They arrived at the Snow Mountain.
Yet all the snow, from the mountainside down, had melted.
Since the Snow Mountain had never melted in any weather, the sight was profoundly unnatural.
"Start keeping your guard up."
After saying that, Dylan carefully climbed the mountain.
The rest followed.
They advanced cautiously across the exposed earth that should have been blanketed in pure white snow.
Then, a rotten stench drifted over from somewhere.
Arden frowned and looked around.
"......"
It seemed the others had not noticed it yet.
They only walked on in silence.
Should he tell them in advance?
After thinking about it for a moment, Arden nodded.
Between the Frost Giant from earlier and the half-melted Snow Mountain...
They needed to prepare for any possible danger.
Stepping forward, Arden spoke.
"I keep smelling something rotten. I think we should be careful."
"A rotten smell?"
Kane, who was at the front, asked.
Scanning the surroundings once more, Arden continued.
"Yes. I can't tell where it's coming from. It feels like it's covering the entire mountain."
"I see. Understood."
Dylan, who had taken the lead in Kane's place, answered.
He began moving forward while keeping a closer watch on the surroundings.
He had come to the same conclusion as Arden.
There had been too many things that felt off today.
A little caution could only help; it could not hurt.
"Yeah, being careful is the right call. It only means something if everyone gathered here makes it back in one piece."
Kane muttered to himself and moved beside Arden.
At the same time, Arden's eyes widened. He had figured out the source of the mysterious sense of déjà vu he had been feeling.
It was a coincidence.
If Kane had not suddenly come alongside him, he would not have noticed it.
Beneath Kane's feet...
An unidentified eyeball was hidden between the slightly cracked earth.
—......
The bloodshot eye stared fixedly at Arden.
A chill ran down his spine, raising goosebumps all over his body.
However, he did not freeze.
Arden immediately drew his sword and plunged it into the spot where the eyeball lay hidden.
CRRRUNCH—!
The moment the eyeball burst—
—!
He felt an intense gaze from the mountainside.
Arden slowly pulled out his sword and looked toward it.
Where could it be?
He did not know the exact location.
"..."
As Arden stood still and scanned the surroundings, the others voiced their confusion.
"Why are you doing that all of a sudden?"
"W-What are you doing?"
"What..."
"......?"
However, when crimson blood seeped out a moment later, their eyes widened.
They did not know the details, but they could tell Arden had done something.
"This isn't the time."
"Right. Get a grip."
They took a breath and drew their weapons.
Dylan looked at the blood that had flowed out and asked Arden, "It seems you've found something."
"Yes. There's something halfway up the Snow Mountain."
"Halfway up... So there really was a problem with the melted section."
Dylan murmured quietly before continuing.
"Can you determine the exact location?"
"No. I can feel it across too wide an area, so I don't know exactly."
"That alone is enough. We should descend now. We did not come here to die."
Dylan nodded, then looked at the two tense knights.
"We will end our scouting here and descend. The situation is ominous."
The two knights answered, seemingly relieved by Dylan's words.
"Understood."
"Yes."
It was a relief. They had thought they might really die.
"We will descend as quickly as possible. You should brace yourselves as well."
Dylan glanced at the mountainside and took up the rear.
Kane stood at the very front.
Arden was behind him.
"Let's move. If you see anything strange, tell us right away. Otherwise, we're really all going to die. Something's wrong here."
Kane spoke with a serious expression and hurried down the mountain.
Arden immediately followed.
... Unlike the ascent, silence filled the air.
Their breath rose to their throats, but they did not stop. They could rest only after getting out of the mountain.
Stopping here was too dangerous.
Their instincts told them so.
But.
The world did not always go as they wanted.
This time was no different.
RUMMMMMBLE—!
The Snow Mountain shook.
Startled, they unconsciously turned their heads.
They stared blankly at the middle of the Snow Mountain.
It was filled with pure-white creatures, as though snow had suddenly begun falling there.
They were all monsters.
White bears with enormous mouths set in their chests.
A swarm of human-sized ants filling one side of the mountainside.
A dozen or so white wolves with bloodshot eyes covering their faces.
... At least those were still not so bad.
After that came things that could not even be called animals or insects.
Among them was a mass of pure-white liquid creeping forward while melting even the ground. A single eyeball submerged within it stared at Arden.
There were also gigantic, muscular giants, large enough to be visible even from afar, smashing the Yetis beside them into the ground before raising them to swing as weapons.
And at the very end—
ROOOOOAR—!
A pure-white, wingless monster that looked like a dragon stood on two legs.
At that sight, not only the knights but even the Holy Knights lost their will to fight.
'Is this the end?'
'We're dead.'
'I'm sorry, daughter...'
However, Arden roused them.
"Get a hold of yourselves!"
An unknown power shook them awake.
It was not Divine Power.
If it had been, the Holy Knights would have noticed.
It was something entirely new, something only Arden possessed.
"R-Right. This isn't the time. I've gone mad, I really have. To start thinking about dying."
"Right. Even I should not have been like this. My apologies."
Kane and Dylan, the first to recover, turned around.
They took in the sight of hundreds of monsters charging from afar to kill a mere eight people.
Could they survive?
Even Dylan, who had been through countless battlefields, could not give a definite answer.
'If I had to give an answer...'
Yes, the chance of dying was higher.
But that did not mean they could stop.
Kane, standing beside him, thought the same.
Even if they died, they had to reduce their numbers as much as possible.
For the cities and villages.
And someone would have to make it down and report this.
In that brief instant, the two exchanged glances.
They spoke at the same time.
"You go. Hurry."
"Go. Do not look back."
"......"
Arden stood still and looked at the two of them.
It was not that he did not understand what they meant.
Arden knew exactly what they were saying.
He simply had no intention of going down.
"No. Get ready. I'll kill them all, and we'll go down together."
Arden smiled faintly and drew his sword.
SHHNK—!
They wanted to say something to Arden, but it was too late.
Countless monsters had already drawn close.
Their skin prickled.
—!
But there was no time for sentiment. They had to prepare to fight.
To fight and kill those blood-hungry monsters.
"Prepare yourselves!"
Dylan shouted as he drew up the Divine Power he had stored away.
He then drew his greatsword and closed his eyes.
Kane, who had already taken up position beside him, held a pair of swords as he steadied his breathing.
The others did the same.
They all drew their weapons and steeled themselves in their own ways.
At the same time, they decided to place their hopes in Arden.
The fact that he was fighting with them instead of descending had to mean he had something.
They could only hope that something would save them.
ROOOOAR—!
SKREEEE—!
HISSSS—!
At last, the monsters bared their fangs at them.
At the same time, Arden darted out.
Time slowed....
Shards of stone that had leapt from the ground fell slowly.
He could see the rust trailing down the fangs of a house-sized spider stretching into long strands like threads.
However, this time the necklace did not react.
Only Arden's own ability had activated.
'It's all right.'
Thinking that, Arden beheaded the white bear at the front.
SPLASH—!
Pure-white blood burst from the severed surface and scattered in every direction.
Its body fell with a thud. Blood pooled on the ground.
At the same time, he felt something similar to when he had encountered the Frost Giant.
Arden's attention was drawn toward it.
He could not think of anything.
"What are you doing?! Get a hold of yourself!"
"Arden! Hey!"
Sensing that something was wrong with Arden, Dylan and Kane rushed out and cut down the monsters.
The others who followed them faced the hundreds of monsters.
RAAAARGH—!
HNGH!
ROOOOAR—!
Monstrous cries swept across the entire mountain. Their eardrums stung.
Yet Arden did not turn his head.
"......"
He only stared blankly at the pool of blood.
Unaware that a white bear was approaching.
"Hey! Get a grip!"
Kane stepped in front of the white bear that was about to tear Arden apart.
"......"
Even so, Arden did not answer.
He had not heard him.
He only crouched and dipped his hand into the pool.
For a moment, Kane wondered what he was doing in such a dangerous situation, but...
By the time Arden came to his senses, he was already rubbing his bloodied index finger across his lips.
"Ghk—!"
The moment a metallic tang filled his mouth, his senses returned.
Then his eyes turned red.
CRACK—! His strength grew even greater.
Holding his sword was almost uncomfortable now.
His sense of smell also sharpened, allowing him to tell what was where.
That was not all.
—!
His heartbeat quickened, and he could not suppress the urge welling up inside him.
His entire body screamed.
His physical abilities seemed to have risen noticeably, but the side effects were severe.
Amid the pain, Arden thought,
'Did I always have an ability like this?'
However, the thought did not continue for long.
An unbearable urge and pain swept through his entire body.
Arden frowned and clenched and unclenched his hand.
He instinctively knew.
This ability was not good. It did not belong to humans.
It was an ability to be used only at the very end...
Only in the final moment.
"......"
"Hey! If you can't do it, fall back! You'll die!"
Kane shouted after seeing Arden suddenly change.
"Hoo..."
Ignoring the shout, Arden exhaled and stared ahead.
Then, through thoughts that kept breaking apart, he reached a conclusion.
Putting aside all that about the ability and a final moment, one thing was certain.
He did not know how long it would last, but he had to kill them all before the effect wore off.
There was no worse situation than this, with hundreds of monsters before him.
Arden had no intention of letting even one of them leave the Snow Mountain.