IRM Chapter 120

The beast tide came too suddenly. Tens of thousands of wild beasts with red-glowing eyes appeared and disappeared in the snowy white torrent. The roars and howls mixed with the tremendous sound of the mountain collapsing, spreading far and wide, shaking the Ice Fortress until broken snow rustled down.

The expeditionary army stationed near the fortress quickly sensed the approaching danger. They looked up at the clear sky, their faces filled with disbelief.

Silvia strode out of the military camp with large steps, gazing at the snow-covered mountain billowing white smoke with a face as grim as water, coldly issuing orders, “Heavy-armored soldiers raise your shields and guard the front! Cavalry form a line and guard the flanks, prepare to support and charge at any moment! Longbow archers stand at the rear—shoot immediately if any berserk beasts cross the fortress!”

She glanced sideways at the Countess in black armor beside her. The Countess nodded in understanding, turned around to face another special aerial combat squadron, and commanded the flying beastmen to conduct aerial counterattacks.

The expeditionary army, trained rigorously year after year, quickly prepared for battle. They blocked the way before the northern snowfields, using their flesh and blood bodies to protect the peace and security of their homeland behind them.

Below the snowy mountain, the roaring berserk beasts in the blink of an eye submerged the gentle mountain foothills. Dense masses of wild beasts surged toward the fortress in a mighty tide, leaving not a single foothold on the flat ground.

Aqi hid with the young beastmen in a crevice between rock walls on the mountain. His face pale, he looked down at the beast tide below, his face dripping with sweat, most of it from sheer fright.

Just moments ago, at the critical moment before the beast tide arrived, he had desperately stuffed several young beastmen into the rock crevice. Still catching his breath, he hastily turned around, his gaze urgently sweeping in a circle among the young beastmen. “Is everyone up here? Is anyone left behind?”

The young beastmen counted each other, their voices trembling.. “Isaac and Simon are missing…”

Aqi’s breathing caught, and his body swayed.

“I know which direction they went. I’ll go find them.” Ji Chi stood at the crevice opening, frowning as he searched for a path that could cross the beast tide.

Aqi looked sharply at Ji Chi. “Which direction? Help me protect the children, I’ll go bring them back!”

Ji Chi looked back at the trembling young beastmen. They were still a group of tender warriors—many seeing the appearance of berserk beasts for the first time. Suddenly facing such a crisis, they all huddled fearfully with their snow wolves.

Sensing Aqi’s dilemma, they forced themselves to remain calm. “Uncle Aqi and Brother Ji Chi should go together. It’s too dangerous outside. We’re safe here…”

As if hearing their discussion, berserk beasts at the edge of the beast tide had already changed their forward direction. Digging their sharp claws to the side, they scratched at the stone crevice and climbed toward where they were.

The sharp claw tips scraped against the smooth rock with a harsh screech. The thick panting of the wild beasts drew closer and closer, and the characteristic putrid stench of berserk beasts had already drifted into the rock crevice.

The young beastmen’s expressions became increasingly terrified.

Aqi wedged the tip of his wooden branch right leg into a groove between two rocks, leaned his upper body against the cool stone wall, gripped his longsword tightly in his left hand, and thrust downward fiercely!

A sword beam followed the sword tip, slashing toward the berserk beast’s brow. But due to the excessive distance, by the time the sword beam reached the berserk beast’s face, it had lost its force, only splitting open its hide to reveal bone-white skeleton.

The berserk beast slid down a distance, roaring even more furiously. Its front claws exerted force as its hind legs kicked, and its nose tip suddenly reached the crevice opening.

Aqi swiftly swung his sword to cut off its head, but the rock surface beneath his feet was also clawed away by the berserk beast, and the already narrow foothold visibly shrank.

Aqi looked down at the sword in his hand, his expression grave. Forget about both of them going to find Isaac—even him staying here and guarding was somewhat difficult.

“Catch.” Ji Chi took a long spear from his backpack and tossed it to Aqi. He rarely used such cumbersome long weapons, but in the current situation, it was the most suitable weapon.

Aqi smoothly sheathed his sword at his waist, caught the long spear, and swept it downward. Several restless berserk beasts were swept off the rock wall by the sword wind, falling into the rolling torrent to be trampled into pulp.

For the moment, no berserk beasts came up. Aqi could spare a moment to look at his palm. What Ji Chi had tossed over just now, besides the long spear, was also a small shiny object.

It was a vial of radiant, luminescent potion.

Aqi’s throat caught. In truth, with his abilities, he was qualified to enjoy the extremely scarce potions within the tribe to restore his incomplete limbs to wholeness.

But this life of his had already been seized from his brother—what right did he have to enjoy life like a normal person…

Ji Chi took one final measurement of the distance between himself and a distant stone wall, saying flatly, “The guilt Reize bears is a hundred times yours, but he let it go and saved many more people. What about you? Do you want to continue covering your eyes and escaping, or do you want to prove to everyone that your brother’s sacrifice had value?”

Aqi silently stared at the potion vial, his eyes crimson as he glanced at the young beastmen behind him. His left hand trembled for a moment, then with one hand he flicked open the potion bottle and poured the cold potion fiercely down his throat.

Bones, meridians, flesh, skin… His right hand and right leg gradually took shape in a gentle green light. The limbs exposed to the cold air trembled slightly. Aqi’s expression became resolute again. He gripped the long spear tightly with both hands, let out a low roar, and bright red light gathered at the spear tip, sweeping across below—

An arc swept across, starting from the ground beneath the rock crevice and extending outward in a neat fan shape.

Seeing this, Ji Chi curved his lips. “Thanks. After I find them, I’ll head straight back to Snow Wolf Valley. After the first wave of the beast tide ends, you all should leave as soon as possible too.”

After speaking, he quickly jumped out of the rock crevice, landing far away in the fan-shaped area Aqi had just cleared.

The young beastmen in the rock crevice watched his suicidal behavior in shock, unable to help crying out. Seeing the successive waves of berserk beasts about to submerge Ji Chi, their hearts rose fiercely!

“Wind spirit.” A warm, gentle wind lifted Ji Chi up from where he stood. It came from the distant Elven Forest—a place of eternal spring, utterly different from the perpetually frozen snow mountains.

The wind spirit had no physical form. It was a breeze that could transform into myriad forms. It lifted Ji Chi from the beast tide into midair, then coiled around his back, forming a pair of cyan wind wings.

The wind wings couldn’t last long in the harsh conditions of the snowy mountains, but they excelled in flexibility. Ji Chi manipulated them to fly forward at extreme speed, leaving behind a strand of dispersing southern warm wind.

That strand of warm wind passed through the rock crevice, brushing across the young beastmen’s faces. They dazedly raised their hands, touching the skin on their faces that had been kissed by the wind.

“Is this wind? How strange—it’s like… like the soft fur on a snow wolf pup’s belly!”

“Is it wind that Brother Ji Chi brought from the south? It feels so comfortable… I—I wish I could go there and experience it too…”

Aqi leaned against the stone wall, gently closing his eyes. He remembered the chieftain’s words and looked up toward the direction Ji Chi had left.

If he truly could resolve everything, would the tribespeople who came after be able to freely leave the snowy mountains and also see the world beyond the fortress—the world with forests and seas?

Just as the wind wings were about to dissipate, Ji Chi happened to be weaving above a field of jagged rocks. The terrain here was very rugged, with only a few scattered, isolated berserk beasts passing between the rocks.

Ji Chi stopped on a slender, towering rock. The wind wings behind him dissipated with a pop into cyan points of light, reluctantly departing in the cold wind.

Ji Chi carefully searched for abnormalities among the rocks below and suddenly discovered that those berserk beasts weren’t unintentionally isolated. They wandered purposefully among the rocks, occasionally lifting their heads to sniff the wind, then advancing in the same direction.

Scent—they had caught the scent of humans. Ji Chi frowned, leaping to another boulder, following the direction of the berserk beasts. As he went, the berserk beasts’ footsteps suddenly quickened, and pools of uncongealed blood appeared on the ground.

Ji Chi dared not delay any longer. He summoned the wind spirit again, having it carry him along the blood trail, flying toward a cliff that extended outward.

Before the cliff were two crooked, swaying figures. Around them was a circle of slowly approaching berserk beasts, forcing them step by step back toward the cliff edge.

One of Isaac’s arms had been torn off by a berserk beast and was gone. His other hand hung limply at his side. The newly forged large iron hammer had been reduced to just a handle, which he used to support his tottering body.

Simon didn’t have any fatal wounds on his body. He held his longsword horizontally, blocking in front of Isaac together with his snow wolf, his eyes red all over with tears brewing in them.

Isaac’s face was somewhat pale from excessive blood loss. Seeing the tears in Simon’s eyes, he still had the mood to laugh aloud. “That scared? Didn’t you say your swordsmanship could take down five at once? This is simple—just two sword strikes will do it…”

“Shut up! Save your strength to run!” Simon hoarsely roared in a low voice.

Isaac smiled faintly. “I can’t run anymore, Simon. If we keep hesitating, we’ll both die. While it’s not too late, hurry back home. Your parents are waiting for you…”

“I told you to shut up! Who asked you to take that bite for me? You think I’ll be grateful to you for this? Dream on! I just want to beat you up!” Simon fiercely wiped his eyes, protecting Isaac as they retreated several more steps.

Isaac looked back at the cloud and mist swirling below the cliff behind him, sighed, and said softly, “You were right, Simon. Swordsmanship is much more important than strength. It can make everyone strong… So you must live well and teach more people to learn swordsmanship.”

Simon’s instincts sensed something wrong. He whipped his head around, his eyes suddenly widening. “Isaac—”

Isaac closed his eyes and dove toward the cliff below, feeling the knife-like cold wind slice across his cheeks, waiting for the final pain to arrive.

But gradually, the cold wind stopped. Replacing it was a warm wind so gentle it brought tears.

Simon on the cliff was grief-stricken. For a moment, he even forgot about the encircling berserk beasts, his legs going soft as he knelt at the cliff edge, a dry howl catching in his throat about to escape—then he met a pair of utterly speechless black eyes.

Ji Chi held the half-dead Isaac, tugging at the corner of his mouth, unable to help mocking. “Are you two some young couple forced by feudal parents to die for love? With this time to perform a melodrama, can’t you just shout for help?”

Simon hadn’t reacted yet, staring at them dumbly.

Isaac had no strength to banter with Ji Chi. He mustered his energy to look back at Simon, and remembering what Ji Chi had just said, couldn’t help lowering his head to dry-heave.

Simon instantly exploded. “What are you disgusted by? I’m not the one feeling sick! Hey! Don’t you dare pass out! Ask him yourself how he could have such a horrible idea!”

Simon in grief and indignation was stronger than Simon in despair. He no longer needed to worry about his companion behind him. Turning around together with his snow wolf, he vented all his fury on the berserk beasts before him.

Six or seven berserk beasts were soon dealt with by him. He turned back resentfully, then froze again.

At some point, Isaac had already stood up, moving his perfectly restored arm, exclaiming softly in wonder, with a few drops of medicinal liquid still remaining at the corner of his mouth.

Isaac’s snow wolf was no longer lying on the ground dying either. It paced over to Ji Chi’s side and rubbed against him in a friendly manner.

“Let’s go. This is just the first wave of the beast tide. We need to hurry back to Snow Wolf Valley.” Without waiting for the two to express their amazement, Ji Chi put away the empty potion bottle and spoke rapidly.

The path back from the cliff didn’t need to pass through the mountain foothills. They ran along a small trail and quickly returned to Snow Wolf Valley.

As soon as Ji Chi stepped into the valley’s safe zone, he stopped worrying about those two idiots. He used his fastest speed to run toward the cave where the chieftain was.

Just approaching the Snow Wolf Valley entrance, Ji Chi stopped in his tracks. He saw the thin, hunched Snow Wolf chieftain standing quietly in place with his staff, waiting for him.

Ji Chi walked toward him, drawing his twin swords as he went, his voice ice-cold. “The first time I didn’t attack you was because I didn’t want to make things too ugly, but now I really don’t have the mood for a friendly spar with you. Don’t worry—even if you die, I’ll revive you quickly. At most it’ll just hurt a bit…”

The old chieftain smiled helplessly, stroked his beard, and turned his head to inquire. “My King, don’t you think this young man is very interesting? He’s even more arrogant than I was back then.”

The pristine white snowfield beside the old chieftain suddenly whipped up a hurricane. Countless snowflakes rolled and gathered in the wind, forming a massive, fierce white figure.

The Northland Wolf King, as large as a small hill, stepped out from the ice and snow. Wrapped in an aura of cold and powerful presence, it slowly walked toward Ji Chi, its silver-white pupils staring intently at the tiny Ji Chi on the ground.

Its slightly moist nose tip moved close to Ji Chi’s side, lightly sniffing his scent. Then it bowed its head low before him, offering sincere respect. “Young god, have you come to help the Mother Goddess?”

“?” The old chieftain’s tsk-tsk sounds of admiration froze at his lips. He suddenly tore off a tuft of his beard, staring blankly at Ji Chi. “Young…god???”