Heir to the Kingdom of 1.4 billion people

Chapter 151 Did you know? Snow is actually delicious.

Late at night, in a village wooden house.

As if sensing something, the eyelashes of the sleeping girl on the bed trembled slightly, revealing a pair of bright, emerald-like eyes.

She looked out the window with a solemn expression. Although all she could see was a vast expanse of white snowflakes, her instincts told her that an immense torrent of magical power was erupting hundreds of meters away.

Even though she was at the peak of the Crescent Moon rank, she appeared as weak as a child in the face of this surging, river-like magic.

And the owner of this magic was undoubtedly the Pale Witch who accompanied her.

"Did someone offend her?"

Recalling the footsteps and knocking she had heard earlier, a hint of unease flashed across Dorothy's pretty face.

After hesitating for a moment, she picked up the Lionheart Sword, gently pushed open the door, and went out.

She didn't want these villagers, who had barely escaped the famine, to be wiped out because of the wrath of the witch she had brought with her.

No matter what, she must protect the village from the witch's wrath.

An open space at the entrance of the village.

Under the snowy moon, the witch floated in the air, her long hair flowing.

Hua Hua Hua.

A pale white magical power, as surging as a river, erupted from her body, each strand as beautiful as a white ribbon.

The magical torrent it unleashed shot straight into the sky like a pillar of light, as if to tear apart the dark, starless night sky.

In front of her, the villagers of the entire village knelt on the ground in a long line.

At the front of the line was a young man who was as thin as a rake. The witch extended her slender finger and gently touched his forehead.

The next moment, something incredibly bizarre happened.

Frost began to spread from the man's pupils, like countless tiny silver snakes burrowing into his skin.

His head, torso, hands and feet were gradually submerged by frost flowers, and his entire body was covered with a layer of translucent thin ice, turning him into a lifelike ice sculpture.

However, this terrifying scene did not frighten the villagers behind the group; instead, it revealed a hint of envy and anticipation in their expressions.

It was as if being frozen into an ice sculpture was a blessing for them.

rustling.

Suddenly, the "ice sculpture's" eyes emitted a pale blue light, and then it actually stood up from the ground, ecstatically exploring its new body.

It wasn't until another "ice sculpture" waiting quietly to the side coughed twice with dissatisfaction that he came back to his senses, knelt down once with a devout expression before respectfully stepping aside.

Judging from their behavior, it would be more appropriate to call them living "ice men" rather than ice sculptures.

Then, the witch placed her finger on the forehead of the person at the front of the group, watching as frost gradually appeared on her pupils, repeating the ritual of turning a living person into an ice person over and over again.

"This is this?"

Hiding behind the village gate, Dorothy looked horrified; the bizarre scene gave her a chilling feeling.

One by one, the villagers are being transformed by the Pale Witch into humanoid monsters with bodies covered in frost.

The strangest thing is that the other villagers did not feel fear or flee in panic. Instead, they lined up in a long queue with the same devout expression as believers receiving baptism from a priest.

What a blasphemous and twisted thing this is!
Dorothy's first thought was that the Pale Witch was manipulating these innocent villagers to conduct some kind of magical experiment or to create slaves.

After all, for a witch of the Radiant Moon rank, manipulating the will of some mortal villagers is undoubtedly a piece of cake.

"What have I done?!"

The moment she came to this conclusion, Dorothy clenched her fists and questioned herself in anguish.

It was she who led the Pale Witch into the village, causing them to be turned into such bizarre monsters and reduced to a living hell.

It was all her fault!

Even if she acted out of good intentions, she could not deny this cruel reality.

"I will make up for the mistakes I have made with my life."

As the woman held up a newborn baby at the very front of the procession, whose eyes were not yet open, before the pale witch could turn him into a monster, Dorothy's heart surged with murderous intent.

She gripped the sword hilt tightly with both hands, desperately squeezing out all the magic power within her body, causing the wooden door beside her to vibrate and tremble under the surge of magic.

The moment the girl raised her longsword, a torrent of emerald magic erupted from the blade like a roaring lion, shooting straight into the sky.

The airflow was torn apart, and the blade extended to tens of meters in an instant, transforming into a dazzling magical greatsword.

Her hair flew like burning ice flames, and the ground beneath her feet cracked as if it could not bear the weight of the sword.

Without a doubt, with the determination to die and the guilt of washing away her sins, Dolores unleashed the strongest sword strike in history.

"With this sword—judge the witch!"

She swung her arm down, the greatsword tearing through the air, trailing a comet-like magical afterglow as it crashed down towards the pale witch in mid-air.

"What a lovely child."

Dorothy looked down at the baby in the woman's arms, whose skin was still pink and tender, and a faint trace of maternal care flashed across her originally expressionless face.

This baby reminded her of her daughter, who was just as adorable when she was born. No, my daughter was even more adorable than this child.

"Such a small baby, are we really going to turn her into an immortal ice demon who can only endure the cold?"

Even the most hard-hearted witch felt a pang of pity when faced with a newborn baby.

However, seeing the pleading look on the baby's mother's face below, and the growing panic caused by the delayed ceremony, Dorothy quickly suppressed her unnecessary sympathy.

After all, in a country where famine reigns supreme, being transformed into an ice demon who doesn't need food might not be such a bad thing for an infant.

Perhaps because she was transformed into an ice demon at birth, she no longer perceives cold as a form of pain.

boom!
Just as Dorothy reached out to gently touch the baby's forehead, an instinctive sense of danger made her turn her head to look behind her.

A massive, emerald-green sword, tens of meters long, stood between heaven and earth. The knight girl gripping the hilt stared intently at her with eyes full of anger and murderous intent, and then swung the sword down suddenly.

The emerald greatsword hurtled through the air with a whistling sound, determined to cleave the witch in two.

Tsk, that's pretty scary.

Dorothy pursed her lips, guessing the reason almost instantly.

After all, this wasn't the first time this had happened, and she had neither the inclination nor the inclination to explain.

Because anyone who lays a hand on her, regardless of the reason—whether it's disappointment or misunderstanding—will face her full-fledged revenge.

This is her principle as a witch.

However, considering she quite likes this cute and upright female knight, let's just break one of her arms or gouge out one of her eyes as punishment.
Dorothy thought to herself, as she extended a finger. A massive amount of pale white magic gathered at her fingertip, compressed, and transformed into a white sphere that shone with dazzling light.

This was a casual strike from her, yet it was a strike that even a powerful expert at the Crescent Moon level might not be able to withstand with their full strength.

If hit, that lovely female knight will surely be seriously injured or even killed. "Stop!"

Just as the giant sword was about to fall, an ice figure suddenly spread his arms to block the path of the falling sword and shouted loudly.

Even though the other person was covered in frost, and even though his eyes had turned into a pale blue without pupils, Dorothy still recognized him from his weathered face—Matthew, the old village chief!
Even though the old village chief had become a monster, Dorothy, not wanting to be stained with the blood of innocent lives, immediately turned the hilt of her sword.

Boom boom boom!
With a deafening slash, the giant sword landed on the snow, instantly cleaving a narrow crack tens of meters long.

At the same time, an arm made of frost was also severed and fell into the crack.

"village head!"

Seeing the old village chief's arm severed, the villagers who had already become ice men, as well as those who had not yet become ice men, all gathered around.

Even worse, some glared at Dorothy, who was rushing over, with hatred in their eyes.

Snapped!
The old village chief, who only had one arm left, silently slapped the man across the face.

"How can we look at a kind person who helped us with resentment?" Matthew reprimanded calmly.

He then turned around, looked at the knight girl in front of him with a guilty expression, and slowly knelt down on one knee in front of her.

“My esteemed knight, thank you again for your kindness. Though I am old and my eyesight is failing, I can still tell that you swung your sword with the intention of saving us,” Matthew said sincerely.

Even though his arm had just been severed, the old man's face showed no anger, only sincerity and gratitude.

Dorothy: “.”

"But please know that we were not bewitched by the Pale Witch, but rather we went together voluntarily to pray to the Witch for 'salvation'."

"Redemption!?" The girl was completely stunned.

"Are you sure you want to call being turned into this kind of monster salvation?"

"Yes, perhaps this is an unimaginable disaster for someone as noble as you, but for us humble folks, it is undoubtedly a true salvation," the old man said with a bitter smile.

"Now, although we can no longer feel warmth, although everyone sees us as monsters, although we can only hide like rats. But!"

Matthew's voice was originally full of sadness, but at the last moment it suddenly changed and became high-spirited.

He suddenly grabbed a handful of snow from the ground, stuffed it into his mouth, and began to chew it carefully.

“From now on, we can survive by eating snow,” he replied, chewing on a piece of snow.

A radiant smile, unlike anything he had ever seen, bloomed on his weathered face, and two streams of crystal-clear tears, like melting snow, slowly flowed down his cheeks.

"Did you know? Snow actually tastes delicious."

"And we can eat as much of this delicious food as we want every day," the old man replied with a happy smile.

Under the village chief's guidance, the villagers who had already turned into ice statues, as well as those who had not yet been transformed, all scrambled to eat the snow on the ground.

"good to eat."

"It's so delicious! I've never eaten anything so good before."

"Is this what it feels like to be full? Thank you for your blessing, Witch!"

Dorothy stared blankly at this absurd scene, even wondering if she was still stuck in a nightmare from last night.

Otherwise, how could such a twisted scene, more distorted than hell, appear in reality?
They are human beings!
How could a person eat snow?

How can people be so desperate for food that they turn into monsters?
The knight, who had practiced swordsmanship day and night for ten years in the face of wind and snow and had come to regard the sword as part of his body, now found his hands trembling like a candle flickering in the wind.

With a thud, her Lionheart sword, which she valued as much as her life, fell into a crack in the ground.

At that moment, the girl felt as if her heart had been pierced by hundreds or thousands of swords, leaving it riddled with holes and shattered.

Because she had realized that the North was too vast and there were too many hungry people; she could not provide enough food for everyone, nor could His Highness, nor could anyone else.

Perhaps, turning the common people of the North into ice people who can survive by eating snow is indeed a kind of salvation.
The girl's head was spinning, and she didn't even notice the pale witch slowly floating in front of her.

With a casual gesture, the witch caused the Lionheart Sword and Matthew's icy arm, which had fallen into the crack, to slowly float to the ground, enveloped in pale magic.

The arm was reattached to Matthew's empty shoulder.

The old village chief bowed deeply in gratitude, and at the witch's signal, he led all the villagers away silently, leaving only the two of them in the space.

"You dropped your sword," Dorothy said calmly.

“My ex-husband once said that for a knight, losing his sword is as shameful as being wounded in the back.”

"You are an excellent knight, do not tarnish your honor," the witch said meaningfully.

Dorothy silently accepted the Lionheart Sword from mid-air, and then...
“I, Dorothy Mason, the last of the Mason family’s bloodline, the youngest daughter of the Lion King, an exile, offer you—a merciful witch—my sincerest apologies and respects.”

She bowed deeply to the witch in mid-air and apologized.

She attacked the witch rashly without knowing the reason, which was undoubtedly her mistake.

While it's possible that everything Matthew and the villagers did was manipulated by the witch, if it was truly so realistic and so awe-inspiring, then even if it was deceiving her, she would accept it.

When Mason heard this surname, even the Pale Witch couldn't help but pause in surprise.

After all, when she had just left the castle and embarked on her painful journey, the Lion King, who had been the first to raise the banner of rebellion against the Gluttonous King, was already a household name.

After hearing Dorothy reveal her identity and apologize, her gaze softened considerably when she looked at her.

I wish her daughter could grow up to be such a lovely child.

However, with her heterochromatic eyes, she probably still keeps her heart closed off, just like last year, hiding away in the library reading alone.

Sigh, I'll sneak a peek at her after I'm done with this busy period.

Unfortunately, because of the deal with my god, I cannot be present in any part of her life unless it involves life or death.

Da da.

Dorothy gently tapped her smooth forehead with her finger, temporarily suppressing her chaotic emotions, and then looked at the knight in front of her with gentle eyes.

"Dorothy, I admire your great deed of killing Lucas for the sake of the people of the Icefield Territory who are suffering from famine. I hope you can continue to create your great deeds," she praised.

Those lords who sold the people who provided her with the power of suffering to the old bat slave capital deserve to be torn to pieces!

However, after being beaten up by Mad Wolf and Old Bat, she was not in a position to act openly, but the knight in front of her was undoubtedly a very useful weapon.

"Although our trip together was short, it was very enjoyable. This is my gift to you."

A crystal-clear snowflake gently landed in Dorothy's palm.

"When you are in danger, crush it, and I will transform into wind and snow to come to your side and help you."

"Upright knight, I look forward to your great deeds in the North."

The moment she finished speaking, the witch smiled slightly and vanished into the snow, leaving Dorothy standing silently in place, lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)