Rodos used the Deathfrost Dragon’s tail as a foothold and leaped high into the air.
The two axes raised above his head flashed brilliantly.
The concentrated energy burst outward, blowing away the snowstorm.
Richard stared up at Rodos with a dumbfounded expression.
“Well done.”
This was enough.
Richard had fulfilled his role perfectly.
A momentary opening.
That was all Rodos needed.
With both axes raised, Rodos plummeted rapidly downward.
“SKREE?”
Only then did the Deathfrost Dragon sense the danger and cover the back of its head with its wings.
At the same time, a barrier of Cold Energy formed around it, protecting its body.
‘This is exhilarating.’
Rodos smiled.
Yes.
This was what made striking with everything he had worthwhile.
The white flames blazing around Rodos’s axes burned even more fiercely as he brought them down with all his strength.
BOOM!
The two axes slammed into the Barrier, shattering it with a deafening crash.
SHATTER!
“SKREE?!”
Unable to comprehend what had happened, the Deathfrost Dragon twisted its body in an attempt to evade Rodos’s attack.
‘I am faster.’
But Rodos’s axes were faster.
The two axes that had shattered the Barrier did not stop, striking the Deathfrost Dragon squarely in the back of the head.
BOOM!
“SKREEEEEE!!!!”
The Deathfrost Dragon writhed in agony.
The more violently it struggled, the more vicious Cold Energy engulfed Rodos, but he did not freeze.
Instead, his axes, blazing with intense white flames, aimed for the Deathfrost Dragon’s neck along with the Essence of Cold within it.
SLASH!
“…….”
Its shriek ceased.
Its severed head had fallen into the snow.
BOOOOM!!!
At the same moment, the Essence of Cold was destroyed, and the condensed Cold Energy exploded when it collided with the flames.
“WAAAAAGH!”
Caught in the shockwave, Richard was sent flying far into the distance.
As the Deathfrost Dragon collapsed, the violent snowstorm finally subsided.
A cloudless blue sky emerged, and sunlight poured down.
“MMMPH!! MMMMMPH!”
When Rodos turned his head, he saw Richard kicking his legs wildly with his head buried in the snow.
Apparently, the shockwave had caught him.
GRAB!
Rodos seized Richard by both legs and pulled him out of the snow.
“Thank you… But the Deathfrost Dragon… Huh?”
Richard looked around and froze.
The Deathfrost Dragon’s enormous body had crashed into a crater.
“Where is its head?”
“Here.”
Rodos set the head down in front of Richard.
“We actually killed this hideous thing….”
The neatly severed head of the Deathfrost Dragon lay before him.
It was difficult to believe that this was the same creature that had been trying to devour him only moments ago.
“I could not have killed it without you. Thank you.”
Rodos offered his hand.
He meant it sincerely.
Expressing gratitude to a companion who had fought alongside him was only proper etiquette for a warrior.
“I should be thanking you. If not for you, Young Master, I would be inside that thing’s stomach by now.”
Richard knelt and paid Rodos the formal respects of a Knight.
He still resented being dragged here against his will, but Rodos had protected him again and again.
Moreover, the battle they had just fought had taught Richard many things.
They were lessons he never could have learned by doing nothing but training at the Training Grounds.
‘He is much stronger than I thought.’
Richard looked at Rodos with awe in his eyes.
He had known that Rodos had defeated Harka in their Duel.
But the Rodos he had witnessed with his own eyes had far exceeded his expectations.
Rodos was nothing like the Young Master of a prestigious family of mages.
‘He was more like a seasoned warrior who has survived countless battles.’
He had predicted every movement of the Deathfrost Dragon and protected his companion even amid the chaos of battle.
He avoided attacks that would have been fatal but did not bother evading the others.
Rather than fearing pain, he simply pushed deeper into his opponent’s reach.
He genuinely enjoyed the battle itself.
‘My father was like that too.’
It reminded Richard of his father when he was young.
His father, whose homeland had been the North, had supposedly fought just like the Young Master.
Of course, his father had ultimately fought too recklessly and returned home as a corpse.
‘Now I am curious.’
Richard wanted to know.
Why did the Young Master fight like someone from the North?
“By the way, where did you learn that Swordsmanship?”
“I will tell you in time. I have questions for you as well.”
Rodos helped Richard to his feet and approached the Deathfrost Dragon’s carcass.
“First, we should harvest the carcass.”
Processing the carcass came first.
They could talk afterward.
***
At the same time.
Rok held his forehead and sighed.
“Why did it have to be Young Master Rodos…?”
He had no expectations whatsoever for Young Master Rodos.
No matter how he thought about it, Rodos was not someone he could place any hope in.
At that moment, the soldier who had guided Rodos and Richard entered.
“My Lord, I have a report. Young Master Rodos has begun fighting the Deathfrost Dragon.”
“I see. Send wagons and men immediately. Send a Healer as well.”
“Immediately?”
“We cannot send a Young Master of the House back dead, can we? Go.”
***
“Young Master, can we not rest before doing this? My entire body aches.”
Richard grabbed Rodos, who had picked up an axe, and spoke.
He desperately wanted to rest.
“No. We have to do this immediately.”
“It is not as though someone is going to steal it.”
Rodos answered without hesitation.
The Deathfrost Dragon’s carcass was still saturated with Cold Energy.
If they waited much longer, it would disperse completely.
They had to hurry.
SCRAPE, SCRAPE!
Rodos scraped away the Deathfrost Dragon’s scales.
The scales were so hard that even blades struggled to penetrate them, but each pass of Rodos’s axe sent transparent, ice-like scales raining down.
“Why are you so good at this?”
Richard watched the disassembly with a fascinated expression.
“I have done it before.”
“Should I help?”
Rodos shook his head.
Without knowing the proper technique, Richard could not do much.
All he could contribute was placing the scales Rodos handed him into sacks.
“What are these used for?”
“The scales are saturated with the properties of Cold Energy. They have many uses.”
Rodos recalled his memories of the North.
They had made clothing from Deathfrost Dragon scales or ground them down to use as medicine.
Because the scales contained Cold Energy, they could increase one’s resistance to cold.
SLITHER….
At that moment, the Deathfrost Dragon’s carcass began to melt completely.
“It is melting!”
“The scales that trapped the Cold Energy are gone. It is only natural.”
The carcass melted away entirely and became water.
Rodos paid it no mind.
A creature born from ice had simply returned to where it belonged.
‘Lastly, the head.’
Rodos reached into the Deathfrost Dragon’s mouth.
He wanted to check whether the Essence of Cold was still there.
A vicious chill emanated from deep within its throat.
‘It was not destroyed.’
Just as Rodos had expected.
As long as enough Cold Energy remained in the surroundings, the Essence of Cold could restore itself to its original state.
It was something he knew from experience.
“We are taking the head.”
“The head? Are you not going to dismantle this as well?”
“Later. We need it as proof.”
Rodos shook his head.
If he forcibly extracted the Essence of Cold now, the Deathfrost Dragon’s head would melt.
He needed to preserve it as proof of the subjugation.
‘Nothing good would come from others knowing about it either.’
It would also be best if no one learned that the Essence of Cold existed.
“People are coming.”
Rodos turned his head.
Dozens of people were rapidly approaching.
“Are you all right?”
A Mage wearing a green robe hurried over and asked.
Around his neck was a pendant bearing the symbol of the House.
“What brings you here?”
“The Lord ordered us to rescue you, Young Master.”
“It seems I made you come all this way for nothing.”
Rodos merely smiled as he spoke.
The Mage tilted his head.
He could not understand why Rodos was reacting that way.
At that moment, one of the soldiers shouted to the others.
“Everyone, look over there!”
They could not hide their shock.
“This cannot be….”
“That monster is dead….”
The headless carcass of the Deathfrost Dragon lay inside the crater.
The creature that had filled the territory and its people with terror was gone.
All that remained was the clear sky and the shattered remains of the mining area.
“My goodness… So there was a reason you looked so relaxed.”
The Mage stood there in stunned disbelief.
He had hurried here leading a Rescue Team, only to find Rodos perfectly unharmed after already subjugating the Deathfrost Dragon.
It was a sight he had never expected to see.
‘Is it really that surprising?’
Paying them no attention, Rodos placed the Deathfrost Dragon’s head inside a sack.
“What would you like us to do?”
The Mage asked upon seeing this.
As expected of a Mage belonging to the House, he was quick to assess the situation.
“I heard many people died here.”
As Rodos spoke, he began digging through the surrounding snow.
“?”
The Mage and soldiers stared at him in confusion.
What could he possibly be searching for in a snowfield where there seemed to be nothing?
“What is he looking for?”
“There should be nothing but ice….”
Realizing what Rodos was doing, Richard joined him and began digging through the snow.
Rodos said nothing and simply continued.
Before long, he lifted something from beneath the snow.
“That is!”
“It cannot be….”
It was the completely frozen corpse of a member of one of the previous subjugation forces.
Rodos carefully placed the frozen body onto a wagon and spoke.
“We should return the dead to their families, should we not?”
His expression was completely serious.
These were people who had fought to protect others.
Honoring them was something a warrior ought to do.
“Everyone, recover the bodies!”
At the Mage’s command, his subordinates immediately began moving.
Their comrades, family members, and friends had died to the Deathfrost Dragon.
But until now, they had been unable to come and recover their bodies.
“I thought we would never see them again….”
“The Lord does not care about the dead.”
They thanked Rodos as they hurried to recover the bodies.
Rodos was undoubtedly different from the Young Masters of the House they had known.
Those Young Masters cared only about magic and their own advancement. Even when ordering Servants around, they treated them like objects, and they paid little attention when someone was injured or killed.
‘He is not some frail, incompetent coward at all.’
They had heard the rumors about Rodos too.
But the Rodos they saw with their own eyes was completely different.
Once again, they were reminded that rumors were not something one should blindly believe.
***
Meanwhile, Rok, who had dispatched the Rescue Team, could not remain still and paced restlessly.
Rodos was not even on his mind.
He was only trying to think of some way to persuade the House to send proper assistance.
‘I have to get the House to act….’
CLACK!
At that moment, the door opened and someone entered.
It was Rodos.
“Young Master? Did you forget something?”
Rok blinked in surprise.
Judging by Rodos’s clean clothes and uninjured body, he must have fled before even fighting the Deathfrost Dragon.
“I subjugated the Deathfrost Dragon.”
“What? What do you mean?”
THUD!
Instead of answering, Rodos dropped the Deathfrost Dragon’s head onto the floor.
“AAAAAGH!”
The head landed on Rok’s foot, causing him to leap into the air.