only watch silently as the absolute demon proclaimed, "Humans..."
"I brought you Destruction!"
[T/N: Reminds me of a certain cut scene]