I Became the Teacher of the Imperial Family’s Bastard

089. Snow Mountain (2)

The sensation of sinking downwards is more unpleasant than expected.

Especially when your vision is blocked.

It happened so suddenly that I couldn’t react.

I flailed around trying to regain my balance, but it seemed like something in my senses was broken, and I couldn’t tell which way was which.

How much time had passed like that?

It was a moment when a feeling of panic surged up.

Thud!

I hit the ground.

To be precise, my body was stuck in the snow.

“What the…!”

The cold seeped into my body.

I steadied my breathing and wrapped my entire body in mana, and as I did so, my body, resonating with the artifact, regained its warmth.

I needed to assess the situation.

If I had fallen into a trap, the remaining prince and grand duke would be in danger…

[Ah, thank goodness. Are you conscious?]

Thud, my body froze.

It was because of the voice that directly pierced my mind.

I spoke with more tension.

“…Who are you?”

[I’m not an enemy. Yes, rather, I’m an ally. Now, it’s okay, slowly open your eyes.]

With a gentle voice, as if soothing a child, I clenched my teeth and placed my hand over my eyes.

Then gradually, my vision returned.

The blurry scenery became clearer and clearer.

It was around the time when I could distinguish objects.

“……!”

My eyes widened.

[Hehe, you’re so surprised.]

A massive hall made of ice was cast before me.

And in the middle of it, a woman over five meters tall, her entire body shimmering like ice, was looking down at me and smiling.

What is that?

The identity was revealed by my intuition.

‘…A spirit?’

A high-ranking spirit.

A top-tier spirit, possibly even beyond the level of Dea, which is in the Imperial Forbidden Library.

The moment I recognized that, small white girls the size of snowflakes began to appear around her.

The girls surrounded the woman as if guarding her, and in the middle of them, the woman clasped her hands together and spoke.

[Thank you for coming. You will be our miracle child.]

A smile appeared on her face.

* * *

The first thing Callios saw after breaking through the iron door was the temple built in the distance.

Even Callios, who had been educated on the special architectural styles of each country since childhood, found the style of the temple very alien.

It would have been nice if it ended with just amazement, but unfortunately, the situation was not so favorable.

Callios’ eyes narrowed.

“They’re swarming like bees.”

“Not human.”

“I know. If it were human, it wouldn’t be flying like that.”

Kallios’s eyes sharpened.

The approaching enemies were not touching the ground, but were flying with bat-like wings.

As far as he knew, there was only one species with such characteristics on this land.

“Guests from the Outer Realm.”

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“…How dare they on someone else’s land.”

“Aren’t they guests invited by your son?”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Whoosh―!

Tibria was surrounded by flames.

The flames roared violently, reflecting her emotions.

“I am the ruler of this land. No matter how much of a Supertra they are, this is unforgivable.”

“I’ll remember those words.”

He said with a smirk.

In fact, Kallios felt quite pleased from the moment he identified the enemy.

‘Nightmares.’

The sight of them rushing in with their vulgar attire, shaking their flesh, was repulsive.

Why are they here?

The answer was more obvious than he thought.

‘They are the ones who coiled up in the Outer Realm. It’s strange that there hasn’t been any contact.’

More details could be found out later.

For now, the immediate matter.

Kallios was quite pleased that the enemy was of a different race.

‘I can use swordsmanship. The swordsmanship I know.’

The highest level of expertise.

As he was on the verge of becoming a Sword Master, Kallios was also contemplating the direction of his growth.

It was because Yuren had emphasized its importance so intensely.

―Your Highness lacks nothing. Both your body and mana have been meticulously managed by the royal family, so honestly, you are not lacking in enlightenment… It’s just that your experience is still very shallow.

―Hmm, so there are no special precautions?

“I will tell you about it now. Remember it well.”

Yuren said.

“Your Highness’s nature has already been determined. So, what you need to focus on now is how to control it. Or how much potential you can instill in that nature.”

“Can I do that as I please?”

“That’s what ‘Swordsmanship’ is for.”

“Swordsmanship?”

“I told you, didn’t I? Imperial swordsmanship was originally created to deal with different races. In other words, the founding emperor created this sword to subordinate the concept of race to ‘domination’.”

“…Ah, I see.”

“From now until you become a master, there is only one thing Your Highness needs to think about.”

The necessary question is ‘why’.

To put it simply,

“What will you dominate with that sword? Think deeply, experience a lot, and decide.”

Although it sounded grand, the gist was simple.

Become proficient enough to use swordsmanship perfectly.

Only then can you aim for a military leap after becoming a master.

It was not an easy task.

The truth was, Kallios had hardly ever handled swordsmanship properly until now.

The only thing he could somewhat use was an immature spell slash.

If you trace the cause, you could point out many things, but the biggest problem was this.

‘There was no occasion to use the swordsmanship of the Imperial Swordsmanship.’

To use the swordsmanship Kallios had learned all his life, he needed an opponent of a different race.

But where could you easily find such an enemy?

In the midst of this, such an opportunity had come.

This was the best stage to fill the lack of experience.

With a happy heart, Kallios grinned, and the duke asked,

“Does Your Highness enjoy the company of women?”

“Not really, my first love was terribly awful.”

“Then that’s fortunate. There will be no distractions.”

“Well, even if I did enjoy the company of women, I don’t particularly like such vulgar bodies. I prefer elegance.”

“That’s information I didn’t want to know.”

Tibria let out a small laugh and took a step forward.

Kallios also infused his sword with mana.

‘What was the swordsmanship for dealing with nightmares again…?’

He searched his memory.

The imperial swordsmanship forms were all created to deal with different races.

Among them, there were certainly techniques to counter the foreign races, and Yuren had mentioned it before.

Kallios remembered it.

‘…Yes.’

The Honwon form.

Simply put, it was a form that awakened the soul to enhance concentration, and according to Yuren’s explanation, it was a form that resisted the illusions of nightmares and counterattacked.

Kallios took the starting stance.

Then,

“See you later.”

“Understood.”

Kwaaang―!

The two figures shot out like lightning, tearing apart the charging nightmares.

They were too obviously strong to be stopped by mere underlings.

* * *

Gugugugung―!

The entire space vibrated.

A massive wave of mana swept through the area, causing Beatrice’s center to shake slightly.

She barely regained her balance and turned to check on her companions.

She saw Historia with her mouth agape.

“…Isn’t that His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“Yes.”

“R-right now…”

“He broke through the door. The enemies are flocking over there.”

A sigh escaped Beatrice’s lips.

Seeing that Yuren’s mana was absent, it must be another strategy or a misalignment.

Even thinking about it, there was no countermeasure.

What on earth did you think was in there, rushing in like that?

As expected, he’s someone I can’t bring myself to like, no matter how hard I try.

But well… thanks to him, it’s a bit easier to move now.

“The guards have become lax. Now we just need to find the way.”

Time was delayed because we had to move around due to the enemies stationed inside the temple.

However, as the crown prince rampaged, more than half of them went outside the temple, and thanks to that, our range of movement widened a bit.

Creak, the prosthetic arm adjusted its magic.

A half-drawn map of the temple’s interior appeared in the artificial eye.

Beatrice’s nerves were extremely sharp.

‘The nightmare is unexpected. I need to add mental defenses.’

An enemy we hadn’t anticipated.

Why on earth are things that should be beyond the outer boundary here, and why are they involved with the Order of Fate? They’re not just in the same space.

“Saint, are you sure?”

“…Yes, those nightmares. They’ve been granted the divine power of Fate.”

The nightmares have come under the command of the God of Fate.

The reason why the creations of foreign gods serve the God of Fate is unknown, but it wasn’t impossible.

After all, their god had already been banished from this dimension.

A race that has lost its god can turn to the victorious god, just as they did in the distant past during the creation.

Then there’s one more thing to consider.

‘Other races beyond the outer boundary too?’

Could they also be entangled with the God of Fate?

For this, I needed Yuren’s opinion.

He surely knew more than I did.

Anyway, for now, finding the grand duke was the priority.

Beatrice found Aindel, who was panting heavily, and asked.

“…Are you okay?”

“Ugh…”

He nodded, but it was clear at a glance that he wasn’t in a normal state.

His heart, which had already disappeared, was artificially created to temporarily hold onto life.

In addition to being unable to move violently, he was struggling even to move while being carried by Iri Peto.

‘No.’

As the almost only card to persuade the Grand Duke, he must never die.

“Saint.”

“I am treating him. But…”

The treatment must be reaching its limit.

Beatrice nodded.

Her expression was worsening.

‘So this is what a headache feels like.’

Yuren had always taken on the role of leader without any trouble.

Therefore, she thought she could lead these three as well, but taking care of others was much harder than Beatrice had imagined.

Half admiration for Yuren, half self-reproach for her own inadequacy.

Suppressing the rising emotions somehow, Beatrice steadied herself and spoke.

“If you look at the parts we’ve revealed so far, we’re almost at the center of the temple. Just a little… just a little more, please hold on.”

“I will. Sorry for being a burden.”

Aindel apologized with a pale face.

Beatrice felt her shoulders grow heavier for no reason and expanded the search range a bit more.

* * *

Belle was the queen of the succubi.

But that did not mean she had immense authority and power.

On the contrary, ever since the day the foreign gods were banished from this land, the alien races of the outer realms lost all authority and power.

In other words, the title of queen of the succubi was merely a position that relied on the glory of her great ancestors.

Once, it was a position that granted the power to shatter minds with a single gesture, but after the connection with the gods was severed, all that remained was the ability to interfere with others’ dreams.

Belle reflected on her life.

How infuriating it was to fade away without even grasping what she should have naturally held.

The more she recalled her life filled with contempt, the more her anger melted her reason.

But Belle could soon laugh off her anger with a refreshing smile.

‘That’s over too. Now.’

The destination was getting closer.

She had come a long way, but after today, the succubi would regain their past glory.

If that happened, she would finally bid farewell to this tiresome snowfield.

‘Fate is…’

Well, we’ll continue to cooperate.

If it weren’t for that woman, I wouldn’t have come this far.

And, I wouldn’t have gained this very useful ability.

“Are you all set?”

“Yes, now we just need to spray the reagent at the right time.”

Shupert said with confidence.

No matter how many times I thought about it, it was the same.

‘It’s cruel, isn’t it?’

It wasn’t something a nightmare that interferes with the mind should say, but the goddess of fate had a truly terrible aspect.

Look, this little human doesn’t even know what kind of state they’ll end up in, and they’re struggling with hope.

Still, it was a toy I cherished, so I felt some sympathy.

Of course, that was the end of it.

“Our guys are holding them off for now, but we need to finish as quickly as possible. There’s interference. Your friends are quite aggressive.”

“Don’t worry. Once it starts, even I won’t be able to stop it.”

“Yes, I’m counting on you.”

The 5th Apostle, Queen of Nightmares, Bel.

She responded with a smile full of goodwill until the end.