Return of the Frozen Player

”Viscount Malcolm and Viscount Devue are at the helm of the enemy’s front line, and they have twenty-five High demons with them!”

“Malcolm and Duvue, huh…” Haran contemplated for a while before turning his head and asking, “Fricks. Can you handle Malcolm?”

“Of course. I’ve had the upper hand against that slow-ass punk several times before.”

“Perfect.” Haran nodded. He also thought that the commander of his army was of a higher quality compared to their enemies. They also had more High demons. “With me and you protecting this place, they won’t even dare about crossing the front line unless they’re mad.”

Crossing the front line meant declaring an all-out war. It had been quite a long time since an all-out war had been waged on this land, as no one really wanted to start a fight first since the Four Counts had established themselves in the Underworld.

“I don’t think we’ll go to war. It will probably end with the enemies retreating after a skirmish as always.”

“As always, indeed.”

“But don’t let your guard down, just in case.”

“All right. Call me when something happens.”

Fricks departed for his room while Haran entered the temporary barracks and examined the map of the front line. The Western enemies had truly created a lengthy line.

‘The hiatus of six months must have made them look down on us.’

Haran was the only demon who knew the reason why the South had banned outside activities for the past half a year because Count Gorgon himself had instructed Haran to lock up the South.

‘All that for just one human?’

Haran had been serving the count for decades, but he had always felt disappointed by Gorgon’s judgment. Gorgon had sacrificed a lot, but he still didn’t manage to kill a puny human.

Haran was furious at the thought that the puny Westerners and a mere human were making them feel such a powerful pressure.

“Tsk.”

He would have to stay here for at least two weeks or two months at most for the sake of protecting the mine.

‘This is going to be boring.’

There was no more boring than a battlefield where no one was actually planning on going all-out.

However, Haran was mistaken this time.

***

“Sir, the supply has vanished.”

Haran frowned at the news that had come from the manager of the mine.

“What are you talking about?”

“T-the supplies that were supposed to be delivered to us disappeared out of nowhere.”

‘The supplies disappeared?’

The report instantly chilled the air in the barracks.

“So what?” said Fricks. “Just ask for another batch.”

“But we don’t know when we’ll receive more…”

“Is there a lack of food?”

“We have enough to last a week.”

“Only a week?” Haran frowned. “Why do we only have that much left?”

“The supplies that were supposed to arrive today were enough to feed the soldiers, but…”

“I see…” Haran’s voice sounded furious. He ignored the demons who were looking at him with nervous eyes and tapped on the desk.

‘So this is what they’ve been planning.’

The most important factor in the war was neither the soldiers nor the commander but food. No soldiers could perform to the full extent of their abilities when they were hungry.

“I guess we have no choice.” Haran let out a sigh and said, “I’ll let you take the soldiers, so plunder some food from the nearby villages.”

“Yes, sir.”

The denizens of the plundered villages were bound to starve to death because the harvest season had already ended. Everyone was aware of such a fact, but everyone immediately agreed to such a suggestion.

“However, I want you to ask for more supplies. Take five High demons with you and escort the supply caravan.”

“Yes, sir.”

Haran was convinced that the issue was finally resolved. However, a piece of news that he couldn’t quite comprehend reached his ears two days later.

“T-they’re gone!”

“What do you mean?!”

“There is neither a village nor food! The villages are empty!”

Haran and Fricks looked at each other with grim looks.

‘The buildings and the people’s belongings are still there, but the people and the food are gone?’

“Any traces of battle?” Haran asked.

“No, sir. There was nothing.”

“Hmm.”

All Haran could think of was that the villages were annihilated by an overwhelmingly powerful army.

“Fricks, what do you think?” asked Haran in a low voice.

“Those Westerners did it, obviously. We’re fighting each other at the moment, so who else could it be?”

Haran stared blankly at Fricks at the response.

Fricks shrugged and stared at Haran as if the latter were pathetic.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that? You’re pissing me off.”

“Think about it. A total of more than a thousand demons disappeared like ghosts without any disturbance at all. Do you really think that demons can do something like that?”

“Well, it’s difficult, but demons like myself are capable of—oh, wait!” Frick’s expression stiffened upon realizing what Haran was trying to say. “Unless those bastards have gone crazy, there’s no reason for one of them to come over here by themselves to annihilate a few villages.”

“Exactly. We would have also noticed if someone capable of doing such a thing were here.”

“Does that mean…”

“It means that there’s a traitor in our midst.”

Count Gorgon had a total of thirty-one Arch demons. The Underworld’s culture meant that those Arch demons weren’t just colleagues; they were enemies as well.

“Damn it! Are you saying that one of those bastards is the one behind all this?!” Frick roared in fury. He looked like he was prepared to chop off the head of the bastard who had plundered their supplies and annihilated the nearby villages.

“Haran. We have to inform my lord about this at once. At this rate, that bastard will swallow everything up,” said Fricks.

“I agree.” Haran nodded and looked at Fricks before saying, “However, it seems that they have made up their mind. They’re determined to bury us all here.”

‘Otherwise, they wouldn’t have done something like this, knowing how easy it would be to track their identity. They’re obviously trying to get us killed in this mine somehow. I bet they already knew that we would ask the lord for help.’

“...We won’t be able to reach the lord by sending just the run-off-the-mill troops.”

“That’s it!”

Haran and Fricks nodded at the same time.

“Fricks, I want you to leave the mine at night. Go to the lord and tell him what’s happening here.”

“All right. I’ll get to the bottom of this case as well.”

‘They’re trying to sacrifice the Karshut Mine for the sake of burying two of their rivals.’

Haran was sure that Count Gorgon’s fury would pierce the clouds the moment he heard of such a preposterous plan. In other words, the traitor would definitely die beneath Count Gorgon’s deluge-like anger.

“Give me a week, and I’ll be back with supplies.”

“I’m counting on you.”

The two commanders nodded at each other.

***

Night came, and Fricks quietly left the mine. He hid from the sentries and ran across the wilderness at a frightening speed.

‘Just you wait, you bastard!’’Fricks gnashed his teeth. He couldn’t even take a nap because he was dying to know the identity of the bastard who had made him go through such hardship.

Fricks swore to ask Count Gorgon for permission to chop off the head of the bastard with his own hands.

‘Has it already been five hours? I just need thirty more hours, then.’

Fricks’ eyes abruptly widened, and he came to a halt upon seeing someone in the wilderness.

Fricks’ eyes narrowed as he asked, “Are you that bastard?”

“...”

“Of course, you’re that bastard. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been standing here this late at night while wearing such a strange mask.”

Fricks took off his cloak. He couldn’t tell whether or not the man in front of him was an Arch demon, but he was clearly an enemy.

“If you don’t want to speak, I’ll tear your mouth open and make you speak!” Fricks abruptly vanished and made a beeline for the masked man.

The masked man casually stepped forward.

Crackle!

‘Huh? Ice?’

A pillar of ice suddenly popped out of the ground in front of Fricks.

The masked man grabbed the pillar with both hands and swung it toward Fricks.

“You dumbass!”

‘Who’s going to get hit by such a slow attack?’

Fricks specialized in speed as well. In fact, the demons referred to him as the Flash.

“...?!”

Something was strange. Fricks had definitely dodged the masked man’s attack by figuring out the range of the attack and using that information to dodge, but he felt much slower than usual.

‘Why am I so slow today?’

Boom!

A cold and heavy pillar of ice ruthlessly struck his temple.

“Argh!”

Fricks was sent flying away. Blood dripped down the wound on his temple. He had definitely slowed down just now; no, it wasn’t just him that had slowed down—even his thoughts had inexplicably slowed down.

Fricks stood up with difficulty.

‘I’ll die if I stay still.’

Half of his head had become a mangled mess, but Fricks’ survival instincts were strong.

Fortunately, he had the fastest recovery rate among Gorgon’s Arch demons.

‘My head will recover in about two minutes.’

In other words, Fricks just had to avoid an all-out confrontation in the next two minutes.

‘I’ll have to distance myself from the enemy first. Let’s turn around and run.’

Fricks whipped around and ran away without looking back.

“...?!”

However, he soon came to a halt.

The vast wilderness seemed to have been contained in a pitch-black container.

“Rank 73 Arch demon—Fricks of the Flash.”

Fricks looked up.

For some reason, he felt ashamed of having received the moniker the Flash.

“Is this all you’ve got?”

The masked man stuck the ice pillar in his hand into the ground.

Crackle!

Fricks felt like the entire world froze right before his eyes.

And it was the final scene that Fricks saw before darkness consumed him.

***

Things went much better than Seo Jun-Ho expected.

He took off his mask and approached Fricks’ corpse.

- He’s weaker than we thought.

“Yeah. I’m quite disappointed. I can’t believe that he’s an Arch demon.”

It wasn’t really strange as Lord Gorgon, whom these demons were so afraid of, was only on the same level as Seo Jun-Ho.

“Confession of the Dead.”

Seo Jun-Ho consumed Fricks’ memories and nodded.

“Haran… he’s definitely smarter than this guy.”

- That’s a relief.

“It sure is a relief.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s plan was becoming more and more refined.

‘It is the demon’s nature to doubt their allies behind them first rather than doubting the enemies in front of them.’

Seo Jun-Ho was convinced that it wouldn’t be that difficult for him to defeat two armies by himself as long as he took advantage of the demon’s distrustful nature.

- Partner, can’t you just kill them all without going through all the trouble? I mean, it doesn’t seem like an Arch demon is that strong compared to you.

“I can just kill them all, but that is not my goal.” Seo Jun-Ho’s goal was more than just killing the demons. “My goal is to plunge the entire Underworld into war.”

Seo Jun-Ho just had to destroy the delicate balance between the Four Counts, and war was bound to envelop the entire Underworld.

‘By then, a gap will open in the solid fortresses of the Counts.’