Heir to the Kingdom of 1.4 billion people

Chapter 147 The Pale Witch Dorothy, Lucas's Death

The North, the eternally frozen forest.

rustling.

The snow fell silently, and the branches of the pines and cypresses were bent under the weight of the snow, as if they were wearing heavy velvet robes. Occasionally, chunks of snow would slide down, creating tiny ripples in the silence.

This is a large forest named for its long-standing snow cover and extremely low temperatures.

Monsters roam the forest, and the harsh climate makes it a sparsely populated place, so much so that even extraordinary individuals dare not venture in.

In a village deep within the frozen forest, the houses are low, their roofs covered with thick snow, and no smoke ever rises from their chimneys.

A few pedestrians were scattered along the village paths, but unlike normal humans, their entire bodies were covered with a layer of translucent, thin ice. Their skin gleamed with a cold, blue glaze in the dim sunlight, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.

Moreover, their eyes were pale blue without pupils, like mannequins made of ice, but their cold breaths, which condensed into white frost in the air, proved that they were indeed living beings.

Inside the most luxurious-looking house in the village.

The woman who had been meditating on the bed slowly opened her eyes.

She looked to be in her early twenties, with delicate features and long, flowing hair that was as white and cold as flowing frost.

Her eyes were an unusual pale white, with irises that were almost transparent, like the dawn shrouded in winter fog, with only a very faint gray-blue ring around the edges.

At this moment, those beautiful eyes were gazing into a distant direction, their gaze seemingly penetrating through the wooden door and layers of forest, seeing countless streaks of black energy frantically converging on a castle thousands of miles away.

“A new believer has been born in the North,” the woman murmured to herself.

"To be able to evoke so much pain right after birth, it seems his talent is far superior to the previous believer." The woman's eyes turned slightly cold, but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

"In that case, let us grant him a cold death, just as we did for the last believer."

The woman's smile was as radiant as a frozen lake suddenly kissed open by a spring breeze, yet her words were filled with chilling murderous intent.

A moment later, she pushed open the wooden door and walked out of the house.

"Lady Dorothy."

Along the way, all the ice people who saw her bowed deeply in respect.

It's clear that women hold a very high position in the hearts of the people of Ice.

Beside a frozen lake deep in the forest.

After leaving the village, Dorothy arrived here.

With her arrival, the once calm and mirror-like lake surface suddenly began to surge and churn.

A giant, pure white lion slowly emerged from the lake.

Its size is extraordinary, with a shoulder height of nearly five meters, and its entire body is covered with pure white long hair like snow waves, resembling a moving glacier.

The once fearsome man-eating lion Orych was as small as a child in its presence.

Its lion-like face is majestic, with a natural ice-blue line on its forehead, like a third eye slightly open. The white breath it exhales condenses into tiny ice crystals in the air, falling like a miniature snowstorm.

The giant lion's eyes were icy cold, with pale golden vertical pupils surrounded by ice-ring-like irises, and its gaze seemed capable of freezing the blood of its prey.

Above its head was a line of ice-blue text—Helimda.

"Winter's Claw," the most well-known named monster in the North, is famous for its majestic appearance and the power to freeze everything.

It is said that whoever tames the Claw of Winter will become the King of the North, causing the cold winds that have ravaged the Arctic for thousands of years to dissipate and life to revive on the land.

To this end, Morven Dean, the Lord of the North, spared no expense in capturing "Winter's Claw," but it repeatedly escaped and eventually disappeared without a trace.

"Helimda, I need to leave the Frozen Forest temporarily. Can you protect my village for me?"

"In return, I will lend you a hand when you encounter a crisis," Dorothy said, gazing at the giant lion before her.

The giant lion didn't move, but just stared coldly at the woman in front of it.

"Don't forget the Crescent Moon Knight who was investigating your whereabouts a while ago."

After a moment of silence, Dorothy spoke again.

Roar!
Upon hearing this, the giant lion roared, causing the snow piled up on the surrounding trees to fall.

Then it turned around and stepped back into the icy lake, disappearing from sight.

Upon seeing this, Dorothy smiled.

She knew that the other party had already agreed to the deal.

A pale magical power erupted from her body, and the next moment her body transformed into scattered snowflakes that drifted away into the distance.

If anyone else had witnessed this scene, they would have been astonished.

How could a human being, made of flesh and blood, possibly turn into a snowflake?

Icefield Castle, city walls.

Lucas rested his hand on the crenellations of the city wall, watching the black currents of energy drifting in from all directions of the territory.

According to the information in my mind, this is the power born from the suffering of all living beings in the world—the power of suffering.

The reason so many people gathered here was mainly due to a series of wise decisions he had made in his territory, including but not limited to increasing taxes, requisitioning grain, and condoning the Clay merchants' buying and selling of slaves.
Whenever these black currents surged into his body, Lucas could clearly feel himself becoming stronger, and the once unshakeable crescent shackles became shaky, as if they would break at any moment.

"Hahaha!" Lucas couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter.

What a piece of trash potion! It's not even one percent as good as the power of pain!
It turns out that all one needs to do is spread suffering, which allows one to become insanely stronger regardless of all conditions, and after accumulating enough suffering, one can even be promoted to the bishop of our god and receive the true gift of suffering!

"Hehe, my people, rejoice! You are no longer useless; you will be the most precious treasures in my territory!"

With a smile on his face, he murmured to himself, already imagining the wonderful scene of his people continuously generating the power of suffering in the future.

In the afternoon, snowflakes drifted down.

In a village plunged into famine.

"Here, all of them are available."

Dorothy gave bags of wheat to the emaciated villagers, who were overjoyed to receive the food. They knelt down and thanked the girl repeatedly, including their children.

"Thank you, kind knight, may the gods bless you!" The village chief was so moved that he burst into tears.

He also asked Dolores to leave her name so he could pray for her, but he was refused again.

"How far is Icefield Castle from here?" the girl asked only one question.

"If we set off on horseback now, we should be able to arrive by nightfall. But if we rely solely on our own two feet, it might take until tomorrow morning," the village chief replied after a moment's serious thought.

"Very good." Upon learning that the distance was so close, a hint of coldness flashed in Dorothy's eyes.

During her two days of travel through the Icefield Territory, she had witnessed far too many tragedies similar to those in Ice Deer Village. Each time she saw one, her murderous intent towards Lucas grew even stronger.

That bastard must be killed!

"Sir Knight, are you really not going to rest for the night before you leave?"

Watching the girl set off to leave, the village chief quickly asked.

How could he let the village's savior brave the wind and snow to go out? At the very least, he should have treated him with the hospitality of a host for one night!
"I still have things I must do. Rest assured, the cold night on this land will surely end in this era."

After leaving those words, Dorothy transformed into a streak of green light and hurriedly left the village.

The village chief also silently memorized the girl's face, preparing to have the village stonemason carve a statue of her to commemorate her kindness.

As darkness fell.

A streak of green light flashed across the boundless snowfield.

Noticing that the emerald on her earring had suddenly started to glow, Dorothy stopped walking and waited expectantly for something.

A moment later, a black-clad youth the size of a doll appeared.

"Your Highness, good evening." The girl greeted her cheerfully, but soon, as if remembering something, her expression turned guilty. "Your Highness, the food you placed in the connection space has all been taken by me," Dorothy said anxiously.

Along the way, whenever she encountered a village suffering from famine, she would leave some food behind, so much so that the hundreds of bags of food in her spatial storage were squandered in just two days.

She was worried that His Highness would be angry, after all, the amount of grain was not small even in the Southern Territory where grain tax was waived.

"It's alright, I put in several hundred more bags today," Xia Mingyu said casually.

With abundant harvests, the food that is so precious in this world is just a number to him.

The only concern is that the feeling of running out of magic power is really unpleasant. Tomorrow I'll ask Yod if he has any potions that can quickly restore magic power.

Upon hearing this, the girl happily hugged Xia Mingyu and spun him around.

Since spending time with Xia Mingyu, Dorothy seems to have gained a lot of the liveliness that girls her age should have.

"Your Highness, Icefield Fortress is not far ahead. Would you like to watch my battle?"

"I'd be happy to, and remember to stab that lord a couple more times." Xia Mingyu thought for a moment and then added.

"Yes!"

Is it only allowed to stab him a couple more times? She originally wanted to stab him dozens of times before killing him!
Dorothy thought with some regret.

Evening, Icefield Castle.

Boom!

With a few crisp impacts, Dorothy easily knocked out the guards at the castle gate.

The defenses here were much looser than she had imagined; for the size of the castle, the number of guards was pitifully small.

She entered the castle and, after searching for a while, noticed that a window in the main building was still brightly lit.

Based on what she had learned from her time living in the castle, that location was usually the lord's study.

Therefore, she could be fairly certain that that was where Lucas was located.

"Should we sneak in?" Xia Mingyu asked, floating beside the girl.

His current state is strange; he can fly freely, but it seems that no one can touch him except Dorothy, and he can't touch anyone else either. Moreover, he can no longer move once he gets too far away from Dorothy.

To put it simply, it's like a large pendant.

"No need for that." Dorothy shook her head.

She raised the sword high with both hands, and emerald green magic power like a tide burst out from her body and then gathered on the sword.

One meter, two meters, three meters. The longsword was enveloped in magic, gradually transforming into a giant emerald green sword that pierced the sky.

This is the ability she gained after becoming a Crescent Knight: the Emerald Greatsword, which can gather magic power to create a greatsword of unimaginable length. Theoretically, as long as the magic power is sufficient, it can even pierce through the sky.

The girl slashed down with both hands.

With a whooshing sound, the emerald green giant sword cleaved straight down into the brightly lit main building.

boom!
In an instant, the floor split in two, revealing a horrifying crack.

Xia Mingyu watched this scene in astonishment. Although they were both Crescent Knights, Dorothy's oppressive aura was far stronger than that of the Roy and Roland brothers.

A short while later, a figure wielding a long sword leaped out of the crack.

"Who! Who destroyed my castle!"

Lucas flew into a rage.

He was practicing his breathing technique in his study when a giant sword, imbued with magical power, came hurtling towards him.

If it weren't for his instinct honed through years of fighting that allowed him to duck in time, he would probably already be in the underworld meeting his father.

"We've finally met, Lucas Icefield. I've been looking for you for a long time," Dorothy said coldly, her emerald eyes filled with murderous intent.

It was this damned lord in front of me who caused the entire Icefield Territory to be filled with starving people or sold into slavery.

"Who are you? Why are you attacking my castle in the dead of night?" Lucas asked cautiously.

Although he was furious, he had not yet lost his mind.

Although he is about to be promoted to the Crescent Moon rank, the female knight in front of him was able to cut through his castle's main building with a single sword strike, so her strength is probably at least at the Crescent Moon rank.

Thinking about this, Lucas suddenly realized an important problem—he seemed to be no match for his opponent at all!
Damn it, I shouldn't have jumped out; I should have just run away.

As his anger subsided, Lucas's expression immediately softened.

"I am merely a knight who stands up for justice. Because of your absurd rule, the entire Icefield Territory has been plunged into famine. For this, I have sworn an oath of honor to take your head," Dorothy said calmly.

The moment Lucas heard the oath, he knew that the other party would never let him go.

Because no noble would risk the destruction of their protection to let their enemy go.

"Quickly, let's all attack together!"

After ordering the guards who had gathered after hearing the commotion to attack the female knight, Lucas immediately fled towards the outside of the castle.

boom!
A surge of emerald green magic erupted, and in an instant, the guards were blasted away by the flying shockwave and fell to the ground, unable to move.

Some people tried to stand up, but were secretly pulled back by their companions who were pretending to be unconscious.

"Is it really worth risking your life for a lord who doesn't even pay his wages?" his companion whispered.
Upon hearing this, the guard who could still stand up silently lay down again.

"waste!"

Seeing that the guards were no match for the female knight, Lucas cursed under his breath as he fled.

He immediately turned around, drew his longsword, and prepared to fight, because running away at this point would only expose his fatal back, while fighting offered a glimmer of hope.

"Secret Technique, Icebound Slash!" Lucas roared, about to gather his magic power to attack, when a beam of emerald green sword light slashed towards him.

Swish!
An arm, spraying blood, rose into the air and fell to the ground.

"Aaaaaah!" Lucas clutched his severed arm, his face contorted in pain.

But that wasn't all; several more emerald green sword flashes came flying in.

Another arm, left foot, right foot. In the blink of an eye, Lucas was left with only his head and torso lying on the ground.

"Any last words?"

Dorothy stepped forward, stabbing the other person with the Lionheart Sword while asking indifferently.

Xia Mingyu, who was standing to the side, was somewhat frightened by this scene, because the girl had stabbed him in a spot that was exactly where men were most afraid of getting hurt.

"Me me me"

Despite the excruciating pain, a look of bewilderment appeared on Lucas's face.

This shouldn't be! He was just chosen by our great God, he was about to break through to the new moon, and he hasn't yet realized his dream.
But why did it turn out like this?
Clang!
Before he could figure it out, another sword was thrust at his eyes.

In an instant, his vision was plunged into complete darkness.

Life's experiences flashed by like a revolving lantern. In a daze, he saw that day during the hunt, when he secretly drew his sword and stabbed his father, who was fighting with his prey. His father's expression at that time must have been just as incredulous as his own now.

"Why?" His father's lips moved, but he could hear the silent words.

"For my ideal!" he replied, his voice trembling with tears, but his hands never stopped moving.

For that dream that would stand alongside the stars, neither family nor honor could be abandoned in his eyes.

But what did he gain by abandoning everything?
nothing
I'm sorry, Father, I really regret it.

Overwhelmed by negative emotions such as resentment, regret, and despair, Lucas gradually lost consciousness.

"This guy actually advanced to the New Moon realm before he died." Xia Mingyu looked at the words above the gruesome corpse on the ground with astonishment. The words gradually changed from dark purple to dark blue, but no one paid any attention to them.

(End of this chapter)